Revolving lantern, back to zero

Lin Shen stood by the window of room 1208, the sunlight warm on his face, but his body was cold inside. The circular scar throbbed deep in his chest, like an extra heart. With each beat, he could feel a stream of icy blood flowing from his chest to his limbs, over his shoulders, arms, fingertips, hips, thighs, and ankles. That blood wasn't his—the temperature was wrong, the flow was wrong, the smell was wrong. He couldn't smell it, but he could feel it. It was a rusty, decaying smell, like blood that had dried on a knife long ago.

"Captain," Xiao Chen's voice came from behind, tinged with obvious tension, "you look terrible."

Lin Shen turned around. Xiao Chen stood beside Lu Ming's empty bed, his hands gripping the bed railing, his knuckles white. His "echo" ability allowed him to see things that ordinary people couldn't—Lin Shen guessed that what Xiao Chen saw of himself at this moment might not be a complete person, but a vessel being eroded from the inside by something.

"I'm fine," Lin Shen said. "Go back upstairs; your injury hasn't healed yet."

"My injuries aren't important." Xiao Chen shook his head. "Captain, that thing inside you, it didn't just awaken. It's always been there. It's been there since the first time you entered the revolving lantern. Every time you were near death, it grew a little bigger. Every time you returned to oneness, it became a little stronger. The reason you've survived until now isn't because you're strong, but because it wasn't ready to reap the rewards. Now it's ready."

Lin Shen pressed his hand to his chest. The scar throbbed beneath his palm, at the same frequency as his heartbeat, but in opposite phases—when his heart contracted, the scar expanded; when his heart expanded, the scar contracted. The two forces tore at each other within his chest cavity, like two intertwined snakes.

"It's ready, but it can't get out," Lin Shen said. "It needs me to open the door."

"What door?"

"The door inside my body." Lin Shen walked to Lu Ming's bedside, looking at the empty bed with the blankets neatly folded. "Shen Ruo said that the core ability of the 'Holy Spirit' is the Gate of Creation. It can open a door to any world from anywhere. The fragment inside me is a part of the 'Holy Spirit.' It wants to open a door inside me and release itself."

Xiao Chen's face turned even paler. "What if you don't open it?"

"It won't let me choose." Lin Shen turned around and looked at Xiao Chen. "It will force me. It will use the people around me to force me. It will use you, it will use Su Wan, it will use everyone I care about."

A sudden commotion erupted in the corridor. The phone at the nurses' station rang urgently a few times, then someone shouted, "A patient on the 12th floor has fainted! Call a doctor immediately!"

Lin Shen walked out of room 1208 and saw an elderly man in a hospital gown lying on the floor at the end of the corridor, surrounded by several nurses. The old man's face was turned towards Lin Shen, his eyes half-open, and his lips moving as if he were saying something. Lin Shen walked over and squatted down.

The old man's lips were moving, but no sound came out. Lin Shen leaned closer to listen.

"The mirror...the person in the mirror...came out..."

The old man's eyes widened suddenly, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints. He stared intently in a direction behind Lin Shen, his face bearing the exact same expression as Xiao Chen's the night before—not fear, but despair. The expression of someone facing an inescapable fate.

Then his eyes closed. The beeping of the electrocardiogram monitor stretched into a straight line.

Lin Shen stood up and turned around.

On the wall of the corridor hung a mirror. It had a stainless steel frame and was square, exactly the same as the one he had seen in the second-floor corridor last night. The mirror reflected the corridor, the lights, the old man lying on the floor, the nurse squatting beside the old man, and Lin Shen standing behind the crowd.

But besides these, there was one more person. Standing at the deepest part of the mirror, far away and blurry, yet with a clear outline—wearing a black hoodie, the hat pulled low, and a tattoo on his wrist.

The person in the mirror raised their hand, pointed at Lin Shen, and then pointed to their own chest.

Lin Shen looked down at his chest. Beneath his shirt, the circular scar glowed—a faint, blue, firefly-like light. The light shone through the shirt, casting a blurry pattern on the fabric.

An ∞, the symbol for infinity.

Lin Shen covered his chest with his hand, blocking out the light. He looked up, but the person in the mirror had vanished. Only a normal reflection remained in the mirror—the corridor, the lights, the crowd, and himself.

But he noticed something: in the mirror, his reflection showed a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth. He himself, however, wasn't smiling.

He took a step back, turned around, went back to room 1208, and closed the door. Shen Ruo was still sitting on the bed, holding the mystery novel in her hand, but her gaze was not on the book, but on Lin Shen's chest.

