Ye Chang'an knew, but he chose not to interfere.
This was part of fate. He did not dare change it.
So when Sirin brought him home to visit her mother, he shook his head against his heart.
"Sorry, Sirin."
He did not dare save her.
"How could this happen? How could this happen? Chang'an, aren't you Lord God? Why can't you save Mom?"
Sirin shook Ye Chang'an's shoulders in grief, tears constantly streaming from her eyes.
She had once believed Ye Chang'an could do anything, but reality was so cold and merciless.
The first thing he could not do was save her mother.
"Si~rin..."
Awakened by Sirin's voice, her mother weakly called her name and stroked her head.
"Did you forget what I told you? You have to listen to Lord God, okay~?"
Sirin wept bitterly as her mother cast Ye Chang'an an apologetic look.
Ye Chang'an nodded lightly, then turned and left the village, returning to the snowy forest.
His footsteps were somewhat heavy, and his tracks along the way were clearly visible.
He climbed a bare tree and leaned against a branch as he looked up at the starry sky. His red eyes were dim and lifeless.
In this life, he had black hair and red eyes.
"I came here because I changed someone's fate, yet I have to preserve fate by standing idly by."
"Is this really right?"
He was a little lost.
This went against his heart.
Music was what lay in his heart, and music was not something meant to bring pain to others.
Sirin's sobbing still rang in his ears, more heart-wrenching than when he had heard it in the snowy forest before.
"002, what should I do?"
He asked the only temporary customer service agent he could speak to, but 002 ignored him.
Since entering the simulation, that once-active customer service agent had vanished without a trace. Only the text-recorded simulation logs continued flashing.
Ye Chang'an's simulated life should be decided by Ye Chang'an himself.
Touching his chest, he felt an ache in his heart that he had never felt during the previous simulation.
In his previous life, his existence had been too peaceful and stable.
Born on the well-provided-for Mu Continent, even poverty did not leave him worrying about life or education. He had ample time to delve into the things he loved.
He could shine in that golden age because that era needed music.
But in this era, what people needed was not music.
It was survival and health.
Intangible music could not guarantee those things. Only a god who truly existed could.
Ye Chang'an was not a god, did not want to be one, and could not become one.
He only wanted this world to have more time for him to study music.
"Time bought by sacrificing others..."
His red eyes flickered. Looking at the cold moon, he lightly jumped down onto the snow.
"The road of music isn't paved like that, idiot."
Ye Chang'an smiled and returned to Sirin's home with light steps.
Sirin had cried herself to sleep beside her mother, but her mother was still awake.
"Shh~ She's asleep."
Her mother motioned for silence. She intended to get out of bed and speak with Ye Chang'an somewhere else, but even rising was difficult for her.
"Don't worry, she can't hear us."
Ye Chang'an spoke with a light laugh, his voice reaching only her mother's ears.
"(⊙o⊙)..." Her mother was surprised, then understood. She pointed at her own mouth.
"Just say it. She can't hear you."
"Thank you, Lord God." Her mother smiled as she spoke, her voice likewise reaching only Ye Chang'an's ears.
"I'm not a god. I'm Chang'an."
"In Sirin's eyes, you are. Of course, I feel the same way." Her mother smiled, and Ye Chang'an could not be bothered to correct her anymore.
He directly explained why he had come.
"I can restore your body to health, but not now.
So I want you to wait for a while.
And after that, you must be separated from Sirin for a period of time. It won't be long before you can reunite."
Ye Chang'an no longer chose to align himself with fate, but he wanted fate to reach that point.
Because after this fate, there were still many more lives that should not be sacrificed.
So he would align with it temporarily, then change everything completely.
That was his choice.
Her mother did not understand why this was necessary, but she believed Ye Chang'an must have his reasons.
She nodded gently and asked with concern.
"Chang'an, Sirin will find happiness, right?"
More than her own rebirth, she cared about her daughter's happiness.
"...She will be happy."
Ye Chang'an made that promise.
Because his power could at least accomplish that much.
