The Diary of a Renter
106. Broken Coordinates
In the center of the square, the spacetime coordinate model projected by the damaged instrument flickered like a candle in a storm, its light flashing rapidly, its structural edges constantly collapsing and reforming, as if it might be completely annihilated at any moment. The resonance it emitted was like a red-hot probe, not only piercing Jiang Yu's soul, but also causing a burning throbbing in the scar on the young Pan Shi's left arm that had been eroded by nothingness.
"We must hurry, this coordinate system won't hold for much longer!" Jiang Yu suppressed her discomfort, her gaze sweeping over the cold body of the old rock before finally settling on her young partner's face, etched with trust and resolve. "This journey against the current of cause and effect is a hundred times more dangerous than our journey here. Hold fast to your convictions, no matter what you see or hear, do not waver!"
The young Rock nodded emphatically, holding the tattered giant shield "Unbreakable Barrier" horizontally in front of him. Despite the numerous cracks on the shield's surface, his posture remained as steady as a rock: "As long as my shield is there, I am here!"
Jiang Yu closed his eyes and concentrated, immersing all his will into the Source Key. The fine cracks at the core of the Source Key throbbed with pain under the pressure of the power, but guided by the "Dust of Time," it faithfully burned its remaining essence, attempting to establish a connection with that distant and fragile coordinate. This process was like trying to cast a thin thread across a raging storm to a dying lamp on the opposite bank.
Buzz—!!!
The moment the connection was established, it wasn't a gentle pull, but a tearing sensation as if the heavens and earth were collapsing. Centered on them, the space, already riddled with cracks, crumbled like glass shattered by a tremendous force. What was revealed wasn't emptiness, but a chaotic torrent of destructive energy, wildly distorted and filled with countless shrieking fragments of time. A powerful suction instantly seized the two, threatening to drag them into eternal chaos.
"Now, let's go!" Jiang Yu roared hoarsely, using the "Dust of Time" to lock onto the coordinates for the last time, like moths drawn to a flame, leading the two of them to recklessly crash into the raging torrent.
107. Shadow of the Contract
Upon entering the reverse current, Jiang Yu felt as if she had been thrown into a rapidly spinning, spiked time-space grinding wheel. Countless echoes of the past—
The fragments of battles, joy, and sorrow he had experienced, mixed with countless tragic scenes from "possibilities" that he had never witnessed (such as the annihilation of Shirin's starlight, Zero being swallowed by space, and Blood Axe's death), flashed through his consciousness like an out-of-control revolving lantern. Even more terrifying was the paradoxical ripples generated by their journey against the tide itself, which, like invisible shackles, constantly wrapped around and tightened, attempting to utterly crush them.
"Ugh!" The young Rock let out a painful groan. The illusion he saw was even more direct—countless "selves" were being destroyed in various ways before his eyes, the giant shield shattered, and his body disintegrated. The wound on his left arm was even more excruciating, as if it were being repeatedly cut by countless tiny shards of spacetime.
"Hold fast to your principles, those are all illusions yet to happen!" Jiang Yu's voice rang out in the consciousness link, tinged with pain yet exceptionally firm. He pushed the power of "Dust of Time" to its limit, constructing a constantly fluctuating, seemingly fragile time membrane around the two of them, struggling to resist.
In a particularly violent paradoxical shock, the membrane twisted violently, and a sharp fragment of spacetime grazed the rock's neck, leaving a trail of blood. A flicker of fear crossed the young shield warrior's eyes, but the next second, he saw a vision of Jiang Yu being swallowed by shadows while protecting him.
"No!" Pan Shi roared, the confusion in his eyes vanishing, replaced by an unwavering resolve. He ceased passive defense and slammed his massive shield heavily against the invisible barrier, unleashing a silent roar: "My shield protects the present, protects the future! Not these damned phantoms!" This protective power, originating from his will, resonated strangely with Jiang Yu's power, causing the temporal membrane to solidify slightly in an instant.
Jiang Yu felt this power and was shocked, gaining a new understanding of the potential of the young Pan Shi.
As they approached the coordinates, the "pulling force" emanating from Xuan Tongjun grew stronger, but Jiang Yu also sensed something amiss. The force seemed gentle, guiding the way, yet at the most crucial moments, it subtly stirred the surrounding turbulence, adding deadly "accidents" to the already perilous journey.
One was a sudden appearance of a spacetime vortex, and the other was several paradoxical blades that silently attacked the back of the rock, both of which Jiang Yu narrowly escaped.
“This traction…is it like a ‘test,’ or it’s like… a ‘pruning’?” A terrifying thought arose in Jiang Yu’s mind.
Finally, the core of the coordinates was within reach. But at the entrance, the turbulent flow of spacetime formed a massive, millstone-like rotating barrier. On the barrier, the ultimate vision of the fallen future they had just escaped was clearly reflected: the Tree of Hope withered completely, the endless corridor turned to dust, and all familiar scents vanished... These images, carrying the spiritual pollution of despair, frantically assaulted the will of the two.
