Desolate, dilapidated clusters of buildings marked the scene. A fierce battle had once occurred here, so intense that most of the reinforced concrete structures forged by human civilization were destroyed.
Amidst these ruins, originally populated only by wandering Deadmasks, a hand suddenly emerged from the shattered concrete blocks. Then, a figure struggled to crawl out from the debris.
The person first looked around blankly, then lowered their head to pat the dust off their clothes.
"Why did I end up directly in ruins this time?"
Xin Yu slightly pulsed the energy around his body, shaking off all the clinging dust. Then, observing the wandering Deadmasks nearby, he silently drew a long blade from the air and dispatched them all.
"Looks like this place has been eroded by Honkai... Why does it feel so familiar?"
Xin Yu scratched his head, carefully surveyed his surroundings again, and even flew into the air to look down for quite a while before realizing – this seemed to be Longkong City.
He roughly determined his direction and flew for some distance before descending from the sky. Looking at the collapsed house ahead, he recognized it as his former home.
It was the home he had when he first awoke in this world, utterly lost. It was the home where he lived with the first apprentice he took in. It was the home he once had.
He hadn't lived here long, yet every day felt meaningful. From the initial confusion to later acceptance, then habituation – every transition was so clear he could recall it now. Unfortunately, everything was gone. The house was destroyed by Honkai Beasts, and his apprentice had turned into a monster, killed by his own hand.
Thinking of this, Xin Yu suddenly remembered that he had previously taken Siegfried back to the past. That meant he could also return to this world's past and change things.
Xin Yu took a deep breath. He began to slowly step backward. As he continuously moved back, his surroundings suddenly started collapsing downward like tumbling building blocks. Simultaneously, massive amounts of objects, even human figures, fell from the sky, but they didn't stay put, instead continuing to fall downward with the buildings.
As this speed increased rapidly, until everything became mere afterimages, Xin Yu kept retreating until his heel hit a wall. At that moment, everything around him abruptly returned to calm.
Xin Yu found himself leaning against a wall. Ahead was a road with constantly moving vehicles, and on either side were pedestrians walking by.
Xin Yu entered a small shop and, after asking, learned he had arrived twenty-three years in the past.
If his estimation was correct, this was the year his apprentice was born.
Xin Yu walked along the street. He didn't search deliberately, trusting that some inexplicable fate would guide him like a thread to the person he sought.
This wasn't intuition, but a manifestation of power.
Xin Yu was using the power of the Void to erode and infect the tangible connection between himself and his apprentice, using this method to find him, unsure if he had even been born yet.
This operation was exceptionally mystical, completely unscientific. But Xin Yu felt this world was inherently filled with wonders and mystical elements, so achieving this seemed reasonable. After all, his very existence was the greatest unreasonableness in this world.
Compared to himself, a guy who could casually run around the timeline, many seemingly unreasonable things actually became quite reasonable.
Walking down the street, after proceeding for some distance, Xin Yu suddenly saw a young girl who bore some resemblance to Raiden Mei being harassed. Several ill-intentioned men, who looked and dressed like delinquents, were pestering her.
At the same time, not far away, a youth with a strong sense of justice witnessed this scene. He immediately drew the wooden sword carried on his back, let out a loud shout, and charged towards the delinquents. Seeing the youth rushing over with his sword held ready, the men were instantly startled and turned to flee.
The youth's heroic rescue earned the girl's favor. The two quickly exchanged names, and Xin Yu heard the boy's name.
"Raiden Ryoma..."
Xin Yu stopped in his tracks. He silently turned his head, looking at the blushing young boy and girl. He recalled that night, Raiden Ryoma, drunk at a roadside stall due to his wife's death, so distraught he had even neglected his own daughter that day.
He then thought of the child Raiden Mei, facing her mother's passing with such fragility...
Xin Yu scanned his surroundings, quickly ducked into a small alley, and emerged wearing a Daoist robe, a fake beard, and sunglasses, looking exactly like a wandering charlatan.
The youth and the girl were chatting and laughing, preparing to leave, when a figure looking like a swindler suddenly stepped out from some unknown corner. He made hand seals and chanted, appearing very eccentric.
"Aiya! Young lady! You are in danger of an untimely early death!"
Raiden Ryoma looked at the youth clearly dressed as a charlatan and immediately snorted coldly, gripping his wooden sword. "Other scammers at least try to look convincing! You just slap on sunglasses and a fake beard to trick people. Do you think everyone is stupid?"
"Are you going to start peddling some miracle cure or protective talisman next? Let me tell you, we won't fall for it!"
"Aiya, young man, don't be so aggressive. Our meeting here today is fate. It doesn't cost anything anyway, might as well believe a little, right?"
"You're not charging money?"
"That's right, not a single coin. I just don't want to see a future where a husband gets blind drunk because of his wife's death, ultimately even forgetting his own daughter at home."
"Huh?"
Taking advantage of the young Raiden Ryoma's bewildered and confused state, Xin Yu took out an Omamori amulet, styled appropriately for the Far East, from his Daoist robe pocket and handed it to the girl.
"Remember to keep it close to you at all times."
Having said this, before the two could react, Xin Yu dashed away, instantly melting into the crowd, his figure vanishing completely.
The girl looked at the quaintly styled Omamori in her hand, feeling an inexplicable warmth from it. Thinking today's encounter was quite interesting, she didn't dwell on it and put the item into her pocket.
Raiden Ryoma muttered about encountering a strange guy today, but didn't give it much more thought either, turning back to continue chatting with the girl.
Future...
Raiden Ryoma, transferred from prison to a certain Anti-Entropy base, was about to get lunch when he suddenly felt an unfamiliar hard object in his pocket.
Puzzled, he took out a black Omamori from inside his clothes, having absolutely no memory of when it was placed there.
Raiden Ryoma initially intended to throw it away. But just as his hand hovered over the trash bin, the hand that was about to release its grip tightened firmly around the Omamori instead.
This is something that absolutely cannot be thrown away.
This thought abruptly surfaced in Raiden Ryoma's mind. Immediately afterward, a wave of intense regret and guilt washed over him, his eyes blurring with moisture.
He... seemed to be regretting something because of this object.