Chapter 663: The World is Accelerating, Only I am Trapped in the Past

A new day.

Afternoon.

“Are you ready? Are you ready now?”

I asked, looking at Big Sis Bai as she emerged.

“Mm, let's go.”

Big Sis Bai simply nodded, in response to my question.

Big Sis Bai's arrival here was mainly to arrange a change in her class schedule, and the main purpose of the change was to leave the school with me.

After spending a "pleasant" night with Big Sis Bai yesterday, I had told her about my decision to go back.

My consciousness was a bit blurry at the time.

I hadn't expected Big Sis Bai to be so efficient today, postponing her classes.

Actually, course postponement or adjustment was quite common in the Witch Academy, so according to Big Sis Bai, submitting an application was enough.

“How are you, Xiao Han? Is your body alright now?”

Big Sis Bai reached out and pressed my shoulder, her words carrying an implication.

“It's already been an entire morning. I'm lively and bouncing, alright?”

I said provocatively, as if the events of last night were not worth mentioning.

“Seeing your mouth so stubborn, I'm relieved.”

Big Sis Bai chuckled, appearing unconcerned.

“Xiao Han, are you sure you plan to leave today?”

“Mm. Isn't it better to go early, resolve the matter, and then sightsee outside?”

“Yes, resolve the matter early!”

Big Sis Bai also nodded along, but her thoughts returned to the past.

What kind of state of mind did the Xiao Han of that time have when she left that place with her?

So much so that now, "going home," which was so easy for others, required such careful treatment.

“Then, Xiao Han, have you figured out how to go back? Modu is quite far from there, right?”

“Mm… can I take the high-speed train I took when I first came here?”

I pondered for a moment and asked.

“There isn't a direct connection from the Witch Academy's Curtain Wall to the outside world, but there is a direct route from Modu after leaving the Witch Academy.”

“Then we'll take it from Modu. It's all the same, right?”

“Mm, right, but then there won't be a special Transcendent Academy carriage.”

“That doesn't matter, does it?”

“It doesn't.”

After a brief conversation, the method of returning was decided.

This period was not a time of high passenger traffic, so there were still plenty of tickets left for the day.

“By the way, I almost forgot one thing…”

“Oh? What is it, Xiao Han, that you only remember now?”

“Mm, it's in the dorm villa where I used to live.”

“I'll go with you.”

Big Sis Bai said, then with a wave of her hand, a Spatial Teleportation Gate was torn open.

“Mm, it's not a particularly important thing. It's just… my old cell phone…”

“Your old cell phone?”

Big Sis Bai paused, a little surprised.

“I didn't think you still had it?”

“I always said I would deal with it, but… I kept forgetting. Alas, my memory…”

As I spoke, I stepped through the Teleportation Gate, and the other side of the gate was the villa of my former five-person dorm.

I looked up slightly.

It was still the same as before, but it felt much colder than before.

The original five people had now become two.

Dongli Yiren and Yu Yetian were in the Expansion Realm, and I hadn't returned for a long time.

Only Guan Qiuling and Hong Chenyi remained here.

But when I opened the door, there was no one inside, and the only one greeting Big Sis Bai and me was a smart housekeeper, the cleaning alchemical item that used to be called "Little Workhorse."

“Welcome home, Master.”

It was still that familiar voice.

Even though I hadn't returned for a long time, this little fellow was still so lively.

“Little Workhorse, where are the two people still in the dorm?”

I crouched down and tapped the flat little fellow.

“According to today's course schedule, the two roommates have a full day of classes today.”

“Oh Right, it's almost the Final Exam.”

I nodded, recalling this matter.

Then, I got up and didn't bother with the little fellow, but instead went to the Magic Power meter in the villa.

Since I was back, I might as well pay some "roommate fees," after all, I still had a bedroom here, didn't I?

I only stopped after seeing the Magic Power meter reach its numerical limit and unable to move further.

The time spent didn't exceed a few minutes.

This was the convenience brought by Mental Power being able to interfere with Magic Power.

