Morning sunlight fell through the wooden window and slowly spread across the floor. Xu Yang sat near the table, watching the light move across the room. He had been awake for a long time. In fact, he hadn't slept at all. His tail moved once against the floor. They're closer today. I could feel them even without seeing them. Whatever was happening in this village, it wasn't staying in one place anymore... Behind him, the bedding rustled. "Why are you awake?" Lin Chen's sleepy voice came from the bed. Xu Yang didn't turn immediately.
Lin Chen let out a tired breath and rubbed his eyes. "Actually, why am I awake?" he muttered, slowly sitting up. When he finally noticed Xu Yang staring at him, he squinted. "You're staring again." Xu Yang blinked. Lin Chen looked at him for another moment before asking, "Don't tell me you've been like this the whole time." Xu Yang turned his head away. "You have, haven't you?" Lin Chen sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "This is getting strange." He swung his legs off the bed and stood, stretching his shoulders before looking at Xu Yang again. "You used to sleep more. You've been different lately." Xu Yang's tail flicked once. And you've been forgetting things. I suppose we're both developing new habits...
Lin Chen watched him quietly before his expression softened. "If something's wrong, you should stay close." he said. After a brief pause, he added, "Alright?" Xu Yang's ears twitched. You're talking as if I have much choice in the matter... Lin Chen huffed and shook his head. "Look at me. Having a serious conversation with a cat." Even so, he didn't take back his words. Instead, he walked towards the table and picked up the small bowl left from the previous night.
After looking inside, he gave Xu Yang an unimpressed glance. "You didn't even finish your food properly." Xu Yang looked at the bowl, then back at him. You made a mess too, but apparently that's not worth mentioning... Lin Chen caught his expression and raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't look at me like that." Xu Yang deliberately turned his head away. Lin Chen laughed softly. "Exactly the reaction I expected." For a little while, the room felt ordinary again. Lin Chen put the bowl aside and crouched beside him. "Come with me today," he said, lightly tapping the top of Xu Yang's head. "And no wandering off."
Xu Yang looked at him. Lin Chen sighed and corrected himself. "At least try not to wander off." That depends on what happens. If the world behaves itself for once, I might even consider it... Lin Chen shook his head at the cat's expression. "Don't give me that look. Just stay close." Xu Yang gave a small flick of his ears. Lin Chen picked up a basket, and the two of them left the house. The village looked much the same as it had the day before. People were opening their shops, carrying baskets, and greeting their neighbours. Children ran along the street while vendors arranged their goods. Nothing appeared unusual at first glance. That was what bothered Xu Yang most. Everything looks normal. Which, considering what happened yesterday, is probably the least reassuring thing about this place...
Lin Chen walked beside him, carrying the basket in one hand. After glancing down at Xu Yang, he remarked, "You're quieter than usual." Xu Yang kept walking. You're louder than usual...Lin Chen sighed. "Or maybe I'm just thinking too much." They passed a small vendor stall, where a man was arranging freshly made buns. "Fresh buns! Hot and just made!" the vendor called out. He turned to adjust a basket, then repeated the same words in exactly the same tone. "Fresh buns! Hot and just made!" Lin Chen slowed down. His eyes moved from the vendor to the nearby customers. "Did he just say that twice?" The vendor stopped and looked at him. "Say what?" A villager standing beside the stall frowned. "You've been repeating yourself."
The vendor shook his head. "I only called out once." "No, you didn't," the villager insisted. "You said the exact same thing a moment ago." The vendor opened his mouth to argue, then stopped. His expression slowly changed as he tried to remember. A small silence settled around the stall. Lin Chen frowned. "That's strange!" he muttered. Xu Yang's ears turned towards the vendor. There it is again. Another repeated moment.But why is it happening in such small ways? The vendor isn't repeating his words because he wants to. He genuinely believes he only said them once. And the villager remembers both times. So their memories haven't been changed in the same way... Xu Yang watched the vendor's confused expression. Is the world repeating these moments, or is something correcting them after they happen? If it's the second one, then someone or something is deciding which version should remain....
Nearby, a child dropped a wooden toy. It struck the ground with a small clack. The child bent down, picked it up, and dropped it again. The movement was identical. The toy landed at the same angle, made the same sound, and stopped in exactly the same place. The child stared at it before looking up at his parent. "Why did it do that again?" His parent barely glanced over. "Stop playing around." "I didn't do it!" the child protested, holding the toy tightly. Xu Yang's eyes narrowed. That's not a coincidence... The moment itself is repeating. He looked towards the vendor again.
