On May 28th, Tong Yang experienced two loops.
The first time, unprepared, she was killed by the bastard mother from the parallel world.
The second time, not wanting the butterfly effect to affect others, driven by a strong will to survive, she killed the bastard mother, then either died from excessive blood loss or fell into a deep coma, entering the loop.
On June 3rd, Sun Ye fell to his death. To test whether deep unconsciousness could trigger a loop, she tried again and returned to ten minutes before Sun Ye's death.
On June 8th, during the final comprehensive science exam, the invigilator exploited a loophole and killed everyone in exam room 1209; she fell and entered the loop.
On June 25th, believing Tong Le had drowned, she repeatedly entered time loops.
In the early hours of August 13th, at the script murder venue, she entered a time loop again.
Stringing these events together, whenever someone from the real world, connected to her before or after a loop, died, they would invariably regain their memories at the moment of death—except for those children who were unconscious before drowning and had no idea they had died once.
However, in contrast, people from the parallel world did not regain memories because of the time loops.
Whether it was the bastard mother from the parallel world, the order maintainers on August 13th, or the parallel world's enforcers and residents they killed during several loops, none regained memories at their time of death.
In other words, after Tong Yang entered a time loop, only people from the real world could recover memories of their death.
But, Ye Huai regained his memories!
This proves he is not from the parallel world!
The reason he could take them through the world barrier without being punished by the parallel world like He Jingjing (Sister) is because he wasn't originally from the parallel world!
The reason Ye Huai could shuttle them through the time barrier aligned perfectly with Tong Yang's earlier speculation!
Meng Xiao had said that if a person from the parallel world and a person from the real world exchanged internal organs, the world barrier's perception would become confused. No matter in which world they died, the body would not return to its true world.
"Ye Huai, you are not from the parallel world," Tong Yang said abruptly.
"What?" Ye Huai was stunned.
Tong Yang raised her hand to cover her eyes and gradually laughed. Just when she thought she was at a dead end, she had still found a way.
Some part of Ye Huai's body belonged to the parallel world, which was why he could shuttle between the two worlds with them.
So, under these circumstances, since they couldn't all gather to receive guidance to leave the parallel world, only she and Tang Shuyan had sufficient time to use the walkie-talkie and guide everyone out via broadcast.
What if they made one of them become like Ye Huai? Wouldn't that work?
The condition for shuttling between worlds was darkness and quiet. It was currently daytime, not meeting the condition, so they needed to find a place that did.
When repeatedly shuttling between worlds at the script murder venue, the conditions weren't that strict; it didn't absolutely have to be in a dark, lightless, enclosed place.
"Chu Shiyu, is the space in your basement sufficient?"
Chu Shiyu said, "The basement is very large, with hardly anything in it. It's enough."
"Xu Junyue, find a room with poor lighting. If there isn't one, use
corpses to block all light sources."
"Ye Huai, there's a separate garage to the right of the study? The key should be with the safe key. Go try to open it now and see if the space is sufficient."
Ye Huai said, "Okay."
"What about us?"
"What about me? Sister Tong Yang?"
Ye Huai, Chu Shiyu, and Xu Junyue had already regained their memories from their deaths. Knowing Tong Yang had likely thought of a solution after entering the loop, they didn't interrupt.
"Drive the car inside."
"Yan Qing, don't worry about it."
The armored vehicle, like in previous loops, drove into the base gate.
"The garage can be opened. It's empty, space is sufficient."
Xu Junyue said, "I also found a basement."
The corner of Tong Yang's mouth lifted. "Then, please die once more."
"Ah?"
"Okay."
"Alright then..."
Gunshots sounded through the headphones; the three once again shot themselves.
Tong Yang had a solution, but implementing it wasn't easy.
She needed to replace a part of herself or Tang Shuyan within minutes, turning them into confused individuals like Ye Huai, to be able to guide everyone out via broadcast.
In the real world, such a thing would be absolutely impossible.
But, this was not the real world.
This was the parallel world, which had gene serums and bodies that could automatically heal.
When she cut off Aunt Liu's head and stuck it in the flower bed, the flesh completely separated from the body was still growing, proving the gene serum's effect wasn't on a single organ, but the entire body.
