Chapter Three: Don't Look Back

“Xiaodu, help me—” Cheng's body locked. The cry was identical to Mother's voice when she broke her leg ten years ago. The girl pulled him forward. “Daocuan uses whoever you cannot abandon.” They landed on a rain-dark street. The mirror city's towers lay sideways across the horizon, and footsteps pursued them. The double was gone, yet every shop window held an extra Cheng half a stride closer than before. The ticket now named the third destination: east end of Changning Bridge, Linchuan, 1:23. They were in Daocuan, where the bridge ran west, separated from reality by an invisible wall. The girl said they had to catch the Number One bus, which opened its doors where the cities overlapped.