The door had barely closed when Xu Yang slipped through the gap. His paws touched the wooden floor with a soft thud. He paused for a moment, listening to the quiet house. "You're back?" Lin Chen's voice came from the inner room, carrying a hint of surprise. Xu Yang turned his head just as footsteps approached. Lin Chen soon appeared, his sleeves loosely rolled up and his hair still slightly damp from washing. The moment his eyes landed on the black cat, his expression softened. "Xiao Ye." Xu Yang blinked. That name again...
Lin Chen crouched in front of him, resting one elbow on his knee. "You disappeared again," he said, looking him over. "Where did you go this time?" Xu Yang stared back without making a sound. Should I explain that he had just watched the entire village get its memories rewritten?Lin Chen let out a quiet breath and smiled faintly. "Right. As if you'd answer." He reached out and gently rubbed Xu Yang's head.
Xu Yang didn't pull away. Lin Chen's fingers moved slowly over his fur, almost as if he were checking that the cat was really there. "You always come back smelling like outside," he murmured. "Dust, wind... and something else I can't quite place." Xu Yang's ears twitched. If only the smell of trouble could be washed away that easily. Lin Chen stood and disappeared into the inner room. He returned with a small bowl of food and placed it in front of Xu Yang. "There. At least eat before you disappear again." Xu Yang lowered his head towards the bowl, then glanced up when he noticed Lin Chen still watching him. "What?" Lin Chen asked, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're going to refuse this too."
Xu Yang finally began eating. Lin Chen leaned against the low table, watching him with a thoughtful expression. "Sometimes I feel like you understand everything I say." Xu Yang's chewing slowed. Lin Chen gave a quiet laugh and shook his head. "Ridiculous. You're just a cat." He paused, then looked towards the window. "Still, today felt strange." Xu Yang's ears turned towards him. Lin Chen frowned slightly, trying to recall something. "I can't remember what happened clearly. It's like there's something missing from my memory." He rubbed his temple. "I remember being outside, then speaking to someone... but I can't remember who."
Xu Yang slowly lowered his head towards the bowl, though his attention remained on Lin Chen. So the correction had reached him too...Lin Chen sighed. "Have you ever felt that? Like you've forgotten something important, but you don't even know what it is?" He glanced down at Xu Yang and gave a small, embarrassed smile. "No, of course not. I'm asking a cat." Xu Yang's tail moved once.Technically, you could ask. I just can't exactly explain that your memory has been tampered with by something that treats reality like an unfinished draft... He lowered his head and continued eating. And even if I could talk, where would I begin? Hello, Lin Chen. Your memories are being edited. Please don't panic...Lin Chen looked towards the window again. "If something really is wrong, then it's not something I can see." Xu Yang continued eating slowly. You can't see it. But you're already inside it.
Behind him, unseen threads shifted slightly. Lin Chen's gaze flickered towards the cat, as though he had sensed something. "Hm?" He looked around the room, but nothing seemed out of place. After a moment, he shook his head and returned to his work. The moment Xu Yang crossed the threshold, Qing Li stopped walking. He looked at the closed door, then glanced at Yan Luo. "He went in." Yan Luo nodded once. "I can see that." Qing Li gave him an irritated look. "I was informing you." "And I acknowledged it." Qing Li stared at him before clicking his tongue. "You're becoming more difficult to talk to."
Yan Luo kept his gaze on the house. "We're not going in." Qing Li folded his arms. "I was just about to ask that. Since when do you hesitate?" Yan Luo remained silent for a moment. "Since things stopped making sense." Qing Li opened his mouth, then decided against arguing. Instead, he leaned against the wall beside the entrance. "Fine. Then let's talk here." Yan Luo nodded. Qing Li glanced once more at the closed door before lowering his voice. "You saw what happened in the square, didn't you?" "Yes," Yan Luo replied. "He didn't just interfere with the threads," Qing Li continued, his expression growing serious. "He stopped them. Every single one."
