Chapter 213

Morning light filtered through the amber glass of the purification tower, casting mottled shadows on Han Qing's chest.

Su Yu's fingers hovered in midair, afraid to touch.

The "fruit" hovering above the scar garden was only thumb-sized, transparent as morning dew, yet inside swirled fine points of light, like sealed stardust.

"It appeared last night." Han Qing spoke softly, as if afraid to disturb it, "Eighty-seven flowers drooped at once, as if in offering."

Xiao Yu stood on tiptoe, the heart-shaped light mark on her wrist warming slightly: "The Bridge says… this is a 'crystal of memory.' Not a physical object, but amber formed by folded time."

Inside the fruit, the light points slowly rotated.

Looking closely, each light point was a miniature scene: Chen Mo burying purple wildflower seeds, Old Zhao's trembling as he transplanted a small flower in his palm, the Sera captain's faceplate flashing hesitation as he privately accessed nebula data…

"It records all emotions transmitted through the scar garden." Su Yu understood, "Each flower is a healed wound, and the fruit is the wound's… fruit."

The fruit suddenly emitted a gentle frequency ripple.

Around the purification tower, all the "listening" flowers turned toward Han Qing, their leaves showing faint gold veins—the plant network actively sending him information for the first time:

【Scar Fruit-Stage Maturation】

【Function: Single "Time Anchor"】

【Can anchor any past moment, lasting three minutes】

【Warning: During anchoring, the main consciousness will be fully immersed, the physical body unprotected】

"It's not a weapon." Xiao Yu's eyes lit up, "It's… a key to look back."

Han Qing gripped the star-string on his chest. Chen Mo's voice echoed in memory: "Sometimes, moving forward requires first looking back to confirm where you came from, so you know where to go."

On the Starlight Sand Beach, the three representatives of the High Council were awkwardly attempting to "take root."

The chief councilor—Old Sera, who privately hoarded Violation experiment fragments—his light tendrils visibly trembled as they plunged into the starlight sand. Morning Star stood beside him, holding a self-made "Error Introduction Manual":

"Step one: Admit you will fail."

"Step two: Prepare a display for your failure."

"Step three: Invite others to view your failure."

Calibrator-7 tended a newly transplanted hope grass nearby, the ugly star "Dusk-7" pinned to his chest askew in the morning light, yet he wore it with unabashed pride.

"They really are learning." Old Zhao appeared behind Han Qing out of nowhere, holding two cups of poor tea brewed with purification water, "My son said in Bridge Space that three 'Nebula-form' singing civilization volunteers are teaching the councilors how to fold memory light points—at the slowest speed."

Han Qing took the tea cup: "Slowness is the point?"

"Some lessons can't be rushed." Old Zhao sipped his tea, gazing at the beach, "Just like my wife kneading dough in Bridge Space—she's been at it for seven years, forever 'about to start.' But do you know? Every day new volunteers go to the kitchen to stand with her, doing nothing, just standing. That's their 'taking root.'"

The Bridge's collective consciousness light sphere suddenly rippled.

【The seventh civilization's response signal has been parsed】

【Civilization type: Fold Civilization (high-dimensional time folders)】

【Signal characteristics: Carrying obvious trauma encoding】

【Core inquiry: "How to fold a wound that keeps bleeding?"】

【Additional data: Multiple "forced suture points" detected in that civilization's timeline, energy leaking】

Xiao Yu's wrist light mark flashed violently, her face paling: "Their time… is in pain."

Almost simultaneously, a new light point ignited inside the fruit on Han Qing's chest—the exact moment the Fold Civilization signal arrived. Fine cracks appeared on the fruit's surface, as if it were about to shatter prematurely.

"It sensed it." Su Yu pressed Han Qing's shoulder, "The scar fruit resonates with 'unhealed wounds.'"

Everyone returned to the makeshift command post—actually an open-air space expanded from Old Zhou's anvil town. Aili was inventorying medical kits, while Kevin pushed his glasses up three times to check the Fold Civilization data coming from the Bridge.

"Hold on." Old Zhao tapped the anvil, "Everyone sit down and put what you're holding down."

No one dared not to listen.

As Han Qing sat down, the fruit on his chest slowly sank, finally hovering at the center of the scar garden like the eighty-eighth transparent flower.

The one-eyed woman's geometric flower in her eye socket turned slightly as she handed each person a rough biscuit baked from hope grass seeds: "Eat. The Bridge says high-dimensional trauma signals will trigger subconscious anxiety; replenishing energy can stabilize the frequency."

The reservoir elder silently boiled water, his son's wooden ship model on the table swaying gently.

At this moment there were no commanders, carriers, or tuners.

Only a group who had lingered too long in the ruins, long enough to learn to break biscuits amid alarms.

When the biscuit was broken into its third piece, the Bridge's message arrived again:

【The Fold Civilization has unilaterally opened a "time window"】

【Window coordinates: Inside the scar fruit (resonance cracks detected)】

【Duration: Can enter within the three-minute anchor】

【Risk: Entrants will be directly exposed to that civilization's "bleeding time folds"】

Han Qing looked at Su Yu, who at some point had already folded a paper crane in her hand.

On the crane's wings, she wrote a line with her fingertip:

"The teaching invitation has been accepted. This time, the student displayed the wound first."

Xiao Yu grasped Han Qing's hand, her heart-shaped light mark lightly resonating with the scar garden's frequency: "The Bridge asks: Who will go?"

Han Qing did not answer immediately.

He looked out the window—on the Starlight Sand Beach, the three Sera councilors' tendrils finally took firm hold in the sand, Morning Star opened the first page of the "Error Introduction Manual," and Calibrator-7 gave the hope grass its first drop of water.

"I'll go." Han Qing said, "But not just me."

The cracks inside the fruit spread outward, like a door beginning to open.