Chen Nuo's shouting left the three women stunned.
But Chen Nuo had taken the opportunity to struggle to a sitting position, then swiftly scooted backward, forcefully pulling away Lu Xixi's hand, and then yanking up his shorts with both hands.
His eyes bulged wide. He looked at Lu Xixi, then scooted back further.
He looked at Li Yingwan, then scooted back again.
Turning his head, he saw Sun Keke.
At that moment, Chen Nuo froze!
Shock, bewilderment, absurdity, and various other emotions flickered in his eyes.
He blurted out, "Sun Keke?! How come you…"
He quickly grabbed the blanket from the bed and wrapped himself in it, glancing at the somewhat dazed three women.
Then Chen Nuo suddenly rolled off the bed and looked like he was about to bolt from the room.
"..."
Lu Xixi narrowed her eyes and instantly grabbed the hem of Chen Nuo's shirt.
RRIP!
With a tearing sound, the T-shirt Chen Nuo was wearing was ripped open.
He stumbled, leaned backward, then desperately clung to the edge of the bed, struggling. He tried to step toward the doorway again, but Lu Xixi grabbed his clothes once more.
This time, with the T-shirt already torn, Lu Xixi caught hold of his shorts.
Chen Nuo lurched forward.
RRIP!
As he landed sprawled on the ground, his shorts were pulled down to his knees, revealing black and white checkered underwear.
Chen Nuo lay on the ground, wincing from the fall and appearing to panic. He let out a cry, clutching his underwear tightly. He then scrambled to his feet, bracing his hands against the doorframe as he stood up.
Only then did Chen Nuo turn around, looking at Lu Xixi in terror.
One hand gripped his underwear tightly, the other clutched across his chest, shielding his lean, muscular torso.
"Don't come any closer!!"
Chen Nuo looked at Lu Xixi in horror.
"Chen Nuo!"
The immense force sent Chen Nuo staggering backward a few steps before he collapsed onto the floor.
Chen Nuo felt his body go limp. He was seized again; turning his head, he saw Lu Xixi had already grabbed his arm.
Chen Nuo was pulled up once more. He struggled fiercely, took a deep breath, and then shouted loudly.
"Help… MMMMPH…"
His mouth was suddenly covered by Lu Xixi's palm.
The boy was quickly dragged up and thrown onto the sofa in the living room.
Lu Xixi turned her head to look at the two girls, who were completely dumbfounded.
"Get the blanket from the room! Bring it here!"
Two minutes later, Chen Nuo was on the living room sofa, wrapped in a blanket, with curtain cords tied in several knots around it.
The boy's body wriggled like a maggot, but he couldn't break free.
Even his mouth had been stuffed with a sock.
Well, the sock had been hurriedly fished out by Li Yingwan from a dresser drawer in the bedroom.
The long-legged girl looked at Chen Nuo's current state; somehow, it seemed vaguely familiar…
Lu Xixi was also getting impatient.
"Chen Nuo! I'm warning you! Stop acting!
"Pretending to have amnesia is useless!"
As she spoke, the Empress's emotions seemed to crumble.
"Do you know how worried I was when you were injured this time? I haven't had a proper rest for days; I can't even close my eyes! All I could think about was when you would wake up!
"Can't you stop making such a fuss! Stop acting!"
"MMMMMPH! MMMMPH!"
Chen Nuo struggled, trying desperately to say something.
Lu Xixi hesitated for a moment, then reached out and removed the sock from his mouth.
Once his mouth was free, Chen Nuo turned his head to look at Sun Keke beside him.
His tone was a mix of panic and indignation. "Sun Keke! Who the hell are these people?! You…
"Did you bring them to my house?! What on earth do you want to do to me?!"
As he spoke, Chen Nuo seemed to pause, then quickly added, "Do you know, breaking into someone else's house is against the la--MMMMMPH…"
The sock was stuffed back into his mouth.
Lu Xixi's face had turned cold. She went into the kitchen, poured a cup of tap water, returned to the living room, and without hesitation, splashed the water in Chen Nuo's face!
SPLASH.
Chen Nuo was stunned!
"Chen Nuo!" Lu Xixi gritted her teeth, her voice trembling slightly. "You… you've disappointed me so much, do you know that?!"
Chen Nuo: "...??"
"So this is the solution you came up with to face our current situation?
"Running away?
"Acting?
"So your way of dealing with this is to fool us?!"
As she spoke, Lu Xixi, feeling both hurt and angry, suddenly swung her hand.
SMACK! A slap landed on the scumbag's face.
Ultimately, the Empress adored this Chen Xiaoguo too much to hit him hard. Although she slapped him, there wasn't even a red mark on Chen Xiaoguo's face.
If she had really struck with force, a top Controller like the Star Sky Empress could have sent someone flying through a wall with just a fraction more power.
Chen Nuo seemed dazed by the slap.
After a moment's stupor, he widened his eyes and looked at Lu Xixi, silent for about two seconds.
And then his struggles intensified.
Lu Xixi's expression grew darker by the second, and her eyes filled with sorrow.
