More and more multicolored lights streamed out from Quentin Kwan’s head. The world around us had already shattered beyond recognition. I saw white threads—threads of time—destroying everything before my eyes, winding themselves around me, relentless and cold.
I had no idea how many cycles of the same memories Quentin Kwan had endured. Those multicolored lights were drawn from his body by the threads of time, crushed again and again. Above his body, a massive black maw hung open, swallowing the shattered fragments of his memories, grinding them into dust.
I knew that when Quentin Kwan finally awakened, he would remember nothing. For a brief moment, he might feel the world had become impossibly strange. Time devoured memories that never truly existed, then patched together what remained. The memories forced into him would leave a jarring, unbearable dissonance.
Now, I finally understood why, long ago, when I was imprisoned within the horror narrative, everyone forgot about me so quickly.
In that horror story, people were only forgotten after death. At that time, I was still alive, but most of my time had already been stolen because of Seven. In truth, maybe I was already dead by then.
A torrent of memories echoed in my mind. More and more dark power flooded into Starshard Radiance. All I could do was watch, helpless, as Quentin Kwan returned from this endless cycle to the correct point in time.
Now, everything about the past was clear to me. That horror story could only make the living forget the dead. Since I was alive, I shouldn’t have been forgotten. Only because of Future Ethan Zhang did I survive.
Once everything became clear, what puzzled me most was why I continued to exist for so long back then. Instantly, I thought of Future Ethan Zhang. Only he had the power to let me endure, even as time nearly consumed me.
In that moment, I saw images of memories emerge from Quentin Kwan’s head, carried by multicolored bubbles. One by one, they drifted upward into the gaping maw above his body.
Crackling sounds echoed as the bubbles burst, scattering memories into dust. Quentin Kwan’s heavy expression softened, then slowly broke into a smile, as if a nightmare had finally ended. He was about to awaken. I watched his eyes move, the smile on his face growing ever brighter. Perhaps he had just dreamed something beautiful.
With a low hum, dizziness overtook me. Everything around me stopped—abrupt, final. There was a sharp crack, and the remnants of the forest shattered, splintering into dust and collapsing into a dead, suffocating darkness.
All at once, Quentin Kwan’s eyes flew open. He sat up, staring blankly into the black void. He turned and smiled at me—a hollow gesture. I tried to smile back, but my own body began to dissolve, fading into slow, drifting white particles.
Quentin Kwan’s eyes held a strange, deep confusion, but soon he stood and smiled. A blinding white light flashed before my eyes. Consciousness slipped away, and everything vanished.
When I opened my eyes again, my stomach growled—a sharp, animal sound. I gasped, catching a faint, sweet aroma. The world spun violently. A figure in a white robe drifted into view, unsettling and unreal.
"You're awake, Rachel Lan."
I shook my head, trying to clear it. Slowly, my senses returned. I was still inside Lady Meng’s house. Suddenly, I cried out, realizing I was clutching a delicate soul mirror—the one Lady Meng had handed me before. Bewildered, I stared at her.
But as the memories of the Ghostly Forest came flooding back, anger flared inside me. I glared at Lady Meng, my resentment barely contained.
"It's all right, little one. Everything is over now."
Lady Meng smiled gently. Just then, I felt a strange, unsettling presence. I turned and saw Juchen standing in the doorway. Outside, Future Ethan Zhang sat cross-legged, talking quietly with Isabelle Frost. I realized—I was in the terminal station of the past.
Isabelle Frost stepped inside, her movements slow and deliberate. I glared at her, my anger still burning, unresolved.
"Why did you deliberately lead me down the path of Firelight in that place?"
Faced with my question, Isabelle Frost simply shook her head.
"It wasn't to guide you—it was necessary. Time had already become chaotic, and the anomaly had to be eliminated. Otherwise, the correct timeline would collapse. If the timeline truly collapsed, it would affect the past, the future, and even your present. At that moment, there was nothing else that could be done."
I swallowed hard.
"It's all over now. There's no need to bring it up again."
Past Ethan Zhang chuckled. I sighed, and after a moment’s thought, realized he was right—there was no need to keep dwelling on it. Now, my body had regained sensation; I could feel heat, cold, hunger, and everything else. I slipped out of my sleeve and glanced at my pale arm, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Now, there’s only one last thing left to do."
