He changed Tiwat

"Not necessarily." Han Fulai smiled lightly. "Your 'lie' actually contains a 'truth'. The reason I was almost fooled by you is because I believe that there may indeed be different versions of you in this space of consciousness."

"In my world, there's a famous saying: 'When in doubt, quantum mechanics; when explanations fail, time travel; when imagination runs dry, parallel universes'—this consciousness space is very likely a 'parallel universe' where different times and worlds are superimposed."

"To put it more simply, there are many different versions of you and me in this world, and of course, there are also many different shadows of this world."

The so-called "parallel universes," also known as the "many-worlds theory," is a legitimate quantum mechanics theory on Earth. It was proposed by physicist Hugh Everett III to explain the "quantum classical boundary" in quantum mechanics.

Its main point is that those amazing phenomena in quantum mechanics, such as Schrödinger's "cat that is both dead and alive" in a "superposition state," do not actually exist. The cat's "dead" and "alive" states have always coexisted harmoniously—in two parallel worlds.

The moment people "observed" the cat, the timeline "split" into two branches: in one world, the cat died, while in the other, it remained alive and well. The dead cat and the living cat existed in their own parallel worlds, undisturbed by each other.

This theory was later used by science fiction writers as a story setting, resulting in a large number of works and science fiction films, eventually becoming the catchy rhyme that Han Fulai is familiar with.

As the editor-in-chief of "Yaedo", Miko is second to none in terms of "brainstorming". She has almost no difficulty understanding what Han Fu said - although there is no such thing as "quantum mechanics" in this world, "time travel" and "parallel universes" are very common novel plots.

In fact, similar plots have appeared in some fantasy novels published by Yaedo, such as the best-selling "Princess Fischl's Night Tales".

The lie she fabricated about "having many different versions of myself from different eras" was actually taken from that novel...

But being able to understand doesn't mean being able to accept it.

Even after accepting the "setting" that parallel worlds exist in the consciousness space, the Divine Child still had other questions: "Let's assume there is another Shadow from five hundred years ago... But the Shadow at that time had not yet entered the 'Pure Land of One Heart,' let alone possess the power of 'governing time.' So, it would be equally useless for us to find the Shadow from that era."

Han Fulai's answer was unusually firm: "No, at that time, she must have possessed powers related to 'time.' Perhaps she herself didn't realize it, but she must have done something that could influence 'time' back then. Otherwise... the current Inazuma might not even exist."

The divine child stood there stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "You mean... the divine cherry tree?"

When Kage returned to Inazuma from Kanria, the first thing he asked the Divine Child was about the existence of the Divine Cherry Tree.

According to the Divine Child's own memory, this Divine Cherry Tree has certainly existed for thousands of years - if it weren't for the Divine Cherry Tree's assistance, how could the Fox Palace have sealed away evil spirits with the "Divine Cherry Great Purification"?

Later, because Kage insisted that "the Divine Cherry Tree appeared suddenly," the Divine Child could only remain skeptical about it.

However, for the current Divine Child, there are no "doubts" about the Divine Cherry Tree, since she has already become one with it.

“I can tell you with certainty that this sacred tree has been rooted in Inazuma for at least three thousand years.”

—This is what the ley line records told her.

The ley line records are error-free.

The Divine Child knew that Han Fulai would say that the shadow from five hundred years ago possessed powers related to "time" because of the "suddenly appearing" Divine Cherry Tree.

According to Ying, this tree took root in Yingxiang Mountain along with the consciousness space of Lei Dian.

Raiden truly died five hundred years ago during the "Dark Calamity," so the tree is theoretically only five hundred years old. However, the real Inazuma has been blessed by the Divine Cherry Tree for over three thousand years.

This paradox of time can only be explained by the power of "governing by time".

Assuming Shadow's memory is accurate, the tree appeared at Shadow Mountain five hundred years ago along with True's consciousness space, but then took root in Inazuma for over three thousand years... So something must have happened five hundred years ago, at the point when Shadow brought True's consciousness space to Shadow Mountain.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Ying must have done something that could affect "time," causing the Divine Cherry Tree to travel back three thousand years in time from five hundred years ago...

However, this is only one side of the story.

—Another possibility is that the Shadow who returned from Canria has been corrupted by the Evil Star, and even his memories are blurred.

This possibility is clearly much greater than the idea that "the shadow possesses the power to 'rule through time'".

As Kage's friend and companion, Miko naturally wanted to believe in Kage, but feelings cannot replace reality... The fact is that the Divine Cherry Tree has existed for over three thousand years.

If she knew about the so-called "Mandela Effect" on Earth, she would probably also think that Ying's memories were an example of the "Mandela Effect".

Han Fulai's tone remained very confident: "I have another piece of evidence—the shadow's 'resurrection'."

“God, your ‘Yaedo’ once published a novel called ‘Chin-sho Sumiken Makage-da’.”

"The book, 'Chinsho Seiki Shinkage,' originally titled 'Shinkage,' records the secrets of two generations of Raiden Generals in Inazuma. This book was once banned in Inazuma, but it was later republished after being repackaged by 'Yaedo.'"

