The evening sky had turned a deep shade of indigo when Xu Yang returned to Lin Chen's house. The village streets were unusually quiet. Most of the lanterns had already been lit, but their flames kept bending in the same direction, even though there was no wind. Xu Yang slowed near an empty alley. A wooden sign hung above a closed shop, creaking softly as it swung from side to side. He watched it for a moment. The sign stopped moving. Then, without warning, it swung again. This time, it moved in the opposite direction. Xu Yang's ears twitched. Something was wrong. He looked down at the ground. A child's shadow stretched across the alley, long and thin beneath the lantern light. There was no child standing nearby. Xu Yang stared at it.
The shadow slowly raised one hand. He lowered his head and glanced at his own paws. Both were still on the ground. "That's new." he thought, taking one careful step backwards. The shadow disappeared at once. He looked towards the end of the alley, but there was nothing there except a closed wooden door. Wonderful. Even the shadows had started behaving strangely... He shook his fur and continued towards Lin Chen's house. Lin Chen was waiting in the doorway, holding a lantern. The moment he spotted the black cat, he frowned and placed one hand on his waist. "You're late again." He lifted the lantern slightly, looking past Xu Yang towards the empty street. "Where do you keep wandering off to? You know, most cats have the decency to return before their owners start worrying."
Xu Yang stopped at the foot of the steps and looked up at him. Owner? That was a rather generous description... Lin Chen sighed when the cat made no attempt to answer. "Of course. Why did I even ask?" He stepped aside and pointed towards the open doorway. "Come inside before I start arguing with myself." Xu Yang walked past him, his tail brushing against Lin Chen's leg. Lin Chen glanced down at it and shook his head, hiding a small smile. "At least someone in this house knows how to greet me."
The next morning, Lin Chen noticed that Xu Yang had disappeared again. He stood beside the empty sleeping mat, holding a small bowl of food. "You couldn't even wait for breakfast?" he muttered, looking towards the open window. He placed the bowl down and glanced at the door. A moment later, he picked it up again. "Fine. If you won't come to me, I'll find you." He stepped outside and began following the faint pamarks in the dust. At first, it seemed easy enough. The prints led through a narrow lane, past a row of wooden houses and towards the market. Then they suddenly appeared on the wall of a nearby building.
Lin Chen stopped and looked up. The black cat was already crossing the roof. "How did you get up there?" he called, raising his lantern even though the sun had already risen. Xu Yang glanced down. Lin Chen pointed at him with his free hand. "Don't look at me like that. Come down." Xu Yang turned away and continued walking. Lin Chen stared after him. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" He hurried towards the nearest staircase, only to discover that the cat had already reached the next rooftop. By the time Lin Chen caught up, Xu Yang had crossed three rooftops, slipped through a narrow gap and disappeared behind a row of houses.
Lin Chen stopped to catch his breath, one hand resting against the wall. "I'm beginning to understand why you never look tired." He straightened slowly and looked towards the shrine at the edge of the village. The cat's black tail disappeared behind its stone gate. "Of course. Where else would you go?" He followed.Around the shrine, the air felt heavier than usual. The incense burner stood near the entrance, but its smoke did not rise. Instead, it curled downwards, slipping between the cracks in the stone steps. Xu Yang sat near the top, watching the smoke with narrowed golden eyes.
A moment later, the smoke gathered into a thin line and moved towards the shrine doors. Then it vanished. Xu Yang's ears turned towards the sound of a child laughing nearby. A little boy stood beside the stone wall, reciting a rhyme while playing with a wooden toy. "Red leaves fall, red leaves rise. Someone is standing behind your eyes." He stopped, tilted his head and repeated the last line. "Someone is standing behind your eyes." His mother, who was arranging vegetables at a nearby stall, looked up sharply. "What did you just say?" The woman hurried over and took his hand. The boy blinked at her. "The rhyme, Mother." She frowned and glanced towards the shrine. "What rhyme?" The boy opened his mouth, then slowly closed it. "I don't remember." His mother pulled him closer. "Then don't repeat it." She looked around the square before leading him away. Xu Yang watched them leave.
