Chapter 147: The Memory Duel on Soul-Severing Cliff

Shen Yan crashed onto the gravel of Soul-Severing Cliff, feeling as if his internal organs had been twisted over and over. His wrist was clamped tightly by that black-gloved hand, his spiritual energy meridians locked as if by iron chains, every movement sending waves of numbing pain.

Gritting his teeth, the brand on his chest reading “Never Uninstall” still burned hot, like a red-hot iron pressed against his flesh. This pain became an anchor, pulling back his consciousness that was on the verge of scattering.

The Terminal screen flickered a few times before finally emitting a faint green glow.

【Single-Thread Isolation Mode running… External signal hijacking severed】

At least it hadn’t crashed.

Summoning all his strength, he moved his fingers across the screen, pulling up the Background Process List—a mess of garbled code was frantically scrolling, all traces of intrusion from unknown protocols. He sneered coldly and typed a Command: “Delete Database and Flee, plan for the long term.”

Just as the Code executed, the hand beneath the glove suddenly trembled.

Shen Yan snapped his head up. Amid the wind and sand, Ye Shi’er stood before him, half his face hidden behind a Bronze Mask, his other hand still pressing down on Shen Yan’s wrist. But in that instant, the Terminal automatically popped up a scanning Window:

【Detected high-dimensional biological wave frequency resonance… Match rate: 99.8%】

This was no coincidence.

Staring at that line of text, a ridiculous thought flashed through his mind: Could this person be the same “Version” as me?

“You think you can escape?” Ye Shi’er’s voice was low, carrying a mechanical-like echo. “Every line of Code you write is awakening me.”

“Oh?” Shen Yan gasped for breath, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Then should I issue you a contributor list? ‘Thanks to Comrade Ye Shi’er for providing strong support towards this System’s crash’?”

Before his words faded, Ye Shi’er released his grip and slowly removed the glove from his left hand.

The skin exposed to the wind and sand revealed a section of his arm. There, a faint red birthmark shaped like a broken Rune.

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted sharply.

He looked down at the inner side of his own left arm—the same position, the same pattern.

“Dual-Born Entity,” Ye Shi’er spoke. “A thousand years ago, a Celestial Clan Outcast could not withstand the Demon Lord’s essence blood, causing the soul to shatter. The virtuous thoughts reincarnated as a human—that’s you. The malevolent thoughts were suppressed in the Netherworld, reshaped into me.”

Shen Yan’s head buzzed.

The System Interface instantly displayed over a dozen Warnings:

【Logic conflict: Host identity definition error】

【Emotional Parameter anomaly: Bond Data contradicts current narrative】

【Recommend immediately terminating conversation to prevent cognitive contamination】

He didn’t close the Notices. Instead, he opened the “Personality Independence Verification Model” and input four names: Ye Zhao, Pei Yue, Luo Li, Yu Xiaotang.

The Program began to run.

Memory Segments were automatically retrieved—Ye Zhao frowning as she taught him to modify the Sword Qi algorithm under the moonlight, the Children’s Rhyme Pei Yue hummed while performing Acupuncture Needling on him, the sensation of Luo Li secretly coiling her tail around his wrist, the Candied Hawthorn Yu Xiaotang handed him after blowing up his hair…

These Data Streams surged into the System Core like a gentle Virus attack.

“You say we are two sides of the same coin?” Shen Yan suddenly laughed. “But do you understand what it means to have someone stuff candy into your mouth? Do you understand staying up late fixing Bugs while someone brings you medicine? Do you understand choosing to turn back and pull me up when you could have escaped?”

He stared at Ye Shi’er. “You have no heartbeat, only Obsession. I am not your other half. I am the life you cannot copy.”

Ye Shi’er fell silent for a moment.

Then, he raised his hand and removed the mask.

Below the left eye, a dimple-like indentation appeared—identical to Shen Yan’s.