"Lu…" Sun Keke started to say habitually but caught herself before adding "sister."
"...Let me talk. He… he seems to recognize me," Sun Keke whispered.
Lu Xixi did not respond.
Sun Keke sat next to Chen Nuo. Her heart ached that her boyfriend had been slapped, and she reached out to touch his face.
Chen Nuo looked shocked at Sun Keke's gesture!
Then, Sun Keke spoke softly, "Can you stop yelling, okay, Chen Nuo? I'll remove the sock from your mouth. Can… can you just talk normally?"
As she spoke, Sun Keke removed the sock.
Chen Nuo took a few heavy breaths. This time, he did not yell again.
"You recognize me, right?"
"...Of course. You're Sun Keke."
"Then what am I to you?"
"A classmate." Chen Nuo looked at Sun Keke with an expression of utter disbelief.
"...Just a classmate?" Sun Keke's face showed her discomfort, and her heart clenched painfully.
Chen Nuo also wore a strange expression, whispering, "Just… just a classmate."
School belle Sun bit her lip hard. "You… you say just a classmate?"
"..." Chen Nuo seemed to lower his head, struggling internally for a moment, then slowly said, "I… I did write you a love letter.
"But, if you think that was wrong of me, if I offended you…
"You… you can reject me if you're not happy.
"Anyway…
"But you can't just bring people to my house and tie me up, can you?"
"Oppa! Don't you recognize me anymore?" Li Yingwan, the long-legged girl, blurted out, interrupting their conversation.
In her urgency, Firefly had spoken in Goryeo.
Chen Nuo's eyes widened with a baffled look. He shrank back and asked Sun Keke, "She… what is she saying?"
"Don't you recognize her?" Sun Keke frowned.
"Of course I don't!" Chen Nuo's expression was frantic. "What on earth is going on?!"
"She's also your… classmate," Sun Keke said in a low voice. "She is Li Yingwan, from South Korea. After arriving at No. 8 Middle School, she's in our class too."
"Impossible!" Chen Nuo widened his eyes and shook his head. "We don't have any foreign students in our class! And… and… Sun Keke! You and I aren't even in the same class!"
Before Sun Keke could ask anything else…
Lu Xixi placed a hand on Sun Keke's shoulder.
The Empress suddenly sensed something and quickly asked, "What's today's date?"
"It's December 23rd, 2000… Tomorrow everyone is celebrating Christmas. I was clearly in math class. I felt unwell and fell asleep with my head on the desk…"
Chen Nuo answered rapidly, but as he spoke, he began to feel that something was wrong, and his voice grew softer and softer.
The three girls in front of him…
Lu Xixi was wearing jeans and a loose-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt.
Sun Keke was in a white dress.
Li Yingwan was in shorts and a cropped, tight-fitting T-shirt.
No matter how you looked at it, these were all summer outfits!
Chen Nuo seemed stupefied, looking at the three women with a dazed expression.
Lu Xixi's silence was frightening!
The Empress took a deep breath, slowly picked up the TV remote from the table, and turned on the television.
After flipping through several channels, she found one broadcasting the news.
A few minutes later…
Looking at Chen Nuo's ashen face, Lu Xixi spoke in a forced whisper, "Today is August 28th, 2001. Do you… really not remember?"
"Two… 2000… 2001… August… August…" Chen Nuo's voice trembled as he spoke.
The Empress suddenly reached out and grabbed Chen Nuo's wrist.
Spiritual power quickly permeated Chen Nuo's Consciousness Space…
In an instant, the Empress shuddered and released Chen Nuo's hand.
In Chen Nuo's Consciousness Space, there was only chaos and faintness.
His spiritual power was so weak, it was even less than that of an ordinary person.
Its vigor didn't even compare to Sun Keke's or Li Yingwan's.
There wasn't the slightest hint of the power fluctuations of an Ability User!
This definitely couldn't be faked!
Chen Nuo might be pretending to have lost his memory! He might be acting with them. He might also be lying and making up stories… But spiritual power couldn't deceive anyone! More accurately, it couldn't deceive a top Controller like the Star Sky Empress!
Chen Nuo stopped struggling.
He remained wrapped in the blanket and bound, staring wide-eyed at the news on the television.
Yet his gaze was somewhat vacant, his brows tightly furrowed.
His face showed shock, panic, and… something else.
He no longer spoke, seeming to be pondering something with all his might.
Lu Xixi pulled Sun Keke away and also drew Li Yingwan over.
"December 23rd, 2000. His memory is still stuck on this day… So, Sun Keke, I ask you, did anything special happen that day?" Lu Xixi asked Sun Keke.
Sun Keke spoke softly, "Yes, there was."
"Spit it out!" Lu Xixi shook her head. "Right now, every shred of a clue is very important!"
A trace of embarrassment appeared on Sun Keke's face, but she spoke anyway.
"That day… that day… I accidentally fell from the second floor and landed on Chen Nuo…"
She paused and then added, "It was near the end of the first semester of our second year of high school. Back then, Chen Nuo and I weren't in the same class.
"We were only assigned to the same class after the students were divided into arts and sciences streams the following semester."
