Chapter 554: Truth (Two in One)

A gust of wind blew past. Mu Tian's soul turned into motes of light and slowly drifted away.

Yan Jing looked at the Black Robe, Scythe Blade, and Soul Lamp before him. After a few seconds of silence, he stored them away.

Mu Tian's final words had resolved some of his doubts.

They had also verified some of his theories.

The situation was much clearer now.

He had entered the River of Time many times before.

Every time, it was with a new identity. The River of Time would seal away most of his memories, only to gradually unlock them later.

During one of those journeys through the River of Time, he had likely met Mu Tian.

Perhaps they had fought a battle just like today's, and Mu Tian had used his soul-splitting technique on him.

His soul had scattered—causing some of his subsequent identities to carry his distinct traits.

Like the Wizard—Wen—

These traits had caused Wen He, who had also entered the River of Time, to mistake someone else for him.

That was why she said he sometimes felt exactly like himself, and other times completely different.

Of course, this was only a theory. He still needed to find Wen He to verify it.

Just as he thought this, Wen He's frantic voice rang out from afar. "Little Jing!! Little Jing!! Where are you?!"

"Little Jing!!!"

Yan Jing followed the sound.

The moment she saw him, Wen He rushed over like a madwoman and pulled him into a tight embrace, her eyes brimming with tears.

She held onto him tightly, unable to speak a single word. Burying her face into the crook of his neck, she breathed him in.

Her warm breath tickled his skin.

"I'm here, Sister Wen He."

Faced with Wen He's fierce display of affection, Yan Jing felt momentarily unaccustomed to it.

Most of the girls in his life were much more subtle.

Mantou, Shen Youran, Fei Yu—even the Wen He in his memories had been like that.

Their love was something you could feel—incredibly intense, yet deeply restrained in its expression.

But even after hearing his words, Wen He didn't let go. She hugged him tighter, her hands gripping the back of his shirt as if terrified he would vanish the moment she loosened her hold.

"Little Jing, please don't leave again, okay..."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Feeling the tremble in Wen He's hands, Yan Jing's heart softened. He reached up and gently cupped her face. "I'm right here, Sister Wen He."

Looking at Yan Jing's face, Wen He's eyes misted over. Her gaze slowly blurred as she shifted her grip upward and leaned in.

Just as her red lips were about to meet his, a pair of hands suddenly thrust out from Yan Jing's chest and shoved Wen He away.

Fei Yu, who had been completely ignoring Yan Jing's calls lately, phased right out of his chest.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

Completely ignoring the furious fire in Wen He's eyes, Fei Yu looked at Yan Jing and casually began straightening his clothes, leaving him frozen in place.

"And you are?"

Wen He took a deep breath.

She knew Yan Jing had only been able to break free from Mu Tian's control earlier because of this delicate-looking girl standing before her.

"You're asking me?"

Fei Yu turned her head, shooting her a sidelong glance with her phoenix eyes. "I was just about to ask who you are."

Seeing the look in Fei Yu's eyes, Wen He knew she had met her match. Suppressing the rising anger in her heart, she smiled. "I am Little Jing's... older sister."

"Ah, so it's the Young Master's older sister."

Fei Yu offered Wen He a slight curtsy. "I am the Young Master's personal bedchamber maid. My name is Fei Yu. Greetings, Eldest Miss."

Hearing the words 'personal bedchamber maid,' Yan Jing's eyes widened slightly. For a moment, he didn't even dare to breathe.

Personal... bedchamber maid...

Wen He took another deep breath, then smiled gracefully. "Xiao Yu, was it? Please excuse us for a moment. Little Jing and I have some things to discuss."

"But of course."

Fei Yu smiled faintly. "But I do hope the Eldest Miss minds her manners and ethics. After all, our Young Master has already taken two wives and several concubines. You wouldn't want to—mmph, mmph, mmph!"

Before Fei Yu could finish, Yan Jing clamped a hand over her mouth and shoved her back into his chest.

Right before she disappeared, however, Fei Yu made sure to shoot Wen He a mocking grimace.

Which Wen He caught perfectly.

"...Sister Wen He..."

Looking at Wen He, who had lowered her head and fallen completely silent, Yan Jing felt a rare surge of sheer panic.

No matter how much he had provoked Wen He in the past, it had all been built on the premise that he was deceiving her.

But there was one thing he hadn't lied to her about: he really did have many important people in his life now.

And yet, he knew that Wen He only had him in her heart.

He was completely dead now.

"Sister Wen He..."

Yan Jing slowly approached Wen He, frantically thinking of what to say.

But Wen He suddenly lifted her head, a smile on her face. "That little maid isn't bad."

