From the moment he chose to reset, Shi Deng seemingly transcended time itself. Time on him completely stopped, forever remaining how he looked at age 19 during the first reset.
Aside from also being able to get injured and the price paid for retrograding time, he had no changes.
When time ability is cultivated to a certain degree, it summons Yellow Springs.
No one could completely control the Yellow Springs blood river. Shi Deng could only use it to do some things.
The blood river was vast, almost entirely shrouding Yuan Guang’s sky.
Chi Yu, who was with Shi-ge, looked up with a grave expression. “Such unique aura.”
Magnificent and vast. Death intent mixed with threads of vitality.
Shi-ge glanced once, raising his hand to pull. From Yellow Springs’ two banks at the sky’s edge, he extracted a reed leaf, saying faintly, “This river is called Yellow Springs. After each person dies, they pass through here.”
Chi Yu: “Once saw in ancient books—ability users who can manipulate life and death, time, and space, these three great abilities, have opportunities to glimpse a corner of Yellow Springs.”
Yet though he was a space-type ability user, he’d never touched Yellow Springs.
No one could maintain their original composure when first glimpsing life and death. He took a drag on his cigarette, lightly exhaling. Indescribable shock filled his heart.
The river flow was clean—couldn’t see deceased souls. But could see those faceless people on Yellow Springs’ two banks—
Souls unwilling to step into the river.
In ancient books, also called people between life and death.
Faceless people could walk on Yellow Springs’ two banks but would gradually lose their own memories, lose their own faces, weaving reeds in their hands all day long, forgetting why they originally refused to step into the river.
“Yellow Springs is the only place where time has no order,” Shi-ge said.
The wind they saw might come from a hundred years ago, perhaps blowing from a thousand years hence. The faceless people they saw perhaps had already long disappeared, perhaps came from the future.
Chi Yu looked toward him.
Shi-ge: “Haven’t you always wanted to ask me for an answer?”
Chi Yu nodded.
Both Shi Deng and this person carried an elusive, mysterious feeling. Early on in Feng City, seeing Shi-ge at first glance, he’d already recognized this guy was that ‘Mr. Shi’ who always wore a hood. That’s why he wanted clarity.
Why did his heart have that seemingly familiar feeling?
Shi-ge handed him the reed in his hand.
Chi Yu accepted it. That reed instantly became an extremely fine illusory chain, connecting to Yellow Springs at the sky’s edge. “This is…”
“I don’t know what you’ll see either.” After all, though he could guess most of what Shi Deng was thinking, sometimes he couldn’t figure it out clearly either. “But what I can tell you is—we indeed once knew each other.”
***
“We indeed once knew each other.”
After opening Yellow Springs, Shi Deng could sense his ability rapidly depleting.
The youth’s brows showed some worry. He was concerned that if his ability was exhausted soon, he couldn’t even walk—wouldn’t that be very humiliating?
Looking around in all directions, he landed on the ground, taking the opportunity to sit on a nearby rock.
Watching his three friends’ stunned expressions, Shi Deng found it somewhat amusing. He beckoned. Three chains explored from Yellow Springs, coiling around the three’s wrists.
“Are you certain you want to know?”
Expressions gradually becoming resolute, Zhi Ze nodded. “Certain.”
Shi Deng looked toward Cen Le and the other.
Cen Le: “Mm.”
Yuan Ting: “Bring it on.”
In their eyes—complete trust.
Shi Deng froze for half a second, then smiled. “Then after you finish watching, don’t laugh at me.”
After all, before resetting and meeting them, at the very beginning, he was quite weak and feeble.
Red light flashed on the chains. Chi Yu, Zhi Ze, Yuan Ting, and Cen Le—all four’s consciousness slowly sank into complete darkness.
In the distance, Uncle Fu pushed a wheelchair over. “Leader.”
Shi Deng sat up, closing his eyes drowsily.
He’d just woken originally. After this ordeal, he only felt pain throughout his body. “Uncle Xiao Fu, so tired.”
Uncle Fu patted his head. “I thought the Leader wouldn’t tell them.”
“Am I being a bit willful?” Shi Deng thought a moment, saying, “I only plan to let them know the good parts. After they wake, I can still invite them to my birthday as a friend.”
Uncle Fu sighed, looking at this child he’d watched grow up. He patted his head. “This isn’t called willfulness.”
Shi Deng was curious. “Then what’s it called?”
Uncle Fu said, “This is called foolishness.”
His gaze gentle, he said, “Leader, you don’t need to think so much. Those who truly love and like you will always also consider things for you. It can’t only be you alone giving.”
Shi Deng nuzzled his palm. “I understand now. Thank you.”
The youth leaned against the wheelchair, slowly falling asleep.
