Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

Qi Zhimu sneezed several times.

"What's wrong, Mr. Qi? Have you caught a cold, or is someone talking about you behind your back?" Clarice asked him with concern.

"Nobody's nagging me, probably because the temperature has suddenly dropped," Qi Zhimu said, rubbing his nose.

He talked with Clarisse for a long time, until it was already late at night.

"...Then why not wear more clothes?"

"There are two reasons. One is probably a habit formed from my childhood experiences... I don't remember it very clearly."

Qi Zhimu searched through his memories, his tone gradually becoming sentimental as he recounted his story.

"When I was a child, a world war broke out in my hometown, and many devastating weapons polluted the land, sky and ocean."

"The air was filled with an extremely unpleasant odor all day long, war raged across the entire planet, and countless people were displaced."

"Countless biological and chemical weapons have been used in wars, giving rise to many deadly viruses, and no one infected can survive."

"When I lay dying in a pile of corpses, my teacher appeared. She was a scientist who studied life, and she took me in, giving me a chance to live..."

When Qi Zhimu spoke about his past for the first time, Clarice listened intently and attentively.

"Maybe I'm just lucky. My teacher said I carry at least a dozen different viruses on me, and some of them counteract each other, which is why I survived until she came."

"From then on, I became her test subject. In order to survive, I was initially immersed in the culture chamber for two whole years."

"Once they leave, it is very likely that the virus outbreak will be uncontrollable."

"Even after leaving the incubation chamber, you should still have your body checked frequently to monitor the activity of the virus in your body and whether it has mutated."

"Wearing too many clothes would be a hassle, so I basically just throw on a clean one all year round. Although my memory is a bit hazy, that's roughly how it is."

"And the second reason?" Clarice asked softly.

Qi Zhimu remained silent for a while, then explained as if nothing had happened.

"...Although the virus in my body has been completely eliminated, it has left some aftereffects. Sometimes I lose my sense of touch."

"A sensory experience?" Clarice tilted her head.

"Irritation, olfaction, pressure, temperature, pain... such as occasionally not being able to taste food or perceive climate changes, is not considered serious."

"I used to be in good health so it didn't bother me much, but now, maybe it's because I'm getting older, I'm actually more sensitive to the cold, haha..."

"Mr. Qi doesn't seem like an old man."

He spoke casually, but Clarice didn't entirely believe him.

What I've seen and heard over the years doesn't lie.

In response to climate change, people will add clothes when they feel cold and dress more lightly when they feel hot.

Mr. Qi's loss of bodily sensation may not be an isolated incident...

He may not be able to perceive the specific changes in the climate for most of the winter, and can only learn about it through relevant monitoring information to decide whether to add clothes.

Oh, and taste too!

Clarice suddenly remembered that the last time she brought the red and blue crystal fruit, Mr. Qi said it was very sweet after tasting it.

But the fruit was clearly sweet and sour; even when it was ripe, the sourness was still very pronounced.

At first she thought it was because everyone has different tastes, but now it seems...

Clarice felt as if she had been pricked by a needle.

Has he... long since lost the ability to taste the true flavor, yet remained unaware...?

But if he has a problem with his sense of taste, how could he make such delicious pastries and wines?

Unless—he never had a problem with his sense of taste before, and it only started recently.

"Even your teacher can't cure it?" Clarice asked, her heart aching.

"...If it can be cured, it won't be considered a sequela." Qi Zhimu smiled magnanimously, but in his heart he was apologizing.

This is also half a lie.

In fact, these symptoms have only emerged in recent years.

The decline in bodily functions due to aging is not a consequence of the virus.

He is a short-lived species, originally with a lifespan of no more than a hundred years.

He is only alive now because Ruan Mei extended his life back then.

But he doesn't intend to say those things.

A person who is about to die can take their unpleasant memories to the grave alone, rather than merging them into the memories of others.

Qi Zhimu understood one thing very well.

For Clarice, he was just a passerby in her life, the doctor who cured her mother's amnesia.

That's it.

Clarice was unaware of Qi Zhimu's true thoughts, and could only sigh softly.

Why did you suddenly sigh?

"I feel so sorry for Mr. Qi. Fate has been too unfair to you."

"Hehe, it's never fair. I understood that when I was a child, but that's just part of life."

Qi Zhimu smiled and said gently:

"If you strive to live the life you want, then the so-called unfairness of fate becomes less important; you can pretend it doesn't exist."

"Mr. Qi... have you become the person you wanted to be?" Clarice pressed.

"It should be successful."

"...It doesn't sound very confident."

Qi Zhimu's smile remained unchanged: "There is no standard answer to this question, just like pi, which can never be calculated to its end."

"Fate made me homeless and suffer greatly, but it also led me to my teacher and brought me salvation."

Thinking about it this way, fate has been fairly fair to me.

Upon hearing these words, Clarice felt that Mr. Qi was no longer a pessimist, but rather an optimist.

He is very open-minded.

Or perhaps, those who have experienced life and death since childhood and have hovered on the edge of death are more open-minded?

Clarice thought of her hometown.

There may be no open warfare between nations, but their covert struggles have never ceased.

Even within their own countries, court politicians hold differing stances and will fight tooth and nail for their own interests.

But no matter what, compared to Mr. Qi's childhood experiences, the environment in which she grew up can only be described as paradise.

Being rejected, being isolated... is nothing compared to this.

Perhaps this is why I can't understand why he can be so open-minded.

"Mr. Qi respects your teacher very much."

"Of course, without her, there would be no me today, nor you, nor Ms. Durand."

"She must be a very gentle person herself to have taught such a gentle doctor as Mr. Qi."

"Yes, teachers are the gentlest people in the world."

Qi Zhimu answered sincerely without any hesitation, and his expression softened even more when he spoke of his teacher.

"She always said she was just using me as a guinea pig to study how to get rid of the virus in my body... but she worked tirelessly for six years because of that statement."

"Over the course of six years, she went without sleep for several days and nights in a row, just to find a glimmer of hope in me and hold onto it."

"After clearing the virus, seeing that I had nowhere to go, they took me in as a student and taught me a lot of knowledge without reservation."

"She taught me everything, from the most basic knowledge to the most cutting-edge studies, step by step."

......