Mist (Web Novel CN)-Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Who Am I

Chapter 48

“What happened to you just now?” Song Qinglan asked.

“I don’t know.” Ji Yushi restored his gaze. His heart was still pounding. He didn’t understand why he had subconsciously followed those people earlier.

If it weren’t for Song Qinglan, he probably would not have been able to board this train.

The two sat down in their seats and the train rumbled on, throwing the strange scene back at the station far, far away.

Song Qinglan had purchased the tickets in a haste so there were only tickets for ordinary carriages available. The carriage at this moment was quite packed with almost no vacant seats left.

People chatted as they stored their luggage away. No one seemed to notice the two young men who were still recovering from a state of shock. There would sometimes be people glancing at them but that was because of their overly eye-catching appearance.

From the neighbour standing outside Ji Yushi’s door early in the morning to Ji Minyue’s appearance and the human wall formed at the station just now, it seemed that a certain part of the world had been touched on by them overnight and it was likely a critical part.

Ji Yushi felt an uncomfortable gaze again. He turned around and saw a male passenger with glasses staring at him.

He looked back at the other person for several seconds, but the other party showed no signs of looking away.

Despite the hustle and bustle in the carriage, Ji Yushi couldn’t relax.

It was even like this on the train.

He attempted to recall where he had met this male passenger, but it was to no avail. His mind was blank.

Song Qinglan said in a low voice, “No need to think. He should be looking at me.”

Ji Yushi turned back. There was some confusion in his eyes along with some traces of panic — Ever since they met Ji Minyue, Song Qinglan had noticed that Ji Yushi didn’t seem quite right and his mental state didn’t appear to be very good.

This kind of abnormality, let alone Ji Yushi, even someone as confident as Song Qinglan held doubts about the reality they were in.

The two had originally thought that they had found a key clue from Chief Wang’s end but they were now encountering something like this. It clearly told them that this wasn’t a simple case of a parallel world or overlapping memories.

Ji Yushi had unconsciously grabbed the armrest until his joints turned white. When he heard Song Qinglan’s words, he finally relaxed his grip, “Looking at you?”

Song Qinglan sat to Ji Yushi’s right. He was too tall and too conspicuous of a target.

He adjusted his sitting posture and lowered down so that the back of the seat blocked him from the other person’s line of sight. Sure enough, the other person immediately turned around and started doing his own thing as if nothing had happened.

“I’m thinking that these people who stare at us must have some form of connection with us. If it’s not you, then it’s me. This place is the city where you live so there are more people looking at you.” Song Qinglan said, “I have probably seen this person somewhere before, but I don’t remember.”

Song Qinglan didn’t seem to be affected much by this and the tone of his speech was the same as before.

He was the same when they were trapped in Runjin Building by the zombies and when they were trapped in the space capsule in the crevice. He seemed like he would never be troubled when put into a difficult situation and that his determination would never be shaken.

What others didn’t know was that Song Qinglan was only like this because he didn’t want to make the other people around him feel more at a loss.

He stretched out his arm, “Pinch me.”

Ji Yushi was confused, “Why?”

Song Qinglan said, “Pinch me to see if it hurts. If it hurts, it’s not a dream.”

Ji Yushi told him, “Cap Song, in fact, there is no scientific basis behind tha—–”

Song Qinglan just raised a brow. He proceeded to unceremoniously pinch himself and let out a low groan, “Fuck.”

Perhaps it was because he found it childish, even he himself was speechless. He spoke with a straight face, “Hurts. Alright, regardless of whether or not it has any scientific basis, it has been proven that we are currently not dreaming. Just trust me.”

A cabin attendant robot pushing a service cart passed by.

Song Qinglan got a cup of warm water for each of them.

It made sense to drink more hot water.

Ji Yushi recovered after drinking and his mind came online again, “Since our return, this is my first time encountering something like this. What about you?”

Song Qinglan said, “It is also the first for me.”

Ji Yushi frowned while deep in thought, “You said that the neighbourhood aunt stood outside my door early in the morning, but when we ran into her when we returned, she was still normal. My brother also met me yesterday and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Why on earth——” He suddenly stopped. His eyes moved to look at Song Qinglan, “Cap Song, I think I know now.”

