Chapter 297: 24 Years Old, a Student

“Welcome back, my friend. You’ve returned earlier than I expected.”

On a lush green lawn, a brown-haired man in loose casual wear warmly opened his arms and gave Ning Zhe a hearty bear hug: “Have you finished your business?”

This man was Fanc Daike’s longtime friend: Flos Milicato, who had rushed over immediately upon learning that Master Dai Ke had already boarded his private jet and returned to Vivian Port.

“Things went smoother than expected, so I came back early,” Ning Zhe said, glancing up at the dense night sky above and smiling: “It seems even God doesn’t want me to miss tomorrow’s swimwear show.”

“Praise the Lord,” Flos laughed heartily, clapping Ning Zhe on the shoulder as they walked: “This is the last and grandest swimwear show ever held in Vivian Port. After this week, the port residents will begin evacuating and relocating… Ah, I know that’s not what you want to hear.”

Flos teased him, leaning close to Ning Zhe’s ear and whispering: “After tomorrow’s noon swimwear show ends, the thing you’ve been longing for will go up for auction.”

Ning Zhe narrowed his eyes, taking a few seconds to grasp what he meant.

So it was that thing…

“Then I absolutely can’t miss it,” Ning Zhe chuckled, promptly displaying eager anticipation: “Thanks for the reminder, Flos. Otherwise, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”

Flos waved his hand: “Our friendship doesn’t require such words. Even if you weren’t here, I’d have bought that item for you and delivered it to Dai Ke’s airship.”

“I knew you would,” Ning Zhe smiled, and the two men walked into Flos’s penthouse apartment in Vivian Port beneath the night sky.

They chatted until late into the night, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company. Despite Flos’s repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, Ning Zhe refused to spend the night. Flos finally had his servants escort the drunken Master Dai Ke back to his own apartment—on another floor of the same building.

“Damn, how much did you drink…?” Xia Yubing took Ning Zhe’s alcohol-soaked coat from the maid’s hands. Two maids worked together to lay Master Dai Ke on the round bed, then asked if they should help him wash up or change clothes; he declined.

As soon as the two maids left and closed the door, the stench of alcohol vanished from Ning Zhe’s body. He sat up on the round bed.

“Aren’t you worried about surveillance or listening devices?” Xia Yubing handed him a glass of water, warning him.

“Don’t worry—there aren’t any here,” Ning Zhe took a sip, then exhaled deeply.

“How did your matter turn out?” Xia Yubing sat beside him and asked: “You were so secretive and left in such a hurry—it must have been important.”

“It was indeed important,” Ning Zhe nodded. “But it’s resolved.”

The ‘Tiger Demon’—or rather, the ‘Necromancer’—inside Vanessa Castle had been captured by him. Ning Zhe was now free from the mental imprint that had forced him to solve Vanessa Castle’s mystery, and had temporarily regained his freedom.

“Good,” Xia Yubing, sensing he didn’t wish to elaborate, changed the subject: “When you left, Flos took me around the Vivian Port marketplace and said some strange things—like he was hinting at something…”

Seeing Ning Zhe hadn’t read the note she’d left in her notebook, Xia Yubing repeated Flos’s words to him:

【…Flowers bloom again, but youth never returns. Some precious things, once missed, can never be found again—even if, far in the future, you retrieve them, what you pick up is no longer the same person or the same moment.】

“That’s about it,” Xia Yubing thought for a moment, then added: “He talks in riddles, like he’s hinting at something. Do you have any idea what he means?”

“I think I know what he’s referring to,” Ning Zhe set down his glass. “Don’t pay attention to his words—it’s just some nobleman’s petty, twisted game.”

“Fine… if you won’t say, then don’t,” Xia Yubing shrugged, rose, walked to the bar, fetched a teapot, refilled his glass, then stood beside the bed in silence, as if lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Ning Zhe looked up at her. “Is something bothering you?”

“There is something strange,” Xia Yubing sighed. “But I’m not sure if asking you will help. Just now, you wouldn’t tell me anything—so I’m afraid this will be the same. Asking might be pointless.”

“How will you know unless you ask?”

“That’s true.”

Xia Yubing agreed. She unfastened her belt, pulled the hem of her shirt out from her waistband, lifted it to her chest, and displayed her sharply defined abdomen to him: “Look. What’s this?” “Stomach?”

“Look again.”

“Abs?”

“Exactly—abs,” Xia Yubing nodded. “Since leaving Qinzhou, I haven’t trained properly for nearly a week. My diet’s been careless—I’ve eaten a lot of fried foods and meat.”

“...So?” Ning Zhe frowned. “Aren’t you prone to gaining weight?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m getting at.”

Xia Yubing lifted her shirt with one hand and traced her belly with the other: “I’ve always gained weight easily. Eat one bite too much, my face rounds out. Eat another, my waist thickens. I’ve always exercised and watched my figure, but if I slack off for just a few days, I gain it all back fast.”

But now?

Ning Zhe lowered his gaze, studying the deep grooves of her abdominal muscles and the powerful, serpent-like contours of her thighs—every inch of her body exquisitely proportioned, nothing like someone who’d neglected diet and exercise.

“And this,” Xia Yubing let her shirt drop, then held out her hand to him: “Today at noon, I planned to peel some fruit, but I accidentally cut my finger. My left index finger lost a layer of skin. I rushed to find alcohol swabs—do you know what happened next?”

“Before I even found the first-aid kit, the wound on my finger was gone.”

Not a single error, not a single flaw, not a single detail out of place!

Ning Zhe took her outstretched left hand, gripped it, and examined it closely. Her skin was pale, pores fine, nails neatly trimmed, no nail art, no trace of injury on the index finger.

“How is it?” Xia Yubing asked nervously, watching Ning Zhe’s thoughtful expression: “Ning Zhe, do you know what’s happening to me? Why are these things—” “What are you doing?!”

Ning Zhe said nothing. He took her left index finger and placed it in his mouth, bit down gently, snapping off a small notch from her nail, then held it up, silently observing.

Five seconds. Ten seconds. Time passed second by second. Nothing happened.

“Ning… Ning Zhe?” Xia Yubing’s cheeks flushed faintly. “What are you doing?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“Close your eyes,” Ning Zhe repeated.

“O-okay…” Xia Yubing, confused, obeyed and shut her eyes. At the same time, Ning Zhe closed his eyes too.

He silently counted roughly ten seconds in his mind.

“You can open them now.”

Both Xia Yubing and Ning Zhe opened their eyes simultaneously—and were astonished to find the notch on her nail had vanished.

“This… how is this possible…”

Ning Zhe’s expression remained unchanged. He released her hand and asked: “How old are you?”

“Uh… I was born in 1994, so I’m 24 this year?” Xia Yubing replied. “Why are you asking suddenly?”

“Nothing,” Ning Zhe shrugged. “You’ll probably always be 24.”

(End of Chapter)