"It's lit up," Shen Ruo said.

"You saw it?"

"My consciousness is in the network. When the fragments within you light up, the entire network can see them. It's like someone lighting a candle in a dark room." Shen Ruo put down her book, stood up, and walked barefoot to Lin Shen. "Lin Shen, it doesn't just want to come out. It wants to replace you."

"replace?"

"It wants to squeeze you out of your body. Not kill you, but replace you. Your consciousness will be pushed into the mirror, trapped in the mirror world. Its consciousness will take over your body, using your face, your voice, your fingerprints, to do whatever it wants."

"What does it want to do?"

Shen Ruo was silent for a few seconds. "It wants to complete what the 'Holy Spirit' failed to do. To absorb all parallel worlds and become the sole existence. But it's smarter than the 'Holy Spirit'—it won't absorb them by force. It will use you. Your identity, your relationships, your trust. You're a police officer, you have the authority to enter anywhere. You're an ability user, you have the ability to open any door. You're Lin Shen, you have friends who are willing to do anything for you."

Lin Shen clenched his fist.

"So I'm not a container," Lin Shen said in a low voice, "I'm a key. It can use me to open all the doors."

Shen Ruo nodded. "You are the seventh seed. Not because you are the strongest, but because you are the most suitable. You have the most perfect identity, the most perfect relationship, and the most perfect personality—you will not abuse your abilities, you will not pursue power, and you will not intentionally harm anyone. You are the safest container, and also the most dangerous key. Because no one will doubt you."

The door to room 1208 was pushed open. Xiao Chen stood in the doorway, holding his phone, his face as white as a sheet.

"Captain, something has happened to Su Wan from the origin."

Lin Shen's heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"

"She woke up, and then she went to your bathroom. She saw someone in the mirror—not herself, but someone else. That person said something to her, and then she—"

"So what about her?"

Xiao Chen handed the phone to Lin Shen. The screen displayed a video, taken from a certain angle in Lin Shen's house—likely a temporary camera Xiao Chen had installed when he visited earlier. In the video, Yuan Dian Su Wan stood at the bathroom door, holding a scalpel, her eyes fixed on the mirror above the sink. Her face was reflected in the mirror, but the expression on the person in the mirror was different from her own—the person in the mirror was smiling, while she herself was not.

Then she picked up the scalpel and smashed it against the mirror.

The mirror shattered. Shards flew everywhere, one cutting her face, blood trickling down her cheek. She didn't wipe it away, just stared at the broken mirror, her lips moving as if to say something. The video had no sound, but Lin Shen read her lips:

"He is not you. You are not him. You are two different people."

She repeated it three times, then turned and walked out of the bathroom.

The video ends.

Lin Shen returned the phone to Xiao Chen and turned to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Shen Ruo asked.

"Let's go home." Lin Shen opened the door. "She's in my house, all alone in front of the broken mirror. I can't leave her alone."

"The fragment within you is awakening." Shen Ruo's voice was cold. "The more agitated you are, the stronger it becomes. The more worried you are, the bigger it grows. The more you care about someone, the more it will use that person to hurt you. By going home now, you've fallen right into its trap."

Lin Shen stopped and stood at the doorway, his back to Shen Ruo.

"Then what should I do?" he asked. "Ignore her? Leave her alone to face that thing in the mirror?"

Shen Ruo did not answer.

Xiao Chen stood to the side, his lips moved a few times, but he didn't say anything.

In the corridor, a nurse pushed the old man's body past, the wheels making a dull thud on the floor. Lin Shen looked at the body covered with a white sheet and remembered the old man's last words: "The person in the mirror has come out."

He turned around, walked back to room 1208, and stood in front of Shen Ruo.

"Tell me how to kill it."

Shen Ruo looked at him, and for the first time, hesitation appeared in her eyes.

"Killing it is killing yourself," Shen Ruo said. "It's not something external. It's a part of you. All your repressed emotions, all your desires, all the parts of yourself you don't want to face are there. Killing it is killing those emotions, those desires, that part of yourself. You will become a—"

"Become what?"

"Become a person without shadows," Shen Ruo said. "Only light, no darkness. Only reason, no impulse. Only kindness, no evil. You will become a perfect, flawless being, but also something completely inhuman."

Lin Shen looked down at his hands. There were four crescent-shaped bloodstains on his palms, dug out by his fingernails. It was his own blood, red, warm, the blood of a living person.

