A Patch of "Chaos"

Meanwhile, over on Qin He's side.

Endless fiery-red blossoms carpeted the path, seeming to lead to another realm, yet also seeming to lead to the other shore.

Qin He did not know where he had gone, or where he was.

In every direction, countless bubbles rose and fell, bobbing and sinking.

Each bubble seemed to be a fragment of time.

Above his head, starlight filled the heavens.

They were the boundless Time Sacs, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

As he strolled onward, Qin He saw all manner of bizarre and fantastical sights.

He saw a man: his birth, his growth. He had been clever, but later, he went to sleep and never woke again. He died.

He also saw an insect. It became a cocoon, broke from it, and grew wings. Later, it rose early and was eaten by a bird.

This was not the life of one person or one insect, but one sac after another.

Their number was neither great nor small.

Qin He saw them separately in different places.

At first, he found it interesting.

Later, he found it tedious.

Ten thousand streaks of starlight were not as interesting as a single Shadow Play.

That was a continuous miniature of a life, far more linear than a reversal through time.

But here, it seemed to be... a patch of "chaos."

Like a deck of cards that children had played with.

There was no order, no sequence.

Who knew whether anything was missing? But presumably, perhaps, probably there was. Chaos was the best cover for incompleteness.

Gently pushing aside a Time Sac before him, Qin He could not help but fall into thought.

He was not pondering what this place was, but what the true nature of Shadow Play was.

Was it a segment of