Leyenda del pueblo de Baima

Capítulo 12

"In most people's minds, time is time. Time seems to be indivisible in its breadth. For example, at this point in time, we are unified with the White House in the United States on the other side of the earth, or somewhere on Mars. Time is like a huge thing that covers the entire universe and moves slowly on its own."

I began to understand what Hu Xuecheng meant. The indivisibility he mentioned earlier was not a vertical division of time like "this year" or "last year," but rather a planar division of time as if it were a space.

"So you mean that's not actually the case?"

"At least not for the year. The year can split time in half and swallow it whole."

I frowned, trying hard to imagine what it would look like.

“For example, consider the time frame in this room from two hours ago until now. If you consider those two hours as a dish, you can swallow a year whole,” Liang Yingwu said.

"To devour this house, everything inside, including us?"

"Don't understand it from a spatial perspective, but from a temporal perspective."

My mind started racing: "What if it devours everything in this room, regardless of space or time? Will it just disappear?"

“If you take a bite out of a pancake, a piece of the pancake will be missing. Although that piece of the pancake doesn’t actually disappear, but goes into your stomach and is eventually excreted, the pancake is still missing a piece. But time cannot be missing a piece. When the Nian beast eats a piece of time, it will automatically make up for it.”

"If it replenishes automatically, what's the difference between that and not eating at all?"

"Of course there's a difference. Is there a difference between flatbread and feces?"

I stared blankly at Liang Yingwu: "You mean, the year eats up a piece of time, and then immediately arranges the same time, like playing a jigsaw puzzle?"

Liang Yingwu nodded: "However, the piece of time that is pieced back together will definitely be subtly different from the original piece."

"Different? You mean, if we take this room as the unit of space, and the year swallows the past two hours and then spits them out, oh, then excretes them, we might all be gone?"

Liang Yingwu shook his head: "That would be a difference in space, there wouldn't be such an obvious difference. Rather..." Liang Yingwu picked up the cup in front of him, took a sip of water, "When I poop it out again, I might not have drunk that sip of water."

"Then, are you still you, and am I still me?"

Liang Yingwu glanced at Hu Xuecheng, slowly shook his head, and said, "I don't know."

Hu Xuecheng said, “Actually, the division of time is not as simple as you imagine. It's not like you can just mechanically divide it up by a single house. I haven't fully figured it out either, but it's possible for this to happen. Centered on this house, everything within a 100-kilometer radius, going back 100 years—take a person as an example—will naturally leave this 100-kilometer radius and move around in other places during this 100-year period. Or, 62 years ago, I wasn't even born yet, but my parents weren't within this 100-kilometer radius either. But Nian can devour all of this. It can selectively devour only my parents and not my uncle. How far it involves depends on its capabilities and its appetite. Regarding your question, if Nian devoured my parents and then pulled out a piece of them, then it can be said with certainty that I would no longer be myself.”

"You mean your parents might not end up as husband and wife, so naturally they couldn't have you?"

Hu Xuecheng thought for a moment, then shook his head: "If there were such a Nian, it would have died long ago. Nian's biggest weakness isn't its fear of loud noises. Loud noises can only frighten it and force it back, but they can't cause it any real harm. However, if the piece of time swallowed by Nian is significantly different from the piece of time it excretes, and this difference is so obvious that intelligent life within or outside this piece of time can detect it, it will cause a disruption of time within Nian—a creature that exists within time, whose very life may be composed of time. Such a disruption is enough to be fatal. Therefore, Nian must find a way to make the piece of time it excretes almost indistinguishable from the original piece of time. Since Nian itself exists within time, it doesn't have a lifespan. The longer a Nian lives, the more skillful it is at repairing the excreted piece of time, because those with poor skills have long been eliminated by the backlash of time. And no matter how capable a Nian is, it can't be accurate enough—you know, the combination of sperm and egg is a one in billions chance of accidental occurrence."

"So, it turns out that people in ancient China had already discovered the existence of this creature. They scared it away with drums and gongs because if the Nian swallowed up their time, all their previous hard work would be meaningless. During the time the Nian created, they might have done nothing, or they might have worked even harder. In short, everything would be out of human control. In fact, humans would no longer be the same as before. Heavens, no matter how fierce the beasts, they can't compare to the Nian." Thinking about how I was almost eaten by the Nian three times, I broke out in a cold sweat again.