A moment later, a loud crash came from the market. A merchant had dropped a wooden tray filled with buns. He stared at the scattered food, then began picking them up one by one. "I already packed these," he muttered, looking towards his empty basket. His assistant frowned. "No, Master. You haven't packed anything yet." The merchant stopped with a bun in his hand. "Then why is the basket empty?" His assistant stared at him. "Because you dropped them." The merchant looked down at the ground. "I did?" "You did." "When?" The assistant opened his mouth, then glanced at the tray. "Just now!" The merchant scratched his head. "Strange. I remember putting them away."
Xu Yang turned his head towards the shrine. These were no longer small mistakes. Something was making people remember events that had never happened. "You're seeing it too, aren't you?" a familiar voice asked. Qing Li crouched beside the shrine steps, following the strange movement in the air. He had arrived without making a sound, his eyes fixed on the faint threads stretching above the village. Xu Yang glanced at him. Qing Li leaned closer, then pointed towards the market. "That merchant has counted the same basket of buns three times. Each time, he remembers a different number." He paused and looked towards the cat. "I suppose I shouldn't complain. At least someone here knows how to keep track of things."
Xu Yang blinked slowly.Yan Luo approached from the other side of the shrine, carrying a small notebook. He stopped beside Qing Li and looked at the threads. "The distortions are spreading faster than yesterday." Qing Li straightened and glanced at him. "You could have started with a greeting." Yan Luo turned a page in his notebook. "Good morning." Qing Li stared at him. "That was worse." "Would you prefer I leave?" "No. I would prefer you to develop some manners." Yan Luo finally looked up. "Then you should find someone else to observe this with." Qing Li placed a hand over his chest as though deeply wounded. "And here I thought we were becoming friends." Yan Luo closed his notebook. "You thought wrong." Xu Yang watched them in silence. Interesting.The village was slowly losing its memories, and these two had apparently decided to lose their patience instead...
Qing Li crouched again, pointing towards a cluster of shimmering threads. "Look here. The distortions aren't appearing randomly. They are strongest near the shrine, but the threads stretch much further into the village." Yan Luo followed his gesture with his eyes. "And they change whenever the Xu Yang moves." He glanced at Xu Yang. "Watch." Xu Yang shifted his front paws and turned towards the market. Several threads trembled, then slowly settled into place. Qing Li's eyes widened. "There! Did you see that?" He quickly opened his notebook and began writing. "The nearby threads are becoming stable." Yan Luo stepped closer, studying the movement. "Not all of them. The ones further away are still twisting."
Qing Li tapped his pen against the page. "So he can stabilise the local distortions without even trying." He looked at Xu Yang with renewed interest. "Do you know what that makes you?" Xu Yang yawned. Qing Li waited for a moment, then glanced at Yan Luo. "I think he knows and simply doesn't care." Yan Luo looked down at the cat. "That makes two of us." Xu Yang curled his tail around his paws.Qing Li ignored and turned towards the market.
A merchant was counting a pile of copper coins. He arranged them into neat rows, counted them, then began again. Each time he reached the final row, he stopped and frowned. "Something is missing." he muttered. His assistant leaned over the counter. "Nothing is missing, Master. You've counted them already." The merchant shook his head. "No. I remember receiving another payment." "From whom?" The merchant hesitated. His eyes moved towards an empty space beside the counter. "From the man who was standing there." His assistant followed his gaze. There was no one there.
Qing Li slowly lowered his notebook. "Did you hear that?" Yan Luo nodded. "He remembers someone who was never there." Qing Li glanced towards the shrine. "The threads are creating memories, not simply changing old ones." Yan Luo raised his hand and traced one of the faint lines in the air. It trembled beneath his fingers before slipping away. "Something is reaching into their minds and filling the empty spaces." Qing Li frowned. "Then why does it stop near the cat?" Yan Luo did not answer immediately. His gaze settled on Xu Yang, who was now cleaning one paw as if the conversation had nothing to do with him. "Perhaps it cannot pass through him."
