Time Reversal

Sister Xin and Little Bean were dead?

The news sent Yang Qizhou reeling. He was so shaken that he didn't even notice the auxiliary officers leaving.

Sister Xin had been perfectly fine that morning, dressed stylishly and looking elegant, with a charm all her own. Little Bean had been excited about going to the Animation Expo, too. How had they both ended up dead by nightfall?

Yang Qizhou returned home.

Since he was already a tenant in the neighborhood, the officers didn't stop him once they had verified his identity.

The apartment felt a little empty, but Yang Qizhou was used to that. He sat on the sofa and raised his right hand. A black raven appeared on his arm.

"I was wondering why Little Bean asking me to go play with her at Diamond Plaza would create a save point. It's such an ordinary thing."

"So that's why..."

Yang Qizhou wasn't angry or heartbroken. Instead, he sat on the sofa, smoking and thinking hard, perfectly calm.

It wasn't because he was cold-blooded. On the contrary, he cared deeply about this.

If it were anyone else, facing something like this would only leave them helpless and grief-stricken. There'd be nothing else they could do. If they got the chance later, they might avenge Sister Xin and Little Bean, but that still wouldn't undo the mother and daughter's deaths.

But Yang Qizhou was different.

He had the power of the Doom-Bringing Raven, and the save point from when Little Bean invited him to Diamond Plaza still existed. He could rewind all the way to that morning and change the outcome that had led to Sister Xin and Little Bean's deaths.

"There has to be more to Sister Xin and Little Bean's deaths than some robber or murderer. The Bureau of Occult Investigation has gotten involved, too. It's very likely this has something to do with players of World of Weirdness."

"To save them, I'll have to get caught up in this."

"I don't know who the killer is, how strong they are, how far they've progressed in the game, or what methods they use. I have high-tier treasures, but the Garment of the Hidden World only conceals and hides me. I can't use the Law Book of Windbell Town for now. The Silver Relic can control the weather, but it can't directly cause harm. Holy Redemption could be useful against a powerful enemy, but I already used up today's charge on the Old God of the Abyss, so I can't use it again. In other words, the only powerful offensive means I can actually use are the two Root-Court Hounds I can command with the Key to the Shepherd's Field."

"That leaves me with a problem."

"If I use the Doom-Bringing Raven to go back in time, what do I do if I run into an enemy the Root-Court Hounds can't handle while trying to save Sister Xin and Little Bean?"

Yang Qizhou knew perfectly well that, from a truly rational standpoint, the best choice was to stay out of it and not get involved.

World of Weirdness hadn't been around for long, but it hadn't just appeared yesterday, either. Who knew what terrifying things players could get their hands on? And there was no guarantee he wouldn't run into one himself.

The wisest choice was to protect himself, lie low, and steadily grow stronger so he'd be ready for the increasing number of players and the turmoil everyone could see coming. That was the right thing to do.

Yang Qizhou understood all that.

But memories of the past kept resurfacing. Whenever Sister Xin made dumplings, she always brought him some. When Little Bean learned that he'd punched his boss and lost his job, she offered to share her favorite potato chips with him. Sometimes, when she ran into him, she'd excitedly throw her arms around him, calling him "Brother Qizhou" over and over.

All those memories flashed through his mind like scenes from a film.

"Damn it, why should I be so rational? If you never lose your head and do something impulsive, can you even call yourself human?"

"Sister Xin has always treated me well, and Little Bean calls me 'Brother Qizhou' every chance she gets. Without them, I probably would've been driven out of Kyoto ages ago. The mother and daughter are in trouble now. If there were no way to save them, so be it. But I've got the Doom-Bringing Raven, my very own second chance. I can at least try."

"If I can change the outcome, why not give it a shot?"

"What powerful enemies, what consequences, what trouble? Those are problems for later. I'll do what I want to do right now first."

There was no time to waste.

Yang Qizhou used the Doom-Bringing Raven's power.

The scene before him immediately grew illusory, warped, and indescribable. The world seemed to melt and shatter, while the raven's eerie cawing echoed in his mind.

"Brother Qizhou, don't go to work. Come play with me, okay?"

A familiar voice reached him. Yang Qizhou opened his eyes again and saw bright sunlight streaming through the stairwell window. A little girl of seven or eight was bouncing around, calling out to him, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Time had returned to early morning.

Xiaolan really did love pestering the guy. When Zhao Xin saw that Yang Qizhou still hadn't answered, she thought he was having a hard time saying no, so she picked up her daughter.

"Stop pestering your Brother Qizhou. He has to work and earn money. He's making it on his own, so he's very busy."

"Aw, but I want to play with Brother Qizhou. Can't he just take one day off?"

"Be good. Don't make a fuss."

Sister Xin was just as... Well, how to put it? Of course she was beautiful, but what drew you in even more was her particular charm. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he thought about it, it would be such a shame if he didn't save her and she died young.

Yang Qizhou was so excited he almost threw his arms around her, but in the end he held back.

Zhao Xin hadn't lived through the previous timeline. She had no idea she was going to die that night, so she couldn't share his sense of having lived through a lifetime.

She might look after him, but Yang Qizhou knew she was just being kind. There were no other feelings involved.

If he'd hugged her just then, she would've slapped him across the face and kicked him out for falling behind on rent.

He'd better rein in those bad ideas.

Saving them came first.

"Sorry, Little Bean, I didn't pay last month's rent, and I still have no idea how I'm going to pay this month's. Next month's rent is even more uncertain. If I don't go to work, your mom's going to throw me out."

Just like in the previous timeline, Yang Qizhou turned down Ding Xiaolan's invitation again.

The familiar scene played out once more.

The little girl acted as if he'd hit a nerve, shouting, "You can't!" over and over. She even made him promise to buy her potato chips when he got off work.

Zhao Xin apologized, chatted with him for a couple more minutes, then left with her daughter, Ding Xiaolan.

This time, Yang Qizhou didn't go to work at the sorting center. Instead, he used the Garment of the Hidden World to secretly follow them. Along the way, he remembered to check his balance and found that the 300 yuan his boss had paid him in the previous timeline was still there...

"It's not like I got something for nothing. I already did the work. The timeline just restarted, so the packages I'd sorted went back to where they'd been."

"Can't blame me for that."

"I have only one task today: change Sister Xin and Little Bean's fate and make sure the two of them don't die."