"Xin Yu... your food seems a bit different from mine?"
Kiana put a piece of food from her bowl into her mouth and chewed. She found that she could still taste it. This was very strange. She had tried eating food from outside, and just like before, she couldn't taste anything. Yet, she could taste all the dishes prepared by the youth in front of her.
Kiana naturally wanted to find out how he managed to make her taste the food. But unfortunately, every time this guy cooked, he was exceptionally secretive. Even when she deliberately pretended to go out once, only to sneak back to see how he did it, he seemed to sense her every time. All aspects of his cooking appeared perfectly normal, with no discernible issues.
Kiana had been staying at Xin Yu's place for three days now, and she had noticed that the food he ate seemed to have subtle differences from her own.
Yes, they ate separate dishes.
"My food is more suited to my own palate; it's a bit stronger in flavor, not suitable for you."
Xin Yu explained it this way, but Kiana was still curious. Would the food he ate himself be different from what she ate? Was this difference the reason she could taste things?
So, while Xin Yu wasn't paying attention, she quickly extended her chopsticks, picked up a piece of vegetable from Xin Yu's plate, and put it in her mouth. The moment it entered her mouth, Kiana's face immediately contorted, her expression particularly twisted. The chopsticks in her hand clattered to the floor. Then, she instantly spat out the unchewed piece of vegetable.
"Pfft, pfft! What on earth is this?! Why is it so bitter?! This is beyond just tasting bad."
Kiana grimaced, then picked up her fallen chopsticks and hurriedly shoveled a few mouthfuls of her own rice and vegetables to suppress the lingering bitterness in her mouth.
This was even bitterer than when she had tried a sip of her auntie's bitter melon juice. How did he manage it? It looked only slightly different from her own food, yet how could it be so incredibly bitter?
And could anyone actually eat this? This kind of flavor was clearly a bit anti-human. Even her own auntie probably couldn't stomach it.
Under Kiana's incredulous gaze, Xin Yu continued to pick at the dishes that were so bitter one could barely swallow them, eating these excessively bitter foods with a deadpan expression.
"I told you, my taste is different from ordinary people. Otherwise, why would I make two separate sets of dishes?"
Xin Yu spread his hands, his expression one of perfect innocence.
After hearing Xin Yu's explanation, Kiana paused for a moment, then continued eating her food as if nothing had happened.
If I remember correctly, that night, he said the bowl of noodles was for tomorrow's breakfast, and that it was leftover from dinner. But the taste of those noodles wasn't like his current palate.
So why did this youth lie and say those noodles were leftovers?
This clearly contradicted his own claim of wanting to raise her affection for him.
Xin Yu... what are you hiding?
"Xin Yu, actually, I like women. You have absolutely no chance. Give up early."
"...Huh?"
Xin Yu feigned an expression of utter surprise, then looked at Kiana with eyes full of regret.
"Sigh! What a waste! Such a beautiful girl actually likes women? Doesn't this mean I have absolutely no chance?"
Xin Yu's helpless and dejected appearance made him seem genuinely regretful about the matter.
"Forget it, forget it. Even if it doesn't work out, at least we met by chance, so we can be friends. It's fine if you stay here for whatever reason, but let me be clear beforehand: if any danger comes knocking, I'll sell you out in a heartbeat. After all, you said you like women, so now I have no guilt whatsoever in selling you out, you know!"
Seeing Xin Yu's perfectly justified, punchable expression, Kiana instantly tossed her strange thoughts aside. There was nothing worth investigating about this guy. Even if he had some miraculous abilities, there was no need to care.
"Since you've said that, then I'll be leaving. After all, rather than waiting for you to sell me out, I'd better leave first."
"But thank you for taking care of me these past few days. I don't have much money right now. I'll send some over later when I've saved up, as a thank you gift."
"OK! This is a life-saving favor, you know, it's worth quite a lot! Don't you dare give me too little."
"...Aren't you a bit too materialistic?"
"Isn't that obvious? Before, I was at least coveting your body, so I had to raise your affection for me and didn't need to be so materialistic. But now that you've made it clear I have no chance, of course I have to be more practical and fight for more benefits for myself."
"...You're hopeless."
Kiana rolled her eyes and then left Xin Yu's home.
Once the young woman had completely departed, the street-smart facade on Xin Yu's face vanished. Over the past few days, he had managed to roughly investigate a few things.
Just a short while ago, a global-scale Honkai disaster had erupted. The Honkai, originally hidden in the shadows, had been thoroughly thrust before all of humanity.
It was said that this disaster was triggered by the existence of the Herrscher of the Void.
Xin Yu already had some guesses about what had happened. What he needed to do now was to connect with that intelligence peddler, obtain the exact timeframe from them, and find out the specific details of what occurred during that period.
Once he had confirmed the time, Xin Yu would return to that point and rewrite all the tragedies...
But doing so would have extremely powerful consequences.
This wasn't some minor skirmish like before; this was an attempt to tamper with the history of a civilization's major turning point.
Once he did that, there was even a risk of complete annihilation, of his very existence being erased.
But would Xin Yu refrain from doing so simply because he feared mere death? Obviously not.
The number of people who died in that Great Honkai Eruption was at least in the hundreds of millions. And the Teacher Himeko that Kiana kept mentioning must have been a very important person, likely also having died in that disaster.
To exchange an insignificant person like me for the lives of hundreds of millions.
It's well worth it.
Xin Yu sat in his seat, pondering. His promise to Mobius was equally important; that too concerned a civilization.
Then I'll give her my blood that has lost its vitality, let her try to research something from it. This could also be considered increasing the chances of defeating the enemy.
...It could also be considered delivering my last words.
It's the final period of my life. I'll take one last look at this city, see what kind of sorrow and hardship people are enduring, see the grief and despair of those who have lost their loved ones.
But it doesn't matter. A miracle will occur. All of this will change.
It's just one person, just one single person.
"No..."
Hmm?
Xin Yu looked up, somewhat puzzled. It seemed like someone had spoken. Was it his imagination? Did someone just refute his point?
But how could there be any sound in the empty room?
Probably just auditory hallucinations again.