"Oh?" Sun Hang raised an eyebrow, "Finally some new and different plot?"

But before he could speak, the Hunter passed through Sun Hang like a ghost.

Sun Hang turned his head and saw another person standing behind him.

But this person wasn't the Hunter; he was dressed like a backpacker—an eye-catching reflective strip was stuck on his goose-yellow hard-shell jacket, he carried a large-capacity hiking bag, and held an elite-looking trekking pole.

The backpacker's features appeared blurry to Sun Hang, as though a piece of memory was missing... Yet, for some reason, despite not seeing his face clearly, Sun Hang could still read the surprised expression on it.

A Federally registered Hunter, who passed a formal assessment, seeking help from a backpacker... This scene felt all kinds of irrational; surely it couldn't be that the backpacker was actually a hidden expert?

The next second, a stone the size of a bowl flew out from inside the great hall, smashed the head of the Hunter seeking help, and continued to penetrate the backpacker's chest.

The backpacker looked down at the bloody hole in his chest in disbelief, swayed, and fell straight to the ground.

A hidden expert got killed instantly?

No... no, that's not right!

Sun Hang's breathing became slightly hurried; he felt he had grasped the key to the problem.

This segment of memory did not belong to him because, in his memory, he neither saw those Mysterious Creature Hunters running out of the great hall nor witnessed the backpacker being killed by the stone...

This belongs to Dragon Rock Fortress, or rather, the memory of Longyan Temple!

This was the damn memory of the mysterious creature!

Sun Hang had no idea when he read the other's memory, then blended it with his own, creating this bizarre and irrational scene before him.

The one whose head was smashed by the stone shouldn't be a Mysterious Creature Hunter, but just an ordinary backpacker—all because of the overlap and confusion between Sun Hang's memory and the mysterious creature's memory... It's like a video game glitch where an elite monster's model was placed on a common little monster that could be killed with one slash.

"So... can memories be pushed forward?" Sun Hang sat cross-legged in the yard, entering a meditation state.

He needed to eliminate all distractions and restore this mysterious creature's original and most accurate memory.

To achieve this, Sun Hang must forsake his own existence; in the process of exploring the memory, he must carry no emotion or subjective will, nor should he mix in any memory not belonging to the "original owner"...

He must become an emotionless, self-less "observer"... or perhaps more aptly described, a cold camera hanging in the corner.

The surrounding scenery began to rewind like film, accompanied by cycles of sunrises and moonsets, the advertisements and graffiti on the courtyard walls gradually lessened, occasionally a few blurry figures flickered by like light beams but quickly vanished.

Gradually, more blurry figures appeared, the missing bronze cauldron also appeared in the yard, inserted with incense sticks.

Sun Hang could basically confirm these scenes only existed in memory, rather than him returning to the era when Longyan Temple was not yet in ruins—if this mysterious creature truly had the ability to allow him to travel through time, those annoying three monkeys would have already jumped out by now.

The speed of memory rewind suddenly slowed, and the scene finally froze at a certain day's dusk; two little monks sent off the last batch of pilgrims, closed the courtyard gate, and bolted it.

At this moment, the monk who seemed slightly younger suddenly whispered: "Senior brother... how much longer can Shifu hold on in his current state?"

"Don't ask, this isn't our concern!" the elder monk sternly replied, "Elder brother said anyone who dares leak this will be expelled from the monastery!"

"But, shouldn't we find a doctor for Shifu..." the younger monk anxiously asked.

"This kind of illness... even town doctors might not cure it." the elder monk shook his head, "Spreading it around would only have them think it's a demonic possession... Then, no one will come to Longyan Temple for incense and we'll all starve!"

Demonic possession?

Sun Hang's heart was stirred; Yang Qi had told him that many terms existed for mysterious creatures back in the day, and within religious organizations, these creatures were usually called "demons" or "evil spirits."

In the prosperous years of incense at Longyan Temple, the southwest direction, Yundian Plateau, hadn't yet fallen, and Shuzhou wasn't part of the frontier areas; furthermore, transportation and communication were not advanced, hence few among common folk understood mysterious creatures. Many only knew the outside world was filled with terrifying monsters, leading many human nations to ruin... Yet, to ask about what mysterious creatures really were, few could articulate adequately.

What's certain is that in those days, the term "mysterious creature" was something people avoided mentioning, as if mentioning it would bring some kind of disaster... Upon encountering incomprehensibly peculiar events, people rarely chose to report to authorities first; rather, they would visit such temples to burn incense and pray, seeking protection from "Buddha" and "Bodhisattva."

Could it be that the "Shifu" these two monks mentioned was infected by a mysterious creature?

In modern society, this might only be regarded as an ordinary mimetic infection event; but for Longyan Temple during those times, it would definitely be considered a catastrophic disaster.

"It seems, the decline of Longyan Temple might have hidden facts." Sun Hang mumbled softly, walking straight towards the two young monks—just like with the Hunter who got killed by the stone, these two young monks showed no awareness of Sun Hang's presence, passing through him like ghosts.

No, to be accurate, Sun Hang was the ghost in this memory world.

Sun Hang did not stand around blankly but followed them closely, passing through the side hall, and along a dirt path made through footsteps, arriving at the place monks lived daily behind the temple.

This was a courtyard surrounded by seven or eight rooms; a monk appearing to be in his thirties guarded the entrance. Upon seeing the two little monks approaching, he stood up immediately and asked in a deep voice, "Have the temple's pilgrims all left? Did you check both the side hall and the back hill?"

"Yes." The elder young monk nodded, then asked again, "Senior brother, today..."

"It's your responsibility today." The monk glanced at the elder young monk, "Be careful when feeding, don't spill any broth or soup on the bedding!"

"Yea... okay." The young monk nodded timidly.

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