Time Reversed?

In a courtyard in Zhou Family Village.

A white-bearded old man in his sixties reclined in a wicker chair, leisurely waving a bamboo fan.

"Old Sun, are you going to make a move or not? Just admit defeat so we can start the next game."

"Let me think, let me think." Across from him, a bald old man frowned deeply, staring at the board as though it had murdered his father, unable to decide on a move.

"Ah." The white-bearded old man shook his head, outwardly resigned but inwardly smug. From the corner of his eye, he caught two figures flashing past his courtyard and gave a quiet sound of surprise.

"What? Who was that?"

"Looked like the village chief's girl."

"Xiao Xian?" The bald old man smiled. "Rushing off to see Lizhu? Hahaha, the village chief couldn't keep his girl at home after all."

"No, I don't think so." The white-bearded old man lowered his bamboo fan, sounding rather surprised. "Why did it look like she was... chasing a barefoot older fellow?"

"Barefoot? Older fellow?" The bald old man looked away from the board, torn between laughter and disbelief. "Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. That girl just zipped past. What older fellow in our village could run that fast, barefoot at that? Wouldn't it hurt?"

"Uh, perhaps... my eyes were playing tricks?"

"Senior!"

Zhou Xiaoxian sprinted as fast as she could, panting, only to find that she simply could not catch up with Xia Yi, who was walking on his bare feet.

Fortunately, the source of the crash was not far away. After just two turns, an enormous yellow ox the size of an elephant came into view.

Unlike the one earlier, it no longer resembled an ordinary yellow ox. Its lips curled outward, and two great teeth like elephant tusks protruded from its mouth.

And on its previously hornless forehead, pitch-black horns more than a meter across had appeared out of nowhere. Even its hooves had sprouted sharp claws that gleamed coldly!

Though it looked terrifying, this was merely the most ordinary kind of ox demon soldier. The corpses of such demon soldiers killed by Human Race powerhouses could circle the Saint Soul Continent if laid end to end. Xia Yi could slaughter it with a wave of his hand.

But the other things that came into view made Xia Yi, who had been in a good mood since waking, suddenly frown.

Beside a half-collapsed house, a woman of around forty was crying over a middle-aged man lying on the ground, covered in blood. Farther away stood several villagers, some frightened, others anxious. They wanted to pull the woman away but were too afraid to approach.

And impaled on the ox's horn was a boy of fourteen or fifteen, still struggling. The sharp horn had pierced his abdomen, making his body convulse as blood poured out. He was clearly close to death!

"It really... really underwent Demonization?! Uncle Zhou Yi! Shi Lai!" Zhou Xiaoxian cried. "Senior! Please help! Save them!"

She knows them all? They're ordinary people. The one on the ground has already stopped breathing, and I'm afraid the one on the horn is beyond saving too. A little too late... damn it, are there so few cultivators in this village?

As the thought flashed through his mind, Xia Yi took off his bamboo hat and flung it forward. He wanted to kill this ox demon stained with human blood as quickly as possible!

The boy hanging from its horn stopped twitching. At the same instant, Xia Yi overtook the hat he had thrown and collided with it.

Light and shadow swirled. His Saint Soul activated!

Yet Xia Yi suddenly found his vision blurring, the scene before him rapidly receding!

"What's going on? Am I delirious from hunger?"

Surprise appeared on his face. In his daze, Xia Yi saw two old men playing a board game in the courtyard beside him.

Old men... playing a board game?

Xia Yi stopped running.

Zhou Xiaoxian nearly crashed into him. She braked sharply, panting. "Senior?"

Xia Yi was silent for a moment. He surveyed his surroundings, frowned, and took a few steps backward to peer into the courtyard-it really was those two old men playing.

"Barefoot? Older fellow?" The bald old man had just looked away from the board, torn between laughter and disbelief. "Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. That girl just zipped past. What older fellow in our village could run that fast, barefoot at that? Wouldn't it hurt?"

"Uh, perhaps... hey, look!"

The two old men looked over.

The three old men stared at one another.

"You really weren't seeing things."

"Grandpa Qin! Grandpa Sun!"

"Xiao Xian, who's this older fellow?"

"He..." Unsure how to introduce him, Zhou Xiaoxian looked at Xia Yi.

Xia Yi withdrew his gaze and slowly asked, "Little girl, have we been here before?"

Been here? We? Zhou Xiaoxian was bewildered. Didn't we only just meet? Have you been to our village before? Don't tell me... you're having another episode?

Xia Yi looked at the two old men again.

"Did you see me and this girl run past here three minutes ago?"

The two old men exchanged bewildered looks.

He's having another episode after all! Zhou Xiaoxian fretted.

At their reaction, Xia Yi looked faintly surprised. He turned and continued toward the ox demon, and Zhou Xiaoxian hurried after him.

Two minutes later, they once again spotted the elephant-sized yellow ox demon in the distance.

Its horns were just as sharp, but no one was impaled on them. Instead, a boy was nimbly circling it with a sword, fighting as he moved.

A house nearby had collapsed, but there was no crying middle-aged woman or unconscious middle-aged man among the ruins. A short distance away, the woman was supporting the man, who had suffered some scrapes, as they watched the boy fighting the yellow ox demon with gratitude and worry.

Everything earlier seemed like an illusion!

"It really... really underwent Demonization?! Thank goodness Uncle Zhou Yi is all right!" Zhou Xiaoxian exclaimed delightedly. "It looks like Shi Lai saved them! Senior, please help Shi Lai!"

