When Wen Wen learned that Ishna and the Night Knight both wanted him to join them in pursuing Egel, he was utterly bewildered.
Why would they need someone like him, a 'burden,' to hunt down a Cataclysm-level entity who had fled?
He could understand Ishna's reasoning. After all, she suspected him of being involved in the great upheaval and naturally wanted to keep him close for observation.
But what about the Night Knight? He didn't even know this powerful figure.
Harman, however, didn't overthink it. He saw it as a trial by fire. With two Cataclysm-level powerhouses leading the pursuit of a severely injured Cataclysm-level opponent, the danger wouldn't be too great, and he could learn a lot.
There wasn't much time for preparation, only half an hour. So, Harman took Wen Wen to change clothes. Then, the two of them followed the two Cataclysm-level powerhouses onto a black aircraft, beginning their journey to hunt Egel.
Egel's hiding abilities were strong, and he occasionally stopped to engage with his pursuers. Although the Night Knight could pinpoint Egel's location, capturing him proved difficult. The most troublesome aspect was that once daylight arrived, the Night Knight would inexplicably disappear, severing their leads and giving Egel time to escape.
They traveled like this, stopping and starting, until the four of them arrived on an island off the southeastern coast of the Hua Prefecture region.
Egel's aura was present on this island, and unlike before, he wasn't circling around. It was as if he were waiting for them there.
...
Hua Prefecture region, Fengyang City.
A man wearing a mask walked out of the airport carrying a package.
This man was, of course, Wen Wu. Wen Wen had already prepared all the necessary documents for him. He was now an assistant recruited by Wen Wen, with the same authority as a regular demon hunter.
Therefore, even with a mask, he encountered no trouble entering or exiting various public facilities.
He stepped onto this familiar land and took a deep breath.
In that real dream, he had spent the latter half of his life in this city, becoming its most powerful guardian. He was intimately familiar with every street.
He followed his memory and turned into a small alley.
The stinky tofu stall at the alley entrance was indeed run by the little胖墩 (pàngdūn - chubby kid) he remembered, and the aroma of the stinky tofu was just as he recalled.
Next to it, Sister Zhao at the fruit stand, just like in his memory, had a large birthmark on one of her arms.
"Everything in my memory matches this place perfectly... So, were my memories real or illusory?"
Wen Wu felt a slight bewilderment, but he continued down the path from his memory.
Since the stinky tofu stall and the fruit stand were both there, would that woman also be here?
The woman in that illusory dream who had given birth to a three-year-old son for him.
He arrived at the morning market on Yizhou Community Construction Street in Fengyang City. At the entrance to the market stood an ancient Chinese scholar tree, over a hundred years old. There should have been a wound on the tree.
Before he awakened his superpower, he had come here and encountered a monster.
He had been treated as potential food by that monster. Had it not been for that woman passing by coincidentally and pulling out the bone spurs that pinned his body, he would have died then and there.
Looking at the ancient scholar tree, Wen Wu suddenly let out a scoff. There was no trace of a wound from bone spurs on the tree.
"In the end, I am just an illusory will. Even if that experience was incredibly real, how could it leave any trace in reality?"
Wen Wu shook his head and walked out of the morning market somewhat sadly, preparing to leave.
He knew that the woman had a small supermarket nearby, busy working hard to support her family.
But he was afraid. He didn't want to go over. What if that woman was truly just a figment of his imagination, not a real person?
What if that woman looked exactly like the one in his memory, but was actually someone else?
What if that woman didn't feel favorably towards him like in his memory, but was instead afraid of him?
With so many worries, it was better not to meet. After all, he was just an elderly clone. What difference would it make if he met her?
They couldn't possibly reconcile.
Wen Wu walked on, shaking his head, feeling a sense of loss in his heart.
Suddenly, he heard a sharp, shrewish voice: "Can't you read? This is a small business. Once sold, no returns or exchanges. I've told you many times. Don't try to swindle me."
"Enough with the nonsense. Give me another pack of cigarettes. I'm not reporting you for selling fakes, which should be enough."
Upon hearing this exchange, Wen Wu's eyes suddenly lit up. He turned and ran into the morning market, his eyes gleaming faintly.
He remembered this conversation. His first encounter with that woman had happened in a similar scene.
He pushed through the crowd and saw a woman standing at the entrance of the shop, her face flushed red as she held a mop. He smiled with satisfaction.
"She's really here, and her personality is exactly as I remembered."
On his journey to Fengyang City, Wen Wu had occasionally complained about the unfairness of fate, wondering why his life was all fake, and why he had to become a clone of an 'original.'
But now, he was suddenly grateful to fate, because if fate hadn't intervened, he would never have seen this woman again.
The woman at the shop entrance suddenly felt a scorching gaze. She turned her head and saw a man with slightly graying hair and a mask, staring at her intently.
His gaze made her feel uncomfortable, and she lost her focus on arguing with the burly man in front of her.
"Scared, aren't you? Feeling guilty? There's no need to be soft with you black-hearted merchants."
The man holding a pack of cigarettes and yelling was a bald, stout man wearing a sleeveless shirt. He held a pack of Iron-Eating Beast cigarettes. These cigarettes were expensive; a carton of ten packs sold for over a thousand yuan.
The pack in his hand was an inferior product he had somehow acquired.
"If you won't exchange it for me, then give me a refund. I've been more than reasonable, haven't I?"
This burly man was actually trying to extort her. He had bought two packs of cheap cigarettes from her before and then advertised to the surrounding vendors as he left.
Today, he brought fake cigarettes to demand compensation from the woman. He had already inquired and learned that only a young woman managed the shop, with no one else to back her up.
If this woman refused to pay, her shop wouldn't be able to operate anymore. If she paid, then he would patronize her again in the future.
Suddenly, Wen Wu lightly patted him on the shoulder from behind: "Hey, young man with two dragons tattooed on your shoulder, don't be in such a hurry to shout. Let me take a look, alright?"
"What dragons? These are two hairtails. This is between me and this woman. Go on, get out of here."
Wen Wu smiled knowingly. This was just like the conversation in his memory, except back then, he was still a young man.