Because the growing flesh couldn't find other body parts, it couldn't complete the healing.
So, if Aunt Liu's head were placed on something else, would the flesh connect and heal with that other thing?
Like grafting a plant, placing it on another plant—would they grow together?
If it could be done, someone injected with the gene serum could heal within minutes, allowing them to guide everyone back to the real world via broadcast from the command base!
The armored vehicle sped all the way to the internal base entrance. Tong Yang skillfully jumped out the window and said to Tang Shuyan, "Block them."
"No problem."
Using an ID card to open the internal door, Tong Yang, eager to experiment, grabbed a blonde, blue-eyed technician with a willow-leaf knife, sliced off a piece of flesh from the shoulder, picked up the bloody piece of flesh, walked to another technician, imitated grafting by cutting off flesh from the same spot on him, then pressed the woman's wriggling, growing flesh onto it. The flesh pressed against flesh actually slowly began to fuse together!
It works!
Using this method, they could become like Ye Huai!
The situation was clear now; the most suitable person for this method was herself.
The other enforcers in the base were being blocked by Tang Shuyan driving to prevent them from breaking in, and Tong Yang couldn't drive.
Since they would have to enter the loop at least once more anyway, why not make good use of it?
Two pieces of skin of different colors fused together would be too obvious.
Tong Yang frowned tightly. It was impossible for her to grit her teeth and replace an organ inside her body. Even she might not endure the pain of cutting open her body to remove an organ, but...
She looked around the base. No one had a skin tone similar to hers. She didn't want Tong Le to see; he would definitely overthink things again. What if the fusion was in an unseen place... No, just thinking about it was disgusting.
Tong Yang looked thoughtfully at the foreign woman's hair. Besides her, everyone in the command base was a man. What if the hair didn't continue to grow after fusion? That would be terrible. Compared to short hair, she actually preferred long hair.
Moreover, the woman's hair color was quite good, and the hair quality was excellent. Even if Tong Le or others asked about it, she could say she had dyed it on a whim.
The only question was whether replacing a section of scalp could achieve the same effect as Ye Huai's.
"Screw it, I'll try."
Tong Yang grabbed the woman's hair and cut off a palm-sized piece of her scalp. Looking at the writhing flesh beneath, Tong Yang's face twisted with disgust.
Next, she just had to cut open her own scalp...
Tong Yang clenched her teeth. She should have asked for some payment from them before coming in; there was no need to imagine how much it would hurt.
Tong Yang even felt like dragging Tang Shuyan down from the armored vehicle. However, the situation outside was chaotic, so it was better to let him hold the line for now. Besides, if she could traverse the world barrier herself in the future, she wouldn't need to trouble the sickly Ye Huai anymore.
Wouldn't cutting off her scalp leave a hole in her head? And when this woman died later, wouldn't her scalp disappear too?
It probably wouldn't. Meng Xiao had said that as long as the woman died in the parallel world, the organs in the real world wouldn't vanish.
If she killed her now, the scalp wouldn't disappear.
Damn parallel worlds. One day, I'll destroy all of you.
Not long after, Tong Yang entered the loop once more, returning to the armored vehicle.
Her face was pale, her hands gripping the overhead handles tightly.
"Five hundred thousand..." Tong Yang's voice was hoarse, "Whether you have the money or not, you owe me five hundred thousand after we get out of here."
"Alright..." Chu Shiyu responded solemnly.
Even without fully regaining their memories, they could guess that Tong Yang had already entered the loop countless times.
"You should regain your memories soon. I'll guide you back via broadcast before the self-destruct sequence initiates. There's only one chance. If you get left behind here, I won't start over."
"Okay."
"Understood."
"Holy shit! I remember now! I'm heading to the basement!"
After a moment of silence, Ye Huai asked, "How will you guide us out?"
"We'll talk about that outside."
"In two minutes, I'll cut off the central satellite receiver. You use the key to open the safe and free Yan Qing, then take her to the garage."
Ye Huai said, "...Alright."
"Be quick."
"I know."
Yan Qing was confused, "I don't understand what you're all saying?"
Among them, only she and Tang Shuyan hadn't experienced the loops.
However, even without the memories of the previous loops, Tang Shuyan had guessed some things.
