I quietly watched everything before me. Both the past and future Ethan Zhang had vanished without a trace, and my current condition made me uneasy—as if my body was no longer my own, becoming something like light and shadow.
The Green Wraith led the father and daughter away. The two remained as terrified as ever, unaware that the world they'd entered belonged to ghosts—where humans have only one fate: death. Worried, I followed after them.
But then, a cool breeze brushed against my face, sending a chill up my spine. As expected, my consciousness began to blur. After so many cycles of reincarnation, I already knew where this loop would end.
Sure enough, everything before me began to shift rapidly. My head felt increasingly dizzy. I closed my eyes and endured wave after wave of nausea, until I gradually sensed a faint light and sighed helplessly.
"Back to the beginning again, huh!"
Suddenly, I heard the sound of flowing water. The light before my eyes softened. The moment I opened my eyes, I was stunned—I was beside a small creek, with a gentle breeze and shifting tree shadows. Not far away, an old man sat cross-legged atop a large stone, smiling kindly at me.
All around was a vast expanse of green forest. I didn't recognize the old man before me, but he seemed very amiable.
"Excuse me, sir, who are you?"
Just as I spoke, the old man stood up from the stone. After stepping down, he walked slowly until he stopped two meters in front of me.
"In the Shadow Realm, we've met before—the young girl, or rather, another version of you, the you that belongs to Yin."
I shook my head, unable to remember where I'd met this old man before.
"Young lady, this temporal loop was created by me."
I was instantly stunned, staring at the old man in disbelief. There was something oddly familiar about him. At that moment, a streak of white light appeared on my skin—the power of the Dao.
"May I ask, you are..."
"Isn't it you who came to find this old man this time?"
I immediately realized—the old man was the founder of Taoism, Eli Lear.
"Master Eli Lear, why did you create this temporal loop?"
I asked, and Eli Lear shook his head helplessly and sighed.
"I'm sorry, young lady. At that time, we were powerless—forced to watch as that child died."
I swallowed hard, and a wave of bitterness welled up from deep inside me.
"Is it... Qingyuan?"
Eli Lear nodded, turned, and walked slowly away. I followed him. He returned to the large stone and sat down. His presence blended with the creek, forest, and gentle sky around us—as if he existed within all of nature, unfathomable. If I couldn't see him, I wouldn't even sense his existence.
Eli Lear nodded, smiling at me. Though saddened, there was still hope. I planned to first figure out the truth of this temporal loop, then ask Laozi if there was any way to bring Qingyuan back to life.
"Young lady, life and death each have their boundaries. If you cling too hard to either side, you will become nothing more than a grain of dust in the natural world. The reason I created this temporal loop was to save you. Your other half has already died."
I looked at Eli Lear in confusion, not understanding, and asked.
"What exactly..."
"A person has both good and evil. If there is only virtue and no evil, one cannot be called human. Whether one is good or evil, whether the evil is great or small, the good is great or small, it all leads to a process and an eventual outcome. Your evil has already died in the Shadow Realm, becoming a grain of dust."
I swallowed hard. Eli Lear sighed helplessly.
"We owe Ethan Zhang a great debt. So this time, I joined forces with another to create this loop, pouring my past into it, hoping to save you. This debt is too heavy—a person's heart can be so pure, it truly surprised us all."
I roughly understood that Eli Lear wanted to save me, but I still wondered—what was the point of creating such a temporal loop?
"Fortunately, you realized in time—among those three who went into the mountains for herbs, were my birth mother and grandfather."
I stared in shock, but then remembered—the three who went into the mountains, weren't the younger man and woman siblings?
Eli Lear smiled as he spoke.
"The one who died was my uncle, and you should have met my father."
Suddenly, I pressed my hand to my forehead, and a chill ran through my body.
"Was it that Green Wraith?"
I looked at Eli Lear in surprise. His expression shifted slightly, but he nodded sincerely.
"I was born from the union of human and ghost. Throughout my life, I've suppressed my ghostly side, so I created my own Dao."
Hearing this truth left me shocked and moved, but soon I looked at Eli Lear with a grave expression.
"Master Eli Lear, what exactly do you want me to do in this temporal loop?"
Eli Lear nodded and said.
"Young lady, the Starshard Radiance in your hand is not only a Yang artifact, but also a Yin one. When I created the Starshard Radiance, its Yin aspect was destroyed by that sealing ritual. To forge the Duality Seal, I had to sacrifice my Yin side and synchronize with the Earthly Soul of the Wraithlord to seal him. After my Yin side died, it went to the Shadow Realm, where I met Ethan Zhang and another version of you."
I nodded, and Eli Lear continued.
Back then, in the Shadow Realm, I was also present. That version of me was the evil part within my human body. After death, it could only accept the Four Saints Realm of the Yang side, so my Yin part went to the Shadow Realm.
A person is ultimately a harmony of Yin and Yang—that is what makes us human. I couldn't merge with my own remains because my body lacked its Yin side.
Just as Eli Lear said, whether living or dead, we eventually become dust. My dead Yin side is just such a grain of dust. Although the Starshard Radiance can help restore my body, it's not a true solution. The only way is to infuse the Starshard Radiance with Yin, using it to awaken the dead Yin side in my body and achieve Yin-Yang harmony. Only then can I merge with my remains and become something close to human.
At this, I looked at Eli Lear in amazement.
"Master Eli Lear, something close to human—what does that mean...?"
"Just like Ethan Zhang. Even after his Earthly Soul was extracted, he could survive—because he isn't human, but something close to it. That's why he can do things neither human nor ghost can do. Now, young lady, you have inherited his coexistence instinct. This is a huge advantage for you. Because of this instinct, we can help you."
I made a sound of assent and nodded. Eli Lear stood up and continued speaking.