Qing li stared at wang xio and asked, "Why I'm only one who doesn't remember anything?!" Wang xio gently held Qing li's hand and said, " Look, I know what are you feeling now but it was heaven's choice! We didn't have any other choice back then." Qing li brush off his hands and said,"Heaven's choice?! Did anyone even care for my choice?! " he stepped back and said " What Did they think I'm?" Before he could talk more children laughter suddenly grew louder again,pulling everything back into focus.
Near the edge of the shrine, half buried beneath tangled roots and loose stone, something faintly glowed.A flower-shaped crystal rested there, its petals not made of stone or glass, but something in between delicate, translucent,and impossibly smooth, as if carved from frozen light itself. At its center, a faint purple glow pulsed like a slow heartbeat, and each pulse sent thin ribbons of luminescence curling through the air like drifting silk threads, scattering tiny sparks that shimmered before fading into nothing.
Child Qing li leaned forward instantly,eyes widening. "What's that?" Xu Yang, already halfway across the grass, pointed at it without hesitation. " Flower Treasure." Wang Xio appeared beside them immediately, moving too fast for someone who had just been sitting quietly reading. "No." Qing Li didn't even look at him. "You haven't even seen it." Wang Xio's expression stayed flat. "I don't need to." Qing Li tilted his head slightly, curiosity already overtaking caution. "Why?" Wang Xio looked at him directly. "Because I already know you're going to touch it." Qing Li paused. Then blinked once. "Maybe."
Ling Yuan, who had been sitting nearby watching the grass move with the wind, lifted his head slowly. "Don't." Xu Yang stepped closer, crouching beside the glowing object like. "Definitely touch it." Wang Xio turned his head sharply. "Xu Yang." Xu Yang didn't even flinch. "What?" "Stop helping." "I'm not helping. I'm encouraging discovery." "That's what I said." Child Qing Li crouched slightly, eyes locked on the faint purple glow. "It doesn't feel dangerous." Wang Xio answered instantly. "That's what dangerous things always feel like."Qing Li glanced at him. "That sounded like experience."
Xu Yang reached out a finger toward the object. Wang Xio grabbed his wrist. "No." Xu Yang looked offended. "I didn't even touch it yet." "You were going to." "I was testing intention." "Stop testing things." Ling Yuan stood up now, stepping closer with a calm but firmer tone. "Wang Xio is right." Xu Yang groaned. "Even you?" Ling Yuan nodded slightly. "That light is wrong." Qing Li frowned. "Wrong how?" Ling Yuan didn't answer immediately. His gaze stayed fixed on the object. "Like it's waiting."
Wang Xio's grip on Xu Yang tightened slightly. "Step back." Qing Li hesitated.He slowly reached forward.Wang xio's voice sharpened. "Qing Li...don't." Qing Li paused mid-motion. Then looked at him. "You're really serious about this." Wang Xio didn't blink. "I am always serious about things that shouldn't be touched." Xu Yang whispered, leaning in. "That means it's definitely important." Wang Xio immediately turned toward him. "That is not what that means."
Child Qing Li's fingers slightly moved.Ling Yuan's voice turned urgent. "Qing Li!!" The moment his fingertips brushed the flower-crystal the entire object responded. The purple light inside it didn't burst outward violently, but unfurled in breathtaking layers, like a blooming flower made of starlight opening in reverse. The glow spiraled upward in slow, elegant waves, casting delicate patterns across the courtyard petal-shaped reflections drifting through the air, scattering like glowing pollen that hung for a moment before dissolving into the windless space. The roots beneath them lit up in branching veins of violet, not spreading chaotically but growing with terrifying precision.
"..."Xu Yang blinked."That didsomething." Wang Xio immediately stepped back. "I told you." Qing Li froze. His hand still hovered in the air. "I barely touched it." Ling Yuan's expression changed instantly. "Move away." But the light beneath the object began to spread like a blooming pattern, unfolding across the courtyard in symmetrical waves, each pulse revealing more intricate designs hidden beneath the stone as if the entire ground was becoming a gigantic, glowing flower. Xu Yang backed up slowly. "That's not normal." Wang xio's voice dropped. "Everyone, back."
