The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

Before Ye Niannu could finish speaking, a little girl of about seven or eight years old ran past her, slightly shifting her body as she went around her skirt, as if instinctively avoiding a pillar, but never looking up at her face.

"Feed~"

Ye Niannu called out softly, but the little girl seemed not to hear her at all and continued to run away after her companion.

Wang Long stood by the old locust tree at the village entrance, his gaze sweeping over Old Li's house not far away.

The courtyard gate was half-open, and wisps of smoke were rising from the kitchen chimney, while the aroma of food wafted out of the courtyard.

Old Li was walking out of the courtyard gate, stretching and glancing at Wang Long and Ye Niannu before looking away, his face devoid of any emotion.

Just like the first day I met them.

No one remembers Wang Long and Ye Niannu anymore.

Wang Long's gaze narrowed slightly.

He took a step forward, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Old Li, and spoke in a polite and natural tone.

"Sir, we've lost our way. Could you tell us which way this road leads?"

Old Li stopped and looked him up and down, a kind but slightly puzzled smile on his face.

"Where are you from? This road leads straight into the mountains and doesn't connect to any town. You must have taken the wrong turn."

His tone and expression were exactly the same as when we first met.

Wang Long withdrew his hand without making a sound, and then casually asked a few more questions. Old Li answered them one by one, his attitude was polite and considerate, but there was no trace of intimacy.

Ye Niannu stepped forward and gently touched the back of Wang Long's hand. The two did not linger and walked towards the village.

After a stick of incense had burned, they stood under the crooked willow tree at the end of the village.

"The time must have been reset."

Ye Niannu spoke slowly, her voice more solemn than before.

"It's not just the memories, but also the behavior, location, and conversations... everything has returned to the moment we first arrived."

"Intervening in time and space to create complete people and scenes—these are things that humans should not be able to do."

"Even an Emperor-level expert who has comprehended the power of laws cannot achieve this!"

Ye Niannu felt heavy-hearted. Such a gesture might truly belong to a legendary immortal!

Wang Long didn't speak. He looked up at the ancestral hall in the center of the village, which was half-hidden in the shadow of a locust tree.

That was the only building in Peach Blossom Spring with blue bricks and gray tiles, and its roof was half a head higher than the surrounding houses.

A faded wooden plaque hangs above the door, the characters almost illegible due to the erosion of wind and rain.

From the moment they stepped into Peach Blossom Spring, that ancestral hall stood there quietly.

There was no smoke from cooking fires, no one came or went, and even the wind avoided it when it passed by.

Last night I was busy dealing with the black mist and didn't have time to go in and explore.

Ye Niannu followed his gaze and asked softly.

"My lord, shall we go in and take a look?"

Wang Long withdrew his gaze, his voice calm yet carrying a hint of coldness.

"That's not urgent. We need to do something very important now."

"What?"

Wang Long turned around, his gaze sweeping over the children still chasing and playing at the village entrance, then over the farmers bending over and working on the ridges of the fields, his voice calm and indifferent.

"Let's confirm what these things are."

He had just caught a glimpse of these people when they instantly revealed their hideous and eerie faces.

It disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Based on what happened last night, Wang Long was certain that these seemingly kind villagers were not human!

They were like walking corpses trapped in some kind of rule.

Ye Niannu was taken aback for a moment, then understood what he meant.

She didn't ask any more questions, but simply nodded slightly, took half a step back, and gripped the sword hilt back in her palm.

Wang Long took a step and walked towards the nearest village woman who was drawing water from a well.

The village woman looked to be in her early forties, with an apron tied around her waist. She deftly cranked the waterwheel, and the bucket slowly rose up, shimmering with clear water in the morning light.

The village woman seemed oblivious to Wang Long's presence, busy with her own tasks.

Wang Long then tried it on several other villagers, and the result was the same.

There aren't many people who can freely strike up a conversation with him.

Most villagers seem to be NPCs whose actions are programmed by the system, and they have no thoughts of their own.

Wang Long had already made his calculations, and he flicked his fingertip at the village woman.

A wisp of literary energy flew out and disappeared into the back of the village woman's neck.

The village woman's body stiffened slightly, then she slumped down, the bucket slipping from her hands and hitting the edge of the well with a dull thud.

There was no scream, no struggle; she lay on the ground in a calm posture, as if she were simply asleep.

None of the villagers working nearby turned to look in their direction.

Sure enough, the literary aura had some effect on these villagers.

Wang Long immediately squatted down and once again infused the village woman with his righteous energy.

This time, the golden aura circulated through her meridians.

Wang Long remained silent for a moment, then slowly withdrew his hand and stood up.

"It was fake after all!"

His voice was calm, but his expression was grave.

"Breathing, heartbeat, and pulse are all simulated."

Ye Niannu stood up and looked down at the quiet and gentle face on the ground, where there was no fear in the half-closed eyes.

There was no pain, not even a trace of the radiance that belongs to the living.

She suddenly realized that these things were never human!

The sudden truth sent chills down my spine.

Wang Long didn't linger. He turned around, his gaze passing over the figures of the villagers who were still working.

It landed on the silent ancestral hall in the center of the village.

"Let's go, let's clean up everything that can be killed."

This is both a verification and a purge.

Since it could be reset, and they weren't human, Wang Long felt no psychological pressure when he killed them.

As the sword rose and fell, golden literary energy continuously erupted.

The villagers did not scream, run away, or even put up any decent resistance the moment the sword pierced their bodies.

When the sword flashed across the back of someone's neck, they only staggered slightly.

Then, like a felled tree, it lay quietly in the soil, its face still bearing that kind but slightly bewildered smile.

Some people were still bent over working even after their chests were pierced.

The hoe in his hand slowly slipped down, hitting the ridge of the field with a dull thud, as if he were personally ending the play he had played his whole life.

Ye Niannu stood in the middle of the village road, her long sword hanging slightly in her hand, the tip of which was still dripping with cold black liquid.

That's right, the villagers' blood was black, like a liquid formed from condensed black mist.

The entire Peach Blossom Spring fell silent instantly.

On the ridges of fields, by the well, under the eaves, and at the entrance to the kitchen, one figure after another fell.

Scattered haphazardly among the bluestone pavement and the mud.

Ye Niannu turned her head and looked at Wang Long.

Wang Long was standing in front of a fallen figure, looking down at the half-open eyes.

There was no pain, no pleading, not even fear of death in those eyes.

He just kept muttering silently, his expression occasionally twisting and twitching.

Ye Niannu walked to his side, her voice low.

"What were they saying before they died?"

Wang Long's expression was indifferent.

"Just like last night, they were saying... 'Help me.'"