Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

"Unfortunately, I am too dull, and I find it extremely difficult to even grasp 20% of the knowledge taught by my teacher."

Even so, she was never displeased with my dullness; she almost always indulged me and raised me to adulthood.

Qi Zhimu's gentle voice was soft, yet every word was clear.

"It is said that a teacher for a day is a father for life. To me, my teacher is more than a second parent."

"...Now I can understand Mr. Qi's answer to fate."

"You little rascal, you're so young and you already like to talk about profound things. When I was your age..."

At this point, Qi Zhimu suddenly fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Clarice asked, puzzled.

"...It's nothing. At eighteen, I'm still a clueless kid, about the same age as a middle school student."

"But, Mr. Qi..."

Clarice's face showed deep worry, and her voice trembled slightly.

Why are you...crying?

Qi Zhimu raised his hand to wipe his cheek, touching a wet patch, and stared blankly at the tear stains on his fingertips.

"strangeness……"

He murmured to himself, his hand covering his chest as he felt his heartbeat.

A fleeting pain flashed through my heart.

Why?

Just as Qi Zhimu was deep in thought, he suddenly choked up.

Sensing the rapid change in his physical condition, he forced down the crimson liquid that was about to spill from his throat.

"Excuse me, I'll be there for a moment."

Qi Zhimu strode out of the medical room, returned to his room, closed the door, and took out the medicine bottle without thinking.

After swallowing four special pills, feeling the medicine rapidly dissolve in his body, his face not only did not relax, but became even more serious.

They underestimated the difficulty of combating aging.

The effectiveness of the special drug has been greatly reduced. Not only is the duration of action shorter, but the recent increase in dosage has also led to the body gradually developing drug resistance.

The maximum dosage cannot be increased any further, otherwise the side effects will prevent him from surviving for more than two days.

We must develop a new drug with better effects within a few days.

Otherwise, before their lifespan ends, they will only be able to live out their days in a frail and aged state, unable to even find a place to stay.

Qi Zhimu was not afraid of his impending death; he simply wanted to leave no regrets.

He still had things to do; he couldn't just lie there and wait to die, and he couldn't let Yu Qingtu find out.

He knew very little about Yu Qingtu, but he was well aware that in terms of extremes, the former was undoubtedly quite similar to his teacher Ruan Mei.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have become such close friends despite their age difference.

"Mr. Qi, are you alright?!"

Outside the closed door, Clarice's concerned inquiry could be heard.

"fine……"

Qi Zhimu steadied his voice and pretended to be calm. He looked at himself in the mirror, his hair completely white and his appearance slowly recovering, and sighed silently.

"I suddenly forgot that there was something very important I hadn't told the teacher, about half an hour ago."

"That's good."

Clarice was still a little confused, but she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and returned the way she came.

On the screen inside the medical room, the treatment progress jumped from 81% to 82%.

Clarice calmed down and looked around.

There was no phantom image; it was as if what had been seen before was nothing but an illusion.

But she knew it wasn't an illusion.

As she slowly walked through the area where Qi Zhimu's illusory figure had been, the girl's expression was complex, and her consciousness drifted into the distance.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly turned around and stared intently at a certain spot.

Nobody's here...

I had this strange feeling that someone was watching me from that spot.

Clarice frowned, carefully sensing the information that was difficult for ordinary people to perceive.

Having been ostracized and isolated by her peers since childhood, she can clearly discern the emotions contained in those different gazes.

Is it the gaze of Mr. Qi's phantom image?

No…!

Mr. Qi's gaze was always gentle; even if you were stared at by him for a long time, it was like a spring breeze on your face, and you would not feel uncomfortable at all.

The gaze that seemed like a misperception earlier may not have been malicious, but it wasn't necessarily well-intentioned either.

It's more like... scrutiny?

It's like the way teachers in college scrutinize everyone when selecting class committee members.

Clarice focused her mind, as if trying to see through what had once existed in that location.

Unfortunately, they still found nothing when Qi Zhimu returned.

"Mr. Qi, do you think... ghosts exist in the world?"

"Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"...Just curious."

"That depends on what kind of ghost it is. If it's the kind of ghost you see in movies and TV shows, then strictly speaking, it doesn't exist."

"So, it means that ghosts don't actually exist in the strict sense?" Clarice suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

"You could say that."

Qi Zhimu glanced at the treatment progress bar, checked the program's runtime library, and after confirming there were no abnormalities, continued:

"I've heard my teacher talk about the existence of some strange energy life forms in the universe."

"They do not normally have a fixed physical form; they can be seen but not touched, or even not seen and not touched."

"Unless they are willing to let us see them, or we see them through special abilities and means."

Have you heard of the Fate Walker?

"The Fate Walker?" Clarice asked thoughtfully, her voice uncertain.

"We have a chemistry professor in our college who is invulnerable to weapons. He can always resolve any unexpected situations that arise in chemistry projects, such as explosions."

"The 'Destined Ones' that Mr. Qi mentioned are these humans who possess special abilities, right?"

Qi Zhimu nodded: "Humans who possess special abilities are not necessarily destined travelers, but those who have traveled far enough on their destined path will definitely possess special abilities."

"As far as I know, some practitioners of the Fate Path have the ability to 'ghost' themselves."

"What are the specific factions?" Clarice asked.

"What I can be sure of is memory, followed by mystery, and I'm not sure about anything else," Qi Zhimu pondered.

The mysterious faction was told to him by Yu Qingtu; Ruan Mei only mentioned memories.

"Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Um... Mr. Qi, please don't be afraid of what I'm about to tell you..."

"you say."

"There seems to be a ghost here... Not long ago, it seemed like something was hiding in the shadows watching me."

"Is this really true?"

Qi Zhimu looked surprised, pondered for a moment, and then his brow gradually relaxed.

"There's no need to worry. If they really are those destined travelers, they probably have no ill intentions, nor would they dare to have any."

Recalling his own written advice on memory, he felt it must be related to those who remember.

This place bears the marks of the Genius Club #55; no one would dare to easily offend a genius.

The above was said by Yu Qingtu himself.

She also said that a member of a memory-based incinerator faction had offended her, and she eventually turned him into a special potion...

"Then I'm relieved." Clarisse nodded slightly.

……

The sky gradually brightened, turning a pale white.

The moment the progress on the screen reached 100%, Durand slowly opened his eyes.

Clarice met her mother's gaze and saw the familiar loving look in her eyes, and her eyes quickly welled up with tears.

Qi Zhimu underwent a post-operative examination, slowly let out a sigh of relief, and revealed a genuine smile.

"Ms. Durand, congratulations. From this moment on, the torment of amnesia will be gone from you forever."