On the afternoon of the second day of the rules, Guan Tong was in a nearby abandoned city clearing weeds.
Yes, he had nothing better to do, so he decided to show some initiative and contribute to future energy construction efforts.
But he wasn't with the official organization's team; he'd found an empty city on his own, manipulating Shadows into scythes to cut down the plants on the streets.
At first, he thought it would be boring, but after a while, he found a kind of stress-relieving satisfaction in it, like the "grass-cutting" mini-games he used to play on his phone before crossing over.
The difference, though, was that this was real grass-cutting, way more satisfying than swiping on a screen.
Every time his Flowable Mind Power ran out, he rested to recover, never touching his reserve Mind Power.
During breaks, he would take out his tablet from his Storage Ring. Since some acquaintances like Black Star and White Star still had Mind Power upper limits below one thousand and couldn't use the Mind Network, they contacted Guan Tong through private messages on Ascendant Home.
When Guan Tong rested and pulled out his tablet, he checked for new private messages.
This time, when he rested and took it out, he found there really was one, sent by Zhang Minglu.
The moment he saw the content, his expression changed instantly.
"I actually forgot about this..."
The private message from Zhang Minglu was about Fang Qian.
Seeing it, Guan Tong remembered how, back in the Gambling Space, he had witnessed Fang Qian's scene in the gamble through the Life-Hunting Avatar's first-person perspective.
At that time, she had chosen to participate in a formal gambling round just to get the item that could delete memories.
There was no doubt she had lost. It was only later, when Guan Tong won against the Life-Hunting Demon in the Ancient Gamble, that the stakes she had lost were returned.
But that didn't mean she had given up her obsession with "deleting memories."
Now, with this [Memory Erasure] rule coming out, it was easy to imagine what she would do.
Since Guan Tong had never really thought much about her, he hadn't considered this angle at all when the new rule was announced. Now, seeing Zhang Minglu's private message reminded him, but it was already too late.
"Looks like this weeding isn't happening anymore."
This matter instantly soured Guan Tong's mood. He no longer had the heart for weeding. He sighed, put away his tablet, and in the next moment, his body vanished from the spot.
...
Pinglu City Police Headquarters, Conference Room.
When Guan Tong pushed open the door and entered, there were already three people in the room, all of whom he knew.
"Guan Tong, you're here." Li Meng greeted him, his gaze carrying a subtle hint of scrutiny.
Guan Tong noticed it sharply but didn't react. He looked at Shi Jingyi, who was sitting on the other side of the table, and asked, "Why are you here too?"
How was she connected to this matter?
Shi Jingyi's expression was gloomy, a trace of regret shining in her eyes.
"Fang Qian... she met with me yesterday and asked me some questions. I sensed some confusion in her at the time and gave her advice, but she didn't listen. Maybe I should have said a few more words to her."
Hearing what sounded like a hint of guilt in Shi Jingyi's words, Guan Tong was completely baffled.
Sitting next to Shi Jingyi was another young woman Guan Tong recognized, Qin Qing, Li Meng's close friend.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, tears streaming down her face as she said, "I actually heard it yesterday too. Qianqian said she would rather delete her memories of Guan... Teacher Guan than sell them. But I didn't take it seriously. It's all my fault... Teacher Guan, what did you... what did you do to Qianqian?"
Li Meng interjected, "Qin Qing, don't talk nonsense. The matter isn't clear yet, there's no conclusion."
Qin Qing let out a low "oh," but the look in her eyes when she glanced at Guan Tong still carried undisguised suspicion and a certain kind of anger.
Guan Tong's face darkened. He walked over to the empty chair beside Shi Jingyi and sat down. "I need to know the full story from beginning to end."
"I'll tell you."
Li Meng relayed all the information he had gathered to Guan Tong.
He recounted everything: from the conversation between Fang Qian and Qin Qing during their walk last night, to the questions she had asked when she happened to run into Shi Jingyi, to her sudden change in temperament today, and finally her accusations against Guan Tong.
After hearing it all, Guan Tong understood what was going on.
The three of them looked at him, waiting for him to say something. All of them were curious: was what Fang Qian said true? Why had she been at Guan Tong's home after the first rule was released, and what had happened between them?
Guan Tong was silent for a moment before speaking to Shi Jingyi first, "Don't blame yourself. This has nothing to do with you."
