The moment the green bird's tail feathers brushed Ache's wrist, a sudden peal of bells echoed from the village at the end of the wheat field. The sound wasn't like the clashing of metal, but rather like countless strings being plucked simultaneously, rippling the wheat fragrance in the air and causing even the golden ears of wheat to tremble. Ache looked up. At the edge of the village, shrouded in smoke, the stone bell tower glowed with a warm yellow light. The hands on the clock face had clearly stopped at 3 p.m., but as the bell rang, they had reversed three notches clockwise, leaving a trail of afterimages.

"Time is counting down," Mobius' voice rolled from the green bird's throat, the texture of rubbing wheat straw. "Nine hours until midnight." It suddenly flapped its wings and soared, the gears on its tail feathers scattering tiny specks of light in the sunlight. "Follow me. We must find the 'anchor point' of the cycle—the thing that can temporarily freeze time."

Ache clenched the gear feathers in his palm, the metal edge tingling his palm like a red-hot iron. She followed the green bird through the wheat fields, where golden waves reached her knees. With every step, she could hear the rustling of grains falling from the ears, as if someone were counting down in her ear. Nearing the village entrance, a little girl in a coarse cloth skirt squatted by the roadside, drawing strange symbols on the ground with a twig. The twisted lines were identical to the patterns on the mechanical bird's tail feather astrolabe, only cruder, like a beginner's copy.

"Don't touch her!" Mobius suddenly swooped down, knocking Ache away with his wings. The little girl jerked her head up, and Ache realized her eyes were a misty white, her pupils reflecting nothing, not even the blue of the sky. "Outsider?" The little girl's voice rang like a rusty door hinge. She pointed at the symbol on the ground, her dry, twig-like fingers scratching the sand with a creaking sound. "Are you looking for this?"

The symbol on the ground suddenly glowed red, like ignited gasoline. The metal button at the back of Che's neck instantly burned, burning down her spine, nearly doubling over in pain. The symbols slowly shifted in the red light, finally forming the shape of an hourglass. Sand was leaking down at a visible pace, leaving dark marks on the sand. "Every midnight, when the sand runs out, everything starts over again." The little girl grinned, revealing two sharp canine teeth like those of a small animal. "Except for the 'Chosen One,' no one can remember anything that happened yesterday—not even what they said."

The green bird suddenly erupted, its emerald feathers bristling like a bursting dandelion. "She's the daughter of the 'Clock Keeper!' The bearer of Eternal Township's memory!" Its voice was thick with unprecedented tension, and its wings flapped faster. "Hurry! If the Clock Keeper finds you, you're doomed—they'll pin you to the gears of the clock tower, trapping you in a cycle, following the hands around and around!"

Before Che could retreat, hurried footsteps echoed from the village entrance. Three figures in black cloaks approached, scythes in hand. Silver hourglasses embroidered on the hems of their capes, their steps were as measured as a set routine, their footsteps rustling in unison on the sand. The little girl suddenly stood up, her misty white eyes turning to Che. Her voice was whispered, as if afraid of being overheard by the wind: "There's a well beneath the bell tower, and in that well there's 'water that never resets'—but don't trust reflections." As soon as she finished her words, she vanished like a shadow whose signal had been interrupted. The symbols on the ground faded, leaving only a faint mark that was blown away by the wind.

"Run!" Mobius grabbed the corner of Che's clothes and flew deep into the wheat field, his silver chain tail feathers leaving afterimages before her eyes. The scythes slicing through the air followed behind her, the swishing sound of a venomous snake spitting its tongue. Che turned back and saw the cloaked figure in front of him lift his hood. His face was featureless, a dark outline, like a hollowed-out pumpkin, seeping with a pale gray mist. As they hid at the base of the windmill in the middle of the wheat field, the cloaked figure's footsteps brushed the stone wall. Ah Che panted against the cold stone wall, hearing Mobius's wings gently tap the back of her hand. "The Clock Keepers are the administrators of Eternal City. They know the secrets of every cycle, yet they never interfere, like watching a play—unless an outsider wants to destroy the stage." It suddenly pecked Ah Che's palm with its beak. "The well the girl just described is real. I can sense a steady temporal fluctuation there. It matches the frequency of the metal button at the back of your neck perfectly, like a key and a keyhole."