The man had returned to arranging his buns, but his hand moved in the same small motion twice before finally stopping. It's not breaking apart. It's repeating certain actions, as if something is checking whether they fit. Lin Chen rubbed the back of his neck. "Something's not right," he said quietly. He looked down at Xu Yang, then towards the people gathered around the stall. "I don't like this." A faint breeze moved through the street. The loose cloth hanging above the shops stirred, and a few leaves rolled across the ground.
For a brief moment, the village seemed to fall into an unnatural stillness. Xu Yang's tail lowered. No... It's not holding its breath... His gaze moved across the street, following a sensation he could not quite see. It's adjusting. Every time something goes wrong, it tries to put things back where they belong...His paws shifted slightly against the stone path. And the faster it corrects these little mistakes, the less time we have before it tries something bigger...
Lin Chen crouched beside him and rested a hand lightly against his back. "Alright. That's enough." he said, looking around with a troubled expression. "We're not staying out long today. Something's wrong." Xu Yang glanced up at him.You're only noticing now... Lin Chen ran a hand through his hair. "I can't even explain it properly. It just feels off." Because it is. Everything around you is being rewritten, including what you're allowed to notice...
Xu Yang looked away. The threads were closer today. He still couldn't see them clearly, but their presence pressed against his awareness. The air seemed to tighten and loosen at regular intervals, like something was quietly testing the space around him. He was still trying to understand the pattern when footsteps approached from behind. Lin Chen turned and found a man standing a short distance away. Lin Chen straightened and gave him a polite smile. "Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you." The man looked at him calmly. "That's normal." Lin Chen's smile faltered slightly. "Are you from this village? I don't think I've seen you before." "Just passing through." the man replied.
Xu Yang's ears stood straight up. Wait. That voice... Yan Luo?!... His tail immediately curled around Lin Chen's arm as he stared at the newcomer. What is this wolf doing here? And why is he approaching us in disguise? Please tell me he's not bringing another problem. I've had enough strange things happening for one day. I just want to go home, eat something, and pretend I'm an ordinary cat...
Lin Chen adjusted the basket in his hand. "A travelling merchant?" "Something like that." The answer was vague enough to make Lin Chen hesitate, but he decided not to press him. "I'm Lin Chen," he introduced himself, offering a small nod. "Yan Luo," the man replied, inclining his head. Lin Chen returned the gesture. "Nice to meet you. Though you've arrived on a rather strange day." His eyes moved towards the street, where the vendor had begun arranging the same basket for the third time. Yan Luo followed his gaze. "I've noticed." Lin Chen let out a short, uneasy laugh. "Good. At least I'm not imagining it."
Yan Luo's gaze shifted from the street to the black cat beside him. "He seems calm." he remarked. Lin Chen followed his line of sight and looked down at Xu Yang. "You like cats?" he asked, studying the stranger's expression. "Yes," Yan Luo answered simply. Lin Chen rested his hand on Xu Yang's back. "He's been acting strangely lately too. More than usual." Yan Luo stepped a little closer. "He doesn't look particularly worried." Xu Yang remained still. I'm standing right here, in case either of you has forgotten. Lin Chen looked between them before asking, "Would you like to hold him?" Yan Luo's gaze flickered briefly. "If you don't mind."
Lin Chen hesitated, then nodded. "Just for a moment." Yan Luo reached down carefully and lifted Xu Yang into his arms. His hold was steady, almost too controlled. The moment Xu Yang left Lin Chen's arms, something shifted in the air. Lin Chen's hand remained suspended for an instant before he slowly lowered it. "That's strange." he murmured. Yan Luo looked down at the cat but said nothing. Xu Yang felt the threads tighten around him. So that's what you're testing...
Before he could examine the sensation further, someone suddenly bumped into Lin Chen from the side. Lin Chen stumbled and turned with a frown. "Hey!" The stranger stepped back, raising both hands. "Didn't see you there." Lin Chen steadied the basket and looked at him more closely. "You..." The man gave him a careless grin. "What? Can't walk around?" "That's not what I meant." Lin Chen stopped speaking. Something about the man's timing felt wrong. He turned back towards Yan Luo. His expression changed immediately. Yan Luo was gone. So was Xu Yang.
Lin Chen stared at the empty space beside him. "No." He looked around quickly, searching the street. "They were right here." There were no hurried footsteps, no sign of anyone leaving, and no trace of where they had gone. Lin Chen slowly turned towards the stranger. His eyes narrowed. "That wasn't an accident." The man's smile faded for just a moment. "Accident or not," he replied lightly, "you should be more careful." Lin Chen stepped closer, his grip tightening around the basket. "Where is he?" The man tilted his head. "Who?" "Don't play dumb."
