Chapter 220: The Curious Entrant

Around the purification tower at dawn, the listening flowers all leaned toward the same direction—not fear, but a tilt of confusion. The first sentence translated from the Tenth Civilization's signal appeared on their leaves:

"We have observed that you retain pain. Why?"

The signal bore no hostility, no anger, only a curiosity so pure it was unsettling. Like a child crouching before an ant hill, gently tapping an ant's antenna with a fingertip.

The Tenth Civilization sent no emissaries. It employed a subtler method: on every leaf of the plant network, a tiny, translucent "eye" simultaneously "grew".

They are not true eyes, but perception nodes. Each "eye" quietly observes, recording human interactions with Seran, the Forgemaster, and the Folded Civilization.

"They are evaluating us." Xiao Yu's wrist light imprint emitted a faint glow, that was Bridge's real-time translation, "They want to know: does a civilization that chooses to retain pain, cultivate wounds, and teach anger to fold qualify as a 'long‑term observation target'."

Kevin pushed his glasses four times this time—beyond his usual tension gauge: "Bridge's analysis is that the Tenth Civilization is a 'high‑dimensional observer', specializing in gathering data on 'inefficient survival modes' throughout the universe. We… have become a sample."

As soon as the words fell, a listening flower's "eye" suddenly turned toward Han Qing's chest. Three new petals of the white flower automatically unfolded, revealing an interwoven Star Map inside.

The eye stared for three seconds. Then the second sentence appeared on the leaf:

"Pain is transformed into connection. This does not conform to the entropy increase law. Requesting permission for on‑site observation."

Before Han Qing could respond, an energy crystal of the Forgemaster suddenly rose from beside the flower, actively hovering before that "eye".

The crystal spoke in a gentle tone: "I'll teach you a word: choice. I can choose to keep burning until self‑destruction, or I can choose to down‑shift. The former complies with the entropy increase law, the latter does not. Yet the non‑compliant part… created the 'quiet night' that three cities experienced for the first time."

The eye blinked (if a translucent light spot contracts and expands, that counts as a blink). It turned toward the crystal, and the leaf's text updated:

"Choice consumes extra energy. Inefficient. Yet… it produced the 'quiet night'. This concept has been recorded. Thanks for the teaching sample."

The crystal's halo flickered gently, as if laughing.

The Tenth Civilization's "observation" did not cease. Over the next few hours, with hair‑raising patience, they recorded every detail of life among the ruins:

Old Zhou, using a mechanical prosthetic, ground a piece of iron, noting the angle of the iron shavings' spray; the geometric flower in the one‑eyed woman's eye socket adjusted its heat‑dissipation frequency with precise cycles at noon; Aili, inventorying a medical kit, let her fingers brush each syringe in order (always left to right, the third lingered half a second longer); even the reservoir elder, staring at a wooden boat model, added millimeters to the depth of the wrinkles at the corner of his eye…

"They seem to be drawing anatomical diagrams." Su Yu felt uneasy; while folding paper she found the crane's wings were being "supported" by an invisible force, allowing the eyes to observe the creases from every angle, "but we are not specimens."

Han Qing pressed her hand: "They are curious, not malicious. Yet curiosity… can sometimes hurt people."

As she spoke, an eye suddenly drifted before Old Zhao, staring at the transplanted purple little flower in his palm. Old Zhao paused for three seconds, then performed a move that left everyone stunned—he used his other hand to gently cover the little flower.

"No viewing," he said, his voice as calm as if commenting on the weather, "Some things can only be seen with permission."

The eye froze in the air. It was the first time it had been rejected.

At noon, Old Zhao set the tea table as usual. This time he placed it in the shadow of the purification tower—the area with the fewest eyes.

"When I was a child," he said while heating a teacup, "strange kids would peer through the door crack into our house. Curious about why our home always smelled of medicine—my mother was bedridden for years."

Aili looked up. She had never heard Old Zhao mention any of this.

"I tried shooing them away, to no avail. Then I devised a method," Old Zhao arranged the teacups in a line, "I placed a small stool outside the threshold, set three cups filled with cool plain water. I told them: if you want to look, you may, but you must sit here and, after looking, tell me what you saw."

"And then?" Xiao Yu asked softly.