"The final hurdle, let's break through!" Jiang Yu suppressed all doubts and, together with Pan Shi, raised their power to its peak, transforming into a shooting star that surged against the current, crashing fiercely into the barrier.
108. The Silent Audience
It was as if a layer of extremely tough yet extremely cold gelatinous membrane had been shattered; all the chaos and noise vanished abruptly, replaced by an absolute, heart-stopping silence.
After the intense dizziness subsided, Jiang Yu and Pan Shi found themselves in an infinitely vast, pure white space devoid of any boundaries. There was nothing there, only countless tiny, shimmering "moments" drifting and disappearing like stardust. Within each point of light, a silhouette of history was faintly reflected, as if this were the intersection of the beginning and end of all timelines.
In the center of the space, a simple, grayish-white stone platform, neither stone nor jade, floats in the air, and the platform is empty.
Beside the stone platform, the figure standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at the endless stardust, almost made Jiang Yu's heart stop beating.
Clad in a moon-white robe with dark cloud patterns, his glass-like eyes are as deep as the eternal starry sky—Wan Jie Li Ran · Xuan Tong Jun.
He slowly turned around, his face expressionless, showing neither surprise nor welcome, only a calm that seemed to have seen through the ages and transcended worldly concerns. His gaze swept over the disheveled and wounded Jiang Yu and Pan Shi, finally settling on Jiang Yu.
“They’ve arrived.” He spoke calmly, his voice eerily clear in the absolute silence of the space, without the slightest echo. “They’re here three and a seventh of a time earlier than I predicted. It seems the ‘echo’ over there is… more ‘enthusiastic’ than expected.”
Young Pan Shi instinctively took a half step forward, using his tattered giant shield to subtly protect Jiang Yu, even though he knew this action might be meaningless in front of the other party. Xuan Tongjun's gaze seemed to casually sweep over the grayish-white scar on Pan Shi's left arm, and a barely perceptible but chilling smile curved the corner of his mouth, as if he were admiring an... interesting flawed item.
"Where...is this?" Jiang Yu asked in a hoarse voice, suppressing her surging emotions and doubts. "Before the contract was signed? Who exactly are you? Were those 'accidents' your doing?"
Xuan Tongjun did not answer directly. He raised his hand and gently brushed his fingertips across a floating speck of light beside him. The speck of light reflected the scene of Jiang Yu and Pan Shi crashing into the barrier.
"This place is the source of 'cause and effect,' the cornerstone of 'narrative.' Observe the rise and fall of all things, and record the changing of eras." He withdrew his hand, his glassy eyes looking at Jiang Yu again, his gaze carrying an almost cruel scrutiny and a trace of indescribable...pity.
“As for me,” he tilted his head slightly, his tone still calm, “I am the ‘witness’ to this covenant, and also the ‘observer’ of your long river of destiny. And those little ‘twists and turns’…” He paused, a glint of something unfathomable flashing in his eyes, “are merely to ensure that the ‘key’ presented to me is sharp enough.”
As he spoke, the space above the stone platform rippled slightly, and the phantom of a transparent crystal—the Momentary Mirror Core—with a nebula slowly rotating inside and exuding an aura of eternal tranquility, slowly emerged, emitting a gentle yet undeniable summons.
The shadow of the contract has never been so clear and cold. And the one holding the pieces seems to have been waiting for a long time.
109. The Showdown Game
Xuan Tongjun's words were like an ice pick, piercing through the last vestige of hope in Jiang Yu's heart.
"Key," "sharp," "observer"... these words piece together a chilling truth—their struggles along the way, and even this future of ruin, may just be an experiment, a drama, in the eyes of this transcendent being.
Although the young Pan Shi couldn't fully comprehend those profound terms, Xuan Tongjun's all-knowing calm, viewing all beings as mere pawns, and the fleeting, tool-like look in his eyes when he glanced at his own wounds, instilled an instinctive anger and vigilance in the young shield warrior. He gripped the tattered greatsword tightly, his muscles taut, like a beast poised to pounce, standing firmly in front of Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Fear and anger wouldn't solve anything. He looked directly into Xuan Tongjun's eyes, which seemed to reflect the eternal starry sky, and asked, word by word:
"So, from beginning to end, everything was part of your calculations? Tartarus's awakening, our time travel, that fallen future... even the [Oath of Time] itself, was it all a setup? What exactly are you trying to do?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Tongjun's barely perceptible smile seemed to widen slightly, carrying an indescribable sense of amusement.
“Calculation? Scheme?” He shook his head slightly, his sleeves fluttering, and the stardust floating around him shifted and transformed into countless scenes of birth and death. “I never ‘calculate’ the crawling trajectory of ants, nor do I set traps to catch fish in streams. I merely… observe. Observe how the system evolves after the introduction of variables, and how the story is written.”
