MIST (BL)

CHAPTER 19 ( part 3)

Everyone looked back at him.

Ji Yushi's face didn't look too good, as if the smallest wind would blow him over.
The hope of solving this puzzle currently laid with Ji Yushi. Without Ji Yushi, they most definitely wouldn't be in this current situation and perhaps they would've already gone crazy.
Everyone felt bad for him, but they also couldn't do anything for him.

"But the me in Team B isn't hurt and didn't fall unconscious so after discovering the overlap in time and space, they most definitely reached a conclusion before us." Ji Yushi said, "Team B is the same as us. They also know that if they go to the bookstore now, they would inevitably encounter Team 2 and a paradox would appear."

This was also what Ji Yushi wasn't able to say to Song Qinglan before he fell unconscious.
Fortunately, Song Qinglan must have also thought of this and chose to remain nearby, observing the situation.

Of the two of them, one stood while the other sat.
But there was an inexplicable atmosphere between them, as if they were real partners, the kind that no one else could get between.
This kind of tacit understanding had at some point in time established between them.

Li Chun, "What paradox?"

It was hard for Ji Yushi to speak and he had to pause a little with each word.

Song Qinglan went on to say, "Because our existence comes from the third cycle and the reason for the third cycle is because all of Team 2 died. As a result, no matter whether Team A or Team B goes, it would most definitely change the fate of Team 3. The third cycle then wouldn't be like this and we wouldn't be here anymore."

Everyone understood.
"So that's why they won't go to the bookstore."
"I see!"

Ji Yushi nodded and then said, "There is actually one more thing. Do you remember the mission mode?"

Everyone said, "Ouroboros."

"This is the key point to this current situation. I seem to understand it somewhat now." Ji Yushi said, "Ouroboros holds the meaning of an infinite loop in Western legends. Since the beginning, we only understood the meaning on that level and thought it just meant that everything would restart after death but, in fact, the representation of ouroboros is a snake eating its own tail. It was a case of consuming oneself."

Ouroboros symbolised infinity, no limit, no beginning and no end.

Ji Yushi picked up a knife next to him, "Cap Song, help me draw a circle."

Song Qinglan replied and carved a white circle onto the floor of the car.
Ji Yushi took the knife back and used the tip of the knife to mark out a few spots on the circle.

"Look, no matter which point of the circle it is, it can be regarded as the starting point of the circle and it can also be regarded as the end." He spoke very slowly, leaving time for the others to think and react, "This is similar to our current situation. In the first cycle, we were killed by a spacecar. It was because the people who chose to drive the spacecar was us ourselves. We encountered a roadblock and had to take the alley to reach the bookstore because we were hijacked by people on another timeline which resulted in damages blocking the road. After escaping from the bookstore, we were faced with a wire fence and was swallowed up by the black wall because the people who had hijacked us had raised that wire fence. As if everything was destined, all these incidents are linked, forming a circle on its own."
"With the time anchor setting in place, time is fixed. That's why, every trace we leave is like a point on this circle. There is no particular order, only cause and effect."

Once done with this explanation, the large and complex world setting of PU-31 left everyone in shock.
Even though Song Qinglan had a faint guess, he didn't analyse it as clearly as Ji Yushi did.