Downward, ever downward.
Huang Xiu felt herself drifting, a sensation akin to her skydiving experience that day.
Yet, this time, there was no howling wind in her ears, no touch of air against her face.
Nothing at all.
Her eyeballs rolled rapidly beneath her eyelids, and Huang Xiu instinctively tried to open them.
However, her eyelids felt glued shut, stubbornly adhering to her lower lash line.
Still, she descended, and within this boundless void, faint whispers reached her ears.
“We call to you…”
“We revere you…”
“We worship you…”
“We fear you…”
These calls heralded a turning point; Huang Xiu abruptly broke free from her semi-conscious state.
Feeling disoriented, she tried to open her eyes once more.
This time, her previously unyielding eyelids finally yielded a fraction.
Peeking through the narrow slit between her eyelids, she saw only an endless, deathly silent void in every direction.
‘Where am I? How did I get here?’
Huang Xiu’s memory had fractured.
She had no idea how she had suddenly arrived in this unfamiliar place from Tiandu University.
Strangely, despite the peculiarity of her surroundings, she felt no unease.
She attempted to turn her head, to glance left and right, but it remained stubbornly still. Powerless, Huang Xiu had no choice but to give up.
‘So, what am I supposed to do here?’
The calls had long since faded with Huang Xiu’s awakening, leaving her in complete silence.
She could see nothing, hear nothing, and was unable to even move her body. Yet, her mind remained exceptionally active.
She could think, she could ponder.
An endless tide of loneliness and solitude washed over her.
‘I won’t be trapped here forever, will I?!’ Huang Xiu suddenly thought, a wave of terror washing over her.
She didn’t know why she was here, but she believed her friends would never abandon her.
‘Teacher Yuan, Yun Ning, Ying Zhiyu, my friends… and Mom and Dad.’
Remembering them filled Huang Xiu with renewed strength, though the loneliness and solitude did not dissipate.
She did not know how much time had passed.
Just as she was on the verge of collapsing, a turning point suddenly emerged: another call echoed in her ears.
“We implore you…”
Unwilling to let go of this last lifeline, Huang Xiu desperately screamed in her mind, clinging to her final shred of lucidity.
‘Whatever it is, just get me out of here, now!’
As she roared these words, the sensation of falling returned.
This time, the descent was incredibly swift.
Through the slit in her eyelids, Huang Xiu saw bright stars slowly appearing in the void. They receded rapidly, leaving behind trails of brilliant light.
Thump!
Huang Xiu fell into a star within the void. It felt as though she had passed through a layer of cotton before landing on the ground.
She patted her backside, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds before her, utterly bewildered. ‘It doesn’t hurt at all?’
‘Wait… I can move?!’
Huang Xiu’s face lit up with excitement. She sprang to her feet in a single fluid motion, then scanned her surroundings.
The setting sun cast a fiery red glow across the horizon.
In front of a house built with red bricks lay a cement-paved ground, covered with numerous grids and figures drawn in chalk.
Everything felt so familiar.
‘This is… Ying City Orphanage?’ Huang Xiu realized, a moment too late. Just then, familiar voices drifted from the distance.
“This way. Mr. Huang wishes to adopt a boy, is that right? We have plenty here.”
“I’ll call all the children out at once.”
“Thank you so much!”
A gentle male voice followed closely, accompanied by the increasingly approaching patter of footsteps.
At this moment, Huang Xiu was overcome by a powerful sense of déjà vu.
‘Is today… April 17th? How is that possible?’
She felt her seven-point shorts pocket; her phone was still there, but it wouldn’t turn on.
“Children, please come out!”
The voice arrived before its owner. As the words faded, a middle-aged woman emerged from around the corner.
Overwork had caused the woman to age prematurely, her face marked by numerous wrinkles, and streaks of silver visible in her hair.
‘It really is Mama Qiu…’ Huang Xiu murmured.
Mama Qiu was the affectionate name the children at the orphanage used for her. She was more like a true mother to them than their biological parents who had abandoned them.
Qiu Qingqiu approached from the corner, followed by the familiar, gentle young man and beautiful woman.
Huang Qinian was her father, and Zhuang Wenli was her mother.
“Hey! Over here!”
Huang Xiu called out, but the three individuals seemed not to hear her, walking straight past her. She reached out to wave, only to pass right through their bodies.
Huang Xiu grew quiet then. She understood she couldn’t interfere with what was about to unfold.
