TIMO - Chapter 79
Chapter 79
The sky had completely darkened.
The heavy, swirling snow gradually lessened as the warmth faded from the person in her arms. The initial flurry was gone, leaving only sporadic specks of snow drifting in the air.
The person who had been so vividly alive just moments ago was now growing cold in her embrace, the chill of the falling snow seeping into her.
Shi Nan didn't know how long she had been waiting in the snow.
She still couldn't accept the cruel fact that she had lost Fu Zhao once again.
The wrist she gripped tightly no longer had a vibrant pulse.
The surrounding wind, the air, everything was cold.
Her entire body was stiff, and she could no longer feel her limbs, as if the cold had seeped into her very organs.
She stared blankly at the lifeless Fu Zhao, biting her lip so hard she didn't let go, not even when the thick taste of blood filled her mouth. Her chest felt as if it were being constricted by something.
It hurt so, so much.
The only warmth she could feel came from the tears that streamed from her eyes, flowing down her cheeks and dripping onto Fu Zhao's face.
She hugged Fu Zhao with all her might, an irrepressible sob welling up from her throat.
Until she could hold it back no longer.
She sat there on the side of the road and began to weep uncontrollably.
Despairing and broken.
Until ripples appeared in the air before her, and a figure dressed in black slowly materialized.
It went from transparent to solid before her eyes in an instant, like something from a dream.
If only it really were a dream.
But it wasn't.
It was the woman she had bumped into before. She wore a black trench coat, her figure tall and slender. She stood ramrod straight, looking down at her. Her tea-brown eyes held a cold light, clear and profound, making her seem utterly inscrutable.
Then again, how could she possibly see through someone who could appear out of thin air?
Realizing this, a thought flashed through Shi Nan's mind. She suddenly released her tightly bitten lower lip. The cold stung the wound, sending a sharp pain through her, but she paid it no mind. With tears in her eyes, she looked at the person before her.
“Can you… save her again… Just one more time.”
The woman in black didn't speak. She just watched her quietly, then methodically took the bouquet of peonies from her chest. Her well-proportioned fingers held the bouquet of white, unbloomed flowers and offered it to her.
Stunned, Shi Nan took it subconsciously.
In the blink of an eye, the surroundings transformed. The vast, snowy landscape became a well-arranged wooden house, spacious and bright, with the shadows of indoor lights flickering.
She and the woman in black were now sitting face-to-face on opposite sides of a wooden table.
In that brief moment, her arms became empty again, as if the person she had just been holding was merely a figment of her imagination.
Dazed, Shi Nan lowered her gaze to her clothes. They had been stained with blood—she remembered it was all… Fu Zhao's blood—but now they were perfectly clean, without a speck of dust.
Perhaps noticing what she was looking at, the woman in black lazily lifted her eyes and explained,
“I don't like blood, so I cleaned it up for you.”
No matter how panicked she was, she understood that this was a situation beyond her comprehension.
She looked up at the woman in black. The bouquet of peonies she had just been clutching was now neatly placed back in the pocket on the woman's coat. She lowered her eyelids, and when she looked up again, she bit her lower lip, trying her best to steady her trembling voice.
“Save her. Please, save her again.”
The woman in black glanced at her, her eyes calm and unwavering. She methodically picked up the boiled teapot from the table, took one of the overturned greenish-blue teacups, and placed it gently on the table.
“Shi Nan, this is the eleventh early summer you have experienced on Nanke Island.”
“But it is the first time you have experienced a Nanke Island winter.”
Her detached, cold tone made it sound like she was stating a simple fact, yet it was like a heavy stone dropping into water, sending ripples across the entire pond, and like a heavy hammer striking her heart.
Shi Nan froze, her voice hoarse as she asked, “What do you mean?”
The woman in black didn't look at her, concentrating on pouring the tea. The water flowed from the spout into the cup, steaming.
Her clear, indifferent voice once again broke the silence in the room. Word by word, enunciating clearly, she calmly laid out a shocking truth.
“The first time, you chose never to go to Nanke Island, never to see Fu Zhao, but you met again later. You were targeted by Lu Jingmo, and Fu Zhao died alone in the bone-chilling sea while saving you. It was an accident. You attempted suicide.”