"...His name is Shi Lai? Is he from your village?"

"Yes!" Zhou Xiaoxian nodded quickly, then shook her head. "Like you, he wandered into our village a little over twenty days ago. He's very nice. Most people in the village already consider him one of us."

"A little over twenty days ago? Wandered here?"

Xia Yi was certain he did not have dementia, nor had some special illusion Saint Soul confused him. It was even less possible that he had suddenly seen a glimpse of the future.

Then it could only be... time reversing? In these eight hundred years, has a Saint Soul capable of reversing time appeared? Is this Shi Lai a direct heir of some great clan, with a powerful protector nearby?

Impossible. A special Saint Soul alone wouldn't be enough to warp a stretch of time that included me!

Besides, this boy is fifteen or sixteen and still on the verge of one star. His swordsmanship is so clumsy, as though he's only just learned it. He shouldn't be from a great clan either.

He could not work it out. In the distance, the ox's charges were putting the boy in increasing danger. Anxious and puzzled, Zhou Xiaoxian called again, "Senior?"

She had caught her breath. Seeing Xia Yi remain motionless, she leaned forward, intending to help, while tentatively reaching for her sword in his hand.

Xia Yi shifted aside, avoiding Zhou Xiaoxian's hand, and decided to save the boy before pondering this further.

But just as he took off his bamboo hat, the boy fighting the ox demon happened to roll into a position where he could see Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian.

Then... he actually got distracted in the middle of the fight.

And so he ended up impaled on the horn again.

This time, it pierced his heart, killing him almost instantly!

"Shi Lai!"

Amid Zhou Xiaoxian's startled cry, Xia Yi gripped the brim of his hat tightly and stared at the scene in the distance.

What was it like to be stared at by a barefoot, slovenly old man?

Zhou Qin had lived for nearly sixty years and had ventured beyond the village in his youth. He considered himself widely experienced. At first, he could still stroke his white beard and meet Xia Yi's gaze with friendly curiosity, but half a minute later...

He yanked out a tuft of his beard, the pain nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

Across from him, Old Man Sun discreetly swept away the game he was certain to lose and picked up the board.

"Who are you looking for? Xiao Xian?"

"Grandpa Qin, Grandpa Sun."

Zhou Xiaoxian poked her miserable little face out from behind Xia Yi. She badly wanted to say that this senior seemed to have something wrong with his head, but she was too embarrassed.

But what am I supposed to do?!

Just then, another crash came from the distance. Startled, Zhou Xiaoxian finally remembered that a yellow ox might still be running wild over there. Looking at Xia Yi, she helplessly reached for her sword in his hand, intending to go there herself first.

Presumably, though this senior was rather unhinged, he would not hurt Grandpa Qin and Grandpa Sun.

Xia Yi shifted aside, avoiding Zhou Xiaoxian's hand. "Does this movement, dodging your hand as you reach for the sword, feel familiar? Any sense of déjà vu?"

Zhou Xiaoxian: ???

Xia Yi sighed inwardly, then turned and strode toward where the ox demon was wreaking havoc, arriving two minutes later.

The same ox, the same boy.

Instead of one collapsed house, there were now two, but there were no casualties. The boy fighting the ox demon actually seemed exceptionally familiar with its attacks. Though he had yet to form a star and was an ordinary person, he could wound the ox demon with his sharp sword!

"Time reversing? No, it's more like..."

"It really... really underwent Demonization?! Thank goodness Uncle Zhou Yi and the others are all right!" Zhou Xiaoxian exclaimed delightedly.

"It looks like Shi Lai saved them! Senior, please help Shi Lai!" (Or give me back my sword.)

This time, Xia Yi did not ask who Shi Lai was, because he could anticipate that Zhou Xiaoxian's answer would probably be no different from before. Instead, he silently took off his bamboo hat, flung it forward, and shot after it!

Overtaking the hat, Xia Yi collided with it. The unremarkable bamboo hat suddenly became a pitch-black phantom, flowing to either side before finally transforming into two wings that sprouted from Xia Yi's back!

Five-Star Saint Soul, Hat-to-Wings, activate!

With a beat of his wings, Xia Yi took flight close to the ground, crossing a hundred meters in almost a second. His sharp sword plunged straight into the top of the ox demon's head. Blood sprayed!

Beside him, Shi Lai's eyes widened. "An instant kill! I've been all over Starter Village, but this is my first time seeing him. He really is a high-level NPC. Is this a special encounter I got for unlocking the main quest? He actually has a flying skill?! I want to learn it so badly!"

"Hey, hey, hey, watch out, old man! It's not dead yet!" he suddenly cried.

The ox demon lay limply on the ground, seemingly dead. But when Xia Yi pulled out his sword, its scarlet eyes suddenly opened again. With a loud moo, it swept its horns up at Xia Yi!

Seemingly caught completely off guard, Xia Yi scrambled to block with his sword. With a clang, the ordinary-quality blade snapped against the horn! The horn swept past Xia Yi's body by the narrowest of margins!

Its strength spent and its final frenzy over, the ox demon's life faded. Holding the broken sword's hilt, Xia Yi looked beside him with surprise and guilt.

Shi Lai lay on the ground, twitching, his eyes wide as he clutched the sword tip embedded in his throat.

His vision gradually darkened.

[Victory and defeat are part of a warrior's life,

Young hero, please try again.]

The two lines of bright red text were dazzling.

"??!"