However, there was no need to interfere.
‘Is this meant to be a re-enactment of the day I was adopted?’
Huang Xiu didn’t mind reliving that day. After all, it was a turning point in her life, arguably the most beautiful day.
‘I can barely remember the details of that day anymore. Thank you!’ Huang Xiu laughed aloud.
Though she couldn’t intervene, she could at least choose the best vantage point for observation.
Events unfolded precisely as she remembered them.
All the boys from the orphanage were called out, standing in rows on the cement ground, like goods to be chosen. Qiu Qingqiu, Huang Qinian, and Zhuang Wenli stood before the crowd.
The boys knew that being chosen by the couple meant they would have a family again. They tried their best to impress.
Some boys directly boasted about their excellent grades, while others claimed to be exceptionally well-behaved. Some even boldly stepped forward, tugging at Huang Qinian’s or Zhuang Wenli’s pant legs, gazing up at them with pleading eyes.
Though these methods were naive, they were the best the boys could devise at the moment. Qiu Qingqiu did not stop them; she merely watched with a smile.
Facing the encircling children, Huang Qinian smiled. He pulled out pre-prepared candies from his pocket, distributing them one by one as he walked among the children.
Seeing this, Huang Xiu waved her hand, her face alight with excitement. ‘That’s it, move forward!’
Her gaze bypassed the other children, instantly spotting her past self—the small boy timidly hiding at the very back.
Huang Qinian continued forward, drawing closer and closer to the little boy, until finally, their paths met.
“Here!” The man offered a candy. The little boy looked up, his delicate, doll-like face showing a hint of fear.
But eventually, he bravely took it. “Thank you for the candy, Uncle,” the little boy said.
‘Oh! Was I really that timid back then?’
Huang Xiu blushed slightly, but her eyes remained fixated, for the famous scene was about to unfold. She watched her father nod, preparing to reach out and pat the little boy’s head.
But at that moment, a small boy in jeans impulsively rushed over from the side.
“I want candy too.” He looked up, his face radiating an incomparably brilliant smile.
However, Huang Xiu felt as though she had plunged into an ice cellar, an extremely unsettling premonition gripping her.
This was because it was something that had not happened that year. This was an anomaly!
“No, don’t give it to him!” Huang Xiu clutched the tree trunk, her eyes bloodshot as she stared into the distance.
Huang Qinian still gave him the candy. The little boy politely thanked him, then somehow began conversing with Huang Qinian.
Meanwhile, the younger Huang Xiu was completely ignored. He opened his mouth, as if to speak, his eyes filled with longing as he looked at Huang Qinian.
But in the end, he said nothing, instead shrinking his neck, holding the candy, and timidly retreating back to his corner.
“Why did you leave!”
Crack!
Huang Xiu tore at the tree bark, her eyes slightly red. She already knew what was about to happen.
Even though she knew this was just an illusion from an unknown source, she still felt disgusted, enraged, and provoked.
Ultimately, Huang Qinian adopted a little boy. He stroked the boy’s head, repeating the exact words from Huang Xiu’s memory, only the recipient had changed from Huang Xiu to the boy in jeans.
The original Huang Xiu, meanwhile, became a background figure in the crowd, her face etched with envy.
Huang Xiu watched the family of three walk into the sunset, forcing a sentence from her throat.
“It’s over, it should be over now!”
But events did not unfold as she wished. Next, the world before her split into two, playing out like a fast-forwarded movie.
The left eye showed the future of Huang Xiu, who had not been adopted. The right eye showed the future of the boy in jeans who had stolen her parents, and even her name, Huang Xiu.
Huang Xiu, not being adopted this time, suffered a great blow. Many families came to the orphanage afterward, but no one was willing to adopt a boy who seemed timid and lacked sunshine.
So he grew up in the orphanage, studying diligently. He eventually got into Yi City No. 1 High School, earning scholarships through his own efforts.
Meanwhile, “Huang Xiu” perfectly replicated Huang Xiu’s past: doting parents, a harmonious family life. The only difference was that he was even more cheerful, had better grades, and was even more handsome than Huang Xiu had been.
He was simply a perfected version of Huang Xiu. Huang Xiu watched, her back teeth nearly grinding to dust, her eyes burning with furious rage.
She wanted to close her eyes, to not witness this sickening scene. But even with her eyes shut, the two images remained vividly clear in her mind.
