Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

That night, the train crew gathered at Qingxinju.

After dinner and a relaxing soak in the hot springs, everyone politely declined Qi Zhimu's invitation to rest there and returned to the train.

The reason for March 7th: to go back and pack my things, and prepare for the trip to Pinocchio.

Xing didn't feel the need to clean up, her attitude was indifferent, she was simply pulled back by the former.

After seeing the train crew off, Qi Zhimu turned his attention to the spatial folding device that Ji Zi had given him.

It looks like a brocade pouch.

Upon closer inspection, one can vaguely sense a faint aura of antiquity and desolation emanating from it.

Qi Zhimu suppressed his curiosity and tried to contact Ruan Mei again.

"The user you are trying to contact is not in a signal coverage area and cannot be reached temporarily."

have to.

Qi Zhimu shrugged and then contacted the Black Tower.

However, not only Black Tower, but also Yu Qingtu could not be contacted, as they were both clearly engrossed in their research.

If you're not in a signal coverage area, you won't receive a text message like a regular missed call, and you might not even be able to send a text message.

In the interstellar peace communication base station system, there is no signal access. Whether it is communication or text messaging, it is as if there is no connection at all.

Ruan Mei cannot see the communication request records and does not call back proactively; who knows when she will be able to be contacted.

Helpless, Qi Zhimu could only send a short message to Heita, hoping she would see it when she had some free time.

"Crow, does the Ten Kings Division have the capability to safely contain the remains of ancient beasts?" Qi Zhimu suddenly asked.

Yes, it is.

Although the crow was somewhat surprised, it still gave its approval.

"If you know that Lord Mu is still unable to hand it over to Ms. Ruan Mei before his departure, do you intend for me to deliver it to the Ten Kings' Division for temporary safekeeping?"

"That's the only way for now. We'll let her come and pick it up when Black Tower receives the message. I hope this won't put you in a difficult position?" Qi Zhimu asked.

"Of course not, my sister and I both have sufficient authority," Han Ya said, indicating that there was no problem.

Qi Zhimu nodded, deciding to put the matter aside for the time being.

Silent all night.

……

The next morning, when Qi Zhimu woke up from his peaceful sleep, there was a lingering fragrance on both sides of him.

The two sisters returned to their roles as judges and got to work.

There was a note from Xueyi on the bedside table.

"Lord Zhimu, we must all remain in the Prison tonight and will not be able to return."

"Once you receive Ms. Himeko's specific departure time, you can send me a notification using the Jade Sign."

"If we still cannot contact Ms. Ruan Mei by then, my younger sister and I will come to collect the remains of the ancient beast and bid farewell to Lord Zhi Mu."

Qi Zhimu smiled gently and got out of bed quickly.

Unexpectedly, Himeko sent a departure notice at noon.

"At 10:00 tomorrow system time, the train will begin its jump on time, officially embarking on its journey to Pinocchio."

"A day early?" Qi Zhimu was slightly surprised.

"Having traveled through the deep regions of Jinlunga, the train's exterior isn't very clean now."

Himeko explained the reason.

"The port of Luofu is busy, and the train takes up much more space than a typical fleet of airships, so it's impossible to clean it here."

"After discussion, everyone decided to set off ahead of schedule and spend one day docking at Car Wash, an planet outside the Asdna system."

"After getting a thorough cleaning inside and out at the car wash, head to the final stop on the way."

Qi Zhimu suddenly realized: "I see. I will be there on time before we set off tomorrow."

Putting down his phone, Qi Zhimu looked around the entire Qingxin Residence.

It's been a long time since I've experienced the lifestyle of the Luofu immortals. After resting for several months, it's really hard to get used to going back to my old life.

Although the feeling of not being used to it is only temporary.

After exploring all the places he had visited during his time at Qingxinju, Qi Zhimu finally returned to his hot spring room and floated on the water in a starfish position.

Jingyuan's communication access.

"Grandmaster, are we departing on the Star Train tomorrow?"

He must have received notification from the Sky Ship Company that the Star Train was departing.

"Yes, back to my old profession," Qi Zhimu said with emotion.

"I won't say anything more, Master. Please rest well." Having received confirmation, Jingyuan said nothing more.

However, Qi Zhimu was certain that he would come to see him off tomorrow.

Zhu Mingxianzhou's envoy ship doesn't seem to have left yet. If Huaiyan learns of this, he'll probably come too.

As Qi Zhimu calmed down from the emotions of his impending departure, a beautiful figure entered his mind.

—Ruan Mei.

Leaving without saying goodbye is her style; there has been a precedent for this on the space station.

However, on that occasion, their relationship was merely a fleeting encounter.

Before leaving without saying goodbye this time, their relationship on the surface had risen to the level of friendship.

I stayed at a friend's house, and after dinner, I went out seemingly normally, but I left without a word and disappeared. Something just doesn't seem right.

"...After all these years, I still can't figure out what you're thinking..."

Looking up at the false, bright full moon high in the sky, Qi Zhimu seemed to see Ruan Mei's face in it, and then hallucinated the expressions that had existed on her face.

Calm, gentle, soft, happy...

Looking back on the past with his current emotional understanding, Qi Zhimu suddenly realized—

It turns out that Ruan Mei's special feelings for him had already begun to emerge before she even took him on as a student.

However, he didn't understand at the time.

Even if they understand, they will most likely treat it as an illusion, or bury it deep in their hearts.

Qi Zhimu couldn't help but wonder: if he had known earlier, and after the confinement punishment with Plum Blossom Wine, had he mustered the courage to explain the whole story, would the outcome have been very different?

The answer is no.

He has the system, but not the simulation function, so he can't go back to the past again and again to find the answer through the if lines.

After a long while, Qi Zhimu brought his wandering thoughts back.

I took out a four-year-old plum blossom wine, tilted my head back, and drank it, precisely controlling the volume to 249ml.

I feel much better now!

Qi Zhimu let out a long breath, left the bath, casually grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, and walked out of the hot spring room.

A faint, elegant fragrance suddenly wafted into my nostrils.

The beautiful figure emerging from the hot spring room across the street successfully froze Qi Zhimu in place.

"You...Ms. Ruan Mei...?"

Her long, dark hair was damp, and the white bath towel couldn't completely cover her alluring curves, barely covering half of her thighs.

Water droplets detached from the ends of her hair and fell down, landing precisely in the creases that the bath towel couldn't completely cover.

"Good evening." Ruan Mei composed herself and greeted him calmly.

"Where have you been these past two days?" Qi Zhimu couldn't help but ask bluntly.

"I've temporarily left Luofu to search for ingredients to develop new pastries. What's wrong?"

Ruan Mei didn't feel she had overstepped her bounds at all when Qi Zhimu asked her straightforward question; on the contrary, she felt much better.

This means that Amu was not entirely indifferent to her disappearance.

"I couldn't reach you, and I thought you'd left without saying goodbye... So, what happened?"

"...It met expectations."

Ruan Mei changed the subject:

"I'm leaving Luofu tomorrow morning, and I've been staying at Qingxinju during my stay. I don't know what to give as a token of my gratitude."

"After much thought, I've decided to give you this new type of pastry as a parting gift. I hope you won't mind."

"But I didn't bring any pastries with me, and it's late, so I didn't want to disturb your rest. How about this as your breakfast tomorrow?"

……