Accepting the true self is not an easy task.

Ye City is in peril, yet Bai Yanliang leans against the railing by the river bank, with countless thoughts stirring in his mind.

Looking back, after this journey, he is no longer who he once was.

The sky above the city is filled with a bloody glow, giant trees canopy the top, Bai Yanliang spoke of the cold and sharp river wind, silently watching the river, now reflecting a blood-red hue.

The sky is unclear, the light dim, this relatively young Ye City, which has already seen many stories, seems to be approaching its end.

Strange sounds fill the city, there are struggling roars and screams, as well as angry curses and howls, vaguely, there seem to be distant calls.

Walking on the footpath by the river bank, along this familiar road, Bai Yanliang walks slowly.

Passing by a shop, he uses the shop's floor-to-ceiling glass to see his own reflection.

Bai Yanliang stands silently in front of the glass, reaches out his hand, and his fingers gently slide across the surface of the glass.

The face inside looks familiar, but is actually... deeply unfamiliar.

In the blink of an eye, he has lost everything, even himself.

He is not Zhou Tian and Meng Zhen's son, not Bai Yanren's brother, not a son of the Bai Family, Bai Yanliang.

Not even... himself.

This world is changing in the direction Bai Yanren hoped for, looking up at the sky, Bai Yanliang wonders what he can do?

Or perhaps, is there even a need to do anything?

He can't even find a reason to convince himself, nor can he prevent this apocalyptic scene.

After all, he is only a human being, although he has an unusual background, he is still just a human.

Bai Yanliang continues his steps along the footpath by the river bank, the river flows by in the corner of his eye, yet also seems to come closer, emitting a subtle flowing sound.

But Bai Yanliang always feels that, like himself, they are no longer what they were.

But what were the original wind, water, river, city like?

He can't quite be sure.

He is changing, the city is also changing.

Bai Yanliang stops walking.

Maybe, Bai Yanren's way isn't so bad after all.

Funny enough, even Bai Yanren has a direction worth striving for, yet Bai Yanliang does not.

In the end, the belief he always thought he persisted in, the belief in uncovering the truth about his "brother's" death, turned out to be just a joke.

This made Bai Yanliang completely lose his direction.

This world no longer has people or things he anticipates, nor do people or things anticipate him.

It seems everything in this world is moving forward, except he is suddenly left in place.

Bai Yanliang leans against the railing, standing by the river bank for a long time.

The river wind grows colder, the river water rushes more urgently.

In a daze, out of the corner of his eye, he catches sight of a white figure, also quietly standing by the river bank.

Bai Yanliang is taken aback.

"Xu Zhifei?"

His lips move, calling out that name.

The river flows gently, yet the wind seems to cease.

A memory suddenly awakens in his mind.

In that chaotic time and space, he and Xu Zhifei seemed to have had a daughter...

But there, it was merely a possibility for the future.

At this moment, he and she have not reached the point of life and death intertwining, making promises with a child.

Yet that vague emotion, which Bai Yanliang had always avoided, did indeed exist.

"I can dream of the future."

Xu Zhifei lifted the hair by her ear, turning her head to look at Bai Yanliang.

Her eyes still resembled a piece of clear jade, but her gaze was much softer.

"It was also here, that I once told you... you are the one who lived to the end."

Xu Zhifei's mouth twitched, struggling to show what could perhaps be called a "smile."

Only then did Bai Yanliang realize that Xu Zhifei's resemblance to him was not only in temperament; in every aspect, she was extremely similar to his former self.

At this moment, he had hazy feelings, but Xu Zhifei seemed still unable to grasp emotions.

"Why are you here?" Bai Yanliang asked, he vaguely felt that Xu Zhifei wanted to tell him something.

It wasn't until Xu Zhifei appeared by his side that Bai Yanliang realized, he actually did have certain expectations, only subconsciously, he avoided acknowledging Xu Zhifei's existence.

He was an extremely intelligent person, and intelligent people have some arrogance, in various aspects.

But in some respects, Bai Yanliang was insecure.

He didn't feel like a complete person, and he couldn't give others overly serious promises.

He dodged, avoided, did not think, did not touch it, yet certain feelings still entangled him.

"Later I found out, what I dreamed of wasn't the future," Xu Zhifei's hair was blown wildly by the river wind, "it was a very long story."

"Would you like to hear it?"

Her shiny black eyes stared straight at him, as if trying to see the appearance of his soul.

Bai Yanliang nodded slowly: "Yes."

"In the story from the dream, I saw another woman's memory."

"She was a scholar who fell in love with another scholar, they discovered another strange world, closely connected to the Human World."

"During an exploration, she, pregnant, accidentally fell into that world."

"She was alone, wandering in the world she named the Fog Realm, a world very monotonous, with only a giant tree, gray-white grass everywhere, and... innumerable human-shaped shells, living and dying by the day."

"She was too lonely, so she began talking to the human-shaped shells around her, one... two... three..."

"No matter how many shells she talked to, those human-shaped shells would shatter like bubbles at some point."

"In her experience, those twisted human-shaped shells, devoid of any consciousness, had only a day's life."

"They didn't even have time to develop consciousness."

Xu Zhifei slowly narrated, this story, always in her dream, until recently, became clearer and clearer.

She understood, these were all the memories the woman had before her death, and also the final method left for the Human World...

"Her belly grew larger by the day."

"One day, she suddenly had an idea, ever since she came to the Fog Realm, her perception of the physical body had become weaker, conversely... she felt her spirit, her consciousness, becoming stronger, she could even control her thoughts to produce certain effects."

"This was absolutely impossible in the Human World, and it proved that the Fog Realm and the Human World were governed by two completely different sets of rules."

"Lonely and isolated, she conducted an experiment."

"Afraid that she would be trapped in this world forever, she tried to 'pack' her memory, and seal it within these blank, twisted shells."

"Even though these shells lived and died each day, she couldn't help but perform this experiment."

"What if? What if the memories were preserved?"

Xu Zhifei turned around, facing Bai Yanliang:

"Her first experiment, was a success."

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