"The book mentions that Shadow died once after the end of the Demon God War. Later, Raiden Shin, who held the power of the 'Seven Rulers of the Mortal World,' used some method to bring Shadow's soul back and reshape her body."

"Was the way Raiden Shin 'resurrected' the Shadow through 'time reversal'? Did the 'Time Ruler' Ishtar intervene in this matter? If the Shadow's 'resurrection' is related to Ishtar, is it possible that this 'Time Ruler' left some kind of plan or backup plan on the Shadow, which continued all the way to the 'Dark Calamity' five hundred years ago?"

Han Fulai's barrage of questions forced the Divine Child to smile wryly: "These events all happened 2,600 years ago, more than 2,000 years before I was born. Even Master Zhaigong might not know the details, let alone me. Besides, this book, *True Shadow Strike*, is a 'fantasy novel,' containing many fictional stories..."

"I'm reprinting this novel simply because it's really interesting, and the fact that it was once a 'banned book' makes it easier to sell. This book was banned before not because it contained any truth, but because it portrayed the general as disrespectful... Light novels like 'Reincarnated as the Thunder General' would have been banned hundreds of years ago."

Han Fulai remained unmoved: "...The truth can also be written in novels. You know, Teyvat has many such 'fairy tales' and 'novels,' all of which are meant to record true history. Lies are more believable when mixed with truth, and conversely, lies mixed with truth are more likely to pass the 'censorship' of Sky Island, right?"

The divine child remained silent.

This possibility cannot be ruled out—the witch who wrote "The Guide to Teyvat," Ms. Iris, was very good at doing this.

"Perhaps you, Divine Child, still find it hard to believe in the existence of such 'time paradoxes,' but... I have already had such an experience—beneath the towering cliffs of Liyue, I fought alongside my ancestors from five hundred years ago to resist calamity..."

Han Fulai looked directly into the eyes of the divine child, his gaze utterly sincere.

"That's a long story. If you want to hear it, I can tell you later... For now, please trust me and try it with me."

The divine child silently lowered his head, avoiding his eyes.

...This person is really too cunning.

How could I possibly refuse when he looked at me like that? Besides, I am now your "family member," how can a "family member" refuse a "god"?

From an objective perspective, Han Fulai's proposal can be considered a gamble.

Did the Shadow from 500 years ago truly possess powers related to "time"? Did the Shadow from 2,600 years ago experience "resurrection"? Did "Time Ruler" Ishtar leave any plans for the Shadows?

These things are all just "possibilities".

...But as long as there is a "possibility", we cannot say that it is definitely "impossible", right?

Ultimately, the "perfect ending" of both warding off disaster and saving her life is inherently impossible...

But he insisted on doing it anyway.

For her sake, I reluctantly agreed.

After a moment of silence, the divine child raised his head again.

"Of course I'm willing to believe you, and I'm willing to accompany you in searching for Ah Ying from five hundred years ago... but there are some things I must say beforehand—"

“I know very little about His Highness’s consciousness space, only that it is the foundation of the Divine Cherry Tree. Or rather, apart from things related to the ‘Great Purification of the Divine Cherry Tree,’ I know almost nothing about this space… The only thing I can be sure of is that it is itself exceptionally chaotic and abstract…”

"What do you mean by 'chaos and abstraction'?" Han Fulai asked.

"How should I describe it..."

It was rare for the usually quick-witted editor-in-chief to struggle with finding a suitable adjective. After a moment's thought, she said, "Should I say... 'turbulent'? The space we're in is actually a 'plank' floating on a turbulent river, and the river's flow direction isn't fixed; it can flow towards the present, the past, and the future simultaneously..."

"The location of this 'plank' in the river is not fixed either. It could appear anywhere in the river, five hundred years ago or five hundred years from now... We are safe on this 'plank.' Once we leave this 'plank' under our feet, we may be swept away by the chaotic river and completely lost in the turbulent currents of time and space."

“When Shadow and I first entered this consciousness space five hundred years ago, we tried to leave the space we were in to explore other parts of the ‘turbulence,’ and the result was that we were almost swallowed up by the turbulent flow of time…”

Even if you possess the 'seed of time,' there's no guarantee you'll succeed in time travel—the greater possibility is that you'll be forever lost in the 'turbulent current.' Are you sure you want to do this?

"Of course I'm sure. You know, our Secretary Yue Haiting never does anything without being certain."

Han Fulai smiled and took the god's hand.

In his palm, the contract mark belonging to "Yae Sakura" was quietly emitting light.

“I signed the ‘Family Contract’ with you not just to share your ‘karma’. The ‘Family Contract’, together with the connection between us and the shadow, allows us to achieve ‘precise positioning’.”

“Before entering this space, Ying told me that she had only been here once because she was afraid of being reminded of people by the sight of things here—that is, the time when the divine cherry tree suddenly appeared on Ying Xiangshan in her memory.”

