The chamber remained quiet after wang xio stopped speaking. "That's why losing him…" The unfinished sentence settled silent between them while distant tremors continued shaking the demon clan territory outside. Beyond the tall black windows spiritual barriers flickered weakly against the mountains while threads crawled slowly across the outer walls like living cracks searching for somewhere deeper to spread.
Somewhere farther away servants were shouting in confusion again. One voice repeated the same question three times before abruptly falling silent. Even the mirrors lining the chamber walls had begun changing strangely now, their reflections no longer matching reality properly. For brief moments Qing li could see warm festival lanterns glowing inside them instead of the dark chamber around him. Children's laughter echoed faintly through the empty halls outside before disappearing just as suddenly.
Then suddenly another fragment flashed violently across his mind. Child Xu yang standing beneath rows of glowing lanterns while carefully tying red shrine ribbons above his head. He was smiling brightly at someone nearby while evening light flickered across his face. The memory vanished instantly. Qing li slowly lifted one hand toward his forehead while unease twisted deeper inside his chest. "Who are those children?" he asked without looking at wang xio. His voice sounded strained now beneath growing confusion. "I remember you and Xu yang..." His brows tightened faintly as fragmented images continued flashing through his mind."but who are the others?" Wang xio remained silent nearby.
Qing li laughed once under his breath bitterly before dragging a hand through his hair in visible frustration. "This doesn't make sense." His voice sharpened slightly afterward. "Why does remembering them hurt this much?" The chamber fell quiet again except for the distant sound of cracking barriers outside. Wang xio's gaze lowered briefly toward the floor as though avoiding something.Qing li slowly looked toward him then, his expression no longer angry now but deeply unsettled instead."Did we fail someone?"
Something painful flickered across wang xio's face.Outside the chamber threads suddenly pulsed violently against the walls while the mirrors around them flickered once more with distorted festival light. Qing li stared at him silently now because that reaction alone already felt like an answer. Wang xio closed his eyes briefly before speaking very softly. "We failed more than one person."Qing li's brows slowly tightened while unease spread deeper through his chest. "Who?" he asked quietly. "Who did we fail?" Wang xio did not answer immediately. His gaze shifted instead toward one of the flickering mirrors nearby where warm lantern light briefly illuminated the reflection again.
Wang xio's voice lowered further afterward almost like he was speaking to memories instead of Qing li himself. "There was someone…" He stopped briefly as though choosing his words carefully. "No matter what happened, he always stayed beside us." Qing li listened silently.Wang xio continued quietly, "Even when everyone else was frightened… he never blamed anyone." Something fragile flickered briefly across his expression now something like regret. "He kept believing we would all leave that mountain together."
The mirrors around the chamber flickered again.This time qing li saw white flowers scattered across stone steps before the reflection vanished completely."Then what happened to him?" Qing li asked softly wang xio remained silent for several long seconds. Outside another violent tremor shook the demon clan territory hard enough to rattle the chamber walls.Threads spread farther across the windows afterward like veins crawling through darkness. Wang xio answered without looking at him. "We were too late." Qing li's breathing slowed faintly something about those words hurt.
Then suddenly another fragmented memory flashed violently through his mind he saw quiet boy standing beneath lantern light while carefully holding flowers against his chest. Someone laughing beside him warmly then darkness swallowing everything whole. Qing li physically staggered half a step backward before grabbing the edge of the nearby table hard enough for his knuckles to whiten. Wang xio looked toward him instantly. "Qing Li!" "Who was he?" Qing li interrupted, breathing uneven now beneath growing panic. "Why do I feel like…" He stopped abruptly while pressing one hand hard against his chest. "like we abandoned someone?" Silence filled the chamber again afterward.
Meanwhile xu yang slowly looked up again toward the endless distorted corridor stretching ahead of him then somewhere nearby wood creaked. Xu yang froze one of the nearby doors had opened by itself. The lantern beside it flickered weakly with golden light completely different from the dark red glow filling the rest of the corridor. Xu yang hesitated before stepping closer carefully his heartbeat quickened instantly the moment he looked inside.
It was not a room it was another memory Where lantern light illuminated a quiet shrine interior untouched by darkness or blood. Child Qing li was asleep beside a low wooden table, his head resting carelessly against folded arms while one sleeve had fallen halfway down from moving too much in his sleep. Nearby child wang xio sat and reading quietly from several old scrolls with his usual serious expression already visible even at that age. Slightly farther away another child sat carefully weaving small flowers together with lowered eyes while child xu yang laughed softly beside him about something Qing li had apparently said earlier. "You should've seen your face earlier."
xu yang said between quiet laughter while leaning sideways against the table. "You nearly fell into the pond trying to catch that fish." Qing li lifted one hand blindly without opening his eyes. "I still caught it." "After slipping three times." Wang xio replied calmly without even looking up from the scroll in his hands. Qing li opened one eye with visible annoyance. "Whose side are you on?" "Reality's!" Wang xio answered flatly.Xu yang laughed louder at that while another child lowered his head slightly trying to hide a smile.