"Thank you, Chang'an." Her mother smiled in thanks, and Ye Chang'an nodded before leaving.
He did not care whether her mother told Sirin about it, because Sirin would find out sooner or later.
Judging by how Sirin crawled into his tree hollow the next day, hugged him, and cried as she thanked him, her mother had indeed told her.
He did not mind, only reminding her.
"Sirin, don't tell anyone about this, understand? This is our secret."
"Mhm, mhm, I won't tell anyone. I promise I won't tell anyone." Sirin nodded desperately, then hugged him again and thanked him fervently.
"Thank you, Lord God."
From that moment onward, Sirin once again believed Ye Chang'an was omnipotent.
Her faith, rebuilt after being shattered, became even firmer. Under the effects of the new Chang'an Melody, it gave birth to a mental imprint resembling a sword heart.
Her Sea of Consciousness Space manifested, and the core resembling a sword heart solidified into a sphere that constantly transformed into various musical instruments.
Her inherited memories were awakened, granting Sirin some of Ye Chang'an's performance skills and techniques for using Destruction energy.
"Uh..." Watching Sirin play with surprising proficiency, Ye Chang'an was dumbfounded.
He finally understood what the new Chang'an Melody did.
Wasn't this just a music version of the Sword Heart Art?
Though it had certain restrictive effects, it was not enough to replace the Sword Heart Art.
Something that merely changed the packaging without changing the substance could still drive people into obsession.
"No, no, this won't work. I need to think of another way."
He once again immersed himself in exploring music.
PS: Happy New Year's Eve!!!
Monthly tickets and free blades expire today, so if you still have any, why not vote them for me? Let me be happy too, okay? (*^▽^*)
Song of World Destruction: Displaced Time: 4. He Created Starlight, Yet Bore the Price
The process of exploring music was not going smoothly, and Ye Chang'an had been very frustrated lately.
Meanwhile, the Schicksal Organization had already begun its operation in Siberia.
On February 7, 1997, a group from the Schicksal Organization flooded into Siberia. Under the pretense of providing medical aid, they took all the patients in the region into custody.
They publicly claimed it was an infectious disease that required isolation and treatment.
Those who cooperated were sent to temporary hospitals, while those who did not were forcibly taken away by the Schicksal Organization for isolation.
Everyone, including Ye Chang'an, was isolated.
He went willingly.
After a round of medical examinations, he and Sirin were sent to the safe zone, while Sirin's mother was placed in another quarantine zone.
"Chang'an, Mom will be okay, right?"
Sirin was still somewhat worried.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine."
Ye Chang'an promised her, then swaggered into the quarantine zone.
Passersby turned a blind eye to him, a child, because all of them had been affected by some mysterious power.
Mimic Feather Dust
Ye Chang'an had borrowed Chi Yuan's Feather Dust while at Tai Xu Mountain. Now, he had made himself a knockoff.
If Otto could accomplish it with Void Archives, there was no reason he could not.
He wandered through the quarantine zone to confirm Sirin's mother's condition, then went elsewhere to check the examination reports.
"Director, the test results are out. The children in the safe zone all have fairly good adaptability."
"Mm, then prepare to wrap things up. Hurry up, we still need to head to the next location."
"Understood."
What exactly "wrapping things up" meant was still unknown, but Ye Chang'an soon found out.
Euthanasia.
Watching the medical staff bring over lethal solution to replace the saline drip, his expression darkened somewhat.
—So they used orphans as test subjects, and if they weren't orphans, they turned them into orphans?
That hypocritical approach was truly disgusting.
He could not stand it. He used Feather Dust's power to plunge every Schicksal member into an illusion, then created another illusion to lure the patients out of the quarantine zone.
Only Schicksal members trapped in illusions remained in the quarantine zone, along with soulless shells created by Ye Chang'an.
The living would continue living, while the dead would replace the living as those killed beneath the Schicksal Organization's claws.
At this moment, false fate had changed from one person into a group of people.
Ye Chang'an took everyone away, not just Sirin's mother.
Then he faced a new problem.
Before you continue