The Diary of a Renter
96. Momentary loss of balance
Just as Jiang Yu's consciousness was about to be completely swallowed by the excruciating pain and emptiness, only a fleeting moment of despair remained in the eyes of the young Pan Shi—
Buzz—
A clear and melodious bell rang out, not through the ears but directly resounding through the realm of laws, as if it came from the end of time and space, and then drifted out leisurely.
The sound of the bell carried no murderous intent, yet possessed a strange power to soothe the violence of all things and restore order to the universe. Wherever it passed, the violent fluctuations of Tartarus, which were enough to obliterate existence, were gently smoothed out as if by an invisible hand, becoming sluggish and docile.
The enormous, ever-distorting shadow suddenly froze, as if it had been trapped in amber of time and space, and even the surrounding collapsing spatial structure temporarily stabilized.
A figure appeared silently in front of Jiang Yu and Pan Shi.
He wore an ancient, flowing robe, its hem fluttering in the breeze, untouched by dust. His features were handsome, his age impossible to discern; his clear, glassy eyes held a serene composure born of having witnessed countless changes, yet also a hint of weariness. He exuded no imposing aura, yet naturally emanated a timeless elegance, as if connected to the very fabric of history.
It is Wan Jie Li Ran · Xuan Tong Jun.
He didn't pay attention to the forbidden being that was imprisoned. Instead, he turned his head and looked at Jiang Yu, who was covered in blood and whose source key light was dim. He then glanced at the young Pan Shi, who was seriously injured and on the verge of death and whose eyes were filled with horror and confusion. A gentle smile with a hint of amusement and pity appeared on his lips.
"Disrupting the order of time and causing harm to innocent onlookers... Little one, you've caused quite a mess." His voice was gentle and calm, with a hint of laziness, as if he were stating something ordinary.
Jiang Yuxin was shaken to her core. An unprecedented tremor came from the Source Key. It was not fear, but a resonance with a higher being of the same origin and a complex emotion that was hard to describe. It was Xuan Tongjun!
"Senior...is it you?" Jiang Yu asked with difficulty, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
“A title is nothing but an illusion,” Xuan Tongjun waved his hand casually, his gaze sweeping over the frozen Tartarus once more, a hint of understanding flashing in his glassy eyes. “This thing should have been a sleeping ‘shackle,’ but now it has become a man-eating ‘weapon.’ The disorder of time has entangled the ‘cause and effect’ here into a dead knot.”
He raised his hand and flicked his finger lightly at Tartarus's shadow.
There was no sound, no burst of light. That forbidden existence, so terrifying, vanished like a pen mark erased by an eraser, disappearing inch by inch from the edge, leaving not a trace of its existence. It was a complete "erasure." The collapse of the entire tomb came to an abrupt halt, leaving only ruins and deathly silence.
With the crisis temporarily averted, Xuan Tongjun turned his gaze to Jiang Yu, his eyes now showing a hint of seriousness.
“It would be easy to send you and him back to the original timeline.” He pointed to the weakened rock. “But the problem is that the ‘origin’ has been contaminated.”
He gazed into the depths of the void, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of spacetime barriers. "The 'cause' that disturbs this place is not accidental. There is an 'being' that is altering the source of time upstream, attempting to anchor 'extinction' as the only end for this place. His 'present' is located at an earlier point in your spacetime. This place," he pointed to the ruins beneath his feet, "is being rewoven by Him."
Xuan Tongjun looked at Jiang Yu, his tone serious: "If I were to forcibly send you back now, it would be tantamount to throwing you into a riverbed that was destined to dry up in advance. Everything you know could be rewritten as 'never existed'. Even..." His gaze swept over the rock, "...the future of this young warrior who was accidentally caught up in this and shouldn't have had to suffer this calamity at this moment."
Jiang Yu's heart sank, instantly realizing the gravity of the situation. This wasn't just about himself, but also about Panshi and the future survival of the entire building. He had returned not only to the past, but also to a crucial historical juncture that was being maliciously altered.
