Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 213 May I ask, what year is it tonight?

Lu Mingfei felt that his worldview was facing another small collapse...

Okay, saying it collapsed might be a bit of an exaggeration. It's just a little bit broken, not really broken, just messy? Like those magnetic drawing boards we played with as kids. If you drew something messy, you could just scrape it off and it would be all gray and white again.

After all, with the example of Yu Ji as a precedent, it seems that even the most bizarre things can be accepted with a straight face.

You may accept it, but you're still confused.

He stared at the officer before him, whose only visible feature was a pair of calm eyes, gazing at him as if awaiting an answer. The question still lingered in the air, carrying the anticipation of something that had been waiting for over two thousand years.

"Is the Han Dynasty still standing?"

Lu Mingfei opened his mouth, but didn't speak immediately. His mind was buzzing, like a cicada that had been flying in all summer.

That's a really good question.

It was so good that he didn't know where to begin complaining.

To say he's not there or not, the Han Dynasty is long gone; its last vestiges of glory probably shone on the tombs of the Shu Han, where one could easily carve "romantic" characters—that was over 1,700 years ago. But to say he's still there... that doesn't quite add up either. The Han people are still here, the Chinese language is still here, he uses Chinese characters every day, and he himself is Han Chinese.

There are no bonus points for the college entrance examination.

Of course, the most important thing right now is not how to answer this question, but the information revealed by these words!
What era would people not know about the Tang Dynasty?
Even if you haven't studied history, you've probably read Journey to the West, unless you were someone who "didn't care about worldly affairs" before that. And for such a person to ask, "Is the Han Dynasty still around?" in such a special place as Nibelungen, the land of the dead.

Lu Mingfei felt a chill run down his spine. He dared not think any further, yet he couldn't help but keep thinking. It was hard not to suspect that the other person might be... someone from the Han Dynasty?
This explains why they used the ancient Chu language. Liu Bang was from Fengyi in Pei County, and Xiang Yu was from Xiaxiang. One of them was in present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and the other was in Suqian, Jiangsu. During the Warring States period, both places were within the territory of Chu, only about 200 kilometers apart, so it was natural that they spoke the same language!

At most, they might have a slightly different accent.

Moreover, the style of the officer's uniform looked rather familiar. It was strikingly similar to the Han Dynasty officer's uniform that Lu Mingfei had seen in a museum during a spring outing organized by Shilan Middle School, although the materials were clearly different! There were only some minor changes.

Then a fairly reasonable guess came to mind—could this also be someone who lived more than two thousand years ago? Or perhaps, this whole group of people are?
But if it really has been more than two thousand years since then, how have they survived to this day? They can even grow crops in the Nibelungen, but can humans really eat what they grow? The sense of "death" that permeates the air is too obvious, not to mention the other people or things that have been infected.

The only thing Lu Mingfei could be sure of was that they would definitely not be transformed into pure-blooded dragons like Yu Ji... He had heard Su Xiaoqiang say that the price of such a thing was extremely terrifying, even Xiang Yu, the king of the earth and mountains, would suffer extremely serious injuries, and that was just for one person.

But this makes it even harder to explain!
It's impossible to say that Nibelungen, the land of the dead, is actually a place where one can live forever. If that were the case, it wouldn't just be a treasure trove that alchemists have been desperately seeking. Throughout history, how many people have been willing to give up everything for immortality?
"The Han Dynasty is long gone."

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and replied, "But the Han people are still here."

As he said this, Lu Mingfei kept staring intently at the officer's eyes, which were the only part of his body that was covered up, but he could not find any emotion such as excitement or disappointment in them.

It was quite calm, as if it were just a student copying homework seeing the answer to a question.

"Oh."

The officer responded and then cautiously looked Lu Mingfei and his group up and down again.

Lu Mingfei was now somewhat glad that he had put the Overlord Spear back into the pen case in his pocket when he came back again, otherwise it might have caused unnecessary misunderstandings.

Chu Zihang carried Murasame in an extended tennis racket, while Ye Shengjiu and Deya were equipped with guns, but only simple pistols, which were not considered threatening weapons by the officers and others.

