The One Who Changed Fate (Part 2)

Fang Xiu hid atop the supermarket across from the hospital, playing on his phone. He had arrived early and claimed this high ground, hoping to spot the other party ahead of time.

Fang Xiu browsed the legends about himself online. News, videos, and images of him extinguishing the fire and saving at least a hundred people had spread like wildfire.

"Light Man screwed the monster into rage last time and saved Wei Port City. This time, he put out a fire and saved hundreds more!" people on Tieba were chattering away.

"Regarding the Ming Mansion Hotel fire, the authorities have still issued no response." All sorts of news reports kept appearing on Weibo.

"Could this be Photoshopped again?" Those watching the videos remained skeptical, but unlike last time, there had been far too many eyewitnesses.

"This time it's absolutely real. I was there! When that Water Dragon burst out of the ground, I felt like the whole world had turned into an underwater kingdom. It was unbelievably shocking." Sure enough, someone immediately stepped forward to testify.

"Thank you, immortal. My whole family was trapped in that fire. We were already despairing. You can't understand what it felt like when that Water Dragon crashed in."

"I think this was definitely a cultivator. I believe in mysticism again. This is absolutely a sign of spiritual energy revival. Gentlemen, the age of cultivation has arrived. I'll take my leave first—tomorrow, I'm going to Dragon Tiger Mountain to become a disciple." Even more netizens were wildly excited.

"My apologies, I am the sect master of Mount Lao. The mountain gates are now open, and I am taking in disciples far and wide. Those fated to join, hurry and register." Below that, even more people began spouting nonsense.

Fang Xiu laughed as he read. He found it rather entertaining.

Many people online called Fang Xiu a hero. Some called him Light Man, some called him an immortal, while quite a few believed he was a god, a superpowered being, or a cultivator.

Yet compared to their praise, the feeling of having saved so many people filled Fang Xiu with even greater pride.

At that moment, many victims of the earlier fire were staying in the Central Hospital across the street.

With her older sister Lin Shu supporting her, Lin Yu sat up. Because her back had been burned, she could usually only lie face down. After waking up, she often cried, saying that ugly scars would definitely remain and that she would no longer be able to wear many beautiful clothes.

Lin Shu wore a police uniform, looking poised and beautiful. She gazed at Lin Yu with heartache as she fed her porridge.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu kept staring at the laptop on the table and the videos playing endlessly on it. There were multiple versions, filmed from every angle, showing the so-called immortal controlling a vast flood that gathered into a giant dragon hundreds of meters long and swept through the entire building.

Lin Shu frowned. "You're still watching this?"

Lin Yu nodded. "Hey, Sis, what kind of person do you think he is?"

Lin Shu closed the laptop. "Anyway, he's a very dangerous person. Stop letting your imagination run wild. Stay in the hospital and recover properly."

The time was almost up. Fang Xiu immediately ran down from the rooftop. The other party should be appearing about now.

Standing across from City Central Hospital, Fang Xiu checked his phone. Forty-five minutes. As the number changed, Fang Xiu raised his head and immediately saw a figure in a wheelchair appear at the entrance of Central Hospital.

"Wang Hao!"

Fang Xiu immediately stepped toward him. But at that moment, a graceful figure carrying a large stack of meal boxes and wearing a backpack passed beside Fang Xiu.

She seemed to be in a great hurry. Her foot caught on something, and she pitched forward, sending the bag and meal boxes scattering everywhere. Directly ahead of her, a large truck was barreling toward her.

Fang Xiu reacted swiftly. He immediately reached out, grabbed her school uniform, and yanked her back.

"Ah!" she screamed. The truck swerved, its driver slamming on the brakes before it finally stopped. The driver looked badly shaken too and launched into a furious tirade at the girl.

Only then did Fang Xiu notice that she was wearing the uniform of No. 2 High School. The girl was very pretty, the kind whose beauty grew more pleasing the longer one looked at her. Her eyes were gentle and moist as water.

She thanked Fang Xiu again and again before carefully walking into Central Hospital, as though the dangerous scene just now had left her soul still trembling with fright.

Fang Xiu crossed the street and went straight to the future Wang Hao's side. Wang Hao sat in a wheelchair, his lower body ending where his legs should have been. It was as though half of him was missing.

"This is why you asked me to come at this time?"

Standing beside him, Fang Xiu looked toward the girl who had just entered the hospital. She was leaning over the reception window, asking where the wards were.

Wang Hao's eyes, however, were filled with tenderness. His originally lifeless, dead-fish eyes blossomed with the light of hope and happiness.

Watching her slowly climb the stairs, he withdrew his gaze and let out a long breath, as though he had finally released the pressure of an entire lifetime. "Yes. A week has passed. You can punish me however you wish."

"So there were two futures you wanted to change. One was that fire, and the other was this girl's death, correct?"