Liang Yingwu seemed to sense my unease: "Don't worry, if I'm not mistaken, this little one is already dead."

"Dead? Didn't they say that loud noises couldn't harm him?" I said to myself, then suddenly remembered the necessary conditions for a dog to die. Thinking of the three volumes of "Na Duo's Notebook," a chill ran through my body, and every hair on my body seemed to stand on end.

"You mean, those three notebooks were indeed written by Na Duo?"

Hu Xuecheng and Liang Yingwu exchanged a glance, their faces showing admiration: "I didn't expect that you could deduce the conclusion that Yingwu and I discussed for several hours so quickly."

Yes, those three notebooks were written by a reporter named Na Duo, and that reporter has already been devoured by Nian. As for me now, I was just pulled out by Nian, pulled out by Nian...

Seeing my face turn pale, Liang Yingwu also showed a strange expression: "Actually, you're probably not the only one who was pulled out."

I suddenly looked up at him.

“I, Teacher Hu, think there are many others as well.”

Hu Xuecheng nodded slightly.

"Since its discovery, the Nian has been highly valued by institutions because such a life form far exceeds our previous imagination of life. I have also devoted a lot of effort to learning more about the Nian, so that humanity can make further progress in our understanding of time, space and the world we live in. I believe that if we can have a slightly more detailed understanding of the Nian, we can make breakthrough progress in related fields. This is not a matter of winning the Nobel Prize in Physics, but will be the greatest discovery in the history of human physics."

I nodded in deep feeling. Compared to such a creature that moves freely through time and can change the world with a single breath, Omba seemed too ordinary.

"However, the closer I get to Nian and the more in-depth my research becomes, the more alarmed I become. Some evidence gives us reason to believe that many Nian existed in ancient times, and that many creatures that are now in mythology coexisted with Nian. Most of the creatures recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas once lived on this earth. But now, these creatures have completely disappeared without a trace, and have even vanished from the memories and records of most humans. This is very likely the work of Nian. I even suspect that Nian has an instinct to make the world tend towards negative entropy."

"Negative entropy?" This is a term I've vaguely heard of.

"Energy in the universe is irreversibly dissipated every moment; any isolated system will tend towards disorder as this energy dissipates. This is the second law of thermodynamics. Simply put, the world is becoming chaotic and disordered, which is called entropy increase. Entropy increase is absolute, but for certain localities, there is negative entropy, that is, a trend of becoming more and more regular. For example, biological evolution is from lower to higher levels, and human evolution is also from disorder to order. But this order and negative entropy cannot change the entropy increase of the entire universe, because if negative entropy is to be achieved, the entropy increase generated in this process will be several times greater than the negative entropy. However, I have found that the flow of time swallowed by the year often contains a large amount of entropy increase. The year seems to be constantly regularizing the world, swallowing up all disharmonious factors, and replacing them with one normal segment after another of the history of the development of life on Earth and the history of human development."

"You mean, Nian swallowed up all the monsters recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and their entire history?" I was dumbfounded. A serious scientist like Hu Xuecheng had actually made such a... such a conjecture, more like something Ye Tong would make.

"Yes, and it's not just the monsters recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. You know, every ethnic group has its own legends. I think the Nian wouldn't just focus on the strange phenomena of ancient China. Of course, such a great project couldn't have been completed by a single Nian. Moreover, such a huge change is hard to ignore. As human civilization progresses and human intelligence increases, the chances of the Nian being discovered also increase. As a result, many Nians died due to the backlash of time, and there probably aren't many Nians left in the world today."

"Moreover, this instinctive consumption of negative entropy makes us begin to doubt the second law of thermodynamics. Will this universe continue to increase entropy until the final heat death, or is there some force on the other side that we cannot see, capable of achieving absolute negative entropy, thus keeping this universe in a delicate balance?" Liang Yingwu added.

Hu Xuecheng did not object to this statement, indicating that this top Chinese physicist, like Liang Yingwu, had the desire to challenge the second law of thermodynamics.

"If this assumption holds true, Nian has an instinct to prioritize consuming unusual things, and the X Organization is an organization that frequently comes into contact with unusual events. Now that the X Organization is investigating Nian, this... inevitably makes us a little worried."

