Multiverse Of Madness

Sitting on the grass beside the lake, Liu Xinyu trembled as her hospital clothes clung to her frame. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mingling with the droplets of the water that cascaded from her soaked hair. Each sob that escaped her lips echoed with a profound sense of despair as if the weight of the world had settled upon her fragile shoulders.

Her cries were raw and unrestrained, a haunting melody of sorrow that could pierce through anyone's heart who heard them. And it certainly made a certain ghost's heart clench in pain too which even the female ghost didn't think was possible.

The female ghost sat in front of her and tried to comfort her, "Don't cry. Why are you even crying so sadly? You didn't even flinch when you saw a ghost like me running around you. Did you get so scared because you almost drowned? You don't look like the kind of person to get easily scared though."

Liu Xinyu hugged her knees and lowered her head to cry her heart out. 

Liu Xinyu, the cherished and adored daughter of Liu Qin and Liu Xing, was the epitome of love and indulgence. She was the apple of her parents's eyes, raised with an abundance of affection. One could see their joy and pride in every aspect of her upbringing. Even though she wasn't raised in luxury, she was still bestowed a regal treatment that befitted a princess in every sense. Throughout her life, envy trailed her footsteps, a testament to the enviable bond shared between her and her doting parents.

And this was one of the reasons that despite having constant run-ins with the misfortune, she was able to stand tall and face the next challenge head-on. Because she always had the support of the only people that mattered in her life, her parents. This was the first time for Liu Xinyu to feel so lonely in her life and it was also the first time she had cried so much too. 

"At least, tell me what are you crying about?" asked the female ghost exasperatedly since she really didn't know how to comfort a crying person. 

"Can you shut up?" Liu Xinyu looked up into the female ghost's eyes straight and went on, "You are giving me a headache! Just shut up! Whether I die or cry, why do you all even care? Even my own mother's doppelganger doesn't seem to care at all about how am I doing!"

"Gotcha! You can see me indeed!"

Liu Xinyu glared back at this ghost and said, "So what? So what if I can see you? Is it helpful to the situation I am in right? I don't think so."

"You won't know if I'm helpful or not until or unless you tell me about your exact situation," answered the female ghost as she leisurely sat down on the wooden bench. "And even if I can't be of any help, at least, I'm the only person who is willing to listen to your magical experience."

Liu Xinyu wiped her tears but didn't know if it was the tears that she wiped or the water. It didn't really matter anyway. She also got up from the ground and sat down on the wooden bench. "How do you know I have had a magical experience?"

"I heard you mumbling and the way you reacted to seeing that naive guy inside and although I think the living goddess who just came here had a domineering presence, I don't think that was enough to make you cry. So, tell me. What is going on?"

"He is not naive!" argued Liu Xinyu.

"What are you so protective of? The fact that he so easily believed your amnesia story says a lot about how naive he is."

"He is not naive! He is just kind. And it's his kindness that rather than his first thought of being deceived, he chose to believe in my words."

"Now, I'm really curious about what he has to do with you to make you so protective of him. Is he really your brother? I mean you guys do have an uncanny resemblance if one pays attention but if he was your brother, wouldn't he know?"

Liu Xinyu rubbed her hands on her wet and cold arms to bring some warmth to herself as she answered, "He isn't my brother. He can't be. He... He looks like my father."

"Your father has an illegitimate child! *Gasp*"

Liu Xinyu felt like hitting this ghost who was getting on her nerves right now. "That is even more impossible!"

"Why is it impossible?"

"Because this is 1998. And my father was only 23 himself this year. How can he have a son as old as himself? Ghostie, be smart! Work your brain or does the brain stop working in the ghost state?"

The female ghost's face ticked as she seemed to not like that comment. "I have a name."

"I don't care."

"Call me Yiyi!"

"Ghostie!"

Yiyi, the female ghost gave her a fake smile before deciding to not argue with a little human girl. "If you want me to understand your current situation. You have to tell me who you are first. And where do you come from?"

Liu Xinyu also thought that her words were confusing even to herself. It was difficult to make anyone believe in her experience but if there was anyone who would, it had to be this ghost because the fact that she could see and talk to a ghost was bizarre enough so believing that she time traveled wouldn't be so difficult to believe, right?

"I'm Liu Xinyu, born in 2001. I went out with my parents on the 22nd of March, 2023 to a temple. My parents wanted to pray for me there because the next day was my 23rd birthday. But guess what? I opened my eyes on the 26th of March in 1998 instead. Now, how does this sound?"

"Quite adventurous, I'd say."

"Adventurous? I not only missed my 23rd birthday but also found myself in this strange era which is very unfamiliar to me. The only familiarity I found was the face of the guy who looks like the younger version of my father."

Yiyi seemed to be taking in all this information seriously and contemplated it deeply too before asking, "So the naive guy from earlier..." Seeing the shooting glare of Liu Xinyu, she tactfully changed her words, "I mean, the innocent and kind guy who brought you to the hospital is quite possibly the younger version of your own father?"

"Yes, my father, Liu Qin!"

Yiyi nodded to herself before she frowned at a realization, "No, wait! That's not right."

"What?"

"That fool... Cough! That guy's name is Yi Qin! Not Liu Qin."

"Huh?" Liu Xinyu didn't process that for a while. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier, the doctor called him that. Yi Qin. I was definitely paying attention at that time. I heard it right."

Liu Xinyu stood up and rushed inside the hospital to go back to her ward. She had to confirm the name of the guy who looked like her father. Was she really in 1998? Or was it the 1998 of a parallel world? And if it was really the 1998 of her own world, then why did the name of her father didn't match with what she knew? What kind of a multiverse of madness was this?!

"Hey! Your foot is really injured. Do you not want it to get better?" yelled Yiyi from behind but had to also run to catch up with this interesting human from the future. Finally, something fun for her to do.

...

On the other side, Nan Xing waited in the private room of the hospital for Qi Yuze to change his clothes. Once he came out wearing the dry clothes, Qi Yuze avoided Nan Xing's eyes that were following him. He didn't dare look back at her.

"Qi Yuze," she called out languidly.

But Qi Yuze felt like he was facing a teacher right now as he stood straight in front of her with his head lowered and he even admitted his mistake, "Jiejie (elder sister), I know I was wrong. Don't be mad at me. I just couldn't help myself when I saw that girl drowning."

"I am not against you helping others but you have to consider your own condition too. You cannot afford to get a cold at this critical time. I saw you yelling at that girl for not taking her life seriously, but what about you? Do you think you have any right to stand on a moral high ground to question her when you are not even taking your own health seriously right now?"

"I'm sorry," was all Qi Yuze could say. "I should have called for help instead of jumping in the water myself." But he still couldn't hold back from adding, "But Jiejie, what if she drowned by the time I called for help?"

Even Nan Xing didn't know how to answer that question and that's why she wasn't really mad at him right now. Anyway, he did a good deed. She couldn't criticize him too much.

"Xing Jie, why did you come to see me today?" asked Qi Yuze as he smiled at her, showing off his perfect smile and the small dimple on his right cheek.

"I came to get you discharged from the hospital." Qi Yuze was excited to hear that but his excitement was smashed by her next words, "But now, I changed my mind. You'd stay for further observation."

With a knock on the door, Nan Xing's assistant, Yan Mu entered the room and brought with him the hot ginger soup for Qi Yuze. After serving the soup to Qi Yuze, he came to stand beside Nan Xing and told her, "Miss Nan, Young Master Yi Qin brought a girl to the hospital and had been taking care of her for the past couple of days. He didn't leave her side while the girl was unconscious."

Nan Xing's brows arched slightly when she heard this information.