Returning to the Mysterious Era

Dark clouds filled the sky, swirling like a vortex against the boundless black canvas of the night. At the center of this vortex loomed a pale moon, casting an eerie yet tranquil light.

"What is this?" Disbelief spread across Peacock's aged face. He scanned his surroundings and seemed to realize something. Quickly, he pulled a compass from his chest pocket.

The compass needle started spinning, its black tip not pointing toward the Mirror of Illusions within the church but instead in the opposite direction, seemingly aimed at the center of Mensa Village. The ruby at its center began to glow and flicker.

"Just as I thought… Hahaha! Just as I thought…" Peacock laughed. "Since the compass glowed once before, the Gate Fragments must be inside Mensa Village."

He now understood what was happening with the legendary Mirror of Illusions which, according to the Soma myths, had the power to invert reality and illusion. He had obtained it earlier from the church's basement, but without a mirror's surface, it was but a frame. The Gate Fragments weren't in the frame; they were on the vanished mirror. And it was precisely this mirror surface that was causing the current phenomenon.

Swoosh!

Suppressing his excitement, Peacock dashed out of the Mensa Church, chasing after Cassius's distant figure.

Within Mensa Village, the streets intersected in every direction. The village seemed much newer in the darkness. Quick footsteps echoed in a dim alley, and Cassius's figure appeared around the corner.

His face was grim as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.

After the brief skirmish, Cassius was forced to once again come to terms with his own abilities. As a pugilist, he posed a certain level of danger to combat artists. Firstly, his hardening Qigong made him remarkably tough. Even a combat artist using their most lethal techniques would need some time to beat him. Secondly, he was young and strong, able to wield powerful killing moves with his combination of Wind Elephant Fist and his Azure Wind Flow. If he could seize the right moment, he could potentially defeat a combat artist.

However, the old man named Peacock had a wealth of battle experience. His fighting style was cautious and smooth, with a variety of techniques. He maintained his advantage without becoming overconfident, never giving Cassius a chance to exploit any weakness.

Such an opponent was undoubtedly formidable. He clearly understood his strengths and concealed his weaknesses, gradually extending his advantage with speed and skill.

If his opponent had been a more aggressive combat artist, Cassius might not have found it so frustrating. Sure, he would've been more heavily suppressed and more seriously injured, but at least in exchange, he would've had more opportunities to either trade blows with his opponent or even mount a desperate counterattack.

"He's coming."

Cassius glanced back and saw a black figure speeding toward him, leaping several meters with each step, like a bird skimming lightly over a river's surface.

"Who are you?! What are you doing running around during the Great Spirit Ritual? Hurry to the square for the ceremony!" At the end of the alley, three men holding torches walked toward him. They were dressed in old, dark gray linen clothes. The flickering torchlight illuminated the black tattoos on their necks, depicting a coiled black snake with its jaws wide open as if it were about to swallow their heads.

"Get out of the way!"

Cassius had no intention of dealing with them. He merely sidestepped, bumping into one of the men as he did so. It did little to stop him and he disappeared down the next street.

"Damn it! How dare he run around during the Great Spirit Ritual! He must be one of those bastards from the church, those damned outsiders!" The man who had been bumped into cursed as he got up, looking at the middle-aged man holding a torch on the far right.

A white bone whistle dangling from his neck, the middle-aged man waved his torch."If it's just one person, there's no need to make a big fuss. Alert the other patrols and we'll have him caught and judged under the Great Spirit's will!"

"Huh? Over there…"

Crunch! Bang!

The man flew through the air like he was riding the clouds and mist, crashing heavily into a wall. Blood trickled out of his mouth and gushed out of his caved-in chest like a fountain; his internal organs had shattered.

In the spot where the middle-aged man had originally stood, Peacock withdrew his elbow, which he had used to absorb the impact. He gave a bemused look at the three men.

"How lifelike… It even feels real…"

Peacock raised his elbow slightly, his gaze sweeping over the terrified expressions of the remaining two men. "So this is the power of the Mirror of Illusions when it has the Gate Fragments? It recreated the Mensa Village from decades ago, even bringing the dead back to life."

His eyes burned with passion. With a swift step, he disappeared into the alley, leaving only the two frightened men at the corner.

"William, he…"

"Hurry, use the bone whistle to alert the other patrols in the village!"

The two men were just about to run when their heads suddenly toppled from their shoulders, dropping onto the ground with a thud and rolling, spilling warm blood. The blood spurted and slowly seeped into the cracks between the bricks.

At some point, the severed heads began to move on their own. A black, tail-like strand emerged from where their necks had been cut. Covered in scales, it started slithering, hissing as it moved. Finally, it disappeared into the shadows along the wall, the heads still attached.

Boom!

Cassius's fist struck the wall fiercely, and rubble flew out as a large hole appeared.