"Then," Old Zhao laughed, "the first child said, 'I saw your mother drinking a dark medicine,' the second said, 'I saw you steady your hand while feeding the medicine,' and the youngest child said… 'I saw your mother, after finishing the medicine, smile at you, and the smile tasted of sugar.'"

He poured tea, handed each a cup: "Since then, fewer children have peered through the door crack. Yet occasionally a child knocks and asks, 'Brother Zhao, may I see your mother today?'"

The eyes hovered silently at the edge of the shadow. One of them drifted slowly toward the tea table, but did not enter the shadow.

Text appeared on the leaf:

"The stool outside the threshold. This behavior pattern has been recorded. Request: may we sit outside the threshold?"

The Bridge's emergency alert came in the afternoon:

【The Tenth Civilization has begun "mirroring" the plant network】

【They are using the observed data to reconstruct an identical plant‑network replica in an unknown dimension】

【Purpose unknown, but the energy consumption equals extinguishing three stars】

【More serious: the mirrored network is synchronizing the frequency of the Scar Garden—Han Qing's white chest flower exhibits a "dual projection" phenomenon】

Han Qing lowered his head, seeing that besides the real white flower on his chest, there was an extremely faint, translucent "mirrored flower". The mirrored flower also grew, but its petals were a cold silvery white, devoid of any emotional warmth.

Xiao Yu's light imprint flickered intensely: "Bridge says… they are attempting to 'understand' the operating principle of the emotional network. But the method of understanding is—first perfectly replicate, then dissect and analyze. It's like… like a child taking apart a clock to see how the gears turn, without caring whether the clock can still run."

The mirrored flower suddenly blossomed. Its eight petals unfolded simultaneously, each reflecting a fragment of Han Qing's memory: the day Chen Mo died, the excruciating pain when his first scar first blossomed, the scorching sensation upon contact with the Forgemaster…

But those memories were stripped of all emotion, leaving only a cold factual framework.

"They are dissecting my wound," Han Qing's voice tightened, "not to heal, but to… make a specimen."

Just as the mirrored flower was about to begin "disassembling" the first memory, three light‑point volunteers from the Folded Civilization suddenly descended from Bridge Space.

They did not stop it; instead they performed something more subtle: they gently and tenderly wrapped the temporal seam they were undoing around the base of the mirrored flower.

"You wish to understand the structure of pain, and that is correct," the Folded Civilization's light points arranged into text, "but structure is merely a skeleton. What truly turns pain into a 'wound' rather than a 'crack' is the healing potential that time flowing through it brings."

They displayed a scene within the temporal fold: at the edge of the largest fissure, the first memory‑flower that sprouted from an 'Error Moment' was slowly unfurling a translucent petal.

"We permit you to observe," the light‑point text continued, "but also observe this: how a wound learns to breathe. This is the full syllabus."

The mirrored flower's disassembly halted. The silvery petals began to tremble slightly, as if trying to grasp the concept of 'healing'—which lies outside its original programming.

The Tenth Civilization's eyes collectively turned toward the Folded Civilization. After a long while, all leaves simultaneously displayed the same sentence:

"Request: May we borrow the Scar Garden for three days to conduct on‑site observation of the 'wound breathing mechanism'?"

Old Zhao rose, walked to the edge of the purification tower. He looked at the hovering eyes, his voice low but clear:

"Borrowing is allowed. But there are three rules: one, observation may not exceed eight hours per day; two, a 'wound owner' must be present during observation; three, after observation ends, you must tell us… what you saw."

The eyes flickered silently. Then all leaves displayed:

"Terms agreed. Observation will commence at dawn tomorrow. Observer IDs: Curious-7, Curious-13, Curious-22. They will carry a 'Non‑Intervention Agreement'."

The mirrored flower slowly dissipated, leaving behind an extremely tiny silvery seed, hovering beside the white flower. Within the seed, a faint reflection of the Scar Garden could be seen.

Su Yu folded a special paper crane—its wings inscribed with "Observer's Guidelines". She placed the crane on the empty seat beside the tea table.

"The stool outside the threshold," she said, "is also welcome for you to leave your own things."

In the distance, a memory devourer imprisoned by temporal parole, one of its tender green light spots on a tendril suddenly split into two.

As if in passive learning, unconsciously… it began to grow.