Reliving Our Fears

Chapter 15: Mo Xuanyu

The world was on fire.

At first, Wei Wuxian thought nothing of it. Drifting restlessly between a state of consciousness and sleep, he twitched at every slight inconvenience, unaware of the impending danger. However, as wisps of smoke began to seep into the room, slipping through the cracks of the door, a sense of unease stirred within him. The acrid scent of burning filled his nostrils, and he coughed, his body instinctively reacting to the smoke invading his lungs.

His eyes snapped open, wide with alarm. The room was shrouded in a haze, the air thick with smoke. Panic surged through Wei Wuxian's veins as he realized the severity of the situation. His hands groped for the familiar weight of his dizi which was not there. Instead, Wei Wuxian clamped a handful of the cheap sheets which he is residing on.

As he struggled to rise, his senses overwhelmed by the suffocating heat and billowing smoke, Wei Wuxian cast a frantic gaze toward the door. There, a persistant tongue of red and orange devoured the wooden frame, creeping closer with relentless determination.

Time seemed to blur as Wei Wuxian's survival instincts kicked in. With a surge of adrenaline, he propelled himself upright, his movements fueled by a desperate fight for life. The searing heat radiated against his skin, blistering and scorching, threatening to reduce him to ashes. The pain was unbearable.

He screamed, a raw and primal sound torn from his throat, as the flames licked at his flesh, leaving behind trails of blisters and burns. His voice wavered, choked by the smoke, and his screams of agony were abruptly silenced as the fire ravaged his vocal cords, reducing them to charred remnants.

In the blink of an eye, the great Yilling Louzu was no more.

*****

Wei Wuxian unconsciously snuggled his face into the moist, refreshing grass of the late afternoon. The sun was yet again slightly tilted towards the rest, dusk threatening to approach. Wei Wuxian sat up with difficulty, limbs moving in an almost robotic motion. He could still feel the burns on his skin, the heat against his being. Of course it was all phycological. There was no way he was physically able to feel the fires again.

The forced his eyes open to the familiar surroundings of the area. He lost track of how many times he has been resurected, always greeted by the same gentle trees and delicate grass. Wei Wuxian collapes back onto the grass with a sigh.

What a lucky coincidence!" he thought to himself sarcastically, his mind reeling from the strange turn of events. "The very inn I stayed in just so happens to be set on fire. What a fortunate man I am!"

As Wei Wuxian tried to process the situation, a sudden voice pierced through the chaos, causing him to jump in surprise. His heart raced as he turned to face the source of the sound, prepared to confront the mysterious threat that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. To his astonishment, instead of a menacing figure, he found himself face to face with someone who bore an unnerving resemblance to himself. No, it wasn't resemblance. The man looked the exact same!

However, the man didn't possess the body of his original being. The man before him possessed the same body he had inherited through his revivals, rather than the one he was born with. Confusion and caution filled Wei Wuxian's eyes as he queried, "Who are you? And why do you look like me?"

The man let out a slightly embarrassed chuckle and scratched his neck, his grin lopsided. "I'm Mo Xuanyu," he introduced himself, his voice tinged with a mix of excitement and nervousness. "I'm a deity."

Wei Wuxian stared blankly at him, his expression betraying his skepticism. Mo Xuanyu, sensing the disbelief, hurriedly waved his hands and exclaimed, "No, really! I am a deity. If I wasn't, why would I be here when I wasn't present during all the other times you were revived?"

"He even knows about the revivals. He also has a point. If he didn't have some control over what's going on, he wouldn't be able to appear here if time was turned back," Wei Wuxian mused silently, his wariness still intact. Suppressing his emotions, he responded in a detached tone, "Very well. I suppose you must have a reason for seeking me out. Please, make yourself comfortable and explain everything." His words carried a coldness that caused Mo Xuanyu to visibly gulp, apprehension written across his face.

"G-got it," Mo Xuanyu stammered, his voice trembling slightly as he settled down on the grass next to Wei Wuxian, their silhouettes bathed in the glow of the flickering flames.

"You see, the world you currently live in isn't the only existing universe out there. There are many variations of your world. As a deity, I am able to manipulate and control each universe to a certain extent. Each universe is like yours but just slightly different."

Wei Wuxian's eyes widened. He was still very sceptical of the truth behind Mo Xuanyu's words. However, having no choice but to believe him, he plays along. "And what does this have to do with my resurrections?" Wei Wuxian prompted.

"Well, as I'm sure you have figured out by now, time almost seems to rewind every time you die. In actuality, time is not rewinding. I am just transferring you to a copy of your universe before everything happened. Think of it like this. I have copies of your universe. They are the exact same up to the point where you wake up right now. Because you have memories of your previous universes, your actions will be different in each one."

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow. "So what you are saying is that every time I die, I just get shoved into a copy of my old universe without my consent?" Mo Xuanyu chuckled nervously, "Well, it sounds bad when you say it like that..." Wei Wuxian's patience snapped. "BECAUSE IT IS! I WAS LOOKING FOR THE RELEASE OF DEATH AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN GIVE THAT TO ME!"

Taking a step back, Mo Xuanyu covered his face, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. "I felt really bad! I saw everything that had happened to you in your lifetime. I looked into your future and only 1 out of 304 universes did you get a happy ending. I wanted to ensure that you could get a happy ending every time so I did this..!"

Wei Wuxian put a hand up to his temple massaging it. "How are you planning to do that? From what you said, there seems to be many versions of me. How do you ensue that all of them are satisfied in the end?"

Sweat drops from Mo Xuanyu's forehead. "Well...I may or may not have accidently... deleted all versions of you except yourself..."

A tense moment of silence stretched out for an infinitely long time. It was finally broken by Wei Wuxian's scream. 

"YOU WHAT!?"