Chapter 6: Journeying Together Through Time

Chapter 6: Journeying Together Through Time

“I already told you, my name is Fang Xiaoling!” The girl hugged her knees in terror, trembling uncontrollably.

“Fang Xiaoling? You are Xiaoling?” Roland couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smirk. “Well, this just got interesting. I’m Roland.”

“Roland?” Xiaoling’s eyes widened, memories of Li Mengli flooding her mind. Li Mengli was her sister, two years her senior. “Sister, no... Roland, what’s happening to me?”

Roland stepped forward. “Mom, Dad, don’t worry. Mengli and I have been playing a role-playing game lately.”

Her parents exchanged glances. Father shook his head. “Mengli, your college entrance exams are coming up soon. You should focus on studying. You’re old enough to stop playing house. Look what you’ve done to your sister—she’s completely lost it.”

“It’s nothing serious. I’ll talk to her,” Roland said, taking Xiaoling’s hand. “Come with me to my room.”

Once the door closed, Xiaoling anxiously spoke. “Roland! This...”

“Don’t panic. It’s alright,” Roland interrupted. “Calm down first. Breathe deeply. Don’t reject any images that come to your mind—they’re real memories stored in this body’s brain.”

“I don’t want to calm down!” Xiaoling spun around in frustration. “This is absurd! I’ve actually become someone else? It’s terrifying!”

“That’s how it is the first time. You’ll get used to it,” Roland said, a touch of schadenfreude in her heart. This was the first time she had someone accompanying her through a body swap. It was much better than being alone as she had been before.

“Get used to it? It’s all because of you! You got cursed—I don’t understand why I got dragged into this! How do I get back?”

“Calm down. We’re already here.” Roland pressed Xiaoling’s shoulders, guiding her to sit down. “It’s not like we can’t go back. Based on my experience, as long as we complete the mission, we can return to our original bodies.”

Xiaoling struggled to calm herself. “What mission?”

Roland prompted, “Think carefully. Is there anyone you like?”

Without hesitation, Xiaoling answered, “You mean Shen Yi?”

“No, I’m asking about Li Mengli. Is there someone she likes? Don’t resist any information your brain presents. Within the first twenty-four hours after crossing over, your imagination is limited. Anything you can imagine isn’t your imagination—it’s true memory stored in your brain.” Roland looked deeply into Xiaoling’s eyes. “Look into my eyes. Call me sister Li Mengli. Do you remember?”

“Sister...” Xiaoling’s pupils dilated and contracted erratically. “Sister, it’s like I had a very long dream where I was Fang Xiaoling.”

Roland quickly shook Xiaoling’s shoulders. “Fool! Snap out of it! That’s not a dream. You are Fang Xiaoling! I’m letting you accept the memories in this brain, not lose your original memory!”

“Then who am I really? You’re confusing me!” Xiaoling covered her ears. “I don’t want to hear anything now. Let me think this through myself, okay?”

Roland fell silent. She seriously doubted her own judgment. Perhaps Xiaoling wasn’t an ally but a trouble.

“Forget it. Let’s follow the usual procedure—first confirm the era we’re in.” Roland scanned the room and spotted a phone by the bedside. “October 11, 2022. The year 2022? The year 2022!!”

She shook Xiaoling’s shoulders again. “Xiaoling! We’re in the original body’s time period, just like when I last crossed over into your body. How about we go back to Canglan City right now...”

Suddenly, Roland stopped mid-sentence, as if remembering something. At that moment, Xiaoling looked up, wide-eyed, staring blankly at her. After a long gaze, they both said in unison, “We’re already in Canglan City!”

Xiaoling blinked. “I’ve pieced it together—I remember crossing over yesterday, October 10, in your neighborhood. If I find the original body now, can I restore myself?”

“If it were that simple...” Roland said seriously. “Last time I crossed into your body, I went back to Canglan International to find the original, but the body that should have been in bed was gone... Xiaoling, do you know what date it was when I crossed into your body?”

“Hmm... You lived with Shen Yi for half a year, and after marriage, I lived with him for one month. So, I guess it was around March?”

“No, the last time I crossed over was October 10.”

“That was just yesterday! But didn’t you come looking for me yesterday?”

“I fell asleep at 3 a.m. on October 10 and crossed over to March 10 of the same year. When I completed the mission and woke up, it was still 3 a.m. on October 10. In other words, time in that world didn’t move during my crossing.” Roland pondered. “Because it was my first time crossing into someone from the same era, when I woke up, I felt unprecedented strangeness, was upset, and lacked confidence. After meditation, I realized those feelings weren’t mine but yours. So I tried to accept them. After about an hour, I felt some kind of connection with you—I could hear what you heard and see what you saw. That’s why I told you I understood your feelings. It wasn’t just because of my past lives but because I truly experienced them.”