"Come with me." The officer finally concluded, "The general wants to see you."

"General?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"That's right, General Guan."

"Oh……"

Lu Mingfei's history wasn't good; he was the kind of student who was lucky to pass, even worse than physics, chemistry, and biology. Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen science. Therefore, he didn't think anything of the surname and instead asked another more pressing question out of curiosity.

"Um... when I heard that Da Han is gone, why did you seem so unmoved?"

As soon as he asked the question, Lu Mingfei wanted to slap himself.

What if the other person is only outwardly indifferent but inwardly seething with emotion? Wouldn't that be like stabbing them in the back?
Fortunately, the officer seemed genuinely unmoved. He merely gave Lu Mingfei a somewhat strange look before replying.

"Because I didn't actually know what the Great Han was... This is what the general told me before I left."

Lu Mingfei fell into deep thought again.

The officer's words gave him two very important pieces of information—

First, this person is very likely not from thousands of years ago, and may not even be very old; second, the "general" is the one who knows everything, and to solve the mystery, we probably have to follow him.

He organized the entire conversation and his analysis, and translated it for Chu Zihang and Ye Sheng.

"I'm starting to wonder if I'm dreaming..."

Ye Sheng gently rubbed his forehead. As the team leader, he had to think about and consider many more aspects than Lu Mingfei, which also took a toll on his mental energy.

“It is very difficult to create such a realistic illusion. It is extremely difficult to create a large-scale collective illusion that can pull us all into it and not find any flaws.”

As Shudeya said this, she looked at Nono.

Nuonuo noticed something and withdrew her gaze from looking around. Just now, she seemed like a young lady who had come out for a leisurely outing, curious and unguarded about everything new here.

“My ‘profile’ also found nothing unusual.”

She shook her head slightly. It seemed that this "little witch" could also get serious and do important things when it mattered.

"There is no illusion that I can't see through so far."

She paused, then said, "In other words, if they had the ability to create such an illusion without us noticing anything amiss, the mastermind would have acted long ago. Why wait until now?"

"We can't just play around like a cat playing with a mouse..." Susie muttered to herself.

Chu Zihang silently looked away. Since arriving here, his biggest concern, besides the potential dangers, was Lu Mingfei's condition.

That's why he noticed Lu Mingfei suddenly utter a remark in an almost insignificant voice.

"It's so similar..."

"What does it look like?" Chu Zihang asked.

"It's a classical Chinese text, you must remember it, senior brother."

Lu Mingfei didn't directly say the name of the text, but instead recited the main text. "During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, a man from Wuling made his living by fishing... At first, the path was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. After walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious area... People went about their farming activities there... They knew nothing of the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties..."

The slightly low chanting echoed slowly. Lu Mingfei stopped here and said with a sigh.

"Thinking about it carefully, there are definitely differences. The environment here is far from 'fertile fields and beautiful ponds, mulberry and bamboo groves, crisscrossing paths, and the sounds of chickens and dogs,' but... it's still too similar, so I couldn't help but have a question."

"Is this Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring from the Eastern Jin Dynasty? Is your question perhaps... that the place described in this Peach Blossom Spring might also be a Nibelungen?" Ye Sheng guessed.

As soon as he finished speaking, Nuonuo couldn't help but smile.

"What are you laughing at?" Susie asked quietly, noticing this.

"How could Lu Mingfei think so seriously?"

Nono waved her hand. "Listen."

“No, I was thinking that, according to the description in the Peach Blossom Spring that ‘they never returned,’ with a village of that size, their internal reproduction would soon suffer from serious inbreeding problems, right?” Lu Mingfei said, stroking his chin.

Ye Sheng: "???"

"Of course, it's possible that the village was relatively large and had a large population, so it was able to hold on for several hundred years from the Qin Dynasty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty. But the place we are in now has been there for more than just that period of time, more than two thousand years. With that kind of population, it should have been wiped out long ago."

As Lu Mingfei spoke, he glanced around and paused slightly.

