He was painting with honey.

Ants swarmed over, outlining clear black lines on the wall.

He was painting the academy.

The square where scholars danced and bowed, the towering library, the lecture hall with its broad corridors, the dining hall where delivery workers came and went, the Garrison House filled with stinking socks, Liuxiang Lake blooming with silk tree flowers along its banks, the winding waters flowing smoothly and covered with duckweed, Wuyu Pool where brocade carp swam slowly beneath the floating plants, the martial training ground where flying horses galloped and dust rose, even the half-collapsed wall of the supervisor’s house that had never been properly repaired…

Tie Ci hadn’t expected that this child who seemed to notice nothing would remember the academy days so clearly.

In all his paintings, there were traces of her.

Herself dancing and bowing in the square, herself reading in the library, herself attending class in the lecture hall, herself promoting takeout at the dining hall entrance, herself skipping class and lying dead in the garrison house, herself swinging in a hammock by Liuxiang Lake, herself grilling fish by Wuyu Pool, herself practicing archery on the training ground, herself blasting down the wall with one palm in the supervisor’s courtyard…

Her figure covered the walls, obscuring some paintings. You Weixing didn’t turn his head, just impatiently crouched and moved to another spot, continuing to paint the one in his hands.

This time he finally painted the small courtyard where he and his sister lived, but he painted the argument at the courtyard gate—someone had stepped on his ants, he pushed the person down, the others ganged up on him, his sister made him apologize, so he went to hit the wall.

Then he crashed into Tie Ci’s palm.

He wrote a character beside it.

“Pain.”

That was the first time he knew what “pain” meant.

He continued painting, preparing to paint Mount Tai Crushing Down, then Chasing Light and Shadow, then Ten-Sided Ambush—what Tie Ci had taught him that day. To those bastards who had trampled his ant pets, don’t even think about apologizing, just deal with them like this.

When Shiba told him this, he didn’t quite understand, but now he understood clearly. It was just a pity he no longer had the chance to demonstrate.

So he painted it down to show Shiba.

Shiba would definitely say “Good!”

Behind him, someone was saying: “Good!”

The voice was familiar.

You Weixing’s hand paused, but he didn’t immediately turn around. Instead, he seriously finished the last stroke—a finger with its tip slightly raised.

It perfectly connected with the shadow of an extended hand reflected on the wall.

He turned around and saw Shiba.

Tie Ci habitually wanted to crouch down, but discovered that in this year he had grown much taller, quite a bit taller than herself. No matter how you looked at it, he no longer seemed like a child.

But his eyes were still that clear and clean, unchanged despite experiencing worldly torment.

She smiled at him.

She wondered if this child would learn to throw himself into her arms.

She’d have to steady her horse stance—otherwise with this height, she might fall over.

But You Weixing still didn’t move, just stared at her steadily, then suddenly said softly: “Pain.”

Despite countless mental preparations, Tie Ci felt she was still instantly struck.

She had taught him many expressions, and when they met again, he chose only this one word.

It was because during these days, this experience had been too profound.

She smiled, reached out to turn You Weixing’s face, pulling his instinctively drifting gaze back to her face, saying softly: “Then let’s go. Come to my place and I’ll make it better.”

You Weixing’s gaze finally fixed on her face, as if he had found his home, and suddenly said loudly: “Good!”

Tie Ci was caught off guard and instinctively covered his mouth.

Footsteps came from outside the door.

The next instant, both Tie Ci and You Weixing’s figures disappeared.

Tie Ci stumbled as she landed, frowning slightly.

Hmm, everything else was fine, but the sluggish feeling when teleporting with someone was becoming more and more obvious.

And… she looked around. Worst of all, not only had they not moved far, they had teleported into a crowd.

All around, gardeners carrying flower hoes stared dumbfounded at the two people.

Tie Ci instinctively prepared to teleport again, when she saw someone open their mouth and You Weixing raise his hand.

Tie Ci: “Don’t…”

“Go back.”

The next moment she was dumbfounded.

Light and shadow shifted before her eyes, scenery seemed to retreat at a terrifying speed, blurring into mottled patches before her eyes. Then her feet felt slightly solid, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw the paintings on the wall.

They were back in the room where You Weixing had been imprisoned.

For a moment she thought You Weixing had also gained teleportation ability, but clearly she felt her body hadn’t moved at all.

Beside her, You Weixing slowly said: “Go back.”

He raised his hand again.

The sensation of rushing backward returned.

The next instant she smelled an extremely unpleasant odor and her body seemed to crash into a narrow space.

Tie Ci looked down and saw a chamber pot.

She covered her nose and looked at You Weixing. You Weixing looked down at the toilet and said: “Just now, relieving myself.”

Tie Ci had an epiphany. You Weixing seemed to be making time go backward.

This ability was quite remarkably powerful.

She hadn’t discovered he had this talent before—how did he suddenly have it?

This ability used well would be like an omnipotent weapon, but looking at You Weixing’s appearance, he seemed unpracticed and didn’t know what ability he possessed.

She asked: “Can you go back to before I came?”

If he could go back to the time before she arrived, they could directly return outside Jie Garden.

You Weixing shook his head: “Only mine.”

He held up two fingers: “Twice, one day.”

Tie Ci was deflated.

He could only go back to You Weixing’s previous time, the time regression was brief, and only twice a day.

