The shrine fell silent in the morning light, with only the cherry blossoms gently falling like snowflakes. Song Wanqing knelt on the ground, her fingertips tightly grasping the yellowed photo as if she were about to rub it into her flesh and blood. The face in the photo, which was exactly the same as Lu Jinnian's, was like a key that suddenly pried open the long-sealed door deep in the star core.
"This is impossible..." She murmured, her voice so soft that it was almost carried away by the wind, "Your father..." How could it be..."
Lu Jinnian was also stunned. He took the photo, his fingertips trembling slightly. He had never seen his father's appearance. All the images related to his father in the family album were burned. Only his grandfather left behind a sentence before his death: "He died in the Star Core Chaos. Don't ask again."
But the photo before my eyes clearly shows - he is alive. He has loved. He was forgotten. **
Just then, the sketchbook in Song Wanqing's arms suddenly trembled violently. The torn page that had been swallowed by the ink vortex began to repair itself - the charcoal lines seemed to reverse their growth, and the erased Outlines reappeared: it was the cherry blossom path under the clock tower, with two blurry figures standing by the path, one tall and one short, as if saying goodbye.
In the corner of the picture, a line of small characters slowly emerged:
"The Memory Corridor begins with the fragmented chapter drawn by stars." " **
This is... The mechanism left by my mother." Song Wanqing suddenly raised her head. "She foresaw that the star core would devour memories, so she sealed the deleted fragments with drawing paper!" "
Lu Jinnian stared at the painting and said, "To enter memory, a medium is needed - the star core won't allow us to easily peek into the past." "
Song Wanqing suddenly smiled, with tears in her eyes: "It forgot that the star painters never rely on star cores." We record the world with our own eyes. * *"
She held the sketchbook high and gently tapped the cover with her fingertips - the charcoal brush brushed across the paper, making a rustling sound. At that moment, the entire album suddenly lit up. All the pages were turned simultaneously, and each page presented a different picture: the bell tower, the shrine, the music box, the star chart... All of them were the Starry River City drawn by her own hands.
And these scenes are forming a long corridor of light.
This is... "Memory Corridor." Lu Jinnian whispered, "The star core is used to seal the void realm of memories that have been devoured." "
"No." Song Wanqing took her first step on the light corridor. "It was my mother who left me the path with her paintbrush." * *"
The light corridor extended into the void, and the two walked side by side.
The scene around changed suddenly.
They stood on a long path paved with cherry blossoms. The sky was a purple-golden dusk, and the stars hung low, as if within reach. In the distance, the young Lin Wan was standing side by side with a man. The man was holding a violin in his hand, with stardust inlaid on its body. It was precisely the missing "Star Rhythm Violin" of Lu Jinnian.
"That's my father..." Lu Jinnian's voice choked up.
Lin Wan turned her head to look at them, her lips slightly upturned as if she had already known they would come. She raised her hand, and with a light stroke of her fingertip in the air, a star trail emerged, exactly matching the star map in Song Wanqing's drawing book.
"Xiao Qing," her voice came from the void, gentle and distant, "Star cores devour memories, but love will remain in another form." Your father seals the cracks in the star core with the sound of the zither, while I record the truth with my paintbrush. We can't be together, but we have entrusted our fate to you.
The scene shifts.
Inside the clock tower, flames shot up into the sky. The fire that broke out a hundred years ago is spreading. Lin Wan stood in front of the star map disk, her brush burning with sparks. She placed the last stroke, completing the seal. And that man, Lu Jinnian's father, pressed the violin into the container of the star core. The sound of the violin transformed into a light cocoon, re-wrapping the star core.
"Sacrifice with sound and contract with life." " He smiled and looked at Lin Wan, "In the next life, it's my turn to look for you."
The star core closed, and the flames devoured everything.
And Lin Wan's brush, at the very last moment, sealed this memory onto a sheet of paper - precisely the first sheet of paper from the sketchbook in Song Wanqing's hand.
The illusion dissipated.
Song Wanqing knelt at the end of the light corridor, with tears streaming down her face. She finally understood why her mother always fell ill in April and why she said "I'm sorry" before she passed away. She wasn't apologizing; she was saying goodbye.
Lu Jinnian was silent for a long time. Suddenly, he took out the music box from his bosom. He opened the lid of the box completely and took out the silver foil sheet music hidden between the gears - it was the only relic left by his father.
So... He's not missing. He whispered, "He was voluntarily forgotten just to pacify the star core."
Song Wanqing held his hand and said, "But now, we know." Star painting and star guarding have never been prisoners of fate. We are the inheritors of memory.
She opened the sketchbook, gently tore off the broken page and placed it on the low table of the shrine.
"Mother, I've finished your painting for you."
"Father," Lu Jinnian also placed the sheet music on the table, "I've continued your music for you."
The wind is blowing.
Two sheets of paper gently touched each other in the wind. Star trails and notes interwove, transforming into a faint glow that slowly rose into the sky.
And the hands of the clock tower once again pointed to 3:17.
This time, the cherry blossoms didn't fall. **
The stars, however, began to whisper. **