Chapter 663: The World Accelerates, Only I Am Trapped in the Past
A new day.
Afternoon.
“Are you done? Is it ready…?” I asked Bai Jie, who had just walked out.
“Mm, let’s go,” Bai Jie simply nodded in response to my question.
Bai Jie came here primarily to adjust her classes, and the main purpose of rescheduling was to leave school with me.
After spending a “pleasant” night with Bai Jie yesterday, I had also mentioned my decision to return.
At that moment, my consciousness was a bit hazy, and I didn’t expect Bai Jie to be so efficient today, moving her classes back a bit. Actually, rescheduling classes at the Witch Academy is quite common, and according to Bai Jie, filling out a form is enough.
“How is it? Is Xiao Han feeling better now?” Bai Jie placed her hand on my shoulder, her words carrying an implication.
“It’s already past morning; I’m bouncing around, okay?” I provocatively replied, as if what happened last night was insignificant.
“Seeing you being so tough, I’m at ease~” Bai Jie chuckled lightly, seeming to not care so much. “Are you sure you want to leave today?”
“Yes~ Let’s head over early, get things sorted out, and stroll around outside, isn’t that good?”
“Right, let’s get things sorted out early!” Bai Jie nodded, but her mind seemed to drift back to when she first left there with me. What kind of mentality was I holding at that time?
So now, returning home, something that seems so easy for others, requires such careful consideration.
“So, have you thought about how to get back? The Magic Capital is still quite far from there, right?”
“Well… can we take the high-speed train I came on before?” I inquired after some thought.
“There isn’t a direct connection from the Witch Academy to the Outside World, but there is a direct train after leaving the Witch Academy to the Magic Capital.”
“Then let’s go to the Magic Capital; it’s all the same, right?”
“Yes, but then we won’t have the Extraordinary Academy’s exclusive carriage.”
“That’s fine, right?”
“True.”
After a brief conversation, we settled on the way back. This period isn’t high in passenger flow, so there are still plenty of tickets available that day.
“By the way, I almost forgot one thing…”
“Oh? What else are you thinking of at this moment, Xiao Han?”
“Well, at the villa where I used to stay.”
“I’ll accompany you.” Bai Jie said, then waved her hand, tearing open a spatial portal.
“Um, it’s not particularly important; it’s just… my old phone…”
“Old phone?” Bai Jie paused, a bit surprised. “I didn’t expect you to still keep it?”
“I’ve actually said several times that I would get rid of it, but… I kept forgetting. Sigh, my memory…” I said as I crossed the portal, which led to the villa of my old dorm with five people.
I lifted my head slightly; it looked the same as before, but it felt much colder than it used to.
Of the five people, only two remained now.
Dongli Yiren and Yu Yatian are in the Expanding Realm, and I hadn’t returned in a long time. Only Guan Qiuling and Hong Chanyi were left.
However, upon entering, there was no one inside except for an intelligent butler, the one I previously called “Little Cattle Horse,” cleaning up alchemical items.
“Welcome home, Master~”
Still that familiar voice. Even though I hadn’t returned in a long time, this little one was still so lively.
“Little Cattle Horse, are the other two roommates in the dorm still here?” I squatted down and knocked on the little flat creature.
“According to today’s class schedule, both roommates are fully booked for classes.”
“Oh~ That makes sense; finals are coming soon.” I nodded as I thought about it.
Then, I stood up, ignoring the little creature and headed to the magic meter in the villa. Since I was back, I would pay some “roommate fees.” After all, I still had a bedroom left here, right?
After seeing that the magic meter had reached its limit and couldn’t move anymore, I stopped. The time spent didn’t exceed a few minutes. This is the convenience brought by mental power, which is sufficient to interfere with magic power. Otherwise, relying on this device to draw magic would take an unknown amount of time to reach triple digits.
“Um, it seems about the same as before.” At that moment, Bai Jie also followed my steps inside.
Bai Jie didn’t come here often; she probably only entered once at the start of the semester, and then she ran away in the middle of the night… I feel like I could talk about this for a lifetime with Bai Jie…
“Um, shall we take a look at my bedroom?” I took Bai Jie’s hand and walked upstairs to my bedroom.
