As the light and shadow faded, the night sky returned to its deathly silence, but the spiraling pillar of light that pierced through the heavens and earth did not extinguish.
It seemed to come alive, and under the astonished gaze of the crowd, it contracted and sank in an elegant and slow manner, like molten gold, pouring into the malt bud that was suspended in mid-air.
As the light faded, the flower bud lost its plant-like texture and transformed completely into a translucent, crystal-like flower core.
It floats silently, about the size of a fist. Within its crystalline core, countless tiny streaks of light flow slowly like a galaxy. Each flicker seems to tell a story of an unknown past.
As if possessed, Lin Yi reached out his hand, and just as his fingertips were about to touch the cold crystal, a brief afterimage appeared out of thin air in his palm.
The image is crystal clear—five-year-old boy, his little hand tightly held by a warm, large hand, is walking step by step through the towering steel gate of the letter-burning station.
The mother's gentle profile, the acrid smell of burnt paper in the air, and the cold metal floor beneath my feet... everything felt so real it was unsettling.
The afterimage flashed by, but Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat.
He clenched his fists suddenly, and a revolutionary thought flashed through his mind like lightning: these traces of light are not just cold memory channels at all!
They are “living archives” of emotions that have been burned, forgotten, and forcibly stripped away!
It is the last bit of warmth left to this world by those people who have vanished into the dust of history.
He immediately turned around and rushed back to the temporary command room, his eyes fixed on the screen, retrieving all the images recorded by the "Light-Guided Vigil" project.
Those thirty-seven points where light paths intersect form a strange yet precise star map on the city map.
He overlaid it with a city defense map from ninety years ago, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
A perfect match!
Each point of light corresponds precisely to the position of the "first generation of Night Listeners" team when they sacrificed themselves at the last moment ninety years ago!
They didn't fall randomly; they were building an unknown coordinate with their lives!
Just then, Ivan's whisper from the depths of the earth resounded once more. This time, it was no longer a vague number, but carried a strange sense of relief: "...Ninety-five...not a number...is a name..."
It's not the quantity, it's the name!
Lin Yi's heart was pounding faster and faster. He rushed into the dusty archives and frantically searched through the sweat and dust.
Finally, he found the answer in a wartime diary that had been eaten away by termites and was almost illegible.
A line of small characters written in special ink was hidden in the lining of the notebook: "Unit 95, ordered to be filed. Code name interpretation: Grouping of unregistered returnees."
Unregistered...returnees.
They should have gone home, but they remained on the road forever, becoming the first ray of light protecting this city.
The shock of the truth made Lin Yi's breathing quicken. He had to verify an even bolder conjecture: Could humans also step onto this path paved with emotions and memories?
He returned to the hospital and stood in front of the crack in the outer wall.
This is the closest source of the light trail to him.
Without hesitation, he took out an old windproof oil lamp from his pocket. The wick was made from a strand of his own hair and a piece of his clothing.
He closed his eyes and poured the most unforgettable memory of his life into the faint flame without reservation.
That was the image of his mother, with her last ounce of strength, tightly holding his hand before she passed away.
That reluctance to part, worry, and endless love are the softest yet most solid foundation of his heart.
The moment the memory was infused, the oil lamp flame flickered and changed from a dim yellow to a deep pale blue.
A miracle happened.
The previously dormant light spots and footprints underground seemed to have sensed the presence of their kind, and they spontaneously spread out from the depths of the crack, like a gentle stream of light, stretching all the way to his feet.
Lin Yi took a deep breath, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze.
He slowly raised his foot and stepped on the first point of light.
Buzz—
The instant his feet touched the point of light, countless whispers exploded in his ears, as if thousands of people were speaking to him at the same time, yet he could not hear a single complete word.
Immediately afterwards, a long-lost warmth rose from the soles of my feet, quickly spreading throughout my body, and a fine shiver ran down my skin.
It felt like being gently watched by countless pairs of kind eyes.
He steadied himself and took the second step.
The view changed drastically without warning!
The streets, hospitals, and night before your eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a wartime ruin of broken walls and rubble.
Black, ashe-like scraps of paper floated in the air; these were the identity files that had been burned in a concentrated manner back then.
The pungent smell of gunpowder and burnt paper mingled together and filled the nostrils.
Not far away, a young girl in an old-fashioned nurse's uniform was squatting in the corner of the collapsed wall. Her semi-transparent silhouette was exactly the same as the image that appeared in the surveillance footage.
She was carefully hiding a small medicine bottle in a loose crack in the brickwork, her face filled with tension and anticipation.
Lin Yi's heart was pounding, but he didn't disturb her.
He understood that he was in a "archived" memory.
He was just an observer, a passerby.
He silently noted down the details of her movements as she hid the medicine bottle, and then, with unwavering resolve, took his third step forward.