"Guan Tong, are you saying that what Fang Qian said is true?" Li Meng asked.
But Shi Jingyi said to Guan Tong firmly, "I believe you didn't hurt her. Something else must have happened."
"..."
"Oh, just say it already!" Qin Qing was anxious for her friend. "What exactly is going on? I remember now, ever since she met you in Pinglu, Qianqian has been restless!"
A flicker of anger appeared in Guan Tong's eyes, but thinking of Shi Jingyi's presence, he slowly suppressed it.
"You want to know? It's simple. At that time, I wasn't the one trying to hurt her, she was the one trying to hurt me."
At these words, all three of them were stunned.
At first glance, it sounded absurd. Fang Qian seemed like a very fragile girl, and while Guan Tong wasn't particularly burly, as an adult male, he hardly seemed like the one who would be "hurt."
But Li Meng suddenly had a flash of insight, remembering the records mentioning that Fang Qian's father had broken the rules to call his daughter... could it be...
"After the first Doomsday Rule was released, the officials advised against being alone. Fang Qian's parents were out of town and couldn't get back after transportation stopped. She was afraid to be alone and wanted to come find me, so we could supervise each other through the rule challenge."
Qin Qing couldn't help but ask at this point, "Why did Qianqian come to you?"
Guan Tong's expression was blank as he said, "Because my parents are gone, I live alone. Fang Qian knew about this."
"Ah... I'm sorry..."
"I agreed and gave her the address." Guan Tong ignored Qin Qing and continued.
"I'll skip the other details. All you need to know is that later, she received a call from her parents working at the Academy of Sciences and learned about the [Alertness Mint]. She wanted to knock me out and take that item... I found out and kicked her out of my house. That's the story."
"..."
The three of them were at a loss for words after hearing this. Even Li Meng, who had some suspicions, could understand how difficult it must have been for Guan Tong to speak about this so calmly.
"I wasn't planning on telling anyone about this. I thought that since it was in the past, there was no need to drag up old grievances. I've long since stopped hating Fang Qian.
"Besides, last time at the academy, I made myself clear. There was no need to dwell on the past. But I didn't expect her to never be able to let it go."
Shi Jingyi said softly, "Guan Tong, maybe you don't understand. A person who is kind at heart, if they do something bad, it will torture them for the rest of their lives."
Li Meng nodded in agreement. "Lecturer Shi is right. I've seen it many times in the Police Department. Some people can commit great evil and not care at all, eating and sleeping without missing a beat. Others, who commit a crime in the heat of the moment, even if it's a small one, will be tormented to the point they can't eat or sleep."
Guan Tong didn't know how to feel. In any case, this couldn't be blamed on him, the former victim.
"Since the truth is clear, there's no need to say more," Li Meng said. "I'll go talk to Fang Qian. If she can't accept it, for her own safety, we'll have to give her a suggestion."
Qin Qing asked nervously, "What suggestion?"
Li Meng looked at Qin Qing. "Let her delete it once a day. Within half a month, she'll delete all memories related to Guan Tong."
Guan Tong: "..."
Shi Jingyi asked, "Won't that affect her other memories?"
Li Meng shook his head. "There's no other way. Right now, she's deleted the memory of hurting Guan Tong. To rationalize it, her brain has created a false memory, making her believe that Guan Tong hurt her, and that she only deleted the memory because she was in pain from being hurt... If we don't completely delete the memories of Guan Tong, this false cognition will keep amplifying and could trigger a much bigger chain reaction."
Li Meng finished speaking and looked at Guan Tong with a questioning gaze. "Do you have any suggestions?"
"No." Guan Tong's voice was stiff.
He didn't know what kind of suggestion he could have in this matter. From the moment he had arrived here, his mood had already turned sour.
When he stepped into the room, the looks from Li Meng and Qin Qing, especially the latter's direct gaze treating him like a "perpetrator," had ignited a nameless rage within him...
Just then, he felt a gentle touch on his hand, which was resting by the chair. A warm sensation spread through him.
He looked down and saw Shi Jingyi holding his right hand.
...Right.
Guan Tong thought to himself, if it hadn't been for Shi Jingyi being there, he might not have told the truth at all. He had no desire to explain himself to people who didn't trust him.