Imperial Examination Hall

He looked at the doorway that had appeared out of nowhere. Though he had seen much in his time, a flicker of surprise still crossed his eyes.

The Rewind Pupil quietly activated, silver light swirling in his eyes as he tried to pierce the mists of time. But the scene before him seemed soaked in thick ink, or perhaps repeatedly kneaded by some invisible force. The images of the past were fragmented and impossible to piece together.

"Is this Huang Chao's doing... or has too much time passed?" Xiao Ran murmured.

The Rewind Pupil was no omnipotent. If Huang Chao had altered Chang'an too long ago, even he would struggle to see the full picture.

"What is this place?" He bent forward slightly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the dim space beyond the doorway.

The first thing he saw was a massive iron pot that nearly filled the center of the room. Its thick rim was caked with years of grease and ash. Tables and chairs lay scattered around it, all buried beneath a thick layer of dust. The layout was still vaguely recognizable: this had once been a soup shop.

Shao Hongzhang silently stepped past Xiao Ran and entered. His feet crunched softly through the thick layer of dust. In the stale air, the faintest trace of rancid mutton still lingered.

He slowly looked around, his gaze passing over the overturned benches and cracked counter before settling on the silent iron pot. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice came out rough and heavy, as if scraped raw by sandpaper. "Wangjia Mutton Soup..."

He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps addressing the dead silence around him. "Back when I got off duty late, I used to come here for a bite."

Shao Hongzhang's gaze grew distant and