Past Ethan Zhang spoke, and I responded with a quiet 'Mm.' What we needed now was to return to the era when the Wraithlord’s Earthly Soul escaped from Hell. When my father used the Starshard Radiance, we would replace—or more precisely, use the Starshard Radiance in my hand to draw power from the one in his hand, so that mine could reach a balance of yin and yang. This was necessary.
With a thought, the Starshard Radiance in my hand turned black, covered in a faint dark aura. Such a strong imbalance of yin and yang made it impossible to awaken the dead yin aspect within my body.
"When do we go back?"
I asked, and Past Ethan Zhang replied with a gentle smile.
"Rest for a few days. To return to the past on the correct timeline, you’ll need to be in good physical and mental condition. You’ve been far too exhausted lately."
I nodded. Then Isabelle Frost suggested I take a bath in a nearby hot spring, while Past Ethan Zhang went to prepare some food. After I washed up and ate, I could finally get a good night’s sleep.
After a while, I sank into the yellow-tinged waters of the hot spring. The temperature was strangely perfect, surprising me. Isabelle Frost sat not far away; I invited her to join me, but she shook her head.
"I’m sorry, Rachel Lan, for what happened before."
I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
"Forget it. If I hadn’t been in danger, maybe nothing good would have happened at all."
As I spoke, Isabelle Frost looked at me in confusion. I quickly crouched down into the water, unwilling to tell her that I’d encountered Ethan Zhang’s ghostly form in that forest.
"You really are something else, Rachel Lan."
Isabelle Frost said, and I smiled, continuing to enjoy the hot spring. After that, we fell silent. I knew Isabelle meant no harm, and I could sense the special power within her. Now I understood it a little—she was responsible for sending souls into reincarnation. I wasn’t sure exactly how it worked, but in this world, the Sixfold Cycle had long since vanished.
Later, I returned to Lady Meng’s house. After a hearty meal, Lady Meng led me to a small side room filled with a delicate fragrance. I quickly fell asleep.
Gradually, I slipped into deep sleep, but soon I felt something strange—a sensation as if my soul had left my body, something I’d never experienced before. Suddenly, I saw myself sleeping and tried to pinch my own cheek, but my hand passed right through. It didn’t feel like a dream. I raised my hand and easily passed through the wall, then with a rush, I flew out of the room. Inside, Past and Future Ethan Zhang sat solemnly at the table, staring at a black object that looked like a stone. Curious, I reached for it, waving my hand in front of them and through their bodies, but neither noticed me. Lady Meng watched from the side, her face grave, and spoke.
"What are you planning? Everything should have been resolved. Why did you bring back a piece of the Wraithlord’s flesh?"
Lady Meng’s tone was angry as she glared at the two Ethan Zhangs. In the corner, Isabelle Frost leaned against the wall, arms crossed, her eyes filled with confusion as she watched them.
"You brought this back from the Void, didn’t you? Why? You should have crushed the Wraithlord’s body completely and scattered it in the Void. That way, it wouldn’t be so easy for his flesh to reassemble. Wasn’t that your purpose in going to the Void?"
Past Ethan Zhang replied with a gentle smile.
"Relax. It’s fine."
Past Ethan Zhang, however, grew cold and silent, choosing not to speak.
"No matter where you store this thing—in the future or the past—it will inevitably affect the whole world. It’s been so difficult..."
"I’ll take this thing to the present—into the correct timeline."
Future Ethan Zhang spoke, and instantly Isabelle Frost and Lady Meng stared at him in disbelief, hoping for an explanation.
"It’s so that Ethan Zhang can live again."
Instantly, my eyes widened with delight.
"Why did you keep this from me? Why not tell me sooner?"
I spoke, but clearly they couldn’t hear me. The sensation was strange and unsettling.
"As for the reason, I can tell you: earlier, the two of us worked together to bring the last trace of Ethan Zhang’s vitality into that forest, allowing him to become a self-aware ghostly form. But there were others helping too—not just the Buddhist and Daoist forces, but a woman from the illusion, Nuwa. She didn’t want Ethan Zhang to vanish completely, so she made all this possible."
I stared at them in astonishment.