Returning to the Mysterious Era

At the entrance of Black Vine Manor, Cassius stopped a black carriage that was about to depart. He quickly hopped on and signaled the Ace of Spades driver to set off. Inside the dimly lit carriage, Red Fang, who had been resting, opened his eyes.

"Wind Elephant? Why are you here?"

"I'm going with you," Cassius replied as he searched for a comfortable spot to sit.

Red Fang furrowed his brow but did not object. "Alright then."

First, if Cassius was heading to Mensa Village, that meant White Bird was aware of it and had agreed. Second, even though the two had had some minor disputes in the past, Red Fang had to admit that Cassius was a formidable fighter and certainly not the type of teammate who would drag them down. With Cassius joining, this mission might go a bit more smoothly.

Soon, the carriage began to move forward. The journey started on flat terrain, providing a leisurely view of the scenery on both sides, but it soon transitioned into a rough and uneven road as they moved further away from the city center of Black Sand City, and headed deeper into the outskirts. After the paved roads ended, the path turned into a bumpy dirt road—the kind that turned into a muddy mess after rainfall.

Fortunately, they had the foresight to use a carriage. A regular car would not have made it this far and would have probably broken down halfway.

Cassius sat by the window, gazing outside as the scenery changed from lush green trees to hilly terrain. There were vast stretches of green grass, dotted with flowers of various colors—red, white, yellow, and pink. Bees whizzed around, and butterflies occasionally fluttered by. He smelled the faint fragrance of summer flowers on the breeze.

About half an hour later, the carriage came to a stop near a slope. Cassius and Red Fang got off and found themselves surrounded by a sea of flowers, with bees buzzing all around.

Looking to the right, they could see a silver ribbon-like stream, a branch of the Mim River, winding its way about a hundred meters away. Mensa Village was situated along this stream; it was clearly built there because of the water source.

Cassius and Red Fang weren't at Mensa Village yet. They had disembarked because the road ahead had disappeared due to the decades of weeds and plants overgrowing into the path. They had to continue on foot for the next few kilometers.

After they roughly determined which direction to head to, Cassius and Red Fang set off. As they neared Mensa Village, members of the assassination department would naturally converge around them. Two people weren't enough to investigate a village.

At around 10 a.m., Cassius and Red Fang trudged through the grass, reaching the top of a gentle slope. From there, they could make out the vague outlines of the village in the distance.

Whoosh!

Cassius extended two fingers and caught a flying insect nearby. He opened his hand, and Red Fang looked curiously over.

It was a black-and-white butterfly, about the size of half a palm. Its symmetrical antennae were long and curled like satellite antennae, and the patterns on its wings resembled a ghostly face.

"What is it?" Red Fang asked, his eyes flicking back up at Cassius, who was scrutinizing it.

"Take a closer look," Cassius said without looking up. Red Fang glanced down again and immediately noticed something strange.

The black-and-white butterfly had two heads—where its tail should have been was another head. The black antennae were as long as a person's middle finger, twitching like a snail's.

"This…isn't just two butterflies, is it?" Red Fang asked.

Cassius immediately tore off the butterfly's wings, leaving only a worm-like, elongated body. One body, but both ends were heads.

"There's something strange about this place," Red Fang muttered, frowning as he glanced at the sky. The once cloudy weather had suddenly darkened, with heavy clouds hanging low as if it might rain soon.

"Let's go into Mensa Village first and take a look around." Cassius tossed the butterfly aside. The two of them resumed their journey toward the village. As they approached, a few people gathered around.

"Lord Red Fang, Lord Wind Elephant," they greeted.

These were brothers from the assassination department, all dressed in black with fierce dispositions. The knuckles of their right hands were covered in calluses, indicating they were experienced gunmen.

"Mm." Red Fang replied. "Have you found anything new so far? Are there any brothers still inside?" He eyed the abandoned village.

"No new discoveries so far," one of the gunmen replied.

"Two brothers are inside, guarding the two buildings where the five intelligence department members disappeared," another gunman said.

"Alright." Red Fang nodded.