"Are you worried...worried that you'll be eaten?" I asked.

Liang Yingwu nodded: "Yes, just like before."

I shivered.

"Because of these concerns, the organization's senior management recently decided to abandon the investigation into Nian and cease all related research activities. You see, Nian, which has survived from ancient times to the present day, has the capacity to devour everything, and it could probably swallow the entire organization whole in one gulp."

I nodded in agreement. After several terrifying experiences, I deeply understand how dreadful the New Year can be; it's best to avoid it if possible.

"However, in my opinion, our considerations are too simplistic. Perhaps this is already the second time we've considered this."

"A second consideration?" I didn't understand what Hu Xuecheng meant.

"The first thing I considered was..."

Before Hu Xuecheng could finish speaking, I had already thought of something and blurted out, "It was a consideration before being swallowed by the years. Now that the years have created a new history, we, who live in this new history and new timeline, have made another consideration."

Hu Xuecheng nodded solemnly: "They... or rather, we ultimately couldn't avoid it after all."

I closed my eyes slightly, imagining how, in that timeline swallowed by the Nian beast, the X organization, Hu Xuecheng, Liang Yingwu, and a reporter named Na Duo who frequently encountered strange events, must have felt terrified and helpless in the face of its threat. Ultimately, they were devoured by the Nian beast, and that period of time and history associated with them vanished. In the newly emerged history, there are people with the same names—Na Duo, Liang Yingwu, and Hu Xuecheng—but they are no longer connected to them in any way.

"But when they finally realized they could no longer escape the threat posed by the year, they devised a method of revenge," Liang Yingwu said, emphasizing each word. As he spoke, its face darkened; was it thinking of that Liang Yingwu?

"The method of revenge, you mean those three notebooks?"

"Yes, the X organization, with the full strength of the organization, played a game of chess with Nian. Since Nian must have also threatened you back then, and you are such a curious person, based on the assumption that Nian, who has survived to this day, must know how to make the time flow they discharge as similar as possible to the time flow they absorb, they came up with a plan. I think I can roughly guess how they did it."

“A year cannot devour the entire human society, so in order to prevent others from noticing, the timeline that replaced me must also include Na Duo, Liang Yingwu, and Professor Hu Xuecheng. Their identities will not change much. The X Organization may undergo some changes, such as shrinking in size and handling fewer incredible events, but the organization cannot disappear, otherwise the impact would be too far-reaching.” I said, following Liang Yingwu’s train of thought.

“That’s right. People don’t disappear, but the things they encounter will be different. In particular, if the Nian will instinctively eliminate special events, then the Nian that Na Duo encountered at that time might not be encountered by the second Na Duo. As long as we find a way to make the second Na Duo discover the anomaly and thus discover Nian again, it will cause a disruption in the flow of time, thereby killing this Nian beast.”

That world, which seemed like another life, and the plans devised by Na Duo, Liang Yingwu, and Hu Xuecheng in my past life, gradually became clearer in my mind.

"Passing the information on to the reborn Na Duo is no easy task; it's practically impossible. But your journalist friend, Zhao Yue's investigation, has solved this mystery for us. It's a brilliant method. Through many people passing the information down, from stranger to stranger, as long as the chain is long enough to involve a vast social group that the Nian beast cannot devour, it will naturally escape the Nian beast's reach. And after some time, when these notebooks are returned to Na Duo, this Na Duo is no longer the same Na Duo. Zhao Yue's investigation broke down between Yao Shu and Shi Lei, which means that's the Nian beast's reach. The submission to 'Mengya' magazine must have been done using the same method, for double insurance."

"But if the three notebooks were sent out at the same time, why did I receive them at different times?" I asked.

"I think it might be that when the notes were passed from the old time to the new time, there was a jump in time at that moment of intersection, so that there was a sequence in time. In fact, you only received two of the three notes, and the other one is missing."

"But why not just write me a letter and tell me what happened, instead of going through this roundabout way?" I asked.

"If a mysterious letter told you that years exist in the world, and that it could devour and expel time, would you believe it?" Liang Yingwu asked rhetorically.

I thought about it and shook my head. If I received this letter, even if I were extremely curious, I would throw it away like trash. It's just too unbelievable.

