Family

I quietly sip my drink, while Heavenly Soul watches me in confusion.

"That shouldn't be possible. There hasn't been any sign of change in Rachel Lan at all."

Heavenly Soul said this, and Isabelle Frost nodded in agreement beside him.

"Normally, something like this just can't happen. For someone to suddenly disappear, without any warning at all..."

I hummed in response, but it was definitely not my imagination. The feeling just now was so real—Rachel Lan seemed to vanish from the depths of my heart in an instant. For a moment, I couldn't even remember she had ever existed.

I kept drinking, and Rachel Lan sat beside me, one hand pressing gently on my back, looking at me as if to comfort me.

"It's alright, Qiyuan. I'm not going anywhere."

I hummed again, and now Sylvia Blue looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong, Sylvia?"

"It just feels weird."

Suddenly, Sylvia shot out of the shop. I looked over in surprise, but she was already gone. Yet I could sense she was outside Ring City now. Something felt off, and it seemed like Sylvia wanted me to go alone.

"I'll go check it out."

I said, and immediately drifted out, quickly flying beyond the bounds of Ring City.

"Seven?"

My eyes widened in shock as I saw Sylvia gripping Seven—the one with the flower mask—pinning him to the ground.

"You—how can you manifest in this world when you were just something from my dream?"

"Sylvia, let go."

I called out, and Sylvia finally released her grip. Seven got up, looking at Sylvia with fear, then glanced at me.

"Ethan Zhang, I want to talk to you about something."

"Shouldn't you have already returned to your dream of the future?"

I looked at Seven in confusion. He hung his head, as if he'd done something wrong.

Sylvia still looked puzzled. Then she held her head, as if trying to remember something, but she couldn't recall it for now.

"Wait, you're not the same as the Immortality Society guy I saw in my dream. He had a flower mask too, but not like yours."

Sylvia suddenly looked at Seven with suspicion. She told me that back then, Future Ethan Zhang told her stories, and after talking about the Immortality Society, she had a nightmare about them that night. The people in her dream did wear flower masks, but their masks had animal shapes inside. Seven's mask, though, only had patches of color like petals—no animal shapes at all.

I looked at Seven, still confused. The only thing I remembered was that it was because of Seven that I escaped my past dream, but when I tried to recall exactly why, a huge chunk of my memory was missing.

A flash of silvery light shimmered—Sylvia gripped Dawn Moon, aiming the gun at Seven.

"If you don't talk, I'll shoot you."

Seven's eyes widened, looking a bit helpless, but there was no trace of fear in them. For some reason, I felt that Seven had no power at all, yet he wasn't afraid of Sylvia.

"Because of me, Rachel Lan is going to disappear."

"Sylvia, what are you doing..."

I cried out in shock as Sylvia pulled the trigger. A silver bullet pierced through Seven's head, and for a moment, silvery light exploded. My eyes widened—Sylvia's gaze was now cold and merciless, her silver eyes tinged faintly with red, her face expressionless.

"Of course I killed him. Because of him, Rachel Lan disappeared. Killing him should fix everything."

But in the next second, not only Sylvia but I too stared at Seven in shock—he was completely unharmed, not a scratch on him.

Seven shook his head at that moment.

"It's no use, Sylvia. You can't kill me."

I clutched my head, feeling as if it was about to burst. The pain made me scream. Sylvia frantically turned, holstered Dawn Moon, and gripped my shoulder, shouting in worry. The world spun; my consciousness kept fading, as if I would vanish entirely. I whimpered, mouth agape.

Gradually, I came back to my senses.

"Qiyuan, did you put yourself into hibernation again?"

As soon as I opened my eyes, Rachel Lan was right beside me, and Sylvia had already fallen asleep. I felt strange, as if something had happened, but I couldn't figure out what.

Then I suddenly remembered—I'd just come back from Elder Peach, and after busying myself for a while, started drinking with everyone. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Ethan Zhang, you look miserable—did you have a nightmare?"

Isabelle Frost looked at me suspiciously. I shook my head.

"Of course not. I’m not really sure myself."

Then I got up and helped everyone tidy up the shop. After a while, seeing Rachel Lan looking tired, I told her and Sylvia to head home first—I still needed to practice with Isabelle Frost later.

After they left the shop, I picked up a stack of bowls and went to the back to wash them. Just as I set the dishes down, I saw someone quietly watching me from afar—it was Seven, the one who had helped me escape my past dream.

