The woman held me by the waist, carrying the scent of rouge... I knew this was not me; I was merely a time-worm within this memory.
"Am I not your confidante?"
"You are the one I am to marry."
Hearing this, the woman sighed and asked softly, "When did I become over forty, with fading beauty, and still have to marry?"
"In my eyes, you will always be the most beautiful."
"Such a smooth talker!"
The woman smiled, released her grip, and walked towards the inner room.
This was still the same opera house. My gaze followed her graceful figure. Perhaps due to the era, she wore a qipao, a dress that suited her slender, willow-like physique perfectly.
As she walked, I saw an old calendar. The date displayed was 1973.
...
I remembered it was 1978 just moments ago, yes, just moments ago... but in a blink, time reversed, and I found myself in 1973. No wonder the woman looked younger.
"If I had help, I would surely defeat that old fellow."
"Who can help you?"
"How about Zhu Guang? He is ambitious; he can be used."
The woman turned, revealing her charming face. Her lips were a tempting red, and though her cheeks showed little makeup, they possessed a mature beauty.
"Boss Zhu's son?"
"Yes, Zhu Guang has been learning from that old fellow for five years; he has some skills now."
"Still, it's best not to trust him?"
"Why?"
"This Zhu Guang looks sharp and clever, but he's foolishly clever. As the old saying goes, 'too clever is foolish.' He won't achieve great things."
...
Zhang Si sighed. Time was like colorful clouds, appearing when summoned and disappearing at will... I was looking ahead, yet due to a wave of dizziness, I found myself at Wende Courtyard.
I arrived at Wende Courtyard. Wende Courtyard was fresh and elegant, but for Zhang Si, it was a scenic prison. No matter how comfortable or charming it was, it was not the home Zhang Si desired.
When Old Mr. Wende woke up in the afternoon for tea, Zhang Si had to return from the opera house to prepare pastries and brew the jasmine tea Old Mr. Wende favored in the south gate room.
Just as Huang Youdao, the 'demon,' told me, after Zhang Si killed Tao Yue, he was confined by Old Mr. Wende. For the rest of his life, he could only live by Old Mr. Wende's side as a disciple and a servant.
Old Mr. Wende sipped his tea, then suddenly frowned and said to Zhang Si, "It's too chaotic. Make them quiet."
"Yes!"
"Fighting spirit is not about fighting bravely. An army only needs one strategist. If all soldiers want to be strategists, it will inevitably be a defeated army."
"I understand, Master."
"If you understand, then don't harm others. My patience is limited."
Zhang Si knelt on the ground, his attitude sincere. I could sense his feelings, but I didn't understand what 'too chaotic' meant.
...
After afternoon tea, Old Mr. Wende went for a walk in front of the city gate and asked Zhang Si to stay home and prepare lunch. Zhang Si went to the kitchen alone and said unhappily, "I told you to be quiet. Why did you disturb him? Don't think no one sees you; that old man is unfathomable."
I was stunned, not because Zhang Si was talking to himself, but because suddenly many people appeared in the study. They were of various forms and wore different clothing, but their faces were all Zhang Si's.
These were Zhang Si's personalities. I remembered Zhang Si had three personalities: a scholarly writer, a cook, and the Schemer who had devoured Zhu Guang's lustful personality.
I thought that Zhang Si was already formidable and peculiar, but what I was seeing now was the true Zhang Si. He had devoured many people, truly many.
These people were discussing, as if in a meeting, how to escape Old Mr. Wende's control. It was lively yet lonely. Though these two words seemed completely incompatible, I felt they had to be merged to reflect Zhu Guang's state of mind.
So this is what a person can be like. No wonder Zhang Si wrote that line, 'If there were one true friend in the world, one could have no regrets.'
...
I didn't see a calendar this time, but from the woman's skin, I could sense that the time reversal was continuing. This was the beginning of Zhang Si's devouring.
"Are you leaving?"
"Mm!"
Zhang Si turned to look at the woman. Her hair was disheveled, and she was holding the red velvet quilt, revealing a vintage red chemise. I stared at her face; a woman in her thirties, likely at the peak of her life.
"What does the writing mean?"
"If one person's strength is not enough to defeat that old fellow, then find more people."
"Unity is strength, unity is hard, harder than hard..."
Hearing the woman sing the popular song of the streets in a theatrical style, Zhang Si's conviction grew. A vow appeared in his heart, visible only to me: I must defeat that old fellow to marry this beautiful woman.
...
Zhang Si put on his Zhongshan suit and wore a forward-brimmed hat as he walked out. In my eyes, his world was unique, clearly divided into black and white, with the light of hope ahead and endless darkness behind.
In the sunlight, there was smoke from cooking fires everywhere, the warmth and cold of the world. In the darkness, one Zhang Si after another began to emerge: some fierce, some pitiful, some with resentment in their eyes, some crying. Each one emulated the difficult lives of others, and by stacking these tragedies, they formed Zhang Si's unique 'legion.'
More and more people appeared, all wanting to move forward, and I was pushed into the darkness.
Gradually, I could no longer see ahead. In my eyes, the front was darkness, and the back was also darkness. Boundless darkness, yet the space was not vast, as if an invisible cage confined me.
...
"Who are you?" someone asked me.
Since I had fallen into this vortex of time, it was the first time anyone had spoken to me. I looked at him, and he looked at me. I recognized him as Zhang Si, and he recognized me as a stranger.
"Zhang Si."
"You know my name?"
"Mm!"
"Why has it become like this?"
"Zhang Si killed Tao Yue, so he was imprisoned in the dungeon. Actually, Tao Yue wished to die, and Zhang Si didn't need to be the instrument. But he was foolish and ill-tempered, only capable of making such a stupid decision."
Zhang Si spoke to me thus.
I looked at this Zhang Si in puzzlement, wondering if he was an emergent personality.
This Zhang Si was intelligent. He saw through my thoughts and said with a smile, "I am not actually Zhang Si. When our parents conceived us, we were twins. But at that time, there wasn't enough food, and one body was malnourished and died in the womb. One survived with great difficulty. I felt pity for the brother who died, so I devoured his soul, and we share one body."
"Is that possible?"
"Probably. My brother was not a good person, but he is my brother after all. I intend to hide in his soul forever, quietly watching him grow up, grow old, and then we will reincarnate together as true brothers."
...
I looked at him in confusion. So Zhang Si had a twin brother who died in the womb, and the one who greedily devoured other personalities was not Zhang Si, but Zhang Si's elder brother.
"If you stay here forever, what about that woman?"
"What woman?"
"The woman from the opera house."
"I've never been to any opera house."
Just then, Old Mr. Wende's voice came from the darkness: "Go to the opera house and book a place for tomorrow. A good one, but not the best."
"Yes, Master."
In the darkness, a spotlight appeared, and I saw a subservient Zhang Si. This Zhang Si obeyed Old Mr. Wende's words without question.
"He is my brother, Zhang Si," said the Zhang Si in the darkness.
Time in this world seemed to behave differently. As I moved past this face to look at another identical face, the world had changed. A graceful woman appeared before us. She was the woman from the opera house, and she was truly beautiful now.
The Zhang Si in the darkness stared intently at her, and then the world turned black and white again.
On the side of the light, Zhang Si elegantly extended his hand: "Hello, I am Zhang Si."
The woman placed her slender fingers on Zhang Si's hand: "Xiao Li!"
"Your name?"
"Correct!"
"How beautiful it sounds!"
...
I was wondering how the scene had changed when a roar came from the darkness: "Let me out, let me out! That's my body, why are you using it!"