【Zhou Ye】The Foot of Time

They sat at the same table, not to mention their looks, but their expressions and eyes were almost exactly the same, but they were dressed completely differently—one was wearing a thin sweater, the other was wearing a leather jacket, and the third was wearing a windbreaker.Even though they were stared at by the camera, they didn't seem to notice it. They all looked out the window together, with the same concentration carved out of the same mold.

These are... different Ye Xius from three age groups.

In other words, Ye Xiu visited three times at the same time and place.

On the day of the double eclipse.

why?

Zhou Zekai felt as if he had touched a very important matter. There was a huge water polo hanging above his head, and he could touch the thin membrane when he raised his hand.He knew that he could pierce it, but the moment the water polo burst, he would have nowhere to escape in the face of the rushing water.

"Hey handsome guy, all right."

Zhou Zekai turned his head abruptly, the shopkeeper had already left the bar and lifted the bag in front of him.

"……thanks."

"You have been watching for a long time, do you know each other?"

"Hmm..." Zhou Zekai reposted the photo and said in a low voice, "Lover."

"Huh? What a coincidence!" The shopkeeper obviously felt that it was very romantic to find his lover's footprints unexpectedly somewhere, "Which one is it?"

... both.

But Zhou Zekai could only say these words silently in his heart.

He just stared at Ye Xiu's eyes in the photo, obviously unable to read the emotions buried in them, but instinctively felt sour and dull pain.His eyes wandered back and forth on the three identical faces, as if he could see something deeper in this way, but the more he looked, the more he felt that his heart was being poked back and forth by something sharp, and a hole was about to burst out. .

He himself doesn't know why.

"That day...he..."

Zhou Zekai had just opened his mouth when a somewhat impatient shout came from across the street: "120 Number Four! 120 Four! Where did 120 Number Four go?"

Zhou Zekai said goodbye quickly, and hurried to the small restaurant.When he arrived at the takeaway window on the side of the street, he handed over the crumpled number slip in his palm, took the takeaway box from the master who complained that he came too late, and turned around——

"Snapped!"

The coffee and the pilaf fell to the ground together, the rice spilled all over the floor, and the light brown liquid splashed a large area, the people next to him looked at the dots on the trouser legs and cursed at him, but Zhou Zekai didn't listen A word, even a syllable.

Across the street, right across from him, that window.

At this moment, he seemed to have stepped through time and met Ye Xiu's gaze on him.Those eyes were far-reaching and long, with snow lines that never melted all year round, entrenched in the deep eye sockets.

— Waiting for you to turn around.

He staggered a few steps towards the window.

There is a thread that connects his uneasiness all the time - double solar eclipse, recording, vacation, fixed point, Christmas town, keys...

Look back...not just in the here and now, or the day of the eclipse.There is still time, look back at your own time——

Why record?Why would Ye Xiu be so disappointed when talking about taking him with him in the future?Why did Ye Xiu test the length of his vacation?Why was Ye Xiu so happy when he found out that he was on a long vacation? In the winter of 2022, why did Ye Xiu give him the key, why was he so sad, why did he suddenly become happy after a meal?

The answer is so obscure and difficult to understand, but at this moment, it is so simple and clear.

Just take one step at a time, without making any mistakes, and look backwards at the time he spent with Ye Xiu.

"Brother is happy! Brother has a lot of time to fall in love, so hold back!"

Yes, his vacation is over, but for Ye Xiu, in his timeline, his vacation has just begun, so there are such frequent dates in his memory.

"Sorry, Xiao Zhou, I didn't expect this to be the first time you saw me die."

"I promise, there will be no next time."

There will be no next time, because this is the first time I saw Ye Xiu die, so in Ye Xiu's future, there will be no such thing as him dying in front of my eyes again.

"Keys...are more valuable than money."

"...Xiao Zhou, you..."

I told Ye Xiu what method he used to give Lord Grim's key to him when he met the other party last time. This created an indestructible fixed point in time, so Ye Xiu sighed, because for Ye Xiu, the next time he met, he had to Hand over the keys to yourself.The exchange of keys represents the establishment of this relationship. Once this happens, it means that time is running out...

