"Do you think retrieving the key will reverse time and space?" The black-robed figure's voice creaked like the rubbing of pages, each word stirring up waves of black air that shattered the floating ancient tome. "When the first node is activated, all erased history will transform into memory-devouring beasts, and you—" He raised his hand, and hundreds of giant hands condensed from mucus emerged from the black mist, each palm opening a star-shaped eye. "You will become a sacrifice to memory."

Ah Fu's sword instantly cut down three giant hands, but the blade was corroded by the mucus and had a gap; Xia Zichen's star pattern chain had just bound the black fog when it was rolled back into a sharp blade by the opponent. Lin Yue looked at the star map on the armillary sphere and suddenly remembered the scene in the bronze mirror in the underground palace: she ignited the gears of the pocket watch in the ruins, and those sparks were the resonance of the twelve nodes. Biting her tongue, she threw blood towards the line connecting "Tianshu" and "Tianxuan". The key suddenly emitted a sun-like brilliance, and two star rays intertwined in the corridor. The shattered pages of the ancient book suddenly reversed and reorganized, revealing the yellowed true record:

"Tianxuan holds the anchor of memory. To activate a node, one must use the blood of a guardian as a guide and the tampered history as bait—"

When the countdown reached 15 minutes, Lin Yue pressed the broken fragment of his pocket watch against the center of the armillary sphere. The moment the dial exploded, all the memory-devouring beasts froze. The shadowy figure in black robes let out a sharp howl, and the first crack appeared on his mask. Ah Fu seized the opportunity to plunge his sword into the base of the armillary sphere. The light of oracle bone script spread along the star map, and the ancient books throughout the corridor erupted in golden light. On the tampered pages, the eyes of the twelve immortals rekindled their golden flames.

"Let's go!" Xia Zichen grabbed the shaky Lin Yue. The armillary sphere collapsed behind them, and the bronze door reappeared. As the three of them tumbled out of the corridor, the real archives were already in sight. Morning light was spreading from the eastern horizon, and the pocket watch countdown had only 7 minutes left.

The main entrance to the archives, shrouded in black fog, suddenly flew open. From within, the sound of pages turning rang out, like the whispers of countless undead spirits. Lin Yue clutched the blood-stained key tightly, staring at the peeling "Municipal Archives" plaque on the door lintel. Suddenly, she remembered the administrator's face within the monster's body—those devoured memories might be hidden in File 404, deep within the filing cabinet. At that moment, a figure in black robes stood at the second-floor window, the pocket watch in his hand echoing with the fragment in her palm. The hands on the dial pointed towards the sunrise.