Child Qing Li took a shaky step back, still staring at the blooming light as it spread beautifully across the ground. "I thought it was beautiful…" he whispered, voice tight with conflicted awe, "but it's so scary!" Xu Yang let out a nervous laugh."No… no, it's beautiful! Enjoy your beautiful scenery!" Qing Li turned his head toward him, incredulous even in panic. "Hey! Look who's talking...who was the one saying 'definitely touch it' earlier?!"Xu yang didn't stop moving backward."That was before it started growing like it wants to eat the world!"
Ling Yuan stepped forward slightly, his tone firm as his eyes stayed locked on the crystal. "It's not time to argue with each other." Behind them, Hei Long stood still, unusually quiet, his gaze fixed on the flower-shaped crystal as a faint, And gentle smile formed on his face, like he was remembering something only he could feel. Wang Xio's expression hardened as he stepped in front of them, urgency sharpening his voice. "Everyone, it's dangerous! Don't get closer!"
The ground trembled slightly, but it wasn't destruction it felt like awakening. Child Qing Li took one step back. Then another. "Okay," he whispered. "That's definitely not normal." Ling Yuan didn't move his eyes from the blooming light. "It's activating." Xu Yang frowned. "Activating what?" No one answered.
In the present, Adult Qing Li's breath caught sharply. His eyes were locked on Wang Xio. "Why were you so against it?" Wang Xio didn't answer immediately. His expression stayed still then slowly he raised his hand toward children. "Watch." The present blurred slightly. The purple light in the past flared again and the courtyard began to distort at its edges.
The ground cracked beneath the shrine in sharp, uneven lines as the flower-shaped crystal's glow twisted violently, and from those fractures, black threads began to emerge thin at first, like ink bleeding through stone, then multiplying rapidly.The children froze for second before panic shattered the silence. Child Qing Li stumbled back, eyes wide. "What is that?!" Xu Yang spun around, voice rising as he backed away. "What is happening?!"Wang xio's expression changed instantly, all restraint breaking as he shouted, "RUN!"
Hei Long bent down instinctively to grab the fallen flowers, but the moment his fingers touched them, Ling Yuan was already pulling him back with force, his voice sharp but controlled, "Leave them!" The threads surged across the shrine stones in branching patterns, crawling over the courtyard like living veins, slipping into cracks, wrapping around roots, climbing the walls and twisting up the trees as if the entire space was being rewritten from the inside. The children scattered, footsteps frantic, their earlier laughter replaced by raw fear as the once peaceful courtyard turned into Chaos.
Adult Qing Li stood frozen outside,his breath caught in his throat as he watched the everything,it was too familiar yet deeply wrong.His voice came out barely above a whisper. "No… I've seen this before." The thread suddenly shifted and one strand broke away from the scene entirely, piercing through the boundary between past and present.It passed directly through Adult Qing Li's body.His eyes widened in shock as his entire frame stiffened, and in that instant, memories detonated inside him flashes of pain,fragmented voices screaming his name, distant laughter turning into panic, shrine bells ringing in the wind, blood staining stone steps he couldn't place, and someone calling out in a voice he had almost forgotten but never truly lost. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head as his breathing broke apart. "Ngh!"
Hei Long moved instantly, catching him before he hit the ground completely, holding him steady as Qing Li trembled violently in his grip. Wang Xio rushed forward, his voice cracking for the first time. "QING LI!" Hei Long's eyes stayed fixed on him, urgency tightening his voice. "He's remembering!" Wang Xio looked at the collapsing threads still creeping through the memory and shouted, "Too fast!"
Hei Long didn't respond. He only tightened his hold on Qing Li slightly, watching the way his expression twisted between pain and recognition. Then quietly,he said, "No…" A pause, "Not too fast."His gaze lowered to Qing Li as something unreadable passed through his eyes. "Finally."Qing Li's breathing was uneven, his body still trembling as fragments of his past kept crashing into him in waves he couldn't control half-seen faces, the echo of footsteps on shrine stone, a voice calling him that felt close. His fingers clenched into Hei Long's sleeve instinctively, like he was trying to anchor himself before he disappeared into the flood. "I… can't…" he gasped, voice breaking. "It's too much…"
Wang Xio stepped closer, his usual calm completely gone. "Hei Long, stop it...do something!" he snapped, eyes darting between Qing Li and the collapsing threads in the courtyard behind them. The black lines were still spreading through the memory, but now they were reacting differently no longer just corruption, but synchronization, as if Qing Li's awakening was pulling them into alignment.Hei Long didn't loosen his hold. Instead, his expression softened with something almost sorrowful as he watched Qing Li struggle. "I can't stop it!" he said quietly. "Not anymore."Wang Xio froze. "What do you mean you can't?"