Song Qinglan might have already guessed what he was going to say but he didn’t interrupt him.

For some reason, he looked forward to seeing Ji Yushi brainstorming and sorting his thoughts out. This calm and rational Ji Yushi would often be able to grasp the crux of the problem with one glance.

“It should be related to Chief Wang.” Ji Yushi said, “I was originally the only one who had memories of this, and it wasn’t enough to affect this reality but you managed to find her information and you similarly gained another memory yourself.”

Song Qinglan listened quietly.

Ji Yushi continued, “Last night, we discussed going to find Chief Wang because we found her approximate location —- If Chief Wang also has double memories, then she is a similar variable like us. To us, it would be proof of the two realities co-existing. The closer we get to her, the closer we are to the most contradictory point of the two realities.”

Song Qinglan asked, “That is, since we decided to find Chief Wang, it has resulted in these……reactions?”

Song Qinglan didn’t know how to describe these strange happenings but it was enough for Ji Yushi to understand what he meant.

The air-conditioning in the carriage was strong, making Ji Yushi a little cold. He held the cup in his hands to warm himself up, “Yes.”

Song Qinglan frowned, “Why is there such a reaction?”

Ji Yushi said, “I don’t know yet, but I have a vague guess. Do you know about the double-slit experiment?”

Song Qinglan nodded, “I’ve heard of it.”

“In the double-slit experiment, a single electron passes through a partition with two slits resulting in an interference pattern on the screen. Just like the single electron passing through the two slits at the same time, some people think that this phenomenon is proof of the many-worlds theory. Suppose a single electron passes through the slit on the left, in another world, the electron passes through the slit on the right. The two worlds could feel each other’s projections and the electron passing through the two slits at the same time interferes with itself, resulting in the interference pattern.” Ji Yushi said, “This is one of many conjectures about parallel worlds.”

Since acquiring time-travel technology, the theory of parallel worlds had been confirmed so Ji Yushi only briefly talked about it and jumped to the main point.

“What I wanted to talk about was something strange about the double-slit experiment. In order to understand how the interference patterns are formed after electrons pass through the double slits, people have tried to use equipment to observe the process of electrons passing through the slit, but when they tried to do it, the interference patterns that appeared on the screen was gone. After electrons passed through the two slits, only two parallel lines were left on the screen. The strange thing was that when the equipment was turned off, the original interference pattern returned. It was as if the electrons have their own thoughts and knows when people are observing it and can change its trajectory at will. In other words, human observation actually affected how electrons moved, changing the results of the experiment.”

So much information required time to digest.

Song Qinglan thought for a while and said, “So, you want to say that our current situation is related to this ‘observation’?”

“It’s just a preliminary guess using the double-slit experiment as an analogy. It might not necessarily be because of this.” Ji Yushi lowered his head to drink. His eyelashes were long and thick. “For example, our act of going to find Chief Wang, would it be considered a kind of ‘observation’? Just like when the electrons are observed, our behaviour affects how this reality works, resulting in self-interference.”

“I think I understand.” Song Qinglan didn’t dare say that he understood well because he felt that he would never understand how much knowledge was contained inside Ji Yushi’s mind, “Those who are in some way connected to us in this reality may all be affected by this interference so when they see us and see that we are ‘observing’, they would interfere with us.”

This may be the reason why they were suddenly encountering such abnormalities.

Right now, they had only made the decision to find Chief Wang and it was only the beginning. If they continued down this path, met Chief Wang and was able to thoroughly understand the contradictions in this world, what would happen then?

Neither of them spoke for a long time.

The world in which they are in, even if it was a parallel world created by a butterfly effect, these people here are all real human beings, not zombies without thoughts and souls. As they get closer and closer to Chief Wang, the interferences will definitely intensify. What should they do when the time comes?

Ji Yushi’s phone rang.

He looked down. The display name was: “Teacher”.

When Ji Minyue appeared in the morning, he kept on saying “Old Ji wants you to go home”. What was this phone call about?

