The soul flag had been restored, but there were no indications of any changes in the plot. Ye Zhizhou opened the system information and browsed through it, his brows furrowing deeper as he flipped through the pages. According to the timeline, the protagonist had met Yuan Yao when he was in his forties, while Yuan Yao was only twenty-five at the time. So, the current Yuan Yao was probably... just born not long ago?
"..."
He couldn't even spare a newborn? This soul flag's changes were truly astonishing.
Cen Yuebai walked over, picked up a fork, and placed it to the side. He reached out, placing his hand on Ye Zhizhou's forehead, and gently tapped it, asking, "What are you daydreaming about?"
Ye Zhizhou returned to his senses, shook his head, and after a moment of thought, asked, "You initially approached my sister to help her return her soul. Suppose her body died before the soul returned. What would happen to her soul?"
"Her situation is quite unique, akin to a possession. If her body dies before the soul returns, her soul will become weaker and weaker until it disperses and returns to the cycle of reincarnation," Cen Yuebai said, sitting on the edge of the bed and reaching into the blanket. He gently touched Ye Zhizhou's wound under his clothes, then leaned in to look into his eyes. "Why do you suddenly bring this up?"
The touch on the wound made it itch a bit, and he shifted backward, catching the hand that was mischievously wandering around his waist. His serious expression couldn't be maintained as he broke into a smile and shot back, "I just found it a bit troubling... Have you made any progress in your investigation? It seems that Fan Lang has no knowledge of soul transfer. Who do you think could be behind this?"
Cen Yuebai couldn't help but lean in and kiss his eyes affectionately, gripping his hand as he spoke, "I went to the place where Fan Lang had the accident. There were traces of a magical battle nearby, but I couldn't determine the specific sect. Everything appears normal at the hospital, but Shen Mengxi's body was taken over here. Combining the two clues, I suspect that someone wanted to steal Fan Lang's body but accidentally involved Shen Mengxi."
"Someone wanted to steal Fan Lang's body..." Suddenly, he remembered something and prodded the system frantically in his mind. "Does the protagonist's little flag follow his soul wherever he goes?"
[Searching for rules, please wait... Search complete. The soul flag is bound to the soul and cannot be changed.]
Bound to the soul? Then why didn't he see the flag on the protagonist's head when he was at Shen Mengxi's school that day? At that time, Fan Lang's soul was clearly in Shen Mengxi's body. Could it be that Fan Lang wasn't the protagonist after all?
In the middle of the night, he found himself in Fan Lang's hospital room again. The room was dimly lit, making the small flags that emitted a faint glow even more conspicuous. He couldn't help but grip the small mirror in his pocket tightly, frowning deeply. What's going on... Fan Lang's soul didn't have a flag on his head when it was in Shen Mengxi's body, but now it suddenly appeared after returning to his own body?
He scratched at the small mirror and carefully observed Fan Lang after sprinkling some powdered sleeping pills. He couldn't find any issues, and he asked in his mind, "Does the soul flag only appear when the protagonist's soul matches his body?"
[There is no such requirement in the rules.]
Then what's happening now? He was growing more puzzled. The resurrection pill couldn't be wrong. Fan Lang's body definitely housed Fan Lang's own soul at this moment. And back then, it was indeed Fan Lang who had possessed Shen Mengxi's body. So why did the flag appear and disappear randomly?
"You find it strange too, right?"
Suddenly, a voice startled him, causing his heart to skip a beat.
Yin Feiyu pushed the door open and walked in, stopping by the bedside and looking at Fan Lang together with him. He held a closed notebook in his hand. "He woke up, and your sister fainted. Interesting. What's even more interesting is that his current personality is somewhat different from when he was in your sister's body."
His psychic abilities hadn't detected Yin Feiyu's approach. What was going on? He quickly regained his composure and didn't follow Yin Feiyu's train of thought. Instead, he asked, "Do you know about soul transfers? Or do you know who did it?" Yin Feiyu had always been peculiar, not seeming like a bad person but not entirely trustworthy either. He appeared to be aware of many things but hadn't shown any intention of getting involved. He maintained the posture of an observer. Ye Zhizhou had been secretly vigilant and had been monitoring him with psychic power for several days, but he had gained no insights. In any case, this person remained a mystery to him.
