ABST Chapter 73

“Everyone hold on!”

 

The ability formation teetered precariously. Ability users who couldn’t sustain it any longer went to rest while backups immediately filled in.

 

The atmosphere was tense yet orderly.

 

Chi Yu informed Tiangu’s leadership of everything he knew. He couldn’t figure out what was happening either when his sharp eyes noticed: “Wait? This rift is shrinking?!”

 

***

 

Within the Time Tunnel.

 

Both heterochromatic eyes had turned deep blue. His hair tips darkened to crimson red. Shi Deng had regressed to roughly ten years old. The rift’s pull on him grew increasingly powerful.

 

The magnetic field around him blocked all three of Yuan Ting’s group. His eyes remained calm. “It’s about to disappear. I want to say a few things.”

 

“Shi Deng, what the hell are you doing?!” Zhi Ze was terrified by his tone of final words. “Handle your own business yourself, got it?! We’re NOT helping you with this!”

 

Shi Deng ignored him, speaking to himself. “Xiao Deng and Uncle Fu—one young, one old. I’m asking you to look after them well.”

 

“Yuan Guang’s accumulated wealth from successive generations is enough for their expenses. If it’s truly insufficient, the Buddhist shrine in the conference hall and those gold-plated wall scriptures can be pried off and sold. Yuan Guang’s location is excellent too—developing tourism could also earn money…”

 

Uncle Fu possessed thread-binding abilities. When he’d come this time, Shi Deng had already unilaterally dissolved them. Uncle Fu would surely understand upon seeing the letter he’d left.

 

Shi Deng thought for a moment, realizing his instructions still weren’t clear enough. “Xiao Deng, he…”

 

“SHI DENG!”

 

An extremely familiar, childish shout.

 

Shi Deng violently jerked, looking toward the rift—

 

A child still wearing pajamas and barefoot was being held by a special-grade teleportation ability user from Yuan Guang. In the blink of an eye, they landed.

 

The instant the child touched ground, still clutching his plushie, he charged toward the rift beside Chi Yu.

 

Within the time tunnel, they could see Shenhu City’s situation through the rift. But those in Shenhu City couldn’t see the four of them.

 

The moment Xiao Deng appeared, Shi Deng’s body stopped shrinking. His eyes widened in shock. “Xiao Deng?!”

 

How could he be here? At this time, he should be sleeping!

 

***

 

Chi Yu grabbed Xiao Deng with quick reflexes. “What are you doing here?”

 

Xiao Deng’s eyes were red as he looked around. “I’m looking for Shi Deng. There’s only one hole here. Shi-ge disappeared into it. Is Shi Deng also inside?”

 

He pointed at the rift. The thrashing chains immediately extended toward Xiao Deng, though the length was insufficient. With Chi Yu protecting him, Xiao Deng remained temporarily safe.

 

Tiangu’s leader extended his hand. “Child, come here. That place is very dangerous.”

 

Chi Yu asked, “Didn’t Uncle Fu come?”

 

Xiao Deng replied, “Uncle Fu wanted to come himself and not let me. But Shi Deng unilaterally dissolved his binding, so he can’t come immediately. I just grabbed someone from Yuan Guang who can teleport and came over.”

 

As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed intently on those chains.

 

Chi Yu explained Shi Deng’s whereabouts and had Tiangu’s leader take the child somewhere safe to watch him carefully.

 

Xiao Deng remained unmoved. Those chains… gave him such a special feeling. Different from the rift when Shi-ge disappeared. Instinct told him Shi Deng was there.

 

When no one was paying attention, he quickly darted to the rift’s edge. His small hand grasped the chain.

 

This chain connected to Shi Deng. With this single grasp, countless pieces of information fed back through it—including Shi Deng’s plan and intention to replace him and become the ‘past.’

 

The moment he grasped it, Shi Deng on the other end was violently thrown back.

 

Yet even those one or two seconds were enough for Xiao Deng to receive the information.

 

Everyone else froze in shock, rushing over to try separating Xiao Deng from the chains. But no matter what methods they employed, they couldn’t pull them apart.

 

The rift that had been shrinking expanded once more. The chains coiled around Xiao Deng’s wrist, then his arms, then his abdomen.

 

Xiao Deng stood stunned. After a moment, his eyes reddened alarmingly. “Shi Deng, you jerk! Who told you to decide this on your own…”

 

***

 

After being thrown back, Shi Deng reverted to his original adolescent appearance. Face cold, he approached again, planning to attempt the same method—only to discover—

 

It didn’t work anymore.