At his side, Peacock struck three quick blows with his hands, each one hitting Cassius in the area from his armpit to his ribs. The strikes tore through his thick skin, drawing blood and causing his tough muscles to go numb.

Cassius spun and delivered a powerful Severing Flow hand blade. The intense force of the blow caused the fabric of Peacock's shirt to ripple and tear, revealing blood on his chest, though it was a superficial wound.

"Young man, your destructive power is impressive, but your moves are only effective if they hit your target. Your attacking form is too obvious, and your moves have many openings. You haven't fully mastered your Covert Martial Arts yet…" Peacock talked as he punched. "To truly master a martial art, you need to integrate all your moves—straight punches, hooks, hand blades, elbows, whip kicks, knee strikes, and more—into a seamless flow. One second it might be a straight punch, the next a whip kick; one moment a hand blade, the next a knee strike. You need to be able to switch between moves effortlessly."

He didn't know why he was talking so much—perhaps this was him being excited, or maybe he was trying to confuse Cassius with his words.

"…"

Cassius remained silent. His body was covered in injuries, and at least three of them were hindering how he moved his muscles and joints. Peacock's combat experience was definitely far superior to his.

Suddenly, the light around them shifted again, turning night into day. But just a second later, day reverted to night. The periods of darkness were becoming longer.

During this brief flash, Peacock and Cassius clashed once more. This time, they seemed to go all out, roaring with rage, their eyes bloodshot. The moment their fists collided, it sounded like a beating drum.

Half the street was destroyed by their brute force, with most of the gray-white walls collapsing. Several patrols holding torches surrounded them.

The fight between the two reached a fever pitch, without any intention of stopping. The two blurred figures exchanged blows as they charged down the street. Every villager blocking their path was either knocked aside or flattened against the walls like pancakes. Blood and torches filled the broken streets.

"It's useless! What good is your hardening Qigong? You're just a punching bag!" Peacock yelled. His punch met Cassius's incoming fist, causing both to recoil.

Peacock then rushed forward, ramming into Cassius, driving his large frame back through a wall, where he crashed down to the ground with a thunderous boom.

Amidst the swirling dust, Peacock's face turned purple, a bit of blood oozing out from the corner of his mouth. He raised his trembling hand to wipe it away, his composure quickly returning.

As the dust settled, Peacock looked through the hole in the wall. There was an oval-shaped square, with numerous white stone pillars, flames flickering atop them. The square was crowded with shadows—there were nearly a thousand people in total, all villagers of Mensa Village. They knelt on the ground, their heads bowed low, and their arms crossed over their shoulders, as if embracing themselves, resembling a sideways, symmetrical hourglass.

A massive lifelike snake statue stood in the center, depicting a ferocious python with its jaws wide open, seemingly devouring the sky.

A frail old man, dressed only in a grass skirt, was dancing around a bonfire. He held a wooden staff in his hand, and his neck was adorned with a necklace made of teeth. His body was covered with a dense labyrinth of black snake tattoos, resembling clusters of leeches. The old man chanted in an unintelligible dialect, his voice carrying a strange rhythm.

"Kusa!" he shouted, raising the wooden staff high above his head.

In response, all the villagers lifted their heads and shouted in unison, "Kusa!"

Then, their eyes turned toward the accidental intruder Cassius, who was just getting back on his feet. Cassius sensed the hostility behind him.

He was about to sprint out of the square when a shadow suddenly flashed by and struck his chest, forcing him to stagger backward.

"Blergh!" Cassius coughed up a mouthful of blood and spotted Peacock behind the wall. Peacock was holding a compass, staring intently at the center of the square.

There's no mistake. The Gate Fragments are inside that snake statue. Peacock's eyes gleamed with excitement. I can sense it's dangerous over there, so let's have this kid test it out for me.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss… Hiss, hiss, hiss…"

Cassius, struggling to maintain his footing despite his injuries, heard a faint noise from around the square. It sounded like snakes slithering.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A dozen black snakes quickly slithered toward him across the square's floor. However, their heads were bizarrely human—not the slender snake heads one might expect, but round, pudgy human heads, each looking terrified and agonized.

These heads belonged to the villagers who had been caught in the crossfire between Cassius and Peacock!

The human-headed snakes sprang toward Cassius, their bodies coiling like springs, as they launched themselves through the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Cassius swung his fists rapidly, smashing the heads of the oncoming snakes. Heads now severed, their limp bodies dropped to the ground like strands of seaweed.

"Kusa!"

The shout came once more from the center of the square, echoing like a chant of "Hallelujah."

It meant, "Praise the Great Spirit, Praise the Giant Snake."

The villagers, now wearing eerie smiles, raised their hands to their heads and, with a swift twist, snapped their own necks. The sound of a thousand necks breaking was like a beehive's hum. Nearly a thousand human-headed snakes swarmed toward the statue at the center, moving like a black wave across the square.