"Think if there's anything else!"
Sun Keke spoke softly, "That day… well, before that day, he wrote me a love letter. Just before that day… about two or three days earlier."
In fact, Sun Keke had been quite surprised to receive Chen Nuo's love letter back then.
Because of Old Sun's presence, although School belle Sun was a recognized beauty at No. 8 Middle School, no one had the guts to openly flirt with the daughter of the Dean of Discipline.
Many coveted her in private, but Chen Nuo was the only one who dared to take action.
At the time, School belle Sun was very surprised upon receiving the love letter.
She felt a young girl's shyness and embarrassment, along with a slight sense of being offended.
But it was, after all, the first love letter she had ever received. So, School belle Sun began to take notice of this Chen Nuo fellow.
However, School belle Sun soon realized she had actually known Chen Nuo for a long time.
They just weren't very familiar.
The impression Chen Nuo always gave people was…
Introverted, lonely, aloof, a loner.
It seemed his family wasn't well-off.
He didn't have many friends at school.
In theory, such a student, with such a personality, would usually be an "invisible person" in a high school setting, with hardly any presence.
But the reason School belle Sun recognized Chen Nuo was actually quite simple.
It was because Chen Nuo's parents had blessed him with good looks.
Young girls tend to give handsome guys an extra glance or two.
In fact, when Chen Nuo first arrived at No. 8 Middle School during his first year of high school, he did catch the attention of some female students in the first few days.
A thin boy with a handsome and delicate face, he looked clean and tidy.
At first glance, he was indeed likable.
Added to the fact that he hardly spoke, he seemed to possess a sort of "cool" temperament.
Many young girls liked that type.
But that soon changed.
The girls gradually realized that this handsome classmate wasn't "cool."
He was aloof, introverted…
And even a bit cowardly!
Because he was strikingly good-looking but also introverted and unsociable, Chen Nuo naturally had no friends.
Moreover, because he received so much attention from the girls when he first arrived,
he also aroused some dissatisfaction among the boys.
He was targeted several times.
During these conflicts, Chen Nuo always appeared cowardly and weak.
When boys provoked him, he would bow his head in silence.
Some even deliberately threw his backpack on the ground and stepped on it.
He would just silently pick it up and walk away, head down.
People even deliberately bumped into him during PE class.
He would just quietly avoid them.
As a result, his "handsome" aura quickly dissipated, and the girls no longer paid him any attention.
After all, young girls…
They might like pretty boys, sunny handsome guys, or even those with squarer faces…
But! Most wouldn't feel attracted to a man who was timid, cowardly, and afraid of trouble!
So, after Chen Nuo's aura faded, he became just another face in the crowd, increasingly inconspicuous.
After losing his presence, others couldn't even be bothered to bully or target him anymore.
Sun Keke talked for a while, then stopped and looked at Chen Nuo.
She noticed he was still deep in thought, head bowed, though he occasionally glanced at the TV.
Lu Xixi pursed her lips and then looked at Li Yingwan. "You met him in…"
"January 2001," Li Yingwan said coldly. "How we met is a matter between me and Oppa, and I'm not telling you!"
"It doesn't matter! His memory only goes up to December 2000. He doesn't remember you at all," Lu Xixi scoffed.
Sun Keke didn't speak; she just looked at Chen Nuo, her eyes growing redder and redder.
Finally!
"Can you guys let me go?"
Chen Nuo, on the sofa, spoke.
His tone was utterly dejected.
Lu Xixi glanced at Chen Nuo, sighed softly, said nothing, but nodded.
Sun Keke and Li Yingwan immediately rushed over, clumsily releasing Chen Nuo.
He gave the two girls a complicated look, then lowered his head without a word, turned, and walked into the house, heading straight for the bathroom.
Moments later, he came out of the bathroom, then turned and went into the bedroom.
In the bedroom, a strange bed, a strange wardrobe…
In the past few months, Chen Yanluo had replaced all the replaceable furniture in this house with newer, more comfortable items.
Opening the wardrobe, he saw it was full of clothes.
All of them were unfamiliar, unrecognizable.
Chen Nuo hesitated for a moment, then rummaged through them and finally managed to find two items of clothing he remembered.
He quickly dressed, then made his way back to the living room.
Chen Nuo emerged wearing a pair of black athletic shorts, common in summer.
On his upper body was a knock-off sports T-shirt—a famous international sports brand, but with a letter missing from its logo.
"I… I need to go out and have a look."
Sun Keke was about to say something, but Lu Xixi held her back.
"Oppa, I'll come with you," Li Yingwan offered.
Unfortunately, Chen Nuo didn't understand what she was saying.
Anyway, it wasn't a request, more like he was thinking aloud. After saying it, he went to the front door, opened it, and walked out.
"Let's follow him from behind, keeping our distance. Don't disturb him," Lu Xixi said, massaging her temples. A terrible headache was throbbing.
Inside, she was filled with confusion and trepidation.
「In a vast expanse of chaos.」
Chen Nuo sat cross-legged in the void, his eyes closed.
It was as if he were carefully listening to something.
Then, a gentle sigh.