Chapter 18: Three Alone
"I guess you must be curious to know the truth?" The white-haired old man said.
"Will you tell me? The other me. Lin Duan asked calmly
"But even if you don't tell me, I'll find the truth. I promised Sakurami. βγ
"I know you're not going to give up, that's why I'm going to tell you. But I don't know much at the moment. The elderly Lin Duan said
So, where do you start? Let's start with the beginning of everything, the day we die. β
"That day, for some reason, time stopped, as literally as it sounds, time no longer continued. The continuity of the world depends on the existence of time, and the timeline is like a container that carries the world. No one knows where time was born, and they never thought that time would go to the point of extinction. But, without warning, it did happen. As impermanent as death. The world is chaotic the moment it reaches the timeline, but the world has other self-stabilizing abilities, and how it is self-stabilized is as untraceable as how he weaves time and creates the universe. It may be possible that there really is a god-like being who created everything, but I don't have conclusive evidence for this, and even if there is, it can't be human, after all, the history of man is nothing compared to the length of time that time exists. In short, the world went back in a very short time at the moment when it came to the end of time. However, it was in that extremely instantaneous room that there was a person who did not go back with time, and that person died at that moment, and that was us, Lin Duan. I was shocked when I woke up, I was in the hospital, I guess it was because of the sudden coma. Still, the real feeling of death sent chills down my back. But just as I was relieved, I saw the calendar, the time had gone backwards, and although I was old, I did remember yesterday's date clearly. Time has indeed gone backwards. I was determined to get out, and I was in a very clear mind, probably because it was so sad to be in the hospital where Sakurakai died. I immediately thought to myself, if I could really travel through time and space, would Sakura Sea be saved? Suddenly, at the end of my thoughts, everything around me changed, people changed, things changed, and even the sky changed from early morning to night. For some reason, a thought crossed my mind, and I could even say that I was incredibly convinced that today was that dayβthe day Sakurakai died. I tried to escape at night, but the hospital was too tightly guarded, and I was not an old man with any agility, so I was discovered, so I ran to the road and stopped a car, and the owner thought he had hit me, got out of the car and pulled me, so I shook off his hand, snatched his car, and drove away. He stood there, stunned by what had happened. But I can't care about that much, I just want to save Sakurami. A thought flashed through my mind, if I had killed the taxi owner who hit Sakura Sea in advance, maybe... So, I really planned to do that. I saw the taxi and rammed up my horsepower to hit it. But then something happened that I couldn't understand, I saw something that I couldn't understand, and while I was about to crash, I saw another forest that looked exactly like me, running by the side of the road, and then I crashed and the car rushed towards the side of the road, and I thought I should stop the car, but I couldn't move, and I couldn't understand what I saw, so I could only watch the car run uncontrollably, and for a while on the opposite track to the car, I hit another taxi. Inside, Sakura sits aimami. Even though the car had airbags, the impact was almost dead. I could feel my own blood dripping and a noisy screaming crowd around me. I want to give up everything. However, I saw Sakuraumi, covered in blood, lying there, and his body was still slightly undulating. I miss Sakura so much, but now it's the result, I can't accept it. I thought, if I could do it again, I would be able to... But who is the other me? If it were me at this time, why would he be running wild on the streets? Why does Sakurakai take a taxi? I tried to find out everything, and I wanted to go back to this morning, and I succeeded, it should be early in the morning, there was no one in the streets, and the sun had not yet risen. But although time has returned, my physical condition is still the same, dying and covered in blood. But I can't die here, I drag myself step by step with perseverance. I don't know why, a petal fell on me, it's winter, how can there be cherry blossoms? Then I looked up and saw the mountain, with cherry blossoms blooming and shining a dazzling pink light. For some reason, I felt like I could be saved by going there. I continued to drag my body forward. When I reached the foot of the mountain, I thought that I had not been able to climb the mountain to the top of the mountain since I was a child, and I guess I would not be able to support the mountain. But unexpectedly, the mountain seemed to be unusually low, and in a few moments I was at