That was useless, because You Weixing had been confined indoors all along. Even if he could regress, he would still be in this room.

“How did you suddenly learn this? I never saw you use it before.”

“Don’t know.” You Weixing thought for a long time, then said with difficulty: “I wanted to go back, wanted to return to the academy, just kept thinking, thinking, always thinking.”

Was it extreme longing that triggered his hidden ability?

Was it because he desperately wanted to return to the academy, to return to that period he felt was the most beautiful, that his powerful obsession finally let him briefly “go back”?

This was a privy, by its position in the corner of the courtyard, at the side of the garden.

There was a wall in front of the privy door for privacy. Tie Ci quietly looked out and saw a group of people hurrying into the garden, led by You Weinan with his grand entourage. Boys and girls attended him, and wherever he passed, fragrant winds followed.

Tie Ci watched him approach and flicked a small stone at his stomach.

You Weinan frowned and instinctively clutched his stomach.

The privy was right beside him, but he found it dirty and wanted to return to the house to take care of it. However, his stomach hurt more and more, and finally he had to hurry into the privy.

As soon as he entered the privy, a hand gripped his throat.

You Weinan’s sleeve moved—rip—the sleeve was torn off.

He lifted his foot—his boot was stepped on.

You Weinan’s head jerked back violently. Tie Ci tilted her head, and You Weinan’s skull thudded against the wall.

After three consecutive setbacks, he gave up and no longer tried to alert his attendants waiting outside.

Only then did Tie Ci whisper something in his ear.

You Weinan’s back stiffened. Even his breathing seemed to instantly lighten, rising and falling unsteadily, revealing slight nervousness.

Tie Ci didn’t say much more, just tapped her knuckles on You Weinan’s shoulder as if keeping time. But You Weinan was tapped into increasing agitation, his eyes secretly glancing backward. Unfortunately, the light was dim, and Tie Ci was entirely hidden behind him. He could only see her long shadow cast on the opposite wall, while You Weixing stood there boldly, expressionlessly watching ants on the ground, showing no interest in him.

The hand on his throat loosened slightly, but he didn’t shout, only said in a low voice: “Then can you guarantee…”

“Maybe I can’t guarantee it.” Tie Ci answered easily.

You Weinan choked.

“But I’ll try my best. And if even I can’t guarantee it, then no one else can.” Tie Ci tossed him a small bottle: “As an exchange, use it yourself.”

You Weinan caught it, thought for a moment, and said nothing more. Outside, servants were already asking if he was alright and whether they needed to come in to attend him.

You Weinan said: “I need to squat a while longer. Ah, it really stinks here. Huaixiang, you two go get me dates to stuff my nose. Jinchen, you two go get incense. Ximo, take someone to get silk cloth…” In a few words he sent people away, leaving only two outside.

His daily entourage was always grand. Condescending to use an ordinary privy naturally made him even more dissatisfied. Everyone followed orders, and the crowd before the privy dispersed.

You Weinan called to the two outside: “You two come in and drive away mosquitoes and flies for me!”

The two responded and entered, then were knocked unconscious by Tie Ci, who changed into their clothes.

You Weixing was very obedient, doing whatever he was told. Even though the servant’s clothes had a high collar that made him uncomfortable, he obediently raised his head to let Tie Ci fasten his collar properly.

Tie Ci said: “Uncomfortable?”

You Weixing nodded stiffly.

“Tight. This is called tight.”

You Weixing: “Tight.”

You Weinan watched Tie Ci help You Weixing dress, a strange look flashing in his eyes: “He can actually speak!”

Then: “He actually lets you touch him!”

He looked at You Weixing in amazement, almost thinking this was a different person.

Tie Ci blocked his view and smiled: “Young Master You, Lord You, now it’s time for you to scold your servants.”

“I am kind and love the people, courteous to the worthy, and never raise my voice to servants.”

“Then let’s switch—we can scold and beat you instead.”

You Weinan immediately lifted his robe and kicked You Weixing out.

Tie Ci: “A Xing, lower your head!”

You Weixing immediately lowered his head.

Tie Ci also clutched her buttocks and rushed out behind him.

You Weinan chased after them, face full of anger: “You two, stop! How dare you steal my seal! Stop!”

The three gave chase, immediately causing chaos with people and horses tumbling. Countless guards surged over to intercept the two, but were nimbly dodged by Tie Ci or knocked down by You Weixing’s brute force. Tie Ci pulled You Weixing’s hand, rushing forward along the path they had come by. Several times when crowds were about to gather, You Weinan was tripped by a stone, and everyone swarmed to help him up, giving Tie Ci and You Weixing another chance to break through.

They rushed all the way to Jie Garden’s south gate, where a large tree was just being brought in and the gate was open. The two jumped onto the tree and fled outward, with shouts continuing behind them, drawing sidelong glances from surrounding civilians.

Tie Ci ran to the top of the tree before turning to point at You Weinan and shout: “Turning the tables! What do you mean we stole from you! You clearly have a righteous appearance but are a male thief and female prostitute inside. A grown man who likes men, forcing us brothers…” She seemed to have difficulty speaking and timely blushed: “Not even a man anymore, just castrate yourself and become a eunuch—why harm both men and women here! Deceiving the innocent!”

The civilians’ mouths opened in round O’s: “Oh my—”