The Scarlet Sky and Guangyin’s Choice

“Perhaps we’ve been made fools of.”

Having made swift preparations, Yao Jing and Wu Liyun arrived at the agreed-upon address after receiving The Doctor’s message.

However, the agreed-upon meeting time had long since elapsed, and the supposed Doctor remained nowhere to be seen.

“Perhaps… he’s just late?”

Wu Liyun replied, his voice tinged with a disbelief even he couldn’t quite accept. From what he knew of The Doctor, punctuality and fidelity to his word were inherent to the man’s character; tardiness was an almost impossible occurrence.

“Should we wait a little longer?”

Usually bustling with activity, the street now felt eerily desolate due to the curfew imposed by the Regulatory Bureau.

Even the 24-hour shops had closed their doors early, leaving only the two of them, lonely figures, enduring the biting cold outside.

“The Regulatory Bureau’s operation has met with setbacks; they need me back for support.”

Yao Jing pressed a hand to his ear, listening to the communication from the other end—a peacekeeper team communicator relaying the predicament they now faced.

“Then, retreat?”

“Let me think.”

He pondered the current situation.

The monitored suspects had suddenly vanished from their locations, and the Research Department speculated this might be related to spatial abilities, now working overtime under the Regulatory Bureau’s pressure to resolve the conundrum.

Even if he returned now, he might be of no use. If he could only meet The Doctor, perhaps a different avenue for a breakthrough might emerge.

“Let’s wait a little longer,” he said.

Ultimately, no message from The Doctor arrived. The two drove away from the rendezvous point, the atmosphere during their return journey felt exceptionally heavy.

They couldn’t comprehend The Doctor’s actions. Had they been lured here to be monitored? Or was it a diversion tactic, ‘luring the tiger from its mountain lair’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning to draw an opponent away from their stronghold to attack them more easily.)?

Thinking this, Yao Jing couldn’t help but glance at Wu Liyun, who was seated in the passenger seat.

‘Is there something special about me or him that could affect tonight’s plan?’

“Cough, cough, cough, just focus on driving.”

Wu Liyun admonished, annoyed by Yao Jing’s repeated, furtive glances. To forestall any unspeakable peculiarities from the man, he decided to strike first.

“Brother Yao, do you have a girlfriend?” he asked, first aiming to discern his sexual orientation.

“……I did.”

Yao Jing recounted wistfully. “But now, even face-to-face, she wouldn’t remember anything from before.”

“Could it be… amnesia?”

“No, not exactly, but it’s close enough.”

Uttering such contradictory words, Yao Jing nearly chuckled at himself. He gazed through the car window at the scarlet sky outside, swiftly concocting the narrative he was about to tell.

‘Wait?’

‘How did the sky turn red?’

“Screech!”

The sudden screech of brakes jarred Wu Liyun awake, just as he was preparing to listen to the story.

“What happened?!”

“Get out of the car; something big has happened.”

Wu Liyun followed Yao Jing out of the car, and the sight awaiting him outside was one he would never forget.

Suspended in the sky was an inverted city, its myriad buildings rising from what appeared to be its zenith, towering skyscrapers piercing the air.

A scarlet filter, cast over the entire scene, only intensified its uncanny quality.

‘This must be a virtual projection,’ Wu Liyun almost said, but the subsequent scene filled him with profound terror.

The city.

It was falling.

If a single phrase could describe this shocking spectacle, it would be—

—The sky has fallen.

Skyscrapers, cars, and even humanoid figures plummeted like raindrops, striking the earth. The once silent night was instantly filled with wrenching screams, as countless people perished in their sleep.

“…….”

Yao Jing clenched his hand into a fist, an unprecedented fury ignited within his heart.

In front of him lay a veritable inferno, forged by the plummeting city, while behind him was a safe haven, untouched by danger.

‘What kind of malevolent entity could have wrought such devastation?’

He remembered the person who had brought them here.

‘Could it be… The Doctor?’

****

The scarred earth lay strewn with ruins, the once flourishing city had, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a desolate wasteland.

Collapsed buildings buried countless bodies; the sudden catastrophe had offered humanity no reprieve, not even a moment to catch its breath.

Survivors on the streets, though fortunate, bore injuries, and the cries of those who had lost loved ones further deepened the land’s profound desolation.

Yao Jing and Wu Liyun were spread across the disaster zone, engaged in search and rescue efforts, chatting sporadically through their communicators.

“Brother Yao, there’s something I’m not sure if I should say.”

“Say it.”

“I’m not trying to make excuses for The Doctor, but I don’t think he necessarily did this. After all, I’ve met him a few times, and at least the last time I saw him, he wasn’t so utterly depraved.”