the top of the mountain, where the sky was white, and I had the feeling that it was always daylight. Surrounded by cherry blossom forests, it should be winter, but they are all blooming with gorgeous cherry blossoms. The petals fall and spread neatly on the ground, leaving no gaps. In the middle is an open space, and in the middle of the open space is a table, and next to it are three round stools, all made of stone. It's strange, as if I've been here for a long time, and my wounds are slowly healing. I sat on a stool in the middle and looked at the cherry blossoms while thinking about my next steps. Since I didn't have any information, I was going to get it first, so I moved from time to plane, and I slowly realized that everyone else was still the same, but the other me was not like the same as I used to be, but more like another me, a self that was separated from me from some branch of the past. But in this period of old age, my movements are restricted, and everything has to be done secretly. So I came to the time when Lin Duan was still a young man, that is, the period of your existence. Because no one knew me, it was easier for me to move. After my observation, I have a guess that this Lin Jian has experienced death like me, but he is limited by time and can only follow the reversed time. And I'm outside of time, free to travel through the timeline. But this is always just speculation. But if the truth is really what I say, then what is happening now can be resolved. Whenever Lin Duan dies in the timeline, time cannot recognize the death of an existence like Lin Duan, so he reverses time to yesterday and transmits Lin Duan's consciousness back to yesterday to resolve the conflict. However, the corpse of the dead forest could not be identified, so it became an existence beyond time, and was repaired along with the restoration of the world. So there are two forests in the world, one wakes up at the corpse, and the other wakes up at the place where the forest used to be at the beginning of yesterday. And because it is not controlled by time, the appearance of this Lin Duan who wakes up at the corpse will always remain the same. But correspondingly, if this forest is dead, it will not be repaired because it is outside of time and the world, and it will really die. But if Lin Jian on the timeline dies, a new Lin Jian will be born without time restrictions, which is why you and I were born. Although the two people were exactly the same existence at the beginning of their birth, but with different experiences, and the Lin Jian who is located on the timeline will also have mental changes due to physical changes, so the three Lin Jian that exist at the same time now can be said to be different existences. This mountain is called the 'Mountain at the End of Time', and it is said that the god of time lives on the mountain. I didn't find any god of time, but I did believe in the so-called end of time. Because you know, when we were children, we couldn't climb this mountain, but you and I easily reached the top. Maybe that's because we don't have time to control it. That's all I know, and I think it's probably okay to break the status quo, because I don't have a clue and I can't find any clues. Besides, I don't think there's anything wrong with the current situation, can I always see the living cherry blossom sea, can I wander in this cherry blossom forest forever, and I don't realize that this eternity is wonderful? All will be alive and will always be alive. Hawkers, you have the same abilities as me, if you want to change all this, I can't stop you, it's better not to make the relationship so stiff in the first place. And I don't think you can find a way to change it. But if there is a way to change it, and you find it, I will stop you at all costs. No one can destroy this eternal paradise. Even myself. I don't expect you to understand, after all, a person thinks and thinks differently at different times, and may even be completely opposite. But don't think of me as you do, don't think that we're the same person, even the one on the timeline, and it's a big loss to trust others. βγ
"Thank you for your teaching, but you think too much, I've always hated myself. I already have a goal, to go to a time that I don't hate when I don't hate, and this time is not limited by my body. So, bye-bye, spend your old age in peace, enjoy your last days, if time stands still, everything is meaningless. After Lin Duan finished speaking, he disappeared in place and went to another time and space.
The elderly Lin Duan stared at the place where Lin Duan disappeared and said to himself calmly: "It should be a child, after all, I like children the most." Forget it, leave him alone, and let me enjoy the ephemeral eternity as he said. "Two people who are exactly the same, two people who are completely opposite.
Maybe that's a human life, right?
"If time stands still, everything is wonderful" and
"If time stands still, everything is meaningless." Maybe it's not a conflict, right?