Xiaoling nodded half-understandingly and asked, “What about now? Can you still feel what I feel?”

Roland shook her head. “No connection anymore. But I have an inexplicable concern for you. It must be from Li Mengli.”

Xiaoling blushed unconsciously, stammering, “So, I... I also feel an inexplicable closeness to you, like a real sisterly affection. If I were Fang Xiaoling, I wouldn’t forgive you so quickly! But now, I really like you... Ah! What kind of cheesy thing did I just say? Forget it, it must be Li Mengli’s memories messing with me! Even my way of speaking changed—now I sound like a kid!”

“You’re already a high school freshman. Not so little,” Roland teased, patting Xiaoling’s head. “Why not just accept being Mengli? Forget Shen Yi. Live like this for the rest of your life. We’ll be sisters forever. How about that?”

“No way!” Xiaoling stood up, puffed up. “I hate school! I finally graduated from college, and now I’m back in high school! Even if I have to live with a different identity, it won’t be like this. Look at this body—so short! And... flat!”

“Pfft!” Roland burst out laughing. “I thought you were reluctant to leave Shen Yi, but turns out you just don’t like the body. Don’t worry, if you’re really infected by me, you’ll have many more chances to cross over. But I have to remind you—if you don’t complete the mission and live out your life in this identity, your original body will still wake up eventually, and it will be at the time you first crossed over.”

“Like the plot in ‘Goodbye Mr. Loser’?” Xiaoling wasn’t convinced. “But Shaluo crossed over alone. We’re two people—how can the timelines sync?”

“You’ll know after returning to your original body,” Roland said confidently. “I’m sure I’m right. I’ve tried hundreds of times—every time I return, it’s to the moment I crossed over, with no impact on the original body. If it weren’t for you giving me hope to break the curse, do you think I’d want to return so badly? This time, I even want to stay a while longer as Li Mengli—just for fun.”

“You... you’re perverse,” Xiaoling accused. “Is it fun to occupy someone else’s body? Don’t you know how confusing it is for the original soul to come back and find months or years of memories missing?”

“I didn’t know it would be like this before,” Roland sighed helplessly. “Before crossing into Liu Er, I thought my crossing place was unrelated to the original world. If I hadn’t pieced together the timeline after waking up and actually found Pan Long, the grandson, I wouldn’t believe crossing to the past could affect the original world. Pan Long still remembers my guidance as Liu Er.” She paused. “By the way, before this crossing, when I was linked with your soul, I seemed to hear you say you wished God would take you away. And then you crossed over, right?”

“That’s right.” Xiaoling pouted. “I was just very sad and said that. Who could’ve imagined something so absurd would happen?”

Roland nodded thoughtfully. “Could it be that what I’ve experienced wasn’t a curse, but something arranged by God? Does God really exist in this world?”

“You’re asking me? Who else can I ask?” Xiaoling sat back down wearily. “Maybe there is some unknown higher power in the world that enjoys toying with humans. And why do you think you’re cursed? Any proof?”

“No concrete evidence,” Roland admitted. “I think it’s a curse probably because I once killed someone.”

Xiaoling suddenly jumped up as if electrified. “Killed someone? Seriously?”

Roland was silent for a long time, not answering directly. Instead, she asked, “Do people really hear voices when they’re on the edge of a breakdown?”

“If it’s extreme breakdown, not just voices—hallucinations could happen,” Xiaoling replied, not sensing Roland was avoiding the question. “What happened? Tell me.”

Before Roland could answer, someone knocked on the door. Their mother scolded, “What time is it? You two still not asleep? Don’t you have school tomorrow? Mengli, go back to your room and sleep. Your sister is in her final year—this is critical.”

“Mom, I’m sleeping in my sister’s room tonight. Please? We’ll turn off the lights and sleep right away,” Xiaoling pleaded sweetly.

“Oh, these kids...” their mother sighed and left.

Roland lowered her voice. “You’re adapting quickly, even learned to act like a kid.”

“Since we’re here, might as well make the best of it,” Xiaoling whispered. “By the way, sister, I just remembered who I like.”

Roland had a bad feeling. “It can’t be that punk, Tian Hu, can it?”

“Who’s Tian Hu? I don’t remember anyone like that,” Xiaoling hesitated, then whispered into Roland’s ear, “His name is Zheng Zhe. He’s a famous top student in freshman year.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.” Roland exhaled. If only one of two crossovers could return, it would be unfair to Xiaoling. Competing with me for a man on your first crossing? She’d surely lose.

Xiaoling didn’t think that far. She sighed, “What’s so good about that? He’s a top student, not interested in love at all. If, like you said, I have to make him love me to go back, I’ll be waiting years.”

“What’s there to fear? Kids are easy to handle. Leave it to me,” Roland said confidently. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll go back to Canglan International to look for the original body. If there’s an easier way, that’ll save us a lot of trouble.”

(End of Chapter)