Chapter 839: Manipulation
"Don't worry, I'm still me."
Qi Xia reached out and patted Qiao Jiajin on the shoulder, then turned back to look at Chen Junnan. "Originally, I considered abandoning the two of you and completing this task alone, but now that I think about it, I really do need someone to help me control the final outcome of this matter."
"Does little master have any use too...?" Chen Junnan asked.
"You've always been very useful," Qi Xia said. "What you need to do next is the same as with fists—just rely on 'instinct.'"
Then Qi Xia also reached out and patted Chen Junnan's shoulder, as if he had made some kind of decision, and then with a serious expression, he set off toward the direction of "Heaven's Gate."
The time was neither early nor late; it had just passed "Noon Hour," and the situation was about as Qi Xia had predicted—the "Heavenly Horse" had not activated the "Heavenly Horse Moment" for two consecutive days.
And the vacant "Heavenly Goat" was also unable to activate the "Heavenly Goat Moment," so the next few hours would be safe.
However... who was the "Heavenly Monkey"?
After "Wei Hour" came "Shen Hour." At that time, would the "Heavenly Monkey," who corresponded to the Shen Monkey, make a move?
A deathly moment related to "intelligence" or "agility" would happen precisely during the dusk when people were at their most relaxed and off-guard. Would the "participants" need to run or flee then?
"Wait..." Qi Xia pondered again.
Since a "Heavenly Moment" could occur at dusk, what about nighttime?
If there were a "Heavenly Rooster Moment" during You Hour, that would be tolerable—after all, it was from 5 to 7 PM—but the time after that would cause the death rate of the crowd to soar.
The following hours—Xu Hour (Dog), Hai Hour (Pig), Zi Hour (Rat), Chou Hour (Ox), and Yin Hour (Tiger)—all "Heavenly Moments" would span from 7 PM to 5 AM.
"The Land of Finality" was different from other places. Once night fell, all the cities here would seem dead. Since there was no moon or electric lights, not a single shred of light could be seen.
"Not good..." Qi Xia muttered to himself. "I need to contact 'Qinglong' as soon as possible..."
He looked up at the time and quickened his pace toward "Heaven's Gate."
……
When the four of them—Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan, and Qin Dingdong—arrived at the entrance of "Heaven's Gate," they found that there were even more people here than before. It seemed more and more people were gathering there.
Among them, Qiao Jiajin even saw Li Xiangling, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, as well as familiar faces like Jin Yuanxun and Aunt Tong.
The people of "Heaven's Gate" looked pleasantly surprised. They hadn't expected that after experiencing the "Heavenly Horse Moment" and the "Heavenly Snake Moment" in succession, all members had actually survived. However, some people's memories seemed strange. Although they had survived, they couldn't remember what happened during the "Heavenly Horse Moment" and the "Heavenly Snake Moment."
But that wasn't important to them. "Memory" had always been a very mysterious thing to them. Now, the crowd was gathered in small groups, chatting about recent events.
Qiao Jiajin stepped aside to talk with Li Xiangling, while Qin Dingdong also walked into the teaching building to look for someone.
Chen Junnan took a lap around the playground, greeting dozens of people almost nonstop, but it seemed not many recognized him.
He didn't feel embarrassed. After some socializing, he slowly walked over to Qi Xia and asked, "Old Qi, did you do this too?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the 'full survival' or 'selective amnesia' thing," Chen Junnan said.
"That's right." Qi Xia nodded. "I did it."
"Is that necessary?" Chen Junnan frowned. "You don't even know these people, and they won't thank you for it. Why did you save them... Every time you use your 'ability,' there are side effects, right?"
"Just an experiment," Qi Xia said.
"Even this requires an 'experiment'?" Chen Junnan scratched his head. "You should have known long ago that your ability can 'copy' a person out of thin air, right? Why do you need to do this experiment?"
"I'm not doing an experiment related to 'copying,' but an experiment related to 'time,'" Qi Xia said.
"Time...?"
"Chen Junnan, whether it's you... or those people on the playground who forgot the 'Heavenly Moment,' you all basically have one thing in common."
"What commonality?"
"This reincarnation of yours had one or two days of memories removed, but the existing memories can still be connected front to back, and you haven't lost your sanity," Qi Xia said. "For you, time has been 'fast-forwarded.'"
"Wait, wait..." Chen Junnan quickly raised his hand to stop Qi Xia. "From which step did little master lose track? How are we 'fast-forwarded'?"
"It's just the literal meaning," Qi Xia said. "If the 'Heavenly Moment' is very dangerous, then I... helped these people 'skip' the 'Heavenly Moment.'"
"Damn..." Chen Junnan was stunned again. "Wait, Old Qi, doesn't this feel wrong to me? These people died horribly in the 'Heavenly Moment'! Isn't your 'fast-forward' a bit flawed... Their bodies are still lying on the ground..."
"That's just from our perspective," Qi Xia said. "We bystanders are clear, so of course we know what happened. But for the people involved in the event, this is clearly a 'fast-forward'—their memories directly skipped the 'Heavenly Moment,' and they're standing here safe and sound."
Chen Junnan's expression changed noticeably after hearing this. He felt that what Qi Xia was saying was something on a higher level that he couldn't quite understand at the moment.
"Don't you think this experiment is a bit interesting?" Qi Xia continued. "If this happened in the real world, it indeed shouldn't be called 'fast-forward' but rather 'amnesia,' because even if these people lost the memory of a certain day, their age would still increase. That doesn't fit the concept of 'fast-forward,' so it can only be called 'amnesia.' But in the 'Land of Finality,' it's different. Everyone's time is stuck. Even if they skip ten days all at once, their age won't change at all."
"Little master really can't keep up," Chen Junnan said. "This person clearly died horribly, but you copied a new him to let him live, and removed a day's memory, and that's called 'skipping a day'...? Although the logic sounds damn right, I really feel something is off..."
"It's not strange, and I just said it earlier," Qi Xia said. "I'm trying to accurately 'manipulate time.'"
"But what you're manipulating isn't 'time' at all!" Chen Junnan said. "You're manipulating people!"
"People are time," Qi Xia said. "From a macroscopic perspective, all of our time being stuck is the same principle."