I quietly watched Quentin Kwan, his eyes filled with a deep sorrow. I didn't know where to begin. As for Laozi, I only learned about him in history class and read some of his writings; beyond that, there is no historical record of his mother, Nina Li.
There are even many myths and legends claiming that Laozi's mother conceived him after being infused with a rainbow-colored light descending from the heavens, and thus gave birth to this extraordinary genius, who became renowned through the ages.
"Li Er is known as Laozi to people of our era. He is the founder of the Taoist school, revered as a deity, and also..."
Quentin Kwan nodded and said.
"I know all this. I watched my wife and child leave this world with my own eyes, but then they disappeared. I've searched for them for hundreds of years, just wanting our family to be reunited. But no matter where I look, I can't find either of them."
After pondering in confusion for a while, I spoke.
"Laozi should have already become a being akin to a god. Maybe in another realm you..."
Quentin Kwan's eyes were filled with deep sorrow. My mind was full of questions—how could he know I was here? And since this was something that happened in the past, how did he return here?
Facing my doubts, it seemed Quentin Kwan knew what I was thinking.
"The only way I can soothe the pain in my heart is to return to this place, to meet my wife again, to witness that child being born once more, to relive everything. But all of this exists only in the past, only after I was forced to leave them when my child grew up."
Quentin Kwan spoke as he stood up, suddenly reaching a hand toward my neck.
"You really can't afford to be careless, not even a little bit."
I was startled, but when I saw Quentin Kwan pull a white thread from my neck, I breathed a sigh of relief. As I wondered how he managed to do it, he began to explain.
"My ghost soul is a little different, since I was born a ghost. I can extract many things, and when I was lost and helpless, Zachary Justice gave me an idea: go back to the past and meet my wife and child again, to ease the longing in my heart."
Quentin Kwan stood up and walked slowly, pressing one hand against a tree as he gazed quietly into the pitch-black forest. He continued speaking.
When Zachary Justice first proposed this solution, Quentin Kwan was stunned, because going back to the past was nearly impossible. Yet Zachary Justice had a way, though he didn't reveal it, and told Quentin Kwan to wait for him somewhere.
Three years later, Zachary Justice did indeed arrive as promised, bringing with him a special stone—the Chronostone. Quentin Kwan hadn't known about it before, but after some pressing, Zachary Justice finally explained its origin.
It turned out that during those three years, Zachary Justice had been negotiating with Yvonne May, constantly proposing various conditions in hopes that she would help. Quentin Kwan was deeply moved—he hadn't expected Zachary Justice to go to such lengths for him.
And most importantly, Zachary Justice was human, while Quentin Kwan was a ghost.
After that, Zachary Justice used his own power, with the help of the Chronostone, to successfully create a passage through time, allowing Quentin Kwan to return to the past and see his wife and child again.
But Zachary Justice warned Quentin Kwan not to travel to the past too often, or it would cause certain consequences. Quentin Kwan did not heed this warning; after Zachary Justice died, he could no longer restrain himself and began to frequently traverse the passage to the past, meeting his wife and child again and again. To better fit into their lives, Quentin Kwan extracted the memories of his past and future selves, swapping them.
Gradually, Quentin Kwan could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion. He became addicted to meeting his wife and reliving the birth of his child, and eventually discovered he could only travel to this particular past. When he tried to leave the Ghostrealm with his wife and child, the cycle reached its end.
None of this was what Quentin Kwan wanted to see. Only then did he remember Zachary Justice's words, but it was too late to turn back. He possessed all the memories of his past and future selves, but each time he entered the cycle, he would use his unique ghost soul powers to remove his future memories. By now, he no longer knew how many times he had gone through such a cycle.
Within this endless cycle, Quentin Kwan repeatedly battled the Eye of Time, for he had become a temporal anomaly. The Eye of Time sought to expel him, but Quentin Kwan gradually realized it was not invincible, so he discovered a way to extract himself from the timeline.
