Nearly two months had passed since arriving at Heavenly Summit Mountain, over sixty thousand years in the past.
For the first time, Chen Yan felt a sense of dissonance that was impossible to ignore.
Bizarre.
It was truly too bizarre.
For nearly two months, he had been trying his best to play the role of Supervisor of the Water Mirror Pavilion's Internal Affairs Hall, but now he realized he might have been wrong.
The world he now found himself in, over sixty thousand years in the past, had major problems.
...
Internal Affairs Hall.
Jing Miao paced back and forth in front of Chen Yan, busy with various documents and trivial tasks in her hands.
Having been here for nearly two months, Chen Yan had originally thought he was gradually settling into a routine.
But now he realized he was wrong.
Everything around him was beginning to feel increasingly unfamiliar and cold.
He decided to conduct another experiment.
"Junior Sister Jing."
Chen Yan spoke up.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy? Hah, unlike Supervisor Chen, who really does have it easy!"
Jing Miao turned her head, complaining somewhat discontentedly towards Chen Yan, who was just sitting there.
Especially when she uttered the words "Supervisor Chen," her sarcastic tone was vividly expressed.
"When did you take up the post of Ceremonial Official of the Internal Affairs Hall?"
Chen Yan ignored her complaint and simply asked this.
"Two years ago, why?"
Jing Miao replied.
"So, that means I also became Supervisor of the Internal Affairs Hall two years ago?"
Chen Yan pressed further.
Typically, the ceremonial official was a person personally appointed by the supervisor when they assumed their post.
In other words, as Chen Yan's partner, Jing Miao becoming the Ceremonial Official of the Internal Affairs Hall must have been appointed by Chen Yan back then.
"What else could it be?"
Jing Miao said impatiently.
"Was it I who appointed you, Junior Sister Jing, to the post of Ceremonial Official of the Internal Affairs Hall?"
"..."
Silence.
Faced with the question Chen Yan had just posed, Jing Miao once again fell into an eerie silence.
The answer was right there, all she had to do was say "yes."
But Jing Miao still chose silence.
This was also what Chen Yan considered the most bizarre aspect of the world he currently found himself in.
The Jing Miao standing before him seemed like a living, breathing person, yet also not.
Not just Jing Miao, but everyone in this Internal Affairs Hall, the Water Mirror Pavilion, and even the entire Heavenly Summit Mountain seemed to be this way.
Chen Yan decided to continue the experiment, but this time, he wanted to be bolder.
"Two years ago, it was not I who appointed you, Junior Sister Jing, to the post of Ceremonial Official of the Internal Affairs Hall."
He said very seriously to Jing Miao before him.
Then, Chen Yan observed Jing Miao's reaction.
"..."
Still silence.
It seemed as though anything related to him, concerning past events, would be ignored by the other party.
Junior Sister Jing was like this, Supervisor Zhao was like this, and even Elder Shi was the same.
Chen Yan wanted to sort all this out.
...
Chen Yan, dressed in moon-white daoist robes, walked along the streets of the Water Mirror Pavilion.
Then, he stopped his steps before a courtyard.
"Supervisor Chen."
The two menial disciples of the Internal Affairs Hall standing at the entrance bowed towards Chen Yan's direction.
He nodded, then stepped into the courtyard. The Internal Affairs Hall administrator guarding the inner courtyard entrance also bowed towards Chen Yan.
Standing in the middle of the courtyard, beside the old man sitting on a round chair, was none other than Supervisor Zhao, whom Chen Yan had just met not long ago.
"Supervisor Chen?"
Supervisor Zhao turned his head, looking towards Chen Yan's direction with a slight startle, then revealed a smile:
"What brings you here?"
"Just suddenly wanted to come see Elder Wen."
Chen Yan replied.
"Supervisor Chen is truly sentimental!"
Supervisor Zhao exclaimed with such feeling, then stepped towards the courtyard exit:
"Supervisor Chen, make it quick, we'll wait for you outside."
Chen Yan didn't speak, just nodded.
This was the rule of the Internal Affairs Hall; normally, no one was allowed to have contact with Elder Wen Mian.
However, to Supervisor Zhao, Chen Yan was a colleague from the Internal Affairs Hall, and moreover, it was Chen Yan who had been taking care of Elder Wen recently, so Supervisor Zhao could perfectly well turn a blind eye.
But no matter what, he and his subordinates had to wait until Chen Yan left the courtyard before they could leave.
That was the rule.
Immediately after, Supervisor Zhao led the Internal Affairs Hall administrator and several menial disciples away from the area, closing the courtyard gate securely.
For a moment, only Chen Yan and Elder Wen Mian remained in the courtyard.
Chen Yan looked at the white-haired old man dressed in moon-white daoist robes, sitting on the round chair.
"Do you know me, Elder Wen?"
Chen Yan tried speaking like this to Elder Wen.
As expected, there was no response.
Chen Yan observed Elder Wen Mian's expression; there was no fluctuation whatsoever.
As if he hadn't heard at all.
With Jing Miao, Supervisor Zhao, or Elder Shi, when Chen Yan asked about past interactions between himself and others, the other party's expression would often freeze for an instant and ignore his question.
But Elder Wen Mian was different.
Among the many cultivators on Heavenly Summit Mountain, only Elder Wen Mian was the sole anomaly.
Chen Yan once again raised his head to look at the sun in the sky, slowly moving westward.
The You hour had arrived.
Then, Elder Wen Mian, sitting on the jade-carved round chair, slowly turned his head to look at the empty air beside him, his eyes vacant...
No, or rather, he was staring at something, something that didn't exist at all.
Then, he slowly opened his mouth:
"Yi ou yi ri shuo wo, Ai sou pu qi wo yi ri shi."
Eerie and horrifying syllables emerged from Elder Wen Mian's mouth.
Chen Yan, standing to the side, watched Elder Wen Mian sitting on the jade-carved round chair.
It wasn't just this one string of bizarre syllables; Elder Wen Mian continued uttering those terrifying, obscure syllables.
"Whether it's Chen Yan in his current identity as Supervisor of the Water Mirror Pavilion's Internal Affairs Hall, or the Chen Yan from over sixty thousand years in the future, Elder Wen, do you know me?"
Chen Yan asked again.
Elder Wen paid no heed, merely continuing to emit strange syllables.
Chen Yan seemed to realize something, turned around, and walked towards the courtyard exit.
Then, he pulled open the courtyard gate.
The gate slowly swung open. What met Chen Yan's eyes was Supervisor Zhao standing outside the courtyard, speaking with the Internal Affairs Hall administrator by the door.
Supervisor Zhao turned his head. He revealed a smile towards Chen Yan's direction, then opened his mouth:
"Supervisor Chen..."
A strand of Clear Rainbow shot forth from Chen Yan's fingertip, piercing towards Supervisor Zhao's chest.
Kongshan Finger!
Completely unprepared, Supervisor Zhao was pierced through by the Clear Rainbow bursting from Chen Yan's fingertip.
His face still maintained the smile from just moments before, then he fell straight backward onto the ground.
Blood gushed from Supervisor Zhao's wound; he had already become a corpse.
Then, Chen Yan raised his head, sweeping his gaze over the Internal Affairs Hall disciples standing outside the courtyard.
Expressionless.
All he could see on these people's faces was emptiness and numbness.
As if nothing had happened at all.