"I'm no longer human," Lin Shen said. "From the first moment I entered the revolving lantern, I stopped. I've died, I've lived, I've died again, I've lived again. I killed another version of myself in a parallel world, and released another version of myself in the original world. There's another consciousness growing inside my body. There's another version of myself laughing in my shadow. What am I? I don't know. But I know I don't want it to come out."

He looked up at Shen Ruo.

"Tell me how to kill it."

Shen Ru remained silent for a long time. The lights in the corridor flickered on and off, as if someone was repeatedly pressing a switch. The sunlight outside the window was obscured by clouds, making the room dimly lit.

"You need to enter your own consciousness space," Shen Ruo finally spoke. "Not a revolving lantern, not a parallel world, but the depths of your own consciousness. That place was opened when you first entered the revolving lantern, but you've never actually entered it. There's a door in your consciousness space. Behind that door lies your shadow—the self you've always refused to face. It grows behind that door, drawing nourishment from your fears and power from your anger. You need to find that door, push it open, and then—"

"Then?"

"Then face it. Not fight it, but look it in the eye. Not kill it, but acknowledge it. It is a part of you. You cannot kill it without killing yourself. You can only accept it, let it go from enemy to friend, from shadow to light."

Lin Shen frowned. "Accept it? It wants to replace me."

"It wants to replace you because it has never been accepted." Shen Ruo's voice became very soft. "Think about it, how long has it been since you told yourself 'I'm fine'? How long has it been since you stopped and asked yourself 'What do you want'? You've always been chasing the truth, always protecting others, always fighting. You've never protected yourself. Your shadow is the self you've ignored. It's waiting for you to turn around and look at it."

Lin Shen removed his hand from the gun handle.

How do I access my own consciousness space?

"You're already inside," Shen Ruo said. "The first time you entered the revolving lantern, you entered your own consciousness space. But you thought it was a parallel world, so you kept looking outward. You need to look inward."

She reached out and touched Lin Shen's forehead with her finger.

"Close your eyes. Don't think about the warehouse, don't think about the tattoo, don't think about the killer. Think about your own heartbeat. Follow your heartbeat down to the deepest part. There's a door there. Behind that door, you're waiting for yourself."

Lin Shen closed his eyes.

Heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump. Slow, steady, like a drumbeat. He followed his heartbeat downwards—not falling, but collapsing inwards, just as when he entered the world of origin. His consciousness was like a folded piece of paper, folded once, then folded again, and folded again. With each fold, the surrounding darkness deepened, the sounds receded, and time slowed down.

After folding it seven times, he stopped at a certain spot.

There was no light, no sound, no smell. Only darkness, pure and infinite, like the darkness before the birth of the universe.

But in the center of the darkness, there is a bright spot.

It wasn't light, it was a door. The door was white, emitting a faint light, like a star about to go out in the darkness. There was no handle, no keyhole, only a line of words written in black, blood-like liquid:

"Lin Shen, you've finally arrived."

The handwriting is exactly the same as his.

Lin Shen walked to the door, reached out, and placed his hand on it. The door was warm, like the temperature of skin. He could feel something beating behind the door—a heartbeat, at the same frequency and rhythm as his own.

He pushed open the door.

Behind the door was a room. White walls, white floor, white ceiling. In the center of the room was a chair, and a person was sitting in the chair.

he himself.

Wearing the exact same clothes as him, he sat in a chair, legs crossed, holding a book. Unlike the reflection Lin Shen saw in the mirror of the rented room—this person's face showed no smile, no malice, no mockery. He simply sat there, reading, as if waiting for someone.

He looked up when he heard the door open.

"You've come." He closed the book and stood up. His movements were slow and gentle, as if afraid of disturbing something. "I've waited for you for twenty-nine years."

Lin Shen walked into the room, and the door closed automatically behind him.

"Who are you?"

"I am you," the person said. "Not a mirror image, not a shadow, not a backup of another world. I am you. I have lived here since the day you were born. I cry with you when you cry, I laugh with you when you laugh, and I hold you when you are afraid. But you don't know I exist. Because you have never looked back."

Lin Shen walked up to him, and the two stood face to face, less than a meter apart. He could see the reflection in the other's pupils—not the white room, but a baby lying in swaddling clothes, eyes open, looking at the world.

"You are my shadow," Lin Shen said.

"I am your memory," the person said. "Everything you've forgotten is here with me. All the emotions you've suppressed are here with me. All the parts of yourself you don't want to face are here with me. I am not your enemy. I am your archive."

Lin Shen's hands were trembling. It wasn't fear, but an indescribable feeling, like something had struck his chest.

