Li Si and Wu Wen were staying at Village Chief Tong Baiquan’s house. Li Si tossed and turned, unable to sleep. In his ears was the pitter-patter of rain. He thought of his original purpose for coming to Gutan Village—Shen Rou.

Yes, the deaths of Ding Laocai and Widow Sun had been too sudden. There hadn’t been a moment’s time for him to search for traces of Shen Rou’s whereabouts. Was she also somewhere in this misty rain?

Shen Rou’s voice and appearance flashed through his mind, then gradually dimmed. In the end, only her smiling voice remained: “Foolish one, do you still remember the Kalavinka?”

The second day at Gutan Village, the second of September, rain.

At some point, Li Si had fallen asleep. In his drowsy state, he heard chirping bird calls, accompanied by dog barks and human shouts. Li Si opened his eyes. In the courtyard, Tong Jie was baring his teeth and grinning at a jujube tree. Beside him was an old mongrel dog. On a branch of the jujube tree stood a small bird with a red tail, yellow and blue head and body, quarreling endlessly with the man and dog below.

Before long, an old woman came out and dragged Tong Jie away. The old dog swept its tail and dozed off. The small bird became the victor, singing loudly and triumphantly.

Li Si leaned against the window watching the lively scene. Wu Wen came over. “My lord, your complexion is very poor. Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Well, there’s still no news about Miss Shen Rou.”

Tong Baiquan walked out from the main hall. As if annoyed by the bird’s calls, he said, “Fly away quickly!”

Suddenly, a figure flashed behind him. Tong Jie ran over again, speaking in a shrill voice. “Dad, I’ll help you!”

Tong Jie swung a fist and struck the jujube tree. The small bird cried out in distress and flew away. Tong Jie smiled with satisfaction. Tong Baiquan ignored his son and invited Li Si to eat breakfast together.

What astonishing strength. After seeing Tong Jie throw that punch, Li Si thought to himself.

After breakfast, Li Si returned to Ding Laocai’s house to search for clues. Around the si hour, Xiao Sanzi, who had gone to report to the authorities, came to find Li Si. “My lord, there was a collapse on the mountain road. Mountain rocks and muddy floods have completely sealed off the path. We can only wait until the rain stops to think of another solution.”

Xiao Sanzi left dejectedly.

The mountain rain wouldn’t stop in a short time. Li Si’s body became increasingly heavy and drowsy. All day he was listless. By the time he returned to Tong Baiquan’s house, the Tong family had already prepared dinner. Li Si looked at the hazy sky. He could no longer distinguish day from night.

After eating dinner, Li Si dragged his weary body back to his room. He estimated it was around the chou hour when there was suddenly slight movement outside the room. Li Si turned over and got up. He discovered a black shadow flash past outside the wall. Trying to run?

Li Si followed the black shadow to the southeast corner of the village. A large expanse of pitch-black graveyard appeared in his field of vision. Countless grave mounds were like hamsters raising their heads high, covetously watching every move in the human world. The black shadow rushed into the deepest part of the cemetery. Li Si gathered his breath and rushed behind the black shadow, swinging out a palm strike. The black shadow used his arm to forcibly block Li Si’s palm.

The two separated upon contact. The black shadow’s face was covered with a layer of black gauze. All his features were hidden behind the black gauze. It seemed this person had been prepared. The black-veiled person had a burly, strong body, similar to the murderous madman Niu Sao had mentioned.

The black-veiled person drew a gleaming cold cleaver from behind his black clothing, just like the murderous madman from five years ago. Li Si glared at the black-veiled person in fury, saying coldly, “It really is you. You’re the murderous criminal who committed violence in Gutan Village five years ago! Ding Laocai and Widow Sun were also harmed by you, weren’t they!”

The black-veiled person said nothing and raised his blade to chop. Li Si’s arms supported his body as his feet swept horizontally at the black-veiled person. The black-veiled person retreated two steps, then swung an impenetrable curtain of blade light to cover Li Si. Li Si circled around the black-veiled person like a loach, entangled in combat. The two went back and forth. In a flash, they had already fought seventy or eighty rounds.

The black-veiled person was large and heavy-bodied, and moreover held a cleaver of considerable weight. After nearly a hundred rounds of entangled combat, he had become panting and gasping for breath. He used another move called “Splitting Mount Hua with Force,” intending to split Li Si straightforwardly. Li Si drilled behind the black-veiled person. His hands moved like lightning, consecutively striking three major acupoints on the black-veiled person, then forcefully tore off the veil tied behind his neck.

“You murderous maniac, tonight I will see your true face.”

In a moment, the black gauze fell from his hair to his eyebrows, from his eyebrows to his nose. Under the black gauze was revealed his true appearance… Slender eyes, stubborn lips, and those deeply familiar profound pupils! The person behind the black gauze was none other than Li Si himself…

The world in Li Si’s eyes was overturning, twisting. He let out a shrill cry and collapsed thunderously to the ground.

In the last glimpse before consciousness left him, Li Si saw that the other him’s eyes revealed endless loneliness and confusion, just like himself.

What had happened to this world?

In a long, muddled dream, bubbles of dreams arose one after another. He watched as the dreams were punctured one by one, flowing out with thick wounds and memories. At the end of the bubble dreamscape was obscure haziness. He woke up.

In his ears were chirping bird calls, accompanied by dog barks and human shouts. Outside the window, it was still raining. He walked to the window. In the courtyard, Tong Jie was baring his teeth and grinning at the jujube tree. Beside him was an old mongrel dog. On a branch of the jujube tree stood a small bird with a red tail, yellow and blue head and body. The small bird quarreled endlessly with the man and dog below.

Soon, an old woman dragged Tong Jie away. The old dog slept. The small bird sang alone.

Wu Wen walked over from the side and said, “My lord, your complexion is very poor. Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Well, there’s still no news about Miss Shen Rou.”

Tong Baiquan came. He shouted at the small bird, “Fly away quickly!”

Then Tong Jie ran over. “Dad, I’ll help you!” He punched the jujube tree trunk. The small bird flew away in fear.

In the fluttering falling leaves, Li Si walked out. All the scenes and stories that occurred were exactly the same as the morning of yesterday that had already passed.

The morning of September 2nd… had returned again?

As if he had fallen into a time loop, Li Si touched his face and said, “Did I have a nightmare? Or am I still in a dream…”