Xu Yang paused for a moment. He had felt the same strange vibration beneath the shrine earlier. It was faint, but it had grown stronger with every passing hour. The threads were reacting to something below, and his presence seemed to change how they moved. He lowered his paw and looked towards the shrine doors. The threads are alive or something beneath them is making them behave that way. Either possibility is troublesome... Qing Li followed his gaze. "You feel it too, don't you?" He leaned forward slightly, trying to catch the cat's attention. Xu Yang looked at him, then slowly turned away. Qing Li sighed. "I suppose that was a no." Yan Luo glanced at him. "You were expecting an answer?" "I was expecting something." "Then you should stop expecting so much."
Qing Li gave him an offended look. "You make it very difficult to enjoy a conversation." Yan Luo returned to his notes. "That is because you are doing all the talking." As the day progressed, the incidents multiplied. Two children called each other by the wrong names and began arguing over which one of them had forgotten first. An elderly woman walked out of her house carrying an empty basket, returned a moment later with vegetables, then stood in the doorway insisting she had not gone anywhere.
At the blacksmith's shop, a young apprentice lifted a half-finished sword and stared at it in confusion. "Master, I thought we finished this yesterday." The blacksmith looked up from his work. "We haven't even started." The apprentice frowned and turned the sword over. "Then why do I remember sharpening it?" The blacksmith took the weapon from him. His expression changed when he noticed that the blade was already smooth and polished. "Put that down," he said quietly. "And don't touch anything else."
Nearby, Qing Li was writing down the locations of each disturbance. He marked the time, the distance from the shrine and the number of people affected. Yan Luo watched the threads above the rooftops, occasionally pointing out changes that Qing Li had missed. "This group is moving towards the eastern street." Yan Luo said, raising his hand towards a faint cluster of light. Qing Li followed his gesture. "Then the source should be somewhere between the market and the shrine." "Not necessarily." Yan Luo lowered his hand. "The movement begins beneath the shrine, but the threads do not follow a direct path."
Qing Li frowned. "You're saying they can appear somewhere else before reaching it?" "I'm saying we don't understand how they move." Qing Li stared at him for a moment, then closed his notebook. "You could have simply said that from the beginning." Yan Luo gave him a flat look. "Would you have listened?" Qing Li considered it. "Probably not." Xu Yang stretched on the shrine steps, then settled down again. Their discussion was becoming repetitive. He could almost predict what each of them would say next. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the village. The threads around him trembled once more. This time, a faint sound came from beneath the stone steps. It was not a voice. It sounded like a fingernail slowly dragging across the underside of a wooden door. Xu Yang raised his head.
Qing Li immediately noticed the movement. "What is it?" He stepped towards the steps, but Yan Luo caught his sleeve. "Wait." Qing Li looked down at his hand. "What?" Yan Luo kept his eyes on the shrine. "Listen." The sound came again.It stopped beneath the place where Xu Yang was sitting. Qing Li slowly withdrew his hand. "That came from underneath us." Yan Luo nodded, his expression tightening. "And it stopped when he looked down." Xu Yang stared at the stone beneath his paws. A faint vibration passed through the steps and travelled up his legs. For a moment, the threads around him pulled tight, as though something had taken hold of them from below. Then everything went still. Qing Li swallowed and looked at Yan Luo. "I don't suppose you have a reasonable explanation for that?" Yan Luo shook his head. "No." Qing Li let out a slow breath. "Wonderful. I was afraid you might." Xu Yang flicked one ear.
By evening, the sky had turned a deep orange, and the shadows of the rooftops stretched across the village square. Qing Li and Yan Luo gathered near the shrine again.