My bedroom hadn’t been occupied for a long time, yet it was still very clean. It seemed to be thanks to Little Cattle Horse and its regular cleanings.
Although there wasn’t much in the bedroom.
Bai Jie entered and curiously surveyed the room, also eager to know how I lived back then.
By instinct, she approached the wardrobe, gently opened it, and inside were many clothes and skirts she had prepared for me. On the side table, she also saw several different styles of leg rings.
“Xiao Han, these clothes…”
“Just leave them here; this is still my bedroom, so what’s wrong with leaving some of my clothes?”
“Does Xiao Han think you might come back here in the future?”
“I don’t know, but if there are still clothes for me to change into in this bedroom, then it proves that this is still a place I can return to.”
“I see… so this is how you think?”
“Well~ After all, this is where I used to live; it’s probably the place I’ve lived the longest?” I casually said, not thinking as deeply as Bai Jie.
After searching around, I found my old phone in the gap between my bedside table and the bed.
“I wondered why I forgot; it had fallen to a place we couldn’t see.” I wiped off the not-so-much dust, smiled, and turned to Bai Jie, “I found it; let’s go.”
“Is it just to get a phone?”
“Mm, I don’t know if it’ll be useful, but it seems to be the only thing anchoring me to the past…” I pressed the power button and discovered it had long been dead.
This was entirely expected; even before, this phone had a serious power leak. It couldn’t even play games without dying in no time; it could only be charged continuously. The phone was like a terminally ill elder, with the charging cable being the oxygen tube sustaining its last breath.
“It’s fine; it’s just to see my old family. Xiao Han, you’re not the same Xiao Han as before.” Bai Jie came forward and hugged me from behind for comfort.
“I know… alright~ No need to be so sentimental. Do I look like someone who can easily be brought down by the past?” I turned to look at Bai Jie.
“I know you’re strong, but the more you suppress yourself at this time, the harder it is for you to let go… Xiao Han, be yourself for once. Emotions need to be released so they won’t harm you.” Bai Jie pulled me into her arms, resting a hand on my head, hoping to help me understand some things through this gesture.
“Mm…” I softly hummed, supporting myself against Bai Jie’s chest, distanced from her invite to apply some facial cleanser.
“Let’s go; there’s no need to waste time here.” I said.
“Then let’s go.” Bai Jie also felt there was no need to delay any further, agreeing with my words. However, after tearing open the spatial passageway to the Magic Capital, she seemed to think of something else. “Um… does Xiao Han want to leave anything for your former roommates here?”
“No, I’ve already left them enough; the rest is up to them.” I shook my head, following Bai Jie into the spatial passageway.
After all, I had given them many things: the Great Knowledge Seed, my business card, and… the last favor.
If they can’t manage to come into my sight through their own strength, that favor will be their last opportunity to see me.
In the end, I still didn’t become true friends with them. Clearly, after sitting on the high-speed train with Bai Jie, I had decided to start a new life, but my poor abilities still made everything a mess.
Should I blame my terrible childhood in this life?
If it were earlier, I would humbly say not really, because I was one born with knowledge in this world…
But now… carrying the emotions I’ve suppressed for so long, I… rarely felt hatred.
No one can have a second chance, but I do…
If I had a fulfilling childhood, would a renewed life change the despair of my previous life?
If I had loving parents, would I be filled with love to fill the void in my heart?
If I had a harmonious family, would the bonds of family soothe my pain and teach me to love myself?
If I had…
There are no “ifs”… The past can’t be changed; it has become a series of firsthand experiences, etched in my memory, ultimately shaping who I am now.
My current contradiction lies in the mature understanding that there is no unreasoned goodness in this world, in conflict with the selfless love shared between parents and children.
Parents treat “being good to me” as leverage to control their children, experimenting with the power of control over them, tasting the sweetness of holding power for the first time in their failed lives, and turning into beings that don’t know how to be human anymore.
This is an error in education and also a tragedy of the world. From this perspective, I am more determined than those witch mentors to want to reshape this terrible world.