His gaze swept over the Source Key on Jiang Yu's chest, and the faint wisp of "Dust of Time".
"Tartarus's awakening is an inevitable collapse caused by the system's own 'entropy increase,' a pre-written prologue. Your transmigration is an interesting resonance of variables (your source key and my dust) under dire circumstances. That fallen future is one of countless possibilities, and one with an extremely high probability. As for the [Pact of Time]..."
He paused, then turned his gaze back to the floating phantom of the "momentary mirror core".
"It's an invitation, and also a... stress test. I want to see whether a variable given 'possibility,' after knowing part of the 'script,' will choose to submit to the 'predestined' ending, or will... try to rewrite the ending."
"You treat the survival of countless lives as a 'stress test'?" The young rock could no longer contain himself and shouted angrily, though his voice was so weak in this space.
Xuan Tongjun finally turned his gaze to the rock. His gaze was devoid of any emotion, only pure scrutiny, as if he were looking at a strange creation that had just made a sound.
"Life? Survival?" His tone remained calm. "The heat death of the universe is also an end, and the birth of stars is also a beginning. The survival of an individual is but a ripple in the long river of time. What I am concerned with is the resilience of the 'narrative' itself and the boundaries of 'possibilities'. Your struggles, anger, protection... these emotional variables are the most valuable observational data."
He looked at Jiang Yu again, his eyes seeming to hold a deeper, indescribable meaning.
“And you, young Key Holder, you have proven your ‘sharpness.’ You not only found this place, but you also brought an… interesting unexpected variable.” His gaze swept over the rock again. “A ‘background’ that should have been eliminated early in the ‘test’ has become a ‘guardian constant’ throughout because of your intervention. This is very interesting, beyond my initial deduction.”
110. Fragments of the Truth
Xuan Tongjun's words were cold and cruel, yet they allowed Jiang Yu to grasp a crucial point. He quickly connected all the clues: the "initial cause" and "contract trap" in the administrator's notebook in the fallen future, the "stress test" and "observational narrative" mentioned by Xuan Tongjun...
A terrifying thought popped into his mind.
"That 'being' who altered history in the 'past,' awakened Tartarus, and caused the future to fall... Is it you? Or is it another 'variable' that you guided?" Jiang Yu's voice trembled with excitement.
Xuan Tongjun neither admitted nor denied it, but simply said: "'Cause' and 'effect' are not linear. Perhaps it is because you came here and touched the 'mirror core' that the 'cause' of 'alteration' was planted upstream in time. The mystery of time lies in its non-linearity and self-consistency."
He pointed to the suspended phantom of the "momentary mirror core".
"Now, the choice is in your hands. Touch it, fulfill the [Contract of Time], and you will be sent back to your 'present'. You can try to reverse the high probability of the fall with the memories of the 'Prophet'. Of course, you may also just hasten its arrival, or... open up an even worse branch."
“Or,” Xuan Tongjun’s figure began to fade slightly, as if to merge into this pure white space, “you can choose to stay here and remain eternally silent with this ‘Source of Cause and Effect.’ Then, all possibilities will be closed, including… the worst possible outcome.”
This is an open strategy. Xuan Tongjun has given a choice, but any choice could be subject to his "observation" and "guidance." He doesn't care about the outcome, only the process.
Jiang Yu looked at the battered but determined Pan Shi beside him, at his massive shield riddled with holes yet still striving to protect. He remembered the lights of the endless corridor, the smiles of his companions. He remembered the exclamation mark written in blood by the administrator in that fallen future, and the cold, aged body of Pan Shi.
Retreat might bring eternal peace, but it also means giving up all possibilities, abandoning those he swore to protect. Moving forward might lead to a deeper trap, but... it also means hope.
He did not hesitate.
“I have only ever made one choice.” Jiang Yu stepped forward, her gaze unwavering as she looked at Xuan Tongjun. “I will go back. I will fight to the very end. Not for your ‘observation,’ but for everything I have protected.”
Xuan Tongjun's figure almost completely faded, leaving only a blurry outline and the last lingering thought that seemed to carry a faint sigh:
“Very well… Well then, return to your stage. Let me see what kind of… final act this ‘key’ of yours can ultimately unlock.”
As he finished speaking, the suspended "momentary mirror core" phantom suddenly shone brightly, completely engulfing Jiang Yu and Pan Shi.
A strong pull came again, but this time, it was a return journey towards "the present".
However, just before her consciousness was engulfed by the light, Jiang Yu clearly saw that in the deepest part of that pure white space, behind the countless points of light that came and went, the true form of Xuan Tongjun seemed to be faintly reflected—it was not human, but an incomparably huge, cold and precisely operating phantom wheel made up of countless gears, pendulums, and hourglasses, coldly watching everything.
The feeling of time and space shifting washed over me again.
Will they be able to return to the true "present" this time? What kind of situation awaits them?
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