Yan Luo looked towards the empty path. "No. He didn't stop them." Qing Li turned sharply. "Then what would you call it?" "Overridden." Yan Luo's answer was quiet but firm. Qing Li let out a sharp breath. "That's worse." He rubbed his forehead, looking increasingly tired. "Much worse, actually. Can we stop discovering new ways for this situation to become dangerous?" Yan Luo glanced at him. "It isn't going to stop because you complain." "I know," Qing Li muttered. "But complaining is currently the only thing I can do."
After a brief silence, he looked towards the house again. "And you're telling me this is normal?" "No...It's not." Yan Luo replied. His gaze remained steady, but his expression had become more thoughtful. "Then what is it?" Qing Li asked. Yan Luo took a moment before answering. "A variable." Qing Li turned towards him. "You're serious?" Yan Luo nodded. "Everything we've seen so far follows a pattern. The threads, the overlapping memories, the corrections. Even the way the world chooses which version to keep." He paused, looking towards the closed door. "Except Xu Yang."
Qing Li frowned. "So the system doesn't recognize him?" "It recognizes him." Yan Luo replied. That made Qing Li fall silent. After a moment, he asked, "Then why didn't it erase him?" Yan Luo's eyes narrowed slightly. "Because it couldn't." Qing Li stared at him. "And if it can?" Yan Luo did not answer immediately. Then he said, "It may be trying to figure out how." Qing Li dragged a hand through his hair. "Wonderful. So now something is studying him." He looked towards the house again. "I hope he knows that." Yan Luo's expression remained flat. "He probably does." "And he's still inside eating?" Qing Li asked incredulously. "Yes."
Qing Li closed his eyes for a moment. "Of course he is." Yan Luo looked down the path. "To understand what is happening, we need to know one thing." Qing Li opened his eyes. "What?" Yan Luo's voice was steady. "What exactly is Xu Yang?" The shrine was silent, but it was not peaceful. Shen Lian stood alone at its centre, a thin talisman held between her fingers. It remained unburned and inactive. Her gaze was fixed on the empty space before her, though she seemed to be looking at something far beyond it. "There was something." she murmured, tightening her grip on the talisman.
The memory slipped away again. She closed her eyes and tried to hold onto it, but every time she reached for the moment, it disappeared. "No." Her voice grew firmer. She pressed the talisman against her forehead. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then a faint golden light appeared beneath the paper. Shen Lian's eyes snapped open. "Eyes..." Her breathing stopped for a moment. She could remember them now. Golden eyes, watching her through the frozen square. "There was someone," she whispered, slowly lowering the talisman. The air around her seemed to grow colder. "Not part of it. Not bound to it." Her fingers tightened until the paper began to crease. "And it responded to him."
The talisman trembled and thin black mark appeared across its surface. Shen Lian stared at it as the mark spread, slowly covering the golden light. Then the paper burned without a flame. Its edges curled inward, turning to ash between her fingers. She did not move. A faint sound came from somewhere behind the shrine altar. It sounded like a soft knock against wood. Shen Lian turned sharply. Nothing stood there. The shrine was empty, but the bronze bell above the altar had begun to move. One slow swing. Then another. There was no wind. Shen Lian's face tightened. "Who are you?" she asked. This time, the question was not directed at the memory. She was asking whatever had just answered her talisman.
Far away, inside a quiet house, a black cat paused mid-breath. For the briefest moment, the threads around him pulled tighter. Night had already settled when Shen Lian arrived at the Demon Clan territory. A pale moon hung behind the clouds, casting a weak light over the stone path. Lanterns lined the entrance, but their flames seemed unusually small against the darkness surrounding the mountains. Shen Lian walked towards the gates without slowing. The moment she crossed the boundary, the air grew colder. Two guards stood at the entrance, their dark armour barely visible beneath the lantern light. Their eyes shifted towards her, and recognition passed between them. Without asking a question, they stepped aside.
Shen Lian entered the main hall. Dark pillars stood along both sides, covered in ancient markings. At the far end, her brother was already seated on his throne, one arm resting against the armrest. He watched her approach with a faint smile. "You rarely visit," he remarked. Shen Lian stopped before him. "I don't come without a reason." Her brother leaned back slightly. "I would be disappointed if you did." Her gaze shifted towards the side of the hall. Wang Xiao stood near one of the pillars, half-covered by its shadow.He had been there before she arrived.Shen Lian looked at him briefly before returning her attention to her brother. "There's a disturbance." Her brother raised an eyebrow. "In your world?" "In all of them," she replied. The faint smile disappeared from his face. He leaned forward slightly. "Explain." Shen Lian took a breath. "Memory collapse. People are remembering two lives at once."