Qing Li sat on the lowest step, rubbing his forehead. "Why do I keep seeing you every day?" Yan Luo stood beside him, looking over his notes. "I was about to ask the same thing." Qing Li placed a hand over his chest. "That's disappointing. I was hoping for something more heartfelt." Yan Luo turned a page. "Then lower your expectations." Qing Li clicked his tongue and leaned back on his hands. "You really don't know how to appreciate consistency." Yan Luo finally glanced at him. "You call this consistency?" "I prefer 'reliable presence.'" "I prefer silence." Qing Li smiled faintly. "And yet, fate keeps giving you me." Yan Luo closed his notebook with a quiet snap. "Maybe this is my punishment." Qing Li laughed, looking far too pleased with himself. "See? That's the funniest thing you've said all week."
Yan Luo turned away. "I regret saying it already." Their conversation ended when a faint shimmer appeared beneath the shrine. Qing Li's smile disappeared. He rose from the step and moved closer, watching the threads gather into a small, twisting pattern. "All of this radiates outward," he said, pointing towards the village. "But the threads keep converging beneath the shrine. Something is observing them. More importantly, it's interacting with them." Yan Luo stepped beside him, his expression darkening. "And it knows the cat is here." He glanced down at Xu Yang. "If that presence is aware of him, then we may be looking at something much older than the distortions themselves."
Xu Yang curled his tail neatly around his paws.Axis?Centre and what ahh...Origin . They could give it as many names as they liked. It did not change the situation... As the last light faded, a faint pattern appeared high above the village. It was almost invisible, like a thin web stretched across the evening sky. The lattice of Heaven flickered once, its lines breaking apart before slowly joining again. Far below, something shifted beneath the shrine. It did not rise. It did not speak. Yet the threads around the village tightened as though an unseen hand had pulled them all at once.
Xu Yang walked towards Lin Chen's house, his paws making almost no sound. The lantern outside the doorway burned low. Its flame flickered sharply, though there was no wind. Lin Chen stood in the doorway with his arms folded, watching the dark path. When the black cat emerged from the shadows, he straightened. "You came back late again." He looked down at Xu Yang and shook his head. "Do you have any idea how many times I've looked outside today?" Xu Yang stopped a few steps away and blinked at him. Lin Chen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Of course you don't. You're a cat." He stepped aside, leaving the door open. "Come inside before I start arguing with you." Xu Yang slipped past him without a sound. Lin Chen glanced down at the cat's tail as it disappeared into the room. "And you don't even have the courtesy to pretend you're listening."
Inside, the house was dim and familiar. The low table stood near the wall, the bowls were neatly stacked beside it, and a woven mat lay near the window. Everything appeared unchanged. Yet when Lin Chen entered, he stopped and looked at the table. He frowned, then moved towards the bowls. "Did I always keep these here?" He picked up one bowl and placed it closer to the wall. After a moment, he moved it back. Xu Yang watched from the corner. Lin Chen stared at the arrangement, his brows drawing together. "No. That's not right." He looked towards the doorway, as if expecting someone to correct him. When no one appeared, he rubbed his temple. "I'm too tired. That's all." Xu Yang's tail moved slightly. The threads were here too.They were faint, almost impossible to notice, but they brushed against the walls and floor like strands of invisible silk. One passed close to Lin Chen's shoulder before disappearing into the darkness.
Lin Chen sat cross-legged on the floor and glanced towards the cat. "You wander around all day," he said, picking up a small cloth and wiping the edge of the table. "Always near the shrine. People have been saying strange things are happening there." He paused and looked at Xu Yang. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Xu Yang stared back at him. Lin Chen waited for a moment, then gave a short laugh. "Right. I forgot who I was talking to." He placed the cloth aside and leaned back against the wall. "Still, it's strange. I feel like something is wrong with this village, but whenever I try to explain it, I can't find the right words." His gaze drifted towards the window. Outside, a lantern flickered in the distance. For a brief moment, its light revealed a figure standing at the end of the street. Lin Chen narrowed his eyes. "Who's there?" He leaned forward, trying to see more clearly. The figure did not move. Then the lantern flickered again, and the street was empty. Lin Chen stood at once. He walked towards the doorway and looked outside, but there was no one on the path. "Did I imagine that?" he muttered.
