# 901
Chapter 901
Wang Mian's Only Choice
Japan.
Human Enclosure.
In the courtyard of the Wind Festival family estate, Wang Mian and Yuzuri Takishiro sat across from each other at a dining table, silently sizing one another up.
For Yuzuri Takishiro, this was the first time he'd encountered a human at such a similar level to himself, so naturally he was quite curious. For Wang Mian, the fact that this young man before him was also at the Human Apex realm was striking—but he was simply too young.
How old was he? Seventeen? Eighteen?
At such a young age, how had he become a Human Apex within this "Human Enclosure"?
"Kurotaka, go get more chopsticks. Brother Amemiya will be joining us for dinner!" Yuzuri Nana, wearing an apron, poked her head out from the kitchen and called out to the two of them facing each other in the living room.
"Alright, sister."
Yuzuri Takishiro pulled his gaze away from Wang Mian and went into the kitchen to search. After a while, he couldn't find where the chopsticks were, so he simply reached out to the empty air and produced two pairs of gleaming golden chopsticks.
A-rank item: Gilded Purple Dragon Chopsticks.
"Here, take these." Yuzuri Takishiro walked over to Wang Mian. After hesitating for a moment, he extended the chopsticks.
"...Thank you."
Wang Mian accepted the chopsticks and gave a slight nod of gratitude.
Yuzuri Takishiro returned to his seat, and the two stared at each other again. The air fell silent once more...
Click—
The sliding door was pushed open, and a handsome young man in a black kimono stood calmly at the entrance, a wooden box slung over his shoulder behind him.
"Brother Amemiya." Yuzuri Takishiro's face lit up with a warm smile at the sight of him.
"Mm, has your health been alright lately?"
Amemiya Haruki entered the house and set the wooden box on the ground. "Your health good?" Yuzuri Takishiro asked, rising from his seat while setting out bowls and chopsticks for Amemiya Haruki.
"Great Xia?"
"Mm."
"After we eat, I'll take you to see someone. You might recognize them."
Amemiya Haruki's tone was very calm. Upon hearing this, a flicker of confusion crossed Wang Mian's eyes, but after a moment's hesitation, he nodded.
"Ouch, hot, hot, hot..."
Yuzuri Nana walked barefoot across the tatami mats in tiny quick steps, carrying plate after plate of steaming dishes to the table, which quickly filled with food.
Yuzuri Nana took her seat, cleared her throat, and raising the juice glass before her, smiled warmly:
"To welcome our friend from Great Xia, cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Yuzuri Takishiro and Amemiya Haruki obligingly raised their glasses. Three pairs of eyes turned toward Wang Mian, who sat silently to the side, seemingly waiting for him to join the toast.
Wang Mian stared at the glass before him. Those aged eyes held no trace of vitality. He let out a long sigh.
He stood up, and using the etiquette he'd learned from books, gave a slight bow to the three of them:
"I'm truly sorry, but I'll have to excuse myself."
He turned and walked toward the exit of the courtyard.
In the heavy silence of the dining room, Yuzuri Nana and Yuzuri Takishiro exchanged glances, both showing confusion in their eyes.
Amemiya Haruki gazed at Wang Mian's departing figure. After a moment, he too rose from his seat and followed the direction Wang Mian had gone. "I'll go check on him. You two continue eating."
...
Night had fallen deep.
The towering skyscrapers that rose around them emitted no light whatsoever. The city that had once blazed with neon lights and bustled with life had lost ninety-five percent of its electricity, shrouded in darkness like a large rural village scattered with high-rises.
Stars lay scattered across the sky like broken silver, and a bright moon illuminated the flowers and grass between the courtyards. Wang Mian stood alone in the shadows, his silhouette desolate and alone.
Amemiya Haruki walked slowly to his side, wooden sandals clicking softly.
"Something on your mind?" Amemiya Haruki gazed up at the stars and asked casually.
Wang Mian remained silent.
"From the looks of it, you must have lost someone important." Amemiya Haruki turned his gaze from Wang Mian's face.
Wang Mian looked at him with some surprise. "How did you know?"
"During the time after my master died, I was exactly like you are now." Amemiya Haruki spoke placidly. "Didn't want to interact with anyone, didn't want to participate in anything. Just wanted to be alone in quiet, drowning in grief and regret."
Wang Mian's eyes slowly closed. He gave no response.
"Actually, I'm a bit puzzled." Amemiya Haruki continued. "Although you appear to be over seventy years old, you don't give me the feeling of being an old man.
Someone who had truly weathered such a long span of years should have long grown accustomed to partings... The light in your eyes is different from theirs.
You feel like an equal."
"...Perhaps." Wang Mian offered no definitive answer.
Amemiya Haruki studied him for a moment, then shook his head helplessly. "I'm not very good at comforting people, but I still want to remind you of something—time doesn't turn back.
We are, after all, only human. Someday, we will all reach the end of our lifespans. The birth and death of life is the inevitable causality of this world... In the end, we still have to look forward."
Amemiya Haruki patted him on the shoulder.
Hearing these words, suddenly, a thought flashed through Wang Mian's mind!
Time doesn't turn back. We are, after all, only human. Someday we will reach the end of our lifespans...
Human lifespans have an end,
but what if... he became a god?
Wang Mian's murky, dim eyes gradually brightened.
Time doesn't turn back—perhaps that was true for others, but for Wang Mian, it didn't have to be.
Time could turn back, but the前提 was that he had sufficient lifespan!
As a mortal, he was now approaching the end of his natural life, so he couldn't reverse time to save the other members of the【Mask Squad】. But what if he became a god? After ascending to divinity, would he have more lifespan?
Would that mean... he would once again possess the qualification to reverse time, to change that period of history?
Back at the fishing village, when Xuanwo and the others learned that he had expended twenty years of his lifespan to change history, Wang Mian had even spoken up to console them, saying that after becoming a god, his lifespan might be infinite... Although he had just made that up on the spot, what if it were true?
Within two years, break through to godhood, extend his lifespan, reverse time, change history... This was Wang Mian's only choice.
Wang Mian grabbed hold of this lifeline like a drowning man. Hope's flame rekindled in his eyes!
He had escaped the fishing village's time loop, but he hadn't outrun time itself. On the contrary...
But his race against time had only just begun.