Lin Chen stood near one section of the wall staring at the repeated carvings of xu yang's name with growing unease visible across his face. His breathing had become shallow without him noticing. Everywhere he looked the same name appeared again and again in different handwriting. Some carved carefully, some violently scratched out and some written so deeply the wood had splintered around the letters."Why is this house obsessed with him?" Lin chen muttered quietly, his voice strained beneath confusion and fear. His eyes moved across the damaged wall again. "What happened here…?" No one answered.
The floorboards beneath their feet shifted suddenly with a low groaning sound. Zhao ming instinctively stepped back while Yan luo's hand tightened around his weapon at once. The lantern nearest them flickered once… twice… then dimmed enough to throw the entire corridor into deep orange shadows.
Chen yu remained silent near the far wall while studying one of the child drawings more carefully than before.
Yan luo noticed immediately. "What is it?"
Chen yu did not answer right away. His fingers brushed lightly against the scratched-out child before he stepped back slowly. "Look carefully." he said quietly.The others moved closer.Lin chen frowned faintly while looking at the drawing again. At first it looked meaningless beneath the damage and overlapping scratches then slowly he realized what chen yu meant.He noticed erased child was not standing with the others.There was distance between them.
Small but intentional.Yan luo stared at the drawing silently for several seconds before speaking in a lower voice than before."That child was isolated before everything happened."
The corridor became completely still afterward even the whispers seemed quieter for one unnatural moment.Lin Chen's chest tightened. "You mean…" His gaze shifted slowly back toward the repeated carvings of Xu Yang's name. "…Xu Yang?"No one answered him directly but the silence itself felt like confirmation.Farther down the corridor another whisper suddenly echoed softly through the darkness."Too late…"
Zhao Ming's expression darkened instantly. "Did you hear that?"Then another voice whispered from somewhere behind them.
"You left him alone." Lin Chen turned sharply toward the darkness behind them, his heartbeat quickening painfully. "Who's there?!"No answer came only distant child laughter drifting faintly through the house before vanishing again.
The lanterns overhead flickered harder afterward and somewhere deeper inside the distorted corridors something heavy slowly began moving toward them.
Meanwhile xu yang stood frozen several steps away while the rose mark beneath his sleeve burned so violently now it felt like fire crawling directly beneath his skin. Then the sounds beyond the door became clearer. He heard child Qing li's voice crying desperately somewhere inside the chaos. "Xu Yang!" Then wang xio shouting sharply through the destruction. "Hold the seal!" Another violent crash echoed beyond the door immediately afterward. Then suddenly xu yang heard his own voice."RUN!" Xu Yang froze completely.
"No…" Xu Yang whispered faintly while pressing one trembling hand against his temple. "What is this…?" The corridor suddenly shook violently before xu yang could react further threads exploded through the crack beneath the sealed door. The floorboards split apart instantly as the threads surged outward like something starving finally breaking free. Xu yang instinctively staggered backward but the threads lunged toward him specifically. Hei long's expression changed completely. Fear crossed his face instantly. Genuine fear. "Xu Yang!" Hei long grabbed xu yang's wrist hard and pulled him backward just as several threads slammed violently into the wall where he had been standing seconds earlier. The impact shattered wood apart immediately. Xu yang's heartbeat spiked.
Hei long's grip tightened further around his wrist while his normally calm voice turned sharp for the first time. "You need to leave now." Xu yang pulled against him despite the fear clawing beneath his chest. "Not until you explain everything!" His voice rose louder now beneath growing panic and frustration. "What happened to us?!" Another crack split across the sealed door behind them. And now more screams echoed from inside the memory. His breathing became visibly unstable now. "Why do I keep seeing those children?!" His eyes locked desperately onto Hei long. "Why does it feel like I abandoned someone?!" Hei long remained silent."Why did Heaven erase the Fourth Day?"
