Inside Zixin's bedroom in the cabin, he sat at the edge of his bed, silently reading through the novel with his focused gaze.
After a while, he lifted his gaze from the book's pages and thought to himself: It has been a while since I last read a novel. What was it again? Hmm, I can't quite remember the name. Was it called Autumn Frost? Either way, it was written by Jinhua under the pen name–Flora.
Zixin smiled lightly, closing the book and following his train of thought: If I recall correctly, the novel's protagonist, a young girl called Min Yue, sought after world peace, but life never takes any sides. Countless perils came, becoming obstacles that she must overcome.
"Currently, it should be at its tenth volume now," Zixin muttered, estimating the time of release to now.
He shook his head and pondered: In any case, the greatest mystery remains to be Jinhua's impeccable time management skills. It would otherwise be impossible for her to have written an entire novel despite having the workload befitting of Myriad Golden Flower Academy's Headmaster.
He rubbed his chin before continuing to read Spring and Moon for the rest of the night. He had time to spare, especially since it was only two books. He had estimated that it would take around four and a half hours to completely read everything.
The moonlight that penetrated through his windows slowly vanished as the moon drew closer to the west. With every passing second, Zixin's eyes grew heavier, his exhaustion gently overtaking him.
He let out a sigh of relief, closing the book shut and placing it on a table. He lay down on his bed, staring straight at the wooden ceiling as he thought: How strange indeed, nearly every character portrayed held some sort of grudge. For some, it became their driving force, their motivation to live, whilst for others, it was a curse, a burden they bear and accept.
Zixin rubbed his chin, thinking to himself: Unlike these characters who felt grudges due to life's realistic circumstances, I felt a grudge due to Snowdrop, and now, a deep hatred brewed within me. If I lacked self-control, I would have already caused great chaos by now, after all, out of the three that I used Snowdrop on, two held grudges. The first was Elmer, who held one to me because of my upbringing and what he believed to be laziness, and to Cael, who betrayed him. As for the second case, it was the Wolf Lord who hated humans, but even so, it still managed to understand humans enough not to lose itself.
Zixin opened his eyes, muttering under his breath, "If it weren't for these, I wouldn't even have known what hatred feels like. In Cael's case, even though he betrayed me, I was simply more curious as to why he would betray me."
Zixin sighed, getting up and placing a bookmark on the book after forgetting it. Zixin quickly sat up, closing his eyes and concentrating.
Inside his mind, he controlled his thoughts, creating a whirlpool. With a wave of his hand, he successfully split the whirlpool in half as a pulling force dragged one of the whirlpools inside the White Palace.
Zixin sighed, commenting inwardly: Although I've managed to gain a greater understanding and control over my mind, making it easier to enter the Hex Zone, it's still quite annoying to constantly create a whirlpool inside my mind.
Inside the White Palace, Zixin waved his hand, letting all his thoughts arise. Countless spherical-shaped lights rose from within the white void. Each glowed with different colored lights, and those of similar properties gathered as one, creating a seamless transition between the colors. But this did mean that all these thoughts were grouped; some travelled alone, wandering in solitude. This was what Zixin called the Sea of Consciousness, where his thoughts gathered inside the White Palace.
Although the sight was beautiful, it was extremely tiring. It was because in his current state inside the White Palace, he was but a mere will, which consisted of half his mind after splitting it off. Due to this, whenever he tries to enter the Sea of Consciousness, his "body" would be scattered into the vast space. The only way he could observe the situation was through the use of a thought, but that would prove futile because thoughts fade rather quickly, and thus came his answer.
In order to observe the Sea of Consciousness, he needs to harness the power of multiple thoughts and use them as his eyes and ears. It was an extremely exhausting endeavor that required great focus.
But the exhaustion would soon slowly overpower him as his body reacted. He shut his lips tight as his body tried to puke, but he held on. After what seemed like eternity, Zixin gulped, furrowing his brows the moment he tasted the acidic aftertaste.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Zixin continued to observe, in search of a golden string, the same one that he once saw. But no matter how much he searched, no clues or traces were found.
He sighed, attempting to synchronize his mind. He willed his thoughts, and countless spheres of light moved like a wave, gathering together and forming an even larger sphere.
Due to his having split his mind, he could only access half of his mind within the confines of the White Palace.
Suddenly, a golden string manifested itself around the sphere of thoughts. Zixin willed his mind, pulling the golden string.
Outside of the White Palace, inside his bedroom, Zixin opened his eyes upon noticing a strange, itchy feeling. He took his clothes off and saw a golden thread drooping down from his chest.
He reached his hand out, carefully pulling it out, trying not to use too much or too little force. Slowly but surely, the thread became longer and longer, reaching the length of roughly fifty centimeters. But after one last pull, he felt a sudden resistance coming from the other end of the string–he had reached the end.
He sighed, retracting his hand and putting back his clothes. But as he did, the string was suddenly pulled out, and it began wrapping around his entire body.
And at that moment, his body and mind froze. Countless thoughts erupted inside his mind, as he felt the same sensation for another time–he felt every thought. Some were warm like a newly baked bread, whilst others were cold like a tundra.
His body trembled, his lips quivering in shock. Emotions of all kinds were whirling through his mind all at once. His anger burned like the scorching sun, only to be met with the freezing intensity of his own indifference. His tongue now tasted all sorts of flavors all at once; sweet and sour paired well, but the addition of an unparalleled sweetness created an everlasting, disgusting flavor.
His eyes were flooded with the images stored inside his memories. From his own, to those which he gained upon the use of Snowdrop. His ears were ringing; the sounds of shouting, whispers, promises, and everything else caused his mind to begin breaking apart. And before he knew it, he had already fallen unconscious.
…
Several hours later, he woke up and sat back up, rubbing his eyes in confusion. He soon recalled last night's endeavors and thought to himself: That was quite an experience. How many times have I experienced something like this? Does this make it the third time? In any case, it's indeed a relearning experience.
Zixin shifted his gaze out the window, noticing a flower and its dew. The flower drooped down, the dew causing weight to be shifted as it fell.