Tong Yang pulled the pins from the grenades and threw three or four into the base in one go.
Tang Shuyan drove straight for the inner gate of the base, running over two enforcers. Tong Yang immediately jumped out of the window.
Using the ID card to open the base gate, the broadcast sounded again.
"Attention all residents of District One, the Time Anchor has successfully infiltrated the command base. We are urgently requesting assistance from superiors for its destruction."
"Attention all residents of District One, the Time Anchor has successfully infiltrated the command base. We are urgently requesting assistance from superiors for its destruction."
"Attention all residents of District One, the Time Anchor has successfully infiltrated the command base. We are urgently requesting assistance from superiors for its destruction."
As she walked towards the blonde, blue-eyed woman, she said to the others, "Shut down the central satellite receiver."
"Yes."
"Get to the basement and garage as fast as you can," Tong Yang said into the headset.
Before the words faded, the communication was cut off.
Tong Yang grabbed the woman's hair and cut off the palm-sized piece of her scalp. The blonde hair and Tong Yang's hands were stained with dripping blood.
"Bang—"
Tang Shuyan had run over most of the enforcers, blocking the inner entrance with the vehicle, and jumped out from the front seat.
"Tong Yang..."
He stared in shock at the scene, the rest of his words choked in his throat.
Tong Yang was slumped on the floor beside the control console. The right side of her face was smeared with blood, her lips were paper-white, and her breathing was faint.
In her hand, she clutched a clump of black hair. The hair on the upper right side of her head had turned golden yellow, writhing incessantly as it burrowed into her scalp.
"What are you looking at?" Tong Yang's voice was calm, her expression indifferent, yet her entire body was drenched in sweat.
Tang Shuyan stood dumbfounded. Seeing Tong Yang trying to stand up, he immediately stepped forward to support her.
"Is this the method you thought of?"
"Yeah."
Leaning on the strength of his arm, Tong Yang stood up. The flesh on her scalp hadn't fully fused with her body, the pain mingled with an unbearable itch, as if countless ants were crawling over the wound.
"Open the bomb shelter."
Tong Yang said to the technician.
"Yes."
Not far away, a hidden door slowly opened.
Holding the walkie-talkie connected to all broadcasts in District One, Tong Yang, after enduring two bouts of excruciating pain, was barely holding on and too tired to move. She said, "Carry me in on your back."
"Okay." Tang Shuyan bent down, lifted Tong Yang onto his back, and walked into the bomb shelter with a complex mix of emotions.
"There's a switch on the left. Turn off the lights."
"Okay."
Tong Yang rested her head on his shoulder, her breathing so light it was almost imperceptible.
Before the final loop, Tong Yang had used the "Elevator Game" alone to return to the real world, just to test whether replacing her scalp with that of a parallel world technician could achieve the same effect as Ye Huai.
It proved to be sufficient.
She had successfully returned to the real world.
Three minutes had passed since the central satellite receiver was shut down. The others should have reached their respective locations where they could perform the "Elevator Game."
They could safely return to the real world with the high-quality gene serum and Yan Qing.
Tong Yang turned on the walkie-talkie, her voice echoing throughout District One: "In ten seconds, I will guide you back to the real world. If you fail, I will not start over."
"I am the Time Anchor. Try to kill me if you dare."
The second sentence was Tong Yang's message to all residents of District One and the entire parallel world.
Because of these damn things, her peaceful life had already been ruined.
"Please close your eyes."
Tong Yang and Tang Shuyan closed their eyes simultaneously, plunging their surroundings into darkness.
The sound of cracking came from the glass dome covering District One.
"Please do not turn around. Take ten steps backward."
Tang Shuyan, carrying Tong Yang, steadily stepped backward.
Unclear if the others had completed the steps at the same time, Tong Yang paused for several seconds before speaking again.
"Please take four steps forward."
"Please do not turn around. Take twelve steps backward."
"Please take four steps forward."
"Please do not turn around. Take twenty steps backward."
"Please take ten steps forward."
By now, they had entered the interlayer between worlds.
"Please choose to advance or retreat twenty steps."
"Please choose whether to open your eyes."
Tong Yang's voice suddenly became distant.
She slowly opened her eyes. Before her was a brightly lit subway tunnel.
