Chapter 143 Hello, My Name Is Yang Dong

Yinyin was standing right in front of me at that moment, her large, beautiful eyes gazing into mine. Snapped out of my daze by Chen Chuyi, Yinyin suddenly burst into a bright giggle.

"Were you completely stunned by the enchanting scenery of our Shadowless Village? Let me tell you, our Shadowless Village is the most beautiful place I have ever seen!"

I offered a faint, bitter smile and asked, "Then how many other places have you actually been to?"

Hearing my question, Yinyin broke into a wide grin.

"Me? I've lived in Shadowless Village ever since I was a little girl. I believe our Shadowless Village is the most wonderful place in the world. I'm sure the outside world isn't nearly as lovely..." As she spoke, I could clearly sense the little girl's insincerity.

Living in Shadowless Village since childhood—could this little girl be the very Yinyin I was searching for? The daughter that Lady Wan had mentioned with her dying breath?

"By the way, Yinyin, who else is in your family?"

At this, Yinyin pouted her lips slightly and whispered, "I only have a grandpa, and my grandpa is the village chief! In Shadowless Village, my grandpa has the highest authority and manages everyone here."

Really?

A sudden tremor ran through my heart. Yet, this detail completely contradicted my memories. In my memory, the previous Yang East had encountered this little girl almost immediately upon entering Shadowless Village, followed her into the settlement, and then walked straight into that gate-shaped formation. Within that formation, I could clearly perceive a massive ancestral hall at its deep center, much more luxurious than any of the surrounding houses, and the village chief—who looked almost identical to me—resided inside it. Yet, everything before me now bore no resemblance to what I had seen in my memories; instead, it was a picture of tranquil peace.

Green mountains and clear waters, crisscrossing paths between fields, the sounds of dogs barking and chickens crowing, bridges over flowing streams, and quaint cottages—a scene of utter serenity.

Yet the more peaceful it appeared, the harder it was for my heart to settle, and the less I dared to relax for even a single second.

"Come on, let's head to my house first. Even though our Shadowless Village doesn't care much for outsiders, once you've won my grandpa's approval, you'll be treated with the highest honors in the village!"

I managed a slight, bitter smile. It seemed that the authority of Yinyin's grandfather, the chief of Shadowless Village, was indeed immense.

The moment the three of us stepped into the village and set foot on the bluestone path, a burly man suddenly emerged, holding a basin of vegetable-washing water. The instant he caught sight of the three of us, he shuddered violently. He dropped the basin of water right where he stood, bolted toward the house behind him, and slammed the heavy wooden door shut with a loud crash.

If you thought I would be frightened by such a scene, you would be entirely mistaken. As we continued forward, I witnessed even more startling sights: children who burst into tears the moment they caught sight of us three strangers, and villagers who slammed their doors shut the second they saw us approaching, refusing to utter a single word. Yet, I could read the stark terror, dread, and fear written plainly across their faces.

Faced with this bizarre phenomenon, I found it almost impossible to comprehend. But linking it with the fragments of my memories, along with some recollections from Thrush Village, my heart began to find a modicum of calm. It seemed that under these circumstances, I had to remain composed; the reactions of these people toward me were actually entirely natural. By this point, a speculation was already taking shape in my mind.

Could the person I was about to meet turn out to be another version of myself?

If that were the case, I would be utterly and completely baffled. Back in Thrush Village, Yang East was the previous version of me; yet the memories I had witnessed inside the corpse coffin showed that after entering Shadowless Village, Yang East had encountered an old man who looked identical to him, and that old man had even uttered words like, "You've finally come."

If so, it was entirely possible that the village chief Yinyin spoke of was indeed the person identical to Yang East that he had seen before. Who on earth was this person? Why did he remain in Shadowless Village? Could Shadowless Village turn out to be the next Thrush Village?

Lost in thought, the three of us arrived before the ancestral hall. Standing at its entrance, I could clearly sense that the entire place exuded an eerie strangeness. To begin with, the layout of the ancestral hall itself was bizarre, shaped remarkably like a giant Chinese character for "Prison" or "Control".

My unease grew steadily. At that moment, Chen Chuyi walked up to my side, gently patted my shoulder, and said, "Go on in. This is something you must face; you can never run away from it."

I nodded, left with nothing to do but offer a bitter smile.

In truth, my mind had already made its peace. From my perspective, whatever I could imagine, whatever I could foresee, and whatever I might encounter could only amount to this. Since I had to face all of this, there was no need to conceal anything anymore.

Xiyue, standing beside me, seemed rather frightened. After all, the colorful decorations inside the ancestral hall, paired with rows of ancestral tablets of all sizes standing within, naturally presented a deeply chilling sight.

Xiyue's current mental capacity was equivalent to that of a young child; whenever she encountered something terrifying, her immediate instinct was to clutch tightly at my clothes. I gently patted the back of Xiyue's hand, grasped it firmly, and together we stepped steadily into the ancestral hall. Taking a glance around, I noticed that the hall was not located on the central axis of the village; rather, it deviated significantly. This ancestral hall was much larger than the nameless ancient tomb we had crawled out of earlier. The moment we stepped inside, a wave of biting, gloomy chill swept toward us. Raising my eyes, I saw that on the ancestral tablet right in the center of the hall, the name "Yang East" was unmistakably inscribed. Although the calligraphy style was exceedingly bizarre, a mere glance was enough for me to clearly recognize it as my own name.

Furthermore, the tablet bearing my name was blood-red, while all the surrounding tablets were pitch-black, resembling ordinary coffins, radiating a bone-chilling cold the moment one stepped inside.

"Are you three the outsiders Yinyin mentioned?"

Just as I was looking around, a voice suddenly broke my train of thought. I turned around to see an elderly man standing behind me. To my utter shock, the old man's appearance bore an uncanny resemblance to my own.

It was no exaggeration to say that the old man before me looked precisely like my future self.

The old man also stared at me in a daze for a long time. It wasn't until Yinyin ran out from the room, caught sight of us, and shouted "Big brother!" that the old man withdrew his penetrating gaze. In its place, a gentle expression emerged as he extended a hand and said, "Hello, my name is Yang East!"