Evil Emperor Zun

Chapter 2010 Don’t pry, a warning from the future!

"However, we still cannot prove that the Gnawing Tribe has not fallen into the Lost Galaxy." After the initial shock subsided, Baili Ji began to think more comprehensively, "We are only working backwards based on the locations where the holy war broke out. In fact, the Gnawing Tribe that appeared in these locations are probably not the same group."

"So we have to investigate it thoroughly." Ye Yunyan was very decisive. Now that she had a goal for the next stage, she quickly began new preparations.

Baili Ji watched her neatly pack up the books on the table. After a moment's hesitation, he suggested, "Shall we first separate and collect intelligence on the lost galaxy, and then exchange information?"

Ye Yunyan raised her eyes and looked at him for a moment, then lowered her eyes again: "I made an appointment with Shi Yu and asked him to help with some investigation."

Speaking of Chen Shiyu, Baili Ji was initially attracted by his cooking skills, but later he learned more information and knew that Chen Shiyu had a special background, and even many people in the upper planes were interested in him. It was not impossible that he could detect some secrets that even the demons could not grasp.

Although he didn't want the players to make progress first, since Ye Yunyan had already passed the message, it would be difficult to interfere with the players' own investigation. Therefore, he just nodded silently, and after Ye Yunyan left, he took out the communicator and notified Feng Yier to come see him. He wanted to hear her detailed experience in the Lost Galaxy.

……

Among all the players Ye Yunyan has dealt with, the one she admires the most is Chen Shiyu.

He is a perfect partner. He can always understand her ideas easily and fulfill her expectations. He is humorous and easy-going. Even when they disagree, they can communicate calmly. He will provide her with another perspective on the problem, which makes her very inspired. In short, he is a person who can naturally make people feel at ease, which is exactly what she lacks.

Chen Shiyu also joked to her that she was one of the few who wouldn't ask him to cook the first time she saw him, and he welcomed her for that. But every time she came to him, she was serious about discussing business, and he had to cooperate and put on a serious face, as if he was reporting to his boss. He hoped she could try to relax a little.

He also said that he understood the pressure she was under to protect the plane, but the plane was not her responsibility alone, but should be shared by all the people who lived there.

He said that she was a perfectionist who always wanted to do everything the best, and no one could ever satisfy her. The result of her inability to help doing everything herself was that her colleagues would become more and more sloppy, and she would push herself to exhaustion. A truly excellent leader does not necessarily have to have top personal abilities, but should be able to discover the potential of his subordinates, let them play to their strengths, and aggregate the loose "0"s into a complete "1".

In order to help Ye Yunyan adjust her mindset and understand the charm of life itself beyond just survival, Chen Shiyu specially made a small plate of beautiful desserts for her.

"Let's eat." Chen Shiyu sat down opposite her and wiped his forehead in self-mockery. "Look what's going on here. I thought I could take some time off by chatting with you, but in the end I still have to go to the kitchen."

Ye Yunyan pursed her lips, finding it amusing. Although she wanted to respond with a few words, she was not good at joking after all, so she could only concentrate on the snacks in front of her.

For her, food was just a necessity for consuming energy and maintaining life. If her strength allowed, she would save time for eating and devote it to work. With this mentality, she naturally never calmed down and tasted the deliciousness of the food itself. Therefore, when she used a fork to poke a small piece of icing-covered donut and put it into her mouth, her whole body was almost full of embarrassment.

Chen Shiyu was sitting opposite her, looking at her with a smile. Before long, he was satisfied to see her expression that instantly became lively after she first stepped into the field of food.

"Mm, it's delicious!" Ye Yunyan's eyes sparkled. When the rich sweetness exploded on her taste buds, her quiet heart seemed to bloom into gorgeous fireworks, and an unprecedented sense of satisfaction filled every nerve ending. This was too wonderful, indescribable, but incomparably happy.