 

The rift had locked onto Xiao Deng.

 

It didn’t want this imposter.

 

Shi Deng felt lost.

 

His fingertips pressed against the rift trembled faintly.

 

How could it not swap anymore… Why couldn’t they exchange? Just moments ago it had worked. Just moments ago, it had almost succeeded.

 

His mind went completely blank. He couldn’t hear what Yuan Ting and Sister Le beside him were saying. He only moved forward, murmuring, “Xiao Deng…”

 

Xiao Deng.

 

The sight of him bound by time chains was achingly familiar.

 

“Quick… someone save him, anyone, save him, pull him back…”

 

He clutched at Yuan Ting’s three’s clothing, murmuring continuously.

 

Separated by spacetime, Shi Deng couldn’t reach Xiao Deng no matter what. It felt like returning to when Shi-ge had left him—that sense of powerlessness and despair filled his heart in the blink of an eye.

 

The time tunnel clearly had no temperature.

 

So why did he still feel cold?

 

Xiao Deng muttered and grumbled, both angry and cursing non-stop. Over and over, just those few words: jerk, bastard.

 

From his rambling words, Chi Yu and the others roughly pieced together what Shi Deng had done. They were immediately shocked. Swapping one’s ‘present’ and ‘past’ was utterly unheard of.

 

Yet it had nearly happened right under their noses, and they’d known nothing.

 

Chi Yu asked carefully, “This is the rift meant to send you back to the past?”

 

“…Yeah.” Xiao Deng wrinkled his nose, not letting anyone pull him away. While sniffling, he buried his face in his pillow and scrubbed messily at his tears.

 

When he lifted his head again, he was a clean child once more.

 

The child spoke, “Going back to the past isn’t so bad. There’s young Uncle Fu to play with me. I’ll gradually become as amazing as Shi Deng—ruling Yuan Guang like a king!”

 

“Don’t try to stop me. I don’t want that annoying Shi Deng going back in my place. He still hasn’t apologized to me yet—he’s short four words.”

 

Others didn’t understand, but of course Shi Deng knew what those four words meant.

 

When he was little and angry with Uncle Fu, he’d wait for Uncle Fu to actively coax him and talk to him. If Uncle Fu voluntarily spoke to him for more than ten characters total, they’d made up.

 

At that time, Shi Deng had said at the door: “It’s me” (two characters), “Eat well” (four characters).

 

Actually, there were four more words after: “Grow up well” (four characters). These were his blessings and expectations for Xiao Deng.

 

Xiao Deng’s nose was red from crying. In a muffled voice, he shouted toward the rift, “Shi Deng!”

 

Shi Deng responded dazedly, “It’s me.”

 

Xiao Deng.

 

Of course Xiao Deng couldn’t hear him. He continued, “From now on, you have to eat well, grow up well, become even more amazing than Shi-ge. That way, even if I’m not here to indulge you, no one will bully you either. Remember to maintain the wheelchair regularly…”

 

His childish face full of concern as he gave instructions worriedly. He habitually acted like a little adult in front of Shi Deng. Now, instead, he’d begun fretting and advising.

 

Xiao Deng was genuinely worried Shi Deng’s weak, fragile frame wouldn’t grow properly.

 

The child thought: This future of mine is way too much trouble.

 

He also entreated the surrounding ability users.

 

Especially Chi Yu and Tiangu’s leader—he asked them to take good care of Shi Deng. When Shi Deng returned, they should tell him he’d wanted to go back to the past himself.

 

Xiao Deng clutched his cat plushie tightly.

 

This toy had been a gift from Shi Deng. Because he’d previously transformed into a cat and followed Shi Deng around, constantly being called a clown cat, he’d naturally been indignant. So he’d bought tons of cat plushies and piled them in Shi Deng’s room to spite him.

 

Unexpectedly, Shi Deng had only looked at him thoughtfully. The next day, he’d received this cat plushie identical to himself.

 

Shi Deng had even written on it: “Definitely a clown cat, haha.”

 

Xiao Deng had been so angry his nose went crooked. They’d nearly fought.

 

Yet he’d still slept holding this clown cat for a long, long time.

 

“I wonder if I can bring the kitty back with me. Will someone steal it from me?” Xiao Deng began worrying.

 

Shi Deng’s throat moved. His eyes gradually reddened. “…Let go of the chains. There’s still time. You’ve always been afraid of going back, haven’t you? Didn’t want to eat dead rats from cages? After going back, they’ll bully you just like before…”

 

He thought: Idiot.

