While waiting for the Blue Birds, I sat down on an iron bench in the waiting area of the train and rethought the matter of the demons.

Why do demons want to kill me so much?

He is a strange serial killer who has killed hundreds of people, even if he kills one more Li Duo, others will not make a fuss. But his killing intent aimed at me was obviously different, and his priority was unreasonably high. In order to attack me, he was indifferent to the "big move" issued by the blue bird behind him, and it didn't matter if his heart was pierced by the blue bird, he still gave priority to cutting off my head.

Is it because he has the "immortal body" that the blue bird calls that he doesn't care so much about the blue bird's attack? Apparently not, he had dodged and parried the Blue Bird's attacks in previous fights. Blue Bird mentioned that the Majin is a madman who has lost his reason, and he will dodge attacks when he loses his rationality, indicating that in his unconscious, the enemy's attacks must be avoided. It's just that this common-sense thinking is suppressed when it comes to me, and it is suppressed by a stronger and more explicit obsession.

There may really be hatred in this world for no reason, but there must be a reason for hatred to this extent.

Where the hell did I provoke him? With such a deep hatred, I should always have some clues, right?

It seems that there really is.

But the conclusion that this clue points to is really too outrageous, so outrageous that even thinking about it is funny.

First of all, although I have always used "he" as the third person of the demon, I can't tell if the demon is male or female.

He was as dark as a three-dimensional shadow, and he couldn't even see his facial features. Although it is impossible to discern obvious female characteristics, if someone says that he is female, there is no evidence to refute it.

Bluebird said he first appeared five years ago, in April '17, coinciding with the disappearance of the front table. Suppose the true identity of the demon is the former table that has been missing for many years - I know this hypothesis is outrageous, but this hypothesis can really explain too many questions. Why do Majin appear in Nameless Mountain? Because Nameless Mountain is also a special place for the Majin, even I can't forget the past and revisit the old place, so it is not surprising that he will have the urge to return to his hometown. Why do the demons hate me so much? Because he and I were both lost in the mountains five years ago, and in the end I was the only one who returned safely, it is reasonable for him to be jealous of me if he knew about it afterwards. Besides, going back to the source, the front table will be accidentally lost, isn't it also because of the love letter turmoil, which caused me to quarrel with her and break up unhappily?

If I get lost in the mountains with another person, and the other person is saved and I can't be saved, I will definitely be indignant as well—why can't I be saved?

But is it really necessary to accept such outrageous assumptions? When I used to watch Ultraman on TV, I used to comment in my mind, "Ultraman disappeared when the protagonist appeared, why didn't they suspect that the protagonist was Ultraman", and I felt that this kind of suspicion method of "because A appeared at the same time as B disappeared, so A is B" is really not something that can be used just by getting started.

If the Majin is really the front table...... I can't just be killed for nothing, and although it's a pity, I'm still on the side of the blue bird against him.

Speaking of bluebirds, why hasn't another old man from the witcher's department come to look for him yet?

I checked the time again on my phone - it was evening, and I was sitting on my buttocks, but I still hadn't seen anyone.

No one has come here yet, so it seems that it won't come, but why is it like this? I tried to make every move this time to be the same as the "second time", but things changed in a completely different way. Is it because I can't be consistent with the "second time" in the details of some movements, so there is a so-called butterfly effect?

It's useless to think about it, as the saying goes, the mountain doesn't see me, I see the mountain, I'll go to the police station again and ask the old man if he is there.

I made up my mind and walked through the turnstile and exit. However, just as I was passing through the exit, I saw a familiar figure approaching me.

It's a blue bird!

She saw me too, and walked straight in front of me and stopped. I was about to say something, but I noticed something that shocked me extraordinarily - seriously, I've been so shocked and shocked lately that I can't help but suspect that I'm a breathless guy. However, this thing is really different.

Bluebird's left arm was broken, and she specially changed into a long-sleeved white T-shirt, and the left half-sleeved sleeve tube was empty and floating in the air.

Judging from the location, this is the part that was cut off by the demon with an axe, and it was she who stepped forward to protect the part that was cut off by me.

Time Back...... I didn't even go back to the broken arm of the blue bird!

Is this still my perception of time regression? Could it be that the demons can even compete with the power of time rewind? Or is the bluebird an exception to time rewind, and she is the same bluebird who stood up to protect me in the first place? I feel like some of my cognitive presuppositions have been overturned.

"Hello, it's Li Duo, right? Did you report the case before? Her face was haggard, she took out her public security ID while talking, and her tone was also very unfamiliar to me, it seemed that she herself was not an exception to time rewind, "Follow me, I have something to ask you." ”

"Okay......" I had a hard time taking my attention off her empty sleeve.

"Are you curious about my hands? Don't worry, it's out of the way. She smiled dryly, turned around, and led the way for me. I kind of wanted to ask her where the old man had gone last time, but now I'm just a reporter who doesn't know anything about the witcher's case-taking process, so asking directly will inevitably lead to suspicion.

She took me to the drink shop where we had last talked, and in the distance, a row of street trees that she had cut off was still alive.

In the familiar question and answer, she put the notebook on the table, and nodded thoughtfully as she took notes with her pen. Compared to the old man last time, she was not a very familiar questioner, and I was not an articulate answerer, so it took more time. By about the same time, the sun had already set, and the beverage shops had turned on colorful lights for the open-air tables and chairs.

"You seem to be very haggard, is there something going on?" I asked tentatively.