Song Qinglan didn’t like to invade into other people’s privacy and just asked, “Answering?”

Ji Yushi hesitated for a moment. He placed down his cup and brought the phone to his ear after selecting the answer button.

“Jian Jian.”

It wasn’t the dull mechanical tone he had expected to hear. Professor Ji’s tone was as amiable as it was at dinner last night.

Ji Yushi breathed a sigh of relief, “Teacher.”

Professor Ji didn’t mention anything about him coming home nor did he mention Ji Minyue. He just told him over the phone, “The thing I told you about last night. The result is out. Your mission rating is S.”

So fast?

Ji Yushi was a little doubtful.

They hadn’t submitted their reports yet, but the results were already out?

Song Qinglan next to him noticed that his breathing was stagnant. He used his eyes to ask him what was going on.

Ji Yushi however heard Professor Ji continue on the phone, “With the S-level mission added, you don’t need to work on getting more points anymore. They will give you a physical examination this afternoon. If you have recovered well from the last mission, you can go back to that day tomorrow.”

Ji Yushi, “This…….afternoon?”

Professor Ji’s phone was taken away by another person. The other persons voice was very familiar. It was Chief Lin from the Ning City branch.

“Xiao Ji, congratulations.” Chief Lin said, “How about it? My suggestion for you to assist the Jiang City branch wasn’t a bad one, right? You have now gathered all the points and have passed the psychological assessment. You have proved yourself with your own strength. The people at the top have approved my application. The day you have been waiting for for more than ten years is finally here! I will wait for you at the branch this afternoon!”

Ji Yushi: “……”

Even after hanging up, Ji Yushi was still a little lost in his thoughts.

Song Qinglan asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Yushi turned to look at him. He seemed to be slowly returning back to his senses and proceeded to shake his head, “Nothing.”

Song Qinglan was curious, “Why did your teacher call you?”

Ji Yushi, “Just some study matters.”

Outside the train, the sky was blue and picturesque.

At a speed of more than 500km/hr, the objects outside passed by as blurry images.

The window reflected Ji Yushi’s profile including his long neck and beautiful, clear eyes.

He seemed to be looking outside but he also didn’t seem to be doing that.

After a while, he turned around and said to Song Qinglan who was still deep in thought, “I want to go to the bathroom.”

The train had already made an announcement that it was about to arrive at a small station between Ning City and Jiang City. There most certainly would be many people coming and going when the train stops and, perhaps, they would meet people with some form of connection to them.

Song Qinglan felt that now wasn’t a good time, “Now?”

Ji Yushi bit his lower lip, “In fact, the eggs this morning seem to have expired. I feel a little uncomfortable.”

Song Qinglan, “………”

Ji Yushi stood up and walked towards the bathroom. Before leaving, he even added, “But it was delicious.”

Song Qinglan felt a little attacked. This was his first time making something for someone other than his family.

As for expired eggs, why didn’t he notice it?

But it was early in the morning and for some funny reason, he was too embarrassed to knock on Ji Yushi’s door to ask which ingredients could be used so he acted on his own accord.

Delicious?

Song Qinglan looked out the window and noticed that the corners of his lips were raised slightly.

Quite silly looking.

He fixed his expression. The palms of his hands were a little hot.

A minute later, the train slowly came to a stop.

Ji Yushi still had not returned.

Passengers came and went. Song Qinglan checked his watch. Another three minutes had passed. Ji Yushi seemed to be taking a while.

It wasn’t until the announcement sounded that Song Qinglan suddenly recalled something —– Ji Yushi’s expression when he lied. It wasn’t his first time seeing it so why did he fall for it just now?

He stood up and quickly strode over to the bathroom. There was no one inside!

The train door was closing. Song Qinglan hastily reached out to pry the door open. His hand was severely jammed for a moment and a sharp alarm rang. The anti-jam mechanism turned on. Song Qinglan ignored the alarm and the other people’s complaints and quickly got out, his eyes searching for Ji Yushi’s figure on the platform.

As a Recorder who had travelled numerous times to the past for his missions, even if he does not rely on wearing a mask to change his appearance, as long as Ji Yushi wanted to, he could minimise his presence to an absolute minimum.

