At the foot of the hill, Zhao Wei stopped and looked back at the cemetery. The old wooden gate stood half-open, and the morning breeze moved the grass beside the path. He then turned towards the village, where the roofs of the houses could be seen between the trees. In one memory, his wife rested beneath the soil behind that gate. In another, she was waiting at home, probably wondering why he had taken so long to return. Both memories felt real. He lowered his eyes and slowly let out a breath. Yan Luo watched him for a moment before stepping closer. "Can you walk?" he asked, studying Zhao Wei's pale face. Zhao Wei nodded."In one memory, I'm perfectly fine. In the other, I haven't slept for two days."
Qing Li looked at Yan Luo. "Then let's hope the first one wins. I don't particularly want to carry him down the hill." Yan Luo gave him a flat look. "You could always try being helpful for once." Qing Li placed a hand against his chest, pretending to be offended. "I have been helpful. I've kept you company all morning." "That is not the same thing," Yan Luo replied, turning back towards the path. Zhao Wei almost smiled at their exchange. Then his gaze dropped towards the black cat padding beside them. Xu Yang's golden eyes met his. For a brief moment, the faint threads around Zhao Wei's chest became steady.
The farmer blinked and looked at the cat again. "Strange!" he murmured. Qing Li glanced down. "What is?" Zhao Wei slowly lowered his hand, as if he wanted to touch Xu Yang but was unsure whether he should. "When I look at this cat, my thoughts become quieter." Yan Luo nodded once. "That is consistent with what we observed earlier." Zhao Wei looked at him in confusion. "What does that mean?" Qing Li folded his arms and looked at the black cat. "It means this entire mess seems to revolve around him." Xu Yang flicked his tail. Wonderful.Even the villagers have started noticing. At this rate, I might as well wear a sign saying, 'Please direct all memory-related complaints to the cat.' Of course, to everyone else, he was still only a cat...
They began walking down the hill. Behind them, the cemetery gate creaked softly in the wind. Zhao Wei did not look back again, but his fingers slowly tightened around the fabric of his sleeves. The memories inside his head seemed heavier with every step. Halfway down the slope, he finally broke the silence. "You said the world is trying to choose one version." he said, looking at Yan Luo. Yan Luo walked beside him without slowing. "Yes." Zhao Wei lowered his gaze to the uneven path. "But it hasn't chosen yet." "No," Yan Luo replied. "Not yet." Zhao Wei remained quiet for a while before asking, "Then what happens to people like me?" Qing Li answered before Yan Luo could. "You become a problem." Yan Luo turned his head and gave him a warning look.
Qing Li raised both hands. "What? I was going to explain." His expression softened as he looked back at Zhao Wei. "If two pasts continue existing in one person's mind, eventually one of them may collapse." Zhao Wei's steps slowed. "Collapse?" he repeated, his voice growing quieter. "What does that mean?" Yan Luo sighed softly before answering. "It means one set of memories may begin overwhelming the other. At first, small things disappear. A face, a name, a conversation. Then larger pieces follow. Entire events. Entire years."
Zhao Wei stared ahead, his chest tightening. "And eventually?" Yan Luo was silent for a moment before replying, "Eventually, you may no longer know which life truly belongs to you." The wind brushed across the hillside. Zhao Wei looked away, and something painful passed across his face. "So I could forget her?" Neither Qing Li nor Yan Luo answered immediately. Their silence was enough. Zhao Wei gave a small, bitter laugh. "That's unfair." Qing Li glanced at him and rubbed the back of his neck. "Reality has never been particularly good at being fair."
Yan Luo shot him another look, but Zhao Wei did not seem offended. His thoughts had already returned to the two lives inside his head. Faces, conversations, and familiar moments kept appearing one after another. Some belonged to the life where his wife was dead. Others belonged to the life where she was still waiting for him at home.Yet every memory felt important. "So all this time..." he said slowly, looking down at his hands. "I've been fighting myself without even knowing it." Yan Luo nodded. "Yes." Zhao Wei swallowed hard. "And I never even got a choice." His shoulders lowered slightly.
After a long silence, he asked the question that had been troubling him most. "What if neither memory collapses?" Yan Luo's footsteps slowed. Qing Li's faint smile disappeared. For a moment, neither answered. Then Yan Luo looked towards the village below and spoke quietly. "Then reality might." Zhao Wei's eyes widened. No one said anything after that. The three continued down the hill, with Xu Yang walking silently beside them. That is a rather unpleasant possibility. I was hoping the answer would be something like 'everyone gets used to it.' Apparently, the world has other plans...
