Lin Xiao took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm despite the disturbing images lingering in his mind.
"Maybe it's all just an illusion," he thought, though the certainty he sought eluded him. His heart raced as he grappled with the visions of himself on that terrifying throne, but he knew he couldn't let his mother and sister carry such burdens in their minds.
If it was real, there was still time to change it. If it was an illusion, then no harm would come from erasing it.
With a silent resolve, Lin Xiao reached out once again with his Memory Manipulation skill. This time, his focus was sharper, his intent clearer.
He gently pressed his consciousness into their minds, feeling the threads of the memory that had formed around the throne and skulls. It was like an intrusive dark shadow, clinging to their thoughts, growing with their fear.
He pictured the memories like fragile glass, delicate but sharp. With the precision he had learned from practicing the skill, he wrapped his will around the dark images, isolating them from the rest of their memories. He visualized his hand closing around the shards, squeezing them tight until they shattered into dust, dissolving into nothingness.
His mother and sister's breathing grew calmer, their bodies relaxing as he carefully wiped away the horrific future they had seen. Lin Xiao watched as their expressions softened, the tension easing from their faces. The fear was gone—for now.
He exhaled in relief, wiping the sweat that had formed on his brow. It's done, he thought, hoping that removing these visions would be enough to keep them safe, to keep them from fearing him.
But deep down, a part of him still questioned whether what they saw was real—whether he was destined for that throne, or if it was a cruel trick of the mind.
As he stood up, surveying the now peaceful scene, the house was still, almost unnervingly so. His cats, Xiao Bai and Little Blackie, were resting quietly nearby, unaware of the turmoil Lin Xiao had just dealt with. Everything seemed to be returning to normal.
Suddenly, there was a faint crackle in the air, and Lin Xiao felt a subtle shift, like the world was slightly out of sync. His eyes darted to the window, and what he saw made his stomach drop.
The sky, which had returned to its calm, was now tinged with an unnatural, red eerie light. The golden river was gone, but something else lingered—a faint, shimmering red glow that hung in the atmosphere, almost like an afterimage of what had transpired.
Lin Xiao thought it was the red moon but suddenly Lin Xiao a sudden surge of mana, an energy so powerful it sent a shiver down his spine.
Before he could react, the air around him twisted, and the light outside began to pulse rhythmically, as if the very fabric of reality was being stretched thin.
He quickly glanced at his family—his mother and sister, who were asleep, likely due to the strain of his memory manipulation. His cats, Xiao Bai and Little Blackie, were also asleep, curled up peacefully, though something about their stillness unsettled him.
"Did they see something too from the river?" he wondered, but there wasn't time to ponder.
Feeling a strange sense of urgency, Lin Xiao decided to look outside. As his eyes adjusted to the pulsing light, what he saw sent a wave of shock through his entire body.
The streets were filled with silhouettes, faint and ghostly. These figures were like nothing he'd ever seen before.
Some wore ancient, tattered clothes, while others were dressed in modern attire, their styles ranging from business suits to casual outfits. But there were others—figures that weren't even human.
Some seemed mechanical, resembling robots from a future he couldn't even comprehend. Their bodies were gray, featureless, as if they were half-formed projections, barely clinging to existence.
Lin Xiao's breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight. These figures were not alive, not fully present. They flickered, like static on an old television, their forms wavering as they moved aimlessly through the streets.
Their faces were blurred, their expressions unreadable, yet the sheer number of them made Lin Xiao's heart race with an inexplicable dread.
"What is this?" he thought, panic creeping into his chest. "Are they spirits? Or are they something else?"
He tried to focus on one of the figures—a man dressed in old, ragged robes, walking slowly as if lost. But as soon as Lin Xiao's eyes settled on him, the figure seemed to dissolve into the mist, replaced by another—a woman with what looked like futuristic armor, her silhouette shimmering with cold, metallic light.
His mind raced, struggling to make sense of it all. It was as if past, present, and future were overlapping, merging into one chaotic, ethereal scene. "Are these people from different timelines or something, what is happening?" Lin Xiao wondered.
As the figures drifted in and out of view, Lin Xiao couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of unease. These weren't just random images; there was something deliberate about their appearance. It was as though the world was unraveling, the threads of time fraying before his very eyes.
The strangest part was the silence. Despite the shifting figures, the streets were eerily quiet, as if sound itself had been muted. The only noise Lin Xiao could hear was the faint thrum of the light still pulsing in the air, like the heartbeat of some cosmic force beyond his understanding.
Suddenly, one of the figures stopped. Lin Xiao's heart skipped a beat as the silhouette—a tall, humanoid shape that looked almost robotic—turned its head towards him. Its face was a void, empty and dark, but Lin Xiao could feel its gaze locked onto him. For a moment, it stood there, unmoving, watching him from the shadows.
Then, without warning, the figure began to move toward the house.
Panic surged through Lin Xiao. His instincts screamed at him to move, to do something. But his body remained frozen, paralyzed by the surreal nature of the situation. The figure's movements were slow but purposeful, each step measured, as if it knew exactly where it was going.
What does it want? Lin Xiao thought, his mind racing. "Why is it coming here?"
Just as the figure reached the edge of the yard, it stopped again, as if sensing something. Lin Xiao held his breath, watching as the silhouette flickered, its form wavering in and out of focus.
And then, with a sudden burst of energy, it vanished—disappearing into thin air as if it had never been there at all.
Lin Xiao's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. His heart was pounding, his mind spinning with unanswered questions. He looked out at the streets again, but the other figures were still there, drifting aimlessly, unaware of his presence.
"What in the world is happening?" Lin Xiao thought, gripping the windowsill tightly as his thoughts raced.