Chapter 647: Drag Them All Into the Water!

Zhou Mingrui had originally planned to just eat something simple—if worse came to worst, a starch sausage from a street stall, a bowl of instant noodles, and a fried egg would suffice.

“Gurgle. Gurgle.”

Aromatic hydrocarbons from the smoke drifted out of the kitchen; his throat involuntarily swallowed, and his stomach let out an unrelenting growl.

You just attended your friend’s funeral today, Zhou Mingrui—how could you possibly.

“Chicken soup’s ready~” Huai Zhi’s voice called out.

Sorry, Li Jiatu—this smell is just too irresistible.

The girl in the dress, wearing heat-resistant gloves, carried a clay pot from the kitchen; bubbles churned inside, and the savory aroma spread with the steam—how could such a rich broth be made in just an hour?

“Don’t rush, there’s more dishes coming.”

Then came Beijing-style shredded pork, potato-braised beef, and stir-fried phoenix tail greens—a three-dish, one-soup feast for a single working adult!

With a heavy heart, Zhou Mingrui picked up a strand of pork and placed it atop the fluffy rice; the first bite instantly drowned his sorrow in the primal hunger of the human palate.

“Eat slowly, there’s more if you’re still hungry,” Huai Zhi said, sitting across on the sofa and serving himself a bowl of rice.

“How’s the taste?”

It was exactly the same as he remembered.

He recalled Huai Zhi once learned cooking from the downstairs Master Wei, and had developed her own personal style—though not as mind-bendingly hallucinogenic as Master Wei’s dishes, it was far superior to any high-end restaurant.

Frankly, Zhou Mingrui had always suspected Master Wei might have some kind of food system inside him—how else could such skill exist in a small neighborhood eatery?

Of course, according to him, it was to take care of his sister still in high school.

“Why did you suddenly come back?”

“I’m applying to a local university, so I came back.”

“I thought you studied music?”

“Yes, you just carried my luggage—there’s a cello case in it.”

Huai Zhi smiled slightly: “Want to hear some music?”

“Better not—you just got back from abroad, rest properly after eating,” Zhou Mingrui shook his head.

It must’ve been how much he missed this taste—just the other day, he dreamed of Huai Zhi’s dishes, even dreamed they were teammates who cooked for him every day.

That dream was absurd.

Wait—did he just dream of Miss Lu Mingfei, Huai Zhi, and another white-haired beauty, all four of them going on a date together?!

Zhou Mingrui, you. Sigh!

“Brother Zhou, is there something on my face?”

“No, sorry.”

“Why apologize?”

“Nothing.”

After quickly finishing the meal and cleaning the table, Zhou Mingrui bid Huai Zhi farewell and prepared to return home and rest.

So much happened today; now that he was full, sleepiness came.

“What do you want to eat tomorrow?” Huai Zhi asked.

“No, I’m going to work tomorrow—I’ll treat you to dinner after my shift; there’s a new hotpot place that’s pretty good.”

Zhou Mingrui nodded, deciding to stay and not disturb her rest: “We live in the same neighborhood—if you need anything, just contact me.”

“By the way, security’s been bad lately—don’t go out alone at night.”

Zhou Mingrui reminded her.

“I understand,” Huai Zhi replied seriously.

She waved goodbye as the security door slowly closed.

Zhou Mingrui relaxed too, heading downstairs to return to his own home.

He remembered Huai Zhi’s parents died early; her achievements—including studying abroad—came entirely from her own excellence, through scholarships and housing aid.

“Not easy at all.”

She’s a truly outstanding young woman.

What Zhou Mingrui didn’t know was that after he left, behind the security door, the art student he thought of as virtuous and brilliant collapsed onto a chair like she’d been drained of all energy, legs spread ungracefully, head drooping as she lit herself a cigarette.

“Inhale, exhale—” Huai Zhi puffed smoke, staring blankly at the hanging incandescent bulb through the secondhand haze: “Finally found someone.”

“You little bitch!!” A shrill, high-pitched voice rang out as a giant crow flew from the kitchen and landed on Huai Zhi’s shoulder, scolding:

“You’re already seducing men at your age! Are you waiting for him to say he wants your miso soup every day?!”

“I only want to hear a beautiful girl say that,” Huai Zhi said, one hand holding the cigarette, the other lifting her dress to check—then sighed in despair:

“I just want to be alone. Don’t ask who ‘alone’ is.”

Huai Zhi Su.

That is, Huai Shi—right now, he felt nothing beneath his skirt, and it was cold.

As a professional top-tier male host, cross-dressing was a black history—but the psychological burden was negligible, almost nonexistent.

