Mist (Web Novel CN)
Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Who Am I

Chapter 45

Cat?

Ji Yushi also raised a cat?

But that wasn’t the main point. Song Qinglan didn’t want to run into other people. He confirmed it with Ji Yushi, “That’s good. No one would come and find you, right?”

Ji Yushi was puzzled, “Who would come?”

Song Qinglan said, “Those three bo—–”

He stopped. He felt that it wasn’t appropriate using the term ‘boyfriend’ to describe those relationships, so he changed it to the term ‘male friends’.

Song Qinglan originally thought the ‘very clingy one at home’ only referred to one and that was why Ji Yushi wasn’t too keen on joining the Seventh squad. As a result, he didn’t want to force Ji Yushi and wanted to let him make his own decision. If he was really reluctant to part and didn’t want to join the Seventh squad, then so be it, but ever since he found out that it wasn’t one but three, he knew that these relationships weren’t healthy. Lin Xinglan from the ninth squad for example also had a very messy private life.

But Ji Yushi was different. With Song Qinglan here, regardless of whether or not Ji Yushi himself felt that those relationships were healthy, he couldn’t agree with such a lifestyle.

Ji Yushi’s pupils dilated slightly, “……..”

Three male friends?

Song Qinglan spoke coldly, “No matter which one it is and how clingy they are, I don’t recommend them coming over.” After saying that, he glanced at Ji Yushi, “We will be pretty busy tonight.”

Wait a minute. Ji Yushi seemed to have suddenly understood something, “Cap Song, did you think that I’m dating three boyfriends at the same time?”

Ji Yushi was shocked.

He recalled the various exchanges between himself and Song Qinglan and realised that some of the conversations may have caused some misunderstandings. But was Cap Song’s imagination too good or were all straight men like this?

Did gays really have such a bad reputation?

Song Qinglan felt that this question was a bit strange. What did he mean by ‘did you think’?

Ji Yushi stored away his shocked expression. He pressed his fist to his lips and seemed to be a little angry, but he also seemed to be holding back laughter, “Well, there were originally three but I was about to tell you this just now. My three ‘boyfriends’ have also changed into one.”

Seeing Song Qinglan’s lips pressed tightly together and expression stiff, his entire being seemed to exude reluctance to hear about homosexuality. Ji Yushi couldn’t help but see prejudice on Song Qinglan.

He now believed his so-called homophobia.

“Three changed into one, and it’s also a new one.” Ji Yushi lowered his hand and spoke slyly, “I was a little unhappy at first and was reluctant to part with the original three, but with the additional memory, I remembered how I met this new one and how deep our feelings run and found that I still like it/him very much. It/he has a sturdy build, a nice face, pressed down onto me last night until I almost couldn’t breathe and would constantly ask for hugs.” (KKnotes: Ji Yushi is saying ‘it’ but it/he/she all sound the same in Chinese.)

Song Qinglan knitted his brows, “…..”

The steel straight man Captain Song turned around and left, “No need to tell me this.”

Ji Yushi stood in place for several seconds. Song Qinglan however turned around and walked back.

Song Qinglan was more than 1.9 metres tall. With his tall height and long legs, he already gave off oppressiveness.

At this moment, his handsome and heroic face carried a bit of anger. As he walked towards Ji Yushi with a deep look in his eyes, Ji Yushi’s heart missed a beat, and he couldn’t help but take a step back.

What was Song Qinglan going to do?

Could he have taken it too far and evoked unpleasant memories of homosexual experiences?

In the quiet parking lot, there were only the two of them at this time. As soon as Ji Yushi took a step back, his back met with the door of the off-road car behind him.

The streetlights stretched out their shadows.

Song Qinglan stood in front of Ji Yushi and seemed to be gritting his teeth in attempt to control his emotions.

He lowered his eyes and looked down at Ji Yushi’s face, “Can’t you take care of yourself more?”

When taking medicine.

And the same goes for love.

He should take care of himself more.

Ji Yushi was speechless.

Before he could speak, Song Qinglan raised his hand.

“Bang.” A soft sound sounded behind his ear.

It was Song Qinglan’s fist hitting the roof of the car, as if to vent. Not much force however was used.

It was like the drum in Ji Yushi’s heart. It beated lightly.

Song Qinglan stood a bit further. The conversation topic had ended with this punch. He spoke impatiently, “Let’s go.”

Ji Yushi’s racing heart gradually calmed down. He heard himself say, “Okay.”

The two went upstairs together and ran into a neighbourhood aunt. The other party greeted them, “Xiao Ji, just returned from your business trip?”

Ji Yushi had moved out of the Ji residence before graduating from university and had bought this place to live in alone.

Although he wasn’t good at socialising, the neighbours’ children would often come to play with the cat, so they were somewhat familiar.

Ji Yushi politely answered yes.

The neighbourhood aunt looked up at Song Qinglan and smiled, “Is this your friend? He’s very tall and handsome.”

Song Qinglan looked at her. Probably because he wasn’t in a good mood, he didn’t lower his head much and answered arrogantly, “Thank you.”