Lin Chen's voice hardened. "The man who was holding my cat. Where did they go?" The stranger studied him for a moment before a faint smile returned. "You already know the answer." Lin Chen's jaw tightened. "You planned this." The man neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, he stepped back. "Find him." Lin Chen stared at him, anger and worry rising together. "You think I'm just going to let you walk away?" The stranger turned as though he hadn't heard him. "You have more important things to do." Lin Chen started after him, but the man had already disappeared into the crowd. Lin Chen stood still for a moment, then looked towards the empty street where Yan Luo had been. "I'm not letting this go," he said under his breath. He put the basket aside and began searching.
Meanwhile, the air shifted around Yan Luo and Xu Yang. It did not feel like ordinary travel. The space around them seemed to fold, and the familiar sounds of the village disappeared one by one. Yan Luo never loosened his hold. When the distortion finally settled, they were standing in a quiet clearing far from the village. The air was still, and no familiar buildings or voices could be heard. A moment later, another distortion opened behind them. Qing Li stepped through and let out a long breath. "You could've warned me before moving like that." he complained, brushing his sleeve. Yan Luo didn't turn. "You kept him occupied long enough."
Qing Li clicked his tongue. "Barely. That man is more troublesome than he looks." "He wasn't the one I was concerned about." Yan Luo replied. Qing Li's expression changed. His gaze moved towards the black cat in Yan Luo's arms. "Right." He stepped closer and folded his arms. "So..." His voice was light, but his eyes were serious. "Are we going to keep pretending?" Xu Yang remained still. Yan Luo lowered his gaze towards him before answering, "No." He loosened his hold and carefully set the cat on the ground. Xu Yang's paws touched the ground.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the black fur along his body began to fade. A faint light passed over him, and his small frame slowly stretched. His front paws changed first, lengthening into hands as his body rose. His tail disappeared, and his ears returned to their human shape. A moment later, the light faded, leaving Xu Yang standing before them in human form. He straightened his sleeves and looked between the two men. "You could've asked." he said calmly. Qing Li froze for a second. Yan Luo, however, looked him over and remarked, "You're looking handsome, though."
Qing Li turned towards him with disbelief. "Are you stupid? Is this the time to compliment him?" Yan Luo glanced at him. "So when is the right time?" Xu Yang brushed a speck of dust from his sleeve. "Shut up for now." Qing Li looked at him, then let out a sharp breath. "You're not even trying to hide it anymore." Xu Yang raised an eyebrow. "You already knew." "That's not the point," Qing Li snapped, folding his arms tighter. Yan Luo tilted his head slightly. "Since when?" Xu Yang glanced at him. "Since I realised hiding it wasn't changing anything."
Qing Li ran a hand through his hair. "You know this is a problem, right?" Xu Yang looked at him. "For whom?" "That's not funny," Qing Li replied immediately. "I'm not joking," Xu Yang said, his expression unchanged. Yan Luo stepped forward slightly. "You're at the centre of it." Xu Yang didn't deny it. Qing Li's frown deepened. "The disturbances, the corrections, the freezes. They all lead back to you." "They respond to you," Yan Luo added, watching him closely. Xu Yang lowered his gaze. "Not exactly."
Both men paused. Qing Li narrowed his eyes. "Then what?" Xu Yang looked up again. "They're reacting. Not to me." He let the words settle before continuing. "To what I represent." Qing Li stared at him. "That doesn't make it any better." "It wasn't meant to," Xu Yang replied. Yan Luo studied him for a moment. "Then what are you?" Xu Yang didn't answer immediately. His gaze shifted towards the empty space beyond the clearing. "I don't know," he said at last. Qing Li scoffed. "That's convenient." "It's true." Yan Luo's expression remained serious. "But you can interrupt it."
Xu Yang shook his head. "I can't control it. I can only interrupt it." Qing Li exhaled slowly. "So you're not just part of the system." "No," Yan Luo answered, his eyes still fixed on Xu Yang. "He's affecting its function." Xu Yang looked down at his hands. "I didn't ask for that." "No one ever does," Qing Li muttered. Yan Luo's voice remained calm. "That doesn't change the result." A faint pressure passed through the clearing. Qing Li noticed it first and glanced around. "It's reacting again." Yan Luo turned his head slightly. "To the conversation?" "Or to him." Qing Li replied, looking directly at Xu Yang.
Xu Yang felt the pressure settle around him. "It's getting faster." Yan Luo's attention sharpened. "Explain." Xu Yang took a slow breath. "Before, there were delays. Breaks, inconsistencies. It needed time to correct things." He glanced towards the trees. "Now it adjusts almost immediately." Qing Li frowned. "So it's learning?" "No," Xu Yang answered. After a brief pause, he added, "It's adapting." Yan Luo lowered his voice. "Then we don't have much time." Qing Li looked at him. "Time for what?" "For it to decide what to do with him."