If a kind-hearted, fair-skinned rich madam wanted to keep him, selling a little dignity to satisfy customers wasn’t a big deal.

But now his gender had changed.

He sighed helplessly, filled with bitter sorrow.

“Was it because when I was in the Marvel universe, I told K that I was a girl?” Huai Shi frowned, analyzing.

Looking back, he never had the chance to clarify before leaving the reincarnation space.

Perhaps that impression stuck, causing him to enter this world as Huai Zhi Su, female identity.

“Sigh.” Huai Shi crushed the cigarette in his hand.

Time was about right.

Huai Shi scrolled through his phone for a while.

Knock knock!

A knock came at the door.

Huai Shi walked to the security door, peered through the peephole—and saw a black-haired girl with golden eyes, the same image he’d seen before in the Marvel universe: Xiao Yinghua’s senior.

Indeed, if I initiate contact with Zhou Mingrui, I’ll draw attention from others.

Huai Shi hesitated, then opened the door with cautious vigilance.

“Is your dong still there?”

This was Lu Mingfei’s first question upon meeting.

“.”

Confirmed—it was definitely him.

Huai Shi silently shook his head; perhaps this was the fate of a male host—even if he’d only nearly become one.

He wondered whether, after completing the Divine Trace imprint and contracting Huai Zhi Su’s record-phenomenon, he could erase or at least fade these black histories.

What a torment.

Not everyone from the group came, but enough did—this was truly social death.

Huai Shi could already picture his future social death, followed by actual death, mocked endlessly throughout his life.

“Come out—he’s lost his dong.”

Lu Mingfei shouted up the stairwell.

Nani?!

Huai Shi’s eyes widened in shock, speechless.

His trusted senior Xiao Yinghua had betrayed him! Are you some water ghost trying to drown me too?!

He felt his head temperature skyrocketing, steam beginning to rise—he knew it was hard to hide, but before that day came, he still wanted to salvage something.

But now, it was over.

He stared up the stairwell, expecting a group laughing and taking photos—but instead,

A black-haired woman with cold, piercing eyes descended from the corner.

Instantly, Huai Shi forgot to breathe; the earlier heat warning cooled instantly, and when the girl reached him, he involuntarily gasped.

More beautiful, more captivating than Meng Qi’s uploaded photos!

Clearly an icy, ascetic style—and with men’s clothing, she looked absolutely stunning!

“How should I address you, miss?”

“Su.”

“Su? That’s nice—I have a friend with that surname too.”

“Hmm.”

【Crow: “I must remind you—the Book of Fate has no record of her. And this situation? Only one person has ever had it~~~Gawwww~~~!!!”】

The crow laughed heartily; even though it wasn’t visible, Huai Shi could clearly imagine it rolling on the floor with laughter.

“.”

Huai Shi’s smile faded; Su Lin stepped inside, and Lu Mingfei cautiously scanned the surroundings before closing the door.

In the center of the living room stood a modern, U-shaped fabric sofa, its dark gray surface both stain-resistant and stylish.

Three seats, three women—each with a distinct style, each unforgettable, each breathtakingly elegant—sat on the sofa.

The atmosphere was subtly tense, almost solemn—even as a crow beside them laughed so hard it nearly fainted.

I should say something now…

Huai Shi looked at Lu Mingfei and said: “Senior Lu, you’re beautiful.”

Lu Mingfei nodded and said, “You too.”

Huai Shi couldn’t help rolling his eyes and decided to shut up.

“This is the dream world; nothing here is real,” Su Lin said. “So we can’t truly kill Kleine—sorry, I mean we should find a way to wake him up.”

If his ox were still here, he’d now be worrying about whether Su Lin would silence him to bury his black history.

“.” Huai Shi suddenly understood what “losing a cow, who knows if it’s not a blessing” meant.

“I don’t care,” Lu Mingfei suddenly smiled. “I’ve already been socially dead once.”

Coach, there’s a guy here who’s just chilling.

"I originally planned to ask Brother Zhou directly about the reincarnation space."

Huai Shi changed the subject and brought up the real matter:

“But when the Book of Fate confronted him, the recorded information suddenly turned into garbled symbols, as if an invisible force had twisted all data related to Zhou Mingrui.”

“I sensed danger, so I followed the setup and claimed I’d just returned from studying abroad.”

“After that, the records on the Book of Fate returned to normal.”

According to the Original Creator, the Heavenly Sovereign’s consciousness merged into everything within this dream world; any unusual actions or words directed at Zhou Mingrui would be resisted by the dream world.

Su Lin didn’t care—the Heavenly Sovereign had apparently been watching him all along, so when he awoke as “Su Yuling,” he was immediately targeted.

