Chapter 872

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Chapter 872: Dreaming of a Message

“Does Master Chen have a way to enter that fishing village?”

“He’s still exploring, but he mentioned that it seems to involve the laws of time, and the probability of entering is quite low.”

The laws of time?

Zuo Qing’s expression immediately became serious.

Once it involves laws, it indicates that the matter has exceeded the scope that humanity can handle. Even if one reaches the pinnacle of human capability, without stepping into the divine realm to grasp the laws, it is impossible to shake those laws.

Moreover, the only one in the Great Xia who possesses the Time Divine Ruins, Wang Mian, is still missing at this moment.

Even if Wang Mian were to return, he might not have any means to deal with these laws. The control of the Time Divine Ruins and the laws of time are entirely two different levels of existence. Not to mention, Wang Mian is still only at the peak of the “Klein” realm; breaking the laws of time is simply impossible.

While Zuo Qing was deep in thought, a night watchman hurried over and handed him a document.

“Commander Zuo, we’ve found something.”

“Did you find the connection between Chen Lu and that fishing village?”

“Yes, it’s been over fifty years since Chen Lu entered the night watchmen. The time span is too long, making it difficult to find his records, but we managed to locate them.”

Commander Zuo took the document and began to read it carefully.

“Chen Lu’s hometown is a small fishing village in Ningchang County. Based on the address he filled out back then, it matches the location of this fishing village.”

“He came out of that fishing village?” Zuo Qing asked in surprise.

“Exactly. When the night watchmen were recruiting new soldiers back then, they specifically sent someone to visit that fishing village to verify the identities of the recruits. At that time, nothing unusual was found. The document also contains some photos and dialogue records about that fishing village.”

Zuo Qing pulled out a few old photos from the document and flipped through them. Most of them were pictures of a young Chen Lu with his father, Chen Gou, both standing on a fishing boat, each holding a fish, their smiles radiant.

“It seems there’s no problem…” Zuo Qing said, puzzled. “So, when Chen Lu joined the night watchmen, that fishing village hadn’t undergone any changes?”

“Correct.”

“Also, if that fishing village had issues back then, Chen Lu wouldn’t have been able to leave it.” Zuo Qing nodded and opened the last photo, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Among all the photos, it was the only one featuring three people. In addition to the young Chen Lu and the middle-aged Chen Gou, there was also an elderly man sitting in a rocking chair, holding a fan, looking reluctantly at the camera with a stern and serious expression.

“Who is this?” Zuo Qing pointed at the old man and asked.

“That’s Chen Lu’s grandfather, Chen Yangrong.”

Zuo Qing nodded, finished reading the document, and fell into deep thought again.

“Has Chen Lu been home all these years?”

“No, he has never returned.”

“Strange…”

“What’s wrong?”

“If the fishing village hadn’t undergone any changes when Chen Lu left, and he hasn’t returned even once in over fifty years… how does he know what has happened in the village? On what basis does he believe that once the [Mask] and [Nightfall] enter the fishing village, they will surely die?”

……

Fishing Village.

The sunlight spilled over the shimmering sea, and the white waves rolled onto the shore, causing the fishing boats to sway slightly.

Several fishermen walked out from the village, skillfully preparing their tools for going out to sea, chatting and laughing as they worked:

“Er Zhu, you’re going out to sea today too?”

“Yeah, with such good weather, it would be a shame not to go.”

“Right, let’s try to go further today and aim for a big catch.”

“What’s up? Are you tight on money lately?”

“Pretty much, my wife is about to give birth…”

“Oh, congratulations!”

“Hey, Old Gou, aren’t you going out to sea today?”

By the docked fishing boats, Chen Gou stood alone in coarse linen clothes, staring blankly at the distant sea.

Hearing the calls from the other fishermen, Chen Gou finally came to his senses. After a moment of silence, he shook his head, “No, you all go ahead.”

The other fishermen exchanged glances, seeming a bit conflicted, but one finally spoke up to comfort him: “Old Gou… you should try to look at it more positively. This is how our line of work is; no one knows when they might go out to sea and not return. But no matter what, we have to keep living.”

Seeing that Chen Gou was still standing there, staring at the sea in a daze, the other fishermen shook their heads helplessly and set out to sea together.

“Uncle Chen.”

A voice came from behind Chen Gou.

He turned around to see An Qingyu, who had somehow approached him, smiling gently.

“It’s you?” Chen Gou said in surprise. “Didn’t you leave this morning?”

“Well, it’s still early, and I’m not in a hurry to go back. I’ve never seen a fishing village before, so I thought I’d take a few more looks.” An Qingyu naturally sat down on the shore beside Chen Gou.

Chen Gou looked An Qingyu over a few times and nodded slightly. “From your attire, you do look like a child from a wealthy family in the city. It’s normal not to have seen fishing before.”

“Uncle Chen, they all went out to fish. Why aren’t you going?”

Chen Gou didn’t answer. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep puff. The white smoke drifted with his breath, dissipating in the sea breeze. He gazed at the distant sea and slowly spoke:

“A few days ago, I went out fishing with my father and encountered a storm. The boat capsized… I was lucky to be rescued by another villager’s fishing boat, but my father didn’t make it.”

“…My condolences.” An Qingyu didn’t know how to comfort Chen Gou and could only utter those two words.

Then, he looked at Chen Gou with some confusion, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Uncle Chen, your father should be quite old, right? At his age, does he still need to go out fishing?”

“No, he hasn’t gone out to sea for many years.” Chen Gou shook his head. “Didn’t I tell you? I have a son who went out to make his way in the world?”

“Yeah.”

“A couple of days ago, he wrote to me, saying he joined the army and mentioned that the food in the camp isn’t very good. When my father heard he joined the army, he was very happy and insisted on going out to catch a few big fish to send him to improve his meals… But who would have thought that he would never return after going out.”

An Qingyu fell silent.

“Actually, it’s really not a big deal.” Chen Gou said with a weary tone. “Going out to fish is always a gamble with one’s life. I’ve seen countless skilled fishermen perish in the sea. We are born in the sea, raised in the sea, and ultimately buried in the sea; it’s not a bad way to go…”

Chen Gou paused and continued, “But this time is different.”

“What’s different?”

“Hmm.” Chen Gou slowly spoke, “In the past few days… my father has been visiting me in dreams.”