Chapter 48: You are too kind
Chapter 48: You are too kind
The fleshy purple and pink petals begin to unfold, sending golden rays in all the directions. If one looks carefully, the glittering bead at the center of the flower is the source of the golden rays. It's the time crystal. The timekeepers process them and use it to make prisons for time travelers. The time travelers can absorb the raw crystal to gain better control of their abilities.
The timekeeper showed me the memories willingly because he was afraid that I would damage Kang Si An's mind. If Kang Si An remembers Li Jun's memories after waking up, the timekeeper will lose more command over his body. Kang Si An might take drastic actions to stop him.
"Kang Si An and I made a deal subconsciously. When I help you, I gain a little more control over him." His eyes are focused on the blossoming flower. "Because I decided to give you the dagger, I gained an hour. I used only twenty minutes in the original timeline to finish you on your decided day of death. After that time, he is cautious of me. What should I do? Your existence irks me."
I gaze at him. "Are you helping me now, timekeeper?"
"Since you are here, I can give you crucial clues directly. He can't block me unconsciously." He smirks at me. "I already have forty minutes left from the original deal. I gained an hour more. I have 100 minutes now."
"If you give me another clue," I warn him. "I will unleash all the memories including this conversation."
He glowers at me when he hears my words. "Forcing someone to remember can do irrevocable harm. You are too kind to do that to your lover."
That's true. I won't break Kang Si An's mind. I don't have the power to erase this existence inside Kang Si An's mind either.
"You don't understand your situation, traveler." He simpers arrogantly. "You could go back in time and get the time bead or this time crystal. You could live a happy life with Li Jun... Oh, don't look at me like this. This information is free. 100 minutes are more than enough for me. I will tell you why. Li Jun won't have the happy memories of Kang Si An because the future is already changing. He won't be in love with you. If Li Jun never feel any love for you, Kang Si An won't feel any love for you either. No love and less resistance make things easier for me. In 100 minutes, I can kill you more than 1000 times."
I gnash my teeth. This crazy thing!
"Don't think that I can't get you if you hide in the past like your aunt, Traveler." He leans toward me. "I can find you anywhere at any time. It's not just me. Now, your aunt and you would be on the hit list of all the timekeepers. Even in the past, they will come for you and her."
I become quiet. My aunt is also a target because I can no longer be used to lure her into her correct time. I will warn her about the notebook planted by the keepers when I go back next time.
"Do you want to live a life like this?" He looks at me sympathetically. "Always looking around to see who will come to get you, you will be tired and miserable. If you surrender when you return to your correct time, your aunt will get some years to live freely as a general. When her ability returns, she will come back to her home to deliver the notebook. Kang Si An will become free of my existence because my job will be done. It is a happy ending for everyone if you surrender yourself."
"Asking me to surrender when I return to my time, you still want to avoid anomalies." I chuckle and shake my head.
"Timekeeper, you and I are inside the mind of Kang Si An from the original timeline. You have already killed me in this timeline. Killing the same person twice in the same timeline will create a huge anomaly. Before I return and take the different action to change the original timeline, my day of death can't change. My aunt and I are not in the keeper's hit list until that happens. As long as Li Jun and Kang Si An have feelings for me, they will continue to resist you."
His face turns sour. "You won't follow the same timeline willingly."
"Of course, not." I look around. The sky is clear blue again. We are back in the yellow mustard field.
"I don't know when the timekeepers and you will come for me if I change my actions. But, how do you know when I will take a different action? I can carry the keeper's dagger with me all the time, but what if I never use it on that monster thing? I won't get the bead. Future will follow as planned."
I laugh at him when I see his ugly expression. He might look like Kang Si An, but he's not him.
"If I survive the 100 minutes until my decided day of death is over, I am guessing that you will fail as the keeper and you will be erased in my place and Kang Si An will become a normal person?"
He widens his eyes in shock. My guess is correct.
"Crossroads can change the entire flow of time. In these 6 months, the first crossroad was the moment when my future self decided not to touch me. The second crossroad was the moment when I decided to enter Kang Si An's mind. If I hadn't, you wouldn't show yourself to me. The third crossroad is the day of my death. Even time gives chances to travelers to change the fates."
I touch the yellow flowers. This color suits Kang Si An. "If you cannot kill me in the next 6 months, you will be erased in my place. So, you have 100 minutes in the next 6 months. Even if I am caught in the past, the keeper will keep me in the time prison for the time travelers until my correct time arrives. My aunt told me that. So, it all depends on these... it's not even six months now. Fifteen days are already gone."
"The moment you change your actions, I will get the opportunity." His eyes shine when he smiles at me creepily.
"You are forgetting the most important part." I turn my back and start walking ahead of him. "My future self knew one thing. She told me that everything could change if I found the time crystal. She knew that she didn't find it. Still, she used that single opportunity at the crossroad to give me a clue. If she hadn't taken me to the alley and said that thing to me, I might not have entered Kang Si An's mind and see those memories. She chose to die by your hands to hide the hints in Kang Si An's mind. She didn't give up back then, Timekeeper. She gave me an important lesson. The present is the most important time to change the future."
I don't look back at him. I come out of Kang Si An's mind without any hiccups. When I open my eyes, it's 6 AM on the clock. Kang Si An is breathing soundlessly beside me. I smile and give him a kiss on his forehead. I will turn him into a normal person in the future.
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