Xu yang demanded again, his voice almost breaking now beneath everything crashing inside his head. "What happened in there?!" Hei long slowly looked back toward the broken door. The flickering lantern light illuminated his pale face weakly while the white flowers in his hand trembled slightly from the violent shaking spreading through the corridor. For several long seconds he said nothing at all then quietly hei long answered. "Because someone survived when they were never supposed to." Xu yang's expression changed instantly.
"Survived…?" he repeated faintly. Hei Long looked toward him again. Something unbearably sad flickered across his eyes beneath the unstable lantern light now. "Heaven erased the Fourth Day to stop the memory from remaining." Another violent impact slammed against the sealed door behind them immediately afterward. The black cracks spreading across its surface widened further. Xu yang stared at hei long silently while his pulse pounded painfully inside his ears. "Then who survived?" he asked quietly. Hei long's fingers tightened slightly around the flowers in his hand. His gaze lowered for half a second before he answered softly. "You."
Xu Yang's pupils trembled faintly. "Me?" The single word barely left his throat properly. The corridor around them continued shaking violently while threads slammed endlessly against the heaven-sealed door behind them like something alive trying desperately to escape. Xu yang could barely hear the noise anymore over the pounding inside his chest. "No…" He shook his head slowly, breathing uneven now. "That doesn't make sense." His fingers tightened hard against his burning arm. "Why would Heaven erase everything because I survived?" Hei long looked at him silently for several long seconds.There was something deeply exhausted in his expression now. "Because you weren't supposed to remember any of it." he answered softly. "The correction failed the moment part of you remained."
Xu Yang stared at him speechlessly while fragments continued flashing violently through his head."Then what was I before this?" Xu yang asked quietly now, almost afraid of the answer. "Who was the original Xu yang?" Hei Long's gaze lowered briefly. "Someone who tried to save everyone." Before he could speak again another impact exploded against the sealed door behind them. The corridor split apart with a deafening crack while threads burst farther through the widening gap. The lanterns overhead shattered instantly and darkness swallowed half the corridor.
Then suddenly somewhere far away beyond the distorted walls someone shouted."Xu Yang!" Xu yang froze. His heartbeat stopped for half a second.That voice "Lin Chen?" At the exact same moment somewhere deeper inside the house Lin chen stopped walking abruptly. The corridor around him remained dark and unstable, the lantern light overhead flickering weakly while whispers crawled endlessly through the walls.
Lin Chen's expression changed instantly. "Xu Yang?" His voice cracked slightly beneath sudden disbelief. Then he heard it again faintly somewhere ahead through the distorted corridors. Lin Chen's heartbeat spiked painfully. Relief hit so hard it almost hurt. "Xu Yang!" He immediately started running toward the sound without hesitation. "Lin Chen, wait!" Yan luo reached for him instantly but missed when Lin chen shoved past the collapsing hallway corner ahead. "It could be another trap!" Yan Luo shouted sharply behind him. "I don't care!" Lin Chen's voice echoed back.Panic and frustration were visible across his face now beneath the unstable lantern light. "What if it's actually him?!"
The floorboards beneath his feet shifted violently as he ran deeper into the corridor. The house itself groaned around them like something alive.And walls distorted briefly beside him then doorways appeared and vanished again but Lin chen ignored all of it completely."Xu Yang!" he shouted louder now while turning another distorted corner. "Answer me!" Behind him Yan luo cursed quietly while following quickly with Zhao ming and Chen yu close behind. "He's going to get himself killed." Zhao ming muttered darkly while the corridor shifted again beneath their feet but even yan luo's expression had become visibly tense now.
Somewhere ahead another violent tremor shook the corridor hard enough to nearly throw lin chen into the wall. Dust fell from the ceiling and lanterns flickered blood red for half a second then suddenly the whispering throughout the house stopped completely.Lin chen slowed instinctively, breathing hard now. Then somewhere directly beyond the cracked wall ahead xu yang shouted his name again. This time closer much closer. Lin chen's eyes widened immediately. "Xu Yang…" And then the wall in front of him began cracking apart.
