The cornfield shook violently as the iron-winged shadow landed before Ye Lin. The morning mist parted, revealing his own aged face wrinkles lining the same weary eyes, white hair threaded with metal thorns, and a scar on his neck shaped like the Guardian's sigil.
"Look closely."
The Future Self raised his hand. Seventy-nine shattered mirrors appeared in a wide circle around them, each reflecting:
Ye Lin crowned in bone, seated on a throne made of the Venom Leaf Sect's corpses
Faceless Ye Lin, fused with the Collector in a grotesque embrace
Ye Lin forever trapped, inside a family photo hanging in a wooden shack
"These are all the paths we've taken."
Suddenly, an eightieth mirror appeared still blank.
Blood from Ye Lin's bone knife dripped onto the ground, forming a strange diagram:
The Guardian's sigil at the center
Seventy-nine droplets of blood circling around it
A single golden dot, pulsing where Ye Lin stood
"The final choice," whispered a small shadow that appeared on his shoulder."Not to follow a path... but to create the eightieth."
The Future Self revealed a bell forged from living iron.
"Decide now:Kill me and take my place as the Eternal GuardianDestroy this bell and end the cycle foreverOr..."
His eyes narrowed."...create a fourth path by consuming your last corn kernel."
Ye Lin felt the kernel pulse in his pocket.
Memories surged:
His mother, smiling as she fed him corn soup
His brother, shielding him from heavy rain
His younger self, still believing in goodness
"I choose..."
His hands moved swiftly:
Crushing the corn kernel until it burst
Plunging the bone knife into his own abdomen
Pouring his golden blood into the eightieth mirror
A burst of light.
When vision returned, Ye Lin stood inside:
The wooden shack of his childhood, its walls now lined with seventy-nine portraits, each a different version of himself
The cornfield outside the window flourished, though its fruits now resembled tiny human hearts
The family photo on the table showed three figures: himself, his mother, and... the smiling shadow child
At the doorway, his Future Self gave a slow nod — then transformed into:
A giant iron butterfly, ascending skyward and leaving a trail of blue fire.
"Congratulations... true Guardian."