Chapter 227: Hello… You Too…

Chapter 227: Hello… You Too…

“What the hell is this!”

“I don’t know.”

“Where are we?”

“No idea.”

“How did we get here!”

“Beats me.”

Siyuan was fuming. He sat inside a wooden hut with no windows, while outside, he could only hear shouting and fighting. Seated opposite him was Ghost Mother, who was dressed in ragged clothes, studying the layout of the room.

They had no recollection of how they had arrived there. The last thing they remembered was Siyuan using the Five Elements transformation technique to destroy the Formation Array, but what happened next… no one knew. They only saw a flash of white light, and the next moment, they found themselves sitting in this place, with two steamed buns laid out in front of them. Siyuan had even tasted one, and it felt like eating chicken droppings.

“I feel… we must have triggered the Formation Array,”

Siyuan paced around the room, stroking his chin, looking restless: “Most likely we’ve time-traveled.”

“Not ‘most likely’,” Ghost Mother put down the cup in her hand. “We really have time-traveled.”

After saying that, she stood up: “If what I learned isn’t wrong, we should be in Europe between the 13th and 15th centuries.”

“No… that can’t be, right?” Siyuan was also stunned. “And… why don’t you look like yourself anymore?”

“You too, why don’t you take a look in the mirror.”

Siyuan was completely bewildered. He walked stiffly over to the bronze mirror on the table and took a look… then immediately sat down on the stool.

If Ghost Mother still somewhat resembled herself, then Siyuan had completely turned into someone else—green eyes, a high nose bridge, and a mustache above his lips.

“This…”

“Soul possession,” Ghost Mother suddenly concluded. “We must have traveled to this era in another way. And I noticed it’s really noisy outside—something big must be happening.”

Just then, the wooden door of the hut they were in suddenly swung open. A young boy wearing a coarse cloth cap rushed in frantically. Seeing Ghost Mother, he cried out anxiously, “Jeanne is going to be executed!”

“Who is Jeanne?” Siyuan blinked, his face full of innocence. “Jeanne… that name sounds so familiar.”

The boy was also stunned. He mumbled for a while, gave Siyuan a strange look, and then hurriedly ran out again. Siyuan picked his nose. “Was he speaking Chinese just now? How come my foreign language skills are so good now?”

“Wait… wait… let me think this through,” Ghost Mother held her forehead. “Jeanne… Jeanne… Let me remember…”

After waiting for a while, Ghost Mother suddenly jumped up from the stool. “Saint Jeanne! She’s very famous—they say the French haven’t won a war since her and that shorty Napoleon!”

“My history isn’t great…” Siyuan stood by the window and looked down. The street was already packed with people, and far in the distance, a prisoner cart was slowly making its way forward.

The situation was a complete mess. Both Siyuan and Ghost Mother were in confusion. If today really was the day Jeanne was executed, then it must be May 30, 1431—nearly six hundred years before Siyuan’s time.

If that were the case, then Siyuan and Ghost Mother were using other people’s bodies to witness events that happened six centuries ago. If they weren’t mistaken, it must be the power of the Formation Array…

“How do we get back?” Siyuan wasn’t concerned about Jeanne; his only thought was how to return to the future. “We can’t stay in this place forever, can we? There’s not even a TV here—we’d die of boredom.”

“No, definitely not,” Ghost Mother walked to the window and looked into the distance. “This world feels very strange to me.”

“That’s an understatement. Of course it’s strange,” Siyuan raised the steamed bun in his hand. “This is insane—how can anyone eat this stuff?”

“Stop pacing around; you’re making me dizzy,” Ghost Mother stood up decisively. “Let’s go watch Saint Jeanne get burned.”

“What’s so interesting about that… I just want to go back as soon as possible.”

Siyuan was probably tired of pacing too. He plopped down on the stool and didn’t move, but his hands fidgeted restlessly, unable to make a decision.

Ghost Mother watched him for a moment, then without another word, grabbed his arm and pulled him outside.

Once outside, Siyuan looked back at where they had been and realized it was actually a butcher shop. So he had time-traveled into the body of a butcher. He grumbled to himself—why couldn’t it have been a rich young master or something…

Following the crowd, Siyuan and Ghost Mother arrived at the execution site. The townsfolk were gathered outside a fence, while inside, many guards stood watch. In the very center, he saw a young girl tied to a wooden stake. At her feet were piles of dry firewood, and beside her stood someone holding a torch. The scene was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

“Is this Saint Jeanne?” Siyuan whispered to Ghost Mother. “This… she’s just a child.”

“Nineteen years old. Historically, Saint Jeanne was burned at the stake at nineteen.”

Hearing this, Siyuan thought the old society was truly messed up. A nineteen-year-old girl who hadn’t even done anything wrong was being burned to death. In his time, aside from places like Afghanistan or India, no even slightly civilized country would do something like this.

“Should we… save her?”

“Save her?” Ghost Mother rolled her eyes at Siyuan. “Let’s not even discuss whether this world is real. But if it is, what then? If we change the past, are you sure we’ll return to the same world we left?”

