The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3309 Investigating the Disappearing Time

Zhou Zixing's gaze involuntarily drifted to Chen Mo, who was sitting quietly to the side, and the doubts in his heart could not be dispelled.

The whole thing was eerie. More than six hours of time disappeared without anyone noticing, including the two of them who were born with innate abilities.

Chen Mo's cultivation was unfathomable, and his perception far surpassed that of anyone else present. Such a large-scale temporal distortion could not possibly have escaped his notice.

Let alone just noticing something amiss, with Chen Mo's abilities, he might have already figured out the reason for disappearing for more than six hours long before everyone else even realized it.

But now, looking at Chen Mo, he was just sitting quietly with his eyes closed, still holding Ouyang Ruoxi's hand in his. His aura was peaceful and calm, as if all the storms and changes in the world had nothing to do with him, and he did not show the slightest ripple.

The more Zhou Zixing looked at him, the more confused he became. The young man in front of him was clearly the same person as the young man he had met at the nursery, but the contrast between the two was so great that he couldn't tell which one was the real Chen Mo.

The memory of that time in the nursery is etched into my mind like a brand, and even now, thinking about it still sends chills down my spine.

When he first met Chen Mo, the other party appeared for only a moment, and the invisible pressure made the entire area unable to move. As a Xiantian martial artist, his proud Xiantian power was like dust and ants in front of Chen Mo.

At that moment, Chen Mo casually stretched out his hand and lifted him into the air with one hand, and no matter how he tried to use his innate power, he could not move.

Then, Chen Mo used some method on the back of his neck, making him feel that something was constantly monitoring him there. Whenever he thought of Chen Mo or his identity was mentioned, he would feel a dull pain or numbness.

He did resist at that time, but the hand that held his neck seemed to be holding him easily, but it sealed off all the meridians in his body. He couldn't mobilize any of his innate power, and he didn't even have the strength to pry open the other person's fingers. He was completely helpless and could only let the other person do as they pleased.

Afterwards, he secretly wondered if his cultivation had temporarily collapsed, leading to his humiliating end. However, after repeatedly circulating his innate power, his strength and domain remained undiminished, everything proceeding as usual. The truth was self-evident: this young man's strength was beyond his comprehension, and he was someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.

Now that they were in the same room, he really couldn't understand Chen Mo's silence.

More than six hours have passed, and Chen Mo's strength is so high, so why is there no reaction at all?

After struggling internally for a while, he wanted to step forward and whisper a reminder to the other person to be aware of the disappearing time, but the warning Chen Mo had left behind immediately came to mind: no matter what happened, he was not allowed to disturb him. He could only talk to Chen Mo if Chen Mo took the initiative to seek him out.

If he were to rashly step forward and speak, thus displeasing the other party, Chen Mo could easily eliminate him with a flick of his wrist, given his abilities.

The moment this thought arose, the hidden hand Chen Mo had left on the back of his neck immediately tingled with pain and itching. The slight stinging pain spread throughout his body along his nerves, like an invisible warning, constantly reminding him that he must not reveal anything related to Chen Mo.

Zhou Zixing sighed inwardly, his heart filled with helplessness. He still couldn't figure out what tricks Chen Mo had planted on the back of his neck. Whenever he thought of Chen Mo or anything related to him, his neck would sting and itch. The more he thought about it, the more intense the pain became. The discomfort of numbness and itching spread up his spine and throughout his body, making it extremely unbearable.

"Elder Zhou? Elder Zhou!"

Two calls came in quick succession, abruptly pulling Zhou Zixing back to reality from his reverie. Qian Ying called him several times but received no response. Turning her head, she saw Zhou Zixing with his head down, lost in thought, so she had no choice but to call out again.

"Ah? Sorry, I was just spacing out." Zhou Zixing snapped back to reality, quickly gathering all his thoughts about Chen Mo and making up an excuse, "I was thinking about what force caused the six hours that just disappeared, and what's hidden behind this time distortion."

Although Zhou Zixing made these words up on the spot, they happened to hit the spot of the doubts that the two of them were currently having, so they did not arouse Qian Ying's suspicion.

Qian Ying nodded upon hearing this. There was no point in thinking or discussing it now; it was better to go out and test the changes in the shadowy figures herself. She would see what would happen if she killed one. By observing the shadowy figures' changes, she could deduce some things.

After all, the missing six hours are nowhere to be found, and we are currently on this mountaintop platform, unable to go anywhere else. We can only look for clues as they come. If we can uncover even a small part, we might be able to find the cause by focusing on the details.

He turned to look at Zhou Zixing, his expression grave: "Thinking about it won't do any good. Let's go outside and investigate. See if these shadowy figures have changed after the time anomaly, or what changes will occur after we kill them. You stay here and provide cover for me. I'll take the initiative and focus my attack on one of the shadowy figures. We must kill it as quickly as possible and see if we can figure out some things."

"Okay." Zhou Zixing agreed without hesitation, while secretly suppressing the persistent numbness and pain in the back of his neck, and calming his mind to prepare to cooperate.

Qian Ying flashed forward and quickly reached the edge of the fire wall. Using her innate short sword, she threw the burning logs out the door.

Clusters of orange-red flames pierced the darkness, illuminating the area in front of the house. As the burning firewood fell to the ground, the flames spread out in all directions. The shadowy figures lurking in the darkness, fearing the flames, scattered in panic as the burning wood was thrown at them.

However, the number of shadowy figures was simply too large, densely packed throughout the entire hall. Some of the strange beasts, unable to dodge in time, were hit by falling firewood, the flames instantly igniting their skin and causing the flames to explode violently.

These shadowy figures have all undergone fusion and mutation, and their physical defense, speed, and strength far surpass those of ordinary shadowy figures. Their physical self-healing ability is extremely strong. Even if they are ignited by flames, they only need to flash into the darkness, and the flames burning on their bodies will extinguish themselves in an instant, and the burned flesh will also be quickly repaired in the darkness.

The firelight completely aroused the ferocity of the shadowy figures. Countless strange beasts roared incessantly at Qian Ying, who had thrown out the firewood, and charged restlessly toward the wall of fire, attempting to seize an opportunity to rush into the hall and launch a sneak attack.

Fortunately, Qian Ying had instructed Qian Wantong to not only throw firewood outwards but also to have Qian Wantong lead the group of martial artists to continuously replenish the fire wall with wood. Therefore, the flames remained burning fiercely without weakening. Even as the shadowy figure roared in fury, it remained wary of the excruciating burning pain, fearing that it might be burned to death if it wasn't careful!
Therefore, the shadowy figure could only linger on the edge of darkness, anxiously ramming against it, but dared not rashly cross the wall of fire.

Qian Ying threw the firewood with great rhythm, deliberately creating a ring of fire in front of the hut. The firelight formed a barrier, illuminating the area in front of the door and forcing the shadowy figure to either avoid the flames or leap into the air when attacking.

In this way, when he steps out of the room to fight, the number of shadowy figures that can get close to him at the same time will be greatly reduced, so he won't be surrounded by dozens of strange beasts at the same time.