…
Within the sea of consciousness.
A black ball with white ears and tail held a pen, writing something in a super large notebook.
This was this world’s script. With all the edits and revisions, it was much thicker than the previous world’s.
Gong Du of course wouldn’t choose to reveal the truth of everything at this juncture. This wasn’t a good timing.
What he revealed was the one time without resets. Moreover, he’d separated Shi Deng’s beautiful and dark memories. What he showed the protagonist group this time was merely the relatively good portion from the “Youth Arc.”
After all, with Shi Deng’s personality, how could he possibly take initiative to fully display all the pain he’d suffered before those close to him?
He was someone who even sat in wheelchairs secretly.
Gong Du stretched lazily, putting down the pen, leisurely calculating time.
The protagonist group waking up would take a while. He could take advantage of this time to slack off a bit.
…
Yuan Ting felt he’d entered a deep, heavy dream.
In the dream, he returned to several years ago when he’d just entered the elite team. He was the first person to arrive at the training base, waiting there early.
The second person to arrive was a young girl. He greeted her enthusiastically, but unfortunately, she ignored him. The third arrival was someone his age. They exchanged names.
The last person to arrive was a youth with striking appearance, flashing them a smile. “I’m called Shi Deng. Very pleased to meet you all.”
He heard himself say, “You’re a bit more handsome than me. I’m called Yuan Ting.”
The boy beside him said, “I’m called Zhi Ze.”
The initially aloof young lady said, “I’m called Cen Le. Le as in music.”
This was their initial meeting.
Four people’s self-introductions—not the later three.
As if all blank places were filled with one person’s shadow.
During training, Shi Deng once had a fever. Burned all night. Wasn’t discovered until the next day.
Coach Chi frantically sent him to the hospital, accompanying him the entire night. That person who so loved smoking—only after Shi Deng woke did he go out for a smoke.
Seemingly because Shi Deng was an orphan, Coach Chi took especially good care of him. Many times, he didn’t seem like a coach—more like a friend, or half a father.
In F City, not just the three of them grew. There was also one person’s stumbling and bumbling.
That person endured injuries and pain without speaking, wrapping himself up tightly. Still acting like nothing happened, smilingly watching them talk. Sister Le scolded him many times before he’d occasionally act cute, proactively letting them treat wounds.
Together, they spent that most difficult, most wretched, fastest-growth period in F City.
Yuan Ting gradually couldn’t distinguish whether he was dreaming or truly experiencing this time. He immersed himself with ease.
When the ice cream shop had buy-one-get-one promotions, no longer needing to worry about the last ice cream being wasted. After the four of them completed missions and returned—one person, one ice cream, just right.
Only Shi Deng loved that one flavor. So orange-flavored ice cream was forever his.
All four became special-grade ability users. Shi Deng’s ability also increasingly showed formidable aspects. The ability to make withered flowers bloom in reverse attracted quite a few young girls’ eyes.
With ability improvement, missions executed became more dangerous.
Many times, narrow escapes from death. Confronting exotic beasts. Confronting Yuan Guang.
Shi Deng—didn’t know what was up—always received slightly more injuries than them. Ask him the reason, he’d laugh heartily, saying he wasn’t careful.
After hunting exotic beasts at night, they’d stand or sit atop high rooftops, watching the peaceful, prosperous city. Expressions comfortable, letting night winds blow away their exhaustion and bloody stench.
Together they shouted. Together they conversed about heaven and earth.
The ID badges at their chests would all glow.
Shi Deng didn’t really participate in this friendship-promoting bull session project. Always smiling, chin propped, looking toward them, listening to them envision futures and life goals. Occasionally revealing expressions they couldn’t understand.
Was it loneliness? Envy?
Yuan Ting really wanted to open his mouth and ask Shi Deng: What are you thinking?
But he couldn’t ask. He was swept along by time, rolling forward.
He seemed to have spent three years experiencing this incredibly real-feeling dream, yet also seemed to have passed only a few minutes.
Yuan Ting was bewildered. Had he truly experienced these things?
Until the four of them finally accepted a mission—
Escort Yuan Marrow to the sea surface.
Yuan Marrow was the Northern Yu Region’s only thing that could suppress contamination. The team escorting Yuan Marrow consisted of Tiangu’s elite among elites. The entire elite team escorting was inevitable.
But an accident occurred en route.
In the city near the seaside, Yuan Marrow suddenly lost its glow. That instant, the sun at the sky’s edge was blocked by black fog. Ground contamination qi was already visible to the naked eye.
Contaminated humans fell into madness. ‘Yuan’ inhabited Yuan Guang leader’s body, commanding exotic beasts to attack human cities.
