"Who the hell are you?! Why are you grabbing me?!"
A flicker of surprise crossed Solon's eyes.
The Xianzhou made widespread use of cave-domain technology, with each domain capable of housing billions—much larger than anything shown in the game.
Solon had purposely avoided the area near the card parlor, and Changle Heaven was massive. Even so, against all odds, he'd still run into Qingque.
What kind of cursed luck was this?!
Just yesterday, in the simulation, he had utterly humiliated Qingque, treating her in ways that were anything but decent. She probably hated him to the bone by now.
Knowing she retained memories from the simulations, he'd gone out of his way to steer clear of places she might show up—yet here they were, colliding again. It really did feel like some ill-fated karmic bond.
Fortunately, Qingque only had memories—no tangible proof. She shouldn't be able to do anything to him… probably.
"You—! After what you did to me, you're still pretending you don't know me?!"
Qingque was livid, her emotions slipping out of control as she grabbed Solon by the collar and shook him hard.
Despite being smaller and more delicate-looking than Solon, Qingque was a true Pathstrider. Her body had been enhanced by Imaginary energy—far surpassing that of a normal Xianzhou native.
To her, Solon felt as light as a doll.
"Hey! I don't know what you're talking about! I've never even met you!"
Solon shouted in mock outrage.
By now, passersby were starting to notice the scene, circling around to watch. After all, spectating drama was a universal instinct, regardless of species or nation.
Seeing the crowd grow, Solon got an idea.
"Everyone! Please, help me out! I don't even know this woman, and she's just grabbed me out of nowhere!"
Qingque grew even more furious at his act.
"You're seriously pretending you don't know me?! After what you did to me, you're going to say we've never met?!"
Solon's eyes flashed with the satisfaction of a plan going exactly as expected.
"Alright then! If you say you know me, what's my full name? Where do I live? My birthday? Place of birth?"
Caught off guard, Qingque reflexively blurted out:
"Your name is Solon!…"
And then she froze.
Aside from his name, everything else was a blur from that nightmare memory. She didn't know anything else.
Solon's smug grin only grew wider.
Even if the memory had shown her more, he wouldn't be worried. Each simulation gave him a different identity—and those identities only existed inside the simulation. They weren't real.
"You don't even know where I live, and you claim you know me? What, did you meet me in a dream?"
"And what exactly did I do to you? Come on, tell everyone!"
Solon raised his voice dramatically.
If there was one universal truth about street arguments, it was this: the louder you are, the more "right" you seem.
His words poured over Qingque like a bucket of cold water, jolting her into clarity.
All she had were memories from a nightmare. No real evidence. She'd be laughed out of any court.
What could she say? "I was assaulted by this guy… in my dream"?
The crowd around them heard Solon's confident rebuttals while Qingque stood there, unable to respond. Bit by bit, public opinion shifted in his favor.
Some onlookers even pointed at Qingque, whispering. A few pulled out their Jade Tokens to secretly record the scene.
Emboldened, Solon kept shouting.
"I bet you're trying to scam me for money!"
Qingque clenched her fists. If she could, she'd stuff a whole stack of Di Huang Jade Tiles into that smug mouth of his.
But her rationality stopped her—attacking him in public would only make things worse.
"…Sorry. I mistook you for someone else."
Realizing the tide had turned against her, Qingque let go of Solon and squeezed through the crowd, head down.
"You thought you could scam me? Don't overestimate yourself!"
Solon gleefully raised a triumphant fist in her direction.
With the drama over, the crowd quickly dispersed.
Solon slipped away with them. Once no one was paying attention, his expression changed, and he hurried back home.
Shutting the door behind him, he patted his chest to calm his thundering heart.
That… had been way too close.
He'd actually run into a past victim—and gotten recognized. Talk about rotten luck.
Thankfully, it was just Qingque.
Qingque was mild-tempered and level-headed. That was the only reason Solon had managed to talk his way out.
If it had been Jingliu, that lunatic would've drawn her sword on the spot. His body wouldn't have been enough to fill a single bloodstain on the ground.
Yeah… until he grew stronger, he really needed to limit how often he left the house.
And when selecting simulation targets, it was probably smarter to avoid anyone from the Luofu.
With that thought, Solon flopped onto the bed.
Thud—the mattress let out a faint creak.
On the other side of the city, Qingque abruptly sat up from her own bed.
The shame and stares from the crowd had been unbearable. She'd fled the scene and hurried home.
Now that she had calmed down, she replayed the entire encounter in her head… and a strange sense of familiarity rose in her chest.
That shameless, underhanded, manipulative behavior… wasn't that exactly what that bastard was like?
"Still pretending you don't know me? What a shameless act…"
Realizing this, Qingque's hatred for Solon surged to new heights.
"This isn't over."
She slammed a fist into the bed, then got up and went straight to her computer.
Once it was on, she accessed the Divination Commission's internal database and began pulling up everything she could find on Solon.
Don't be fooled by the Commission's name—while it sounded mystical and superstitious, the methods they used were anything but.
Their "divinations" were based on hardcore statistical models and big data analysis. They could calculate the highest-probability outcomes with stunning accuracy—almost like true prophecy.
With this power, Qingque easily unearthed all of Solon's records—data so detailed, it surpassed even Solon's own memory. She even dug up long-forgotten events from the recesses of his past.
"Just wait. I'll make you pay for everything, Solon!"
Her eyes practically shot flames as they locked onto his photo on the screen.
"Achoo!"
Solon suddenly sneezed.
"Who the hell's talking about me in the middle of the night?"
"…Whatever. I've got more important things to do—like simulating."
After lying down for a bit, Solon began prepping for a new round of simulations.
Today's surprise run-in with Qingque had sounded an alarm in his mind.
Without enough power, he'd always be vulnerable to past victims showing up to settle scores.
But Solon's current path was a dead end.
If he kept running simulations, he'd offend more and more people.
If he didn't, he'd stay weak forever. And with the Luofu about to become the central stage for universe-shaking events, countless Xianzhou citizens were bound to die.
He didn't want to end up on that casualty list.
If you don't look out for yourself, the universe won't either.
Solon didn't want to die—so he would keep simulating.
Even if it meant making more enemies.
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