"It's fine to have a regular meeting. It's the most troublesome thing to make a contract. I still hope to finish it early and make an appointment with Xiao Zhou to watch the stars or something."

"You also came to see the meteor shower?"

"It's only been five minutes since I said 'goodbye' to you, you're so miserable, you're going to miss me."

The fourth time I saw Ye Xiu, when I went to Tarim, Ye Xiu said that he wanted to go to the stars with him, but in the end he failed.That's why Ye Xiu pushed the astronomical telescope when he saw Ye Xiu for the third time... But for Ye Xiu, the two meetings were only 5 minutes apart, so he was still immersed in the sadness of knowing that time was running out.

"He likes to eat."

Thoroughly understanding a person's taste requires a long-term relationship, Ye Xiu is happy again because he thinks there is still time.

"Next time we meet, I will definitely kiss you as soon as I see you."

The second meeting, before parting, Ye Xiu said so.

"Xiao Zhou, I really love you to death!"

That's why when I met Ye Xiu for the first time, he would say that, and he would pounce on me and kiss me as soon as we met...

"You... what's your name? When will I see you again?"

He was so astonished when he asked Ye Xiu's name.

Their timelines are reversed.

The complete opposite, the opposite without taking a step wrong.Every time we meet all kinds of seemingly accidental inadvertence, we can find an inevitable connection when we meet next time.

Standing on the edge of the street, Zhou Zekai covered his mouth tightly and tightly, not letting himself make a sound.

This is why Ye Xiu had to execute the double solar eclipse trip the moment he planned it, because it didn't happen in Ye Xiu's past, and because it didn't happen in his own past, so he missed their only trip. The "now" that can be grasped, this plan will never be realized——

Ye Xiu's past is Zhou Zekai's future.

No wonder Ye Xiu recorded the conversation between the two of them talking about fulfilling their respective footprints, so Ye Xiu understood the usefulness of this recording in an instant and drove away Gao Yingjie and Qiao Yifan. No wonder Ye Xiu said that he would understand soon .

Ye Xiu deliberately kept that conversation, so that after parting with him, he could quietly visit his past self in the long time and space where he could never meet him again.In the past 130 years, before I met Ye Xiu, those journeys that I thought I was alone were not alone—Ye Xiu was just across the street, at a certain corner, in a certain window, in When he had nothing to check, he stared at himself with those complicated and obscure eyes.

And Ye Xiu's life is too long, so long that after he went to the known time point where he could see himself, he still couldn't relieve the deep-seated longing, and he had to go to the second and third time... On the day of the double solar eclipse, three Ye Xius of different ages were sitting at the same table, waiting together for a known and impossible return.

"Don't worry, when the time comes, you will see me. You still have a long way to go, Xiao Zhou."

When we first met, before parting, what Ye Xiu said to himself seemed to be whispering in his ears...

Yes.

"You" still have a long way to go.

It's "you", not "we".

All his first time is also Ye Xiu's last time.

At that moment, the first time I met Ye Xiu was Ye Xiu... the last time I could talk to myself, kiss me, and drive the TARDIS together through the torrent of time.For Ye Xiu, his journey with himself had come to an end at that moment.

Since then, Zhou Zekai met Ye Xiu, and everything that happened with Ye Xiu was nothing more than the time footprint of Ye Xiu when he first met him. completely overlapped.And in Ye Xiu's future, there will be no time to reunite with him.

How... there will be such a thing.

"The timeline of a fixed point in time and space is the most unchangeable fixed point in this universe, isn't it?"

—There must be something wrong.

"Just know that I'm waiting for you to turn around."

——I turned around, but it’s too late now?

Panting, he ran into his TARDIS, his fingertips typing the coordinates trembling uncontrollably.

This is just his guess, he wants to see Ye Xiu, as long as he sees Ye Xiu, he will have the answer.

He pulled down the operating lever, and with the sound of the engine, he pressed his head against the screen.

"Tell me... Ye Xiu."

He murmured, but it was more like a prayer.

"Tell me I'm wrong..."

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Every word is a knife... every word is a knife...

After reading this chapter, it is recommended to review all the previous articles...

By the way, I drew a time map for girls who haven't understood it yet... If you still don't understand...I can only cry for you to see...