Xu Yang's ears turned towards the street. He had seen the figure too. It had been standing perfectly still, facing the house. Lin Chen closed the door and slid the wooden bolt into place. "This village is becoming stranger by the day." He turned back towards the cat and gave a small, tired smile. "At least you're not frightened by every little thing." Xu Yang lowered his head. If only Lin Chen knew. Lin Chen reached for a cup of water, but stopped halfway. He looked at the cup, then at the table. "Wait. Did I already drink?" He lifted the cup and examined it. The water was still full. Yet he remembered the cool taste on his tongue, followed by a faint metallic flavour. His fingers tightened around the cup. "I remember drinking this." He set it down carefully. "But I haven't touched it."
Xu Yang watched him closely. The threads brushed against Lin Chen again, faintly testing his memories. Unlike the other villagers, Lin Chen did not immediately dismiss the feeling. He noticed the gap between what he remembered and what stood before him. Lin Chen looked towards the cat. "You always come back, don't you?" he asked, lowering himself onto the mat. "No matter how far you go, you always return here." He paused, then frowned at his own words. "Why did I say that?" Xu Yang's tail flicked once. Lin Chen looked at him for a moment before shaking his head. "Forget it. I'm talking nonsense." He reached for the cup again, took a small drink and placed it down. Then he looked at the black cat with a faint smile. "If you could talk, I suppose you'd tell me what's happening."
Xu Yang blinked. Lin Chen leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "You listen better than most people, at least." He gave a quiet laugh, but it faded when the lantern flame suddenly bent towards the floor. Both of them looked at it. The flame stretched downwards, thin and blue at its centre. Then it returned to normal. Lin Chen slowly turned towards the window. "Was that..." He stopped, unable to finish the question. Xu Yang's gaze remained fixed on the lantern. Beneath the house, a faint vibration passed through the floorboards. It lasted only a moment, but the threads around Lin Chen tightened in response. Lin Chen pulled his legs closer and looked at the cat. "You felt that too, didn't you?" Xu Yang did not move.
Lin Chen let out a breath and rubbed his face. "Wonderful. Now I'm asking a cat to reassure me." He glanced at the door and then back at Xu Yang. "If something comes through that door tonight, I'm blaming you." Xu Yang slowly blinked.Me?! Why?!... Minutes passed. The lantern burned lower, and Lin Chen eventually lay down on the woven mat. He kept his eyes on the black cat, who had settled near the wall. "You're strange," he murmured, his voice growing softer. "Not like other cats." He shifted onto his side and pulled the blanket over himself. "Still... you came back." His eyelids slowly closed.
Within moments, his breathing became steady.Xu Yang remained awake.The house was quiet, but the threads continued to hum faintly against the walls and floor. Some bent towards Xu Yang, becoming still whenever they reached him. Others stretched outwards, pulled by the unseen presence beneath the shrine. His golden eyes narrowed. They reach further tonight... He did not move to stop them.Outside, the village slept beneath a sky whose lattice no longer held its shape. The lines flickered faintly at the horizon, breaking apart before joining again. Somewhere beneath the shrine, the ancient presence continued to listen.
In his sleep, Lin Chen frowned.A memory surfaced, or perhaps two. In one, the black cat had arrived only a few days ago. He remembered finding it near the shrine, bringing it home and placing a bowl of food beside the door. But in another memory, the cat had always been there. It had slept beside the window during winter, followed him through the market and waited outside whenever he returned home. Both memories felt real. Lin Chen's breathing hitched. His fingers tightened around the edge of the blanket. The threads around him wavered, pulling in two different directions. For a single, fragile moment, his mind hovered between two truths, unable to decide which one belonged to him. The cat watched. The shrine listened. And the village dreamed in layers.