Otherwise, relying on the device to absorb Magic Power autonomously, it would take ages to reach three digits.

“Mm, it looks about the same as before.”

Big Sis Bai also followed my figure in at this moment.

Big Sis Bai hadn't visited here many times, perhaps only once when school started, and ended up running away in the middle of the night… I felt like I could tease Big Sis Bai about this for a lifetime…

“Mm, want to see my bedroom?”

I pulled Big Sis Bai's hand and walked upstairs to my bedroom.

My bedroom hadn't been visited for a long time, but it was still very clean.

It seemed to be the work of Little Workhorse, doing regular deep cleaning.

Although there wasn't much stuff in the bedroom, actually.

Big Sis Bai walked in and curiously looked around.

She was also curious about how the former Xiao Han used to live.

She subconsciously went to the wardrobe.

After gently pulling it open, many of the clothes and dresses inside were ones she had prepared for Xiao Han in the past.

On a nearby countertop, she also saw several thigh straps in different styles.

“Xiao Han, these clothes…”

“Just leave them here. This is my bedroom after all. What's wrong with keeping some of my clothes?”

“Does Xiao Han think you might return here in the future?”

“I don't know, but as long as there are clothes for me to change into in this bedroom, it proves that this is a place I can still return to.”

“So… that's what you think, Xiao Han?”

“Well After all, it's a place I once lived, and it's probably the longest I've lived in a single bedroom, right?”

I said casually, not as deeply as Big Sis Bai was thinking.

After searching for a while, I found my old cell phone in the gap between my bedside table and the bed.

“I wondered why I forgot it. So it fell into a place we couldn't see.”

I wiped off the not-too-thick layer of dust, smiled, and turned to look at Big Sis Bai.

“I found the item. Let's go.”

“Was it just to get a cell phone?”

“Mm, I don't know if I'll ever use it, but this is probably the only thing that anchors me to the past.”

I pressed the power button, only to find that the battery was long dead.

This was not at all unexpected.

In the past, this phone already leaked battery severely.

It couldn't even run games.

If I played a game, the battery would die quickly, so I could only play while plugged in.

This phone was like a seriously ill old man, and the charging cable was the oxygen tube holding onto his last breath of life.

“It's okay. It's just going back to see your former family. Xiao Han, you are not the same Xiao Han as before.”

Big Sis Bai stepped forward, embracing me from behind to comfort me.

“I know that… Alright There's no need to be so sentimental. Do I look like someone who is easily defeated by the past?”

I turned around to face Big Sis Bai.

“I know you're strong, Xiao Han, but precisely at times like this, suppressing yourself like this will prevent you from truly letting go… Xiao Han, be yourself for once. Emotions need to be released so they don't hurt you.”

Big Sis Bai pulled me into a hug, placing a hand on my head, hoping to make me understand through this method.

“Mm…”

I hummed softly, pushing my hands against Big Sis Bai's chest, breaking away from the voluntary motorboating Big Sis Bai invited.

“Let's go. Let's not waste any more time here.”

I said.

“Then let's go.”

Big Sis Bai also agreed with me, thinking there was no need to delay here any longer.

However, after tearing open the Spatial Teleportation Channel to Modu, she seemed to think of something else.

“Mm… Xiao Han, do you want to leave anything for your former roommates here?”

“No, I've already left enough. The rest is up to them.”

I shook my head and followed Big Sis Bai into the Spatial Teleportation Channel.

After all, I had given them many things: the Seed of Great Knowledge, my business card, and… the final favor.

If they couldn't enter my line of sight using their own power, that favor would be the last chance they had to see me.

In the end, I never became their true friend.

I clearly decided to start a new life after getting on the high-speed train with Big Sis Bai back then, but my poor ability still made everything a mess.

Should I blame my terrible childhood in this life?

If it were before, I would modestly say not necessarily, because I was born with innate knowledge from the moment I came into this world…

But now… coupled with the emotions I had suppressed for so long, I… felt a rare surge of hatred.

No one gets a second chance, but I did…

If I had a happy childhood, would the reborn life change the decadence of my past life?

