"Spare me the unnecessary words. Juchen, can you accurately send me to the moment when the Wraithlord escapes from hell this time?"
No. If we arrive when The Wraithlord hasn't left hell yet, or after the seal has ended, it's all over.
"There's nothing I can do. The Eye of Time is interfering with me now. Even bringing you back again is extremely difficult, let alone hitting the exact moment. The Eye of Time is already watching us, and I have no idea why it's locked onto us so quickly. The only explanation I can think of is that the Eye of Time has made contact with someone and can instantly know which point in time we're at. If I force you through to the precise moment, the Eye of Time will instantly detect us during the crossing. It won't just stop us from traveling—there's a real chance we'll end up trapped in another Temporal Loop entirely."
"If you send us to the period after the Wraithlord's seal has ended, everything will have been for nothing. Life or death, let's just gamble. If the Eye of Time really intervenes, the two of us will find a way to stop it."
Past Ethan Justice said, but Juchen immediately shook his head.
"If you really do that, you'll kill the Eye of Time. And if the Eye of Time dies, you know what kind of consequences that brings!"
Juchen turned to look at Future Ethan Zhang. After a moment of silence, he nodded.
"Since you both know it's impossible, hurry up and think of something. In this space where time flows painfully slow, you don't have much left—especially you, Rachel Lan, if you really want to survive!"
Gradually, the dazzling white light faded from my sight. I regained consciousness, and to my surprise, I was back in the same forest as before. A chill ran down my spine as Past and Future Ethan Zhang stood beside me. The world spun, and I collapsed. Past Ethan Zhang immediately pressed a hand to my back, infusing me with a gentle power. Soon, I felt much lighter. Yet the scene before me was still that same afternoon in Specter Hollow—smoke curling from chimneys, families busy with their meals.
No sooner had I finished speaking than Juchen burst out laughing, shaking his head repeatedly.
"The Eye of Time is a mindless existence, nothing but a cold machine of order. It has no thoughts, no feelings. It's merely a reverse correction effect of time itself, and it will never let any anomaly within time slip by. Communication is useless—no one can defy the laws of time. The only way is to avoid the gaze of time itself."
I quietly pondered. If what Juchen said was true, then in the future Terminus World, Future Ethan Zhang should have already killed Juchen. But why is he still able to return to this world?
"How are you still able to return to this world?"
I asked, and Past Ethan Zhang also looked at Future Ethan Zhang with confusion.
There's no point in saying any of this now. We're trapped in this Temporal Loop again. We have to find the root cause before the Temporal Loop ends.
Future Ethan Zhang didn't elaborate on the extra reasons, but now everything had become even more complicated. My body finally started to show signs of trouble. When I tried to lift my hand, I found it wouldn't obey. Future Ethan Zhang noticed and came over, rolling up my sleeve—the black spots had spread.
Once my body starts to fail, I'll become unable to move.
"While my body can still move, let's go straight ahead. If it really doesn't work, we'll deal with it then!"
I muttered, while Future Ethan Zhang stared wide-eyed in distress, still hesitating. Past Ethan Zhang didn't look much better.
I haven't done anything. The only explanation is that this Temporal Loop existed in the correct timeline from the start. Rachel Lan is an anomaly, and you two are anomalies to this world as well. The Temporal Loop itself is an anomaly—that's why you've all gathered here.
[Non-narrative meta line skipped]
"No. If we arrive when the Wraithlord hasn't left hell yet, or after the seal has ended, it's all over."
Zero or one—that's the problem facing us now. Whether we dare to take the wrong step or the right one, time is running out for me.
I gave a quiet assent. Past Ethan Zhang crouched seriously in front of me, and I climbed onto his back. Soon, he floated upward, carrying me swiftly over Big Mountain.
Future Ethan Zhang followed close behind. Yet in a sudden daze, I found myself back in the forest—Past and Future Ethan Zhang had vanished. Everything felt surreal. Just moments ago, I was on Past Ethan Zhang's back, flying far beyond Specter Hollow, crossing countless Big Mountains. Why was I back here again?
"Do it, Juchen."
At last, Future Ethan Zhang nodded as well.
Juchen once again opened the gate to the past. We stepped through—there was no room left for hesitation. Life or death, the path before me was singular, just as Juchen said: evade the gaze of time.