Wood, dust, and black Threads exploded violently outward as the distorted structure finally failed beneath the pressure of overlapping memories.Then lin chen saw Xu yang stood several steps away on the opposite side of the shattered wall.Relief hit lin chen so hard it almost knocked the breath from his lungs."Xu Yang!"He ran toward him instantly without hesitation.Xu Yang barely had time to react before Lin chen reached him and grabbed both his shoulders hard enough to make him stagger backward. Lin chen's breathing was visibly uneven now beneath overwhelming relief and lingering fear. His hands tightened instinctively against Xu yang's arms as though afraid he would disappear again if he let go."Are you hurt?" Lin chen asked immediately, his voice strained and rushed all at once. "Where did you disappear?! Do you know how long we've been searching for you?!"
Xu Yang stared at him blankly for half a second.His face looked pale beneath the unstable lantern light.His breathing remained uneven even now his fingers trembled faintly beside him while fragmented memories continued crashing violently through his head."Lin… Chen…" Xu Yang's voice came out quieter than intended."Don't do that again." Lin chen muttered sharply, though his voice nearly broke at the end. "You disappeared in front of us."Xu yang lowered his gaze briefly. "I didn't mean to…"
Lin Chen stared at him silently for a second longer before suddenly pulling him forward into a rough embrace.Xu yang froze completely for a moment he forgot the collapsing house entirely.Lin Chen's grip tightened slightly against the back of his clothes while his breathing remained visibly unsteady near Xu Yang's shoulder. "You idiot." he muttered quietly. "Do you have any idea what this place has been doing to us?"
His hands twitched slightly at his sides before slowly gripping the back of Lin chen's sleeve unconsciously."I…" Xu yang tried speaking but the words became stuck beneath the crushing confusion inside his head. "I saw things…"Lin Chen pulled back enough to look at him properly again. "What things?"Xu yang's expression shifted to fear and confusion."I think…" His breathing became uneven again. "I think these memories belonged to the original Xu Yang." The corridor fell strangely quiet afterward except for the distant groaning of the collapsing house.Lin Chen frowned. "What are you talking about? What orginal Xu yang?"
Xu yang shook his head slowly like he could not properly organize the thoughts inside his mind anymore. "Children… the shrine… Heaven…" His hand pressed hard against the burning rose mark beneath his sleeve again. "Someone was erased…"Another tremor shook the corridor hard enough to nearly throw everyone off balance. Dust rained from the ceiling afterward while threads crawled violently across the broken walls around them.Then Yan luo, zhao ming, and Chen hu reached the shattered opening.
All three stopped instantly after seeing Xu yang standing there alive.
Yan Luo's gaze sharpened immediately while studying him carefully. "What happened to you?"Xu Yang opened his mouth slightly but no answer came.
How could he explain any of this?
How could I explain memories that did not feel entirely like his own?
How could i explain the unbearable grief still lingering inside chest for people i barely understood?
Before anyone could speak again chen yu's expression suddenly changed he had noticed the figure standing farther back within the collapsing corridor behind xu yang.White flowers resting quietly in one pale hand.Chen Yu froze completely for one brief second before quietly saying "Who are you?" Yan luo's hand remained near his weapon while Zhao Ming's expression had already darkened with visible suspicion even lin chen instinctively shifted slightly closer toward xu yang without realizing it because something about hei long's presence inside this place felt deeply wrong.
Hei long remained silent for several seconds. The corridor creaked violently around them while black cracks spread slowly across the ceiling overhead. Somewhere deeper inside the house another distorted scream echoed briefly before cutting off unnaturally.Hei long lowered his gaze slightly toward the flowers in his hand before answering " Someone Heaven failed to erase." Chen yu's expression darkened further afterward. "Impossible." he muttered quietly beneath his breath."Then the correction really did fail"
"What correction?" Lin chen asked while looking between them in growing frustration. "Will someone explain what's happening?!"