‘Alright, alright, so this is how you want to play! I’d like to see what trick you’re pulling!’ Huang Xiu exclaimed, fuming.
Eventually, the two met at No. 1 High School, coincidentally even in the same class. However, Huang Xiu’s deskmate changed from Shi Lei to Fang Yongyi, while Shi Lei became the fake Huang Xiu’s deskmate.
Yet, the inertia of the world was unstoppable. Despite such significant changes, Huang Xiu still became good friends with Shi Lei and still harbored a secret crush on Fang Miaoging.
Meanwhile, the fake Huang Xiu thrived in class, making a large circle of very close friends, including Shi Lei. Only the two of them were constantly at odds.
Time rolled forward to the second year of high school, to the evening when the Tiandu University admissions exam information was announced.
Huang Xiu knew this would be another pivotal moment that would change her life.
Even if she transformed into a girl…
‘This is it. Even if you can steal the first half of my life, you can’t steal my talent.’ Huang Xiu sneered, watching herself transform into a girl.
This time, however, something was different. Perhaps it was due to a change in her mindset, or perhaps her ability had also evolved.
It was still plant mutation, but it had become darker, colder, and utterly chilling. Even so, Teacher Yue still sought her out.
Yet, the impostor Huang Xiu lingered like a phantom; he, too, possessed the talents of an Awakened individual!
He had not transformed, and he was a level one. He and Huang Xiu were both received by Teacher Yue and Yuan Fei. Yuan Fei wished to take both of them as his disciples.
However, this time, Huang Xiu’s personality was more difficult due to her past experiences. She adamantly refused to become disciples with the fake Huang Xiu.
She even chose to join the Awakened Higher Vocational College during the retest, simply to avoid being with Huang Xiu. Jealousy… profound jealousy.
The seed of this dark flower had been planted on April 17th. Huang Xiu joined the Awakened Higher Vocational College.
This time, without the help of her parents, Yuan Fei, Yun Ning… or Fang Miaoging, she, now a girl, completely abandoned her past, becoming an Awakened individual hiding in the shadows with no history.
Meanwhile, the other Huang Xiu completely took over her current life, even usurping her place in Si Mu’s heart.
Perhaps because Huang Xiu had not experienced the subsequent events, the illusion stopped there. She returned to a state of complete void.
“Heh heh.”
Huang Xiu sneered, her face twisted, her eyes bloodshot. Even though she knew it was an illusion, the rage and jealousy deep within her heart erupted the moment the other Huang Xiu completely usurped her life.
Only then did Huang Xiu realize that beneath her seemingly peaceful exterior lay the deepest, most profound jealousy.
“I’ll kill her!”
She clenched her fists, her murderous intent overflowing unchecked. She yearned to dive into the illusion and tear the impostor to shreds.
This was no mere figure of speech; it was her genuine intention. Only then could the fury in her heart be appeased.
“Are you unwilling?”
A mighty, inhuman shriek suddenly echoed in Huang Xiu’s ears.
“You idiot, do you even need to ask?” Huang Xiu cursed eloquently.
“Are you angry?” The voice sounded again.
“Damn it, I wish I could just kill you! If you’ve got the guts, show yourself!” Huang Xiu screamed.
“Very well then… I shall give you an opportunity!”
Accompanying the voice, a powerful yellow light suddenly flared within the void surrounding Huang Xiu. This yellow light was as dazzling and immense as the sun.
Huang Xiu squinted, discerning a massive, rhomboid black galaxy within the yellow glow. So familiar, so familiar, like an eye…
The true form of this yellow light was a colossal eye! “I’ll give you a chance to change things!” the eye’s owner spoke directly into Huang Xiu’s mind.
The next second, a yellow light pierced sharply into Huang Xiu’s eyes. She lost control of her body once more, falling, falling, and falling again.
When Huang Xiu regained control of her body, she was back on Earth, lying on a massive boulder. Directly in front of her stood the handsome, dashing fake Huang Xiu, dressed in a Tiandu University uniform.
He was smiling at Huang Xiu. “It’s you!” she exclaimed, scrambling up from the boulder, a flash of yellow light momentarily crossing her white pupils.
The anger that had somewhat subsided after her previous outburst was reignited, growing even more intense under some unknown force. Jealousy, unwillingness, hatred, longing, greed… all these negative emotions surged forth simultaneously.