Wu Liyun chattered on, as if attempting to bolster his own conviction.

‘He must be under immense pressure, knowing someone he respected might be responsible for such an atrocity,’ Yao Jing thought to himself.

His initial anger had subsided, replaced by a calm resolve. Now, instead of raging against an unknown culprit, it was better to save more people.

“Hey, I was thinking, should we contact Xiu Lan? The fall shouldn’t hurt her, and with her here, our collective combat strength would be bolstered.”

‘Relax?’

‘I’d be even less at ease with her here,’ Yao Jing grumbled inwardly.

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, he truly disliked unruly youths like Xiu Lan, who possessed power but had unstable emotions.

Such individuals were prone to causing chaos the moment their composure fractured.

‘Just like my old self,’ he silently added the last thought.

“Let me check, is this the number? Huh, why can’t I reach her? Is her phone off… Ugh, ahhh!”

The sudden scream jolted Yao Jing into a state of heightened alert. He shouted into his communicator:

“Old Wu, what’s wrong? What happened? Old Wu, answer me quickly!”

“You are… ugh, ugh… why, don’t mind me… quick… run…”

Wu Liyun’s voice abruptly ceased.

‘What happened?’

Yao Jing stood silently, pondering whether the mysterious Doctor, the falling city, and Wu Liyun’s sudden, inexplicable demise were connected.

However, with so little information, he could not possibly infer the full scope of events.

‘But…’

‘It’s about time.’

He raised his greatsword, pointing its tip towards himself. By wielding this, everything could be altered.

“Boom!”

A sudden tremor unbalanced Yao Jing, causing the greatsword in his hand to clatter to the earth.

‘What else is happening?’ he cursed aloud. ‘First objects falling from the sky, now a magnitude ten quake?’

Regaining his footing, Yao Jing looked towards the epicenter of the tremor.

It was the other half of the city, spared by the initial disaster, now experiencing a relentless and intensifying series of tremors.

Yao Jing struggled towards the epicenter of the vibrations, determined to see what was causing all this.

“Drip, drop, drip, drop.”

Unbeknownst to him, rain had begun to fall.

Yao Jing reached out to catch a drop; it was black water, corroding the protective shield on his body.

“How terrifying.”

The raindrops pierced through his protective shield, then through Yao Jing’s very flesh.

****

Underfoot was the torrent of time, and overhead, an boundless radiance.

Yao Jing was certain he had returned to this place, this ‘Beyond Time.’

[You have arrived.]

An ethereal, indistinct voice drifted from an immeasurable distance.

It was a minuscule blue “butterfly,” situated impossibly far from Yao Jing. Its three wings were arranged with two on the left and one on the right, each beat generating a “thread” that merged into the temporal torrent below.

Every time he arrived here, he was awestruck by this sight; this entity, he realized, was quite literally time itself.

[Though not by choice, the time you inhabit was indeed woven by me.]

The butterfly’s voice remained eternally ancient and placid.

“Guangyin!”

A sudden realization striking him, Yao Jing called out the butterfly’s name. He cautiously asked, “You’re not orchestrating some resurrection scheme, are you?”

[Heh heh, how can resurrection occur where death has never been? I was merely exiled to the end of time. Remember, the distance between me and you is the distance I must travel to reach your time.]

Guangyin.

An anomaly of unknown origin.

In ancient myths, it was recorded thus:

A temporal marauder, embarking from the future to journey into the past.

Along its path, it devoured eons of unimaginably vast duration, until it finally reached an ancient era where the primordial gods still walked the earth.

After a conflict beyond human comprehension, it was collectively defeated by the primordial gods and re-exiled to the future.

Only then did the flow of time in this world resumed its course.

[Fully realized deities are indeed formidable. Their magnificent will is awe-inspiring, and even now, it still evokes a profound sense of nostalgia within me… Truly, they are the perfect creations of what you term ‘the Sacred.’]

‘This was truly dreadful; the entity could apparently hear his every thought,’ Yao Jing mused, though this was no time to dwell on such matters.

Yao Jing stared intently at the torrent, where his life, halted by death, resided. Now, he only needed to find a temporal nexus and re-enter, thereby altering the immediate future, but…

[The more time you alter, the closer I draw to you,] Guangyin kindly supplied, addressing Yao Jing’s unspoken concern.

[Wherever loss exists, so too does the yearning for change, and I will offer everyone the possibility of alteration. This is both a blessing and a curse. So, choose now: will you continue your old life, or will you stop… here?]

There was no need for a question. Yao Jing stepped into the temporal torrent.