Hei Long's gaze shifted toward where the children were still running, still screaming, still trapped in the moment that was breaking apart. "Because this isn't just the past reacting," he said slowly. "It's him remembering the part of himself that was buried with it."Qing Li let out a strained breath, his eyes squeezed shut as another wave of memory crashed into him,The darkness of the threads faded for a moment in his mind, replaced by sunlight filtering through the shrine trees, the sound of laughter instead of screams, and the smell of simple food shared without care for tomorrow. His grip on Hei Long loosened slightly as the memory pulled him deeper.
Child Qing Li was sitting cross-legged on the shrine steps, holding a piece of food in one hand while arguing with Ling Yuan over nothing important. "You always say that." Qing li complained, taking a bite and pointing at him, "but you never actually explain it properly."Ling Yuan sat calmly beside him, expression as steady as always, gently adjusting the small bowl between them. "Because you never listen properly." he replied simply.Qing Li frowned. "I listen perfectly fine."Ling Yuan glanced at him. "Then repeat what I just said."Qing Li opened his mouth paused then immediately pointed the food at him instead. "That's not fair."Xu Yang, lying on the ground nearby with his arms behind his head, laughed loudly. "He didn't listen at all!"
Qing Li turned toward him sharply. "You're not helping!"Xu Yang grinned. "I never help. I observe chaos."Wang Xio, sitting slightly apart with scrolls neatly arranged beside him, sighed deeply without looking up. "That explains a lot."Xu Yang pointed at him instantly. "See? Even Wang Xio agrees I'm important."Wang Xio didn't even pause. "I didn't say that."Hei Long, sitting quietly near the flower bed, carefully placing white petals into a small pattern, spoke softly without looking up. "You are important… just not helpful."That made Xu Yang sit up. "That's worse!"
Ling Yuan let out a quiet laugh at that, soft and surprised, as if even he didn't expect himself to laugh. Qing Li noticed instantly, leaning forward with a teasing grin already forming on his face. "Oh?" he said, eyes narrowing playfully. "You laughed.That means I win." Ling Yuan blinked slowly, as if trying to process the logic. "That's not how logic works." Qing Li immediately leaned back with exaggerated confidence. "It is today."
Wang Xio finally lifted his gaze from the scroll he had been reading the entire time, expression flat with tired disbelief. "Neither of you are making sense." Qing Li didn't even look embarrassed. He just leaned back further, completely satisfied with himself. "That means we're both right." Wang Xio sighed and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. "That is not how correctness works either."
Xu Yang, who had been lying on the grass until now, suddenly raised his hand like he was in a meeting. "I agree with Qing Li." Wang Xio turned his head slowly toward him. "Of course you do." Xu Yang nodded seriously. "Yes. I have strong opinions." Hei Long quietly added without looking up from the flowers he was weaving, "I think they are all wrong."
For a second, everything went quiet then the courtyard erupted into laughter again. Even Wang Xio's lips twitched slightly before he quickly hid it behind his scroll, pretending it never happened. Ling Yuan shook his head faintly, but there was warmth in his eyes as he looked at all of them like they were impossible to manage but impossible not to care about. "You all argue too much."
Qing Li immediately pointed at him as if catching him in a crime. "You started it." Ling Yuan answered calmly without missing a beat, "I answered a question." Qing Li leaned in closer, unimpressed. "You answered it wrong." Xu Yang tilted his head curiously, suddenly interested. "Was it wrong… or just not what he wanted to hear?"Ling Yuan paused for a moment, thinking about it properly, then replied softly, "Both." That was enough to make Qing Li laugh so hard he almost fell back on the steps. "See! Even you admit it!"