If I had loving parents, would I be filled with love and compensate for the emptiness in my heart?

If I had a harmonious family, would I be soothed by kinship and learn to love myself?

If I had…

There are no "ifs"… The past cannot be changed.

It has already transformed into countless personal experiences, etched into my memory, and ultimately shaped the me of today.

My current contradiction is the conflict between a mature mind, which understands that there is no such thing as unearned good in the world, and the selfless love between parents and children.

Parents used "being good to me" as a bargaining chip to control their child.

They toyed with the right to dominate their child, experiencing the pleasure of wielding power for the first time in their failed lives, and then ceased to know how to be human.

This was a mistake in education, and also the world's sorrow.

From this perspective, I was more determined than those Witch mentors to reshape this dreadful world.

As I followed Big Sis Bai through the Teleportation Channel, we arrived on a bustling street.

Cars roared past on the road, and pedestrians hurried by on the sidewalk.

But they didn't notice the two figures who suddenly appeared.

They were hustling for their own lives, but this world had long passed the stage of insufficient productivity.

Families were harvesting everyone's wallets.

How was this world, dominated by Family factions, any different from the parents who had tasted the power bestowed by the Transcendent Academies and ceased to be human?

And now, they were even turning on the Transcendent Academies.

Even without the capability, they had the desire.

Walking through the crowd and the walkway, Big Sis Bai led me into the station.

Just like the first time I came here, Big Sis Bai led me the entire way.

If I didn't use the Earth Vein Appraisal Spell, I wouldn't even know the procedure for taking the high-speed train.

But I knew that if I followed Big Sis Bai, she would take me there.

After a short wait, we got on the train.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, I fiddled with my old cell phone, just like I did the first time.

Although the charging cable of this phone was missing, I was able to charge the phone using my control over Magic Power and Lightning-type Spellbooks.

As the phone's lengthy startup screen appeared, long-forgotten memories gradually revived.

I looked at the somewhat bare software interface, and eventually, by reflex, tapped on the memo app.

But the memo had been completely deleted by me.

The diaries I had kept and the events I had recorded were deleted in a fit of pique on some occasion.

If I wanted to, I could use the Earth Vein Appraisal Spell at any time to retrieve the deleted information from the phone, but I chose not to.

Time seemed to be continuously flying by.

I stared at the phone screen, doing nothing.

The novels I had downloaded, the small games I had once searched for… I had no interest in them now.

Not long after, the phone was fully charged.

I looked at the full battery icon, but it stubbornly dropped to 99% in just a few seconds.

For a moment, I stared at the number in a daze, until the next second, it dropped to 98%… 97%…

At this moment, I finally realized that something was wrong.

I subconsciously looked around, and outside the window.

Everything seemed to be moving incredibly fast.

Everyone was accelerating forward, and only I remained still, as if I were the only one in this world trapped in the past.

With a strong feeling of being pushed back, the scenery outside the window blurred into stretched lines.

The sounds in my ears became thin and sharp, and Big Sis Bai's movements became rapid and indistinct…

When I looked at my phone again, the battery had already dropped from 90% to 89%… 88%… 12%… 10% (low battery notification)…

Until my phone died from battery drain and the screen turned completely black, I saw my reflection in the hot phone screen.

“Xiao Han… Xiao Han? We're about to arrive. If we don't get off now, we'll miss our stop.”

At this moment, Big Sis Bai's voice shifted from a thin, sharp distortion to a gentle, familiar tone. I felt as if I had just woken up from a long dream.

“We've arrived?”

“Mm, are you alright, Xiao Han?”

Big Sis Bai reached out and pressed the back of her hand against my forehead.

Although she knew that I would no longer suffer from any illness, she chose the most intimate gesture, hoping I would recover.

Because Big Sis Bai had noticed my abnormality, but she didn't disturb me for what must have been countless hours on the road, until now.

“N-no… I'm fine…”

I smiled, shaking my head to indicate I was fine.

“Let's go. If we don't get off now, we'll miss our stop.”