"Let's go in and check it out," Cassius suggested.

Immediately, the tall and skinny gunman who had spoken first led the way, with Cassius and Red Fang following behind.

Mensa Village was located at the foot of a mountain, with a smattering of houses, some single-story and others two-story, around it. The overall color palette was white and black: white walls and black moldy marks left by weathering after the plaster had fallen off. There was very little of these small square buildings to be seen, as covered as they were with climbing vines, their tender green leaves swaying in the wind like door curtains. The weeds had taken over, not only the walls but the village's original roads as well. Plump grass seeds fell to the ground in the breeze.

Mensa Village was very quiet. No bird sounds, only the faint patter of footsteps as Cassius and the others walked. Occasionally, they would see signs of dilapidation—collapsed walls and broken fences that exposed cluttered courtyards.

Through the gaps in the vines, dark windows occasionally appeared in their line of sight, making eerie whiny noises in the wind. There was an inexplicable creepiness, which made sense given that this was an abandoned village.

As they turned a corner ahead, Red Fang glanced around and suddenly remarked, "Was there a fire here?"

The entire street ahead bore scorch marks, the black char spreading across the walls and the ground like mold. The two large trees adjoining the road appeared withered, their branches bare despite it being the lush summer season. The bark was unusually wrinkled, giving the impression of impending death.

"Huh? It was fine this morning," the lead gunman said, looking confused.

Cassius frowned. Standing on this street, he felt an extremely uncomfortable chill crawl over his skin.

"Hmm? There's evidence that a fight happened here." Red Fang pointed to a wall on the right.

Cassius immediately stepped over and squatted down beside it.

The wall was already uneven, full of pits and dents, but now that most of the surface had blackened, the white marks from bullet holes became much more conspicuous. Upon closer inspection, he could see four to five bullet holes. Some went right through the wall, while others left behind craters.

"It looks like it was recent," Red Fang said, touching the jagged edges of the craters. "Did any of you hear gunshots?"

"No," several gunmen replied in unison.

The tall gunman explained, "The area around Mensa Village is quite open and quiet. If someone had fired a gun, it would have been heard clearly for several kilometers, and we would have known."

"That's strange then." Red Fang glanced at Cassius who looked equally puzzled.

"Over here, my lords, we've found something else," called another gunman from ahead.

They walked over and immediately noticed strange symbols on the wall, resembling hideous graffiti.

"This looks like someone scratched it out with their fingernails. It goes all the way to the ground," Red Fang said, cleaning the white wall dust from under his nails.

Cassius's eyes shifted and saw there were, indeed, several long scratch marks on the ground, extending diagonally before getting abruptly cut off about two-thirds of the way across the road. It looked like someone with a strong will to live had grabbed at the ground with both hands but was dragged away by a monster.

However, there was no trace of blood on the ground, nor were there any claw marks that one might expect from a monster.

"…" Eyes narrowed, Red Fang scanned his surroundings, his gaze lingering especially on the dark windows, but nothing happened. If anything, the sky turned darker than before.

"Maybe those Duststorm members were using their tricks to buy time for the antique warehouse's transfer," Red Fang speculated. He ordered, "Well, forget about this for now. Let's check out the buildings where the intelligence department members disappeared."

The tall gunman continued to lead them quickly toward the back of the village. About three minutes later, the group paused.

In front of them stood a relatively intact two-story building, its exterior covered in a dense layer of creeping ivy. Surrounding it was a white enclosure with a rotting wooden fence that had long since ceased to serve as any form of barrier.

The group walked straight inside. The lead gunman was the first to enter the first-floor hall, calling out, "Jamie, Red Fang and Wind Elephant are here."

However, there was no response.

"Jamie! Jamie!" The only sounds echoing throughout the entire building were the gunman's calls.

"Jamie, he…"

"Let's go upstairs and check," Red Fang said, exchanging a glance with the tall, skinny gunman. He immediately led the way up the old staircase. The wooden handrails were peeling, caked in a thick layer of dust, with some rotting sections already falling apart.