By the time they reached the village, the morning market had begun to open. Merchants were arranging their goods, and the smell of freshly cooked food drifted through the streets. Yet something felt wrong. The usual sounds were quieter than normal. People were speaking in low voices, and small groups had gathered beside the stalls. Two old men were arguing near a tea stand. One pointed angrily towards the wooden counter while the other folded his arms. "I'm telling you, this stall belonged to Chen the baker!" the first man insisted, shaking his head. The second man scoffed. "You're remembering things wrong. It's always been a tea stall."
The first man's eyes widened. "Always? I bought bread here every morning!" The tea vendor stood between them, looking increasingly uncomfortable. He raised both hands. "I've only ever sold tea," he said, glancing from one old man to the other. "Then where did the sweet buns come from?" the first man demanded, pointing at the empty counter. The vendor opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I... don't know what you're talking about." Nearby, a middle-aged woman stood beside the road, staring at the houses. "This road wasn't this wide yesterday," she said, turning towards a man carrying a basket. He looked at her in confusion. "It has always been this wide." She shook her head firmly. "No. There used to be another tree here."
A younger villager glanced at the empty space beside the road. "I think she's right." he said uncertainly. The man with the basket frowned. "Now you're both making things up." The arguments continued along the street. At first, they sounded like ordinary disagreements between people who remembered things differently. But as Yan Luo listened, his expression grew serious. He slowed his steps and looked towards the different groups. "Listen carefully," he murmured. Qing Li rubbed the back of his neck. "I hear them. Unfortunately, I was hoping for a quiet morning."
Zhao Wei stopped walking. He looked at the arguing villagers, and the fear in his eyes slowly returned. "They sound like I did this morning," he whispered. Yan Luo turned towards him and nodded. "Exactly." Before anyone could say more, a sharp voice cut across the square. "That's his seat!" Everyone turned. A little girl stood beside a low wooden table near the dumpling stall. She looked no older than six or seven, and her finger pointed stubbornly at a small stool. Her mother stood beside her, looking tired. "Lian'er, stop arguing." she said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. But Lian shook her head and pointed at the stool again. "But that's where he sits!" Her mother frowned. "Who?" "My brother!" Lian answered without hesitation. Her mother's expression changed.
She bent slightly to look at her daughter. "You don't have a brother, Lian'er." The girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "Yes, I do!" she protested, stamping one foot. "He sits there every morning!" The argument drew the attention of nearby villagers. Some slowed their steps, while others whispered among themselves. Qing Li sighed and rubbed his forehead. "We haven't even reached breakfast, and the village has already found another problem." Yan Luo gave him a brief look. "You can complain after we understand what's happening." "I was only making an observation," Qing Li replied, following him towards the girl.
Yan Luo crouched and smiled little."What's your name?" he asked. Lian blinked at him before answering. "Lian." Yan Luo nodded. "And your brother's name?" Her face brightened. "Chen." "Chen what?" he asked patiently. For a moment, the girl froze. Her eyes moved from one side to the other as if she were searching through her thoughts. "Chen..." she murmured. Then she looked up again. "Just Chen." Her mother bowed her head slightly, embarrassed by the attention. "I'm sorry. She has an active imagination."
Lian immediately turned towards her. "I do not!" she protested, pulling away from her mother's hand. Qing Li stepped closer and crouched beside Yan Luo. "Where is this brother of yours now?" he asked, keeping his tone light. "He went to chase the chickens." Lian answered. Qing Li glanced towards the road. "Then I hope the chickens are faster than he is." Lian frowned at him. "Chen is very fast!" Qing Li nodded. "Then I suppose the chickens are in trouble." Yan Luo almost smiled, but his attention had already shifted to the ground.
The dust beneath the stool had been disturbed. He crouched lower and examined it without touching anything. There were footprints. Small footprints, like those of a child. Three sets led away from the stool. And then there was another set, slightly larger. Yan Luo's eyes narrowed. Qing Li noticed his expression and leaned closer. "What did you find?" Yan Luo did not answer immediately. He pointed towards the marks. "Look." Qing Li followed his finger. The playful expression disappeared from his face. He studied the tracks for a moment before looking towards the alley beside the square. "That's not good." he muttered. The fourth set of footprints was slightly larger than Lian's, perhaps belonging to a boy two years older.