Those first impacted were the team escorting Yuan Marrow. Ability users hastily resisted attacks. Yet they still died one by one.
Some died at exotic beasts’ hands. Some died in ‘Yuan’s’ hands. Still others—finished off by the humans they protected.
In the chaos, Yuan Ting felt himself become a wandering soul, overlooking what happened below.
He watched Zhi Ze get killed first. He panicked, wanting to help. His fingers could only pass through bodies.
He watched ‘himself’ die exhausted in battle. Black lightning blade thrust straight into the ground. Half-kneeling on the ground, head bowed, breathless.
He watched Sister Le lose composure like that. Eyes bloodshot as if crazed, desperately applying healing techniques. Couldn’t pull them back even half a bit of vitality. Ultimately died at ‘Yuan’s’ hands.
Her eyes wide open. Tiangu’s most outstanding support-type ability user—at the final moment, her nightmare came true. The healing technique she took pride in hadn’t saved friends, couldn’t protect herself.
Yuan Ting wanted to close Sister Le’s eyes. But he couldn’t do it.
He was just a wandering soul. Even crying, no one would hear.
Then, who knows how long passed. He saw Shi Deng among countless corpses, rummaging to find the three of their bodies, along with Coach Chi’s, arranging them together.
Among the few of them, Shi Deng was the youngest. Cen Le was the older sister. Yuan Ting styled himself second brother. Zhi Ze ranked third. They all treated Shi Deng, whose body was never quite well and excessively thin, as a younger brother.
Yuan Ting floated beside Shi Deng, wanting to tell him: Hurry and leave. The elite team has only you left. You must live well, understand? Eat properly. Maybe you’ll even grow taller.
What he didn’t know was—at this moment, the other three “entering the dream” with him also experienced the same things as him.
They couldn’t see each other, yet all surrounded Shi Deng in wandering soul forms.
Zhi Ze said: Shi Deng, go. Don’t keep looking at our corpses here. When eating ice cream later, just remember your brothers.
Sister Le said: So many injuries on you again. If you don’t want a beating, hurry and leave.
But Shi Deng couldn’t hear any of their words.
The expression on his face showed great confusion, as if their three deaths posed an unsolvable riddle to him.
After a long time, they watched as a young man’s figure approached behind Shi Deng.
An elegant man in butler’s attire.
The man said, “Young master, don’t be sad.”
Shi Deng: “…I can change all this.”
He said in a low voice, “Uncle Xiao Fu, I don’t want this ending.”
Uncle Fu: “I’ll follow you.”
Countless threads shot from his hand, climbing onto Shi Deng, vanishing in the blink of an eye. “Thread manipulation’s highest form. Wherever you go, I can follow.”
Shi Deng: “Okay.”
He knelt amid countless corpses, softly reciting four words: “Time reversal.”
As these words fell, a blood-red crack instantly appeared at the sky’s edge, rapidly expanding into a blood-colored river.
The timeline seemed forcibly severed by an invisible hand. The pointer spun forward. Waterfalls flowed backward. Trees became seeds. Children became infants.
Amid countless temporal turbulences, they saw Shi Deng’s face become extremely pale. His appearance unchanged—only a wisp of gray-white hair appeared at his temple.
In continuously retrograding time, watching their fleeting shadows pass by, he said:
“Long time no see.”
***
The blood light above Yuan Guang that lasted an entire day slowly disappeared.
Yellow Springs blood river’s two banks—people between two worlds, and the ‘rustling’ sound of wind blowing through reeds—could no longer be heard.
Yuan Ting and the other two almost simultaneously opened their eyes.
At a certain moment, they almost couldn’t distinguish whether they were in dreams or reality, or if both were real.
If what they experienced was real, then the final ending—Shi Deng successfully reversed time, returning to when they hadn’t yet died.
Yuan Ting snapped to his senses but didn’t see Shi Deng’s shadow. He panicked. “I want to see Shi Deng.”
Zhi Ze’s eyes reddened slightly. “Mm.”
Cen Le: “Me too.”
They faintly heard a light cough, instantly turning their heads.
Not far away, the youth with a full head of gray-white hair was also looking at them. His heterochromatic eyes filled with complex emotions—conflicted, regretful, uneasy, secretly guilty, yet also somewhat joyful.
This time differed from usual. This wasn’t merely a meeting between friends.
The three of them hadn’t changed much—even became better. But the person before them changed too obviously. Having felt Shi Deng’s former vitality and vigor, his current twilight-life-like hair color made hearts ache.
Yuan Ting and the other two had lumps in their throats, unable to speak. Eyes stinging terribly.
Ultimately, Shi Deng smiled. “Long time no see.”
My friends from the old days.
***
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152