Darkness swirled, stretching into silent bands of color like echoes from a distant world. The space distorted, as if everything was being devoured by an invisible vortex.
The howling wind twisted violently in Xuan Xingli's ears, yet she couldn't discern any direction. Beneath her feet was cracked, floating ground, suspended in an endless void. Faint streams of light wove through the fractures like veins pulsing inside a colossal entity.
She jolted awake, her breath unsteady. The memory still echoed in her mind, a lingering sound that refused to fade.
Beside her, Luo Chenxi observed in silence, her violet eyes unfathomable.
"What did you see?" Her voice was low, yet carried an undeniable weight.
Xuan Xingli didn't answer immediately. She clenched her fingers, the tingling sensation still lingering at her fingertips. The scene in that room… the girl with her back turned… it remained etched in her thoughts with unnerving clarity.
She took a deep breath.
"A person."
Luo Chenxi tilted her head slightly, her gaze sharp and knowing.
"Who?"
Xuan Xingli was silent for a moment before replying.
"Myself."
In that instant, the wind died.
Luo Chenxi studied her intently. A stillness stretched between them before she smirked faintly, a ghost of amusement in her expression.
"Another you?"
There was no mockery in her voice, nor any sign of surprise. As if she had already expected this answer.
Xuan Xingli didn't respond.
She turned away, looking ahead.
The space before her continued to twist, as if the boundary between reality and illusion had been torn apart.
Yet deep within it, she could feel a presence.
Not a hallucination. Not a memory.
But something real…
Watching her.
A whisper drifted through the air, soft as a fragile thread yet carrying a suffocating weight.
"Have you not remembered yet?"
A voice.
Neither cold nor gentle, but one that sent a sharp pang through her chest.
Xuan Xingli stepped forward before she could stop herself.
The ground beneath her cracked further. Black light seeped from the fissures, flowing like liquid veins across the space.
Then, from the darkness, a figure emerged.
It… looked like her.
But it wasn't her.
The figure was clad in pitch-black robes, its long hair cascading down its back. Its eyes had no pupils—only endless voids of darkness.
It stood there, facing her.
Silent.
Xuan Xingli's breath slowed. A strange sensation stirred within her—not fear, not confusion—but a vague, unsettling sense of recognition.
She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the figure smirked.
"Do you think I am merely a memory?"
Its voice resonated, devoid of emotion, yet it struck deep into her mind.
Xuan Xingli stiffened.
She hadn't spoken the thought aloud, yet it had read her completely.
The shadowy reflection took a step closer, soundless.
"I am not a forgotten past."
"I am you."
The moment those words fell, the entire space trembled.
The ground shattered, the sky churned.
Xuan Xingli felt an invisible force pulling at her, ripping apart the layers of her consciousness, forcing her to confront something she had long denied.
A part of her.
A part she never wanted to remember.
A part she had abandoned.
Her breath came in ragged gasps. The reflection before her didn't move, but she could feel the overwhelming pressure emanating from it.
Then, from the shadows behind it, black chains slithered out like living serpents. They coiled around its wrists, its ankles, binding it to the empty void.
Yet even in shackles, it stared at her—straight into her eyes—without a flicker of hesitation.
"Do you know, Xuan Xingli?"
"We were once whole."
"But you cast me away."
The voice did not rise, did not waver, but each word carried an unbearable weight.
For a fleeting moment, Xuan Xingli felt an icy chill rush through her.
Not fear.
But because…
Somewhere deep within her, she agreed with those words.
What had she forgotten?
Who had she been?
Her fingers trembled slightly. A sharp pain surged through her chest, as if something long buried was beginning to stir.
The world around her twisted further.
Reality distorted.
Light faded.
And when she blinked…
She had returned to the darkness.