"Our Little Jing has a good eye."

Yan Jing didn't dare to reply.

He was terrified that the shock had finally broken her.

But Wen He simply took a step forward, sliding right back into his arms. Pressing her ear tightly against his chest, she tilted her head and smiled. "It's true. I'm not angry."

"This current life is exactly the life I wanted."

"Let alone two wives, even if you married eight, it wouldn't matter..."

"Sister Wen He, Xiao Yu was just talking nonsense. That girl is sometimes just—"

"You haven't taken two lovers?"

Wen He looked up at him, her eyes sparkling brightly.

"...I haven't married anyone yet, and I don't have any concubines..." Yan Jing pursed his lips, feeling a strong desire to just drop dead right there.

"Really?"

Wen He's eyes seemed to shine even brighter. To her, it seemed that as long as he wasn't officially married, it was the greatest news in the world.

From somewhere inside Yan Jing's body, Fei Yu ground her teeth in fury.

That shameless hussy. Trying to claim the title of first wife right out of the gate!

"I really haven't married yet."

Yan Jing nodded honestly.

"Then I am completely relieved," Wen He said with a smile.

"Sister Wen He, please stop teasing me."

Yan Jing smiled bitterly. "Let's talk about what's actually going on here. Honestly, there are still a lot of things I don't quite understand..."

"Alright, then let's talk about something else."

Wen He said, though she still didn't let go of Yan Jing.

No matter what, she had absolutely no intention of releasing him.

Yan Jing actually found that the embrace felt quite nice. He asked directly, "So I entered the River of Time back then to look for you?"

"Mhm."

"But you had also entered the River of Time for some reason, so I couldn't find you at first?"

"Mhm."

"And then I entered the River of Time many more times?"

"Mhm."

"And I finally found you on the last try? Brought you out?"

"No."

Suddenly, Wen He shook her head. "That's not how it happened."

As she spoke, she raised her head and shot Yan Jing a deeply resentful look.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Yan Jing had a very bad feeling about this.

"Little Jing, you found me on your very first try."

Wen He said softly, "You brought me out, too."

Yan Jing froze.

That wasn't right.

If he had found Wen He on his very first try, then why did everyone say that the mark of the River of Time on him was so heavy? It meant he had to have entered the River many, many times.

"Then why did I go back in afterward?"

Yan Jing looked at Wen He.

Wen He's gaze deepened, as if recalling something from a very long time ago. She said softly, "I don't know. After I came out of the River, I returned straight to my own world, and you returned to yours. Like I said before, a person who leaves the River will immediately revert to their state from the previous timeline."

"I waited for you for a long time, Little Jing, but you never came. I thought your strength must not have been high enough, leaving you unable to return to your original world. I spent an immense amount of time and tried every possible method until I finally made it to this side."

"But I still couldn't find you. Nobody had even heard of you. Eventually, I came up with a theory—that perhaps you had gone back into the River of Time."

"I eventually found a diary. It stated the reason: it was because you still had to go find someone else."

"To find someone else..."

Yan Jing was stunned.

In his daze, he seemed to recall a few fragments of memory.

[ "Sir... why... why are you... lying... lying here..." ]

The scavenging girl looked down at the incredibly weak Yan Jing, who was lying next to a trash can.

"I..."

Yan Jing took a deep breath, unable to speak.

He didn't remember who he was, nor did he know why he was here.

He didn't even know where 'here' was.

It looked like an Amusement Park.

"You... you... wait right there for me... I'll get you... some... something to eat..."

The girl frantically brought over a pile of torn bread wrappers containing crumbs, and a half-eaten fruit, offering them to Yan Jing.

Under the girl's care, Yan Jing finally managed to survive.

Later on, he left that place.

He struggled and fought his way up, slowly reaching the Summit.

But the girl had died.

She had supposedly died during a massive cataclysm.

The entire Amusement Park had been sealed away. Aside from the staff, everyone else had perished.

The girl hadn't been able to escape either.

After saving someone and bringing them out, he didn't remember who he had saved.

But he remembered who he hadn't saved.

"Sister Wen He is dead..."

"And that girl..."

"No, I have to save her..."

The Wen He he had successfully saved wasn't by his side either.

After exiting the River of Time, he had returned to his original world.

Seemingly realizing that the River before him would distort his memories, Yan Jing took out a diary and began writing down a few words.

Entering the River of Time this time, he was saved once again, and his memories gradually awakened.

"Go this way."

During the cataclysm, he managed to save the girl.

He took the girl onto a bus and gave her a trash can that could produce mantou.