"But what I'm curious about is why you didn't solve it in advance yourself. Why did you have to make me do it for you? You had planned from the start for me to carry out the act of changing the future, while you merely watched from the sidelines and did nothing?"

Fang Xiu pushed Wang Hao's wheelchair toward the hospital interior while Wang Hao quietly began to speak.

"Everyone has wondered before: if they had one chance to change a choice they made in life, what would they change?"

"We always think, ah... if I had made another choice back then, if I had been a little braver back then, would my life have become different?"

"Could we have risen in one leap to become elites, people above others, tycoons, or perhaps... lived happy and fulfilled lives?"

"We complain that fate is unfair. We complain about everything in the world. But what we complain about most are the chances we lost in those choices, again and again."

Wang Hao looked at Fang Xiu, his eyes revealing admiration and worship, though Fang Xiu had no idea why.

"But the future and fate are predetermined. Mortals cannot change fate. No matter how we alter or interfere with destiny, the World's Corrective Force will make it return to its original track."

"So I could never change the fate of that fire, or the fate of my classmates dying in the sea of flames. I could not change the fate of losing my legs in that fire, much less undo Tao Zhi Jun's death. I could only watch it all in despair."

"Only you—only you can alter fate. Only you can adjust the course of the future."

"Time is a great river, flowing onward along a fixed course. Yet with a mere gentle nudge from you, it can turn around and flow to the other side."

Fang Xiu looked at Wang Hao without expression. "So from the very beginning, you intended to use me."

Wang Hao nodded. "I don't know how you will view me, but I truly... thank you."

Fang Xiu looked at Wang Hao. "Who exactly are you?"

Wang Hao raised his head and said, "I am your Guardian of the Divine Treasury, your most trusted companion. I can never repay your kindness, so I swore that I would guard the Divine Treasury for you forever."

"But in the end, I still betrayed you. Taking advantage of an opportunity, I used your divine artifact to reverse time and came to this era."

Fang Xiu had long guessed some of it. He pushed Wang Hao's wheelchair all the way upstairs. "How is the future me?"

Wang Hao smiled mysteriously. "The future has already changed. From the moment you met me, the River of Time began to reshape itself. Not only my future, but yours as well."

"Your future is yours to decide!"

"But in that future, you were not very happy."

Fang Xiu's gaze flickered. "Oh? Is that so?"

Sitting in his wheelchair, Wang Hao looked up at Fang Xiu. "So we have no chance to choose, but you do. Don't let your choices be filled with regrets."

When he said this, he was incomparably sincere. His eyes were like windows, allowing Fang Xiu to see into his heart.

Fang Xiu pushed him outside a ward. Through the window, he could see seven or eight people inside, as well as the girl from earlier.

The tiny ward was filled with laughter and cheerful voices. The boys and girls laughed heartily, while Wang Hao stared at his younger self and the girl who had haunted his dreams countless times.

This was the first time he had seen his younger self since traveling through time. So youthful and innocent, his handsome face had not yet lost hope or everything else. It was filled with light. His legs were still there, and he could still run freely, pursuing everything he wanted.

He sat on the hospital bed, not daring to look at the girl. Only when she turned away did he dare steal glances at her back, softly breathing in her fragrance.

Countless times, he had wandered in darkness. Having lost everything, he had seen scenes like this in his dreams again and again, only for them to shatter once more when he woke.

Wang Hao excitedly tried to stand, but he no longer had legs. Tears streamed down his face in his excitement, yet he could not say a single word.

Wang Hao took out his phone, typed out a message, and looked at Fang Xiu.

"Can... can you..." Wang Hao's voice was choked and shapeless as he spoke. The intense hope shining from his eyes was like June sunlight.

Fang Xiu glanced at him, took his phone, and sent the message for him.

Immediately, the boy's phone rang inside the ward. After reading the message bit by bit, the boy looked at the graceful girl before him in surprise.

He remained shocked and hesitant for a long while, but in the end, he still made his decision.

He stood up and hurried toward the girl, wanting to say something. Unexpectedly, he caught on an iron-framed hospital bed and fell directly on top of her.

He froze for a moment, then actually kissed her on the lips. Afterward, he shouted, "Tao Zhi Jun, I like you!"

The ward fell silent in an instant, then erupted into earth-shaking shrieks and roars. The flames of passion seemed to ignite their youth.

"Wang Hao, you're fucking awesome!"

"Say yes! Say yes!"

"Get together! Get together!"

The ward was in an uproar. The bashful girl chased after Wang Hao and hit him, but her eyes already held a different kind of charm.

Yet outside the ward, separated by a single window, was an entirely different scene.

"Hahaha... Hahahaha..."

"Really... this is really wonderful!"

Wang Hao sat in his wheelchair, laughing like a child, happy like a child.

"That's right, Tao Zhi Jun... I like you!"

After saying that, Fang Xiu saw Wang Hao's figure gradually fade away. Along with his wheelchair, clothes, and everything else, he slowly turned into nothingness in this world, as though he had never existed at all.