Looking around, the movie theater was now shrouded in darkness, with a scent of lemon slices mixed with disinfectant permeating the air.

The audience seats were almost empty, with only Ji Minghuan and the Prophet sitting there. The faint light from the screen illuminated their faces.

The two sat in the middle of the second row. They looked quite similar, and their postures were almost identical, except Ji Minghuan had a bucket of popcorn and a cup of cola in his hand. The cola had ice, as if it was a token of comfort the Prophet brought him.

Ji Minghuan raised the popcorn bucket and the plastic cup in his hand, glanced at them silently, and then turned his head.

He leaned against the armrest, gazing silently at the Prophet.

The Prophet did not turn his head; instead, he quietly watched the screen. His expression was morose, unfocused, like a silent, solitary lake.

Ji Minghuan remained silent for a long time, withdrew his gaze, gently shook the plastic cup to confirm there was water inside, then sipped the cola from the rim. He then lifted his head and silently gazed at the massive movie screen.

At this moment, the screen displayed a corner of Old Jingmai, with a map of Old Jingmai Street drawn on the roadside sign.

In a corner of the street, the Father of Puppets stood shoulder to shoulder in the inferno with the youth in a restraint suit known as the "Star Caller." The former was clad in an oversized black trench coat, his face wrapped in layers of bandages.

The youth in the restraint suit bowed his head, his pupils filled with a terrifying light.

He suddenly raised his hand, and in that instant, a bright and dazzling pillar of light shot up into the sky, passing over the power poles, billboards, and rooftops of the Old Jingmai District.

Finally reaching the pinnacle of the sky, it shattered into countless meteoric light beams and crashed down.

One of those beams happened to fall toward a three-story residential building. That was the home of Gu Qiye’s family. The movie frame suddenly paused at this moment, freezing the instant when the meteor struck the building’s eaves, and the roaring of the meteor tearing through the sky abruptly stopped. The large theater was once again enveloped in silence.

Ji Minghuan remained silent.

The Prophet also said nothing.

The light diffusing from the top of the huge screen illuminated the faces of Ji Minghuan and the Prophet in the darkness, their dark pupils reflecting the same image.

"First of all, is this the scene you prophesied?" After a moment of silence, Ji Minghuan spoke.

"If I remember correctly... I already denied it, but you can think of it that way," the Prophet said slowly, "Essentially, there’s not much difference."

Ji Minghuan placed the cola into the armrest’s groove, lowered his head, and looked at the popcorn in the bucket.

Casually, he asked, "So, in the scene you prophesied, was Kong Youling and I adopted by Gu Zhuo Case and Su Ying?"

"Yes, Su Ying adopted you both."

"Then, the destruction event of Old Jingmai District was postponed for a whole six years, occurring in 2021?"

"Yes, that’s one year from our current timeline," the Prophet said softly.

"In the prophecy of the Old Jingmai District event, the person who died from this family was not Su Ying, but someone else?" Ji Minghuan asked indifferently.

"That’s right... Someone else died." The Prophet was silent for a moment before he responded softly.

Ji Minghuan lowered his head, picked a piece of popcorn from the bucket, and put it in his mouth.

"Who was the one who died?" he asked.

"Don’t you understand yet?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Why the planet was destroyed... and why it was destroyed under your restraint belt," the Prophet clasped his hands together and said slowly, "With your ability, you should be able to figure out this possibility. There’s no need to avoid it. No matter what kind of thing, only by facing it can you accept it and change it."

Ji Minghuan scratched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and placed the popcorn bucket in the other armrest groove.

Then, he rested his chin on his hand and slowly turned his head. "Just say it, there’s no need to beat around the bush," he stared at the Prophet, speaking almost word for word.

The Prophet interlaced his fingers, placing them together in front of his abdomen.

"The name in your mind is the answer," he said in a low voice.

"Kong Youling."

Hearing that name, the Prophet fell silent for a moment, offering no response but merely raising his eyes to watch the movie screen. At this moment, the movie began to play. However, the scene suddenly shifted, switching to the interior of that three-story residential building.

At the same time, the Prophet spoke:

"On that day, it wasn’t ’Gu Wenyu’ and Gu Zhuo Case who went shopping at the supermarket, because in this timeline, Gu Wenyu was never born, a person who doesn’t exist at all," the Prophet said. "That evening, Su Ying and Gu Zhuo Case just happened to go buy groceries at the supermarket, leaving their four children at home instead... that is, you, Kong Youling, Gu Qiye, and Su Zimai."

As Ji Minghuan listened to the Prophet’s whispers, he silently looked up at the movie screen.

If, as the Prophet said, the time on the screen was indeed 2021, one year ahead of the current timeline, then Ji Minghuan would be 13, Kong Youling 12, Su Zimai 17, and Gu Qiye 20.

The film focused on the living room on the first floor of the three-story residential building, showing Gu Qiye sitting on the right side of the sofa in a beige casual shirt, pondering over a calculus book with the end of a ballpoint pen against her chin;

while Ji Minghuan and Su Zimai were squeezed together on the left side of the sofa, both looking displeased.