“The second time, you went to Nanke Island and followed Fu Zhao from a distance without meeting her. You were targeted by Lu Jingmo, and Fu Zhao died alone in a dark, hopeless forest while saving you. It was an accident. You attempted suicide.”
“The third time, you went to Nanke Island and broke off the engagement with Fu Zhao. This time, it was Shen Caiwei. Fu Zhao died at the foot of a mountain while saving you, her body undiscovered. It was an accident. You attempted suicide.”
“…”
“The ninth time, you didn't break off the engagement. You and Fu Zhao fell in love and dealt with Shen Caiwei and Lu Jingmo. But later, you went to volunteer at the Omega Rescue Center and were targeted. Fu Zhao died on a very remote planet while saving you, her body carried off by wolves. The culprit was an enemy of the Omega Rescue Center where you were. You attempted suicide.”
“The tenth time, which is this time, as you've seen, you didn't break off the engagement, and you reunited with Fu Zhao and fell in love. This time, Fu Zhao's death wasn't because she was saving you; it was entirely because of that person surnamed Shen.”
“You don't remember any of this because your memories haven't been restored yet. But you've already begged her many times. Fu Zhao has died eleven times, and you have attempted suicide ten times—jumping into the sea, jumping off buildings, hanging, taking poison… you've tried every method. That's why she gave you chance after chance.”
“It's clear you love Fu Zhao very much.”
By the time she finished speaking, the tea was poured.
The woman in black pushed the steaming cup of tea toward her, her fingertips resting on the table. She watched her quietly. “Is there anything else you want to ask?”
Shi Nan was stunned for a long time, staring at the teacup before her, her mouth open but unable to speak.
It turned out things were far more complicated than she had imagined.
She had thought these chances to start over were just her repeating the same mistakes again and again.
After a long while.
She collected her thoughts, wiped the tears from her face, and stared intently at the woman in black, as if searching for an answer. Her voice was bitter as she asked, “So, do I still have a chance?”
“If I can go back one more time, I can still save her.”
The woman in black didn't answer right away. Her fingertips tapped lightly on the table. She glanced at her, her expression unreadable, her voice devoid of any emotion as she spoke.
“No more.”
Those two words crushed all of Shi Nan's hopes.
Shi Nan's thoughts came to a halt. She lowered her eyes, and the tears she had been holding back finally fell. She slumped onto the table, her shoulders trembling nonstop as her tears soaked the sleeve she rested on.
“What are you crying for?”
A calm voice came from above her. “Although there are no more chances to stay here, it's time for the two of you to return to reality.”
Her crying stopped instantly.
Shi Nan shot her head up, tears still welling in her eyes, her knuckles white from clenching her fists. “What does that mean?”
The woman in black looked up at her, her hands folded on the table, her gaze lingering on her.
“If I told you that gods actually exist in this world, would you believe me?”
Her clenched fingers suddenly relaxed. Shi Nan nodded lightly. “I've seen it with my own eyes. Why wouldn't I believe it?”
Hearing this, the woman in black furrowed her brow and muttered softly, “Then why doesn't she believe?”
But in the next moment, her expression turned serious again as she began to explain to the hopeful Shi Nan.
“There are gods in this world, but it's not us. We are merely immortal, not yet gods.”
After saying this, she relaxed her furrowed brow. Staring into Shi Nan's hopeful eyes, she propped her head on her hand. Her ink-black hair cascaded over her shoulder, making her skin seem even fairer. She explained in a soft, low voice,
“Among us immortals, there is one who specializes in dealing with the regrets of the mortal world. Regrets can be unspoken partings or irreversible deaths. In short, those who meet her selection criteria can enter the Realm of Regret she creates to resolve their regrets. Each person only gets one chance to enter the Realm of Regret. If they fail to resolve their regrets there, they won't remember anything about the realm upon returning to reality.”
“You and Fu Zhao were both chosen by her. And as it happens, your Realms of Regret overlapped. Therefore, everything you experienced before, Fu Zhao experienced as well.”
“Your true timeline is actually still paused at the moment Fu Zhao was stabbed. When the two of you wake up, you will return to where you belong—to that very moment.”