With one step, the ruins receded like the tide, and the real night enveloped him once more.
Everything seemed like an illusion.
But when he looked down, he found that there was a yellowed, brittle piece of paper in his hand.
A line of small print was written on it in neat handwriting: "Painkillers, three-day supply. For the bravest lad."
Lin Yi's fingers trembled slightly.
He succeeded.
Walking on light trails can bring back memories and even bring back "tokens" from the past!
But this comes at a price: the most genuine and intense emotions as fuel.
He realized that the scope of memories he could access on his own was ultimately limited.
In order to reach these dormant traces of light more widely and awaken more forgotten truths, he needs more "fuel".
He issued a special call to action.
Seven volunteers were selected; they were all people who had lived in the city for more than three generations and whose family history was closely intertwined with the city's fate.
Lin Yi had only one request for them: bring an old object that carried their own or their family's strongest memories.
At dusk, seven volunteers formed a circle beneath the ruins of the long-abandoned city clock tower.
Before them lay a worn wedding ring, a rusty military medal, a children's music box that could still produce broken syllables, and Lin Yi's oil lamp burning with a pale blue flame.
"Now, pour your deepest emotions into your tokens and light the lamp of your hearts." Lin Yi's voice was deep and powerful.
Seven "heart lamps" based on old objects were lit at the same time, and the flames displayed different colors.
In an instant, the dormant light path beneath the clock tower ruins was fully activated, like countless awakened vines, growing wildly upwards, wrapping the entire mottled clock tower tightly, and radiating an unprecedentedly brilliant light.
“I…I remember now…” A veteran volunteer holding his medals suddenly burst into tears. He pointed to the top of the bell tower, his voice trembling, “My grandfather…he was the bell ringer back then! Ninety years ago, at the very last moment, he was the one who rang the alarm bell here!”
Before he finished speaking, the old soldier's shadow was stretched out dramatically by the light, and it briefly overlapped with a fleeting afterimage of a hand holding a hammer at the top of the clock tower!
Just then, something unexpected happened.
In Lin Yi's arms, the malt flower core that had been quietly suspended suddenly began to tremble violently, and the light on its surface flickered rapidly.
The next second, an unprecedentedly thick golden beam of light shot out from it, like a sharp arrow, tearing through the night sky and pointing straight to the deepest part of the city, that core fissure that was listed as the highest forbidden zone!
Ivan's whisper rang out for the third time. This time, it was no longer a calm statement, but carried an uncontrollable urgency and pressure: "...They...want you...to lead the way..."
Does "them" refer to those ancestors who turned into traces of light?
Lin Yi's gaze fell on the holographic map, where the area locked by the golden light was marked with a chilling name—"Zero Forbidden Zone".
According to legend, the place where the first wall inscription was created is also the root of all the abnormal phenomena in the entire city.
An absolutely forbidden area that even he had never set foot in.
He slowly put away the rusty wheat ear that symbolized the beginning of everything, feeling the trembling, crystalline flower core in his palm as if it were beckoning him. He murmured to himself, as if answering those unseen gazes, or as if giving himself a command:
"If it's just a road, then I'll walk it."
The night was deep, and the decision had been made.
But the Zero Zone is not a place that one person can conquer alone.
Lin Yi's gaze swept over the seven volunteers present, their faces a mixture of shock, fear, and a strange sense of mission.
What he needs is not a mob, but fellow travelers with strong will, emotions, and abilities.
His gaze eventually settled on the three people.
The veteran whose memories overlapped with those of his ancestors held unwavering conviction; a young female historian brought a family diary as a token, recording three generations' observations of the wall language, her reason and knowledge indispensable; and finally, a taciturn young man brought a broken key, said to be the only relic left by his long-lost prospector father, his eyes burning with the flame of a search for answers.
Belief, knowledge, and desire. This was the initial team he had chosen.
Lin Yi walked up to the three of them, said nothing more, and simply pushed the oil lamp with the pale blue flame burning towards them.
“The road lies ahead, but I know nothing of what lies on it.” His voice echoed beneath the silent clock tower. “Once you step in, you may never come back.”
The three exchanged a glance, and then, without hesitation, simultaneously reached out and placed their palms on the warm lampshade.
Their determination is the best answer.
Lin Yi nodded, turned around and looked at the golden light pointing to the Zero Forbidden Zone. It was like a divine decree that stretched across the heavens and earth, majestic yet full of unknown dangers.
He gripped the crystalline flower core in his hand, feeling the swirling, star-like power within it.
Four elongated shadows, cast by the light, moved slowly beneath the ancient clock tower ruins, eventually converging and resolutely heading towards the dark depths that represented the city's ultimate secret.
The journey home has begun, and this time, they will embark on a path that no one has ever traveled before, leading to the source.
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