"This Li Yunhe ravaged the nearby counties for years, causing harm to countless unmarried women. Who would’ve thought he’d finally be captured by Inspector Xu of Black Goose City!"
"Good riddance! This menace had long deserved death!"
"You dog thief! Today I’ll take your head back and turn it into a pisspot!"
The bustling noise erupted from outside the execution ground. On the ground itself, a young man in prison garb was bound and kneeling, his body trembling, and expression terrified.
Behind this young man stood another slightly thin young man, his demeanor calm, resting his hands on a Ghost Head Greatsword, patiently awaiting the time for execution.
At this moment, Qin Zheng stood among the crowd, yet it was as if those around him could not perceive his presence, as if he was in a different space-time plane.
His gaze swept across the surrounding scenery, and a hint of nostalgia flickered in his eyes.
Here was Black Goose City, the very place he had just traversed to, and everything had begun in this county town.
When his eyes fell upon the young man on the execution ground wielding the Ghost Head Greatsword, he felt a twinge of peculiarity.
That youth had the same physique as himself, but the soul inside was different; it was a rather subtle sensation.
And now it should be before things went wrong. After the execution finishes, ’he’ would be silently struck by Wei Feng of the Cicada Gang with the Black Evil Palm.
Then he would be tormented by this Black Evil Palm, unable to find a cure, eventually dying in agony, until his own soul crossed over.
What Qin Zheng wanted to see was what anomalies occurred when he traversed over, and to try and discern who brought him here.
Thus, his figure became ethereal, standing silently among the execution ground crowd, observing the forthcoming events.
No jailbreak occurred, and the amorous rogue Li Yunhe was beheaded with a single stroke upon hearing ’the time has come.’
The crowd erupted in cries and cheers.
Li Yunhe’s corpse was casually discarded outside the execution ground, at which point relatives of his victims came forth, wielding knives to chop his headless corpse into a pile of flesh.
Stray dogs lingering nearby swiftly sprang upon it, voraciously devouring Li Yunhe’s chopped remains.
The surrounding townsfolk, far from being horrified, clapped and cheered instead.
Meanwhile, ’Qin Zheng’ did not tarry at the execution ground; after securing the Ghost Head Greatsword, he turned and left.
But he underestimated Li Yunhe’s malice and the townsfolk’s fervor. As he walked out, the crowd surged forward, expressing words of gratitude.
Though the capture of Li Yunhe was by Inspector Xu of Black Goose City, it was the young man who beheaded him, and being ordinary civilians, they couldn’t reach Inspector Xu, so they interacted with the young executioner before them.
At this moment, in the crowd, Qin Zheng saw Black Evil Palm Wei Feng taking advantage of the confusion to stealthily strike ’himself’ in the chest.
’He’ was not yet skilled in martial arts and lacked keen perception, so he didn’t realize he’d been struck, continuing to smile and respond to the surrounding townsfolk.
What followed unfolded as Qin Zheng had anticipated: initially feeling unwell, pain gradually intensifying, seeking medical help to no avail, eventually heading to the Daoist Temple for talisman water.
Finally, suffering a painful death upon the bed.
Qin Zheng’s eyes suddenly focused, unleashing his full perception to closely monitor the upcoming events.
In his sight, ’he’ who died in agony upon the bed rapidly shriveled at a visible speed, turning into ashes and dissipating.
Qin Zheng’s expression froze upon seeing this.
But before he could ponder further.
A dazzling golden light suddenly illumined the small earthen house, followed by activity in the void, and a figure in a suit and tie appeared upon the bed.
This was his earthly form!
He had always thought his current body was ’Qin Zheng’s’ in this world, crossing over only in soul.
But unexpectedly, he had traversed entirely, both flesh and Divine Soul!
Yet, if that were the case, why did he awaken looking world’s ’Qin Zheng,’ and still bear the Black Evil Palm struck by Wei Feng?
Thoughts surged within Qin Zheng’s mind.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The river of time suddenly became intense.
It was as if this segment of ’history’ could not be ’revisited,’ an overwhelmingly strong force arrived to expel Qin Zheng from this piece of ’history.’
But at this moment, the Merit Scroll atop Qin Zheng’s Heart Sea suddenly shone with golden light, swiftly enveloping his entire body, dissipating the repelling force.
Yet the tumultuous activity of the river of time did not settle, even trending toward greater intensity!
While watching ’himself’ upon the bed, Qin Zheng expanded his perception to the river of time, discovering a massive disturbance at its source.
With his current ability, he could not see the commotion at the source nor identify its cause.
He could only feel it growing larger, making the river of time more turbulent, causing the current scene to become hazy, as if some upstream disturbance had severed this particular ’future.’