Thinking about it this way, I can now understand why the Nian beast first appeared at the Sprout Magazine office. That was a crucial step in uncovering the truth, and the Nian beast knew this too, so it wanted to devour me directly to eliminate any future threat. And just now, it was its final counterattack, its last effort before death, which is why it roared with such unwillingness.

A creature that had lived for countless ages and moved freely through the torrent of time was thus wiped out by humankind.

On the night of the epilogue, I was supposed to meet with Wang Xiang to solve the Omba mystery. However, Liang Yingwu insisted that the X organization take over. I didn't have much to insist on, so I called Wang Xiang and asked Liang Yingwu to pick him up.

Any case files that entered the X Organization were normally kept confidential from outsiders unless there were special circumstances. However, since I was also one of the participants and had a very good relationship with Liang Yingwu, I later learned from him that the X Organization had set up a trap for the Omba protozoa. They placed solid Omba in a water tank, and when water was added, the Omba indeed automatically activated, turning into liquid and flowing directly into the East China Sea through the sewers. However, that sewer was a specially designed pipeline by the organization, with a valve installed about one kilometer away, which captured all the Omba alive.

Omba, never having had the chance to fully mature, resorted to cunning and treachery, but ultimately proved no match for humanity. In the end, the X Organization could not allow such a massive potential threat to grow and expand. As for the large styrene contamination in the East China Sea, let it be dealt with slowly.

However, a lingering doubt remained. The X organization's decision to activate the Omba on its own and then recapture it must be for some kind of research. Such research would undoubtedly be hostile to another species. What if one day, one of these countless billions of Omba manages to escape the lab and grows into a dominant marine predator? How will it vent its pent-up rage against humanity?

I told Ye Tong the whole story, fulfilling my promise. She herself had dealt with the X Organization during the "Bad Seed" incident, though she wasn't entirely satisfied with it at the time. Therefore, I had no concerns about confidentiality when discussing the X Organization with her. When Ye Tong heard about the part about Nian, her eyes widened, and she, who usually interrupted with questions, remained silent with her mouth slightly open throughout.

In fact, later, when reflecting on the whole incident with Ye Tong and Liang Yingwu, and thinking more deeply about the characteristics of Nian, various doubts and thoughts still surfaced. In our understanding, how Nian perfectly separated the flow of time from the overall time of the world, and then replaced it with a new flow of time without being noticed, is incredibly difficult. Because in our current society, where people are intricately connected, a change in one person has far-reaching consequences; a change in one person will ripple through everyone like waves. There simply isn't a way to perfectly separate them. Unless each facet has only minute changes, so minute that they are imperceptible to both sides, then even a small change at the edge can evolve to a significant difference at the center, and such a difference is extremely difficult to detect. But even so, how much intelligence and meticulous thought would Nian need to make every facet of time nearly perfect? Such an ability is far beyond the reach of even the most powerful supercomputers in the world today. Or perhaps, the method Nian used has completely surpassed our imagination; after all, this being living within time has a grasp of the essence of time that far exceeds the understanding of modern humans.

The question of how the time fragment replaced by Nian was created has been a topic of much discussion. If Nian possessed such a world-shaking creative ability, it's truly unimaginable. Recalling the alternate world experience in *Iron Bull's Return*, I proposed a hypothesis that Liang Yingwu and Ye Tong largely agreed with: Nian doesn't actually have the ability to create time; it merely selects a timeline from countless parallel worlds that is as similar as possible and splices it into our world. In other words, the people and things swallowed by Nian don't die or disappear, but instead continue living in another world.

Those three diary entries, which weren't written by me, I've now read countless times, they're firmly etched in my mind, as if I truly experienced them. Sometimes I compare the Nado who wrote those three entries with the Nado I am now, wondering what the differences are. In summary, aside from the first Nado being a year or two older than me and having worse handwriting, their personalities are almost identical—equally curious and equally adventurous. If it weren't for this, I probably wouldn't have been interested in investigating the mysteries of these Nado diary entries, and the mysterious Nian beast wouldn't have been exposed and ultimately suffered a backlash and died.

Are there still Nian beasts in this world? Although we've eliminated one, what if other Nian beasts notice me and the X Organization again, devouring us once more and plunging us into an unknown abyss? No one can predict. But one thing is certain: I will not give up my increasingly intriguing and irresistible pursuit of the truth of this world because of such a potential possibility.