"If I come to you for free meals often in the future, you won't be too surprised, right?" This sentence came out completely without thinking.

Chen Shiyu laughed heartily: "Then I will definitely pretend that I'm not here."

Ye Yunyan watched his embarrassing performance and couldn't help but laugh along. That smile was very beautiful, like a bright peach blossom blooming on a branch still covered with residual snow, with both the coldness of winter and the brightness of spring. It was so beautiful that it was beyond comparison.

The so-called long-term free meals was, of course, just a joke, she would not indulge herself in any kind of temptation. But she was surprised that one day she could also make jokes with others so naturally and laugh easily in front of him. This was the "special" that Chen Shiyu brought to her.

As long as she faced it with him, all the troubling things seemed to be less difficult. The haze that had been shrouding Ye Yunyan's heart due to the new information was also unconsciously dissipated a lot because of the action of "going to see Chen Shiyu". She couldn't wait to talk to him, wanting to know whether he would come to the same conclusion as herself.

Despite this, when she arrived at Chen Shiyu's door, she still keenly sensed something unusual.

Something is not right.

In the past, when she had contact with Chen Shiyu, she could sense a subtle but refined divinity from him, which might be the reason why she trusted him so easily. However, at this moment, behind that door, there was a dark breath like the abyss. Depression, despair. That was not the breath of Chen Shiyu's soul.

Instinct reminded her to leave, but if Chen Shiyu was really in trouble and needed help, she couldn't just leave. So after a brief struggle, she still raised her hand and knocked on the door.

Then, the abnormal aura seemed to have sensed her arrival and suddenly disappeared. But the time she had to wait was longer than ever before, so long that she even had the illusion that there was no one in the room. The door slid open silently, and the moment the light from the corridor met the room, an eye stared straight at her through the crack of the door.

Chen Shiyu just stared at her without saying a word. His bangs cast a deep shadow, making his eyes, which were barely visible below, look like a black hole. There was no spirit or emotion. It didn't seem like a person looking at another person, but rather like a cold machine dissecting a skeleton.

After a few more breaths, he took two steps to the side, one hand still on the door handle, and the crack in the door widened slightly with his tacit consent. This was not wide enough to welcome guests, and it was only wide enough for people to enter. The rest of the scene in the room was still hidden in the unpredictable shadows, and it looked like a trap no matter how you looked at it.

Chen Shiyu gave her the choice. She could leave without asking any more questions, leaving her companions to bear the unknown risks alone; or she could voluntarily walk into the ominous situation behind the door.

This time Ye Yunyan did not hesitate. She did not retreat at the first moment. Now that she had seen Chen Shiyu's abnormality with her own eyes, she naturally could not let him out of her sight. During the previous gathering to share intelligence, he was clearly fine. What happened to him during the time when the players were separated? Would other players have the same situation? Would this abnormality become more serious? When she discovered that the Gnawing Tribe might have intelligence, their tricks seemed to have officially revealed their hideous veil to her!

The door closed behind her.

Everything in the room was normal. The familiar layout remained the same as it was when she last visited. The air lingering everywhere was clean and did not arouse her soul's vigilance. There was also the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen. There was nothing abnormal about the environment itself, so the source of the abnormality could only be -?
Ye Yunyan subconsciously turned her head to look at Chen Shiyu. At this moment, he was still passing by her in that stiff posture. His slow and stagnant steps made her feel powerless. This powerlessness was because she didn't know what she was facing. If it was a tangible enemy, she could still fight, but now the weirdness that surrounded her from all directions was something bigger and more suffocating.

In fact, when she heard Baili Ji say that he was planning to recognize the king of the Gnawing Clan as his master and use its power to invade the cosmic sea, and said that other demons would do the same sooner or later, she had a similar feeling in her heart.

It was as if the order she knew was collapsing. She ran and shouted anxiously, wanting to remind everyone of this mistake and unite them to fight against this ever-expanding distortion. However, others just smiled and told her that everything was supposed to be this way, and she was the one who was wrong.