"You want to replace me."

The person shook their head. "I don't want to replace you. I want to be seen by you. For the past twenty-nine years, you've kept me locked up here, not letting me out. You thought you were protecting yourself, but you were just imprisoning yourself. You don't let me see the light, so I can only grow up in darkness. You don't let me speak, so I can only scream in my own world. You don't let me love you, so I can only hate you."

His eyes reddened. But no tears fell—because he had no tears. He was the shadow, the memory, everything that was suppressed. He had no physical form, no tears, only a voice.

"Lin Shen, I'm not here to replace you," he said. "I'm here to beg you—to let me out. Not to take over your body, but to become a part of you. Let me see this world with you, feel this world with you, and live in this world with you. I don't want to be locked in the darkness like before."

Lin Shen remained silent for a long time.

The white room was quiet, so quiet that you could hear two people's heartbeats—at the same frequency, in the same rhythm.

"If I let you out," Lin Shen finally spoke, "what will become of me?"

The person looked at him, a slight smile playing on their lips. It wasn't mockery, nor was it eeriness; it was a warm, sincere smile, like sunshine.

"You will become the whole you," he said. "Not the perfect you, not the flawless you, not the you that everyone likes. You will become someone with fear, anger, desire, but also courage, gentleness, and love. You will become a real, living person who makes mistakes and corrects them, who gets hurt and heals."

Lin Shen reached out his hand.

That person also reached out their hand.

Two hands clasped together in the white air. The palms were the same temperature, the fingers the same length, the lines on their palms identical. They were the same person.

The walls of the room began to crack. Not collapse, but open up—like a flower blooming, like wings unfolding. Light shone through the cracks—not white light, but rainbow light, like sunlight refracted through a prism.

Light poured in, engulfing the white floor, the white ceiling, and the white walls. The room vanished, the chair vanished, the door vanished. Only two people remained, standing in the light, holding each other's hands.

"From now on," the man said, "I am no longer your shadow. I am your shadow. Wherever you go, I will follow. When you stand in the light, I will lie at your feet. Turn around and you will see me."

Lin Shen looked into his eyes. Those eyes were exactly the same as his, but what they contained was different—his eyes held weariness, alertness, and the tension of being ready for battle at any moment. But what was in those eyes was calmness, relief, and the sense of relief of finally being seen.

"What's your name?" Lin Shen asked.

The person laughed. "I have no name. I am you. Call me whatever you want, and I'll call you that."

Lin Shen thought for a moment.

"Lin Shen," he said. "Your name is Lin Shen. I am also Lin Shen. We are the same person."

That person—another Lin Shen—nodded.

"Okay. We are all Lin Shen."

The light grew brighter. So bright that Lin Shen had to close his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing by the window of room 1208. Sunlight streamed in from the window, warming his face. Shen Ruo sat on the bed, holding the mystery novel in her hand, looking at him.

"You're back," Shen Ruo said. "How long were you inside?"

Lin Shen looked down at his hands. The four crescent-shaped bloodstains on his palms were still there, but they no longer hurt. He touched his chest; the circular scar was still there, but it no longer throbbed. It was quiet, like someone who had finally fallen asleep.

"How long?" he asked.

"Three seconds," Shen Ruo said. "Close your eyes, then open them. Three seconds."

Lin Shen turned his head and looked at his reflection in the windowpane. In the reflection, the corners of his mouth were not upturned, his eyes were normal, and his expression was completely synchronized with his own.

But he knew that he was no longer alone in his reflection.

Behind him, there was a shadow. Not a reflection, not a mirror image, but a real self, sharing the same body with him. That self would not replace him, would not harm him, would not betray him. That self would be with him, standing behind him whenever he needed it.

Lin Shen looked at his reflection in the windowpane and whispered something that only he could hear:

"Thank you for waiting for me."

In his reflection, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. It wasn't an eerie smile, but a warm, sincere smile, like sunshine.

Then he turned around and walked towards the door.

"Captain, where are you going?" Xiao Chen asked.

"Let's go home." Lin Shen opened the door. "Yuandian Su Wan is still waiting for me."

He walked out of room 1208, down the corridor, past the nurses' station, and into the elevator. As the elevator doors closed, he saw his face reflected in the metal wall of the elevator.

On that face was a very small, almost invisible smile.

It wasn't his smile.

It was the smile of the "self" inside him.

But this time, he wasn't afraid. Because that smile wasn't a threat, not a mockery, not anything he needed to be wary of. That smile was just a very soft sigh—

"I'm here."