novelraw Chapter 39 The Goal
Chapter 39 The Goal
“Qin Feng, you really hid it well.”
Once this blind spot was broken through, the time–space logic instantly became clear.
Qin Feng’s objective was obvious.
[To save his biological father.]
Since Qin Feng’s time-traveling text message had indeed been sent ten years into the past;
then ten-year-old Qin Feng, knowing in advance of his father’s death, would inevitably do everything he could to prevent it—avoid that accident and save his father’s life.
From that moment on,
the worldline shifted, and the course of history changed.
Saving an adult who had been dead for ten years produced an enormous temporal butterfly effect. Like a tornado, it tore through the ten years of intervening history, flattening everything in its path.
Many things changed. Many people’s destinies changed with it.From Jiang Ran’s perspective, the most direct changes were these three:
1. Qin Feng’s growth trajectory changed. He never came to study at Hang City No. 1 High School, never became Jiang Ran’s close friend, and his current whereabouts were unknown.
2. Cheng Mengxue, who should have grown up healthy, died in a car accident on June 8, 2023. Her life was forever frozen at eighteen.
3. Jiang Ran’s own life underwent a drastic transformation. Though the details were still unclear, he somehow ended up dating a girl like Nan Xiuxiu and mingling in circles like this… He felt that “earth-shattering” was the only way to describe it.
“Heh.”
He let out a laugh without knowing why.
“I miss my father very much, and I also cherish you all. To me, the two sides of the scale are the same.”
Those were Qin Feng’s words.
Jiang Ran didn’t think Qin Feng had been lying.
If Qin Feng had truly wanted to betray them and secretly send a time-traveling text without Jiang Ran or Cheng Mengxue knowing, there were clearly much simpler ways to do it.
The Positron Cannon was sitting right there in the activity room—he could have used it in secret at any time.
This was exactly what Jiang Ran found hardest to understand.
“Since Qin Feng had plenty of chances to send the message behind our backs, why did he insist on staging that whole act in front of us?”
In his mind, he recalled Qin Feng’s final look.
“Sorry, Jiang Ran.”
It had been a look filled with guilt, yet hiding a trace of expectation.
“Forgive me.”
Could it be—
that Qin Feng had been hoping that Jiang Ran, who retained memories of the original worldline, would find him again, forgive him, and let the three of them become friends once more?
Yeah.
That was very possible.
Because when the first message transmission was interrupted, Qin Feng had discussed this exact topic with him.
Back then, Qin Feng had asked:
“If the worldline changes and I end up separated from you—becoming a stranger to you on the new worldline… in that new worldline, would you come find me again?”
At the time, Jiang Ran hadn’t thought much about it at all. He’d answered straight from the heart:
“I would. Definitely.”
“No matter how the worldline changes, I won’t abandon any of you.”
“No matter how the temporal butterfly effect twists our relationship, I’ll definitely find both of you again, make things right, and return us to how we are now.”
……
So.
Was that the reason Qin Feng waited until the very end to carry out his plan?
He wanted a promise.
He wanted a promise that Jiang Ran would still come looking for him.
“You’re too cunning.”
Jiang Ran muttered to himself.
He understood Qin Feng’s feelings about wanting to save his father, but he absolutely did not agree with Qin Feng’s actions.
“Xiaoxue is dead…”
That was something Jiang Ran could never forgive, never accept.
He wanted nothing more than to find Qin Feng immediately and settle it with fists and feet.
But now—
with Cheng Mengxue’s death laid bare before him, he no longer had the luxury of judging right and wrong.
History had to be corrected.
Cheng Mengxue had to be saved.
The worldline had to be reversed.
Right now, there was only one thing in his mind:
[Find the Positron Cannon again, send another time-traveling text, and save Cheng Mengxue!]
That was exactly why he had immediately taken a taxi to Donghai University.
He had to confirm whether the Positron Cannon was still at Donghai University—whether it was still in the Film Camera Club room.
As long as he could find the Positron Cannon, he could save Cheng Mengxue.
That wouldn’t be difficult.
He had used a time-traveling text to save Xu Yan. Qin Feng had used one to save his father… Time-traveling texts were omnipotent. As long as he could retrieve the Positron Cannon, he could make up for everything that had been lost!
Screech—
The taxi came to a stop.
The driver turned around.
“Kid, West Gate of Donghai University. We’re here.”
Jiang Ran paid and got out.
The West Gate was Donghai University’s abandoned old entrance. It had been out of use for years, the gates shut tight, never opened.
There was a reason he’d come here instead of the main entrance.
It was already one in the morning. The main gate would be locked, and even if he could get in, he’d be interrogated by security and eventually have the counselor notified… Better not to go that route at all.
The West Gate, on the other hand, had been abandoned for ages. A section of the fence was rusted and corroded, and—“coincidentally”—there was a gap just big enough for someone to crawl through. This was the tried-and-true method passed down by countless heroic upperclassmen.
Of course, this “coincidence” was definitely man-made. Heroes ask not of their origins, and their deeds are hidden without credit.
Jiang Ran had studied at Donghai University for two years already. He was an old hand by now, easily finding the broken section of fence and slipping through.
The campus at midnight was utterly silent. Walking briskly along the tree-lined path, the only sounds were frogs croaking by the lake and the scattered chirps of cicadas.
This was his first time strolling through Donghai University late at night. Amid the tension, there was an overwhelming sense of loneliness.
Thinking about these past two years—
When had he ever acted alone?
At his side, it had always been Qin Feng or Cheng Mengxue. Not once had he felt lonely.
But now—
Especially when he thought about how, on this worldline, Qin Feng had never become his friend and Cheng Mengxue had died during the college entrance exam.
How had he even lived through these two years?
Had he really gone to Donghai University alone like this? Alone between cafeteria, classroom, and dormitory? Alone through sunrise and sunset, spring, summer, autumn, and winter?
That sudden sense of empathy made Jiang Ran recall something Qin Feng had once said:
“After the worldline changes, the three of us—who were so close—instantly become strangers. All emotions and experiences vanish, and we each live our own lives… No one will remember the iron triangle we are right now.”
“Jiang Ran, don’t you think that feeling is cruel?”
Yeah.
Of course it’s cruel.
So—
Jiang Ran clenched his fist.
He had to find the Positron Cannon and correct all of this!
……
Before long, he slipped into the student activity building.
The Film Camera Club’s spare key was always kept under the potted plant on the corridor windowsill. Jiang Ran lifted the pot, and sure enough, there was a small silver key.
“Lucky.”
It seemed the Film Camera Club’s traditions hadn’t changed.
Key in hand, he walked up to the familiar wooden door. He inserted it and twisted. With a click, the lock gave way, and the door loosened, opening a narrow crack.
For no reason at all, it felt as though the gears of fate had begun to turn—linking the inside and outside of the room, two spaces, two times.
Years, time, history, causality, past and future tangled together.
Distant streetlights filtered through gaps in the leaves and cast flickering shadows on the door, swaying as if hundreds of eyes were opening and blinking.
All the answers were behind this door.
Staring straight at the traveler who had crossed worldlines, whispering softly—
Jiang Ran took a deep breath.
And pushed it open with all his strength.