Wang Xio let out another sigh, though this time it was softer, less annoyed and more resigned. "This is why nothing gets done when you're all together." Xu Yang rolled toward him, still smiling. "We get things done." Wang Xio glanced at him. "Like what?" Xu Yang thought seriously for a moment, then answered with complete confidence, "We ate." "That's not an achievement!" Wang Xio said immediately. Xu Yang didn't even hesitate. "It is for me." Ling Yuan, without looking up, quietly passed a piece of food toward Wang Xio and said, "Eat before you complain more." Wang Xio blinked at it, paused, then accepted it carefully. "Thank you!" he muttered.
Xu Yang's eyes lit up instantly. "He said thank you! I saw it!" Wang Xio shot him a warning look. "Stop documenting everything." Qing Li leaned slightly toward Ling Yuan, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret. "He's actually nice when he forgets he's serious." Ling Yuan glanced at him calmly. "You are also nicer when you are eating." Qing Li froze for a second. "That sounds like an insult." Ling Yuan replied without hesitation, "It isn't."
Xu Yang burst out laughing again."It definitely is." Hei Long, still quietly focused on his flowers, said softly without looking up, "It is observation." Wang Xio added under his breath, already returning to his scroll, "Which is worse."
The memory shifted again, the laughter fading like mist under morning sun, replaced by quiet night settling over the shrine. Wang Xio knelt alone near the base of the shrine steps, sleeves rolled carefully as his fingers worked over a damaged sealing array carved into the stone. His expression was focused, but tight like he was holding something inside himself as much as he was repairing what was outside. Lines of faint golden ink traced beneath his fingertips, trying to stabilize the fractured formation.
He pressed two fingers lightly against the seal, muttering under his breath. "If the alignment is off by even a fraction…" He paused, adjusting the symbol again. "It won't hold till morning." Behind him Hei Long sat near the bed, half leaning against the base of a stone pillar, already asleep. A small bundle of white flowers rested loosely in his hands, as if even in sleep he refused to let them fall.
His head tilted slightly toward Ling Yuan, who sat beside him with a quiet, watchful presence, gently adjusting the flowers so they wouldn't scatter in the wind.Ling Yuan glanced at him for a moment, then lowered his voice softly,"He fell asleep again."Wang Xio didn't look back immediately, still focused on the seal. "He always does." he replied quietly. "Right when it gets quiet."Ling Yuan's gaze softened. "He stays awake when we're loud," he said. "And sleeps when it's safe."
That made Wang Xio pause for just a second. His fingers hesitated over the seal before continuing. "That's not safe!" he muttered. "Nothing here is safe."Ling Yuan didn't argue. Instead, he gently adjusted the flowers in Hei Long's hands again, making sure they didn't slip. "Then why are you fixing it?"Wang Xio's jaw tightened slightly. The glow from the seal reflected faintly in his eyes. "Because someone has to!" he said simply.
From where he sat, Hei Long shifted slightly in his sleep, leaning a little closer to Ling Yuan without realizing it, as if even unconscious, he was still searching for warmth. Ling Yuan steadied him gently, letting him rest without waking.Wang Xio noticed it briefly, and something in his expression softened so faint it didn't exist then it was gone again, replaced by focus.
He pressed his palm firmly against the broken seal.
A faint crack of light flickered across the stone, unstable but responding."Almost there!" he whispered to himself. Then quieter, barely audible, "Don't break again."His hand trembled slightly.The seal pulsed weakly beneath him, resisting repair as if something on the other side didn't want to be fixed.Wang Xio's breath hitched, and for the first time, exhaustion slipped through his control.
"No…" he whispered again, voice lower now, strained. "Stop resisting…"His fingers tightened against the stone. "I don't want to do this every night."Behind him, Ling Yuan's voice came gently. "Then don't do it alone."
Wang Xio froze then he exhaled slowly, still not turning around. "Someone has to understand how it works." he said quietly. "If I stop, everything falls apart."Ling Yuan looked at him for a long moment, then said softly, "Everything already depends on you too much."That made Wang Xio's hand pause completely.