"Then what should I do?" Jiang Yu took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Find Him, here, before this history is completely solidified, and stop Him." Xuan Tongjun stretched out his finger, and a small clump of "Dust of Time" shimmered with a mesmerizing light, as if containing countless fragments of time, condensed at his fingertip.
"This item can help you temporarily stabilize your position here and sense the 'traces' left by the time-altering alterers. It is a token and a signpost."
He paused, then continued, "As the price for my intervention in this calamity and for pointing you in the right direction, once this matter is resolved and you return to the correct timeline, you must voluntarily unlock a seal called the 'Momentary Mirror Core' beneath your endless corridor. This is the [Contract of Time], which cannot be disobeyed."
A vast and ancient power of law descended with his words, forming an invisible contract that was imprinted on Jiang Yu's perception.
Jiang Yu looked at the heavily injured, completely innocent Pan Shi beside her, and sensed the instinctive rejection of the tampering power from the Source Key within her body. She knew she had no way out. This was not only for self-preservation, but also for atonement, to make up for the mistakes she had made that had implicated innocent people.
“I promise you!” Jiang Yu said firmly, “But please, you must ensure the safety of Pan Shi!”
Xuan Tongjun nodded slightly: "This boy has a resilient spirit and his life is not meant to end here. I will protect his life." With that, he flicked his finger, and a ray of gentle light merged into the rock, stabilizing his rapidly weakening life force.
97. Lost in the Battle
Xuan Tongjun flicked the "Dust of Time" into Jiang Yu's body. A gentle yet mysterious power instantly merged into the Source Key, not only repairing the previous damage but also giving Jiang Yu an unprecedentedly keen perception of the flow of time. He could clearly "hear" a malicious and discordant "melody" echoing in the depths of spacetime, attempting to cover up the original trajectory.
“Remember, the enemy is in the present of the past. You are the variable, and also the hope.” Xuan Tongjun waved his sleeve, his figure gradually fading away, as if merging into the flow of time. “I will wait for good news at the end of cause and effect.”
After Xuan Tongjun disappeared, Jiang Yu discovered that the surrounding scenery had not returned to normal. They were still in the broken, eerie ruins of the Silent Tomb. Tartarus was gone, but a deeper, more pervasive sense of oppression enveloped the surroundings. The entire spacetime itself was permeated with a discordant distortion, like a poorly altered painting, slowly but surely heading towards a predetermined, malicious "endgame."
Under the protection of Xuan Tongjun's power, the young Pan Shi slowly awoke. The wound on his left arm was still shocking, but his life was no longer in danger. He looked around blankly, and finally his gaze fell on Jiang Yu, his eyes filled with the bewilderment of surviving a disaster, deep gratitude, and a lingering fear.
"Administrator...who was that just now?" His voice was hoarse.
Jiang Yu looked at him, her heart filled with guilt. "A... senior who came to help. Pan Shi, listen," he said heavily, "we couldn't go back. We're trapped in a... history that's been altered. Everything you've experienced shouldn't have happened. It was my mistake that dragged you down with me."
Rock was stunned, processing this unbelievable information. He looked at his nearly destroyed giant shield and his battered body, then at Jiang Yu's sincere but weary face. Finally, the confusion in his eyes was gradually replaced by a simple determination.
“No, Administrator.” He struggled to his feet, his spine straight despite his still weakness. “You have saved my life, more than once. No matter where we are, no matter what we face, my shield will be in front of you. It is my duty, and it is my choice.”
Jiang Yu was deeply moved by this unwavering loyalty even in the face of dire straits. He took a deep breath and pointed into the depths of the ruins, where ominous ripples, unique to the altered spacetime, permeated the air.
"Our enemy is lurking in that twisted shadow. It wants to erase our existence, to erase all possibilities for the future." Jiang Yu's eyes sharpened like knives. "We must find it, and defeat it before this history is completely 'written to death'! This is not only to go back, but also to... reclaim the real future that belongs to you, to all of us!"
