The teacher's gaze swept slowly over Xiao Yu like a physical force before finally settling on me. His eyes were calm as still water yet seemed capable of penetrating all secrets in my soul's depths.
"Lin Yuan." He spoke, his voice not loud but carrying unquestionable authority. "You shouldn't have come here. Shadow Village is not a place for you to tread."
I stood frozen as if under a binding spell, my heart churning with shock: "You... how do you know my name?"
"I know far more than you imagine." The teacher's tone remained calm. "I know why you came and who has been guiding you."
His gaze turned to the pale-faced Xiao Yu beside me, his eyes showing barely perceptible complex emotions—perhaps disappointment, perhaps regret: "Xiao Yu, you've ultimately violated our agreement."
Xiao Yu lowered her head, her thin shoulders trembling slightly, her voice tearful: "Teacher... I just... I just wanted him to see the truth, to give him a chance to... make amends."
"Agreement? Truth? Make amends?" I was completely confused, looking between them, feeling like an outsider. "What's going on?"
Just then, footsteps came from the other end of the narrow alley—those three guardians had also found this place, completely blocking our retreat. Blue light illuminated their cold faces, and I felt bone-deep despair—it seemed I would truly be trapped in this ghostly place forever.
The teacher sighed softly, as if he had anticipated this situation. He ignored my questions and ordered the guardians: "Take him to Moon Pond."
Two guardians immediately stepped forward, grasping my arms from left and right. Their hands were like iron clamps—I couldn't break free.
"Let me go!" I struggled, looking at Xiao Yu in terror. "What is Moon Pond? Where are you taking me? Xiao Yu!"
Xiao Yu didn't answer my question. She raised her head, tears swirling in her eyes, her gaze full of pain and reluctance. She tremblingly took out that photograph she had always treasured and pressed it into my hands: "Perhaps... it's time for you to know everything. Take this."
The guardians pushed me forward as I looked down at the photograph in my hands. By the faint red light from the lantern alley entrance, I finally saw the photograph's contents clearly—it was a yellowed, worn family portrait. In the photo, a young, spirited me held a three-year-old girl with pigtails who smiled innocently; my wife leaned against me with a gentle smile. That little girl was unmistakably my daughter, Lin Xiao Yu!
An incredible thought struck me like lightning! I jerked my head up, looking at the girl in the old dress blocked by the guardians, seeing those eyes identical to the little girl in the photograph but now brimming with tears. A broken yet shocking truth gradually assembled in my mind.
"You... you are..." My voice trembled violently with excitement and shock.
The girl nodded through tears, choking out words that completely shattered my psychological defenses: "I... I am part of Lin Xiao Yu. I am the fragment of her consciousness formed from the love and longing for her father that she buried deep under hatred but could never abandon..."
Thunder!
It felt like the entire world was collapsing around me. A fragment? Formed from love and longing? This girl who had guided me, protected me, even sacrificed herself for me—she was actually a manifestation of my daughter's deepest remaining feelings for me?
Massive shock, wild joy, guilt, pain... countless complex emotions instantly overwhelmed me. I reached out trembling, wanting to touch her, to confirm the reality of all this, but was ruthlessly pulled away by the guardians.
"Take him to Moon Pond." The teacher's voice rang out again with unquestionable command. "It's time for him to truly face his past, to face everything he owes."
The guardians dragged me away from the lantern alley entrance by force. I desperately looked back to see Xiao Yu (or rather, my daughter's consciousness fragment) standing alone, tears falling silently like broken pearls. Her figure appeared so fragile and heartbreaking in the swaying red lantern light.
In that moment, I finally understood completely. My arrival in Shadow Village was no accident, no mishap. This was fate's pull, a call that transcended the boundary between yin and yang from the suppressed love deep in my daughter's heart. This was also my—a coward who had fled for thirteen years—last and possibly only chance at redemption.