"Is that Seven?"

I called out softly.

"Come here alone."

A voice echoed inside my head. I immediately got up, but Seven was already gone.

Then I told Heavenly Soul and Isabelle Frost, and drifted over, unable to sense Seven at all. He should have returned to the dream of the future—after all, he was born from Sylvia’s dream.

"Ethan Zhang, Rachel Lan is going to disappear."

Seven's voice came from behind me. My eyes widened in surprise, and what he said stunned me even more.

"Why exactly..."

"You bastard, don't think your little tricks can fool me."

It was Sylvia. My eyes widened, and it felt like something in my mind was blocking my thoughts. At that moment, I saw Sylvia shrouded in black mist. Gradually, the Greatsword Revenant—the weapon once wielded by Future Ethan Zhang—was now in her hands.

"If Dawn Moon can't kill you, what about the Greatsword Revenant?"

Seven vanished from behind me in an instant. Sylvia, eyes glowing red, slid past me. I was left staring blankly as she pressed her hand on empty air and, with a sudden pull, dragged Seven out. The Greatsword Revenant in her hand swung at Seven—he screamed in terror.

With a buzz, everything around us seemed to freeze. I felt the darkness halt, each black particle clearly visible. The power of this place was usually flowing, but in this frozen instant, I saw its true form—countless black particles. The scene before me left me utterly stunned.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

It was Future Ethan Zhang. He grabbed the Greatsword Revenant, and in an instant, the sword vanished.

"What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, an image flashed in my mind—it was everything that had just happened outside Ring City.

I stared in disbelief at everything around me—this darkness really had been frozen still.

"I can't use this power for long. Ethan Zhang, open your Specter Domain. Let's talk inside—I don't want a third party to know about our family problems."

My eyes widened in shock. Sylvia blinked too. I opened my Specter Domain, and in an instant, Future Ethan Zhang grabbed Seven with one hand and Sylvia with the other, pulling them into my domain. Once I entered, the entrance closed behind us.

With a crash, Future Ethan Zhang violently threw Seven to the ground. Seven only stopped after crashing through several cherry trees, fear deep in his eyes as he looked at Future Ethan Zhang.

"Why are you here? Why? Say something, damn it—why do you still exist here?"

"Dad, who is this guy, really? He doesn't seem like he was born from my dream."

Seven started crying, tears streaming down his face. In an instant, Future Ethan Zhang stood in front of him, and with a swish, the Specterblade stabbed into the ground.

"Seven, if you're a man, end yourself. Otherwise, I'll kill you right now."

I had never seen Future Ethan Zhang so furious before. His surging murderous intent sent cracks through my Specter Domain. Sylvia landed next to Seven, looking at him with even more confusion. She walked over and suddenly tore off Seven's mask.

"What on earth is going on?"

I stared in shock, while Sylvia crouched down, pressing on Seven's cheeks.

"Huh? Why do you look just like me?"

Delicate features, a beautiful face—Seven looked exactly like Sylvia, except one had short hair and the other long. Seven's hair was half silver, half black.

"The reason I'm here is because of a mother's love."

With a crash, Future Ethan Zhang grabbed Seven by the neck. Instantly, I was at Future Ethan Zhang's side, pressing his wrist. Seven kept crying, choking and sobbing.

Now, up close, Seven really did look exactly like Sylvia—except for their aura and gender, they were identical.

"Mother? Ha! Who is your mother? You're not worthy of saying those words."

Future Ethan Zhang sneered bitterly, suddenly tightening his grip.

"What are you doing?"

I shouted immediately, seeing a flicker of hesitation on Future Ethan Zhang’s face. But he was determined to kill Seven.

With a sudden swish, a flash of silver light appeared—Sylvia Blue raised her Wish Prayer and severed Future Ethan Zhang’s grip on Seven.

"Dad, I want to know who this person is—the one who looks exactly like me. Tell me."

Future Ethan Zhang’s arm regenerated instantly. He glared at us, his eyes cold and predatory.

"This guy is the Wraithlord. Can’t you feel it?"

With a roar, Future Ethan Zhang lunged forward. I instinctively shielded Seven, my body moving before I could think.

Future Ethan Zhang halted. The air cracked with force—the impact shattered my Shadow Realm, but in that instant, he restrained his power. If he hadn’t, both Seven and I would have died on the spot.

"No, I am not the Wraithlord. My name is Zach Qiyuan. My mother is Rachel Lan. My father is... Ethan Zhang."