Chapter 75: Where To Sit?
After repeatedly activating Future Echo, Mohan finally began to suffer the backlash of his S-Rank talent.
A sharp ringing filled both ears.
He instinctively covered them, his face twisting in discomfort as his eardrums throbbed violently.
Bzzzz...
Another fragment of the future arrived.
"Shen Yu... Shen Yu..."
"You actually dared to disobey my orders!"
"Shen Yu!"
The furious roar echoed through Mohan’s mind before abruptly disappearing.
He froze.
The voice belonged to someone he had never met before.
Who was it?
More importantly...
Why was such a powerful existence so enraged with Shen Yu in the future?
Mohan slowly lowered his hands, his expression growing darker.
Just what did that brat do...?
His icy gaze swept toward Shen Yu.
Shen Yu merely blinked in confusion.
He had done absolutely nothing.
Why was Mohan suddenly glaring at him as though he had committed some unforgivable crime?
Before anyone could speak again, the strange cooing sounds inside the courtyard intensified.
Crack... Crack...
A villager’s neck suddenly bulged.
The stone face growing from the tombstone on his back stretched farther outward until it protruded over his shoulder.
Its gray neck elongated unnaturally as it reached toward the courtyard entrance.
More villagers began changing.
The stone faces slowly crawled farther from the monuments.
"We’re out of time."
Mohan’s expression turned grim.
"Taishan."
"Let’s go inside."
Without waiting for anyone else’s opinion, he strode into the courtyard.
Taishan silently followed behind.
The two ignored the countless unsettling stares fixed upon them.
Inside the courtyard stood several banquet tables.
Every table was occupied by villagers eating and chatting as though nothing unusual was happening.
Mohan’s eyes rapidly scanned every seat.
Finally...
He noticed a table in the far corner.
Several middle-aged villagers and two children were seated there.
Only two positions remained vacant.
One directly facing the fish’s head.
The other directly facing the fish’s tail.
Instead of choosing either empty seat...
Mohan squeezed himself beside one of the middle-aged villagers.
"Move over."
The villager silently shifted.
Taishan immediately sat beside another villager as well.
The instant both men sat down...
The murderous atmosphere surrounding them completely disappeared.
The villagers resumed eating.
The stone faces slowly withdrew their attention.
Instead...
Every cold gaze shifted toward the only two outsiders still standing.
Shen Yu.
And Lucian.
Lucian felt goosebumps spread across her arms.
Every villager...
Every stone face...
Every twisted smile...
Was now staring only at them.
"Shen Yu..."
"No matter what..."
"We have to sit somewhere."
She grabbed his sleeve before cautiously walking toward Mohan’s table.
Since nothing had happened to Mohan or Taishan...
Surely sitting there should be safe.
Step...
Step...
They arrived beside the table.
Only two seats remained.
The fish-head position.
And the fish-tail position.
Lucian instinctively reached for the seat facing the fish’s tail.
Across the table...
A faint smile appeared on Mohan’s lips.
Everything was proceeding exactly as Future Echo had warned him.
He quietly leaned back.
Ready to enjoy the show.
At the same moment...
Shen Yu reached toward the remaining chair opposite the fish’s head.
Just before sitting—
He paused.
His pupils suddenly narrowed.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The goodwill displayed above every stone face instantly disappeared.
Negative numbers rapidly began appearing.
The villagers weren’t looking at Mohan anymore.
Nor Taishan.
Nor anyone else.
Every pair of eyes was fixed solely upon him and Lucian.
A terrible chill climbed Shen Yu’s spine.
"Lucian!"
His shout echoed across the courtyard.
"Don’t sit!"
"Those seats are dangerous!"
Lucian froze halfway through lowering herself.
She quickly looked back.
"Dangerous?"
"How do you know?"
Shen Yu slowly pointed around them.
"Their eyes."
"They’re still watching us."
"If those seats were safe..."
"They would’ve ignored us like they ignored Mohan."
"But they haven’t."
"I think..."
"If we sit there..."
"Something terrible will happen."
Lucian immediately became serious.
She trusted Shen Yu’s instincts.
Without another word, she slowly closed her eyes.
A faint white light emerged within her pupils.
S-Rank Talent—Memory Reconstruction.
Rather than peering into the future...
Lucian could glimpse fragments of the past lingering within a location.
The courtyard around her gradually faded.
A blurry memory appeared.
A warm family dinner.
An elderly couple sat beside a small boy.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
Laughter filled the room.
Then...
A pair of dirty little hands slowly reached toward the table.
Suddenly—
The father slammed his palm against the tabletop.
"Bastard!"
"What are you doing?"
"Who allowed you to sit at the table?"
The frightened little hand immediately withdrew.
A young girl’s soft sobs echoed.
She hid beneath the table, quietly crying.
The vision shattered.
Lucian’s eyes flew open.
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead.
"I understand now."
She immediately stepped away from the chair.
Walking back beside Shen Yu, she whispered,
"I saw this courtyard’s past."
"It seems..."
"...women weren’t allowed to sit at the dining table."
Shen Yu frowned.
"But there are women sitting at other tables."
Lucian nodded.
"I know."
"That’s why I don’t think it’s simply about being a woman."
"There must be another rule."
Before either of them could continue...
Mohan’s mocking laughter echoed.
"If neither of you sits down..."
"The stone people will crawl out."
"Then..."
"You’ll die standing."
Almost immediately—
Crack...
One of the stone faces stretched even farther.
Its upper body emerged from the monument.
Gray stone arms slowly reached toward Shen Yu.
Above its head...
A crimson number floated.
Affection: -15
Shen Yu’s expression became solemn.
If that creature fully emerged...
It would attack immediately.
He stepped away from the fish-head seat.
The hatred weakened slightly.
-15
-10
-5
The number stopped changing.
Still hostile.
Still unacceptable.
His eyes swept across the table.
Then...
They landed on the youngest child sitting quietly beside his parents.
The little boy couldn’t have been older than six.
An idea suddenly formed.
Shen Yu smiled.
Without hesitation...
He gently picked up the child.
The little boy blinked in surprise.
"What are you doing?"
Shen Yu laughed warmly.
"Little buddy."
"Big Brother likes you."
"Let’s sit together."
He carefully sat in the child’s chair instead of occupying any empty seat.
Then he placed the little boy comfortably on his lap.
"I’ll feed you."
"You don’t mind, do you?"
The child stared blankly at him.
Behind the boy...
The stone face remained completely expressionless.
Seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Then...
The crimson numbers began changing.
-5
0
+5
+10
The murderous atmosphere quietly disappeared.
The villagers returned to eating.
The stone creature slowly withdrew into the monument.
Shen Yu secretly released the breath he’d been holding.
I guessed correctly.
It wasn’t about the empty seats.
It was about disrupting the family seating arrangement.
The vacant seats had never been intended for guests.
They belonged to members of the household who were no longer present.
Taking those places violated the village’s taboo.
By sharing a seat with the child instead of replacing a missing family member...
He had unknowingly followed the village’s rules.
Across the table, Mohan’s smile vanished.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
Once again...
Shen Yu had solved the puzzle without Future Echo.
For the first time since entering Twin Tomb Village...
Mohan felt that the greatest variable in every future he had ever heard...
Was quietly smiling right in front of him.
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