Chapter 194: Temporal Rift Opens

As Shen Yan’s fingertip left the phone screen, the sealed door suddenly shuddered violently. Before he could react, a line of red text abruptly appeared on the Terminal Interface: 【Warning: Bidirectional Binding Completed, Permission Insufficient, Cannot Interrupt Process】.

His pupils contracted sharply.

It’s over.

The Program has already started running, and no one can stop it.

The hand in the door gap was still stretching outward, pale without a trace of blood color, fingertips glowing with faint red light, like some kind of Signal flickering. Ye Shi’er stood before the door, his entire body rigid, one hand pressed firmly against the door panel, the other trembling slightly.

Shen Yan wanted to rush forward and pull him away, but as soon as his foot moved, he was pinned down by an invisible force. The air became viscous, making breathing difficult. He looked down at his phone; the Screen was scrolling wildly with garbled Code, and System Notices continuously popped up: 【Space Parameter Anomaly】【Gravity Field Disturbance】【Spiritual Power Reading Overflow】.

He knew something bad was about to happen.

“Ye Shi’er!” he shouted, “Stop pouring Spiritual Power into it! It’ll explode!”

Ye Shi’er didn’t turn around, but his voice came through, hoarse beyond recognition: “You’re right… I’m a monster.”

Shen Yan froze.

But then he heard another sentence: “But if I don’t become this monster, she will never wake up.”

As the words fell, Ye Shi’er suddenly spread his arms wide, his entire body’s Spiritual Power like a breached flood, madly pouring into the sealed door. His Black-Gold Combat Attire began to crack, dense Runes emerging beneath his skin, like red-hot iron wire carved into flesh. The Blood-Colored Scythe behind him emitted a mournful cry, and the next moment, with a “crack,” shattered into powder, transforming into a blood mist merging into the Spiritual Flow.

The entire door shook violently, red light swelling like a sun about to explode.

Shen Yan immediately opened the Terminal, fingers rapidly tapping the Virtual Keyboard, trying to invoke the “Emergency Disconnection Protocol.” But halfway through writing the Code, the entire space began to distort. Cracks appeared on the ground, the rock ceiling overhead like glass covered with spiderweb fissures, silver-blue light shining through the black gaps, as if the sky had been torn open.

【Warning: Space Curvature Exceeds Critical Value】

【Initiate Obstacle Avoidance Protocol Failed】

【System Going Offline】

The phone screen flickered a few times and went completely black.

Shen Yan’s heart sank.

He looked up and saw that silver-blue light descending from above, right at the center, a vertical crack slowly opening, like the universe opening its eyes. The edges continuously flickered with light patterns like garbled Code, emitting low-frequency buzzing, ears stinging as if pierced by needles.

This is… a Temporal Rift?

He hadn’t time to think further when the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed. Instinctively, he jumped backward, but the suction was too strong, his clothes flapping fiercely. He staggered a few steps, nearly kneeling.

From afar came Ye Zhao’s voice: “Shen Yan—!”

And Pei Yue’s shout: “Grab something! Don’t let go!”

But these voices grew increasingly distant, as if stretched by something slowing playback speed, finally turning into a string of distorted noise.

Shen Yan gritted his teeth, exerting all his strength to leap toward the rock wall, fingers finally gripping a stone edge. But just as he thought he could stabilize himself, his ankle suddenly tightened.

Looking down, a pale hand was gripping him tightly.

It was Ye Shi’er.

He was already half-sucked into the Rift, his mask long shattered, revealing a face almost identical to Shen Yan’s. His remaining intact eye stared fixedly at him, holding no hatred, no madness—only a stubborn, almost tranquil calm.

“Since you’ve seen her…” he spoke, his voice torn and fragmented by the turbulent air currents, “then let’s witness the ending together.”

Shen Yan’s eyes widened. “Are you insane?! Let go of me!”

“I’m not your brother.” Ye Shi’er’s lips twitched slightly. “We’re both deleted Data. But she still remembers us.”

After saying this, instead of releasing his grip, he yanked harder.

Shen Yan’s fingers slipped, the rocky ledge crumbled, and he instantly lost his balance.

He tried to struggle, but his body was no longer under his control. The Rift’s suction was too strong, like a giant hand dragging him inward. The last Image he saw was the four women desperately rushing forward in the distance—Ye Zhao’s Sword Qi slicing through the air, Luo Li’s Demonic Fire illuminating the cave, Yu Xiaotang flinging a Talisman Paper, and Pei Yue’s Silver Needle gleaming in her hand—

But everything slowed down.

Boom!

The Seal-door exploded.

Red light and black energy intertwined into a vortex, surging deep into the Rift. Shen Yan and Ye Shi’er were swept into the dark passage like two fallen leaves. His body was pulled apart, his consciousness began to blur, as if every cell was being re-Encoded.

Only a cold, mechanical voice remained in his ears, echoing from the depths of his mind:

【Warning: Non-local Space-Time Coordinates Detected】

【Positioning lost】

【Synchronizing unknown Data Stream】

Shen Yan’s phone vibrated once in his pocket, its Screen barely lighting up as a final line of text appeared:

【Connection successful. Target world: Abyss Database core layer】

Then it went completely dark.

His vision plunged into blackness.

But just before losing consciousness entirely, he felt Ye Shi’er’s hand still gripping him tightly.

It never let go.

Nor did he speak.

Only that force remained, unwavering.

An unknown amount of time passed—maybe seconds, maybe hours.

Shen Yan’s consciousness gradually returned.

He found himself floating, surrounded by flowing bands of light, like countless rivers of Data streaming through the air. There was no ground beneath his feet, no sky above—only transparent walls of Code in every direction, scrolling with incomprehensible text and symbols.

He tried moving his hand and found he could still control his body. His phone was still there; though the Screen was cracked, the Terminal Interface somehow managed to load, though the background had turned deep purple and the text appeared distorted.

【Welcome to: Non-standard Spacetime Domain】

【Current status: Illegal Intruder】

【Risk level: Catastrophic】

Before he could finish reading, a fit of coughing suddenly came from beside him.

Turning his head, he saw Ye Shi’er floating not far to his left, face pale, blood at the corner of his mouth. He leaned against a glowing Data Stream as if utterly exhausted.

The two stared at each other for several seconds.

Neither spoke.

Finally, Shen Yan broke the silence. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Ye Shi’er wiped his mouth and said quietly, “Waiting for someone.”

“Who?”

“Someone who shouldn’t have died.”

Shen Yan frowned. “You destroyed everything for her?”

“Not destroyed.” Ye Shi’er lifted his head, his gaze distant. “Restarted.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a cluster of red light points appeared in his palm, pulsing slowly like a miniature heart.

Shen Yan’s Terminal suddenly vibrated, automatically displaying a line of text:

【Detected high-dimensional emotion module: Moonlight 07 · Residual consciousness】

Shen Yan’s breath hitched.

He wanted to ask more, but at that moment, the surrounding code walls suddenly froze completely.

All the light streams ceased their flow.

Even the pulsing red dot came to a stop.

A deathly silence fell.

Then, from somewhere, came an extremely faint—

Beep.

Like the first notification tone of a system booting up.

Ye Shi’er’s eyes snapped open, looking in a certain direction.

Shen Yan followed his gaze.

In the distant void, an outline was slowly materializing.

A white gown.

Crimson pupils.

Her face perfectly overlapped with the image of the sea of flames from his memory.

She looked at them, her lips moving slightly.

She spoke two words.

Shen Yan couldn’t hear them.

But his terminal displayed them clearly:

“You… have come.”

(End of Chapter)