Tong Yang knew they had succeeded.
Before entering the parallel world for the second time, they had already had the police clear the area in the real world corresponding to District One. The subway had long ceased operation, and the tunnel was empty.
"Are we back?"
"Put me down."
"Okay."
Tong Yang leaned against the cold wall of the subway passage, threw away the walkie-talkie, took out her phone, and dialed the group call.
The phone signal had been restored, though it was still unstable.
Her pale lips were pressed into a tight line. Her golden hair was now completely fused with her scalp, showing no signs of injury, as if it had always been one with her.
Tong Yang watched the screen. As the call rang longer and longer, messages began to pop up one after another.
[Ye Huai has accepted the call invitation.]
[Chu Shiyu has accepted the call invitation.]
[Xu Junyue has accepted the call invitation.]
[Yan Qing has accepted the call invitation.]
"Tong Yang, we're back!"
"We did it!"
"Sister Tong Yang, that's great! I got the gene serum too!"
"Tong Yang, you've worked hard."
Tong Yang gripped the phone so tightly her fingertips turned white. Her tightly wound nerves snapped all at once. It felt as if an invisible hand yanked her consciousness right out of her body. Her vision went dark, and she collapsed toward the ground.
"Tell 'Yan Qing' to wait for me..."
"Tong Yang!"
"Tong Yang? What's wrong?"
"Tong Yang? Tong Yang!"
"Sister Tong Yang?"
All the voices gradually faded in her ears.
Tang Shuyan picked Tong Yang up. Their worried cries continued to come from the phone.
Tang Shuyan checked her pulse, his expression extremely complex. "Tong Yang is fine for now. I'll take her to a nearby hospital first."
Exhausted to the bone, Tong Yang didn't know how long she had been unconscious. She only felt her body was terribly heavy, as if something were pressing down on it.
A familiar yet unfamiliar smell of disinfectant reached her nose. Sensation gradually returned to her body, and she could hear faint, indistinct voices talking nearby.
She opened her heavy eyelids and felt something strange with her right hand. Turning her head, she saw a long IV tube hanging in mid-air, the needle inserted into the back of her hand.
(Note from the author Jiao Yang: "The Infinite Horror Gossip Group" is first published on... Remember to check for the latest chapters.)
"She's awake!"
"Tong Yang is awake!"
Suddenly, three or four people crowded around the hospital bed, looking at her with concern.
Tong Yang frowned, blinked, and instinctively raised her hand to touch the top of her head. Soft strands brushed against her cheek—a dazzling golden color.
"Tong Yang, that hair color is pretty trendy," Xu Junyue teased.
"Shut up!" Chu Shiyu glared at her.
"Yeah, yeah!" Yan Qing chimed in.
Tong Yang pressed her dry lips together, and a cup of water was immediately offered to her.
"Have some water."
Tong Yang sat up, and Chu Shiyu stepped forward to support her.
After drinking half the cup, Tong Yang looked around. Besides Chu Shiyu and the others, Police Officer Wan and Director Zhao were also there.
"What's the date today?"
"It's September 5th."
Tong Yang nodded. It seemed she had slept for a full day and night.
"What about the gene serum and Meng Ting?"
"Meng Ting has already been injected with the gene serum and sent abroad on a special flight. Things are progressing smoothly, don't worry."
Tong Yang glanced at them. "What are you looking at? I'm fine."
Chu Shiyu looked worried. "Tong Yang, your hair..."
"I transplanted the scalp of a parallel world human onto my own head."
Xu Junyue nodded, seeming to half-understand. "Oh..."
Ye Huai stood by the window, his light gaze turning toward her.
"Director, could you please step out for a moment?" Ye Huai said.
Director Zhao smiled. "Alright, as long as you're all okay."
Director Zhao and Police Officer Wan left the room, leaving only those who had entered the parallel world with Tong Yang.
"You go out too."
Tong Yang looked at Yan Qing and said.
Yan Qing's eyes widened. She shook her head. "No! I went in with you all too..."
"Out!" Tong Yang's voice hardened, her expression serious.
Yan Qing pouted unhappily, not daring to disobey Tong Yang. Reluctantly, she said, "Fine, I'm going. No need to be so fierce."
