Chapter 1 - The Man Who Forgot

Autumn arrived without asking.

It always did.

The city wore its usual mask.

Cars moved through crowded streets.

Office workers hurried across intersections.

Students buried themselves in phones and unfinished assignments.

Everything continued exactly as it should.

Yet for Mingyuan, autumn always felt wrong.

Like a memory standing just beyond reach.

Like a name he should remember but couldn't.

The twenty-three-year-old sat alone at the back of a nearly empty train.

Outside the window, golden leaves drifted through the evening air.

One leaf struck the glass.

Mingyuan's eyes followed it.

For a moment, his chest tightened.

A strange pain.

Sharp.

Brief.

Gone.

He placed a hand over his heart.

The feeling remained.

Not pain.

Longing.

As if something inside him was trying desperately to wake up.

"Not again..."

He sighed.

Every autumn the same thing happened.

Strange dreams.

Strange feelings.

Strange memories that weren't memories.

His friends called it stress.

His doctor called it anxiety.

Mingyuan called it exhaustion.

Because explaining the truth would make him sound insane.

How was he supposed to tell anyone that he dreamed of places that didn't exist?

Ancient palaces floating above clouds.

Black rivers beneath the earth.

Golden skies stretching endlessly toward distant mountains.

A woman standing beneath a crimson tree.

Always the same woman.

Always just out of reach.

Always disappearing before he could see her face.

The train slowed.

The next station approached.

Passengers entered.

Passengers left.

Life continued.

Until she stepped aboard.

Mingyuan froze.

The world seemed to pause.

A girl.

Simple white coat.

Dark hair.

Quiet eyes.

Nothing extraordinary.

Nothing unusual.

Yet the moment he saw her...

His heart stopped.

Not metaphorically.

Actually stopped.

One beat.

Two beats.

Three.

Gone.

Then returned all at once.

The girl looked around.

Every seat was occupied except the one directly across from him.

She sat down.

Silence.

Mingyuan stared out the window.

Pretending not to notice her.

Pretending his entire body wasn't trembling.

Pretending he wasn't feeling something he couldn't explain.

The girl pulled a book from her bag.

For several minutes neither spoke.

Then

"Have we met before?"

Mingyuan blinked.

The question caught him off guard.

She was looking at him now.

Curious.

Confused.

As though she felt it too.

"I don't think so."

The answer sounded wrong.

Even to him.

The girl frowned.

"Strange."

"What is?"

She looked down.

Embarrassed.

"I feel like I've known you for a very long time."

The train suddenly felt too small.

Too quiet.

Too real.

Mingyuan forced a laugh.

"That's impossible."

"Yeah."

She smiled weakly.

"Probably."

But neither believed it.

Outside, another leaf drifted past the window.

Black.

Not gold.

Black.

Mingyuan's breath caught.

Nobody else noticed it.

Only him.

The leaf struck the glass.

And shattered into darkness.

A violent headache exploded behind his eyes.

The train disappeared.

The city vanished.

For a single terrifying second

He stood somewhere else.

A throne.

Black skies.

Countless souls kneeling.

An endless river of the dead.

And himself...

Sitting upon a throne of bones.

A mark burned across his chest.

Two ancient characters.

枯叶

Ku Ye.

Withered Leaf.

A voice echoed through the darkness.

Ancient.

Familiar.

Heartbreaking.

"Mingyuan..."

The world returned.

The train.

The city.

Reality.

Gone was the throne.

Gone was the river.

Gone was the voice.

Mingyuan nearly fell from his seat.

The girl immediately grabbed his arm.

"Hey!"

Concern filled her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

For some reason...

Looking at her hurt.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

Something older.

As though his soul remembered a tragedy his mind could not.

He stared at her.

Speechless.

The girl slowly released his arm.

Neither looked away.

Neither understood why.

The train reached its final station.

Passengers began leaving.

The girl stood.

For a moment it seemed she wanted to say something.

Instead she simply smiled.

A sad smile.

A familiar smile.

One that somehow made his chest ache.

"Maybe we'll meet again."

Then she walked away.

Mingyuan remained frozen.

Watching.

Waiting.

Unable to explain why he suddenly felt terrified.

As though he had just lost something precious.

Again.

Outside the station.

The wind carried a single black leaf through the night.

And somewhere beyond the world of mortals...

Something ancient opened its eyes.

Autumn had begun.

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