Chapter Text
When he opened his eyes , everything was dark , darkness enveloped him from all the places , he knew he was dreaming , as a cultivater he was obliged to study the dreams that came from evil spirits , in order to survive in case something happened .
But nothing was infront of him yet , so he just walked in the darkness for a while until some figure started to appear infront of him .
He put his hand unconciously on Xuan Su in order to attack in case the figure had ill intention , but when the figure started to sharpen in front of him , he froze .
Before him stood himself , or no maybe not himself cause that man had sorrow in his eyes more than he ever saw when he looked at the mirror .
"Who are you ? " Yue QingYuan asked suspicously , his hand on the hilt of his sword .
" I am You , but not you " the man said quietly , even his voice was tired.
" I don't understand what you mean " Yue QingYuan said hesitently .
" I will show you... but first I shall tell you that your shidi is not who you think , I can easily see that .." the man said and looked at him with eyes full of what Yue QingYuan knew as disppointment .
" Who do you mean ? .." although dread felt his heart when he heard what himself said , and a deep old ache in his chest rose to the surface , he couldnt help but ask .
" I think you know who I mean ... Your Xiao Jiu is long gone .." the man said with a tone that semmed both sad and merciless .
Yue QingYuan's breath hitched , and the ache in his heart suddnely disappered and in its place there was only emptiness , he knew since a long time that the man who wore his shidi's face wasnt the same that spent his childhood with.
At first he doubted that man , but when he and his martial brothers tested him for possesion , nothing happened , at that time , Mu shidi told him with a concerned look on his face that the man forgot maybe what made his personality like before .
Although he didnt believe that entirely , he couldnt help but force himself to feel happiness that Xiao Jiu forgot what the past did to him .
And now , when the strange but familiar man said that , he knew deep down that it was the truth .
Xiao Jiu is gone ... and he failed him again .
" I think you should stop the self loathing that you feel right now , and focus on what is important " the man's voice made his thoughts came to a halt , and Yue Qingyuan looked up again at him to see his face .
But what he saw made his blood run cold .
Here before him , the man's eyes were dull as blood run down from the corner of his mouth , but what most surpsied him was the arrows that were attcahed to the man's back , a lot of arrows surronded the man's halo like a sheild .
Yue QingYuan couldnt help but feel sympathy for him , not for the cause of death , but for the emptiness in his gaze , he knew that that the same face he wore right now , the face of a man who lost his everthing .
" are you from the future ? " Yue QingYuan finally gatherd the courage to ask him .
"A future that never happened here in your world , I am from a different world , where Xiao Jiu was never replaced , although it may sound like I blame him , but I will never do this , and you better than anyone know that ." The man eyes started to look glassy while he talked .
Yue QingYuan didnt want to interrept him , he was at his edge , any time now and he would fall into despair for what he heard until now .
" I blame myself , I couldnt protect him once again , I failed him like I did back then .. " Ofcourse Yue QingYuan knew what then meant.
"I let them took him from my arms like I didnt care , I thought it was the right thing to do , I didnt know I was wrong until that demon showed himslef to the cultivation world .."
" Do you mean Luo Binghe ? " Yue QingYuan asked with curiosty in his tone .
"..Yes , I still dont understand why Xiao Jiu never said anything about the boy in the trial , maybe that would have changed something ..." the man closed his eyes shut in a pained look .
"Or maybe that wouldnt , at that point , Xiao Jiu never trusted anyone to stood behind him , never trusted me .." two lines of tears fell down the man's face as he said the last word .
Yue QingYuan knew that he never cried unless the thing was related to his Xiao Jiu , he couldnt help but feel his eyes water too .
He also failed his Xiao Jiu..
The man took a deep breathe then opened his eyes again , Yue QingYuan saw in those eyes what he never saw in the mirror before , he saw the intent to kill .
"I actually dont have a lot of time ... so .. let me show you now what happened in my world .." the man said in determination.
***
It was dawn when he woke up at last , at first he just opened his eyes and couldnt quite know why he felt sad , hut after a moment it all came crashing down .
The momories ... from that world ... he saw them all ...
Xiao Jiu...
Shen Jiu ...
His vision got blurry as he recalled everything he saw in the dream world .
Yue QingYuan from that world showed him all his memories , from the point where that qi deviation took place .
It is laughable how that event changed everthing in this world from that .
It is miserable how it was the key event to the happy ending here is getting Xiao Jiu dead and replaced by some imposter .
It is sad how everything worked to the imposter's sake here just because he wasnt broken like his Xiao Jiu ...
But ...
It is time to change that ...
He wont fail him this time .
***