However, Xiao Tian, usually exceptionally astute, seemed at this moment as if he hadn't received any signals from the two women. He curiously looked at the folder in Ghost Face's hand and asked, puzzled, "What do all these circles mean?"

Ghost Face took a deep breath and then suddenly erupted, "I must kill you today, ah ah ah!"

Xiao Tian quickly sidestepped to dodge Ghost Face's sudden attack, still completely baffled, "Are you crazy?!"

But Ghost Face was relentless, continuing the relentless pursuit. The two of them played a game of cat and mouse in the vast basement.

...

After a long time, Xiao Tian and Ghost Face stood separated by the experimental equipment in the middle, both panting heavily, gasping for air.

"What on earth is going on?!" Xiao Tian supported himself on the table in front of him, asking as he panted.

"What's going on?!" Ghost Face was immediately furious, "Your girlfriend made this mess, so clean it up yourself!"

Leaving behind such a vague statement, Ghost Face angrily stormed off.

"What's with him?" Xiao Tian asked. Lin Bingxuan beside him also looked a bit bewildered at Melinda.

Melinda's face instantly turned red. She awkwardly cleared her throat and then poured out what had just happened, combined with her own guesses.

"..." After listening to Melinda's account, Xiao Tian finally said helplessly, "Alright, since it's trouble you've caused, it's only right for me to deal with it!"

With that, he began to count the circles quickly.

Lin Bingxuan glanced at the somewhat guilty Melinda, patting her shoulder to comfort her, "This isn't your fault. Let's go out first and study what to do next."

After the two women left, they found Ghost Face drinking tea in the living room. Lin Bingxuan said with slight embarrassment, "This time, it was quite coincidental, sorry!"

After the chase, Ghost Face had let out most of his anger and didn't pursue the matter further. He just said a bit helplessly, "It seems now your guess is probably right!"

"Although I haven't obtained the final data, that pendant should have another half, but I don't know where it is now."

After musing, Ghost Face suddenly looked up, "By the way, weren't you looking for Qin Shaoyuan? How's that going? Any news about the other half of the pendant?"

"There's news, but we can't guarantee its authenticity!"

Lin Bingxuan said, "According to Qin Shaoyuan, his ancestors were once a prominent martial family, often intermarrying with the Northern Border royal family during their peak."

"Wait!" Melinda's beautiful eyes widened, and she asked tentatively, "Bingxuan, you're not suggesting that the other half of the pendant is in the Northern Border, are you?!"

Lin Bingxuan smiled wryly, "It would be good if we could be sure. Qin Shaoyuan said the pendant originally came from the Northern Border royal family's dowry, but he hasn't given a definitive answer on whether there's another half."

Melinda and Ghost Face both frowned. Not to mention where the other half of the pendant is now, just being uncertain if there's another half is already troubling enough.

Doesn't this mean that they can only hold on to the possibility and search like finding a needle in a haystack, without knowing whether there's really a needle in the haystack?!

You can't just assume it's there because you can't find it, right?!

"Don't worry, let's wait for the results. Perhaps our way of solving this is the problem!" Ghost Face tried to calm the two's emotions, though he himself doubted his words.

After a moment, Xiao Tian came into the living room with the folder and said directly, "The number of circles in the two rows is equal, both are fifteen thousand three hundred forty-three."

"No way?" Ghost Face exclaimed in surprise, "Are you sure you didn't count wrong?!"

"I'm sure!" Xiao Tian nodded confidently, "I counted three times, and it was the same every time. If you don't believe me, you can count them yourself."

Ghost Face shook his head; it wasn't that he disbelieved the result, but he was unwilling to accept it.

Actually, the specific data Xiao Tian mentioned wasn't what bothered him. What really troubled him was that the two sets of data were identical, one half against another!

This means that the pendant's energy is indeed missing a half, and while it's almost certain the other half of the pendant exists, finding it would take an unknown amount of time. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Moreover, Ghost Face had tried all the methods he could think of, yet still couldn't speed up the Five Elements crystal's decryption progress by even a bit, which was undoubtedly a blow to him.

"I've tried all the applicable methods, but so far, the only thing that can elicit a response from the Five Elements crystal is the pendant's energy in your blood." Ghost Face's eyes flickered, "You know what this means, right?"

Xiao Tian nodded, "If we can't find the other half of the pendant, cracking the Five Elements crystal will be a far-fetched hope!"

"At least, unless the genes in your body deteriorate to a point of being uncontrollable, the hope for decryption isn't high." Ghost Face, though reluctant, spoke honestly, "I hope you are mentally prepared for this!"

"Then... what will happen?!" Melinda asked with difficulty.

"There certainly won't be any life danger, but you won't remain yourself." Ghost Face said seriously, "You might lose your memory, experience drastic personality changes, or even become an idiot. In short, any bad outcome you can think of has a chance of happening."

The living room fell silent, with everyone wearing a heavy expression.

"You should understand, the collapse of a person's genes means all one's attributes vanish, making it like a blank piece of paper." Ghost Face explained on his own, "However, the difference is, after genetic collapse, no words can be written on this blank paper."

"So, does that mean if this continues, he will eternally lose his memory and never regain it?!" Lin Bingxuan immediately grasped Ghost Face's implication, her face covered in a layer of frost, she asked word by word.

"You can think of it that way, though it might not be obvious right now, in the future..." Ghost Face said with a sullen face to Xiao Tian, "Remember, from now on, your memory will begin to fade. Once you forget, you'll never recall it again, as if it had been erased!"

Xiao Tian swallowed, "Then, if the memory starts disappearing, does it start from the earliest memories?"

"Not necessarily!"

Ghost Face said, "Memory disappearance isn't in order; it might be the deepest buried memory, or perhaps the one you least want to remember. Also, random memory loss might happen!"

After a long silence, Ghost Face finally said, "Anyway, just remember one thing, the vanished memory cannot be retrieved, that's enough!"

Ghost Face's words made the three of them look exceedingly grim. They all wanted to break this gloomy atmosphere but didn't know where to start.

...

When Xiao Tian came out of his thoughts, he found Ghost Face had left long ago, and the two beauties across were frowning deeply, their rosy lips pressed shut, not uttering a single word.