That look of her three brothers troubled her greatly. She felt very uneasy. She shook her head and went up to her room.
Zi Aixia slept for some time peacefully before she woke up to have lunch. She was exhausted, the whole week she wasn't able to sleep and she felt extremely weak. She started training her body like she used to in her past life ever since she woke up.
" Zera initiating request", Zera's voice beeped as soon as she woke up. " Request approved Zera", spoke Zi Aixia.
" Now playing a recording recorded on xx day 10:00 A.M. XXXX year ". Zera spoke again
" isn't that today???..." Zi Aixia raised an eyebrow..perhaps she got it as an habit after spending some time with Mo Yuchen.
The recording started.
" That was close, you guys...both of you need to be careful about how you speak in front of Xiaxia! She can't know about what happened years ago!! Do you understand!!!", Zi Aiming's dead cold voice sounded through the recording.
" Is that all Zera?", she asked, quite intrigued by what was happening. Zera responded with an 'yes'.Her gentle brothers showed different emotions when she was present in the car and spoke about past, the atmosphere was too gloomy and unbearable..
Since she bugged the whole Zi mansion except for the study, she would be alerted if there's anything suspicious based on the person's expression and face psychology.
' I don't know why...but I think...it's somehow related to Zi Aixia??'.
' What actually happened years ago...'.
' Something really did happen in the past...that look...I can't seem to forget it!!! '. Zi Aixia remembered the cold murderous glint from Zi Aiming which he tried to hide.
She started pacing around in the room when Zi Aiyi knocked on the door. " Yes?".
" It's me Xiaxia", Zi Aiyi opened the door.
Zi Aixia : " yes brother Aiyi??".
Zi Aiyi :" come down let's have lunch, we're waiting for you ".
Zi Aixia smiled and nodded her head.
In the dining hall everyone ate their meal quietly seeing that Zi Aixia was too engrossed in her thoughts. A sudden idea crossed her mind, she lowered her head and finished her meals.
" Brother Aiming, you said my materials are in the study?", she asked gulping down the water. Zi Aiming spoke," yes it's in the study, if you want we'll move it elsewhere ".
The only place, where she didn't bug..was the study. Where important information can be gathered.
Zi Aixia immediately shook her head," no need brother it's a lot of work and I don't have time to waste ".
Zi Aiming didn't suspect anything from her words and nodded her head.
The Zi family's sons didn't know about their sister being a technology maniac monster. She never let them know about it. So Zi Aiming thought she was just interested in some projects and wanted to try it out.
" Alright brothers, I'll be in the study, I have a project so I'll be busy with it see you tonight ". Zi Aixia stood and walked towards the study patiently.
-----
Once she was in the study, she closed the door. " Zera, watch out for anyone coming near the study and scan this whole room for any albums, or safe locks or hidden locker ". She instructed Zera and began checking out the Study room which was huge, herself.
Investigating the past should start from photos. Especially when you don't know what actually happened and to whom.
Zera's voice sounded:
" Initiating scan...1%...77%....100%.".
" Scanning complete. 5 albums found, 10 safe locks and an hidden locker with tricky mechanism found ".
....
Zi Aixia searched through the whole study, she came across each albums and checked for everyone's information and did not find anything. She searched for the safe lockers and still didn't find anything.
" This is the last...one, hope there's some clue ", Zi Aixia muttered as she opened the hidden locker with tricky mechanism easily as if it was a piece of cake. Breaching mechanisms was like a piece of cake for Zi Aixia who excelled in every field and worked for the government for years.
Even if there was an small accident, the alarm would have been triggered.
She opened the locker, there lay an album. A small album.
"Why would they keep this one album hidden...especially..with such such lockers mechanism...". She opened the first page. There was a photo of twin babies lying in the hospital together with their mother.
" Twins!!!.", Zi Aixia did not expect it..." Who are they??".
" Zi Aiming is approaching the study from the hall ", Zera's mechanical voice sounded.
" Zera come quick scan every photo present in the album ", as Zi Aixia flipped the pages quickly, a photo fell down from the book, she ignored it and flipped all the pages till the last so that Zera can scan everything and she can view the photos later.