Gradually, the dazzling white light faded from my sight. I regained consciousness, and to my surprise, I was back in the same forest as before. A chill ran down my spine as Past and Future Ethan Zhang stood beside me. The world spun, and I collapsed. Past Ethan Zhang immediately pressed a hand to my back, infusing me with a gentle power. Soon, I felt much lighter. Yet the scene before me was still that same afternoon village—smoke curling from chimneys, families busy with their meals.
"Only Juchen could pull this off."
Future Ethan Zhang muttered, and Past Ethan Zhang nodded.
"He predicted we wouldn't be able to do anything to it, so he's planning to let Rachel Lan fend for herself!"
With a thunderous boom, a violent gust swept past me. When I turned my head, everything behind me had vanished—a massive crater billowed black smoke, and Past Ethan Zhang's arm had turned to ash. With his remaining hand, he gripped the Nightfall Blade Future Ethan Zhang was swinging.
"Maybe Juchen already..."
"There's no point in saying any of this now. We're trapped in this cycle again. We have to find the root cause before the loop ends."
Past Ethan Zhang stood up and began to survey the surroundings, but no matter how they looked, everything was just as it had been when we first arrived.
"Come out, Juchen."
Future Ethan Zhang shouted, and instantly a wave of intense cold swept out. The forest around us began to wither, the ground slowly turning black. Past Ethan Zhang held him back.
"Don't be impulsive, things aren't..."
"I haven't done anything. The only explanation is that this cycle existed in the correct timeline from the start. Rachel Lan is an anomaly, and you two are anomalies to this world as well. The loop itself is an anomaly—that's why you've all gathered here."
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I started to feel sharp pains inside my body, and my condition was rapidly deteriorating.
"Come on, Rachel Lan. I'll carry you somewhere else."
I gave a quiet assent. Past Ethan Zhang crouched seriously in front of me, and I climbed onto his back. Soon, he floated upward, carrying me swiftly over a mountain.
Future Ethan Zhang followed close behind. Yet in a sudden daze, I found myself back in the forest—Past and Future Ethan Zhang had vanished. Everything felt surreal. Just moments ago, I was on Past Ethan Zhang's back, flying far beyond the village, crossing countless mountains. Why was I back here again?
With a thunderous boom, everything around me instantly turned to dust. Where the black aura passed, all living things withered and blackened. My eyes widened as Future Ethan Zhang gripped Juchen by the throat, pinning him to the ground. The earth caved in beneath them, his eyes blood-red, glaring at Juchen with uncontrollable rage.
"Tell me what's really going on. Is this some plot you all cooked up? If you don't talk, I'll kill you."
The ground beneath me and the tree I leaned against were unaffected. Past Ethan Zhang rushed over and pressed his hand to Future Ethan Zhang's wrist—a sizzling sound erupted, and Past Ethan Zhang's hand was burned.
"Even if you kill him, it won't solve anything. Time in this world would instantly descend into chaos. If you really do it, this world will be finished."
Future Ethan Zhang still refused to let go, a trace of sorrow showing on his face.
"Watching the same person die twice before your eyes isn't exactly a good thing, but Rachel Lan is still alive. As long as she's alive, there's hope, so..."
"Hope? Heh. If you were like me—if you were Ethan Zhang—you'd understand how cruel and brutal the word 'hope' really is."
With a thunderous boom, a violent gust swept past me. When I turned my head, everything behind me had vanished—a massive crater billowed black smoke, and Past Ethan Zhang's arm had turned to ash. With his remaining hand, he gripped the broad black sword Future Ethan Zhang was swinging.
"Humans and ghosts truly are different. So all these negative emotions finally erupted, didn't they!"
My eyes widened as Future Ethan Zhang exhaled black breath, instantly causing black snowflakes to swirl through the air.
"Defying fate is never so simple. If everything is already destined, if Rachel Lan's fate is sealed, there's nothing you can do. But that's all in your world—don't bring your damned emotions into this one."
With a loud bang, I saw a flash of blinding white light—Past Ethan Zhang punched Future Ethan Zhang in the face, sending him flying. Not far, but his black cloak instantly shredded, and the sword was snatched into Past Ethan Zhang's hand.
Past Ethan Zhang walked over step by step, drove the black sword into the ground, and as white light glowed, his lost arm gradually regenerated.
"Get up. Self-pity is never what someone named Ethan Zhang would do. No matter when or where, open your eyes and look—has Rachel Lan ever given up? She's just a woman, and we're men!"
I struggled to my feet.
"It's fine. Let's just figure out what happened here together. Even if I can't move, even if I might die, isn't there still a way? Find the source—the source of why things turned out like this!"