93: Chapter 92 Entering the Apartment

By the Formation in the courtyard, the notification light on the wristband terminal lit up.

A long time passed before someone came over to pick it up.

It was Luo Shuying, who had just finished a full cycle of Cultivation.

She looked at the blinking terminal with some confusion.

She should have turned off all message notifications, and only Chang Yufei on her friends list would send her messages.

And wasn't Sister Yufei right there in her courtyard?

On the bamboo bed, Chang Yufei sat up with some difficulty; she hadn't recovered as quickly as expected.

Seeing Luo Shuying's puzzled expression, she asked,

"What's wrong, Shuying?"

Luo Shuying shook her head, indicating it was nothing important, and then opened the terminal to check.

[Three hours ago, there was an entry record for the apartment.]

Such a brief notification caused Luo Shuying's mind to go completely blank.

This apartment was the residence Luo Shuying had rented on Baigong Planet after her retirement.

It was also the only place that held memories of her and Li Fan.

Therefore, even though she had to pay a hefty sum of Spirit Stones every month, Luo Shuying had not terminated the lease.

Her voice trembled.

"How... how is that possible..."

Aside from her, only one other person had permission to enter this apartment.

It was Li Fan, who had disappeared in the School Exam Secret Realm.

"It's probably because I haven't been back in so long, so the apartment management came in to check on things."

Luo Shuying explained to herself in this manner.

She didn't know why she thought that way. Clearly, she usually believed so strongly that Li Fan was still alive, having just gone somewhere else through the Secret Realm.

One day, he would appear again.

Yet, when this possibility actually presented itself, Luo Shuying subconsciously dared not believe it.

Suddenly, she thought of something and reached out with a trembling hand to tap a button on the terminal.

[Entry video playback is loading, please wait...]

Watching the slowly loading progress bar, Luo Shuying's breathing quickened, and her vision began to blur.

She kept screaming in her heart,

"Hurry up... load faster!"

Finally, the image appeared, and a familiar face came into view.

Li Fan stood at the entrance of the apartment, looking at the familiar door and murmuring,

"I changed my identity account before. Even though the information is the same, I don't know if my access permissions are still there."

With that, he reached out to pull the door open, but paused slightly as his hand touched the doorknob.

Li Fan withdrew his hand and adjusted his appearance, looking visibly nervous as well.

"If Qingqian is inside, my sudden return from the dead might scare her, right?"

Saying this, he finished tidying himself up and placed his hand back on the doorknob.

[Identifying...]

[Physical characteristics match. Door opened.]

[Welcome home. Current time... Weather...]

"So they added physical feature recognition? I thought it was account permissions."

Li Fan successfully entered the apartment. Everything inside was still about the same as usual, with a bunch of Luo Qingqian's clothes racks packing most of the space to the brim.

However, it looked much tidier than when he had left, as if it had been deliberately cleaned up.

"Not at home? She must have gone to university."

Coming to the bedroom Luo Qingqian had assigned to him, Li Fan scanned the room.

The room was like a model showroom; the mattress, pillows, and other such things were all gone.

The few clothes and things he had left behind also seemed to have been cleared out.

Seeing this, Li Fan curled his lips.

"Heartless woman, and here I thought she might miss me a little."

"It seems my charm still isn't quite enough."

Shaking his head, he didn't enter Luo Qingqian's bedroom. He looked around before turning and leaving the apartment.

Closing the door, Li Fan felt a wave of relief.

The fact that the apartment was still there meant Luo Qingqian was still paying the rent. She had made it out of the Secret Realm alive, she just didn't live here permanently anymore.

"She really is a little rich girl, not even terminating the lease after moving for university."

With those words, Li Fan turned to leave, but his terminal began to flash.

Watching the video playback, the figure appearing in front of the door once again was undoubtedly the man she had been yearning for day and night.

"Li Fan..."

She softly murmured his name, repeatedly dragging the progress bar back to confirm it over and over again.

Finally, she placed her hand on the projected image, wanting to touch his face through the screen.

The stone that had been weighing heavily on Luo Shuying's heart finally fell.

Instantly, Spiritual Qi surged within the Secret Realm's courtyard, and her aura rose sharply.

She had actually made consecutive Breakthroughs across multiple Realms, reaching the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment!

Despite such a massive increase in her cultivation, Luo Shuying was completely unaware, her attention still entirely focused on Li Fan in the video.

She saw Li Fan open his constantly flashing terminal, which was clearly a call request.

He tapped to accept, and a woman's voice came through.

"Husband, I forgot to tell you."

"Remember to come back early. This meeting won't last very long."

Li Fan chuckled.

"I think it's you who can't wait, Xinmei."

"Are you confident you can endure my Water Summoning Technique now?"

The young girl's exasperated voice immediately came from the terminal.

"Bah! A mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator dares to act so arrogant in front of me!"

"Just you wait, I'll show you who's boss then!"

Hearing this, Li Fan shook his head helplessly, turned away from the doorway, and replied at the same time,

"We'll see. Let's see who shows who's boss then."

At this point, Li Fan's figure completely disappeared from the playback video at the entrance.

And the heart that Luo Shuying had just put at ease was now in her throat again.

Even more so than before, she couldn't even stand steadily, swaying and leaning against the wall before finally stabilizing herself.

The word 'Husband' spoken by the woman in the video kept echoing in her mind.

After a long silence, Luo Shuying spoke with self-deprecation,

"So... I was never prepared after all..."

She had once envisioned that one day in the future, when Li Fan appeared again or when she found him,

Li Fan would already have a Dao Companion, or even children.

For this reason, she had told herself more than once that this was normal.

As long as she accepted it calmly and stayed by Li Fan's side, she would definitely have a chance to become his Dao Companion.

But now, the simple word 'Husband' had almost shattered her psychological defenses.

What if Li Fan was a devoted, single-minded person who would never take a second Dao Companion in this lifetime?

What if Li Fan bluntly rejected her?

What if Li Fan had already forgotten her?

All kinds of complex thoughts flooded her mind, and she lost her composure, crying out,

"No... no... no!"

"I can't accept this...!"

At the thought of the woman who would play harmonious music with Li Fan, support him, and raise his children in the future not being herself,

Luo Shuying trembled all over, breaking into a cold sweat and struggling to breathe.

She clenched her fists tightly and murmured to herself,

"...I have to find him."

"Yes... Baigong Planet!"

"I'll go find him right now and get some answers!"

With those words, her Spiritual Qi erupted. She soared into the air, turning into a streak of black and white light, and instantly rushed out of the Secret Realm.

From the bamboo bed, Chang Yufei watched Luo Shuying's hastily departing figure, her eyes filled with astonishment.

She didn't understand why Shuying was acting so panicked and out of character.

Chang Yufei propped herself up on the edge of the bed and walked slowly toward the terminal that had been left on the ground, still active.