A new journey unfolds within this altered rift in time. This time, they are no longer passive fugitives, but proactive disruptors.
98. Footprints of Time
The "Dust of Time" left behind by Xuan Tongjun flowed slowly within Jiang Yu's body, like the most precise compass, bestowing upon him a "temporal intuition" that transcended the five senses. He closed his eyes, no longer merely looking at the ruins, but "listening" to the "sound" of time itself flowing here.
Chaos and cacophony, like the jarring noise of a damaged record. But deep within this noise, he caught a discordant, malicious "melody"—it forcefully superimposed the original flow of time, attempting to lead everything to a deathly silence. This is what Xuan Tongjun called "the traces of the alterer."
"This way." Jiang Yu opened her eyes, her sharp gaze pointing to a collapsed archway deep within the ruins that seemed no different from the rest of the place. The space there exhibited a subtle distortion that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, as if viewing the scenery through a layer of uneven heat.
The young Pan Shi nodded without hesitation, gripping the tattered giant shield tightly. The wound on his left arm still throbbed with a numbing pain, but the fear in his eyes had been replaced by a resolute will to protect. He silently moved to a position slightly ahead and to the side of Jiang Yu, forming a defensive line with his body and shield. Although this line might be utterly vulnerable before a forbidden being, the very act itself provided Jiang Yu with immense support.
The two cautiously passed through the archway and entered an even more dilapidated area. It resembled the ruins of an ancient temple, with massive stone pillars broken in half and fragments of metal and crystal scattered across the ground, their original forms unrecognizable. The air was thick with dust and a strange odor, a mixture of rust and ozone.
The sensation of "Dust of Time" became increasingly clear. Jiang Yu could "see" some pale gray, ghost-like "footprints" remaining in the void. These footprints were not left by physical entities, but rather by some being that traversed time and space and interfered with the rules of this place, leaving behind reverse "ripples" on the timeline.
“It’s been here before,” Jiang Yu crouched down, her fingertips brushing against what appeared to be ordinary gravel, a faint stinging sensation emanating from the Source Key. “And more than once. It was… ‘adjusting’ the historical trajectory of this area.”
The rock-like creature warily surveyed its surroundings, its giant shield subtly adjusting its angle: "What is it looking for? Or is it just causing destruction?"
“I don’t know.” Jiang Yu stood up, his brows furrowed. “But its ‘adjustment’ was full of purpose. Look at the direction these footprints are heading…” He pointed to the direction where the pale gray marks converged, “They are all pointing to the same place—that direction should be the original… ‘energy core’ of this tomb.”
99. The Falsified "Foundation"
Following the trail of time, Jiang Yu and Pan Shi arrived at a much larger underground space. This place had once seemed to be a huge circular altar, and something should have been placed at the center of the altar, but now only a huge, forcibly torn crater remained. The edges of the crater were eerily smooth, as if it had been instantly annihilated by some extreme force.
At this moment, what is most unsettling is that above the crater, a constantly writhing and shifting vortex of dark purple energy floats. At the center of the vortex, a broken rune, radiating an ominous light, is faintly visible, slowly rotating. It is this rune that is constantly emitting malicious fluctuations that distort the timeline.
“That’s it,” Jiang Yu whispered, sensing the strong warning coming from the “Dust of Time.” “It’s trying to use this thing to replace the ‘cornerstone’ that originally maintained the balance of this place, thereby fixing ‘extinction’ as the historical outcome!”
The moment they discovered the energy vortex, the dark purple energy seemed to sense their presence as well! The vortex suddenly accelerated its rotation, radiating intense hostility! Several shadow tentacles, formed from distorted fragments of time and pure malice, shot out from the vortex like venomous snakes, heading straight for Jiang Yu and Pan Shi.
These tentacles are not physical attacks; wherever they pass, space emits a piercing sound, like glass being scraped, and the flow of time becomes chaotic, sometimes extremely fast, sometimes frozen.
"Be careful! Don't take it head-on!" Jiang Yu shouted, while simultaneously activating "Dust of Time" to create an extremely thin yet exceptionally resilient "Time Membrane" in front of him.