"Don't tell anyone about what you experienced. Act as if it never happened, understand?"
Yan Qing snorted. "I know!"
Then, she left the room, looking back every few steps. Before closing the door, she shot a resentful glance at Tong Yang.
Once the door was closed, Tong Yang lowered her gaze and said, "Ye Huai, you're not from the parallel world."
Ye Huai looked at her quietly, not speaking, waiting for her to continue.
"After I entered the time loop, only people from the real world could regain their memories within the loop's timeframe. After you died, you regained yours."
Ye Huai nodded. "I'm not from the parallel world, but I could take you all there because I have something from a parallel world human inside my body."
"Correct."
Chu Shiyu showed a look of astonishment. "So that's why your hair turned out like this?"
"Mm."
Ye Huai's expression remained unchanged. When he lifted his eyes, his gaze toward Tong Yang was profound. "What happened before that?"
Seeing no need to hide it from them, Tong Yang recounted the events only she knew.
"Before the self-destruct sequence was initiated, the only way to save Yan Qing was to shut down the central satellite receiver. That would cut off our communication, and once shut down, it couldn't be restarted. The time I could loop back to was only ten minutes before death. In ten minutes, we couldn't regroup, nor could we receive your guidance over the phone to return to the real world."
"The only way was to guide everyone back to the real world via broadcast from the command base. But there was no way you could reach the command base in such a short time."
"I looped many times. I thought I would be trapped in the loop forever. After you... ended your own life, you regained your memory, showing me a turning point. I tested and found the method would work, so I went through the final loop."
Tong Yang was concise, omitting many details.
But from her words, the others could more or less guess.
She didn't mention the process of transplanting the scalp. They could imagine one prerequisite: Tong Yang had to cut off her own scalp to perform the transplant and fusion.
Without anesthesia, she had endured that process twice.
They could imagine what kind of pain that was, but they could never truly feel it.
"Thank you," Ye Huai said, his gaze unusually earnest.
"Tong Yang, I admire you," Tang Shuyan said with a sigh.
Xu Junyue stepped forward and gently tousled her hair. "Thanks! A drop of kindness deserves a flood of repayment! But honestly, it looks pretty good on you."
Chu Shiyu pressed her lips together, not speaking, her eyes slightly reddening.
Tong Yang didn't stand on ceremony with them and reminded, "You still have to pay up."
"Of course, of course! We won't shortchange you!"
"This Taoist master has money, won't welch on the debt."
Hearing the word "welch," Tong Yang glanced subtly at Ye Huai, her little thoughts written all over her face.
Ye Huai couldn't help but smile. The cold aura around him softened. "Don't worry. My health is temporarily okay. I'll earn the money to pay you back as soon as possible."
Tong Yang thought this person looked quite nice when he smiled.
"By the way, has Tong Le called me?" Tong Yang looked at Chu Shiyu and asked.
Chu Shiyu's eyes reddened. She lowered her lashes, and tears rolled down.
"Why are you crying?" Tong Yang asked, puzzled.
"I'm a crybaby, what's it to you?"
"Then go ahead and cry."
Tong Yang shrugged, "Tong Le doesn't know, does he?"
"He knows."
Tong Yang shook her head, "I don't believe it."
Chu Shiyu shot her a look, "He called. I said you were busy, couldn't take the call, and would call him back when you had time."
"Fine, I got it."
"Let Director Zhao and Police Officer Wan in now."
"I'll go get them." Xu Junyue volunteered, turning to open the door.
"Where's my backpack?"
"Right here."
When Director Zhao and the others entered, Tong Yang was rummaging through her backpack and pulled out a blood-stained object.
"What's this?"
It was a black chip, with no time to clean it, still smeared with blood and bits of tissue.
"A chip taken from the brain of a parallel world human. Help me give it to Dr. Luo. It might be useful to them."
After scalping the foreign woman, Tong Yang had opened her skull and retrieved this chip. According to the technicians, this chip could enhance their brain development, and perhaps the 749 Bureau could discover something from it.
"Alright, I'll pass it on to her for you."
Tong Yang nodded and asked, "What about Yan Qing from the parallel world?"
At this, Police Officer Wan's face showed a trace of shame.
"She escaped."