"No matter how chaotic the 'turbulence' in this space is, no matter what past and future exist here at the same time, the point in time when you and Shadow appeared in this consciousness space is only the second 'Divine Cherry Blossom Great Purification' five hundred years ago!"

Like a forceful invitation to a ball, before the goddess could react, Han Fulai suddenly pulled her into his arms.

He held the goddess's hand in one hand and wrapped his other arm around her soft waist, pulling her close to his chest.

Then, a white band of time light suddenly appeared, enveloping the two people embracing under the cherry blossom tree.

The two figures vanished from the spot.

Chapter 248 In the next story, let me give you the world.

In fact, Han Fulai lied to the Divine Child.

Admittedly, "Secretary Yuehaiting never does anything without certainty," but being certain is one thing, but how certain one is is another.

— Being 100% certain is "being confident," and being 10% certain is also "being confident," it's just that the probability of success is different.

Although he spoke with great confidence, if the Divine Child asked him how confident he was in successfully finding the Lei film from 500 years ago, he could only answer "50%".

His "precise positioning" certainly has its theoretical basis, but theory is not the same as practice, and no one knows what might happen in practice.

This kind of certainty can only be considered "gambling".

But to save the divine child while exorcising the evil radiance and completely eliminating the "dark calamity" that has lingered for five hundred years, he can only gamble on whether this "time travel" will be successful.

Han Fulai's previous experiences with "time travel," including the one where Ying sent him to the side of the Divine Child, were all "passive time travels."

But this time, he "took the initiative to travel through time".

If you were to ask Han Fulai what the difference is between "active time travel" and "passive time travel," he would say it's "consciousness."

In this "time travel," he preserved his self-awareness.

Therefore, he was able to retain the memory of this "time travel".

In his memory, he "traveled" through a "time tunnel".

Calling it a "tunnel" isn't entirely accurate, because this space lacks a tunnel's "entrance" and "exit."

It exists only in chaos.

The divine child said that this space was unusually "chaotic and abstract"—and it was indeed so.

This is an experience that is difficult to describe in words.

In life, a person's state of motion is always determined by their position relative to a "reference point".

For example, if we take sea level as the origin, when climbing a mountain, people will say "the altitude is so many meters"; if we take the destination as the origin, when traveling, people will say "we are so many kilometers away from the destination"; even when walking, whether going east or west, left or right, people always need an "origin" and "direction of movement" as a reference.

The "three-dimensional space" in which humans live always has three dimensions: "length, width, and height." In a Cartesian coordinate system, these are the so-called "X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis."

The X-axis represents left and right, the Y-axis represents front and back, and the Z-axis represents up and down.

Once such a coordinate system is established, people can use numbers to accurately describe their location.

For example, if one person on Earth said to another, "I am currently at 86.9° East longitude, 27.9° North latitude, and an altitude of 8848 meters," then the other person would immediately know that they are in a place called "Mount Everest."

However, there are no reference points in this "time tunnel" that can be used to establish a "coordinate system".

It's like the universe in chaos, vast and boundless, just a dark vacuum.

"Time" seems to have no meaning here. There are no changing seasons, no sunrise or sunset. Whether it's a second or ten thousand years, chaos remains chaos.

Han Fulai could feel himself moving in that "time tunnel"—not walking, not running, not flying, but just some kind of "displacement".

Perhaps the analogy that the divine child used earlier was the most appropriate.

If we describe time as a river, then space is a small boat on the river, and people are standing on the boat, drifting with the current.

"Time travel," on the other hand, involves people on a sampan jumping into the water, often resulting in them being swallowed by the turbulent river and disappearing forever. Even if they don't drown, they are swept away by the current, unable to control their own destiny.

His previous "passive crossing" was basically a situation of being "swept along by the river," with no choice at all; the river took him wherever it wanted.

The "movement" he felt was a sensation of being "swept along by a river"—something was enveloping him and propelling him in a certain direction.

Then he became aware of the existence of the "seed of time".

It was the band of light extending from the "seed of time" that enveloped him, propelling him and the divine child he held in his arms forward.

The goddess remained absolutely still in his arms, without moving or breathing. From the moment they stepped into this "time tunnel," time had completely stopped for her.

After all, the Divine Child did not have the "Seed of Time" and was in a state of "passive time travel," while he was the ark carrying her through time and space.

The moment he realized that the divine child was in his arms, light and shadow appeared in this chaotic "time tunnel".

Countless lines flew out from the time-space band that was swirling around him, layering and covering the entire space, like a decorative wallpaper covering the tunnel.

The overlapping lines form a series of images, like still film frames connected together, creating a moving "movie".

He saw himself in those images.

Countless versions of myself.

There are countless others who exist in his memory.

Gan Yu, Shen He, Ke Qing, Ning Guang, You La, Ye Lan, Xing Qiu, Shen Zi, Ying... Each of their images is so vivid, becoming countless memories and countless lives together with countless others.

The people in the picture are moving, and so is the background.

He saw the Frost Arrow bloom into a sky full of snowflakes on the beach of Lonely Cloud Pavilion.