To eliminate anomalies, the Eye of Time would manifest time as thread-like lines, binding the anomaly and gradually removing it from the correct timeline, ensuring it would not affect the proper flow of time.
Because of his unique instincts, Quentin Kwan began stripping away the Eye of Time's timelines, making the cycle increasingly bizarre. Hundreds of years ago, the Eye of Time seemed to have given up and never returned, and the cycle lost its exit to the future. Quentin Kwan was trapped in this loop, endlessly experiencing meeting his wife, falling in love, having a child, and leaving the Ghostrealm with them.
Each time, after removing his future memories, the recollections were unbearably sweet, yet it all felt like a dream that would never end. Whenever the cycle restarted, the pain of countless repetitions nearly drove Quentin Kwan mad. He repeatedly suppressed the primal desires of the ghost within him and stripped away his future memories, but the agony worsened with every cycle.
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Quentin Kwan couldn't take it anymore. Each restart nearly drove him insane. His longing for his wife and child gradually became a burden, provoking the ghost within him. Countless times, he nearly gave in to the urge to devour, wanting to eat his wife, his father-in-law, and even his half-human, half-ghost child.
Hearing this, I shuddered all over. Quentin Kwan looked pale, clutching his chest as if suppressing something. He collapsed to his knees, and I saw his fangs slowly lengthen, the ghostly aura around him becoming unstable. But soon, Quentin Kwan regained control, gasping as he raised his head to look at me with a miserable expression.
"Little girl, thank goodness you came. Please help me."
I nodded and squatted in front of Quentin Kwan. I remembered that when I met Laozi, he seemed troubled as he looked at me, only mentioning the cycle they created for me to experience. Laozi never spoke about his father. I felt quite frustrated, but thinking back, there was no time to explain such complicated matters then.
Perhaps another purpose of Laozi was to save his own father. I know all too well the terror of repeated cycles; after just a dozen, I was already at my limit. If there isn't a breakthrough soon, a few more cycles and I might lose my mind.
Then I began to explain my purpose for coming here. Quentin Kwan listened quietly, his face regaining a hint of color. His smile was still bleak, and he seemed utterly helpless, curling up beside a tree and muttering to himself.
"Sorry, old friend. I didn't listen to you. If you were still here, I truly wish I could see you again."
Quentin Kwan's voice sounded desolate. I squatted beside him and patted his back.
"It's all right. Master Li Er sent me here most likely to save you. After all, you're his own father, and he can't reach this place himself. He must be suffering just as much as you."
Quentin Kwan lifted his head slightly, looked at me for a moment, then nodded.
Once again, I was trapped in this cycle. But this time, I no longer feared the power of the Eye of Time, because Quentin Kwan was here. He would help me strip away the manifested time threads, so I wouldn't have to worry about falling into my own endless loop. Although this cycle is long, there must be something strange about it—just as John Chou saw. Once Quentin Kwan calmed down, I began asking questions.
"You've been through so many cycles—haven't you ever managed to escape even once?"
Quentin Kwan nodded thoughtfully, but perhaps because those memories were too distant, he couldn't recall them for a while and shook his head.
I pondered, waiting for Quentin Kwan to recall the singularity in his past. I also told him how I escaped my own infinite cycle and arrived in this one.
The current situation is probably even trickier than before. I hoped Quentin Kwan could tell me something useful. If I could dream, I'd contact John Chou, or even ask Mona Ouyang and Yvonne May to join in. After all, I'm not sure how Zachary Justice negotiated with Yvonne May; I need to understand the root cause to find a breakthrough and a solution.
Time ticked by, but Quentin Kwan still couldn't recall where the singularity was. Yet he seemed to have complete control over this infinite cycle—he could pause it or choose to continue.
"Sorry, little girl, for bringing you to this place. Maybe it's truly because of me."
Quentin Kwan spoke as he stood up, his expression easing a little.
Suddenly, Quentin Kwan's expression turned urgent. He seemed to remember something and frantically patted his head, becoming extremely agitated.
"The singularity—maybe it appeared when my child was born. Let me think a bit more, I'm almost there."