What does it feel like to die?

No one knows—because those who know are already dead.

So this question becomes an eternal paradox. To grasp death’s instant, you must die—but the dead can never return to tell of it.

And little Bai Susu felt death for the first and last time in her life.

First, darkness swallowed her sight. Then came endless void and silence, as if her body vanished. Her soul, freed from its cage, roamed the boundless dark.

All dissolved into quiet nothingness.

Her thoughts expanded infinitely. Fatigue and weakness faded, leaving a strange illusion of omnipotence.

Yet if she could, she’d refuse this power.

Past memories surfaced like silt in shallow seas, etched with mysteries, burying years of hardship.

She sank into recall, remembering the exact moment “Bai Susu” ceased to exist.

Her parents died in a car crash. Only she and her brother Bai Su remained, clinging to each other.

Bai Su, shattered by grief, locked himself away, refusing reality.

She had to step up, bearing the weight on her thin, young shoulders.

Like piling reckless weights on a scale—exhaustion, illness, and unbearable burdens crushed her.

She died.

But her obsession chained her soul, refusing to let go.

Bai Su, her brother, that sunny-smiled boy—she held forbidden feelings for him.

Death’s shadow shattered it all into fleeting bubbles.

Before death, emotions were hollow and fragile, popping at a touch.

Still, she couldn’t accept it.

That near-religious obsession locked her spirit in her corpse, defying the afterlife.

She longed to use this faint strength to defy the world, to stay beside her brother.

She sensed everything. She saw Bai Su clutching her hand, shouting her name, his face as if he’d lost the universe.

But her body wouldn’t obey. She couldn’t answer him.

“God, if You exist… grant my small wish. Let me live to stay with my brother, to spend my life with him.” She prayed in the dark.

Then… a miracle bloomed.

Light ripped the darkness apart. A white-haired deity emerged from the void. Flowing silver hair framed a featureless face. A halo of human reason glowed behind it. It reached out: “Human, what do you desire?”

An illusion? A mirage?

She bit her lip. Her gaze hardened.

Illusion? Mirage?

It didn’t matter. Grant her wish—anything would do.

She bowed respectfully: “I wish to live. To stay with my brother, peacefully, for this lifetime. That’s all.”

She looked up, staring at the blank face—yet hope and light seemed to radiate from it.

The deity paused briefly. “Impossible.”

“Why?!” Her eyes widened. “Aren’t You a god? Can’t You grant my tiny wish?”

“…” The deity ignored her rudeness. After silence: “Your rebirth defies this world’s fate—a matter of global destiny. I cannot comply.”

“How? How can insignificant beings like us alter the world’s fate?”

“Fate is fixed. Unchangeable.” The deity’s voice softened. “But I offer another path.”

“What?”

“Fusion.”

“Fu…sion?”

The deity waved. A shimmering orb materialized from nothing, hovering before Bai Susu.

“This…” she whispered.

“It holds your brother’s memories and persona from a parallel universe. Your only choice: fuse with this future self’s essence. Create a shared identity.”

“Only this new self can deceive the world. Fulfill your wish without altering fate’s course.”

She fell silent.

Fusion… with the future Bai Su?

She hesitated.

Less than two minutes passed.

“I accept fusion. But… will I truly spend a lifetime with my brother?”

“Yes. Though your feelings will shift slightly.”

“Then I agree.”

Anything—just to stay beside him as he grew.

That was enough.

The orb burst open from within, blooming like a night-blooming cereus. Petals of light wrapped around her.

At its heart, she pictured Bai Su’s face.

*I’m back, brother.*

[To be continued]