The sunlight was no longer blinding; it was about to set, and soon darkness would fall.
The three of us had arrived on a dirt road, flying slowly. Gradually, we saw a deep ravine that cut the road off ahead—beyond it lay Exile Town.
"It's still here. The traces left by Quentin Kue's magic are still here."
I spoke quickly. Then, using our supernatural powers, we flew directly over the ravine. We all sensed something strange. Up ahead, I could already see the corner and a large tree—turning there would bring us to Exile Town. I could never forget this place. It was here, with Rachel Lan, that I experienced everything. I still remember that beautiful scene we saw together the night we arrived.
"As expected, it's gone. But what are these things?"
We arrived at the former site of Exile Town. The general location hadn't changed, but the ground was covered only with sand and dust—nothing else remained. The only things left were black and white, interwoven streams on the ground, sparkling as if they were flowing water.
We had indeed entered Exile Town now, and we could feel that this place was completely cut off from the outside world.
"Don't land yet."
Heavenly Soul spoke, and both Earthly Soul and I stopped midair. Heavenly Soul waved a hand, conjuring a stream of white energy that drifted toward the black-and-white, water-like things on the ground. The energy swept over them and then returned to Heavenly Soul's hand.
"I've never seen anything this strange either."
"Whatever it is, let's go down and take a look."
Earthly Soul was already about to descend when the last rays of sunlight vanished from the horizon. Suddenly, a black, curtain-like supernatural barrier appeared on the ground, blocking Earthly Soul's path.
"Hmph..."
Earthly Soul snorted coldly and raised a fist, ready to smash through the supernatural barrier.
"Wait, it's Black Moon."
I cried out in surprise. A flash of silvery light flickered inside the curtain, and a round head poked out—it really was Black Moon, with crescent-shaped eyes and mouth, looking as if he were smiling.
"You finally made it, Boss. I've been waiting for you forever."
Black Moon said, rubbing his hands together as he came up beside me, chuckling.
"You've really changed, Boss—you're a ghost now."
"What exactly is going on?"
I asked, and Black Moon sighed helplessly.
"Everything's changed. We were doing fine in Redmond's ghost domain, but one day I felt like I was about to disappear. When I came to, I was back somewhere else—back to where I met you for the first time, Boss. The others were the same. I checked on them: none of them remember meeting you, or their paths have become completely jumbled. In short, the past we knew has been changed."
I swallowed hard.
"Why do you still remember?"
Black Moon smiled and pointed to his own head.
"I'm not like the others. I don't know exactly what's twisting my past, but I have a habit: every so often, I have the Celestial Hound eat my memories. That way, my memories can't be affected or erased. Even if I'm reincarnated, I can keep them—and I can pull them out whenever I want."
"Is it time itself?"
At that moment, Heavenly Soul suddenly spoke, and we all looked at him.
"Just as you said—you must be the Boss's Heavenly Soul, right? Nice to meet you, or rather, nice to meet you for the first time in the living world."
Black Moon politely crossed one hand over his chest and bowed. I looked at the black-and-white liquid on the ground, still feeling nothing from it.
"This place was supposed to disappear completely, to become a forest. But I remembered it—after all, Boss, you once went into Rufina Howard's past and restored her essence. So I thought, I must guard this place. It's special—a place where humans and ghosts intermingled. Time can't erase it so easily. In the end, I was right: I managed to keep it from vanishing, but everything from the past has already been twisted and changed by time."
I pressed my hand to my head, unable to remember anything except that one time with Rufina Howard, when I went back to the past to help her.
"Think carefully, Ethan Zhang. All these anomalies must be related to you going back to the past and moving into the future. What exactly did you do?"
Earthly Soul asked, but I shook my head. In my memory, apart from saving Rufina Howard, I hadn't done anything else.
"Don't bother thinking, Boss. Someone tampered with your memories."
I stared at Black Moon in shock. He just laughed.
"The Celestial Hound is very sensitive to memories. Boss, your memories are incomplete—many pieces have been taken, and they've been altered too. But not so much that you'd notice big gaps..."