As I followed Bai Jie through the portal, we arrived at a bustling street.
Vehicles zoomed past, and pedestrians hurried by.
But they did not notice the sudden appearance of the two figures.
They were rushing for their lives, but this world had long passed the stage of insufficient productivity. Families were harvesting everyone’s wallets. A world dominated by these family factions had also tasted the power granted by the Extraordinary Academy, becoming inhuman.
And now, they might even turn on the Extraordinary Academy, even if they have no capability to do so, yet already have the heart to.
Passing through the crowd and the corridors, Bai Jie led me into the station. Just like the first time I came, she guided me the whole way. If it weren’t for my practical Earth Vein Identification Technique, I wouldn’t even know the process of taking a high-speed train.
But I knew that following Bai Jie, she would lead me through.
After waiting for a little while, we boarded the train. Looking out at the scenery, I also began fiddling with my old phone.
Although its charging cable had disappeared, with my mastery over magic and lightning-based spellbooks, I still managed to charge the phone.
As the long startup screen appeared, distant memories gradually revived.
I gazed at the somewhat barren software interface, ultimately clicking on the notes out of reflex.
But the notes had been completely cleared; the diaries that once recorded events had been deleted in one impulsive sweep. If I wanted, I could use the Earth Vein Identification Technique to retrieve the deleted information from the phone, but I didn’t do that.
Time seemed to fly by. My gaze remained on the phone screen, doing nothing. The novels I once downloaded, the little games I used to look for… now I held no interest in them at all.
Before long, after fully charging the phone, I saw the battery at full capacity, but within a few seconds, it stubbornly dropped to 99%.
For a moment, I stared at this value in a daze, until the next second when it dropped to 98%… 97%…
At that moment, I finally realized something was wrong.
Instinctively, I looked around and out the window, as if everything had become incredibly fast. Everyone was accelerating forward, and only I remained stuck in place, as if I was the only one trapped in the past.
With a strong sensation pushing me back, the scenery outside turned into elongated lines, and the sound around me became densely sharp; Bai Jie’s movements became rapid and blurry…
When I looked back at my phone again, the battery had dropped from 90% to 89%… 88%…
“What is this?”
“Obviously, this is the Sense of Time.” At this moment, my Knowledge Shadow took Bai Jie’s place, turning her head and smiling at me.
“Why? I didn’t control myself to perceive time this way…”
“Because you’re trapped in the past by your own heart, your internal confusion blurs the perception of time…”
“But… even so, I should be extending the perception of time, staying in the past…”
“Why can’t confusion prompt anxiety, wanting to let everything pass quickly?”
“Then why do you say I’m trapped in the past?”
“Think for yourself. I truly don’t understand what kind of luck you have to perfect the bidirectional operation of the Sense of Time under such circumstances.”
“Sense of Time…”
Though prompted by the Knowledge Shadow, I should have been happy to explore the changes brought by the Sense of Time, yet I didn’t delve into it as I usually would. I was indeed trapped in the past, to the point where I couldn’t even find joy in perfecting my Sense of Time…
I merely stared at my phone, chatting casually with the Knowledge Shadow, and its battery had already dropped to 23%.
22%… 18%… 12%… 10% (battery alert)…
Until my phone leaked power enough to shut down, the screen turned black, and through the hot phone screen, I saw my reflection.
“Xiao Han… Xiao Han? We’re almost there; if we don’t get off soon, we’ll pass our stop.”
At that moment, Bai Jie’s voice transitioned from a sharp distortion to a calming familiarity, like I had just woken from a deep dream.
“We’re at the station?”
“Mm, are you okay, Xiao Han?”
Bai Jie reached out and touched my forehead with the back of her hand. Even though she knew I wouldn’t have any symptoms now, she still chose the most intimate gesture, hoping I could recover.
Because Bai Jie noticed my abnormality, but for what felt like countless hours on the road, she didn’t disturb me until now.
“I’m… okay…” I raised a smile, shaking my head to indicate that I was fine. “Let’s go, if we don’t get off soon, we’ll pass our stop.”