Wang Xiao's gaze lowered slightly.His fingers moved once against his sleeve. So it has spread this far.The corrections are reaching beyond the village now...His expression remained calm, but his thoughts had already moved elsewhere. How many versions of the past has it erased? How many people have accepted a life that was never truly theirs?...Shen Lian continued, "Contradicting pasts. Events that both happened and didn't. Both versions exist at the same time." Her brother's fingers stopped tapping against the armrest. "And what happens when they cannot coexist?" "They are corrected." Shen Lian answered.
He frowned. "Corrected?" "One version is chosen," she explained, her voice growing colder. "The other is erased. Not naturally. Something forces the world to accept one version." Wang Xiao remained still. Still using the same method.Change the answer, erase the question, and make the world believe there was never another possibility. His eyes darkened slightly. But this time, the correction failed. Something had remained standing when everything else was forced to stop... Shen Lian looked towards him for a moment before continuing. "But something interrupted that process." Her brother's attention sharpened. "Interrupted?" "For a moment, everything stopped," she said. "The threads, the people, even time itself." Wang Xiao's fingers stilled. So you saw that much...
Shen Lian frowned,trying to recall the moment more clearly. "And in that silence, something moved." Her brother studied her face. "What did you see?" "I don't know," she admitted. "Every time I try to remember it clearly, the details disappear." Wang Xiao's lips curved faintly. You're not meant to hold onto it...Shen Lian tightened her grip on the remaining ash in her palm. "But I remember one thing. It wasn't part of the system." Wang Xiao's expression changed almost imperceptibly. There it is..."It stood outside it," Shen Lian continued. "And it touched the threads." Wang Xiao lowered his eyes. So this was him. The one who wasn't meant to exist here... His fingers curled slightly before relaxing again. And yet you didn't simply exist. You interfered... Her brother leaned forward. "Controlled them?" Shen Lian shook her head. "No. That's what makes it strange. They responded to him."
Wang Xiao's gaze darkened. Responded... He considered the word for a moment. The threads do not respond to just anyone. What a troublesome existence...His attention returned to Shen Lian. You're already that deep into it... Or have you always been?... "This is dangerous," Shen Lian said, looking directly at her brother. He gave a quiet laugh. "I'm not worried about danger. I'm interested." Wang Xiao's gaze shifted towards him. You should be more careful than that. This is not something you can observe without consequence. Shen Lian looked between them. "Have you seen anything like this before?" Her brother did not answer immediately.
Wang Xiao remained silent, his eyes fixed on the floor. A faint expression crossed his face before disappearing. I know who stands at the centre of it... His thoughts settled on the black cat with golden eyes.So this was you...You're the one behind all of this... I had mistaken your silence for helplessness. Perhaps that was my first mistake...His fingers slowly curled against his sleeve. The world has spent so long deciding what should exist and what must be erased. Yet you keep appearing where its rules begin to fail. You do not command the threads, and you do not seem to understand them. Still, they move around you. Even the force that rewrites everything has been unable to settle your place... A faint, almost amused breath escaped him. What are you, Xu Yang? A mistake the heavens failed to remove? Or the one truth they have spent so long trying to bury?... His gaze lifted slightly towards Shen Lian, but he said nothing. If you are truly the centre of this, then I wonder whether you will break the world... or reveal that it was already broken long before you arrived...
At the centre of the hall, Shen Lian waited for an answer. Her brother leaned back in his seat, his expression returning to its usual calm. "This isn't the first disturbance." he said. Shen Lian's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" He tapped one finger against the armrest. "Threads have always been fragile. They overlap, tangle, break and are repaired. That is their nature." His gaze drifted towards the dark pillars. "But this is the first time the disturbance has taken form around a single existence."