"John Chou, that guy."
Suddenly I remembered: he and Lady Meng seemed to be hiding something from me. And it wasn't the first time. The only one who could take my memories was Lady Meng.
"You're probably thinking of Lady Meng, Boss."
I looked at Black Moon, puzzled.
"It's true, only Lady Meng has the power to take someone's memories. But Boss, you're different. Your instincts are too strong—unless you allow it, nobody can take your memories. So I suspect you had to let someone close to you do it, for some reason."
I really couldn't figure out why.
"Don't worry about the reason for now. There's only one person who can answer our questions."
My eyes widened.
"Yvonne May! That's right, we need to find Yvonne May. She should be in the Underworld Court now!"
I said, turning to leave, but Black Moon immediately called out to stop me.
"Boss, it's just like before—easy to get in, hard to get out. Otherwise, do you think I'd have stayed here for almost two years? It's not that I don't want to leave; I just can't."
My eyes widened. With a whoosh, Earthly Soul flew toward the spot where we'd entered. Black lightning crackled all over him, but he couldn't get out. In an instant, he disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was charging straight at us.
"Idiot, using that much power."
Black Moon grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away, but Earthly Soul was already in front of us.
"Get out of the way!"
Earthly Soul shouted. With a crack, Heavenly Soul caught Earthly Soul's fist, and black lightning swept out in all directions—but most of it was split apart by Heavenly Soul's power and landed harmlessly on the ground.
The black lightning sizzled, but when it hit the ground, it didn't leave a mark—it just vanished quickly.
"What incredible power."
Earthly Soul exclaimed. I could sense just how strong the Endbringer's Power he released was—enough to pierce the strength of my ghost soul. But when it hit the ground, it disappeared as if sinking into the ocean.
"Any power is useless before time. Or rather, your power isn't strong enough to end time itself."
Earthly Soul nodded with a cold smile.
"Want to try?"
As he spoke, Earthly Soul gripped the Endbringer. I watched curiously, but Heavenly Soul stopped him.
"It's useless. Doing that will only put us in danger."
"Is there anywhere we can stay here?"
Earthly Soul looked over and asked. Black Moon nodded.
Black Moon led us to a black platform in the center of Exile Town, suspended in the air. It felt like some kind of condensed power. We landed on it and looked down at a black-and-white vortex, about ten meters wide.
"What do we do now?"
Black Moon asked. I sat cross-legged at the edge of the black platform, staring at the vortex below.
"Why not just go in?"
"No way. If we're swept to some random point in time, the chaos will only get worse."
I looked at Black Moon, wondering how he'd survived here for so long.
For the moment, all we could do was helplessly watch the desolation around us—even Shadowbane Mountain had vanished.
"More than once, I've been warned not to go back to the past. I didn't listen. All of this is my fault."
Earthly Soul sat beside me, grinning wickedly as he spoke.
"Regret it?"
I lifted my head and looked at him, shaking it slowly.
"If I hadn't gone back, maybe Rufina Howard would already be dead. But when I saw Yuting Yu, Chen Hongyan, and the others still alive, and Skylar Tian—his child survived—I felt relieved, but I just don't know..."
"No matter which past you choose, it's the right one."
My mind buzzed. I stared at Earthly Soul, astonished.
"I feel like I've heard that somewhere before, but I can't remember."
"Don't overthink it. Let me see if my instincts can find anything."
Heavenly Soul spoke, slowly floating upward. The sky had grown even darker. Exile Town—a place where humans and ghosts mingle—shared the same time as the living world, but this sight was one I wished I'd never seen.
Heavenly Soul descended slowly and crouched near the vortex as he approached.
"Instinct... origin..."
In an instant, ribbons of white energy appeared, drifting outward in all directions.
"Careful, something's wrong!"
I shouted, about to act. In a flash, Earthly Soul appeared at Heavenly Soul's side, raised the Endbringer, and severed a giant, multicolored hand that suddenly reached out from the vortex. He grabbed Heavenly Soul and pulled him back.
"Looks like something's down there, and it doesn't want you to see."