The alley was narrow and silent.Only one person could walk through it in a single file.
Li Yuan's footsteps echoed softly between the old stone walls,as if they had aged together with time.
The scent of damp earth, dry leaves, and rotting wood mingled in the air.But for Li Yuan, these weren't just smells.
They were traces—like memories the place had lefthanging in the air.
"All my life, I've lived with gratitude…never stealing, never taking what wasn't mine.The world… has many forms.But the principle remains: to understand does not mean to possess."
He looked at the cracked walls,the uneven floor,and the narrow strip of sky above.
"This place… feels like it once cried."
Suddenly, he stopped.
At the end of the alley stood a small wooden door,almost hidden by overgrowth and a weathered sign.
The writing on the sign was nearly unreadable,but one word still lingered, faintly:
"Remember."
Li Yuan ran his fingers across the rough surface of the wood.
In that touch, he felt… something.Not power. Not energy.
But a lingering emotion.
"As if this place once belonged to someone.Maybe a place of memory.Maybe a place of escape."
Gently, Li Yuan pushed the door open.The creak of the hinges sounded like an old breathfrom the past.
Beyond the door—a small, dust-filled room.
Its walls were covered in faded paintings,their colors dimmed by time.
But as he stepped inside,something stirred within him.
"This place… remembers.And I… feel remembered."
In silence,Li Yuan sat in the middle of the room.He closed his eyes.
Not to meditate,but to listen—to whatever this place had held on to.
And in the stillness,an understanding began to grow:
"It's not only people who remember.Places can carry feelings, too.The world is not just wide...it is deep."
The room was small and unkempt.Dust hung in the air like a thin mist.
Li Yuan remained seated, unmoving but his gaze had changed.
This place held more than just dust and old walls.
Slowly,from the dark corner of the room,a faint shadow emerged.
Its steps were calm.Its body stooped,its robes worn,and its eyes… carried the weight of time.
An old scholar appeared.Neither frightening, nor threatening.Instead, his presence radiated peace—as though he was part of the room.Or perhaps...the room was part of him.
"You hear it?" the scholar asked softly.But each word felt heavy,as if carved into stone.
Li Yuan looked at him.He asked no questions, gave no answers—because deep within, he felt:this was not a person, but a consciousness.
"I am no ghost," said the scholar."I am a remnant…of someone who once lived between books and time."
He walked slowly to a nearly collapsed bookshelf,touched the dusty volumes,and looked at one of them with a faint smile.
"I read the world,but the world rewrote me."
Li Yuan stood.
"Who are you?"he asked quietly.
The scholar smiled.
"I am someone who also sought understanding.But unlike you… I became trapped here."
Li Yuan frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I stopped asking.And when one stops asking,they stop understanding.Time ceases to flow for them."
The room felt colder—but clearer.
The scholar walked to an old tableand placed a thin black book upon it.
"These are my notes.Not to answer you,but to lead you to ask deeper."
Li Yuan took the book.Its first page was blank.But when he touched it,ink slowly appeared on its own:
"What remains when understanding is gone?"
The scholar bowed his head.
"Use this room.It holds time—not to return to the past,but to understand why the past once was."
Li Yuan closed his eyes.And within him,the room became part of his inner realm—a space where time did not move forward or backward,but stood still…and spoke.