Chapter 534: Backtracking
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Around them, the wind blew gently and the skies were clear.
"Is this another timeline?"
He looked around him and saw that Jiese and Tantai Guihu were nowhere to be seen.
Just a short while ago, the curse had altered its nature when it was clear that the ghost swarm was no match for Fang Yuan.
"Specifically, the curse has placed us in different timelines so that it can deal with us separately…"
The village of a year ago, or even the village the day before would be an entirely different one from the village of the present. Any alliance, however strong, would be rendered useless if the curse were to isolate its members.
Fang Yuan suspected that Chen He, who had disappeared right at the start, had been thrown into one of these alternate timelines. Given his abilities, he was probably dead by now.
Except that with regards to this curse, death was not the way out. In fact, death would be the beginning of a nightmare!
"I wonder which timeline I'm in…"
In one swift motion, he arrived at the entrance of Ghost Sealing Village.
"Papa...someone's here!"
A few bare-bottomed children were playing in the mud by the millstone. One of them caught sight of Fang Yuan and ran screaming towards the village.
The children looked scrawny and were hollow-cheeked. Life must have been tough in this village.
"This little rascal…"
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.
"Is this the village chief as a child?"
Fang Yuan could see that the child bore an uncanny resemblance to the village chief. But the tell-tale sign was the unique quality of his soul.
"There is indeed someone!"
Before Long, a few large men hurried towards him. One of them resembled the village chief of the present day and scrutinised Fang Yuan with suspicion.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?"
"My name is Fang Yuan. I have questions that I need answers to."
Fang Yuan placed his hands behind his back.
"Of course, to prevent any unwise moves from your end, let me give you all a warning."
Ping!
He stamped his right foot on the ground and what followed was a deafening thud. It was as if the entire village fallen from the air.
"The M...Mountain God?!"
The mountain folks had never seen power like that and all of them fell to their knees.
"Forgive us for not recognising you, My Lord. Have mercy on us!"
'...'
Fang Yuan was speechless for a moment. He then pointed at the village chief's father.
"The name is Gui Shisan, My Lord…"
His embittered smile had passed on to his son. Also, Fang Yuan could tell that they were father and son from the quality of his blood.
"When did your branch of the Gui family arrive in this village, do you remember? Do you know what kind of people used to live here in the past?"
Fang Yuan began to interrogate him.
With everyone in the village taking him for the Mountain God, they told him everything he asked them about.
From the respectful answers that the villagers had given to him, he learnt that the Gui family had already settled in the village for more than a hundred years.
The people who had inhabited this place before them had migrated en masse to another place, and no one knew where exactly.
"My Lord...when our ancestors came here, it was already uninhabited. We did not take over these lands by force…"
The villagers were frightened and some of them were close to tears.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to punish anyone."
Fang Yuan shook his head and disappeared in a flash. Gui Shisan was shocked and kowtowed immediately.
"Tantai Moye!! Tantai Moye!!"
Fang Yuan shouted the name as he sprinted through the forest.
"No...although I can sense the origin of the curse, it feels distant, which means that it isn't on this time axis…"
He continued to speed on with no idea how far he had travelled.
"Since this curse probably has area restrictions, I should leave this place and see if anything will try to stop and kill me…"
Fang Yuan sometimes felt sorry for this curse, just like how he felt about the Pawnshop.
Although the curse was afflicted on him, it did not have the power to kill him. It was like it had swallowed an iron anchor that it could neither vomit out nor digest.
Beyond the village were mountain ranges. They were filled with lush greenery and were full of life.
A fog suddenly materialised and when Fang Yuan dashed through it, he was unsettled to find that he had arrived at the entrance of Ghost Sealing Village once again.
The village was quiet and deserted, with no trace of life. The buildings were dilapidated and looked as though they had been abandoned for a long time.
"Indeed...the curse is preventing my escape. Seems like I ran away from the previous timeline only to end up in another timeline."
Fang Yuan looked at Ghost Sealing Village quietly.
"If that was the village of forty or fifty years ago, this will probably be the village of more than a hundred years ago...a pity that there is still nothing that I want here."
He ran at the boundaries of the fog again, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Why do I feel a sense of déjà vu? Should I shout the cursed name out loud again?"
Poof!
He was prepared this time and when the fog assailed him and could feel the destructive power of the space-time curse.
It was a pity that the curse was unable to harm him at all. It had swallowed him up entirely but could do nothing else.