Shen Lian stepped forward. "A single existence? Are you saying there's a centre?" Her brother gave a faint smile. "If you've already seen it, then you already know." "Don't speak in riddles," she replied sharply. "If there is a centre, it needs to be identified." He watched her for a moment before his expression grew serious. "Be careful, Shen Lian. Some things are not meant to be identified too early." She frowned. "I don't have the luxury of waiting." "No," he said calmly. "You don't." Shen Lian held his gaze, clearly dissatisfied with the answer. "Then tell me what you know." Her brother's smile returned, but he said nothing. She let out a frustrated breath. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll find out myself." She turned towards the exit, her robes moving behind her.
But before she reached the doorway, She stopped and looked at him. "You've been listening this entire time." Wang Xiao did not answer. His gaze remained directed towards the exit. Shen Lian narrowed her eyes. "And you have nothing to say?" She stepped closer, studying his expression. "You understand something, don't you?" Wang Xiao finally looked at her. "Perhaps." Shen Lian's expression hardened. "Then tell me." He regarded her calmly. "Would you believe me if I did?" She paused. "That depends on what you say."
Wang Xiao's lips curved faintly. "Then perhaps it's better not to say anything." Shen Lian's patience finally wore thin. "You and my brother have the same habit. Both of you enjoy making people work for answers." Wang Xiao stepped past her, his expression unchanged. "Then you should stop asking people who don't intend to answer." Shen Lian turned sharply. "Are you ignoring me?" He paused for a brief moment but did not turn around. "I'm leaving." "That wasn't what I asked!" she snapped, taking a step after him. Wang Xiao continued walking. "Some things are better left unanswered." Before she could reply, he disappeared into the darkness beyond the hall.Shen Lian stood at the doorway, watching his retreating figure. "How convenient." she muttered. Her gaze shifted back towards her brother, who was still seated comfortably on his throne. "Everyone speaks in half-truths." He merely smiled. Shen Lian shook her head and stepped outside.
Inside Lin Chen's house, the lantern still burned low. Xu Yang sat near the table when Lin Chen returned from the inner room with a small bowl of water. "You're still here." Lin Chen remarked, setting the bowl beside him. Xu Yang lifted his head slightly. Lin Chen noticed his look and raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't tell me you're going to ignore this too." Xu Yang stared at the bowl for a moment before leaning forward to drink. "Good!" Lin Chen murmured, crouching beside him again. He watched the cat for a while before gently smoothing a hand over his head. "You shouldn't go out so much at night." Xu Yang's ears twitched. Lin Chen continued, "It's not safe, even if you think you can handle yourself." He gave the cat a doubtful look. "Actually... no. You definitely can't."
Xu Yang's tail flicked once.Lin Chen sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You disappear without warning and come back at strange hours. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Xu Yang blinked slowly. Lin Chen shook his head. "Of course you don't. You're just a cat." But his voice lacked conviction. He looked towards the window before adding more quietly, "You don't know what's out there. Neither do I, apparently." Xu Yang's gaze shifted towards him. Lin Chen leaned back slightly, resting one hand against the floor. "Something's wrong," he said after a moment. His brows drew together. "Today felt wrong. I can't remember everything clearly, but..." He paused, searching for the right words. "It felt as though something had happened and everyone had simply moved on."
Xu Yang watched him silently. Lin Chen let out a quiet breath. "So just stay here more often," he said, trying to sound casual. "Don't wander off so much. At least then I'll know you're not getting into trouble." Xu Yang's gaze softened slightly. You really don't understand anything. Yet that wasn't entirely true. Lin Chen might have forgotten what happened, but some part of him still sensed that something was wrong. Lin Chen looked down at the cat again. "Or maybe I'm just talking nonsense," he muttered. His hand, however, did not move away. It rested lightly against Xu Yang's head, warm and steady. "You always come back anyway." he added. That line again...
Xu Yang lowered his eyes and gave a soft meow, as if agreeing. The lantern flickered. Outside, the night deepened. And somewhere unseen, something continued to watch.Funny how the world can mess with people's memories but not their instincts. Lin Chen has forgotten what happened, yet he still senses that something is wrong. Maybe memories aren't the only things worth holding on to...He glance towards the dark window. Whatever is behind all this is still watching. Great. As if being a cat in a world-breaking mystery isn't troublesome enough...