Chapter 8: The Man Who Knew His Name
It was midnight when the screams began.
Not the screams of mortals.
No — these belonged to beasts that no longer bled. Things that once prayed and were never answered. Their cries were the echo of extinct gods.
Jiang Fan didn't flinch.
He stood atop a jagged outcrop deep within the Ghostspine Mountains, overlooking a broken world stitched together by war and silence. The fog from the lantern girl had long faded into memory. His cloak was heavier now—soaked in blood, ash, and memory.
Behind him, the wind whispered.
"He's close."
The system pulsed.
Warning: Presence Detected – Unknown TierThreat Level: ???Advisory: Proceed with Absolute Caution.
He turned slowly.
A figure approached, walking calmly through a field of dead spirit trees—each one twisted into a scream. His robes were faded blue, lined with crimson at the cuffs. His face, aged but proud. His stride, steady.
But Jiang Fan's eyes narrowed not because of the man's presence.
It was because of his face.
He knew that face.
Earth.
Beijing. Rain. A library. Late nights. Coffee. Philosophy.
Professor Liu Zhang.
Jiang Fan's heartbeat thudded once.
Then stilled.
"You died," he said flatly.
Liu Zhang smiled softly. "We all do. Some just die… elsewhere."
Jiang Fan didn't relax.
"You're not real."
"No," Liu agreed, "I'm not. Not anymore."
The air thickened.
Jiang Fan could feel it—this man wasn't a spirit. Nor an illusion. He was a remnant. A relic. And somehow… he remembered who Jiang Fan was before this world swallowed him whole.
"You were always meant to be more than this," Liu said, gesturing to the mountain of corpses below. "You could've changed things, not corrupted them."
"I survived," Jiang Fan replied coldly. "That's all that matters."
"No," Liu said gently, "you've done more than survive. You've begun to rot."
The silence that followed was not empty.
It was judgment.
Jiang Fan stepped forward, voice low. "Why now?"
"Because I am not the only remnant that remembers who you were," Liu said, eyes gleaming. "Others are stirring. Pieces of your past. Shadows of your old name."
"You're here to guilt me?"
"I'm here to remind you."
The mountain wind howled, stirring Jiang Fan's cloak like wings of a fallen god.
"I don't need reminders," he said.
And yet…
He didn't strike.
Didn't crush the man's bones like he had countless others.
Instead, he asked—
"Did you bring me here?"
Liu Zhang's expression faltered.
"No."
"But you know who did."
"Yes."
"Tell me."
"No."
The words were firm.
"I will not tell you because you are not ready. You're still too… wounded. And the truth, Jiang Fan, is a blade that only the healed can wield."
Lightning cracked behind the clouds. Thunder rolled like a sleeping dragon turning in its grave.
Jiang Fan's expression didn't change.
"Then you're useless."
"No," Liu said, "I'm something worse."
"What's that?"
"A test."
He raised his hand.
And the world shattered.
[Duel Initiated – Trial of the Past]
Combat Realm: MemoryscapeEnvironment shaped by the subject's earliest trauma.
Jiang Fan blinked.
He stood not in mountains… but on a subway platform.
Lights flickered.
Posters in Mandarin advertised products that didn't exist anymore.
Rain streaked the glass.
And on the bench beside him…
A young Jiang Fan. No older than seventeen. Clean. Quiet. Eyes full of questions.
Liu stood across from him.
"Win," he said, "and I'll answer one truth."
Jiang Fan looked at his younger self.
Then drew his blade.
The fight wasn't physical.
It was a war of identity.
Every strike he landed on the boy shattered pieces of himself—his humanity, his curiosity, his hope. And yet, the boy kept smiling.
"Why do you keep getting back up?" Jiang Fan snarled.
The boy wiped blood from his mouth and said, "Because I still believe."
And that…
Made Jiang Fan furious.
He ended it with a scream of black fire—qi twisted with every lie ever told to him, every betrayal burned into his bones. The boy was consumed, face still smiling even as he turned to ash.
When it ended, the memoryscape dissolved.
They stood once more on the mountain.
Jiang Fan breathed heavily.
Liu didn't look disappointed. Just… sad.
"You passed," he said.
"Give me my truth."
Liu Zhang nodded.
"The system isn't from this world," he said. "And it didn't find you."
He stepped back into the shadows.
"You found it."
Jiang Fan stood alone once more.
But now the silence was heavier.
The system beeped.
Truth Fragment Unlocked: "The First Choice"
The user will soon regain memory of how the System bound to them.
Seed Growth: 52.3%
And far, far away…
A pair of violet eyes opened in the void.
Smiling.
End of Chapter 8