Ouyang raised his head to look at the languid Heart Cloud and asked softly, "Old fellow, what's your name?"
The Old Clan Leader, who had nearly dozed off beside him, suddenly jolted awake. Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, he asked blankly, "Me? Fan Rubin. Young Master, why are you suddenly asking my name?"
"Because at first, I thought you'd die after delivering your message, so I didn't really want to know the name of an old acquaintance about to die. Otherwise, I'd have to burn a few extra sheets of spirit money when paying my respects at the Qingming Festival!" Ouyang said with a chuckle.
Fan Rubin gave a wry laugh and replied, "You certainly speak bluntly, Young Master!"
But Ouyang burst into hearty, unrestrained laughter. Turning to the aged Fan Rubin, he said, "But now, I, your Clan Leader, won't allow you to die! Call me Clan Leader!"
Fan Rubin smiled with narrowed eyes. "Of course, Young Master!"
From his earlier dejection to his brimming confidence now, Ouyang had come to understand many things through that exchange of gazes with the Grand Ancestor, in which ten thousand years had passed in a single glance.
The first thing Ouyang could confirm was that his master's master, that Grand Ancestor of his, was not himself. He had not traveled into the past to change the so-called timeline.
On this world's chessboard, there were indeed many beings placing pieces and laying their plans.
Whatever reasons had driven them to lay their plans to this day, once they placed a piece, they could no longer control its thoughts.
Once they placed a piece, they could only keep laying plans to guide it onto a path that secretly aligned with their wishes.
But if the pieces had thoughts of their