"So, was the original population far larger than this one, and now only this many remain? Or... is the reproduction cycle longer? Or is the flow of time different?"

Ye Sheng opened his mouth as if to speak, but then stopped himself.

He was completely convinced. From the moment he first met Lu Mingfei, he realized that Lu Mingfei's thought process and level of nonsensical talk far exceeded that of ordinary people. But every time, even if he was fully prepared, Lu Mingfei always managed to shatter his expectations.

"You'll get used to it." Chu Zihang, standing to the side, seemed to be able to guess what Ye Sheng was thinking.

Susie: "Stare—stare."

By this time, the group had entered the village. The houses were not low, but of normal size, built of bronze-colored mud mixed with bronze-colored stones, and were fairly flat.

Along the way, adults and children dressed in "home" attire watched curiously from a distance.

This was the first time Lu Mingfei and his team had a clear look at their skin, which was tightly wrapped under the plant fibers.

In this place lacking sunlight, and under such thick clothing, their skin color was not a pale white, but a light bluish-gray, as if it too was permeated with an aura of "death".

"General, the man has been brought here."

The officer led them to the most central and unique building in the village—a building with a courtyard.

The low fence could not block the curious gaze. For the first time, Lu Mingfei and his companions saw the "general's" face clearly. He was a very old man with skin as wrinkled as tree bark and dressed in a cloth robe. He looked like he was about to die and was lying in a rocking chair.

If this dim, half-bright light is considered the sun, then he should be enjoying the afternoon sun right now.
But the next moment the old man opened his eyes, and the surging dragon might revealed in his golden eyes caused everyone except Lu Mingfei to take a step back!
"Um……"

The old man's gaze met Lu Mingfei's curious eyes. He observed Lu Mingfei for a long time, with a mixture of curiosity and doubt. Finally, the golden light in his eyes faded, and he became an ordinary-looking old man.

"I do not know you."

He said.

"Um... should I get to know you?" Lu Mingfei didn't know what to say at this moment, and just said it subconsciously.

He felt he should never have met such an old man who seemed to have a story to tell, but given that he himself had lost a lot of memories... he felt a little uneasy.

"I don't know, maybe."

The old man mumbled something indistinctly, his gaze fixed on Lu Mingfei's right trouser pocket.

"But I recognize that gun."

He paused, and an inexplicable aura arose within him. At this moment, even without activating his golden eyes, his power was unmatched, like a battle-hardened warrior.

“I’ve fought with its owner.”

He smiled.

"not bad."

At that moment, a feeling of admiration naturally welled up from the bottom of my heart.

Lu Mingfei took out the Overlord Spear from his pocket, restored it to its original size, and laid it horizontally. The old man looked at him without any surprise or astonishment, but rather with a sense of peace as if he had suddenly seen an old friend after many years.

At this moment, Lu Mingfei and the living spirit within the Overlord Spear were of one mind. He could sense the living spirit's emotions, a fighting spirit that felt upon seeing a former adversary... not an enemy, but an opponent.

This fighting spirit even made the gun hum metallically. Lu Mingfei could almost guess what the living spirit would say if it could speak—"Come on, I guarantee I'll win this time!"

"Go and fight it yourself."

Lu Mingfei's eye twitched slightly, and he muttered to himself.

What kind of nonsense is this? The weapon is starting to pick fights for its owner? That's insane! Most importantly, Lu Mingfei doesn't think he can definitely win... Even if he could, he wouldn't lay a hand on it. This is clearly one of his own!
Without support, the Overlord Spear stopped buzzing and remained motionless, as if the "dog relying on its master's power" had become clear-headed after losing support.

"Not bad...not bad at all."

The old man chuckled, as if he could see through the communication between Lu Mingfei and the living spirit.

"There aren't many 'people' who can make this guy submit."

He was still muttering to himself, so the word that was emphasized slightly was not obvious.

"Come in."

The old man waved his hand, gesturing for them to come to his home as guests, and then threw a question at them.

"May I ask, what year is it tonight?"

(End of this chapter)