The aspect of Blind Folly, or rather, the Blind Folly God’s shadow: Azathoth’s silhouette.

That force was indeed troublesome, but Su Lin held the Kabbalistic Tree of Life’s emblem, which rendered it inert.

“I’m actually a little heartbroken,” Su Lin sighed. “I always thought of the Heavenly Sovereign as a friend. Even if we can’t restore him as a pillar, couldn’t he just join the Original as my Nascent Soul summon?”

"I've always treated the Heavenly Sovereign as a friend—wouldn't it be fine to keep him and the Primordial as my Nascent Soul summons, even if I can't restore him as a pillar?"

Lu Mingfei and Huai Shi opened their mouths but said nothing.

The Heavenly Sovereign probably intended to subtly reshape Kleine’s thinking within this dream world, guiding it toward himself until divinity fully dominated humanity.

The dream world under the dominion of Blind Folly is His perfect shield against interference.

“There’s another problem: his dream is now exerting a gathering effect on the Source Matter, and the intensity is continuously increasing.”

Su Lin crossed his legs and looked at the ceiling. “Destroying this dream world might harm Kleine.”

Didn’t you just say you wanted to kill him?

“Then let’s find a way to wake up Boss Kleine,” Huai Shi fell silent.

In this dream, only those of us with the chat group remain conscious—and even he took a while to regain his self-awareness within the dream.

So now, it’s best we unite for coordinated action.

But there’s one problem now.

“A, A, A,” the crow rubbed its beak with its wing and said, “It’s 3A.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly grew oppressive; silence settled, and an ominous aura began to spread.

Huai Shi grabbed the crow and shoved a fruit into the mouth of the woman named Tong Ji—birds don’t spit out ivory; if you can’t speak, then don’t!

“Xiao Yan is making medicine at the Alchemy Alliance; Meng Qi seems to be bringing two more people in. I don’t know who yet, but they’ll arrive eventually—just go to the Multiverse Knowledge Group to find him,” Su Lin lowered his head, his hands limp on his thighs, and asked:

"Xiao Yan is making medicines at the Alchemy Alliance, and Meng Qi seems to be sending two more people in; though I don't know who they are, they'll arrive sooner or later—you can find him at the Multiverse Knowledge Corporation." Su Lin lowered his head, his hands limp on his thighs, and asked:

How do you put it?

Everyone’s numb already, and now more people are coming—how do you put it?

“Will they keep it secret?”

“What do you think?”

Probably only kept secret within their WeChat circle.

“Are there other options?” Huai Shi’s expression was blank.

“Who knows?” Su Lin tilted his head and glanced at him. “We’re all victims of Zhou Mingrui’s stereotypes. Most people can’t empathize with us. Put yourself in our shoes—I’d find it fascinating.”

To be honest, absolutely.

But then Huai Shi noticed new entries about Su Lin appearing in the Book of Fate.

He was first bewildered, then puzzled; a flash of fear and immorality rose within him, only to be instantly replaced by self-loathing and excitement.

“Yeah,” Huai Shi’s pale face twitched, his gaze unsteady. “It’s all a dream, all fake. If everyone were the same, it’d be fine.”

“Honestly, our appearances in the dream are fixed—we can’t use the Eight-Nine Profound Transformation to change form,” Su Lin sighed again, then suddenly seemed to recall something and added casually: “Would the City of Calamity work on us?”

“Didn’t I already tell you? We can only make potions that don’t affect us,” Lu Mingfei said.

As he spoke, he realized the other two were staring at him.

Huai Shi: “Would it work on others?”

"Didn't I already tell you we can only make potions that don't affect us?" Lu Mingfei said.

Su Lin thinking like this didn’t surprise Lu Mingfei—but Huai Shi?

“Since I brought it up, it makes me sound too cruel,” Su Lin narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Of course, if you oppose it, we can forget it.”

Huai Shi coughed twice. “I—I was just saying it out loud.”

"." Lu Mingfei fell silent for a moment, blinking in confusion. "Hmm… I don’t understand these things. A weakling like me just follows the majority."

The crow swallowed the fruit, staring dumbfounded at the three now clearly “green-tea, cruel, and white-cut-black” characters.

Huai Shi coughed twice: "I was just mentioning it offhand."

Lu Mingfei fell silent for a moment, blinking in confusion: "Hmm, I don’t understand these things—a cowardly loser just follows the majority."

The crow swallowed the fruit, staring in stunned disbelief at the three figures before him, their minds now turned “green tea, cruel, and white-cut black.”

“Born anew…”