Xu yang opened his mouth slightly but before anyone could answerthe entire house suddenly lurched violently sideways.The floor beneath them split apart with a deafening crack.Everything happened at once afterward.The corridor walls twisted unnaturally,lanterns overhead exploded one after another in showers of sparks and burning paper. The wooden ceiling groaned like something alive before entire sections collapsed inward violently.Threads burst through the shattered walls from every direction now, writhing endlessly through the distorted corridors like living shadows flooding into the structure.
Lin chen instinctively grabbed xu yang hard before the collapsing floor could pull him sideways. "Watch out!"Another tremor slammed through the house afterward hard enough to throw zhao ming against the wall.
"What the hell is happening?!" Zhao ming shouted while steadying himself. "The memories are destabilizing!" Chen yu answered sharply while trying to maintain balance against the violently shifting corridor. "The reconstruction can't sustain itself anymore!" The floorboards beneath them suddenly bent unnaturally.Then nearby door slammed shut violently on its own directly in front of several approaching threads.The black mass crashed hard against the wood but the door held.Everyone froze briefly. Another hallway shifted suddenly beside them.
Wood groaned loudly while the corridor itself rearranged before their eyes, twisting sideways like the house was reshaping its own structure. Entire passageways sealed themselves shut one after another while other walls moved to block the spreading threads.Yan Luo's expression sharpened immediately. "The house…"Another explosion echoed somewhere deeper inside.
Then several more doors slammed shut automatically in rapid succession.
Xu tang stared at the shifting corridors in disbelief while the rose mark beneath his sleeve burned almost unbearably now.
"It's trying to stop them." he whispered faintly.
Another impact shook the corridor hard enough that cracks split across the floor beneath Hei Long's feet. The lantern light flickered blood red briefly before stabilizing again.Hei long looked toward the moving walls silently.Something deeply sad flickered across his expression again."This place remembers." he said quietly.
Another violent tremor ripped through the house hard enough to split the corridor ceiling apart above them.Burning lantern fragments crashed onto the floor while threads flooded through the cracks in twisting waves then entire sections of the corridor continued shifting unnaturally around them while doors slammed shut one after another throughout the house with deafening force.Lin chen tightened his grip around xu yang instinctively when the floor suddenly tilted beneath them again."This place is falling apart!" "No!"Chen yu answered while staring at the moving walls around them. His expression had become increasingly pale now beneath the unstable lantern light. "It's trying to hold itself together."
Another explosion echoed deeper inside the structure.The corridor ahead suddenly distorted and walls stretched unnaturally sideways before folding inward again like reality itself was malfunctioning.For one second xu yang saw fragments overlapping through the distortion again.He saw festival lanterns,children running and burning heaven seals then suddenly everything snapped back into place.A long corridor now stretched directly ahead of them where no hallway had existed moments earlier.At the very end stood the front door.Everyone froze.
Morning light spilled through the cracks around the old wooden frame. Sunlight touched the warped floorboards ahead.
Lin chen stared at it in disbelief. "That wasn't there before.""The house moved it." Chen yu whispered quietly.Lin chen instinctively stepped slightly in front of xu yang without realizing it while yan luo drew his weapon fully. Zhao ming cursed quietly beneath his breath."What the hell are those things…?"
The Threads moved slowly at first then dozens of pale hand-like shapes suddenly pushed outward briefly beneath the darkness before vanishing again.Xu yang visibly flinched because for half a second he thought he heard screaming inside them.
Hei long's expression darkened beside him.
"It found the memory." he said quietly.Chen uu's eyes narrowed sharply. "What does that mean?"Hei long continued staring toward the darkness ahead. "The Threads weren't searching for the house."His voice lowered slightly afterward."They were searching for what survived inside it." Xu yang's heartbeat Stopped for half a second.The rose mark burned violently again then threads reacted instantly.Lin chen noticed and grabbed xu yang's arm harder. "Why are they reacting to you?"Xu yang shook his head weakly, breathing uneven now. "I don't know…"But even as he said it another fragmented memory flashed violently across his mind. Where threads wrapping around pale hands. Someone screaming his name,heaven seals collapsing overhead.