But the changes to the timeline meant that things didn't go as smoothly as the first time.

At the final critical moment, the elderly man selling eggs took him to his own world.

Unfortunately, the old man still died in the end.

The old man had originally fled to Rotten Vegetable Village for refuge. By returning too early this time, his strength hadn't grown enough, and he was beaten to death by his enemies in his own hometown.

He still didn't remember who he had successfully saved. He only remembered failing to save the person who left the deepest impression on him.

"No, I have to go back in one more time to save Sister Wen He, and that old man..."

He wrote these words in his diary.

This time, retaining even more of his memories, he saved the girl, and he saved the old man. Although he still didn't find Wen He, the act of saving the old man altered the timeline once again. Targeted by one of the Tianzi, he was ultimately forced to flee, accidentally triggered a passage, and ended up in the Heavenly Kingdom.

There, he met Rat, who was in the prime of his life and raising a cat.

Thanks to Rat's help, he managed to survive in the man-eating Heavenly Kingdom.

But Rat eventually died.

A few years later, he died at the hands of a cat.

"Sister Wen He, did I find you? This river seems to strip away my memories. I don't remember if I saved you or not, but I have to go back in one more time."

"This time, it's for Rat."

"It'll definitely work this time."

... ]

Scene after scene flashed before Yan Jing's eyes.

Because of his faulty memories, he believed Wen He was already dead.

And so he entered the River, spending a long, agonizing span of time inside—hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years.

Eventually, because the Wen He from the previous world thought he had died, she also found a way to enter the River.

The two of them met within the River, recognized each other, and finally left together.

But he had stayed in the River for a very, very long time, and during that time, he had met an equally pitiful girl who gave him tremendous help.

The River was a reflection of reality. Because the girl died in the River, he knew that the girl in reality must have died as well.

And because his memories were contaminated after exiting the River, the only thing he retained was the fixed idea that Wen He was already dead.

Therefore, he entered the River once more.

Next was the old man in the military overcoat.

Then it was Rat.

Then...

Until the very last time, when he encountered Mu Tian...

This time, he didn't manage to make it out of the River of Time.

His soul was shattered and scattered in all directions by Mu Tian.

And because Wen He had waited for him for so long without any sign, she also entered the River and began to search for him.

However, the timeline had already shifted numerous times due to Yan Jing's repeated actions within the River.

The timeline in the River this time was the timeline where his split souls were wandering all over the place.

Wen He didn't know exactly how far back Yan Jing had gone, so she could only start searching from as early as possible. She genuinely did manage to find him—only it was merely a remnant of his soul by pure coincidence...

It wasn't until Yan Jing entered the River of Time for the very last time, successfully saving everyone he wanted to save, that he finally exited the River of Time for good.

"That doesn't make sense. Why didn't I go in one more time?"

Yan Jing recalled everything carefully, only to realize that when he woke up in this world, the River of Time simply wasn't an option around him.

"Speaking of which... there's something else that's not right. When I woke up, I didn't have a Tier. Which means that when I first entered the River, I didn't have a Tier either."

"In other words, I grew my strength inside the River of Time on every single attempt."

"But... if that's the case, how was I able to enter the River in the first place?"

"Doesn't this River only pull in people of value?"

Yan Jing had never reached the Summit at all. How could he have possibly entered the River?

He looked at Wen He. She just smiled. "Who said you have to reach the Summit to enter the River?"

"You don't?"

Yan Jing was taken aback.

Suddenly, a certain possibility sparked in his mind.

Wen He smiled faintly. "For instance, a River Envoy wouldn't have to be."

"The River only pulls in those it deems valuable. It doesn't necessarily have to be based on one's Tier. Take you, for example, Little Jing. You really wanted to save me this time, right? Then why didn't the River of Time appear beside you after you reached the Summit?"

As Wen He's words faded, it suddenly dawned on Yan Jing that she was completely right.

This time, after he reached the Summit, the River hadn't appeared near him at all.

If he wanted to enter the River, he actually had to go ask other people for a way in.

This proved that he no longer possessed whatever the River of Time considered valuable.

In that case, his initial assumption that his 'value' lay in the role-playing system was also wrong.

"Then what else about me was so attractive to it?" Yan Jing found it almost impossible to imagine.

To think that the River of Time would actually pull an ordinary person into its depths.

And that he himself might have actually served as a River Envoy within it.

Yet he had absolutely no memory of it whatsoever.

"You yourself are very attractive."

Wen He said softly. "Your soul, your everything—it's all like that."

"That River disappeared, not because you entered it too many times, but because it realized it could no longer do anything to you."

"You definitely did something inside, taking away far too much from it."