Song Qinglan however spotted his thin figure in one glance.

—- Ji Yushi was currently striding through the crowd, heading towards the station exit.

“Make way!”

“Make way, thank you!!”

Song Qinglan squeezed through the crowd and chased after him.

Among the crowd of people, several of them paused with a blank expression and stared at Song Qinglan.

But Ji Yushi had no obstructions. As if they knew that he had changed the course of his actions, no one stopped him.

Entering the lobby, Ji Yushi’s back figure paused slightly. He knew that Song Qinglan had followed but he didn’t look back.

Ji Yushi only continued walking forward. When he passed by an empty seat, he even had the time to throw the empty water bottle on the seat onto the ground.

Song Qinglan’s expression was as cold as frost. Relying in his tall height, he walked very quickly.

He pushed the unfamiliar faces that continued to flood towards him as he moved through the crowd with difficulty and very soon, he was about to reach Ji Yushi.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in front of Song Qinglan.

Someone had stepped on the empty water bottle Ji Yushi had thrown and had fallen, colliding into another person hurrying along with a suitcase in the process. That suitcase had wheels and it lost control as a result of that accident, hitting a garbage cleaning machine and knocking over a cleaner.

It was like Ji Yushi had eyes growing on the back of his head. Relying on his superhuman memory of the environment and precise calculation, he was able to bypass all of this chaos.

He walked very quickly. When he turned a corner, he however found himself suddenly pushed against the wall.

It was a position similar to the last time in the bookstore. Even the angle in which his hand was restrained was similar.

Those big hands clamped down onto his wrists, restraining it behind his back. When the actions of this Guardian reached the eyes of the other passengers, it looked like he was arresting a criminal.

“Advisor Ji.” Song Qinglan behind him almost said that through gritted teeth. He said sternly, “What are you doing?”

Ji Yushi however didn’t panic. He only said quietly, “Let me go first. My hand hurts.”

Song Qinglan, “……”

Fuck.

Can’t you use a different trick?

Song Qinglan was the one whose hand hurt. The back of his hand and his palm had turned bruised and swollen from being jammed but he didn’t have the time to worry about that. Right now, he just wanted to know why Ji Yushi did what he did.

Song Qinglan didn’t release his hold of Ji Yushi completely and only loosened his grip. He pressed his hands against the wall to prevent Ji Yushi from escaping, “Care to explain to me what’s going on? Did you suddenly think of something else you need to do but cannot say, or is it because you have another idea?”

Apart from anger, Song Qinglan still did not show any doubts or suspicions towards Ji Yushi.

It was a very rare form of trust.

Ji Yushi turned around.

Song Qinglan’s dark eyes stared fixatedly at his face and he felt his heart in his chest fall.

Ji Yushi’s current expression was one that Song Qinglan had never seen before.

He didn’t joke and say that Song Qinglan was ‘wall-slamming’ him nor did he answer Song Qinglan’s question. He just asked, “Cap Song, no matter which reality we are in, do you think it makes a difference?”

Just now, they were working on putting the clues together and discussing the double slit experiment that he couldn’t understand much of. Why did he suddenly give up?

Song Qinglan didn’t understand but his intuition told him that it had something to do with that phone call Ji Yushi picked up, “Of course there is a difference!”

Ji Yushi raised his eyes, their gazes now meeting, “If you can get everything you have ever wanted in this reality, why bother returning to the other reality?”

The two stood very close. It was so close, Song Qinglan could see the colour of Ji Yushi’s eyes.

Ji Yushi looked back at him both coldly and calmly. He said, “Since there is only ‘me’ in any reality, then it doesn’t matter who ‘I’ really am.”

For a moment, Song Qinglan felt that what he had said made a lot of sense.

But he quickly returned to his senses and didn’t follow Ji Yushi’s train of thought, “You’re thinking with too much idealism. Of course it is important which reality we are from, it’s not enough just doing whatever you want. In our original reality, there are still many people who care about us and love us. Losing us would make them sad. We must return to our real world because that is where we truly should be.”

Ji Yushi said, “I don’t have that kind of reality.”