Tong Yang wasn't surprised; "Yan Qing" wasn't as simple as she seemed.
"How did she escape?"
"She broke her own hand to slip out of the handcuffs when we weren't paying attention."
Tong Yang lowered her gaze and said nothing. She still didn't understand how parallel world humans traveled to and from the real world, so it was understandable they couldn't hold her.
She had probably planned her escape all along.
However, Tong Yang always sought payback whenever she suffered a loss, though it seemed she wouldn't be able to retaliate just yet this time.
It didn't matter. Time was on her side, and there would always be a chance to drag her out.
As for how they completed the mission, seeing that Tong Yang didn't intend to explain, Director Zhao didn't press further. After confirming she was not seriously injured and reminding her to contact them anytime she was in danger, they left the hospital.
Soon after, Ye Huai and Tang Shuyan also said their goodbyes and left.
Only the three of them remained in the hospital room. Tong Yang could be discharged after finishing her IV drip.
"What about your hair? Do you want to dye it back?" Chu Shiyu asked.
Xu Junyue held up her phone as a mirror. Tong Yang looked at her reflection on the screen. Amidst her jet-black hair, a patch of golden hair grew abruptly on the right side of her scalp, about the same length as her original hair.
Parting the hair, she found the scalp had fused seamlessly. Apart from the hair color, there was almost no trace of anything unusual.
"Forget it, can't be bothered," Tong Yang said.
"No need to dye it! I think it's perfect like this, very unique."
After the IV drip finished, they left the hospital.
Tong Yang had some minor injuries, not serious. The wound on her palm was also wrapped in clean gauze.
She called Tong Le back, agreeing to pick him and Yang Lin up from school tomorrow, Friday, for the weekend.
Then the three of them found a restaurant for a hearty meal. At the west gate of Peking University, they parted ways to go back, wash up, and rest.
Tong Yang took a shower. Without drying her hair completely, she pulled a chair onto the balcony and played on her phone.
She hadn't checked the group chat for days; there were 99+ messages.
[Ahhhh so bored!]
[What is Sister Tong even doing? She hasn't shown up at all.]
[I was thinking, nothing major happened in the capital in September...]
[@Study for Money @Study for Money @Study for Money]
[Sis, are you still alive? Make a sound if you are!]
Study for Money: [Squeak.]
[???]
[You're still alive?]
[Hahahaha]
[Sis Tong, what have you been up to these past couple days? Always offline.]
[Yeah, yeah.]
[As your most loyal leg accessory, I've been really worried about you.]
Study for Money: [Went to a parallel world for a bit.]
[Ah???]
[Whoa! Sis Tong doing big things quietly!]
[My sis, you really can't stay idle, can you?]
[Are you okay?]
[Sis, should I help you check if anything's happened in the capital recently?]
Study for Money: [No. School starts in a few days. Don't tell me anything unless the earth explodes.]
[Got it!]
[Roger that!]
[Understood!]
Ending that topic, they returned to their roots, enthusiastically discussing the absurd things happening around them. Tong Yang glanced at a few messages, found it uninteresting, and exited the chat.
She had met quite a few people recently. There were messages from many unfamiliar avatars in her contacts list. Tong Yang didn't know who was who and randomly replied to a few. She was surprised to find a Tsinghua University admissions officer had messaged her days ago, saying it wasn't too late to change her mind and choose Tsinghua.
Tong Yang smiled but didn't reply.
Exiting that chat, she suddenly noticed someone with the nickname "A Little Pink Flower" had accepted her friend request days ago.
Tong Yang frowned, remembering it was the owner of the gossip group she had added about half a month ago.
He actually accepted?
Study for Money: [Who are you?]
Tong Yang immediately sent a message.
She thought the other side wouldn't reply, but less than half a minute after sending the message, a notification sounded.
Little Pink Flower: [Hello.]
Study for Money: [Who are you?]
Little Pink Flower: [Sorry, I can't tell you.]
Study for Money: [What's your purpose?]
Little Pink Flower: [Perhaps our goals are the same.]
Study for Money: [You know about the parallel worlds?]
Little Pink Flower: [Yes, I do.]
Study for Money: [Why is there a time dislocation?]
Little Pink Flower: [Wormhole effect.]
