The moment Shen Yi pushed open the door to Rong Qian’s room, he found it completely empty.

Shen Yi was breathing hard. He looked around, trying to catch any sound from within the room.

But the result left him deeply disappointed—the room was utterly silent, as if everyone had left and the building stood empty, cold and lifeless, without a trace of warmth.

Still clinging to a sliver of hope, Shen Yi searched the entire building from top to bottom. Only when he truly could not find Rong Qian anywhere did he sway in a daze, nearly losing his footing.

Shen Yi leaned back against the wall, his breathing rapid and shallow. For a moment, he didn’t even know what he was doing.

“Young Master…”

Fu Bozhong frowned deeply. He had witnessed the entire scene just now, but he had no choice but to tell him the truth. “Young Master, Miss Rong… she’s already left.”

“When did she leave?” Shen Yi kept his head lowered, his deep voice hoarse.

His finely jointed hand pressed against the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tightly, his brows furrowed deeply—his body seemed to be in considerable discomfort.

Fu Bozhong told him, “Not long after the two of you went out, Miss Rong called me to your room and asked me to take a photo of her. Then, by the time I realized what was happening, she was already gone.”

“My room?” Shen Yi’s frown deepened further. He realized he had searched every corner of the house except for his own room.

Without another word, Shen Yi went upstairs to his own room.

Xu Mo had been waiting downstairs anxiously. He had watched Shen Yi pacing back and forth, not knowing what he was searching for.

Seeing Shen Yi go back upstairs now, Xu Mo walked over and asked Fu Bozhong, “Steward Fu, what’s going on with my boss all of a sudden? What is he looking for?”

“Haven’t you noticed that someone is no longer here?” Fu Bozhong reminded him.

Xu Mo looked around, then guessed, “Miss Rong left?”

“Mm.”

“What’s the big deal about that? Just give her a call and we’d know, wouldn’t we? Besides, Miss Rong probably hasn’t gotten far yet—just send someone to bring her back, right?” Xu Mo was quite puzzled, not understanding why his boss was so anxious.

Fu Bozhong shook his head and said wistfully, “Who knows how many years it will be before they meet again…”

After Shen Yi entered his own room, he still didn’t see any sign of Rong Qian, but on his desk lay an envelope, on which was written: To Shen Yi.

Shen Yi recognized it at once—it was Rong Qian’s handwriting.

He tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter. On it was a passage written by Rong Qian, which read as follows:

Shen Yi, by the time you see this letter, I will have already returned to my own time.

Originally, I should have waited for you to finish what you wanted to say before leaving.

But after thinking it over, I worried you wouldn’t be able to bear letting me go, so I decided to slip away quietly while you weren’t around!

I know this isn’t the nicest thing to do, but don’t be upset, okay~ I’ll come find you again, and when I do, I’ll bring you a gift!

Oh, and one more thing—keep a close eye on Thomas and He Jicheng. Please be extremely careful and don’t let yourself get hurt!

Lastly, there’s something I still want to tell you—you aren’t just a passerby in my journey through time. You are the very reason this journey through time began.

It was for you that I traveled through time and space to find you…

Signed: Rong Qian

On the letter, she had also drawn a cartoon figure—a depiction of herself, an adorable chibi-style avatar making a peace sign, smiling brightly. Through this letter, Shen Yi felt as though he could see Rong Qian’s smiling face.

“Shen Yi!”

At that moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Rong Qian walked in, grinning triumphantly. Shen Yi froze for a second.

“I haven’t left yet, see? Surprised? Shocked?” She spread her arms wide, gesturing to him. “What are you standing there for? Come give me a hug!”

A smile couldn’t help but spread across Shen Yi’s face. Letting go of the letter in his hand, he hurried joyfully toward her!

But just as he was about to touch her, Rong Qian vanished right before his eyes…

The smile on Shen Yi’s lips froze instantly.

He looked around and found the door still firmly closed, with the letter lying quietly on the carpeted floor where it had fallen.

Shen Yi couldn’t help but smile bitterly—he hadn’t expected that she had only just left, and he was already seeing illusions.

He walked back and crouched down to pick up the letter.

Just as he stood up, his vision suddenly went black. A sudden wave of dizziness made everything spin around him, and Shen Yi hurriedly grabbed onto a chair for support!

His hand gripped the chair tightly. His unusually pale hand showed the veins on its back clearly, and his fingertips had turned white—a sign of how much pain he was in.

Shen Yi closed his eyes and took a deep breath before steadying himself against the chair to stand up, but the splitting headache still left him gasping in pain. He hurriedly opened a drawer, found some painkillers, poured out two pills, and swallowed them.

But the headache still didn’t ease.

Shen Yi braced both hands on the desk, his shoulders rising and falling with his rapid breathing.

After a long while, he was heard murmuring hoarsely, “A’Qian, do you know how agonizing it is to wait without any direction…”

And at the very moment Shen Yi said these words, on the other side, Rong Qian had already traveled back.

The instant the camera flash went off, Rong Qian closed her eyes.

With experience from the previous times, Rong Qian quickly opened her eyes again, and what came into view were over a dozen armed police officers holding guns aimed straight at her.

More precisely, the guns were aimed at the man wearing a skull mask who was currently holding her hostage.

Rong Qian was back—back to a few minutes before she had jumped off the building.

The man in the skull mask had his arm around her neck, choking her, his gun still aimed at her head. The abandoned, unfinished building was just as dilapidated as before, with particles of dust floating in the air.

Having lived in Shen Yi’s mansion for a while, Rong Qian, suddenly faced with this environment again, found herself momentarily unable to adjust.

“You’re about to die, and you still want to know who I am?”

When the man in the skull mask said this, his tone carried a hint of mockery.

Rong Qian remembered—when she had been held hostage by him before, she had indeed asked him who he really was, and he had replied with this exact line.

The moment she heard his voice, Rong Qian realized—this was none other than Lin Jie’s voice!

Rong Qian felt fortunate—thank goodness she had traveled back. Otherwise, even if he had voluntarily told her his name was Lin Jie, she wouldn’t have known who that was, and if he’d gotten angry and shot her in the head on the spot, dying like that would have been far too unjust!

Rong Qian calmly said to him, “I know who you are.”

“Oh? Then go ahead, tell me—who am I?”

The man in the skull mask had no idea why she suddenly seemed like a completely different person, but regardless, he aimed the gun straight at her head, as if ready to fire the instant she got it wrong.

Calm in the face of danger, Rong Qian said steadily, “If I’m not mistaken, your name is Lin Jie.”

Rong Qian clearly felt the man stiffen the moment her words landed.

This was proof that Rong Qian had guessed correctly.