“Then what should we do?” Siyuan pointed at the stake. “You want me to watch such a pretty girl get turned into crispy chicken?”

“Not crispy chicken—roasted chicken,” Ghost Mother stroked her chin, her eyes darting around. “Alright then, shall we try a prison break?”

“Could that cause problems?”

“Problems… there will definitely be problems. But since we’re playing, let’s make it big. If we can go back afterwards, then it means there was no problem. If we can’t… why would we care if there were problems?”

“What if we can’t go back?”

“Then we’ll have to get married and have kids here,” Ghost Mother spread her hands. “I’m fairly satisfied with this body, but I think you look a bit ugly—not as good-looking as before.”

Siyuan clicked his tongue twice. “So how do we do it? You tell me.”

“It’s nothing major.”

Just as Ghost Mother began pushing through the crowd to get inside, the executioner inside received the order. The torch shook as it was brought toward the pile of firewood beneath Saint Jeanne’s feet.

“No time left—hurry up!”

Siyuan snapped out of his daze, then quickly reacted. He dashed out from the crowd, slapped aside the guards who tried to stop him, and stood beneath the stake, looking up at Saint Jeanne.

“Grab them! They’re with this heretic!”

Shouts rose and fell behind them as the guarding guards swarmed around. But these guys were nothing in front of Siyuan, let alone Ghost Mother. Without even using Spellcraft, they quickly knocked down a whole group.

“What are you staring at?! Young man, get up there!”

“She… she…” Siyuan pointed at Saint Jeanne. “She’s not wearing any underwear! How can I grab her?”

“Have you lost your mind? This is no time to worry about that! Grab her, let’s retreat.”

Siyuan scratched his head and, without even looking, flung aside a guard who came to subdue him. Then he leaped onto the stake, put his hands together, and said to Jeanne, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your execution.”

After that, he snapped the thick rope binding Jeanne with one hand, then grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder like carrying a slab of pork. He glanced back at Ghost Mother. “Head south! Stop when you see a river!”

“Got it!”

Shaking off the pursuers, Ghost Mother vanished from the square in a flash. Siyuan, however, unhurriedly carried Jeanne on his shoulder, pushing through anyone who tried to stop him. Swords and spears couldn’t even get near him—it was as if he had turned invincible, without even a hint of nervousness.

But eventually, Siyuan thought the invincibility was a bit too conspicuous. Under so many watchful eyes, it was better to keep a lower profile… So Siyuan decided to withdraw too. But the girl on his shoulder seemed to be in shock—she hadn’t said a word the whole time…

They arrived at the spot where they had agreed to meet Ghost Mother. It wasn’t exactly a fixed spot since they didn’t know the area well. They just headed south the whole way, and who knows how long it took before they finally saw a river. When they spotted Ghost Mother, she was digging a hole by the riverbank, looking rather silly.

After setting Jeanne down, Siyuan walked over to Ghost Mother, watching as she stuck her hand into a hole with a focused expression. He couldn’t help but ask, “What are you… doing?”

“I saw a rat earlier—at least a pound heavy. I chased it into this hole, and I’m trying to get it out to roast for you later,” Ghost Mother continued feeling around inside. “What are you staring at? Help me!”

“Help how?”

“Start a fire!”

Siyuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He pointed at a relatively dry open spot by the river, snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a faint flame leaped up, burning steadily.

“Wow, you really can’t live without using Spellcraft, can you?” Ghost Mother pouted, pulling her hand out of the hole. She was indeed holding a rat the size of a cat, weighing at least a pound and a half.

“That’s… not…” Siyuan coughed and stared at the rat’s shiny little eyes. “Aren’t you scared?”

“When I was little and my family was poor, every summer my father would take my siblings and me up the mountain to catch field mice,” Ghost Mother’s expression was full of nostalgia. “That was probably… the happiest time of my life.”

“Luofu,” Siyuan patted her shoulder. “I’ll go catch field mice with you from now on.”

“Are you out of your mind? Who wants to catch those things? If it weren’t for being stuck here and bored, I wouldn’t bother.”

“Alright… you win.”

After that, he turned to look at Jeanne, who was sitting motionless on the riverbank. He whispered to Ghost Mother, “Go check on her. We caused this mess, stirred up trouble… let’s hope we didn’t rescue an idiot.”

“Then you roast the rat.” Ghost Mother shoved the big rat into Siyuan’s hand. “Don’t get bitten.”

Siyuan wasn’t in a hurry to deal with the big rat. He just stood watching Ghost Mother. Strangely, no matter what Ghost Mother said to this Jeanne, Jeanne remained silent. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, and her face was very pale. But it had to be said, by modern standards of beauty, this girl was quite pretty. Still, she didn’t look like the legendary heroine who led armies at sixteen.

“There’s a problem.” Ghost Mother raised her head and looked at Siyuan. “This girl has a problem.”

Siyuan stroked his chin and answered vaguely. “Hey, do you think… if we went to China now, could we find you and Mengling?”