Wormhole effect?
From what Tong Yang understood, it was an unproven hypothetical tunnel that might connect two different points in spacetime.
Many scientists believed wormholes could allow travel through time and across space. Tong Yang had also researched the wormhole effect in her spare time, but she lacked the extensive professional knowledge. Given humanity's current scientific level, proving the wormhole effect's existence was almost entirely impossible.
Remembering the age in his profile, Tong Yang asked: [Are you from 120 years in the future?]
The age in his profile was 120 years old.
Over a hundred years later, perhaps real-world humans could achieve time travel through wormholes.
Little Pink Flower: [No.]
Study for Money: [But your profile says 120.]
Little Pink Flower: [...]
Little Pink Flower: [I'm from twelve years in the future.]
Tong Yang frowned deeply. The "Netizen Gossip 007" group chat was created in 2026, two years from now. In 2026, group members saw the group as having existed for ten years. The group owner was indeed from 2036.
Study for Money: [Are we in the same world?]
Little Pink Flower: [Yes.]
Study for Money: [You intentionally gathered us in this group? Does me being a temporal anchor point have anything to do with you?]
Little Pink Flower: [You'll find out.]
Study for Money: [Why can't you tell me now?]
Little Pink Flower: [I'm a time traveler. Revealing too much to you, the butterfly effect could make the future uncontrollable.]
Study for Money: [If you can't say anything, why accept the friend request?]
Little Pink Flower: [...It's been a long time since I last spoke with you.]
Learning is for Making Money: ["Do we know each other?"]
Little Pink Flower: ["You don't know me."]
Tong Yang had always been a bold person, so she simply dialed a video call.
As expected, the other party hung up.
Learning is for Making Money: ["You don't want to see me?"]
Little Pink Flower: ["...I can't."]
Learning is for Making Money: ["Why? You don't need to tell me what you know, then there won't be a butterfly effect."]
Little Pink Flower: ["You don't know me."]
After that, no matter what messages Tong Yang sent, the other party did not reply again.
Tong Yang felt somewhat baffled and couldn't find any clues for the moment.
She didn't know him, but the other person knew her? Who could it be?
However, there should be many people like that. After all, she had been on the trending searches a few times, and sometimes even walking on the street, people would recognize her and ask for her contact information.
She looked at the now quiet phone screen, gradually falling into deep thought.
A time traveler who established a group chat through a wormhole, who knows about parallel worlds and time anchors... most likely intentionally set the time anchor on her.
With the same goal...
Wanting to fight against the parallel world together with her?
Has the scientific level in the country developed to this extent in twelve years? Can they really use wormholes for time travel?
But so many people were killed by the parallel world; why did they specifically choose her to be the time anchor? Is it just because she gets good grades?
If they just wanted to fight against the parallel world invasion with her, why not say it directly? After all, she only survived because of the time anchor; even just to stay alive, she would help him.
"What are you thinking about? You look so serious." Chu Shiyu came out after her shower and, seeing her lost in thought, couldn't help but ask.
Tong Yang asked, "Do you believe in the wormhole effect?"
Chu Shiyu said, "I didn't used to believe it, but now I do."
Tong Yang felt she was asking a pointless question.
The emergence of parallel worlds and time loops proves that the wormhole effect truly exists.
Is there a connection between the reason why parallel world humans travel between the two worlds and wormholes?
Tong Yang lowered her head and opened a learning website, searching for a Peking University professor's explanatory video on wormholes.
Chu Shiyu stood beside her, rolling her eyes. During this time, she had thoroughly understood to what extent Tong Yang would go for the sake of studying. It wouldn't be surprising at all if the country awarded her a National Best Effort Award someday.
Exhausted from coming out of the parallel world, having experienced things ordinary people could hardly bear, yet she just slept one night and was fully recharged. One really had to admire her diligence and hard work.
However, Tong Yang had always been like this. No matter what she did, she never allowed a half-hearted attitude; she had to reach the peak and do it to the extreme.
September 6th, Friday.
3 PM, Tong Yang, along with Chu Shiyu and Xu Junyue, appeared at the gate of Peking University Affiliated Elementary School.
They had already informed Yang's mother in advance that they would take Tong Le and Yang Lin out for dinner before returning.