Zi Aixia picked up that fallen photo and stuffed it in her pocket and made sure that the study looked untouched.
Before Zi Aiming arrived and entered the study, Zi Aixia turned the whole study backwards to normal and sat on the study table, fixing the mechanical parts of the hardware.
" Xiaxia", Zi Aiming knocked on the door and opened it. Seeing that she was fiddling with mechanical parts of the hardware, he smiled gently and went towards her. " Little Xia, it's time for dinner ", he brushed her hair and spoke gently. Zi Aixia felt guilty for investigating but she had to do it, because something about this place bothered her alot.
She wasn't able to quite put it in words but...this Zi manor...this place bothered her alot. " Yes let's go brother Aiming". She stood up stretched as she went down to have dinner with the rest of them.
After peacefully having dinner with her brothers she went to her room to shower.
She hid the photo in her pocket within her modified phone even without glancing at it,so that no one would be able to touch it.
Zi Aixia looked at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes fixated on a peculiar light cut mark on her left shoulder. She brushed her fingers lightly over it, feeling the texture of the skin and tracing the contour line of the mark. She furrowed her brows in puzzlement, her mind racing as she tried to recall when she received this mark. As much she had known after coming to this world, there wasn't any single scar on 'Zi Aixia's' body.
She distinctly remembered that her skin had been smooth and unblemished just a few days ago when she was showering. So how had this mark appeared out of nowhere? It looked like an old scar.
With a sudden rush of realization, Zi Aixia felt a cold shiver run down her spine. A sense of dread filled her as she began to grasp the horrifying possibility that was slowly forming in her mind. Could it be...could it be a alteration of her soul taking over Zi Aixia's body?
She wanted to start anew...but with the possibility of the scar coming back, it doesn't look like she'll be able to forget her past life, the harsh truth which cannot be forgotten. The fact that she had travelled through dimensions and took over a similar looking girl's body. She won't be able to change that fact.
She quickly finished up her shower and dressed up and came out. Zi Aixia had just stepped out of the shower, her hair dripping with water, when her phone rang, Mo Yuchen's name flashing on the screen. She quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her head as she answered the call. "Hello?" she said, her voice a little tense.
Mo Yuchen's voice came through the phone, his words laced with concern. "I've reached the hotel, Xiaxia. Is everything okay? You sound a bit off."
Zi Aixia felt her heart skip a beat when she heard Mo Yuchen's voice on the other end of the line. She tried to keep her voice steady, but the fear and anxiety that had been building up inside her now threatened to spill over. "Oh, um, nothing's wrong with my voice," she said, attempting to sound casual. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."
Mo Yuchen had always been perceptive when it came to Zi Aixia, recognizing even the slightest shifts in her mood and behavior. As such, he picked up on the tension in her voice immediately, his brow creasing with concern. He could hear the uneasiness in her words, the forced casualness that didn't quite mask her true feelings."You sure?" he asked, his voice soft and full of caring. "You sound...off."
Zi Aixia said," nothing..I just miss you." She said concealing all her feelings. She didn't want to worry Mo Yuchen who was far away from her. Mo Yuchen's heart ached at Zi Aixia's words, the homesickness and loneliness in her voice clear as day. Even though she was trying to play it off, he could sense the vulnerability and worry that she was attempting to hide. He longed to be by her side, to hold her and comfort her in her moment of distress, but the distance between them made it impossible. "I miss you too, Xiaxia," he replied softly, his voice warm and soothing. "Just a few more days, and I'll be back."
Mo Yuchen and Zi Aixia were video chatting, their faces lit up on each other's screens, when Mo Yuchen suddenly yawned, a sign of his tiredness. Despite his best efforts to stay awake and chat with her, his eyelids began to droop, and before he knew it, he had dozed off, his head leaning to the side, their call still connected.
Seeing that Mo Yuchen was asleep,Zi Aixia started drying her hair after her shower, when the sight of Mo Yuchen's sleeping face on her phone screen tugged at her eyelids. The fatigue from her emotional turmoil, coupled with the comfort of seeing him, made her eyelids grow heavier and heavier, until finally, she dozed off as well, their video call still ongoing.