The seal beneath him flickered again. He pressed down harder, forcing control back into it. "Don't say things like that." he muttered. "It makes it worse."Ling Yuan didn't reply instead, he glanced down at Hei Long, still asleep, still holding the flowers like they were the only thing grounding him. Then quietly, he said, "You don't have to hold everything together alone."Wang Xio's expression tightened again.His voice came out lower this time, "…I don't want to lose it again."He didn't clarify what "it" meant. He didn't need to.
The seal beneath his hands stabilized, faint light settling into a steady glow. But instead of relief, Wang Xio only looked more exhausted, like he had just pushed something deeper inside himself rather than fixing it.Behind him, Ling Yuan adjusted Hei Long slightly as he shifted in sleep, the flowers still safe in his hands. "Then don't!" Ling Yuan said softly. "Just don't do it alone."Wang Xio didn't answer but his hand stayed on the seal a little longer than necessary.
Qing Li's breathing was uneven,his body still trembling as fragments of his past kept crashing into him. His fingers clenched into Hei Long's sleeve instinctively, like he was trying to anchor himself before he disappeared into the flood. "I… can't…" he gasped, voice breaking. "It's too much…"
The memory shifted again and scene opened beneath a giant tree at the edge of the village where wildflowers covered the ground.The afternoon sun was warm.The five children sat together in a circle. Child Xu Yang was lying on his stomach, drawing strange creatures in the dirt with a stick while Child Qing Li sat beside him criticizing every drawing. Child Wang Xio was carefully making a list on a piece of paper while Child Hei Long quietly plucked flower petals one by one. Ling Yuan sat between all of them.
Child Xu Yang suddenly looked up. "Let's make a promise." Child Qing Li snorted. "You just thought of something stupid." "It's not stupid." "It definitely is." "It isn't." "It is." Xu Yang gasped dramatically and pointed at him. "Ling Yuan! He's attacking me again." Ling Yuan looked at them and smiled. "He does that every day." Qing Li immediately pointed at Ling Yuan. "See? Even he knows." Xu Yang folded his arms. "Fine. I won't share my idea anymore." Hei Long looked up from the flowers in his lap. "What's the idea?" Xu Yang instantly brightened. "We meet here every year forever."
The others blinked and Qing li laughed. "That's impossible."Xu Yang frowned."Why?" "Because forever is forever." "So?" "What if we're busy?" Xu Yang stared at him. "What could possibly be more important than this?" Qing Li opened his mouth, then paused because he genuinely didn't have an answer. Wang Xio finally spoke. "People grow up." Xu Yang looked unconvinced. "So?" Wang Xio lowered his eyes. "They leave."
Ling Yuan glanced at Wang Xio and smiled gently. "Then we'll come back." The others looked at him. Xu Yang grinned immediately. "See? Problem solved." Qing Li rolled his eyes. "That solves absolutely nothing." "It solves everything." "It doesn't." "It does." "It doesn't." Ling Yuan laughed softly.Then he picked up five small red strings from beside him. Everyone blinked. Xu Yang leaned forward immediately. "Where did those come from?" "I made them earlier." "You made these?" Ling Yuan nodded. "One for each of us." He handed them out one by one. Xu Yang accepted his happily. Qing Li pretended not to care but immediately tied it around his wrist. Wang Xio carefully examined the knot while Hei Long simply held his quietly.
Then Ling Yuan spoke. "If we ever get lost" He paused. "If we ever forget things…" He smiled softly. "Then remember this day." The others looked at him strangely. Xu Yang tilted his head. "Why would we forget?" Ling Yuan blinked once and smiled again. "Just in case." Qing Li immediately waved his hand. "Impossible." Xu Yang nodded confidently. "We're together every day." Hei Long quietly added, "I don't want to forget." Ling Yuan looked at him gently. "You won't." Then Hei Long asked the question. "Promise?" Ling Yuan immediately answered. "Promise."
Xu Yang suddenly jumped up. "Then everyone has to promise." He pointed randomly. "Qing Li." Qing Li sighed dramatically. "Fine. I promise." "Wang Xio." "I promise." "Hei Long." "I promise." Then Xu Yang puffed up proudly."I also promise." Everyone turned toward Ling Yuan. Ling Yuan looked at all of them one by one. His smile was so warm it almost hurt. "I promise too."
Then the children put their hands together in the center. One hand. Then another. Then another. Five small hands stacked together. The wind moved through the field and flowers swayed.