Chapter 29: Fury Upon Fury

Chapter 29: Anger Upon Anger

A place with no people? Hong Xiaoduo looked around, but couldn't find a suitable spot.

Since this location was closest to the inn, she immediately led the seven children toward it. She had originally intended to let Tianshu take the other children for a stroll through the streets, but feeling uneasy, she decided to bring everyone back.

"Watch the door for me. Don't let anyone in, okay?" Upon reaching the entrance of the large communal dormitory they had stayed in last night, she turned back to instruct Tianshu.

She wasn't sure why she had suddenly turned back, but Tianshu felt that his mother seemed anxious, so he nodded quickly in agreement.

Because she was uncertain when her travel permit would be processed, she hadn't checked out of the dormitory this morning. After entering the room, she still felt uneasy and bolted the door.

Taking a few more steps into the room, staying as far from the door as possible, she moved her thoughts and instantly entered her spatial dimension.

The space was still empty. The moment she entered, a screen appeared on the opposite wall, and immediately after, the old man wearing glasses appeared on it.

"Hong Xiaoduo, you..."

"Stop right there. First, tell me: can you control the duration of our calls now?" Hong Xiaoduo interrupted him, getting straight to the point.

The old man on the screen shook his head. "You should listen to me first..."

"If you can't control it, then I'll be the one talking. Otherwise, I'm not listening to anything." Out of necessity, she resorted to threats.

Seeing her determination, the old man on the screen grew somewhat annoyed, his eyes nearly flashing with fire, but he ultimately gritted his teeth and conceded with a nod. "Speak."

"First, tell me the situation at my home." Hong Xiaoduo seized the opportunity to ask the most important question.

The old man explicitly admitted that he could not yet control the duration of their communication. Given the time constraints, she had no leisure to accuse him of any illegal or criminal activities.

Hearing her question, the former curator was visibly surprised. He froze for a moment before speaking up. "Your family is doing very well. Don't worry. You are the only daughter of your parents. Your father is the CEO of a private company, and your mother is the deputy manager of a large local supermarket."

Hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo thought: *Everything is fine at home? I've been missing, and they haven't noticed? They aren't worried? Or is this old man using some trick to deceive them?*

"Your parents divorced the year you got into university, and you didn't register a household with either of them. Currently, your father has a very good relationship with his current wife; they have already had two children and are preparing for a third.

Your mother married the CEO of a listed company and is also pregnant with her second child.

Your mother's current husband is a bit of a flirt, so aside from work, your mother spends most of her time at beauty salons for skin maintenance, at yoga studios for prenatal yoga, and has even taken up flower arranging, tea ceremonies, and calligraphy.

So, you don't need to worry about them." The former curator simply told her everything he knew, focusing on the key points.

Hearing this detailed supplement, Hong Xiaoduo was somewhat stunned.

So, when he said her parents were "doing very well," was that what he meant? That they were both living wonderful lives, with their hearts entirely focused on their new partners and new families? That they had absolutely no time to spare for her, their daughter?

"You aren't just making up a story to put my mind at ease so that I'll do your work, are you?" How could she not be suspicious? "I hate being lied to more than anything," she warned fiercely.

If he was truly lying to deceive her, she wouldn't cooperate with anything he asked.

It wasn't that she was overly vigilant or hard to fool; rather, based on her own analysis over the past few days, she felt she had a decent personality, which suggested she should have come from a harmonious and loving family.

Instead, this old man was telling her that her parents were divorced and each had their own family of five or four?

"I swear, this is all factual. I hired a private investigator at great expense to look into it. Furthermore, your memory loss was not something we intentionally designed; it was likely caused by cross-temporal magnetic waves and should be temporary.

Your memory might return one day. If I were lying to you, I would eventually be exposed, and you would be even angrier then." The former curator raised his fingers and swore with great solemnity and seriousness.

He didn't even have the breath to remind her to focus on the important matters. When he told her about her family situation, the fact that her parents were divorced and she had established her own independent household suddenly struck him—this young girl was highly opinionated and extremely independent.

"Hong Xiaoduo? Miss Hong? Is there anything else you want to ask?" Seeing her lack of reaction, the former curator asked tentatively.

The old man's voice pulled Hong Xiaoduo back from her self-pity. "Yes. I have a sword at my waist, so I must have martial arts skills, right? Exactly what is my combat power? In a real fight, how many people could I take on at once?"

"That?" The former curator couldn't answer.

"Don't tell me you don't know. Didn't you develop and research this program?" Hong Xiaoduo was already in a bad mood, so her attitude and tone were quite sharp.

Based solely on her ability to throw pebbles with hundred-percent accuracy, she couldn't be sure if that was a specific skill or if she truly possessed martial arts prowess.

After all, even with her hand on the sword hilt, she didn't feel like an expert swordsman.

She liked watching female warriors in stories, but watching was different from reality. She had vague memories of martial arts classes in elementary school—kicking was tiring, stretching was painful, and the coach was fierce—but she couldn't remember anything else.

The former curator stiffened his neck and said with a lack of confidence, "I didn't build this entire program. It started with my grandfather, and my father later added to and perfected it. It's just that I had the good luck of waiting until someone like you, who met the criteria, arrived."

Hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo felt even more depressed. *My god, three generations of people working on this cross-temporal experience chamber just to wait for a unlucky person like me to walk into their trap?*

"If you didn't research it, there must be original data to check, right? Also, what exactly is your purpose in bringing me all the way here?" Hong Xiaoduo asked, suppressing her anger.

She felt that this was something the old man wanted to say himself.

But what was that expression on the old man's face on the screen? Why did he look so guilty, as if he didn't even dare to meet her eyes?

"Hey, don't you dare tell me you don't know or aren't sure! If you know nothing, why did you bring me here? Are you playing games?" Hong Xiaoduo grew agitated.

The former curator scratched his thinning hair and said uncomfortably, "The original data exists, but I can't access it for the time being because my father set a password and didn't tell me."

Hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo had a very bad feeling. "Is your father suffering from dementia? Or has he passed away?"

"Ahem, neither. He said that having dedicated most of his life to this research following his father's wishes, he was tired. He said I am now capable of handling things on my own, so he left the responsibility to me.

He went traveling the world. He didn't tell me the password before he left, saying that I would feel a greater sense of achievement if I decrypted it myself."

After hearing the former curator's somewhat embarrassed explanation, Hong Xiaoduo struggled to keep from swearing. "Wait, is your father really that rebellious? And since you don't even know the ultimate goal of this cross-temporal experience chamber project, why did you trick me into coming here?

Do you think I'm a 'chosen one' because I'm smart? So you're letting me wander around here to find the answers myself?..."