Ji Yushi internally commented: Really not humble.

The neighbourhood aunt covered her mouth, “My, and a very nice voice too.”

Song Qinglan was now very satisfied, “You really can talk. No wonder you have a particularly friendly temperament. Does everyone in your neighbourhood have such good taste like yourself?”

The neighbourhood aunt, “Unfortunately not. Look at the greenery here and the lights. Those were all done by the developers. You get all sorts of people here. But when you look at Xiao Ji, who wouldn’t mistaken him as our representative? Hey, let me guess. Are you Xiao Ji’s boyfriend?”

Song Qinglan curled his lips, “I’m really not.”

Ji Yushi: “…….”

Alright. Song Qinglan had successfully brought him back to reality from a state of confusion.

Even if he had gone mad, he wouldn’t have imagined a conversation like this.

Leaving the elevator, Ji Yushi scanned his iris at the door to his place.

As soon as the white door opened, there was a ‘meow—-’ and a soft orange object jumped down and started to act coquettish.

There really was just a cat.

As soon as Song Qinglan entered, the cat arched its back at him and started to hiss. He found it funny, “Does it mean that I’m not allowed to touch?”

Ji Yushi stepped forward to pick the cat up. He caressed it a few times to comfort it, “I usually don’t have many visitors, so it’s not used to seeing strangers.”

Song Qinglan found it regrettable. It seems that he had never met a cat that liked him.

While Ji Yushi brought the cat to another room, Song Qinglan looked around the house.

He had thought that Ji Yushi’s place would be just as cold and distant like his personality or, like how Ji Yushi was in battle, the place would be filled with fierceness and determination.

But in fact, it was quite homely.

Dark brown solid wooden floors, a few hanging lights from who knows what century and, just like the rumours about Ji Yushi, a wall filled with paper books. If he bought any more, there probably wouldn’t even be enough space for one to stand.

There was a blanket on a beige sofa and a pillow and the black and white game console which Ji Yushi cared for lying on the ground. It looked like they had been pushed onto the floor under certain circumstances, making a mess.

Combining the scene with the messages the two exchanged the night before, Song Qinglan couldn’t help but make an untimely association. He quickly looked away.

Apart from that, there were almost no traces of another person living in this house.

Song Qinglan was reluctant to sit on the sofa and he also didn’t want to stand around stupidly, so he walked around and found a picture frame hanging from the wall.

In this era, there were very few things like photos.

But just like the books piled up here, finding outdated things like photos here in Ji Yushi’s place was unsurprising —- In fact, it also made Ji Yushi’s identity as a Recorder clear.

It was said that a Recorder will be rewarded after completing a mission and can make legal transactions to purchase their favourite historical item as long as it didn’t affect history. This was different from Guardians who don’t get rewards and it often attracted their envy.

There were four people in the photo. It looked like a family of four.

Ji Yushi appeared to be only about fifteen or sixteen years old. He looked far less cold and indifferent. There were still some youthfulness in his eyes and he appeared quite well behaved.

If he was a little younger, he might’ve be mistaken for a young girl.

If the person who turned smaller during the Chaos mission was Ji Yushi…..

“Cap Song.” Ji Yushi’s voice sounded, “What do you want to drink?”

Song Qinglan walked over.

The layout of the place was quite neat, and it was accessible everywhere. It was as if it was designed to cater for cats.

Ji Yushi had managed to shut the cat away and he had also changed into a set of casual home clothes. At this moment, he was standing in the kitchen washing the cups. Because his head was lowered, the back of his pale neck looked long and elegant.

“Coffee, thanks.”

Song Qinglan said.

Ji Yushi placed the cup down and pulled out a grinder. He poured coffee beans in very skilfully.

Song Qinglan sat on a high stool with one long leg resting on the ground, “Let alone a housekeeping robot, there also isn’t a robot in the kitchen. Even the coffee machine is semi-automatic, and everything is basically done yourself. Advisor Ji, you are very retro.”

Ji Yushi remembered something, “When we were selecting weapons on the PU-31 mission, you said the same. Why?”

At that time, they weren’t very familiar. Ji Yushi had picked Diamond Bird and Song Qinglan had said the same thing.

Song Qinglan said, “Firstly, it was the rumours about the books at your place and secondly…..When I went to find you to train, I just happened to catch you slacking off. During a professional class, you not only didn’t pay attention to class, but you were instead focused on playing Tetris.”

So when Song Qinglan said that he was very retro back then, he was actually mocking him?

Song Qinglan became alert, “You won’t note this down in your book, will you?”

Ji Yushi was speechless. He didn’t have the time to go through old debts, “You went to find me to train?”

“Yeah.” Song Qinglan recalled what happened at the time and found it very amusing, “At that time, I didn’t know you well and didn’t know that you needed to distract yourself, so I thought you didn’t want to work hard and just wanted to be carried by the team.”

Ji Yushi: “……”

So this was how the misunderstanding came about.

Ji Yushi made two cups of coffee.