For a moment everything felt painfully normal.Xu yang suddenly leaned closer toward that child afterward, looking down curiously at the white flowers in his hands. "You're still making those?" That boy nodded quietly. "They calm people down."Qing li snorted tiredly from the table. "Then make more. Xu yang talks too much." "You were asleep."Xu yang shot back. "I can still hear you." Qing li muttered while pulling one sleeve over his face again.
Wang xio lowered the scroll slightly then looked toward that child's flowers. His expression softened faintly."They look better this time." That boy blinked once in surprise before looking down again almost shyly. "Really?" Xu yang answered before Wang xio could. "Obviously. You've been practicing every day." Boy smiled properly this time.
Xu yang standing outside the memory froze slightly at the sight because something inside his chest tightened painfully again.Xu yang slowly pressed one hand against his chest while trying unsuccessfully to steady his breathing. "Why...?" he whispered faintly beneath the silence of the corridor. "Why does seeing this hurt so much?" His eyes remained fixed on the children inside the memory while confusion twisted deeper.Xu Yang lowered his gaze briefly toward his trembling fingers again. "Who are you people…?" he asked softly toward the memory itself. "And why does it feel like I already lost all of you?" No answer came only sound of laughter came from inside.
Xu yang slowly stepped backward afterward unable to continue watching any longer.Xu yang stood still for several seconds before continuing deeper into the endless hallways of the abandoned house. The farther he walked the stranger the structure became. The walls twisted unnaturally around him while old shrine symbols slowly appeared carved across the wood beneath spreading thread marks. Several lanterns flickered dark red overhead before extinguishing completely as he passed beneath them.
Then he stopped at the very end of the corridor stood one final door. Unlike every other door inside the house this one was completely covered in ancient heaven seals layered heavily across the surface like restraints. Golden characters flickered beneath age-blackened paper talismans while deep cracks spread through the wood underneath.Across the center written in faded uneven characters were four words. "SEALED MEMORY — DO NOT REOPEN." Xu Yang's expression changed.
The rose mark beneath his sleeve suddenly burned hard enough to force a sharp breath from his throat. Xu yang instinctively grabbed his arm while staring toward the sealed door in growing dread. "What exactly are you hiding in there…?" he whispered faintly. Then softly behind him someone spoke. "You should not open that door." Xu yang turned instantly. He saw several steps behind him beneath the flickering lantern light someone was standing and that person was Hei long.He walked towards him.His long dark hair fell loosely over pale robes while several white flowers rested carefully in one hand.
Xu Yang's eyes lowered instinctively toward them and unease twisted sharply through his chest. Those flowers… The child inside the memories had been holding the exact same ones.
(...)
Does that mean he's the same person from the memory? But that's impossible.
(...)
I remembered it clearly now.Threads had dragged that child away beneath the collapsing shrine while everyone screamed around him. (...)
Xu yang stared at him speechlessly for several long seconds"You." His voice sounded unsteady now beneath shock and confusion. "You were in the memories." Hei Long's gaze remained fixed on him quietly. "So were you." Xu yang's fingers tightened harder around his burning arm. "Who are you?" he asked.His breathing had become uneven now. "And how are you still here?" Hei long stopped several steps away from him.
Xu yang took another slow step backward unconsciously. "I saw what happened." he continued more now. "The threads swallowed you." His eyes remained fixed on Hei long's unnaturally calm expression. "So why are you standing here?" Hei long lowered his gaze briefly toward the white flowers resting in his hand. His fingers moved faintly across the petals almost absently before he answered softly, "Because I never left."
Xu yang's expression tightened. "What does that even mean?" Hei long looked back toward him afterward. "This house remembers people Heaven tried to erase." Xu yang's chest tightened at those words. "Then you're dead?" Hei long remained silent for several seconds afterward then he answered quietly, "I don't know what I am anymore." Xu yang froze slightly at the response."Why can't I remember you?" Hei long lowered his eyes briefly toward the flowers in his hand before answering softly. "Because once…" Small pause. "you promised you would forget me."
Xu yang stared at hei long silently.He slowly forced himself to speak again despite the growing pressure inside his mind. "Did we know each other?Hei long did not respond immediately.He simply stood there holding the white flowers loosely in one hand then he answered softly, "We were family before Heaven erased it." Xu Yang froze.Xu yang's brows slowly tightened while confusion and disbelief mixed together beneath growing panic. "Family…?" he repeated faintly. "No." He shook his head afterward. "That doesn't make sense." he continued more "I don't remember any of this!"
Hei long's gaze softened faintly for the first time. "That was the point." Xu yang's expression shifted immediately. "What?" Before Hei long could answer the Heaven-sealed door behind them suddenly creaked open by itself both of them turned instantly. The door had not opened fully only slightly then voices echoed out from within. It was not whispers this time but creaming and arguments.Slowly he stepped closer toward the opening despite himself while the rose mark beneath his sleeve burned harder with every step. Then fragments appeared inside the darkness beyond the door. Broken pieces of memory flickering one after another. He saw heaven officials surrounding the shrine beneath a collapsing sky, threads spreading endlessly overhead like cracks devouring reality itself,children crying somewhere nearby and blood spreading across white stone floors beneath flickering lantern fire. Massive golden correction seals activating across the heavens while countless voices shouted over each other in fear.