 

Xiao Deng sniffled. “Actually, thinking about what I said before… if you could endure it, I can endure it too. That’s all part of the necessary path to becoming strong.”

 

Idiot.

 

“Besides, I’m really good at playing dead. I even fooled you once.”

 

Fool.

 

“I’m not even scared. There’s past Uncle Fu with me too. I’m just afraid of, well…”

 

The second before the child’s body disappeared into the rift, he hugged the clown cat tight.

 

Voice choked with grievance, he asked, “Shi Deng… will I forget you?”

 

The rift vanished.

 

The ability formation instantly resumed normal operation.

 

The late-arriving elder hadn’t managed to arrive in time. Uncle Fu stood silently in the distance. Someone noticed him and was about to call out, but looking again, discovered the person had inexplicably disappeared.

 

***

 

At the same moment, the time tunnel—which had stopped transmitting due to the rift—rapidly conveyed the four toward three hundred years in the past.

 

Yuan became violently agitated. With no time for anything else, the instant they stepped from the time tunnel, Cen Le summoned Yuan Marrow from three hundred years ago when its energy was at its most potent.

 

Having safeguarded Yuan Marrow for so many years, Tiangu naturally knew how to summon it forth.

 

It simply consumed tremendous abilities and caused some harm to their bodies. But at a critical juncture like this, who still cared about a little harm?

 

Yuan Ting and Zhi Ze exerted themselves to their absolute limits, managing to contain Yuan for barely ten seconds. Countless wounds appeared across their bodies—horrifically brutal. They nearly died at Yuan’s hands right there.

 

A mass of soft white light gathered in the firmament above.

 

With stunning swiftness, it enveloped Yuan completely. Yuan released a piercing shriek before the pitch-black mist revealed not a single trace more. The entire process was extraordinarily fast.

 

By the time the battle ended, the three of them hadn’t even caught their breath yet.

 

This was three hundred years in the past.

 

They stood in a suburban area. Not far away, a sunflower field grew. When they’d arrived, that place had clearly been nighttime. Here, however, it was daytime—peak blooming season. The sunflowers bloomed brilliantly.

 

No one was around, which spared them explanations and misunderstandings.

 

Supporting one another, they walked toward Shi Deng, who hadn’t spoken since arriving.

 

Not knowing how to comfort him, Zhi Ze patted Shi Deng’s shoulder. “…Let’s go back.”

 

There was no joy from eliminating Yuan. The atmosphere remained heavy with silence.

 

Anyone who watched a child vanish before their eyes wouldn’t feel happy.

 

Shi Deng appeared unchanged. He nodded, walked over to pick several bouquets of flowers, then stepped onto the time tunnel they’d arrived through.

 

No one asked why he was picking flowers.

 

Cen Le thought: If it could make Shi Deng even slightly happier, she’d have Yuan Ting and Zhi Ze strip the entire flower field bare. But right now, none of them wanted to force cheerfulness. Shi Deng needed quiet.

 

Within minutes, they reached the time tunnel’s end.

 

Yuan Ting, most severely injured, was helped through first.

 

Time flowed differently. They’d departed at midnight—now outside, dawn’s first light was breaking. Ability users were naturally extremely perceptive. They could sense it immediately: the violent contamination qi had vanished!

 

Morning wind carried faint floral fragrance and the ocean’s free-flowing scent.

 

Nearly a thousand ability users saw them emerge, froze for an instant, then erupted into jubilant cheers: “They succeeded!”

 

They didn’t see Shi Deng emerge, so the time tunnel—one hundred meters in diameter—remained open. Chi Yu stepped forward urgently. “Where’s Shi Deng?!”

 

Yuan Ting’s three snapped to attention, turning back in surprise. “Shi Deng, why aren’t you coming out?”

 

Shi Deng stood at the boundary line between the time tunnel’s present and past. He smiled faintly. “I can’t come out. You can’t come back in either.”

 

The time tunnel appeared as a slowly rotating vortex of deep blue tinged with purple. One hundred meters in diameter—immensely vast.

 

Zhi Ze’s pupils constricted. He reached out again to touch it. His palm met a force of rejection. His heart sank. “What do you mean?”

 

Chi Yu walked to Zhi Ze’s side, gazing toward the time tunnel. “Strange. Why can’t I see Shi Deng?” Looking in, he only saw the vortex—no human figure, no sound either.

 

Yuan Ting hastily relayed Chi Yu’s discovery to Shi Deng.

