Chapter 67: Let

In a high-end apartment undetectable by any scanner…

A meeting of historical significance is taking place.

Two “Da Mengshen,” one large and one small, sat face to face. Though surrounded by deep darkness, the environment affected neither of them in the slightest—yet neither spoke first.

After a brief while, as if realizing this was inappropriate, the petite figure rose, walked to the wall, and pressed a switch.

Click.

The lights turned on.

Jia Ji looked around.

The room was minimalist and bright: walls pure white, a massive floor-to-ceiling window revealing nearby twinkling lights, a brown kotatsu table before them, a pale purple floor mat—and nothing else. No extra decorations. Simple to the point of being “completely empty.”

It looked nothing like the home of a cute girl. No, “home” was not the right word here—it was merely a concrete box built solely to shield from wind and rain and provide shelter.

The only beautiful thing in the room was the violet-haired girl in a neat sailor uniform, wearing flat glasses.

Changmen Youxi returned to Jia Ji’s side, blinked almost imperceptibly, poured a cup of tea steaming with hot vapor, and handed it to this visitor from another world.

“Drink.”

Jia Ji reached out and took it, feeling the perfect warmth radiating from the pale green tea in the white porcelain cup. With his limited knowledge, he could not identify the tea leaves or detect any special flavor—yet…

This was tea brewed by Da Mingshen herself! In a world of cup-collecting battles, this would be upgraded to a sacred artifact!

Nine-nine percent rarity! A rare treasure!

Without a second’s hesitation, Jia Ji drained the cup in one gulp.

“Is it good?”

“The best in the world!”

The spiky-haired boy gave a thumbs-up.

Without a word, the silent girl—though she appeared cold and distant—always did unexpected things: she took the empty cup, and placed a freshly brewed one before him.

“Drink.”

Jia Ji blinked, gazing at the slender, petite girl, trying to see through her glasses into what Changmen Youxi was thinking—though, as expected, he failed.

Still locked in eye contact, Jia Ji drained the second cup in one gulp.

Blink.

Then the girl offered the third cup.

Come on, drink this one—three more to go, right?

But how could Jia Ji refuse? One word—drink!

It was just a pot of tea. His appetite could handle far more. Da Mingshen’s tea, no matter how much, he could drink.

Yet holding that thought, Jia Ji drank eighteen cups in total—before finally raising his hands in surrender.

“What’s going on here… Could it be?! Is the tea in this pot endless?!”

He had already poured out at least three times the pot’s original volume! This thing… could probably be used as a storage magic treasure.

Jia Ji recalled: this was Changmen Da Mingshen’s unique way of hosting guests—she never stops until you say stop! But did she really need to expand the pot’s internal space just for him?

Or was this simply Da Mingshen’s peculiar sense of humor?

Rubbing his bloated stomach, Jia Ji shifted his posture—from formal sitting to relaxed cross-legged—and hesitated before making his first request: “May I take a look around?”

This was his first time entering a girl’s private room—he was bound to be curious… What? Xiao Ai? That doesn’t count.

The girl tilted her head slightly, blinked once, and a faint look of curiosity crossed her face. She didn’t understand his intent—but she agreed.

“...Okay.”

Changmen Youxi’s replies were always as brief as a parrot’s, giving only the bare minimum of explanation, her voice slightly stiff—perhaps because she was still in “standby mode.”

But Jia Ji, having received her permission, cheered and leapt to his feet.

He had long wanted to verify something.

Jia Ji, wearing size 45 shoes, stepped on the floor without making a single sound.

He moved silently, held his breath, and slowly pulled open the door behind Changmen Youxi, peering inside.

“Haha, let me take a look! It’s pretty big inside~”

“Oh! That’s the god of snark, Kyouku!”

“And the girl beside him, sleeping with a face full of nervousness like a rabbit—that must be 1096 (Asahina Mikuru)! One of the most iconic bunny-girl images!”

On the floor lay a plain-looking boy, ordinary in appearance, with a blank, “Kyouku” face and the relaxed expression typical of a Japanese high school student—the narrator and comic relief: Kyon!

Too bad—it’s not Xuzi.

But also good it’s not Xuzi—otherwise Changmen Youxi would have to gender-flip into Changmen Yongyan or Changmen Yongxi. That would be tragic.

Another girl, as still as a hibernating creature, Mikuru, had a cute doll-like face, chestnut wavy hair cascading down her back, long thick eyelashes resting on her lids. Even motionless, she radiated an aura of delicate vulnerability at all times.

Though they appeared asleep, these two high schoolers in their North High uniforms were actually frozen in time—their spatiotemporal information locked in place.

Unlike weak time-stops lasting five seconds, these two had been frozen for two years and nine months. The one who had performed this astonishing act of time manipulation was the sailor-uniformed girl who now silently appeared beside Jia Ji: Changmen Youxi.

Just as with Yulia before, Jia Ji had not sensed her presence at all—but he was not surprised. Even Dragon Fist Master here would have been powerless.

“Frozen range reduced.”

Time would have resumed the moment the door opened, but Youxi instantly shifted the time-freeze boundary to encompass only the two of them.

“Freeze will be lifted in 104 days, at a known node in the spatiotemporal continuum.”

The use of complex terminology was one of Changmen Youxi’s signature traits in explanation.

“Let them stay frozen then.” Jia Ji quietly pulled his head back and gently closed the door, satisfied. He had no intention of interfering—this was merely curiosity satisfied.

He cleared his throat twice, then returned to his original spot, ready to speak—when he met Changmen Youxi’s piercing gaze, sharp enough to cut through her glasses and strike him.

“You want to know how I found out about this? …Ah, it’s just the usual info network of an outsider from another world. In your terms, future information reached me.”

“Understood.”

A cold glint flashed across her lenses. Though she nodded as if accepting, Jia Ji sensed she was not satisfied—but the priority now was not spoilers, but resolving Duo Qi’s matter.

“Suzumiya Haruhi won’t return to school for another week.”

“Let’s focus on work first.”

(End of chapter)