Yan Luo's gaze returned to Xu Yang. "Erase him." Qing Li's expression darkened. "Or isolate him. There could be worse options." Xu Yang's fingers tightened slightly. "It already tried once." Both men turned towards him. "The freeze wasn't random," he continued. "It was trying to correct something." Yan Luo's eyes narrowed. "You?" "Yes." Qing Li let out a slow breath. "And it failed." Xu Yang shook his head. "Not exactly. It paused." The word changed the atmosphere between them. Yan Luo repeated it quietly. "Paused?" Xu Yang nodded. "It couldn't proceed." Qing Li stepped closer. "Why?" Xu Yang looked at him for a moment. "Because I didn't match anything it could replace." Silence followed.
Yan Luo was the first to understand. "You don't belong to any existing thread." "Partially." Xu Yang corrected.Qing Li crossed his arms again. "What happens when you interrupt it?" Xu Yang hesitated. "It stops. For a moment." Yan Luo pressed further. "And then?" "It rewrites around the interruption." Qing Li's expression tightened. "So you're not fixing anything. You're only buying time." "Exactly." Yan Luo looked towards the edge of the clearing. "Then delay isn't enough." "No," Xu Yang agreed. Qing Li's patience finally began to wear thin. "Then what is? We can't keep waiting for it to decide whether you're worth keeping."
Xu Yang didn't answer at once. Instead, he lifted his gaze towards the space above them, as if following something invisible. "There's a centre," he said quietly. Yan Luo's eyes narrowed. "The origin point?" Xu Yang shook his head. "Not exactly." Qing Li stepped closer. "Then what are you talking about?" "A convergence." Qing Li frowned. "That's not very helpful." Xu Yang ignored the complaint. "The threads aren't moving randomly. They connect to one another, and every correction leads somewhere."
Yan Luo understood first. "A source." Xu Yang nodded. Qing Li looked between them. "And you think we can reach it?" "No," Xu Yang replied. After a short pause, he added, "I think it's already reaching us." Qing Li's expression changed. "You mean it's active?" "It never stopped being active," Xu Yang said. "We just started noticing it." Yan Luo's gaze lowered slightly. "Then the more we interfere..." "The more it reacts," Xu Yang finished. A heavy silence settled over the clearing. Qing Li let out a breath. "So we're stuck." "No," Yan Luo said.
Both men turned towards him. He continued, "We don't approach it directly." Qing Li frowned. "Meaning?" "We observe its limits. If we understand what it can and cannot do, we may find a way to reach the source without giving it a reason to close everything around us." Xu Yang glanced at him. "Test it." Yan Luo nodded. "Yes." Qing Li stared at them. "That sounds like a terrible idea." "It is," Yan Luo replied. Qing Li looked at him in disbelief. "And you say that so calmly?" "Because doing nothing is worse." Qing Li sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Fine. What do we test?" Yan Luo turned towards Xu Yang. "You." The pressure in the clearing tightened immediately. Qing Li glanced around. "It's listening again." Yan Luo didn't look away from Xu Yang. "Good. Let it." Xu Yang's expression grew serious. "If we push too far..." "It will respond," Yan Luo finished. Xu Yang nodded. "And this time, it might not stop."
Qing Li's arms dropped to his sides. "So we either wait until it erases us, or force it to show itself." Yan Luo's eyes remained fixed on Xu Yang. "Those are the choices." "No," Xu Yang interrupted. Both men looked at him. "We don't force it." He took a step forward. "We draw it out." Yan Luo asked, "How?" Xu Yang looked towards the empty space ahead. "By becoming the point it can't ignore." Qing Li's expression tightened. "That sounds like you're volunteering to be the target." Xu Yang met his gaze. "I already am." Neither man argued. A faint ripple passed through the clearing, disturbing the leaves at their feet. Yan Luo turned towards it. "It's getting closer." "I know," Xu Yang replied.
Qing Li looked between them. "We don't have much time." Xu Yang's gaze remained fixed ahead. "Then we decide now." Yan Luo gave a single nod. Qing Li opened his mouth to answer, but a sudden sound interrupted him. Fast, uneven footsteps came from the edge of the clearing. All three turned. They saw Lin Chen stood between the trees, breathing hard.His eyes moved first to Yan Luo, then to Qing Li, before finally settling on the young man standing between them. For a moment, he said nothing. His gaze remained fixed on Xu Yang.