“So when we return to reality, we'll go back to that moment? Then Fu Zhao…” Shi Nan tried to calm herself, but she couldn't wait for the woman in black to finish and asked anxiously, “Will she… die?”
The woman in black's eyes showed no ripple of emotion. She gave her a lazy glance. “She won't.”
The breath Shi Nan had been holding in her chest was released. The amount of information was overwhelming; she could only force herself to accept it, unable to sort through her own thoughts.
Fortunately, the woman in black began to explain again.
“You entered the Realm of Regret at that very moment. Everything you thought happened after she was stabbed—including her death, the inheritance of her assets, and Fu Wanqing's subsequent death—none of it has actually happened yet. It was all a projection of what would have happened.”
“She paused your timeline at that moment and had you experience the ‘original ending’ before entering the Realm of Regret, simply to make you realize what your regret truly was. That's all. So, when you wake up, you will return to that original point in time. And because you successfully navigated the Realm of Regret this time…”
As she spoke, the woman in black frowned slightly and sighed imperceptibly. The finger tapping on the wooden table also paused. “As a reward from a true god…”
“Fu Zhao won't die after being stabbed. She'll just bleed a little.”
This was truly the best news Shi Nan had received recently.
She couldn't describe her feelings after hearing all this—it was a mix of lingering fear, joy, and a sense of wistful loss.
She should thank this “God of Regret.” As if waking from a dream, she looked up, the tears in her eyes subsiding. “Thank you…”
“You shouldn't thank me.”
The woman in black cut her off, her eyes flickering. “I'm not the one.”
“Everyone only gets one chance to experience the Realm of Regret. You failed nine times and only succeeded on the tenth, which is why you had this complete experience and were able to face the regret you most wanted to resolve deep down.”
“The regret we most wanted to resolve?” Shi Nan repeated the words and closed her eyes. “Does that mean me not wanting Fu Zhao to die for me, and Fu Zhao wanting to find the courage to accept her identity and express her feelings?”
“Yes.”
The woman in black affirmed, looking absently into the distance. “Coming to your timeline was supposed to be her reward, but because she gave you ten chances, it turned into a punishment.”
“Our timeline?” Shi Nan asked, stunned. “I thought you could travel freely through time and space?”
The woman in black glanced at her, a ripple finally appearing in her calm eyes. “No.”
“The timeline we belong to is from thirty thousand years ago. We were only able to come here because she received a reward from a god. Unexpectedly, what was supposed to be a reward has now become a punishment.”
“I came this time to warn her not to continue. So, if you hadn't succeeded this time, I would have taken her back.”
“But thankfully…” Shi Nan's lips moved, her lashes lowering. “We succeeded.”
“The tea is getting cold…” the woman in black said softly. Then, she plucked a petal from a peony bud in the bouquet on her chest and dropped it into the teacup.
The petal floated on the tea, slowly sank, and finally dissolved, disappearing completely.
“It's time. You should go back.” The woman in black released the hand propping up her cheek and looked at her. “Drink this tea.”
Shi Nan's gaze fell on the teacup. She traced its rim with her fingertip, not drinking right away. Instead, she asked a question first.
“If I drink this, will I forget something?”
The woman in black watched her quietly, her gaze deep, with a faint glimmer of light passing through it.
“Don't worry, you won't forget your Fu Zhao.”
“What you should forget is having met us. When you wake up, you won't know we exist in this world. You'll just feel like you've started over again, you'll recall all your previous memories, and feel incredibly lucky to have… returned to that point in time in reality.”
“Drink,” the woman in black urged again in a low voice.
Shi Nan raised the cup. Just as she was about to bring it to her lips, she paused again. “One last question. May I ask who you are, and who she is?”
“Since you're destined to forget…” The woman in black looked up at her, ripples stirring in her eyes. “Why do you still want to know?”
Shi Nan set the cup down, the base making a dull thud on the wooden table. She pressed her lips together. “At least I can know who it was that helped us.”
The woman in black watched her in silence for a moment, then her gaze shifted to the window as she answered nonchalantly.
“Lian Yuechu, born in the 673rd year of Qinghe, died in the 689th year of Qinghe.”
“Fu Yunqi, born in the 14th year of Jianyuan, died in the 31st year of Jianyuan.”
Author's Notes
Fu Yunqi's surname is Fu, eh...
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