It felt like every breath they took on the second floor, they inhaled dust. The interior of the house was quite dim. The original owner had left behind various pieces of furniture which were now covered in cobwebs, giving the whole place a pale appearance.

"Where is he?"

A couple of gunmen searched all the rooms—every drawer, every cupboard—but could find no sign of Jamie. Cassius walked over to the balcony and looked around.

After a moment, he saw rows of buildings standing there with no sign of life. Not even the chirping of birds could be heard in this place. There were one or two gunmen in the courtyard below, and along the street surrounding the residence, more patrolling black-clad gunmen. They were inspecting the area around the house which meant Jamie might still be nearby.

Cassius stood on the threshold between the second-floor living room and the balcony and checked his pocket watch for the time. It was not yet half-past ten.

Creak!

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from behind him.

"Red Fang, tell them to stop searching here and go to the other building instead. I have a bad feeling," Cassius said as he put away the pocket watch.

"Understood," came Red Fang's low voice from behind. A series of rapid footsteps heading downstairs immediately followed.

Cassius slipped the pocket watch into his pocket and was about to turn around when something caught his eye in his peripheral vision, startling him.

Cassius stared intently. On the street to the east of the house, two people were talking. One of them was the tall, skinny gunman who had been leading them, and the other was…Red Fang! Then, who was speaking just now…?

He spun around, his eyes fixed on the dark staircase where the "Red Fang" who answered Cassius had gone down.

Bang!

Cassius instantly turned into a shadow, darting down the stairs at an incredible speed. He veered off in another direction, crossing the threshold into the first floor. A gunman was about to step out of the door.

"Wait!" Cassius called him back, his tone grave. "Did you see Red Fang come down just now?"

"Lord Red Fang? Isn’t he outside?" The buzz-cut man pointed at the doorway with a puzzled expression.

"…" Cassius's brow furrowed even more deeply. "Come with me and check all the rooms on the first floor again!"

A few seconds later, he emerged from an empty room, his face like iron. There was nothing there, just as it had been when they first came in. So, who had been talking to him on the second floor just now?!

Cassius's senses were exceptionally sharp, honed by his fusion with the Shadow Demon, as well as the Heart Eye Secret Technique he had recently learned. If someone familiar walked behind him without speaking, Cassius could still guess their identity with about seventy to eighty percent accuracy. And the aura of that person had indeed been exactly like Red Fang's.

A Shadow Demon?!

That was the only plausible explanation. There was no way he had just hallucinated what just happened! But then again, if it had been a Shadow Demon, Cassius would have sensed it immediately, since similar beings are extremely sensitive to each other.

"Sir?" Seeing Cassius standing there in a daze without having uttered a single word, the gunman beside him grew concerned.

Whoosh!

A shadow swiftly darted out the door, disappearing in an instant.

Cassius quickly crossed the wooden fence and made his way to the street east of the house. Red Fang seemed to be giving some instructions to the tall, skinny gunman.

From about five meters away, Cassius suddenly called out, "Red Fang."

"Wind Elephant? What's up?"

Red Fang turned. A fierce gust of wind blew past, and the strong air current split Red Fang's hair down the middle, revealing his forehead, and right in the middle of the wind, a black fist rapidly approached.

"You!" Red Fang shouted in shock and fear.

Whoosh!

At the last second, the fist stopped just half a centimeter from Red Fang's nose. He could see the veins protruding out from the knuckles.

Gulp.

Red Fang stood frozen, swallowing hard. Once again, he felt a profound fear—the fear of having his head blown off with a single punch. If that punch had landed on him, he would be dead!

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Red Fang staggered several steps back. Initially incensed, he wanted to question Cassius, but inexplicably lost the nerve to blow up at him. He was afraid of angering Cassius and having his fear of a single-punch death fulfilled.

"So, you're the real one…" Cassius slowly withdrew his fist. As he opened his mouth to explain to Red Fang, his hand suddenly clenched again, the veins on the back of his hand bulging and creaking from his intensity.

Five meters ahead on the same street, a familiar buzz-cut man was looking around as he walked over.

He had just been inside the building! He had even spoken with him for half a minute!!!