Chapter 17
Yuan Luoyi was somewhat reassured by Second Brother's words.
He was an inscrutable man, always smiling bloodthirstily, acting dramatically like in a play, reciting long monologues, yet his eyes were extremely cold at their core, he was born emotionally aloof, unable to empathize with others.
But Yuan Luoyi knew Second Brother would not truly harm her.
In the room, Yuan Fa laid Yuan Luoyi flat and covered her with a quilt.
"Slap!"
With a snap of his fingers, the lights in the room darkened.
The pure moonlight spilled in, and Yuan Fa stood at the bedside silhouetted against it, making him look like a coiled giant snake.
When Yuan Luoyi had nightmares as a child, she didn't dare sleep, and Yuan Fa would stand guard at her bedside like this until she fell asleep again.
Now, Yuan Fa thought Yuan Luoyi had been frightened by a nightmare again, but what really terrified Yuan Luoyi were the enemies lurking in the shadows.
What kind of power was it that could bring about the complete destruction of the Yuan family?
According to the memory fragments, when she was 18 she was discovered to be an imposter daughter and driven out by Father Yuan, then sentenced to death.
But Yuan Luoyi hadn't seen the cause and effects leading up to it.
People all said the devil was in the details, so perhaps that cunning culprit was also hiding in these memory shards.
Perhaps Yuan Luoyi could change the Yuan family's tragic ending.
No.
She was the only one who could change it.
This was probably why she had become Yuan Luoyi again for the second time.
Closing her eyes, adjusting her breathing, Yuan Luoyi slowly fell asleep. Whenever she slept she could see more memory fragments, 99 lifetimes of memories jumbled together, appearing randomly, and Yuan Luoyi had to grasp the memory shards she needed.
Finally, there it was.
She saw her 18 year old self standing in court, countless reporters behind her, three judges before her.
"Bang!" The gavel fell.
"After joint deliberation by the court, Yuan Luoyi is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by immediate execution!"
Yuan Luoyi was very confused.
Who did I kill?
No no no, I would never kill anyone, this is a miscarriage of justice. In other words, who was murdered? And who framed me?
Yuan Luoyi wanted to see more details, but the memory fragment ended abruptly there.
Other fragments from her cycles of rebirth surged before her, and she suddenly felt unbearably hot, every inch of her skin in agony.
This was the dark medieval ages, people were shouting.
"She's a witch, she'll bring misfortune, burn her alive! Quick, burn her!"
She was tied to a crucifix, flames raging, the blistering red devouring her slender body, the cruel torment of being burned alive beyond painful.
A scream tore through the sky...
Yuan Luoyi awoke with a start, or rather, she was shaken awake by Yuan Fa.
Yuan Fa's icy hand was pressed to her forehead, dispelling some of the heat: "You were possessed by the nightmare."
It took Yuan Luoyi some time to differentiate between reality and dreams. The memories from 99 lifetimes had taught her many skills, but they also displayed the torment of her cycles of rebirth this way, dying of starvation, illness, and now Yuan Luoyi had also experienced being burned alive.
She sat up, glancing at the clock to see it was 2 AM.
Yuan Fa's cell phone was on the table, his game still running, messages from his teammates popping up one after another urging him to dispatch troops to attack castles and cities.
Beside it was a mess of torn open snack packages. It seemed he had been playing games and snacking.
Yuan Luoyi said, "You've nearly eaten all my snacks. They were expensive, some limited edition too."
Yuan Fa said, "Kid, don't get demanding. I'm a lawyer who charges by the hour. Guarding you while you sleep is night shift work. You just need to pay with some snacks to get noble me to serve you, it's what others can only dream of, so be content."
Yuan Luoyi felt he made sense, but also that the logic was somewhat flawed.
For instance, Yuan Fa wasn't working either, but playing games instead.
However, many years of experience had taught Yuan Luoyi it was best not to debate with lawyers, especially the shady sort like Yuan Fa. He could always make you feel guilty while posing as the innocent victim.
Yuan Luoyi lay back down. Seeing she was fine, Yuan Fa sat back on the sofa and continued his game.
In the pitch black room, the phone screen lit up his face. He was at the climatic decisive battle, but he looked very calm, not a ripple in his narrow fox-like eyes.
Yuan Fa had always been extremely rational, seemingly never anxious or flustered. His chilliness affected Yuan Luoyi, and she gradually calmed down, closing her eyes and falling asleep again.
Things weren't at a complete deadlock yet. Star Galaxy Middle School was going to start airing a campus variety show soon, and Yuan Luoyi was eligible to participate.
According to the system, continuously gaining fans and increasing her influence, she could regress again bit by bit to restore the truth of the matter, and find that cunning murderer.
The system also had a wish granting function that would probably help greatly once activated.
The next morning, the birds chirped noisily outside the window, and Yuan Luoyi got up groggily.
Yuan Fa had already left, but in his place he had left a over one meter tall plush rabbit by Yuan Luoyi's pillow. Its whole body was snow white, with a black bowtie around its neck. This was the 11th birthday gift Yuan Fa gave Yuan Luoyi.
He said it was a magical rabbit that could eliminate all curses and pain.
At the time, Yuan Luoyi felt it was quite childish. After all she was no longer 3 years old, she wouldn't fall for such lies.
But now Yuan Luoyi felt perhaps it really was a magical rabbit, because after falling asleep again, she didn't have any more "nightmares".
As usual, after washing up Yuan Luoyi got in the car and headed to Star Galaxy Middle School.
The students looked vigorous and lively, chatting and fooling around with their friends, discussing homework, games, and their first innocent crushes.
Walking among the crowd with her schoolbag, Yuan Luoyi stood out, filled with complex emotions.
She had changed.
After seeing those memory fragments, she could no longer freely enjoy life. Now she wanted to change the future.
Star Galaxy Middle School was especially lively today. Many photographers had come, stringing cables all through the campus and adjusting camera equipment worth millions.
Nearby, two red haired students chatted excitedly in Italian.
"The school's campus variety show is starting! Are you participating?"
"Forget it. My Chinese isn't good enough. And I don't have connections in the entertainment industry either."
"Good point. Ugh, why does Chinese have to have four tones! It's so hard to learn!"
Yuan Luoyi had never studied Italian, but she could understand some of it, because she had been an Italian shoemaker in one lifetime.
Passing the Italian students, Yuan Luoyi and Yuan Ao walked to the front of the classroom building.
The whole building had an ancient style, with towering flying eaves, orderly arranged roof tiles, intricately carved lattice windows, and a pair of towering stone qilins at the entrance.
This majestic classroom building made Yuan Luoyi feel like she had come to attend court rather than go to school.
The principal had even changed the bell chime to the "Hymn for the Emperor's Ascension", saying it would ignite everyone's ambition to study harder, but in reality, the over-the-top grandiosity only provoked the students' sense of shame.
"Ding ling ling!"
The warning bell rang, and the other students hurriedly ran off while Yuan Luoyi leisurely walked to Class D.