The day after disembarking from the plane, Li Yan headed straight for the site where the Ruins of the Nine Dragons Walled City once stood.

It was a pilgrimage that anyone with his kind of past, enshrouded in mysteries, would inevitably undertake.

At the Kowloon Walled City Park, near the Dragon Ferry Philanthropic School, stood a corridor reminiscent of the gardens of the Jiangnan region. In front of it, a stone-carved red couplet read:

"Like the dragon of yore, divining the future, Carp Transforming into Dragon Soaring, Cleansing the Barbarian Smoke, Egg Rain, a wish to trace the source and the flow, Su Haihan Tide."

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hearing the old man speak thus, Li Yan remained calm: "I know that before the handover, the Fortress Village had already been demolished. Many things within it have been forgotten. But could you, Mr. Hou, perhaps try to think a little harder?"

The old man shook his head.

"Young man, I'll treat your words as a story. I lived in Fortress Village for over a decade. True, there was a Committee and a Security Team, but as for Taisui and Consecutive Victories, they sound like something out of a movie."

A hint of melancholy flashed in the old man's eyes.

"It was just a slum, nothing special."

Li Yan sat in silence for a full minute.

"Sorry to have disturbed you."

He stood up and walked out, his first action to pick up his phone and search for the names of the successive Chief Chinese Detectives from the Hong Kong Colonial Period.

There was no Li Yao Guang...

The gloom in Li Yan's heart deepened.

...

"Gong Ruxin? Of course, I know her."

The man opposite him in the crisp suit nodded. If Li Yan remembered correctly, this office building belonged to a company under Judy's name, and Gong Ruxin was the name of Judy's late adopted mother.

A surge of elation filled Li Yan's heart, and he coughed to clear his throat:

"Her daughter..."

Before Li Yan could continue, he was met with a strange look from the man.

"I'm sorry, sir, but until the day Mrs. Gong passed away, she had no daughter..."

In the golden hues of the setting sun filtering through the greenery, the path was embedded with tiny pebbles, neat and clean. Throughout the park, Lingnan bonsai trees were displayed, creating a picturesque landscape.

Who would have known that once fifty thousand souls dwelled within this very space?

As dusk approached, the number of visitors in the park began to thin.

Li Yan, with reddened eyes, clutched a bottle of beer, humming carelessly to himself, "Seven little dwarfs of the Snow Maiden, seven diligent souls..."

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"Sir, is this your first time visiting here?" A stranger, a girl with a sweet smile and wearing a baseball cap, passed by Li Yan.

"No." Li Yan shook his head subconsciously before correcting himself, "Oh, wrong, yes."

The girl didn't mind his confusion and picked out a balloon painted with a Snow White pattern from the colorful bunch she was holding and handed it to Li Yan.

"Thank you."

The man nodded, and the girl walked away with a smile.

Li Yan, holding the beer in one hand and the balloon in the other, presented a comical sight.

He staggered to his feet and continued to hum in a hoarse voice, "Seven men with seven sticks, near the Snow Maiden they stick, stick, stick. A hole for each, the sticks they pitch, near the Snow Maiden they enrich. Heh heh heh..."

Li Yan chuckled through blurry eyes.

"Damn it!"

In a sudden outburst, he threw the beer can, which landed with a loud bang in a trash bin.

"Why the rage? You've just recovered from a serious illness."

Li Yan turned around.

Tapir.

Silence enveloped the surroundings, even the scorching red sunset seemed to freeze in time.

"Is it all fake?"

"You should know by now, it's impossible for people to travel through time. Ever heard of the Grandmother Theory?"

Li Yan squinted his eyes tightly, silent for a long while.

"But it's not all fake."

The fat man's face was smeared with a greasy grin as he continued, "There are no two identical leaves in this world, yet similar ones are plentiful. If everything was a dream, how would your illness have healed? Of course, maybe you're still living in a dream."

The fat man concluded with a final jab at Li Yan.

"A parallel universe?"

Li Yan pondered.

"Right, but not entirely."

"What do you mean?"

"Parallel universes are correct, but the gap and changes between worlds are probably much greater than you imagine."

"Continue."

Li Yan listened with keen interest, and upon realizing that Judy hailed from another world, he breathed a sigh of relief. If she had crossed over thirty years and transformed from a voluptuous mature woman into a sagging auntie, Li Yan really wouldn't know how to face her with the appropriate expression.

"Humanity has always sought to explore the cosmos, but in truth, we scarcely understand the ground beneath our feet, nor do we see clearly the so-called reality, or the infinite possibilities of the future..."

The chubby man huffed on his sleeves, wiped the nearby flowerbed clean, and then took a seat.

"A Master of Science who passed away not long ago proposed the theory of parallel universes. He believed that in another space and time, his alter ego was bursting with vitality, passionate about sports and running."

"He could have done much more... like transplanting his consciousness to a distant, prosperous planet to flirt with alien girls, or perhaps riding a broomstick and playing Quidditch..."

"Harry Potter?"

"Nothing of the sort, just possibilities."

The chubby man smacked his lips.

"I don't quite understand," said Li Yan, furrowing his brows.

"In our Chinese culture, it is said that 'one should not discuss the supernatural.' Suppose, and I mean just suppose, that the witches burned in the Middle Ages indeed possessed extraordinary powers that were simply extinguished. If at that time, some medieval prince lost his mind and declared that witches were not evil, and he used the power of witches to spark a magical revolution on par with the Industrial Revolution, then your life today would have undergone earth-shattering changes. That's what possibility is all about."

"I think I'm beginning to understand, and that story earlier was quite good," said Li Yan with a forced smile.

"Or consider this..." the chubby man pointed at the ground.

"From this moment, if the so-called techniques that spread during the Revival of Spiritual Energy and the Qigong Fever suddenly became real overnight, various Cultivation Sects would emerge, and the rules of the world would change accordingly. The parallel worlds would no longer be parallel."

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought you were pulling my leg."

"Is there a major flaw in my theory?"

"Not at all, but your wild ideas sound very familiar to me..."

In the end, Li Yan let out a cold laugh.

The chubby man remained unfazed and said, "I'm talking about possibilities, and just like human imagination, possibilities are limitless."

"So, the background of the Yanfu Incident is intricately linked to the world as you know it, yet it is completely different."

The Tapir brought his fingers together: "Yan Fu, formally known as the South Yanfu Realm, is the legendary Treasure Tree that nurtures worlds. Each fruit on the tree represents a brand-new world. And we humans are like the ladybugs that flit between the fruits, savoring the juices."

"That is to say... Yan Fu Wanderer."

**********

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