The impossibly vast Past stood in everyone's way. No matter when it was or who they were, everyone had to face the Past.
After her first clash with Zhang Ya, the Past's body began changing without a sound. Countless memories and indistinct figures were linked by black threads, while thick, jointed legs stretched out in every direction, like a prison that had been turned upside down over several buildings in the residential area, trapping everyone inside.
The Past's upper body, shaped like a giant cicada, split open with crack after crack. Its thin wings melded into the Black Fog. The fog that had just begun to thin grew dense again, as if the monster's wings could draw it in.
The sky was sealed off. Worse still, the ground had become unsafe too.
The Past's lower body sank into the earth. Its shell, covered in Ghost Faces, dragged along the ground, and pieces of its old shell kept breaking off. But whenever a piece fell away, a new hard shell quickly grew over the damaged spot.
Compared to its upper body, the monster's lower half was more like the Past as people normally understood it: something they couldn't escape, something they kept trying to forget, only to remember again and again.
Over and over, until all that remained was a monster that had been stabbed. It should have called itself by its own name—"self"—but it refused to acknowledge that, calling itself the Past instead.
Faces twisted in pain surfaced in the gray earth. Deep underground, a strange sound began, like a heart beating.
The Faceless Doctor had all kinds of methods for dealing with the Rag Doll. He knew all of her abilities inside out, and even at full strength, he could keep her in check. But the problem now was