"What... what did you say?"

Ye Xi’s body trembled slightly.

She stared at Gandalf with a look of utter shock, her clear eyes filled with disbelief.

It was as if she had misheard him.

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, watched her with a calm expression.

If there was anyone in this world he could trust unreservedly...

Besides Butler Fu...

It was this young girl before him.

Zhou Huai remembered clearly.

The day Ye Xi learned of his death...

She cried her heart out at his grave, tears streaming down her face.

She was so heartbroken.

Several times, she almost fainted from crying.

At the time, fearing that Ye Xi would be implicated,

He could only control Moria to watch silently from a distance.

He couldn't tell her the truth.

But now, everything was starting to change.

The Zhou Family was destroyed, and Evernight had risen.

He even possessed an SSS-Ranked Professional Clone.

He now had the ability to protect himself and those he loved.

So Zhou Huai decided to confess to Ye Xi.

He didn't want to see this little girl suffer and grieve for him anymore.

Seeing Ye Xi’s incredulous expression,

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, repeated his words, clearly and distinctly, one by one.

"Xi'er, I am Zhou Huai."

However, Ye Xi didn't react with the expected excitement.

Instead, she took another step back.

The shock on her pretty face quickly faded, replaced by a chilling frost that kept others at bay.

"Master Gandalf, what do you mean by this?"

Her voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a hint of wariness.

"Have you investigated me?"

The name Zhou Huai was the softest yet most painful scale in her heart.

No one could touch it.

Not even the hero who saved the entire city, Gandalf.

Seeing Ye Xi's somewhat angry expression,

Zhou Huai felt a mix of amusement and helplessness.

The situation was even trickier than he had anticipated.

How to make Ye Xi believe that he was him became the problem at hand.

Zhou Huai patiently, and very gently, said,

"I know this might be hard for you to believe."

"But I really am your Brother Zhou Huai. Have you forgotten my Profession?"

"I am a Avatar Master. Gandalf, standing before you now, is one of my Clones."

Ye Xi’s brows furrowed even tighter, and her tone grew colder.

"Gandalf, what exactly do you mean?"

"Do you really take me for a fool?"

She increasingly felt that the Gandalf before her was full of strangeness.

Who would believe such nonsense?

It was true that Brother Zhou Huai was a Avatar Master, but he was only an E-Class Avatar Master.

How could an E-Class Avatar Master create an SS-Ranked Clone?

Did he really think she was a three-year-old child, so easily fooled?

Seeing Ye Xi’s increasingly displeased expression,

Zhou Huai couldn't help but feel a headache.

It seemed that without some real evidence, this girl would absolutely not believe him.

However, Zhou Huai was not without a plan.

His eyes darted, and he lowered his voice, whispering at a volume only they could hear.

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

"You were only ten years old then, and we were playing together in the Zhou Family's back garden."

"At that time, you said, 'Brother Zhou Huai is so handsome, I'll marry him when I grow up.' Have you forgotten all that?"

At these words, Ye Xi was completely stunned.

"You... you..."

She stammered "you, you" for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Of course, she remembered those words.

Even though it was their first meeting.

Even though she was young and naive.

But it really was love at first sight.

She had fallen for the young man sitting on the garden bench, whose smile was brighter and warmer than the sun.

From then on, her feelings never changed.

Ye Xi’s heart couldn't help but stir with emotion at this moment.

Only she and Zhou Huai were in the garden at that time.

She had never mentioned this to a third person.

Could the Gandalf before her really be Brother Zhou Huai’s Clone?

Seeing that Ye Xi was finally wavering,

Zhou Huai took another step forward, a hint of a smile in his voice, and added, "Do you remember Yaso?"

"He's also my Clone. The one who taught Lu Qi a lesson outside the Trial Tower, and the one who helped you level up at Serene Lake, that was all me."

"Zhou Huai!"

These two words, like two heavy hammers, struck Ye Xi’s heart fiercely.

Her delicate body trembled violently, and her eyes turned completely red.

This time, she actually stepped forward and grabbed Gandalf's hand.

Her tear-filled eyes stared intently at Gandalf, as if trying to see through the person before her.

"You... are you really Brother Zhou Huai?"

Her voice was choked with tears, trembling uncontrollably.

"You really aren't dead?"

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, said with utmost sincerity,

"Not only am I not dead, but my main body is even lying in the bedroom of your villa right now."

Hearing this, Ye Xi could no longer hold back.

Months of accumulated grievances, fear, longing, and sorrow, at this moment, burst forth like a broken dam.

She actually started to wail uncontrollably.

Her choked words were broken and incoherent.

"Brother Zhou Huai... you really scared me to death..."

"I thought you were really dead... You don't know how sad I've been all these days!"

Zhou Huai quickly controlled Gandalf, awkwardly wiping her tears and gently comforting her, "There, there, it's my fault. I shouldn't have kept it from you all this time."

...Above the city wall.

The smoke of battle had not yet completely dispersed, and the surviving warriors and students were resting in twos and threes along the battlements.

The interaction between the handsome man and beautiful woman below the city naturally became the focus of everyone's attention.

"What's going on? Why is Student Ye Xi crying so sadly?"

A student from Dongning Academy craned his neck, his face full of gossip.

"Look at Master Gandalf's helpless expression; could they have had a fight?"

"I think so, and it looks like a serious one."

"No way? How come I feel like Master Gandalf is about to break up with her?"

A girl boldly guessed, immediately drawing a chorus of agreement.

In a corner of the crowd, a tall, quite handsome boy, seeing Ye Xi's tear-streaked face below, instantly felt a surge of anger.

He was also one of Ye Xi's most fervent admirers.

He clenched his fists, his teeth grinding audibly, and growled indignantly.

"So what if he's Gandalf? Making Student Ye Xi so sad, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) he's a scumbag!"

"I'm going to strongly condemn him!"

A girl with pigtails next to him, hearing this, glanced at him with a hint of disdain.

"Then go ahead."

"Why don't you go down and condemn him right now?"

The anger on the boy's face instantly froze, and he shrank his neck.

He gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head.

"Well... a gentleman uses his words, not his fists. The battle situation is urgent right now; it's better to prioritize the bigger picture."

"I think, let's just forget about it."

The pigtail girl scoffed, "Hmph," and turned her head away, no longer bothering to pay attention to this guy who only talked tough.