Then, one by one, more and more people began to show that incomparably calm, yet incomparably creepy smile. They reached a consensus in the madness, merged into the torrent of disorder, and became part of the madness.

Finally, everyone has gone mad, and you are the only one who is still sane, isolated and helpless, with nowhere to escape.

What Ye Yunyan felt at this moment was that "as a normal person, she was witnessing her companions slowly going crazy."

She didn't know what happened to Chen Shiyu. Was he possessed, had his mind devoured, or even - the most horrifying thought flashed through her mind - was he replaced... Although the feedback she got through soul perception was: he was still Chen Shiyu, but after experiencing this series of incredible events, she could no longer fully trust even her own perception.

"...Shiyu," she didn't know what she should do or what she could do now. The courage she had when she first stepped into this door seemed to be gradually diluted after falling into the untouchable but pervasive darkness. So the only thing she could say was a pale question, "Are you okay?"

Chen Shiyu finally spoke.

"Why would it be bad?" His voice was also filled with a layer of heavy turbidity, and countless tiny pieces of sand rolled through his throat.

"You just think that I am different from the me you know, so you conclude that there is something wrong with me. Why don't you think that the problem may be your perception of me?"

"Let me ask you, if you saw me like this from the beginning, would you still think I was weird?"

If Chen Shiyu was originally a gloomy person... Ye Yunyan thought about what he said, then she would not find it strange that he maintained his "normality". However, they would not become friends. She could accept that someone had such a personality, but she would not get close to such a personality.

"So, the friendship games that people are so keen on are essentially just exchanges of interests." Chen Shiyu's next words just happened to be in line with her thoughts, "What is generally recognized as a 'good character' is just a character that can benefit most people. But they never care whether the person is willing or not, or whether he is happy or not."

"Unless he puts on a face of keeping strangers away from him from the beginning, those who have benefited from him to some extent will label him as a 'good person' and ask for more from him openly. If one day he wants to refuse, someone will say to him under the guise of concern: 'You look wrong', 'You shouldn't be like this', 'I didn't expect you to be this kind of person'."

"There's nothing wrong with me. I just want to be myself. You can't accept me like this because I'm worthless to you. You don't want me to return to my 'normal' self, but to be able to do whatever you want with me, right?"

Ye Yunyan subconsciously wanted to explain, but she soon found that according to his logic, she was indeed speechless.

That's right, my appreciation for him is not "even if he doesn't do anything, I will still be attracted by his existence itself", but it is more utilitarian and purposeful, because as a partner, he is the best choice among all the players. Looking at everyone, those with easy-going personalities are not as strong as him; those with equal strength are not as easy to get along with as him; those who are both civil and military, do not have his good cooking skills.

Yes, there was no touching friendship, it was just the simplest and most straightforward choice of interests. Including the fact that she hurried to find him now, it was also because she needed his help. As for what he said, she had never considered whether he really wanted to do these things, she really ignored it.

"What are you expecting?" Chen Shiyu's speech speed is getting faster and faster, like a relentless interrogation, "If you knock on the door, I will open the door for you with a smile, put a plate of freshly made desserts in front of you, coax you to eat, and tell you that you asked me to use pupil skills to investigate the details of the Gnawing Tribe last time, and I already have some clues. I tell you my findings, we discuss countermeasures together, you thank me, and feel that you have found the right person to help you, and then immediately assign a new job to me, as if as long as it is good for everyone, I will naturally agree to do it - if the situation develops like this, you will think it is very 'normal', right?"

"To put it bluntly, how much do you know about me?"

Under his sharp questioning, Ye Yunyan, who was originally feeling quite ashamed, was suddenly stunned when she heard this.

Wait a minute…what did he just say?
He did say "use pupil techniques to investigate the Gnawing Tribe", right?
This was indeed the reason why she came to see him this time - but up to now, she hadn't even had time to speak! In other words, this should still be a "future tense" event for them, why did he sound as if it was already "past tense"?