"Forget to mention, my eyes are a bit different from yours," Yin Feiyu said, taking off his glasses and tilting his head, his eyes slightly upturned, unexpectedly carrying a touch of charm. "Your soul is golden, and my grandfather said that golden souls are rare, their owners destined for great merits, with precious destinies that should be treated with caution. Although I dislike all these supernatural things, I have to admit that they are very useful. So, I believe in you."
"And this one in the bed." He put his glasses back on, sneered, and said, "On the first day he entered the hospital, his soul was in a chaotic gray, the next day it became blank, and now, his soul is gradually turning black. Black represents a great evildoer who, after death, cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation. I really don't want to treat him."
[The probability of Yin Feiyu falling in love with the protagonist has dropped to 0%. The fourth soul flag has been removed. Congratulations to the host, please continue your efforts.]
The sudden system prompt eased Ye Zhizhou's surprise. His thoughts were racing in his mind, but he didn't show it on his face. He continued to ask, "Can you see the color of Cen Yuebai's soul?"
"Cen Yuebai," Yin Feiyu squinted his eyes, looked towards the hospital room door, and said, "Since you're here, don't hide. Don't worry, I have no intentions towards your little lover."
Ye Zhizhou, who was trying hard to appear profound, raised an eyebrow at the remark and couldn't help turning his head to look at the hospital room door.
"So, I hate people like you with the Third Eye," a cold voice came from the door. Cen Yuebai pushed the door open and walked in, stepping on the corridor's lights as he approached. He, too, looked at Fan Lang on the bed, who was unaware of everything. "Great evildoer, I see. It's not soul transfer but soul fusion. No wonder the first soul-returning spell failed."
Soul fusion?! Then what about the soul flag... Ye Zhizhou turned to look at Fan Lang in the bed and activated the system's scanning function. Unfortunately, the system could only scan physical conditions and had no special effect on souls. He realized this halfway and closed the system again in frustration. High-tech and cheat abilities were sometimes not very useful in these increasingly unscientific worlds... The task was challenging.
Cen Yuebai walked over Yin Feiyu and came in front of Ye Zhizhou. He held Ye Zhizhou's hand and squeezed it, saying, "Go back to sleep, it's very late."
Ye Zhizhou, who had sneaked out, looked guilty and glanced at him. He obediently followed Cen Yuebai and walked towards the exit. But just before passing by Yin Feiyu, he suddenly remembered the previous question and asked again, "So, what color is Yuebai's soul?"
Cen Yuebai paused his steps, turned to look at Yin Feiyu, and his gaze turned sharp, carrying a hint of threat, a stark contrast to his usual cold and indifferent demeanor.
"Ordinary people's souls are warm, pale yellow. The more evil they do, the murkier the color becomes. Conversely, the more good deeds they perform, the purer the color." Yin Feiyu didn't directly answer his question but instead turned and walked away. As he walked, he said, "A person who is heartless, guiltless, and without merit, blessed with immortal luck but burdened with karma. What do you think... the color of his soul would be?"
Seeing the white and carefree figure once again, Ye Zhizhou felt a bit heavy-hearted this time.
Blessed with immortal luck but burdened with karma... karma... He looked at Cen Yuebai, who had stopped in front of him. He wanted to say something, opened his mouth, but hesitated and closed it again. In every lifetime, he had cast his soul into someone else's body, occupying it, while his lover experienced countless cycles of reincarnation without memories of their past lives. Regarding the mysterious question of karma, even if he asked, he knew he wouldn't get an answer from his lover. In this life, his lover had committed no evil deeds, yet when facing such questions, he must be feeling so helpless and sorrowful.
A slight disturbance came from the psychic web surrounding Fan Lang. He returned to his senses, tightened his grip on his lover's hand, and led him outside. "The sleeping powder I sprinkled is about to take effect. Let's go. We can talk later."
Cen Yuebai looked at the intertwined hands of the two and slowly relaxed his stiff body. What did it matter if he was burdened with karma? As long as this person didn't let go, as long as this person was by his side...
Silently returning to the hospital room, Cen Yuebai didn't go to the adjacent cot. Instead, he climbed onto the bed and embraced Ye Zhizhou tightly, leaving no gap, as if he was afraid that Ye Zhizhou would run away if he let go.
Ye Zhizhou also turned to hug him, kissed his chin gently, and then released his soothing psychic power to envelop both of them. He spoke softly, "Yuebai, we will always be together."