“We might even find the little white dragon.” Ghost Mother smiled and shook her head. She gently pinched Jeanne’s chin and opened her mouth. “Hmph! Just as I thought.”

“What is it?”

“Her tongue was cut out.” Ghost Mother released her hand. “I thought it was strange that a sixteen-year-old girl could lead armies and fight. It seemed too unbelievable. It looks like this so-called Saint Jeanne was taking the fall for someone else.”

Siyuan nodded. “In this place… I don’t have any reservations. I can’t bring the dead back to life, but regenerating a severed limb is a piece of cake for me.”

“Then hurry up!”

“Alright!”

Siyuan wrapped the big rat in some torn clothes and stuffed it into his chest pocket. Then he stepped forward and used his spellcraft to restore Jeanne’s body to normal. But the moment he succeeded, the previous white light appeared again. He and Ghost Mother suddenly lost consciousness for a brief moment, completely unprepared.

When they regained their senses, they found themselves sitting in the hall of the pink manor villa. The room was filled with men in black suits and ties, and also…

“Long time no see, Uncle Dante.”

Siyuan greeted Dante with a smile, but Dante’s expression was quite grim. The muscles around his eyes twitched as he looked at Siyuan.

“Qi Siyuan, Special Operations Agent of the Greater China Region Special Cases Division, was here for a visit, right?”

Dante gritted his teeth and spoke to Siyuan angrily. “Did you enjoy your visit?”

“Huh? What? What do you mean?”

Siyuan’s heart sank, but following the principle that acting was key to survival, he decided to play dumb. “What are you talking about… I don’t know anything about that.”

Dante didn’t bother arguing with him. This matter was truly serious. He pointed at the floor. “Qi Siyuan, do you know what’s below this place?”

“Huh? What do you mean, what’s below?”

“Below is… oh my god.” Dante looked like he was about to cry. “Below is the entire history of Europe…”

“What?”

“What? You’re saying ‘what’ to me now?” Dante held his forehead. “Nine hundred years. Nine hundred years! Twelve hundred volunteers willingly used their own souls to guard the Hall of Heroes below. And you came for a visit! A visit would have been bad enough, but you went and destroyed their bodies. Now… dust to dust, earth to earth. There’s nothing left.”

“Huh???”

“Stop with the ‘huh’! Do you think I don’t know what just happened?” Dante sighed and slumped onto the sofa. He turned to a hooded figure nearby. “Come here for a moment.”

That person slowly walked over to him, turned to face Siyuan, and gently removed the hood. When Siyuan saw who it was, his blood pressure shot up. This person… wasn’t it the Jeanne he had just saved…?

“You left in too much of a hurry. I didn’t have a chance to thank you.” She looked at Siyuan with her golden eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve waited for six hundred years.”

“Huh?”

“Still ‘huh’?” Dante was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He slumped in his chair. “There’s an old saying in China: ‘Don’t mess with the ancestors.’ How am I supposed to explain this to my ancestors now? Down there! Right down there, you turned it into a skating rink, you know that? The floor is so smooth, hey, smoother than cement. Really something.”

“That… that…” Siyuan also felt that he might have messed up this time. He said apologetically, “I… I’ll compensate…”

“Compensate? With what, I ask you? What will you use to compensate? Twelve hundred heroic spirits, sent to the afterlife by you. The entire history of Europe, wiped out by you. So, in the end, it was you who changed world history?”

“Huh?”

“Jeanne, explain it to him.”

Jeanne smiled and stepped forward. “I’m sorry. I should have been dead, but because of you, I survived. And I don’t know what method you used, but I stopped aging. So… I created the Paris Commune, led the Communist International, and also…”

“Wait… wait!” Siyuan’s eyes nearly popped out. “Don’t tell me… the founding leaders of my homeland…”

“That’s right. They were all my students.”

“Oh my god…”

Siyuan felt completely overwhelmed. Leaning back on the sofa, he couldn’t say a word. He had heard of people who changed history, but he never thought that a small, impulsive act of his—rescuing someone from execution—would lead to something like this…

“The Butterfly Effect, you know?” Dante sighed. “If you hadn’t triggered the Soul Hall here today, I wouldn’t have fucking known that you were the one who did this! I met Jeanne twenty-five years ago. She told me two people saved her back then using Eastern spellcraft. I thought at the time it must have been some master who happened to travel there and saved her. I never thought… this could happen!”

“So now…”

“Now? What can we do now? I have to report this. I can’t handle this alone. Let Old Wang deal with it.” Dante sighed. “Don’t go anywhere these next few days. Wait quietly for the decision. Jeanne will stay here. You’d better be careful and not cause any more trouble for me.”

“Okay.” Siyuan quickly nodded. He glanced at Ghost Mother and saw her by the fireplace, whistling and roasting corn, as if it had nothing to do with her at all.

Watching Dante leave, Siyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Jeanne sat down across from him. “I never thought history could really be changed by human actions.”

Siyuan let out a long breath and looked at this woman with golden eyes. As he looked, his gaze slipped down to her chest. “Back then… you were just a young girl. Now you’ve grown up so much…”