"Of course, it's because after I was poisoned to death and time flowed backward, that I'm able to stand here and tell you what happened."
Seeing Wei Zhi frown and sink into deep thought, Lin Xing said, "Don't you believe me?"
Lin Xing knew that to prove his time reversal ability, he either had to predict a year's worth of future intelligence in advance—unfortunately, history had already changed, and that attempt had failed.
The other way would require Lin Xing to be killed several more times, resurrect, and then predict others' actions afterwards.
After all, he dared not commit suicide. Since elementary school, every time he thought about trying to trigger his ability by suicide, Lin Xing feared he might actually die for good, because he seemed to really feel the terror that comes just before true death.
At this moment, Lin Xing looked at Wei Zhi and said, "How about we do an experiment right now? You have someone kill me directly..."
Wei Zhi obviously couldn't just kill Lin Xing as suggested, so he quickly responded, "I believe you, why wouldn't I believe you?"
Lin Xing said angrily, "This is an assassination, a planned and organized assassination."
"I said there was an organization trying to assassinate me. The man who came to my house last time was one of them. They didn't give up after failing and even poisoned my food this time?"
"It must be deliberate, it can't just be an accident, right?"
Wei Zhi's gaze grew serious as well, "Don't worry, since this incident happened in the Institute, it's our responsibility. We will give you an explanation. We will turn the place upside down if we have to, but we'll find the perpetrator."
"And about the food safety and other aspects, I will thoroughly adjust the procedures to make sure nothing like this ever happens again..."
After soothing Lin Xing, Wei Zhi went back to his office, his eyes now frosty.
No matter who it was, daring to poison someone here had crossed a line.
Watching his subordinates bustling about, Wei Zhi walked over to a large screen behind him, where Lin Xing sat motionless, and asked, "Any discoveries?"
A subordinate replied, "Lin Xing hasn't moved much today, just sitting there, and nobody has entered or exited the room."
Meanwhile, another subordinate carrying a report came out, "Captain, the further toxin analysis report is ready..."
"The toxin itself is colorless and tasteless, and no one came in or out. How did he even know his meal was poisoned?" Wei Zhi muttered to himself, thinking of Lin Xing's sworn confidence, "Could there really be time reversal?"
The subordinate asked with confusion, "Captain Wei, what did you say?"
"Nothing," Wei Zhi waved his hand and said, "You guys continue working. This time we must thoroughly investigate and cannot let the perpetrator slip away."
Leaving the office, Wei Zhi thought it over and finally couldn't resist taking out his phone, "Hello? Professor Tian?"
"I have a question, I have a friend who says he experienced time reversal after dying..."
The voice on the other end of the phone came through, "I can't say for sure that your friend's situation doesn't exist, nor can I affirm it does. Based on the theories I have at hand, I would say it's unlikely."
Listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, Wei Zhi replied helplessly, "Isn't that the same as saying nothing at all?"
Professor Tian said, "Let's put it this way, I tend to think time reversal doesn't exist."
"As for your... friend, if he truly feels he has experienced time reversal, I'm more inclined to think it's an illusion, as humans are easily deceived by their own senses."
"It could be a mental issue, a coincidence, or even precognition, parallel universes. These are all more likely than time reversal."
Wei Zhi pondered, "Is that so?"
Professor Tian added, "And have you... has your friend considered that if he feels something like this happened to him, it's best not to talk about it everywhere?"
"Why?"
Professor Tian said with a smile, "Because if others don't believe it, they'll think you're crazy. But if they do believe it, it might not be a good thing either."
After hanging up the phone, Wei Zhi thought about Lin Xing's behavior all along, his eyes reflecting a thoughtful expression.
Just then, a subordinate rushed in urgently, "Captain Wei, someone in the caretaker staff has committed suicide by taking poison."
Wei Zhi's gaze sharpened, a cold glint flickering in his eyes.
While the Quantum Intelligence Research Institute was in chaos, Lin Xing paced back and forth in the hospital ward.
The thought that the mastermind behind this incident was still at large filled him with rage.
Especially since Lin Xing realized that the poisoning incident posed a huge threat to his superpower.
"Poisoning..."
Lin Xing was becoming more certain that someone wanted to eliminate him, and the mere thought of potentially not dying from the poison but ending up paralyzed fueled a surging desire for vengeance within him.