Song Qinglan picked up one and poured some into the other, “Advisor Ji, it’s already late. You should drink less. We need to have you well rested so that your mind is clear.”

The shadows under Ji Yushi’s eyes were quite obvious. Song Qinglan wasn’t any better.

Song Qinglan took a sip. It was unknown whether it was a psychological effect but hand-ground coffee tasted more fragrant, “My highest record is not sleeping for three days. This is nothing.”

Ji Yushi, “Four days.”

Song Qinglan, “?”

Ji Yushi tried not sleeping for four days?

Ji Yushi however didn’t continue the topic and similarly picked up his own cup of coffee, “Do you want to eat anything?”

Song Qinglan said, “No need. I had dinner on the train. It just didn’t taste very good.”

The high salaried chef hired by his grandfather would probably cry if he heard this.

Ji Yushi nodded, “Then we can start the discussion.”

Basing off his other memory, Ji Yushi explained in detail Chief Wang transferring him to Jiang City and how they were assigned to an A-level mission but was hijacked and forced to complete the Ouroboros mission and then the Chaos mission before being successfully intercepted by Chief Qi.

Except for the difference between the person who transferred him, another big difference between their memories was the Chaos mission: According to Song Qinglan, the Cap Qi they encountered in Chaos was the Chief Qi in his memory.

It was from here where Ji Yushi’s memories overlapped. It made it difficult for him to tell whether they were in a parallel world or a true reality.

Song Qinglan thought about it and said, “First, start with analysing your ‘original memory’. You said that when we entered the rainforest, we found skeletons of the Twelfth squad by a creek and then I told you that the Twelfth squad had already been missing for fifteen years.”

In his other memory, they had also found skeletons of the Twelfth squad by the creek but Song Qinglan didn’t mention anything about them being ‘missing for fifteen years’ and was just surprised to find the bones of his seniors there.

Ji Yushi’s head hurt a little, “Yes.”

Song Qinglan said, “Then, after destroying the mirrored rainforest world, Cap Qi appeared. Our memories divide here. You knew him as the Cap Qi who had been missing for fifteen years but to me, he was the younger version of Chief Qi.”

This was indeed the case in the overlapping memory.

Ji Yushi pursed his lips. A problem that normally would be easy to analyse and break down was at this moment rendering him confused.

Song Qinglan however was able to accurately sense this and spoke, “Regardless of whether or not there is that ‘missing for fifteen years’ incident in my memory, we can at least be certain about one thing. That is, the person who I believe is the younger version of Chief Qi was indeed once a member of the Twelfth squad, correct?”

Ji Yushi nodded his head like an honest child.

Song Qinglan turned on the holographic projection, “More importantly, there is that Xie Sian. We cannot ignore his existence.”

Ji Yushi watched Song Qinglan stretch out his finger and draw on the projection like he did in the past.

Song Qinglan said, “Xie Sian is the key for us. He wasn’t in the rainforest because he had accidentally entered the city after betraying his teammates and met us after he came out. Through comparing our time and his time, we can calculate whether there was indeed a fifteen-year time difference, yes?”

Ji Yushi replied, “Yes, you can say that.”

The roles of the two seemed to have changed.

This feeling was very strange. For the first time, Ji Yushi experienced the feeling of having his thoughts clarified and sorted by another person.

Song Qinglan may not be as good as him in making bold, unforgettable speculations and perhaps he also wasn’t as good as him in terms of knowledge, but his logic was good, and his mental fortitude far exceeded others.

Ji Yushi held no doubts at all. Even if the result of their analysis was that he was experiencing the sequelae of travelling through time and space and were really going mad, he was certain that Song Qinglan would be able to calmly take him to the Tianqiong Medical Centre to receive treatment.

Song Qinglan narrowed his dark eyes, “Then——”

He wrote as he spoke, “Assuming that the time the Twelfth squad disappeared is point ‘A’ and the point where we arrived at Chaos is point ‘B’, regardless of whether we were sent out by Chief Wang or Chief Qi to complete the mission, there should be a fifteen-year gap between point ‘A’ and point ‘B’. That is to say, in at least one reality, the ‘missing for fifteen years’ truly did happen. Now there’s a problem. While the Twelfth squad was ‘missing for fifteen years’ and Chief Qi wasn’t around, who was the one in power during that time?”

At this moment, Song Qinglan’s phone rang.

He received an encrypted document.

The phone was still on projection mode, so Ji Yushi looked away, “Is it okay to look?”

If it was a private matter, it wouldn’t be good.

Song Qinglan didn’t have anything he didn’t dare show others, not to mention, there was only one person who would send him documents at a time like this.

He spoke naturally, “It was originally sent to be shown to you.”

Song Qinglan unencrypted the document and opened it.

On the holographic projection, both of them saw the contents.

It was a middle-aged woman in her early fifties. She wore a pair of pearl earrings and gave off a gentle temperament as she looked at the camera with a smile in her eyes.

In an instant, Song Qinglan frowned and unconsciously answered his own question.

Song Qinglan blurted out, “It’s Chief Wang.”