3:30 PM, the school bell rang.
As they were not in the same building and were quite far apart, Yang Lin came out first, walking with a few classmates.
"Sister Shiyu, Sister Tong Yang, Sister Junyue."
Yang Lin obediently carried his backpack, walked up to the three of them, and greeted them one by one.
"Yang Lin, we're leaving."
"Okay."
"See you Monday."
"See you Monday."
The classmates said goodbye to Yang Lin and then left.
Seeing that Yang Lin had made new friends at school, Chu Shiyu was very pleased.
Not long after, Tong Le also came out, carrying his backpack with a group of classmates.
They were huddled together, heatedly discussing something. As they got closer, it became clear they were debating how many solutions a certain math problem could have. Tong Le walked in the middle, not participating in the discussion.
"Sister!"
Reaching the school gate, he looked around and spotted Tong Yang in the crowd at a glance.
"I'm leaving first, see you Monday."
"Lele, I'll send you a set of problems tomorrow. We can check answers after you finish."
"Okay! Bye!"
"Bye!"
After saying goodbye to his classmates, he jogged over to where Tong Yang and the others were.
"Sister! Sister Shiyu, Sister Junyue."
Tong Yang reached to take his backpack, but he immediately stopped her.
"Sister, my backpack is heavy. I'll carry it myself."
"Alright."
Tong Yang didn't insist and let go.
"Sister, what happened to your hand?" Tong Le frowned, noticing the bandage wrapped around her hand.
Chu Shiyu said, "She accidentally scalded it while pouring water. It's nothing serious."
Tong Le said unhappily, "Sister, be more careful! Does it still hurt..."
"It doesn't hurt." Before he could finish, Tong Yang interrupted, "Let's go, we'll go to the mall, and take you out for dinner tonight."
Xu Junyue hooked her arm around Tong Yang's shoulder and said, "Lele, does sister's hair look good?"
Tong Le looked up and nodded, "So pretty!"
Yang Lin said, "I think it's very pretty too."
"Right? I think so too!"
"Shut up, let's go."
A new arcade had opened in a nearby mall, and they planned to let the two kids relax a bit.
Once there, they bought several hundred yuan worth of game tokens and let them find games they wanted to play.
Tong Yang's hand was injured and inconvenient, so after wandering around inside for a few rounds, she let Chu Shiyu and Xu Junyue play with them.
Passing by the central rest area, her peripheral glance caught someone sitting in the corner.
A boy wearing a black T-shirt, a baseball cap, and a mask, with only some stray hairs visible on his face, was leaning back in the seat, head lowered.
Tong Yang's gaze paused. She turned and walked towards the rest area, sitting down directly in the seat next to the boy.
The boy's body stiffened, as if he hadn't expected her to suddenly approach, and immediately buried his head even lower.
"We've met twice. Once when you were feeding the little black cat, and another time when I rode my bike past you." Tong Yang said calmly.
The boy remained rigid, turning his face to the other side, and muttered, "Sorry, I don't remember."
"Is that so." Tong Yang extended a hand towards him. "Then can we be friends? I'm Tong Yang."
The boy almost buried his head in his chest, his ears and the visible part of his cheeks flushed red. "I'm just passing by..."
"Our meeting is fate, and besides, I think you look a lot like someone I know."
The boy was taken aback and instinctively glanced at her.
Tong Yang noticed not only was his face red, but his eyes were also red.
"Sister."
Tong Le came jogging to the rest area, holding a stuffed toy.
The boy immediately lowered his head again, seeming ready to get up and leave.
"Don't move." Tong Yang said calmly.
The boy instantly froze as if pinned to the chair, not daring to move.
"Sister, I caught this, for you!"
It was a cute SpongeBob SquarePants plushie.
"Thank you."
"Sister, your hand hurts, you can't play. Is there any doll you want? I'll catch them all for you!"
Tong Yang said, "Don't worry about me. Just have fun."
"I want sister to be happy too!"
Tong Yang suddenly raised her hand in the air, her tone serious. "Tong Le, give me your hand."
The boy shuddered.
"Oh..." Tong Le nodded.
Suddenly, before he could extend his hand, another hand reached out from beside Tong Yang!