Looking at Lin Xing pacing back and forth nonstop, Bai Yiyi, lying on the bed, said, "Enough, there's no use getting angry now. It's better to spend more time improving your skills so you can avenge your grievances later."
Lin Xing nodded, "Miss Bai..."
"Call me Master."
"Master Bai, you're right."
With his strong self-control, Lin Xing immediately suppressed his anger. He sat down cross-legged and continued to start his meditation practice.
After an unknown amount of time, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, that familiar feeling rose again.
Lin Xing abruptly opened his eyes and looked toward the door of his hospital room, thinking, "They're here."
This time, however, he didn't go through the door right away. Instead, he first went to the bed to change into clothes and also took a backpack out of the closet.
The clothes were a plain white T-shirt and black pants he had selected from his luggage, which, compared to the patient's attire he was originally wearing, would undoubtedly allow him to blend into the Mirror World more conveniently.
The backpack contained some tools he had brought from home, all of which were everyday items that Captain Wei had approved, allowing him to keep them in the hospital room.
In the previous visits to the Mirror World, he had been too rushed to bring these tools along.
This time, after changing his clothes and picking up the backpack, Lin Xing felt the familiar sense from the door becoming fainter.
He knew he couldn't wait any longer and lightly pushed the hospital room door.
The door, which should have been locked, opened directly. As Lin Xing stepped through, he once again vanished without a trace.
...
Looking at the familiar courtyard before him, Lin Xing knew he had returned to Jiang Family Village.
He remembered Jiang Hong saying the little girl might have been taken by the village chief to be sold.
But Jiang Family Village was neither too big nor too small; how was he to determine where the village chief's house was?
The cat toy said, "That's easy. Just look for the biggest and nicest house in the village; it's sure to be the village chief's house."
Hearing this, Lin Xing's eyes lit up as he recalled the layout of the village.
After the repeated battles during the last village mob attack, Lin Xing was very familiar with the entire layout of the village. Now, he had a target in mind as he went over it in his head.
Soon, a large courtyard appeared in front of him and the cat toy.
Whether it was the red-painted gate, the high brick wall, or the eaves carved with flying swallows, everything indicated that this courtyard was different from the other low and old mud houses around it.
"This should be it."
With that thought, Lin Xing found a spot and rushed towards the wall in leaps and bounds.
His extraordinary physical fitness bestowed him with burst strength far beyond that of an ordinary person. With just one jump, he climbed onto the wall and, gathering strength in his entire body, he flipped over it.
At this moment, inside the village chief's living room.
A man with a scarred face was sitting in a Taishi Chair with a sullen expression on his face.
In front of him was another man who shared a resemblance with him but was a few years older and burly. It was his elder brother, Jiang Fang.
Only to hear Jiang Fang say, "Second brother, it's because you didn't handle things properly that you've caused such a big problem for the village."
The scarred face sighed, "I've taken a fall this time. I didn't expect that little thief to be concealing his abilities when we first met. It was only because I let my guard down later that he caught me by surprise. Otherwise, he wouldn't have escaped."
Initially, Lin Xing had been easily defeated by the scarred face during their first encounter, which was why the second time they happened upon each other on the dirt road, the scarred face didn't take Lin Xing seriously.
But he couldn't have anticipated that Lin Xing would suddenly unleash a set of exquisite boxing skills in an instant, catching him off-guard so that he was knocked down before he could even muster his abilities.
Hearing this, Jiang Fang shook his head, "Ah, what I meant was that you didn't search the houses one by one at the time. The boy had nothing on him, and the village is surrounded by high mountains and dense forests, with our people at the checkpoints on both sides. He must have not gone far at the time and was hiding somewhere in the village."
The scarred face stood up abruptly upon hearing this, "Really? I'll take some men and start searching now..."
Jiang Fang snorted coldly, "Now that a day and night have passed, where do you think you'll be able to find him?"
Just then, a long shadow appeared at the entrance of the hall.
The scarred face turned to look and a trace of elation appeared on his face, "Big brother! It's him."
Jiang Fang, observing the suddenly arriving Lin Xing, showed a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Daring to come straight to our door?" He moved his wrists around, accompanied by the sound of his muscles and bones popping, and said coldly, "Second brother, it seems we've both been underestimated this time."