# 866
# Chapter 867: The Fishing Village Predicament
The door slammed shut.
Baili Pangpang stood on the floor covered in cash, stunned.
After an unknown time, he finally pointed at the door and said in disbelief, "Has he gone mad? He said Little Pang uses counterfeit money?! How can this possibly be counterfeit money?!"
Shen Qingzhu frowned deeply. He bent down, picked up a bill from the scattered money, and examined it carefully for a moment.
"It's real."
"Of course it's real!"
"But the villager's expression just now didn't seem fake either. When he heard the number 50,000, he really did seem tempted." Cao Yuan frowned thoughtfully.
Shen Qingzhu picked up the money from the ground piece by piece, stuffing it into Baili Pangpang's hands, then turned around and squinted at this ancient fishing village shrouded in darkness, slowly saying, "The money isn't the problem. The problem is... this village."
"What do you mean?" Baili Pangpang asked in confusion.
"From the moment the first household opened their door, I noticed something was off." Shen Qingzhu said calmly, "The calendar hanging on that family's wall was from fifty years ago."
Baili Pangpang froze, then carefully contemplated what Shen Qingzhu mentioned, but found himself unable to recall seeing such a calendar.
"A calendar from fifty years ago?" Cao Yuan asked in surprise. "Could it have been hung up by mistake?"
"No, that calendar was far too new. It didn't resemble a paper product from fifty years ago at all—it looked like something recently produced." Shen Qingzhu stated with certainty. "Additionally, the footwear and oil lamps in several other households belong to an entirely different era. These items are ancient, and the vast majority have been discontinued to the point of being impossible to locate for purchase. Initially, I suspected it might be mere coincidence or a result of how remote this place is. However, without that person's comment about counterfeit money, I probably wouldn't have recognized this anomaly."
Among the three people present, no one could match Shen Qingzhu's ability to catch details. Now that he had identified problems with these items, Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan had no reason to doubt him.
"Are you suggesting... we've traveled through time?" Baili Pangpang followed Shen Qingzhu's reasoning and asked tentatively.
"Unknown—this remains merely one possibility." Shen Qingzhu's expression grew grave. "Seven Ye was right. This location... feels fundamentally wrong."
Night deepened.
The village lights gradually flickered out. The coastal settlement fell into complete darkness.
Waves crashed against the shore, gently rocking the small boats moored nearby. Under the dim moonlight, white foam glimmered like scattered silver coins washing to Lin Qiye's feet.
He walked alone along the late-night shoreline.
At this moment, he had already removed his hat. The surrounding darkness automatically gathered and coalesced into a humanoid shadow trailing behind him. A crimson eye opened on the shadow's forehead.
"How is it?" Lin Qiye asked, gazing toward the dark horizon.
"Master, I still see nothing." Heiyin replied helplessly.
"We've nearly crossed the entire village. Still nothing?"
"Nothing."
"...Strange."
Lin Qiye contemplated briefly, then merged Heiyin into his shadow. He crouched slightly, his spiritual energy surging throughout his body. He transformed into a streak of night, streaking along the coastline at tremendous speed.
The scenery in his vision blurred backward. The hazy moonlight on the shore gradually dimmed as he accelerated.
Suddenly, the moon in the sky flickered once, as though extinguished for an instant. Everything around Lin Qiye plunged into absolute darkness.
Then his vision returned.
He stopped abruptly.
The rustling sound of waves echoed in his ears as he stood motionless, staring at the dark fishing village that had materialized out of thin air before him. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
How was this possible?
He had been running in the opposite direction—how did he end up back here?
Lin Qiye turned to look at the path he had taken. Even though moonlight bathed the earth, the way remained profoundly deep and mysterious, dark as a black hole that consumed everything, where even light could not escape.
Lin Qiye's brow furrowed tightly as he turned back into that darkness. The moon above extinguished once more, and the next moment he stood at the opposite edge of the coastline...
The coastline's two ends seemed connected by some mysterious force—whenever Lin Qiye tried to leave from one side, he was forced back into the village's range from the other, like an endless case of "ghost wall."
Lin Qiye stared at the dark village in the distance, then stubbornly pressed his hand against the void. Countless clouds churned beneath his feet, forming a Somersault Cloud that carried his body skyward!
The Somersault Cloud's speed far exceeded his own. For a small fishing village's distance, he could easily cross it in less than the time it takes to blink.
However, no matter how he piloted the Somersault Cloud or from what angle he tried to fly over the village's boundaries, he would inexplicably loop back to where he started.
Crucially, his spiritual perception detected no abnormalities whatsoever—no Forbidden Ruins fluctuations, no traces of restricted artifacts. Everything appeared so reasonable and natural, as if this was simply how things should be.
Even when he used [White Slash] to slip into the void, he couldn't escape this fishing village's bounds.
After dozens of attempts, Lin Qiye silently flew back to the coastline, waving away the Somersault Cloud. His expression had become unprecedentedly grave.
They were trapped within this fishing village.
He couldn't determine who had created this ability or what principles governed this bizarre phenomenon, nor could he figure out how to break free. Standing at the water's edge, he gazed at the distant village in darkness, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread.
The unknown proved more terrifying than any disparity in strength.
Lin Qiye retrieved his phone—still no signal. He sighed and returned it to his pocket.
He steadied his breathing and began to think carefully.
Since he couldn't leave the village in the short term, his priority was to investigate this place thoroughly. He needed to understand what they were actually facing while searching for leads from [Mask Squad]. Since they had arrived before his group, they might have left clues.
Additionally, before entering the village, he had already sent their coordinates to Night Watch headquarters. If they encountered something beyond their capabilities, he just needed to buy time—Zuo Qing would definitely send reinforcements.
He wondered how Jialan and the others were managing. Since there hadn't been any major disturbances yet, it meant they hadn't encountered danger. Everything remained under control...
At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.