With a roar, the rock did not choose to block with its shield, but instead poured all its strength into the shield and slammed the giant shield heavily into the ground.
boom!
A powerful shockwave emanated from the shield, not attacking the tentacles, but violently disturbing the ground and the flow of time below. This sudden, environmental disturbance caused the trajectory of the shadowy tentacles to deflect slightly and unpredictably, narrowly missing the two figures.
This is the way the rock learned to cope with desperate situations through its fighting instincts—to disrupt the very foundation upon which it exists when faced with attacks that cannot be directly defended against.
"Well done!" Jiang Yu praised, simultaneously seizing the opportunity to focus the power of the "Dust of Time" into his eyes, fixing his gaze on the shattered rune at the center of the vortex. "It's anchoring its existence to that rune! As long as we destroy the rune, we can severely damage it!"
100. The Opportunity for a Reversal
However, destroying the runes was no easy task. The dark purple energy vortex provided tight protection, and more shadow tentacles continued to spawn, their attacks becoming increasingly fierce. Jiang Yu and Pan Shi could only rely on their tacit cooperation and the warnings from "Dust of Time" to barely dodge among the altar ruins, facing constant danger.
Jiang Yu's mind raced. Forcibly crashing into the energy vortex would be tantamount to suicide. Xuan Tongjun had said he was a "variable." Perhaps the key to breaking the deadlock wasn't the clash of forces, but rather… introducing a new "variable"?
His gaze swept over the broken stone pillars and scattered ancient fragments around the altar. These were part of the original structure of the place, containing original historical information that had not been completely erased.
A bold idea emerged.
"Rock! Buy me ten seconds! Don't attack the vortex, focus all your efforts on destroying those broken pillars with runes engraved on them at the edge of the altar!" Jiang Yu shouted.
Although puzzled, Pan Shi had already established absolute trust in Jiang Yu. He roared, no longer dodging, and wielded his giant shield with tremendous force, using shield bashes and body ramming to lure away several approaching shadow tentacles, while simultaneously smashing his fist into the broken pillar that Jiang Yu had designated.
Jiang Yu then took the opportunity to immerse herself in the Source Key and the "Dust of Time," no longer fighting against the malice, but instead trying her best to sense and amplify the faint primordial temporal aura remaining in the fragments of the broken pillars.
He wanted to forcefully awaken a trace of the "true past" within the distorted history.
As more and more pillars of the rock crumbled, wisps of extremely faint yet pure and ancient energy began to emanate from the fragments. Jiang Yu guided the "Dust of Time," like spinning thread, gathering and weaving these wisps together, ultimately forming a small, soft, and stable milky-white halo.
The appearance of this halo was like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil. The dark purple energy vortex twisted and boiled violently. The history it had altered reacted violently with this halo that represented "reality."
Right now.
Jiang Yu used all her strength to push the milky white halo violently toward the broken runes at the center of the energy vortex.
laugh--!
Like a red-hot iron block falling into ice water, a piercing sound rang out. The instant the milky white halo came into contact with the dark purple runes, a violent energy clash erupted! The entire altar space trembled violently.
The light on the broken rune flickered rapidly, becoming extremely unstable. The malevolent energy swirling around it began to spiral out of control and backfire.
"It's a success." Jiang Yu was overjoyed.
However, just before the rune was about to collapse, a cold, resentful thought pierced Jiang Yu's mind like a sharp cone:
"Disruptor...you cannot stop it...death will inevitably come..."
Immediately afterwards, the dark purple energy vortex suddenly contracted inward, then exploded with a deafening roar. It wasn't an energy explosion, but rather a small-scale, out-of-control temporal collapse.
A powerful suction force emanated from the center of the explosion, attempting to drag everything into the turbulent flow of time.
"Rock Solid!" Jiang Yu shouted hoarsely, unleashing all the remaining power of "Dust of Time" to create a barrier protecting the two of them.
The light devoured everything.
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