Xu Yang's breathing stopped for half a second then he saw the most horrifying part where child xu yang standing in the center of it all he was covered completely in threads. The dark strands wrapped tightly around his arms, throat, and chest while unstable energy spread violently around him. Heaven officials stood surrounding him with spiritual weapons raised directly toward his body. He noticed their expressions were not angry but they were terrified. Someone screamed desperately from inside the memory, "He's the source!" Another voice shouted immediately afterward, "The seal is collapsing!"
Xu Yang physically staggered backward half a step as cold shock spread through his entire body. "No…" he whispered faintly while staring at the scene unfolding beyond the doorway. Every Heaven official inside the memory looked afraid of him then the memory shifted violently again. He saw Child Qing li struggling desperately against several officials while trying to reach xu yang and wang xio shouting something hoarsely while blood ran from the corner of his mouth. And at the center of it all child xu yang screaming desperately beneath the collapsing sky. "DON'T ERASE THEM!" The raw terror in his voice hit Xu Yang hard enough to make his chest ache violently. "PLEASE!" Then suddenly the heaven-sealed door slammed shut with a deafening crash.
The entire corridor shook afterward while the lanterns overhead flickered wildly between red and darkness. Xu yang stood frozen in place unable to breathe properly. His mind felt unstable now beneath the flood of fragmented memories and emotions crashing violently through him. Hei Long remained silent nearby. He did not need to explain anything anymore because for the first time xu yang understood something truly horrifying. "Maybe Heaven did not erase the Fourth Day because of the threads but because me"
Elsewhere Lin chen, Yan luo, Zhao ming, and Chen yu continued moving deeper through the distorted house.Several doors opened into rooms they had already passed minutes earlier.The whispers had started repeating their conversations before they even spoke them aloud.Zhao ming stopped walking first, his expression visibly strained now beneath growing unease. "This place is getting inside our heads." Chen Yu answered quietly while scanning the shifting walls around them carefully. "Fear weakens memory stability." Yan luo glanced sideways toward him sharply. "You say that like you understand what this thing actually is." Chen yu remained silent.Then suddenly Lin chen froze mid-step. "Wait." The others stopped afterward.
Along the walls ahead deep scratches covered nearly every visible surface of the corridor. There were hundreds of name carved across the old wood in overlapping layers. Some looked ancient while others seemed newly cut and several had been scratched out repeatedly hard enough to split the wood beneath them apart. Zhao ming stepped closer first before his expression shifted visibly. "What the hell?" One name repeated everywhere and it was *Xu Yang. * It was written in different handwriting, different sizes. Some were carved carefully others were violently.
Lin chen slowly stepped closer. "Why is his name everywhere?" he whispered faintly. No one answered then zhao ming noticed something worse carved beneath several names, dates and that was old ones, some stretched back farther than they should have logically existed and beside several of them one sentence repeated over and over again beneath deep overlapping scratches. *FAILED CORRECTION. *
Chen yu's expression changed instantly the moment he saw those words."These weren't made by the house," he said quietly. Yan luo frowned sharply toward him. "Then who made them?" Chen yu slowly ran his fingers across one of the damaged carvings before answering. "People trapped here before us." Silence followed afterward before anyone could speak again the whispers suddenly returned. "He remembered too early."
Lin Chen froze because the voice was his own. Yan luo's expression darkened at once. Another whisper followed from somewhere behind them it was his voice this time. "The house won't let him leave." Zhao ming looked sharply over his shoulder while tension visibly spread through the corridor. Then his own voice whispered softly near his ear. "You left him behind." Zhao ming under his breath while stepping backward. "Enough of this!"
Then they noticed the words carved across the walls began changing by themselves. Fresh lines split through the old wood in real time while invisible force carved new sentences beneath the existing names. Everyone watched silently as the message formed one letter at a time. *YOU WERE HERE BEFORE. * Zhao ming's face changed. "What does that mean?" No one answered then beneath the first sentence more scratches appeared violently across the wall. *AND YOU LEFT HIM BEHIND. *
Lin chen physically stiffened afterward while cold fear spread violently through his chest. "No…" he whispered instinctively. "That's impossible." Chen yu's gaze slowly lowered toward the bottom of the wall afterward. Then his expression changed completely. Yan luo noticed."What?" Chen Yu did not answer at first he simply stared silently downward while pale spiritual light flickered weakly across the carved surface.Zhao Ming stepped closer too then he froze.
Beneath the newest message someone had carved a drawing directly into the wood. Four children standing beneath lantern light near a shrine. Three figures remained untouched. But the fourth child standing slightly apart from the others had been scratched out so violently the entire face and body were nearly destroyed beneath endless overlapping marks.Lin chen stared at the drawing silently. Then slowly… beneath the damaged carving… new scratches began appearing again by themselves. This time forming only one name and it was *Xu Yang.*