“Then tell me,” his voice low as scattered dust in the wind, “why do I remember someone holding me as a child, saying ‘don’t be afraid’? Why do I dream of a woman placing me in a wooden basin and pushing me off a cliff?”

Shen Yan’s breath hitched.

That was his only childhood memory.

On a stormy night, outside a dilapidated temple, a woman in a cloak placed him in a bamboo basket and let it drift down the stream. She didn’t cry, only whispered softly, “Live on.”

The Terminal suddenly vibrated.

A crack split across the screen, and a hazy light emerged from it—a man in old-fashioned robes, his features vaguely resembling Shen Yan’s outline.

“Yan’er.” The man spoke, his voice seeming to come from a great distance. “If you encounter another version of yourself, remember this: only by defeating the dark side can you inherit the complete Heavenly Dao.”

Shen Yan froze.

“This is not a duel,” the man continued. “It is a Trial. You were originally one, but only by severing your Obsession can the laws be reforged.”

The light faded, and the Terminal automatically displayed a new Protocol:

【Heavenly Dao Inheritance Trial · Activated】

【Condition: Completely negate the rationality of the dark side’s existence】

Ye Shi’er sneered coldly. “So I’m just a Bug that must be deleted? The garbage Code in your bright, shiny lives?”

He swung the Blood-Colored Scythe violently, tearing a rift in space. Countless Dark Shadows poured out—all reflections of Shen Yan.

Some knelt in ruins, faces smeared with blood, clutching broken swords; others stood on the edge of tall buildings, phones falling into the abyss; still others were turned away by four women, disappearing alone into wind and snow…

All his fears.

“Look,” Ye Shi’er’s voice was icy. “Without them, you are nothing. Your so-called bonds are merely Patches to cover up your loneliness.”

Shen Yan stood where he was, unmoving.

He knew this was his Inner Demon materialized.

But he also understood that the true way to break it was not to delete the Code, but to—update the Version.

He raised his phone, tracing four paths on the screen with the tip of his finger, inputting four keywords: sword, medicine, fire, talisman.

The System showed no reaction.

He added one more word: “home.”

In an instant, the Terminal erupted with intense light. Four types of Energy intertwined into a shield, blocking the space before him. At the center of the light shield, the final remnant of his father’s image appeared, lips moving slightly as if uttering an unfinished sentence.

Shen Yan took a deep breath and looked directly at Ye Shi’er. “You say I live just to escape? But I tell you, I stay because someone is waiting for me to come home. You are not my dark side. You are the past I refuse to turn back to.”

The wind and sand abruptly ceased.

On Duanhun Cliff, only the two of them remained in a standoff.

Ye Shi’er gripped his Scythe, demonic shadows churning around him, yet he did not attack again. His eyes were as complex as a tangle of garbled code—filled with hatred, pain, and a trace of… envy.

“You win,” he said softly. “Because you have them.”

Shen Yan stepped forward, one step at a time, until he stood at the edge of the broken stone bridge. His phone unfolded into a light shield, encircling him, receiving some distant Energy Fluctuation—like calls echoing from all directions.

He knew they were coming.

Not with their feet, but with their heartbeats, their Spiritual Power, and those bonds he once thought were mere jokes, building a passage for his return.

“I don’t need to defeat you,” Shen Yan said, looking at him. “I want to bring you back.”

Ye Shi’er laughed, his voice hoarse: “Go back? Go back where? That unwanted child died long ago.”

“Then live again,” Shen Yan extended his hand. “Just like every line of Code I write can be rewritten. So can you.”

Ye Shi’er stared at that hand, unmoving for a long time.

In the distance, above the abyss, a crack split through the dark clouds.

A faint ray of light spilled down, illuminating the ground between the two of them.

Shen Yan’s hand remained raised, the Terminal’s light shield trembling slightly as the Signal reception strength continued to rise.

Just then, Ye Shi’er suddenly lifted his Scythe, pointing it at Shen Yan’s forehead.

“But what if,” his voice turned cold, “I never wanted to be saved in the first place?”

(End of Chapter)