Die, Replay, Repeat - Chapter 209: Fishman
All the psychics in the world combined couldn’t match these three. Fang Xiu, having faced this scenario countless times, knew it well. The gap between their strength wasn’t just vast, it was like comparing ants to gods.
Judging by what he saw, Fang Xiu assumed that Zhou Qingfeng had led the human powerhouses to the Other Side. Their first encounter was with the Weeping Bride and the twisted Specter, leading to a complete defeat. But somehow, Zhou Qingfeng might have had some resurrection ability, or maybe he survived because he was the chosen one.
Back then, he still had hope. He believed he could grow stronger, reach the top, and defeat the Specters. This made sense since he was the strongest human of the last era. Someone who had reached such heights wouldn’t give up easily.
However, after regaining his confidence, he faced Taotie, the Wedding God, and the Angel. These Specters, powerful like gods, tore him apart like a toy. He finally lost all hope and understood the true gap between humans and Specters. This led him to believe that humans could never defeat Specters.
So, the big question was, did Zhou Qingfeng come back to life and establish the Green Mountain Mental Hospital, or did someone else carry on his mission?
Fang Xiu leaned toward the latter. He doubted anyone could survive after facing those powerful Specters, except maybe himself. And if he was right, this Graveyard was where Zhou Qingfeng and his comrades were buried.
As for who buried them, it was probably someone who inherited Zhou Qingfeng’s will, maybe a descendant or a follower.
Zhou Qingfeng was likely truly dead; otherwise, Yang Ming wouldn’t be the new chosen one. But this was all guesswork.
With Fang Xiu’s current strength, it was hard to grasp the full extent of such beings’ capabilities.
Or, perhaps Zhou Qingfeng really wasn’t dead.
“He was once the chosen one,” Yang Ming said, unusually low-spirited. Maybe he was thinking about himself. If the chosen one of the past failed, what about him?
This led him to ask, “Xiu, can humans really not defeat Specters?”
“Yes, we can.”
Yang Ming was slightly stunned, and there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Really?”
Fang Xiu looked at him calmly and said, “I’ve seen the future.”
Yang Ming’s eyes widened, and a joyful grin spread across his face. “Hahaha, I knew it! I knew it!”
In stark contrast, Bai Qi stayed silent. He knew Fang Xiu was lying.
Fang Xiu was only a second-tier psychic, and his foresight was limited to short periods—usually the same day or a few days ahead. Seeing the distant future and humanity’s victory was beyond his reach.
Bai Qi glanced worriedly at the beaming Yang Ming. He couldn’t tell if Yang Ming truly didn’t catch Fang Xiu’s lie or if he just chose to ignore it.
People needed hope to keep going, even if it was false hope.
What Bai Qi didn’t know was that Fang Xiu’s words were not predictions but beliefs. Fang Xiu firmly believed he would see such a future someday. If he didn’t, it would mean he had already disappeared completely.
“Look! The words on the parchment are disappearing!” Hei Jiji suddenly shouted.
Everyone quickly turned to look. The writing on the parchment was slowly fading, just like it had on other parchments before.
The strangest part was that Zhou Qingfeng’s body also started to disappear, gradually turning into dust.
A breeze blew, and he vanished into the air, leaving no trace behind.
This scene was eerily familiar. Anything related to Zhou Qingfeng would disappear once discovered.
Fang Xiu wondered if someone was trying to erase Zhou Qingfeng’s existence or if Zhou Qingfeng himself was doing this.
After a moment of pondering, Fang Xiu decided to investigate the Lands Between. He suspected it was the spatial node Zhou Qingfeng mentioned, the border between the Other Side and reality. This could also explain the thin gray fog from the Other Side hovering over the Graveyard.
But to enter the Lands Between, they had to defeat the Specter of the Graveyard first. Despite their long walk, they hadn’t encountered a Specter yet.
“Keep moving deeper into the Graveyard,” Fang Xiu commanded.
They set off again, heading further into the seemingly endless Graveyard. It was so vast that they walked for ages without seeing the end.
There were always graves around them. If not for the increasingly thick fog, it felt like they were walking in place.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew, and the sound of a young girl’s laughter echoed in their ears.
“Who’s there?!” Hei Jiji was startled and nervously scanned the surroundings. Yang Ming and the others did the same.
Only Fang Xiu remained calm. He was familiar with this laughing wind, a sound from the Other Side that mimicked a girl’s laughter when it blew.
“It’s the wind,” Fang Xiu explained.
Everyone was stunned._ ‘The wind? In this world, there’s actually a wind that sounded like a Specter laughing?’_
Suddenly, Bai Qi started coughing violently. He covered his mouth and nose with his hand, and when he opened his palm again, there was bright red blood on it.
“The gray fog is too thick, and the sound of the wind seems to have a corrosive effect on my body. I’ve been using Spiritual Energy to resist, but it can’t completely protect me, and it consumes a lot of my Spiritual Energy.”
It was clear that Bai Qi was injured again, which wasn’t much of a surprise.
“Bai, maybe you should go back and find Liu Shuai and the others?” Yang Ming suggested, worried.
Hearing this, Bai Qi got angry. Ever since he didn’t become the team leader, he had been competing with Yang Ming but always falling behind.
Yang Ming became the captain, while he was the vice-captain. Yang Ming broke through to the third tier first, and he did it later. Now that Yang Ming wasn’t leaving, he definitely wouldn’t either.
“Hmph, it’s just a small injury.”
“Right, you’re used to getting hurt all the time.”
“What did you say, you bastard?! Want me to beat you up?!”
After their argument, Bai Qi, who had been a bit down, was now fully energized.
The group continued to move deeper into the Graveyard, and finally, they saw something different.
In the depths of the gray fog sat an old, hunched figure, completely still, like a statue. He was holding a fishing rod, fishing in the graveyard.
Seeing this eerie scene, everyone became alert. Fang Xiu led the group closer, and they got a clearer look at the old figure.
He looked like a corpse—dry and stiff, with bluish skin covered in corpse spots. The fishing line from his rod was connected to a grave.
Everyone found it unbelievable._ ‘Is he fishing for corpses?’_”