Cen Yuebai hugged him even tighter, remained silent for a while, and then whispered, "A few years ago, my master sensed that his life was nearing its end. He secretly cast a divination for me using his life as an offering... The divination revealed a bloody hell."
Ye Zhizhou's heart tightened. He wanted to raise his head to see Cen Yuebai's expression but was restrained, unable to move.
"You are destined for a life full of virtue, and I..."
"I believe you don't have a bad heart." Ye Zhizhou interrupted him, anxiously nuzzling against him. "If there's karma, we can slowly atone for it. Besides, we've been fated for several lifetimes. Don't even think about leaving me alone! Don't you want to be with me anymore? You don't need to worry too much about this..."
"I want to be together." Cen Yuebai suddenly flipped over, pressing him down beneath him, his emotions unusually intense. "You can only be mine! Even if it means going to hell, I want to take you with me!"
Ye Zhizhou stared at him in bewilderment, then he burst into laughter, destroying the mood, "You really... say this line every time..." After saying it for several lifetimes, he still wasn't tired of it.
Cen Yuebai's anxiety and haste were all dispelled by his laughter, and his emotions became a bit awkward. "You..."
"I like you, no, I love you." Ye Zhizhou lifted his arm to embrace his neck and pulled him down, their foreheads touching. He slowly said, word by word, "I have secrets, and you've probably noticed, but you respected me enough not to ask. Now, I want to respect your secrets. Karma and all that, I'll forget about them when I wake up tomorrow. You don't need to be troubled or worried about it. You are who you are, and I believe that you've been a good person in this lifetime. In fact, in the previous life, and the life before that... You've always been a good person, and I just happen to love you for it. Do you understand?"
Cen Yuebai's expression gradually softened, and the nerve that had been suppressed by the bloody divination for many years finally relaxed, filling with warmth and tenderness. "I understand." He relaxed his body, pressing it onto Ye Zhizhou's, and kissed his eyes. "I love you too... always."
Their dispersed psychic power sensed the approach of a familiar psychic power in the air. He closed his eyes, smiled, and hugged the person tightly. No matter what color his lover's soul was, he believed in this person and deeply loved this person. That was enough.
The two of them slept sweetly and happily, completely forgetting about Fan Lang upstairs, whose soul was gradually turning black.
The next morning, Ye Zhizhou woke up groggily, his gaze sweeping over the small mirror on the pillow. His consciousness instantly sharpened, and he sat up in bed with a start.
Oh no! The mission!
Cen Yuebai had just come in with breakfast, and when he saw Ye Zhizhou sitting on the bed with disheveled hair, looking terrified, he furrowed his brows slightly and walked over quickly. He touched Ye Zhizhou's forehead and asked with concern, "Did you have a nightmare? Or did you not sleep well?"
"Yuebai! Soul fusion, soul fusion!" He grabbed Cen Yuebai's hand, so anxious that his words came out disjointed. "How is Fan Lang now? What's the deal with soul fusion? Yesterday, or rather, Yin Feiyu said his soul is turning black, is it because of soul fusion?"
Cen Yuebai relaxed his furrowed brows and sat by the bedside, patting him soothingly. After Ye Zhizhou had calmed down a bit, he spoke, "Soul fusion is different from possession. He's not stealing someone else's body but their destiny and the opportunity for reincarnation. Soul fusion takes time; don't worry, Fan Lang's soul hasn't been fully integrated yet, and there is a way."
Ye Zhizhou quickly asked, "What's the way? How long does soul fusion take? How can we stop it?"
"It could take as little as a month or as long as three to five years, depending on the strength of the invading soul. As for how to stop it... we need to separate the invading soul and eliminate it."
Separate the invading soul... Ye Zhizhou silently repeated these words and then pulled at his hair in frustration. So, that damn invading soul is the true protagonist of this world! Why aren't any of the protagonists in Hard Mode normal? This time, it's actually just a soul, and he even stole someone else's body!
"Detected soul flag fluctuations... the fourth removed soul flag has been restored and transferred to Yuan Wei's soul. Please be aware, Host!"
Ye Zhizhou took a deep breath upon seeing the sudden system notification. Yuan Wei? The big shot's son?! Did that invading soul pick a fight with the Yuan family?