"The curse was going to kill me by making use of a shift in spacetime, but I am simply too strong. I'll exploit it instead and use it to rewrite history!"
Fang Yuan barged through the white fog and arrived at the Ghost Sealing Village once more.
"Who goes there?"
Fang Yuan immediately realised that two village guards were about to pounce on him. He waved a hand and the two bottles of substance thrown at him exploded in midair.
"Exorcists from the Tantai family? They have been trained well!"
Fang Yuan knew that his physical state was scaring them, and he withdrew the spell that gave him his ghostly appearance.
'The Tantai family has not moved out of the village in this timeline?'
"Who are you?"
Even though they were exorcists of the Tantai family, anyone would be nervous if they saw a ghost with black robes, a greenish-black face and with black holes for eyes transform into a person.
"Hmm..."
Fang Yuan gave a small smile and shot beams from his eyes into the heads of the two guards. He began to interfere with their memories.
"You two did not see anyone here today!"
The ability of obliviation from the Pawnshop was working effectively.
The two elite exorcists scratched their heads and looked confused at their actions. They then went back to guarding the village entrance.
"What's happening?"
A Tantai elder walked out. He did not seem to have noticed Fang Yuan.
"Nothing!"
The two exorcists were caught by surprise.
"...Never mind, just watch the gates carefully. It hasn't been peaceful lately!"
The Tantai elder was on the verge of saying more but thought better of it and walked away.
'Indeed...ghostly abilities work better than human abilities!'
Fang Yuan released his inner spirit again, which manipulate the surroundings such that no one would pay any attention to him. He was practically invisible, and strode casually behind the elder.
The elder walked on until he reached the meeting hall of the Tantai family.
"What happened?"
Dozens of elite exorcists were gathered in the hall. They were all of Tantai blood. The leader of the Tantai clan sat at the head of the table and asked with a frown.
"I went to take a look and the two guards told me nothing. But I still have this strange feeling...maybe 'it' has arrived."
The elder answered with a forced laugh.
"That 'name'…"
The Tantai elders were all silent.
At the mention of this issue, all the elite exorcists became troubled.
"Ever since that day, anyone in the clan who would mention the name of this ancestor would fall under the curse. If not for the curse of the Green Bronze Door, our family would have been wiped out long ago…"
The Tantai clan leader let out a sigh.
"To think that the Tantai family's legacy of a thousand years will fall in one day. That person is truly a traitorous sinner!"
"He's dead. There's nothing we can do anymore…"
Another white-haired old man spoke calmly.
"Although the curse of the Door can resist the curse of the unspeakable name, things won't work out in the long term. We have to uproot the family and leave this place!"
"...It's a good thing that we have sealed up the name after discovering the source of the curse. Later, we shall let the clansmen who have not yet been sullied by that 'name' leave for the south and establish the family elsewhere!"
"We who have borne the brunt of the curses will stay here and see if we can seal up this curse...the Tantai clan will now decree that no family member will return to these lands! No! We should not even leave any word behind. Let us be forgotten by history!"
"Indeed!"
The Tantai clan leader punched a fist into the air.
"I will pass on the clan leadership to Quan and stay here to fight alongside all of you elders here !"
"Hmm? Who goes there?"
Suddenly, his eyes gleamed with purple light and his face turned ash-gray. He stared intently at where Fang Yuan was standing.
"Amulet water of the world!"
"Ghost Locking Array!"
Everyone present were elite exorcists. As soon as they were made aware of a ghostly infiltration, they jumped to action right away and tried to contain Fang Yuan with their special abilities.
"Another ghost has come in?"
One of the white-haired elders looked hesitantly in the direction of Fang Yuan.
"Unless...there is another curse that we do not know of in this village?"
"Even the most savage ghost will have to do a double take when facing our combined forces!"
Another clan elder said encouragingly.
In the next moment, a horrifying chill had invaded their hearts.
Ping! Ping!
Dozens of magical equipment were pulverised, alarming all the Tantai clan members present.
"This ghost...how can this be?"
As the dust settled, a figure emerged.
Fang Yuan, with his black robes and golden eyes, had appeared.
"Great! To think that you were able to detect my presence. The prowess of the Tantai family is quite impressive after all."
"Hmm?"
The Tantai clan leader's eyes widened.
"You are...a person?!"
Although more than a hundred exorcists were present, all of them probably still saw Fang Yuan as a ghost. Only the Tantai clan leader could see that he was human!