 

Shi Deng didn’t seem surprised.

 

Only those who’d experienced spacetime travel could see him. Conversely, he could only see those who’d traveled through time with him.

 

Now, he could only see Yuan Ting’s three. The scenery outside was completely invisible.

 

Shi Deng asked, “What time is it out there now? Is there sunlight?”

 

Cen Le pressed her lips together, answering very seriously. “Yes. The sun is rising. Yellow Springs is calm. Several butterflies are perched on the clock tower. White gulls sweep across the ocean surface. Even the wind carries floral fragrance…”

 

The ‘present’ she described was beautiful.

 

Shi Deng listened, entranced. After a moment, he said softly, “Xiao Deng should have been able to see it too.”

 

Cen Le held back tears. “You ARE him. Come out—you can see it just the same.”

 

Shi Deng’s voice was gentle. “The final ability I used was called Time Paradox. This ability can return to a hundred years ago or even further into the distant past, modifying the cause without changing the present outcome.”

 

“Every time-system ability user—even with an ability formation’s assistance—can only use it once in their lifetime.”

 

Deploying Time Paradox wouldn’t alter results. His Yuan Guang, his flower field, the stars he’d buried—all would be preserved. Originally, Xiao Deng would have remained too.

 

The price, however, was the caster’s disappearance from the timeline.

 

The world would also erase memories of his existence.

 

When Xiao Deng vanished, he truly had lost emotional control—he’d simply been suppressing it the entire time—

 

Whether Xiao Deng, Shi-ge, or himself—they were all one person, all sharing the same fate and encounters.

 

Shi-ge wanted to give him a better future, so chose to dissipate. But he didn’t know his new future would be equally difficult.

 

He’d wanted Xiao Deng to remain in the present and live in his place, so chose replacement. Yet Xiao Deng still returned to the past.

 

Xiao Deng wanted him to return to the ‘present,’ so chose to go back to the past himself. But he didn’t know—once Time Paradox was deployed, only one path remained.

 

Thus, these three—viewed separately—were filled with regret.

 

Viewed together, they were merely a solitary traveler journeying through time. Bearing wounds and weathering storms. Yet every wish and desire concerning themselves remained unfulfilled.

 

Sometimes he thought: It’s truly so unfair.

 

Excluding retrograde time, why had there been so few sweet moments in his brief teenage years?

 

Perhaps precisely because there wasn’t much sweetness, he’d grown particularly easy to satisfy?

 

Like right now.

 

Shi Deng extended his hand, wanting to touch the warm, gentle sunlight of the ‘present.’ Yet he only touched a layer of cold barrier.

 

He imagined Sister Le’s description, unable to help smiling. “It feels wonderful.”

 

As if personally experiencing it.

 

This made him very happy.

 

The grave in his flower field was already built. But he thought—if he was stripped from the timeline and no one remembered him anymore, then no one would likely bring flowers to that nameless tomb either.

 

Might as well pick some for himself—and for Shi-ge and Xiao Deng.

 

Even maintaining the ability formation, the time tunnel began shrinking.

 

Those outside grew increasingly anxious, still trying to find ways to pull Shi Deng through. But Shi Deng carefully arranged the sunflowers in his arms, then said, “Don’t bother.”

 

Yuan Ting’s three looked up.

 

The youth held flowers, smiling. “If possible—don’t remember me either.”

 

“Dying in the past while guarding the future is quite romantic. But for me, it’s somewhat ironic.”

 

He said quietly, “I’m so tired.”

 

“Even being remembered by others—to me, that feels exhausting.”

 

A droplet of water fell from the youth’s chin, landing on a petal where it rolled.

 

A lie.

 

What he said wasn’t true at all.

 

It was simply that, destined to be forgotten, saying these words might make his friends feel a bit better.

 

The name “Shi Deng” had retrograded through this world thirteen times.

 

Like an intensely vivid painting—yet scene after scene, page after page—filled with black and crimson, sporadic warmth, tragedy and regret. Every step dripping with irony.

 

So many things weighed on him until he couldn’t breathe. Yet he still loved this place.

 

Being remembered felt like he still existed here.

 

The youth closed his eyes. His friends’ voices calling his name while suppressing sobs gradually faded away.

 

His form slowly grew fainter, vanishing into the profound time tunnel.

 

It was simply quite unfortunate—that ray of sunlight from the peaceful, beautiful future destined to come never fell upon him.

 

And so the sunflowers in his arms no longer turned toward the sun.

 

***

 

**