Ah Che opened her palm. The words "See you tomorrow" glowed on the gear feathers, the warm yellow light making the lines on her palm resemble rivers on a map. "If we find that well, can we leave here?"

"Or stay here forever." Mobius's feathers suddenly darkened, their emerald green turning deep green. "The essence of the time loop is a 'paradox prison.' Someone has trapped something with the energy of an entire dimension. Our arrival may have cracked the prison's bars." It suddenly pressed its ear against the stone wall, its wings trembling slightly. "Listen, the gears in the clock tower are speeding up."

An eerie "clicking" sound rolled in from the direction of the village, like countless clocks being wound up simultaneously. Ah Che peered through the gaps between the windmill blades and held his breath in shock—the village smoke suddenly solidified in mid-air, like frozen milk; the villagers in coarse shirts remained motionless in their gait, with dead leaves at their feet dangling a centimeter from the ground. Only the clock tower was changing frantically, its stone walls peeling away at a visible speed, revealing a gleaming metal skeleton within, beating like some giant mechanical heart. "They've discovered us!" Mobius's voice trembled, the gears on his tail feathers clicking. "The clock keeper triggered the reset prematurely! The normal cycle shouldn't be this fast!"

Ache suddenly remembered the little girl's last words and turned to run towards the village. Mobius shouted anxiously above her, "What are you doing? Rushing in now is suicide!" "Go find that well!" Ache's voice was wind-blasted, yet it carried an unprecedented resolve. "You said my consciousness is an anchor. Perhaps the well water can remind me of something—even if it's just the color of the hospital corridor!"

As she rushed into the village, time shattered like glass. Spiderweb-like cracks began to appear on the frozen faces of the villagers, seeping through them with a flowing silver light. Leaves suspended in mid-air suddenly crumbled to dust and drifted into mist. Only the stone well behind the clock tower remained functioning normally, its water shimmering with a faint blue light, like fragments of the Sea of Oblivion being stored in a clay jar. "Catch her!" The cloaked figure's voice echoed from all directions. Countless featureless faces bulged from the wall like melting wax figures. Gray mist flowed from their dark eye sockets, hissing and emitting smoke as it fell to the ground. Ah Che rushed to the well, and just as his fingertips were about to touch the water, he suddenly realized that the reflection wasn't his own face—it was a woman in a white coat, holding a syringe. The white walls of the hospital were in the background, and the corners of the woman's mouth shone with the same brassy sheen as the mechanical bird, as if covered with metal plates.

The metal button at the back of his neck suddenly exploded with pain. Ah Che screamed and covered his neck. He saw the gear feathers on his palm melting, turning into a silver liquid that seeped into his skin along the lines of his palm, like countless fine needles piercing his flesh. Mobius rushed over to shield her with his body. The green bird's feathers quickly carbonized upon contact with the silver light, turning emerald green to charred black. "Go! This isn't well water, it's a memory trap! It's gnawing at your consciousness!"

But it was too late. The clock tower's hour hand clicked to midnight, and the entire Eternal Township began to flicker like a television screen. Ache, dazed and dazed, watched the final scene unfold. Mobius's green bird form was disintegrating, its feathers peeling like ash. Its silver tail feathers ripped free from its body and solidified into the outline of a mechanical bird. Its glass eyes reflected her lying in a hospital bed, an IV line inserted into her wrist, a monitor beeping nearby.

"Remember the color of the well water!" These were Mobius's last words before disappearing, piercing Ache's consciousness like an icicle.

When Ache opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a golden wheat field. The sun was warm as a blanket, the windmill turning slowly. The green bird tilted its head to look at her, its claws resting on a brand new gear feather, engraved with the words:

"See you today."

The chimes of a distant village echoed, and the hour hand stopped firmly at three in the afternoon. Ah Che touched the metal button at the back of her neck. It still burned, like a coal fresh from a fire. On the back of her left hand, an hourglass-shaped mark appeared. Silver-gray sand was leaking down at a visible rate, leaving a cool sensation on her skin.