They led away from the stool and towards the narrow alley. But there was no child there. Zhao Wei stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the marks. "You can see them too?" he asked quietly. Yan Luo nodded. "Yes." Lian looked at all of them in confusion. She pointed towards the empty stool again. "Of course he's there. Why are you acting strange?" Her mother grabbed her shoulders, her expression now more anxious than angry. "Because there is no Chen!" Lian shook her head immediately. "Yes, there is!" "No, there isn't!" her mother insisted. "You are my only child!" Lian's eyes began to turn red. "He eats breakfast here every morning!"
The argument grew louder, attracting more attention from the villagers. A short distance away, Xu Yang sat on the edge of a stone step. His black tail rested beside him as his golden eyes remained fixed on the girl. To ordinary human eyes, the square looked normal. But to him, the air was filled with countless faint silver strands. They floated around the villagers, almost invisible in the sunlight. One particular thread caught his attention. It drifted from Lian's chest and stretched outward through the air. Unlike Zhao Wei's tangled memories, this one was smooth and clean, as if it had only just begun forming. It moved slowly, like a vine searching for something to hold onto. Xu Yang watched it carefully. A new thread? That can't be good. Zhao Wei's memories were already difficult enough to deal with. Now a little girl has somehow managed to remember an entire person who doesn't seem to exist...
Qing Li noticed the Xu Yang's unusual focus and followed his gaze.He folded his arms and sighed. "You're staring at something again, aren't you?" Xu Yang did not move. Yan Luo looked towards the same spot and narrowed his eyes. "A thread." he said quietly. Xu Yang gave a small nod. Qing Li immediately looked between them. "What kind?" Yan Luo exhaled slowly. "A new one." Before Qing Li could ask anything else, Shen Lian stepped through the crowd. The villagers moved aside to make room for him. He glanced at the arguing mother and daughter before looking at the empty stool. "What happened here?" he asked calmly. Lian immediately pointed towards the stool. "They won't let Chen sit down!" she complained, looking up at him as if she had finally found someone willing to listen. Shen Lian crouched beside her. "Tell me about Chen," he said gently. Lian smiled. "He's my brother."
Shen Lian nodded. "Older or younger?" "Older!" "How much older?" Lian proudly held up two fingers. "Two years!" Shen Lian smiled faintly. "What does he look like?" Lian opened her mouth, then paused for a moment. Her eyes shifted towards the alley before she answered. "He has messy hair, and he steals dumplings when Mother isn't looking." The dumpling vendor, who had been listening nearby, suddenly coughed. "That... actually happened," he said, looking down at the basket beside him.
Everyone turned towards him. The vendor blinked, clearly surprised by his own words. "I remember a boy taking dumplings from here." He rubbed his chin, trying to recall more. "He used to run off before I could catch him." The square fell silent. Yan Luo looked at the vendor. "Do you remember what the boy looked like?" The man hesitated. "I..." He glanced towards the alley. "I think he had messy hair." Qing Li's expression darkened. "The memory is spreading," he murmured, looking towards Yan Luo. Zhao Wei frowned. "Spreading?" Yan Luo gestured towards the vendor. "He has begun remembering the boy too." The vendor looked between them, confused. "I have?" Qing Li gave a tired sigh. "Yes. And I don't think that's a good thing."
Xu Yang watched the silver strand attached to Lian's chest. It had become slightly thicker. At that moment, Lian's eyes widened. She suddenly turned towards the narrow alley and pointed excitedly. "There!" she shouted. Everyone followed her gaze. For a brief moment, nothing seemed unusual. Then the dust on the ground shifted. Two quick footprints appeared, one after another, before stopping near the alley wall. A collective gasp passed through the crowd. One villager stepped backwards. "Did you see that?" he whispered, looking at the person beside him. Another blinked several times. "I... think so." "You either saw it or you didn't," the first man replied nervously. "I don't know anymore!" someone else called from behind them.
Murmurs spread through the square as people began questioning what they had just witnessed. Xu Yang slowly stood up from the stone step. The silver thread attached to Lian had changed again. It was thicker now, and a faint branch had begun growing from it. His tail flicked once. Qing Li stared at the disturbed dust before turning towards Yan Luo. "Let me see if I've understood this correctly," he said, pointing towards Lian. Yan Luo folded his arms. "Go ahead." "The girl remembers a brother who supposedly never existed." Qing Li pointed towards the alley again. "Now the ground is producing footprints for him." Yan Luo nodded. "Yes." Qing Li lowered his hand. "And the more people believe in him..." "The more real he becomes." Yan Luo finished.