Xu Yang staggered slightly from the sudden pain behind his eyes then beside him hei long suddenly stepped forward once.The lantern light around him flickered while the white flowers in his hand remained strangely untouched by the surrounding chaos. His gaze stayed fixed on the approaching darkness silently for several seconds before he finally spoke very softly. "It still remembers you." Xu yang looked toward him. "What does that mean?" Hei long did not answer directly. Instead his expression softened slightly in a way that hurt for reasons Xu Yang could not explain. "Even after everything…" His voice lowered almost into a whisper now. "…it still searched for you first." Xu Yang's chest tightened painfully again. "Stop talking like you already know me!" His voice rose slightly beneath frustration and fear. "You keep saying things without explaining anything!"
Another tremor shook the corridor and walls split wider while threads surged farther inward from the darkness ahead.Then suddenly xu yang noticed something wrong. He noticed hei long's figure had started becoming faint around the edges like mist dissolving into lantern smoke. Xu yang froze instantly. "Wait…" Hei long lowered his gaze briefly toward the flowers in his hand. His form flickered again weaker this time. Lin Chen noticed too."He's disappearing." Xu Yang stepped toward him instinctively. "No." Panic appeared visibly across his face now. "No, wait!"Hei longlooked back toward him quietly. There was something unbearably gentle in his expression now beneath the collapsing lantern light.
Xu Yang's breathing became uneven again. "Why are you leaving?" he demanded desperately."I still need answers!"Another part of the corridor collapsed behind them but xu yang barely noticed. His eyes remained fixed on hei long. "You can't disappear now!" Hei Long smiled faintly then. "…I'm not going anywhere." Xu yang's fingers tightened unconsciously at his side. "Then why are you disappearing?!" Hei long's gaze lingered on him for several long seconds before he answered, " I'm not disappearing. I'm always with you!"
Xu Yang froze completely before he could speak again hei long slowly began dissolving completely into fragments of pale lantern light. The white flowers disappeared last. "Wait!" Xu yang moved forward trying to reach him but Lin chen grabbed him hard before he could step into the collapsing corridor ahead. "Xu Yang!" Lin chen pulled him backward instantly just as black Threads slammed violently through the exact place where hei long had been standing moments earlier. Xu yang struggled against Lin chen's grip briefly. "Let go!" His voice sounded strained now beneath panic and confusion. "He knows everything!" "And you'll die if you go after him!" Lin Chen snapped back immediately while tightening his hold harder.
The corridor suddenly groaned loudly around them then ahead of them the front door burst fully open on its own.Chen Yu reacted first. "Move now!" Another section of ceiling collapsed violently behind them. Yan luo shoved zhao nlming toward the exit while Lin chen half-pulled xu yang forward beside him. Xu yang looked back once more desperately toward the place hei long had vanished but there was nothing left now except collapsing darkness and endless threads surging through the ruined corridor.
Then the group crossed the doorway together.Lin Chen steadied xu yang, "Are you alright?" Xu yang barely heard him.His chest still hurt painfully because somehow hei long disappearing felt less like losing a stranger and more like losing someone he had already forgotten once before. Zhao ming turned back toward the house uneasily. "That thing is still inside…"
Chen yu's expression changed sharply."No!" Everyone looked up immediately.Threads spilling from the house had stopped moving.
Then slowly the mass of darkness outside the doorway began rising upward.Threads twisted together gradually forming the outline of a human figure. He was covered entirely in moving threads that continuously crawled beneath its surface like living veins. He had no face existed beneath the darkness. Yet somehow all of them could feel it staring directly at xu yang. Xu yang's entire body went cold. The figure tilted its head slightly then softly in a voice that sounded like countless whispers speaking together it said: "Why are you leaving? Don't you miss me? "