"Well, you probably don't believe it. At noon today, my arm suddenly fell off. She also seemed to want to relieve her pressure with joking words, "Maybe she was cursed by some enemy in the air." ”

But I knew that it was clearly an injury to protect me. If nothing else, the reason why she arrived so late this time was because she was busy treating her wounds. You still have to work when you're injured like this, is the witcher such a heavy job? Is it too cruel for her to be so responsible when she is still a college student?

I...... Should we put aside the greedy desire to retrace the secret of exclusive time and tell her the truth?

I decided to tell her.

It's not just my emotions that drive me to do this, it's my reason that persuades me to do so.

Just as I don't think of my sleepwalking, the killing intent of the demons, or the disorientation of the nameless mountains and forests as paranormal events that are isolated from each other, I don't think the phenomenon of time regression is an isolated event. Again, the average person may not be able to encounter an abnormal event once in his life, and the probability of several consecutive occurrences in a day is so low that it is difficult to estimate, so it is more reasonable to regard it as "an abnormal event". And if I am just involuntarily swept up in some greater dark vortex, I should not allow my consciousness to be occupied by greed, and then self-righteously monopolize the secrets of time regression, which will only lead me to the ruin of the conventions of greedy people.

No, that's not right......

I'm making excuses for myself again. I want to cover myself up with the excuse that "because of this and that, this is reasonable".

I'd better admit it. At least admit it to myself. What really drove me to make this decision was that I wanted to fight side by side with her, I wanted to treat her with sincerity – there was such a strong desire to be uncontrollable.

"I have one more very important thing to tell you." I said very seriously, "I hope you can listen to me and believe what I say." ”

Hearing this, the blue bird leaned forward slightly, and became serious.

I explained to her the time retrace, as well as the important events that happened in the process of going back to the time. Sometimes she would ask some detailed questions about these important events, and I answered everything I could, and I said I didn't know what I didn't know.

After listening, she fell into a long thought.

"Let's say everything you say is true...... No, I believe you, so it makes sense why my arm was broken. She sighed, "I see, was it cut off by the Siren's Blade...... No wonder. ”

"Siren's Blade?" I'd heard the name once, it was the name of the short-handled greataxe held by the Majin, "Is that weapon special?" Time can't go back to your injuries, is it because of the power of that weapon? ”

"Undoubtedly, it's the power of the Siren's Blade." "But before that, let's talk about your 'time rewinding,'" she said. First of all, this is my opinion based on my own knowledge: time has not been retraced, not once, it is all your misunderstanding. ”

"What?" I wondered, "What about all those experiences I have?" ”

"I don't know if you consulted me last time, but if so, I'll tell you that 'there is no such thing as a spell or superpower to go back in time', at least I'm unheard of. And I can't say how knowledgeable I am, but I can't go wrong on such fundamental issues. "However, there is one power that matches what happened to you, and that is the 'prophetic dream.'" ”

"What do you mean...... Am I not going back to the past, but I have a foreknowledge of the future? ”

"Yes. Extremely skilled foreseeers are able to experience the future as if they were experiencing it themselves, and may even mistake the future for the present. And when they wake up from a dream, they go back to the real present, but they feel as if they have returned to the past. She said, "Although I don't know what mysterious external factors make you, as an ordinary person, have two prophetic dreams in such detail in a row, but at least you can't go wrong with the fact that this is a prophetic dream." ”

"This ...... "I diligently digested the information and then came to my own conclusions," ...... To me, it seems like it's no different from going back in time. ”

"Oh? How so? She asked.

"For the objective world, prophetic dreams are very different from time regression; But for my subjective world, whether it is a foreknowledge dream, a time traveler to the past, or even the whole universe is rewound because of me...... All seem equivalent. ”

"Well, if the condition for this prophetic dream phenomenon to activate is 'if you die at night, you will inevitably dream early during the day,' then for your subjective world there is no difference between 'once you die at night, time goes back to daytime.'"

"Then, on that basis, I have a question......"

"What's the problem?"

"How can I tell if I'm in a prophetic dream or in the real world?" I asked.

She gave me a deep look, "You can't judge. ”

"Can't judge anyway?"

"If you are a weak prophet, you will only have some hazy prophetic dreams. That kind of prophetic dream is far from reality, and once you have the knack for waking up in a dream, you can easily see through it. "But it's not the same with powerful prophetic dreamers, who have very realistic prophetic dreams." The more powerful the prophetic dreamer, the more similar the prophetic dream is to reality. Although I have not studied precognitive dreams in depth, I have read in history books that some very powerful precognitive dreamers have spent their entire lives suffering from the inability to distinguish between dreams and reality. Because they are so powerful that they can't even see the flaws in the prophetic dream. ”

I shuddered when I heard this.

"I don't know how realistic your prophetic dreams are, but at least with your current conditions, I can't tell." She asserted, but seemed to feel ruthless again, and she looked at my expression and smiled, "Okay, relax, it's not that important, is it?" ”

"Doesn't it matter?" I asked rhetorically.

"Didn't you say that too? For your subjective world, there is no difference between a prophetic dream and a time rewind. "Then let's just think of it as a step back in time." I was bad just now, and it seems like I should hide it from you...... No, you've been so honest with me, and I shouldn't have hidden anything from you...... Hey, it's hard to be a human being. ”

In the end, she actually came up with such a profound insight, which made me cry and laugh.

"No, there's a difference. I also just realized it. I said, "If my first two deaths were 'happened but nullified by external forces,' then I can understand that your arm would be broken, and it must be the Siren's Blade—or the Majin who wields the Siren's Blade has the power to resist the backtrack." But if you say that, those are 'dreams that didn't happen in the first place'......"

I stared at her empty sleeves.

She nodded, then said, "So, I'll tell you about the Siren's Blade." ”