"You said, 'last time' I asked you to investigate..." Ye Yunyan deliberately kept this little information asymmetry. She had a feeling that there might be some key hidden in it. If she could get him to reveal more -

Hearing this, Chen Shiyu smiled coldly: "This is really all you care about."

"Okay, then I'll tell you." He lowered his head and walked closer to Ye Yunyan step by step, "This is the only thing I can tell you."

The feet stopped in front of her.

The only sound echoing between the two of them was Ye Yunyan's suddenly accelerated heartbeat, and -

There was a cracking sound of neck bones.

The head of the person in front of him suddenly rose up at an incredible speed, his flying silver hair all fell behind his head, and his eyes were filled with a dark color like ink.

"Don't. Try. To. Snoop!"

The cold words split the disguise, and the floodgates of crisis suddenly opened. All the negative energy that had been dormant in his body before - malice, resentment, despair, all surged out like a torrent. The impact was so fierce that even Shui Wunian, who was watching this scene in another dimension, felt as if he was hit by a dark giant beast rushing towards him, and his eyes suddenly went black.

The video faithfully presents his memory, and the audience has to face this gap of several breaths.

When the picture appeared again, the scene was completely different.

Chen Shiyu came out from the kitchen with a smile on his face. His delicate face glowed with sunshine, and his clear blue eyes reflected the boundless blue sky.

"Yunyan, I'm sorry, I was just cooking. Have you been waiting for a long time?"

As he spoke, he naturally placed a plate of steaming snacks in front of her.

"Come, try it, this is the new dessert I made."

The man in front of me had a gentle voice and a warm smile, without any trace of evil. Everything that happened just a moment ago was like a discarded film, which was silently washed away and rewound.

The one who felt the most weird at this time was Ye Yunyan. She personally experienced two completely different versions. Her hands, which had become cold due to shock, were now being soaked in the warmth of freshly baked bread. This inevitably made her feel a sense of dislocation between reality and illusion. What made her even more nervous was that the current scene was exactly the same as what the "Ten Feathers of Darkness" had described to her. She could not confirm whether this was another disguise and trick by the other party.

The process of regaining trust was not easy. She communicated with him carefully, carefully observed his expression, tasted his tone, and tried everything she could to finally believe that this was indeed the "normal" Shiyu.

Moreover, he had no memory of what happened before.

He only remembered that he had been in the kitchen making snacks for Qinjia, and he saw her as soon as he came out.

When he asked her what she came to see him for, looking at those sincere eyes, Ye Yunyan suddenly hesitated.

She wanted to ask him to help investigate the Gnawers, but when she thought of what the "Ten Feathers of Darkness" had said, an idea uncontrollably swirled in her mind.

Let's assume that the "Ten Feathers of Darkness" had already experienced this timeline and was asked to do the same thing. He went to investigate at his own request, but an accident happened during the investigation - perhaps he really touched some hidden core, which prompted the Gnawers to attack him - the negative erosion left in his body even affected his past self!
In other words, everything that just happened was a warning from the future!

Now he has returned to normal, perhaps because his body in this time and space has not really been hurt, but only suffered some "indirect effects" transmitted from the future, which lasted for a limited time - just like some kind of virus that has just dissipated from his body. Now, if she accepts the warning, gives up making a request, and no longer pursues the truth, then the situation will change from the moment she makes the change, avoiding the misfortune waiting ahead.

If she tried to pick up the same key, she would only be able to open the same door. Once she made the same request, her fate would slide into the predetermined track, and what she would be facing would probably be a future where Chen Shiyu was eroded beyond recognition!

However, if the Gnawers felt threatened, it would mean that they had found the right path. If they stopped there, they might completely miss the key clues.

What should I do? Should I still make the original request? Ye Yunyan was in a dilemma!