Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 13: Sleepwalking in Dreamland

1558: Memories Within Memories Within Memories

Professor Qiao hung her eyes low, slowly twirling a silver ring on her finger, as if her mind had already returned to some peaceful and distant place. She seemed unaware that her words to Wu Yiliu were akin to bombs, saying calmly, "You asked me just now when I detected the Changelings... Well, the answer is thirty-six years ago."

Wu Yiliu looked at her, momentarily losing his ability to understand language. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He replayed Professor Qiao's words in his mind several times, still unable to digest any of it. After a while, he finally stammered, "Wh... what? Thirty-six... years?" The unit of measurement was actually years?

The old lady exhaled.

"Professor Qiao, you're saying this has happened once before... not that it's been happening since thirty-six years ago." This distinction was crucial; Wu Yiliu's shocked brain finally began to turn. As he gradually came to his senses, excitement made him speak as fast as a machine gun, "You mean the same problem occurred and was solved before, and then there were no more Changelings, right? So, I only saw Changelings for the first time when I was twenty?"

The old lady nodded.

This was like a stimulant, causing Wu Yiliu's face to flush with heat and excitement, even quickening his heartbeat.

"So—so how was it resolved initially? Can their faces really return to normal? What about the Changelings? What happened to the Changelings from thirty-six years ago?" His bellyful of questions, if written down, might form a book. "What caused the shape-shifting? Why have I never heard of it? Can we solve the problem this time and make people normal again?"

His barrage of questions brought a bitter smile to Professor Qiao's lips.

"I never thought I would tell this story in my lifetime... So, allow me to gather my thoughts first." Even in private conversation, the old lady was as organized as if she were lecturing. As she sat quietly contemplating, Wu Yiliu unconsciously held his breath. "I was thirty-three that year, just an assistant professor."

The old lady poured tea for herself and Wu Yiliu as she spoke. Perhaps it's a sign of aging, but her eyes seemed to redden easily. The way she lowered her eyes as she poured the tea gave Wu Yiliu the impression that she wasn't thirsty; she just wanted something to do to calm her emotions.

"Back then, it was common for women in their thirties to remain unmarried and pursue their careers. I had just moved into this house, doing the teaching job I loved, spending my free time drinking tea and reading, living entirely in my own world. Later, I calculated that the change must have started right around school vacation... I liked to be alone, even hiking and camping during the holidays, far from the crowd, so I didn't notice the change, and the Changelings didn't notice me. It was because of this that the following story happened."

Wu Yiliu uttered a sound of acknowledgment, indicating that he was listening. As he listened to the old lady's recollections, his gaze wandered around the living room and stopped on a bookshelf. Near the top shelf, there was a somewhat old-fashioned photograph — only now did he realize that the young woman smiling on the rocks by the sea was Professor Qiao.

The old lady also caught his glance, her eyes shifting from the photograph, and she smiled. Though age had wrinkled her once plump skin, her smile was still as gentle and graceful as in the picture, as if they were echoing through time.

"Yeah, that's me... I think, the real starting point of my story should be the highway where I drove back from the mountains."

For thirty-three-year-old Qiao Yuansi, the world was a smooth, steady, and comfortable place. She was in the prime of her life, energetic, with a stable career prospect, independent and free in her life, and she could not pick out a single flaw even with a magnifying glass. The life spread out before her eyes was like the endless highway at this moment, flat and straight, shimmering in the afternoon sun.