The colors in Lin Ye's eyes settled on deep blue-the color of "Decision."
"That was my sin. You shouldn't have to bear it."
The Afterseer's body stopped trembling. It gazed into Lin Ye's eyes for a long time. Then it nodded.
The Afterseer began returning the memories. Not all at once, but piece by piece, like dismantling an old house that had stood for endless eras, carefully removing each brick and handing it to Lin Ye.
The first memory was the final moment of a tiny civilization. No one remembered its name anymore; even the civilization itself had forgotten. In the Definition Sea, its definition system had completely dried up after going too long without creating any new definitions. Before dying, the civilization's last individual used the last of their definition power to write a single sentence: "We existed."
There was no anger, no sorrow, only a simple statement.
Lin Ye accepted that memory. Another star appeared on his cloak, faint but steady.
The second memory was a medium-sized civilization's self-inflicted end. Not because its definitions had dried up, but because of civil war. The civilization had split into two factions, each attacking the other with definitions. In the end, both factions activated "Self-Destruct Definition" at the same time-not negating their own existence, but deleting every definition record of their civilization. They would rather not exist than be defined by the other side.
Lin Ye accepted that memory. A star of moderate brightness appeared on his cloak, pulsing rapidly but steadily.
The third, the fourth, the fifth.
Harmonic Leaping Note counted beside him. A thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million.
Lin Ye's body began to change. It wasn't cracking; it was "turning transparent." As his definition core received these memories, it needed to temporarily expand its storage space.