Zhao Wei looked towards the empty alley, his face growing pale. "That's terrifying." he whispered. Lian suddenly waved towards the alley. "Chen! Come back!" For a brief moment, the shadow of a small boy appeared against the wall. Then it vanished. The square erupted in frightened whispers. Shen Lian straightened, her expression hardening. "The anchor is adapting faster than we thought," he said, looking towards the alley. Xu Yang stepped forward. The threads in the square reacted instantly. Their movement slowed, and the branching strand attached to Lian trembled. The girl looked down at him and smiled. "Chen likes cats." she said, reaching towards his head.
Xu Yang held still, though his eyes remained on the thread. Yan Luo watched the change and murmured, "Of course he does." Qing Li glanced at him. "You sound surprised." Yan Luo gave him a tired look. "I'm not." Far below the earth, the basin of memory light stirred. A new thread dipped into its surface. The anchor watched.Lian suddenly frowned and looked around at the adults. "Why are you all acting like he isn't real?" she asked, her small voice filled with confusion. No one answered. Because the footprints in the dust were still there. And they were slowly becoming clearer.
The square did not return to normal. The footprints in the dust did not fade. No one moved for several breaths. Qing Li was the first to break the silence. He looked at the ground, then at Yan Luo. "Tell me I'm seeing things," he said quietly. Yan Luo did not look away from the footprints. "You're not." Zhao Wei swallowed hard. "They're still there," he whispered, taking a small step closer. Yan Luo nodded once. "Yes. And they're getting clearer."
Lian frowned at everyone around her. "Why are you acting strange?" she asked, pointing towards the alley again. "He's right there." The crowd turned instinctively, but there was nothing in the narrow passage. Only sunlight touching the empty wall and dust shifting along the ground. For a moment, it seemed nothing else would happen. Then the dust moved again. Not with the wind. A soft, distinct footprint appeared. Then another. A voice came from the alley. "Lian?" The entire square froze. Lian's face lit up with relief. "Chen!" she shouted, taking a step forward. Her mother staggered backwards, her lips parting in disbelief. "No..." she whispered, shaking her head. Qing Li's hand moved straight to the hilt of his sword. "You heard that too?" he asked sharply, glancing at Yan Luo.
Yan Luo nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on the alley. Zhao Wei's voice came out barely above a whisper. "That wasn't a memory." Yan Luo's expression tightened. "No," he said quietly. "That was a presence." The air near the alley shimmered faintly, like heat rising from stone. A thin outline began to form. It was not solid or fully visible, but it was enough to show the shape of a child. Lian immediately ran forward. "Wait!" her mother shouted, reaching for her sleeve. But it was too late. Lian stopped just in front of the shifting outline and looked up at it. "You took so long!" she complained, folding her arms.
The outline flickered. "I got lost." a small voice replied. Someone screamed. Another villager stumbled backwards, nearly falling over his own feet. "This is impossible!" he shouted, pointing towards the alley. A woman pulled her child behind her. "Don't let it come near you!" she cried. Panic began spreading through the crowd. Qing Li stepped forward and placed himself between the villagers and the forming outline. His hand remained firmly on his weapon. "Everyone stay back!" he ordered. "Don't approach it!" Lian turned towards him, her face flushed with anger. "He's not dangerous!" she shouted, stepping in front of the outline.
Qing Li kept his stance. "You don't know that." "I do!" Lian insisted, looking up at the boy again. "He's my brother!" Her mother suddenly dropped to her knees. Her hands trembled as she looked at her daughter. "There is no brother!" she cried, her voice breaking. "You were my only child!" Lian froze, uncertainty appeared in her eyes. "No?" she whispered, looking from her mother to the outline. Her mother shook her head desperately. "No. I raised you alone." The outline flickered at those words. Its small shape became unsteady, and the voice that came from it wavered. "...Alone?" Lian's eyes filled with tears. She shook her head and reached towards it. "No, you didn't!" she shouted. "He's always been here!"
Not far away, Xu Yang narrowed his eyes. The thread attached to Lian had changed again. It was no longer a single strand. Several smaller branches were growing from it, reaching towards the outline in the alley. This is different from Zhao Wei. His memories were split between two versions of the same life. But this child... the system is giving shape to someone who may never have existed. If the thread continues growing, it might not stop at memories. It might give him a place in this world. Xu Yang took another step forward, watching the branches tremble. And if that happens, what will it take from the people who remember the world without him?...