Chapter 49 - I will find you (2/2)

At dawn, I leave the inn. I notice that there are a lot of foreigners. I stand in the queue to get on the elevator to the mountain top. Three days are not enough to climb this damned mountain on feet for someone like me.

I reach the mountain peak. I separate from the crowd and follow the path. Though things have certainly changed in the years, some parts manage to stay the same. Maybe, they look the same. After a few hours, my confidence begins to fade.

”Is it here, Sam?” I hide behind the tree when I hear the voice. ”We have been traveling for days.”

Who is here to explore the godforsaken part of this mountain like me? I see two men in khaki clothes walking toward me. They haven't seen me.

”It should be here, Javed.” Sam looks at the map and frowns. ”All the keepers dreamt about the flowers. Why are we chosen to harvest it?”

”Our luck is pretty bad.”

They don't look happy about it. It seems like harvesting that crystal won't be easy. My luck isn't good either. The vines. The man-eater plant. The poisonous moss. What else is there inside? Anyway, that plant is dying today.

”Did you hear that another anomaly is born?” Sam lights a cigarette. ”The higher-ups are going crazy. I don't know the details. That's why they asked us to harvest this time crystal as soon as possible.”

”Is it a time-traveler again?” Javed curses loudly. ”I guess the time-traveler hasn't returned to the past yet. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here.”

”I heard that two crossroads were taken care of. The last one... ” Sam sighs. ”It's a pain in the arse to redo everything each time the timeline is destroyed by a time-traveler. Why can't we just kill them when they are born?”

”They also have a role to play in time.” Javed takes a smoke. ”If we manage to harvest the time crystal flower before the timeline is destroyed, we will have one more time crystal flower to harvest in the new timeline.”

They haven't realized that a time-traveler is following them. I wonder how Kang Si An is different from these keepers. These two men look like ordinary people. The sky turns orange. We finally reach the place. The cave is blocked by a huge boulder. Sam sprinkles the white powder on the boulder. In the next 30 seconds, the boulder melts to nothing. They talk about how they are going to invest better when the timeline is destroyed. I shake my head. The keepers also take advantage of the time turn.

I have been lucky so far. I walk inside the cave after five minutes. The moss on the wall is thicker. The familiar ominous feeling is strong. The keepers aren't talking anymore. They are spraying something in the air as they walk into the depth of the cave. The moss is disintegrating on its own. The vines are shying away from the walls. Whatever they are spraying in the air, the maneater plant doesn't like it.

They try to push open the metal door. The golden rays are coming out. The time crystal flower is shining regally.

”Wasn't the way too easy?” Sam asks nervously. ”I feel like we are being watched.”

”It likes eating humans.” Javed looks at the plant with disgust. ”The preys are walking to the predator on their own feet. The way is easy.”

”If we die, we won't even have a funeral.” Sam steps away from the metal door.

”Why are you afraid?” Javed laughs. ”The time-traveler will change the timeline. We will be alive again.”

”That doesn't mean that I like being eaten by a plant.” Sam looks at the silver dagger in his hand. ”It's a high ranked time crystal plant. I heard that it's more than three millennia old. The last harvest killed more than a dozen people.”

”A thousand years ago, they didn't have the technology that we have now.” Javed takes a deep breath. ”Remember that we can't harm it. We only need the time crystal flower.”