# 871
Chapter 872: Dream Visit
"Does Master Chen have confidence in entering that fishing village?"
"He's still figuring it out, but he said it seems to involve the law of time—the probability of entering it isn't high."
Law of time?
Zuo Qing's expression immediately grew grave.
Once laws were involved, it meant the situation had exceeded what humans could handle. Even a Human Apex, without ascending to godhood and mastering laws, couldn't possibly challenge them. And Wang Mian—the only person in Great Xia with a time God's Ruins—was still nowhere to be found.
Even if Wang Mian returned, he might not be able to do anything about this law. A time God's Ruins and the law of time were two completely different levels of existence. Not to mention that Wang Mian was currently still at the Klein apex stage—breaking through the law of time was simply impossible.
Just as Zuo Qing was lost in thought, a Night Watch messenger hurried over and handed him a document.
"Commander Zuo, we found something."
"Did you find the connection between Chen Lu and that fishing village?"
"Yes. Chen Lu joined the Night Watch over fifty years ago, which made locating his records difficult, but we did find them."
Zuo Qing took the file and flipped through it carefully.
"Chen Lu's hometown is a small fishing village in Ningchang County. Based on the address he filled out back then, it matches the location of this fishing village."
"He came from that fishing village?" Zuo Qing asked in surprise.
"Correct. When the Night Watch was recruiting new soldiers back then, they sent someone to verify his identity and visit that fishing village. At the time, nothing unusual was found. The file still contains some photos and interview records from that fishing village."
Zuo Qing pulled out several old photos from the file and flipped through them one by one. The vast majority showed young Chen Lu with his father Chen Gou in photos together, both standing on fishing boats, each holding a fish, their smiles radiant.
"Seems like nothing was wrong..." Zuo Qing said, confused. "So when Chen Lu joined the Night Watch back then, the fishing village hadn't undergone any changes yet?"
"Correct."
"Also, if the fishing village had already had problems back then when Chen Lu left, he wouldn't have been able to walk out of there." Zuo Qing nodded, then flipped to the last photo and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Among all the photos, that was the only one with three people. Besides young Chen Lu and middle-aged Chen Gou, there was also an elderly man lying in a rocking chair in the photo, holding a palm-leaf fan in his hand, reluctantly looking at the camera with a stiff and stern expression.
"Who's this?" Zuo Qing asked, pointing to the old man.
"Chen Lu's grandfather, Chen Yangrong."
Zuo Qing nodded. After finishing reading all the documents, he sank into deep thought again.
"Has Chen Lu ever gone back home over all these years?"
"No. He's never gone back once."
"That's strange..."
"Why?"
"If the fishing village hadn't undergone any changes when Chen Lu left home, and Chen Lu hasn't gone back even once in over fifty years... then how does he know what's happening in the fishing village? What makes him so certain that once the [Mask Squad] and [Night Watch] enter the fishing village, they're doomed?"
...
The Fishing Village.
Sunlight scattered across the glittering sea surface, and white spray rolled onto the shore, gently rocking the fishing boats moored along the banks.
Several fishermen walked out of the village, skillfully preparing their tools for going out to sea, chatting and laughing as they worked:
"Er Zhuzi, you're going out to sea today too?"
"Yeah, with such good weather, it'd be a waste not to go."
"True. Today let's try to sail further out and hopefully catch a big one."
"What? Running short on cash lately?"
"More or less. My wife's about to give birth soon..."
"Oh, congratulations!"
"Hey, Old Gou, aren't you going out to sea today?"
By the moored fishing boats, Chen Gou, dressed in coarse cloth clothing, stood alone before the waves, staring blankly at the sea in the distance.
Hearing the calls from the other fishermen, Chen Gou finally came back to his senses. After a moment of silence, he shook his head: "No, you guys go ahead."
The other fishermen exchanged glances, seemingly conflicted. Finally, someone spoke up to console him: "Old Gou... you really need to move on. This line of work is like that—no one knows which day they'll go out to sea and not come back. But no matter what, we have to keep living."
Seeing Chen Gou still standing there, staring blankly at the sea, the other fishermen could only shake their heads helplessly. They boarded their fishing boats and headed out to sea together.
"Uncle Chen."
A voice came from behind Chen Gou.
He turned around, only to find that An Qingyu had somehow already walked up behind him, giving him a slight smile.
"It's you?" Chen Gou said in surprise. "Didn't you leave this morning?"
"The day is still young anyway, so I'm not in a hurry to go back. I've never seen a fishing village in my whole life, so I thought I'd take a better look." An Qingyu naturally sat down on the shore beside Chen Gou.
Chen Gou studied An Qingyu for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Looking at your clothes, you really do seem like a rich city family kid. It's normal that you've never seen fishing folk go out to sea."
"Uncle Chen, they're all going out to sea to fish. Why aren't you?"
Chen Gou didn't answer. He took a cigarette from his chest, placed it between his lips, and lit it. He took a deep drag, and white smoke drifted out with his breath, dissipating in the sea breeze. Gazing at the distant sea surface, he slowly said:
"A few days ago, my father and I went out to sea to fish. We encountered a storm, and the boat capsized... I was lucky enough to be pulled onto another villager's fishing boat, but my father wasn't so lucky."
"...My condolences." An Qingyu didn't know how to comfort Chen Gou either. In the end, he could only say these two words.
Then, he glanced at Chen Gou with some confusion. After hesitating for a moment, he still asked: "Uncle Chen, your father must be very old, right? At that age, does he still need to go out to sea to fish?"
"No, he hadn't gone out to sea for many years." Chen Gou shook his head. "Didn't I tell you? I have a son who went out into the world to make his fortune?"
"Yes."
"A couple of days ago he sent a letter saying he'd enlisted in some kind of military service, and that the food at camp wasn't great. When my father heard he'd joined the army, he was so happy that he insisted on going out to sea personally to catch some big fish to send to him and improve his meals... But who would've thought, this time, he never came back."
An Qingyu fell silent.
"Actually, this really isn't a big deal." Chen Gou spoke with a weathered voice. "Going out to sea to fish is basically gambling with your life. I've seen countless skilled fishermen buried in the sea. We were born from the sea, raised by the sea, and in the end, we're buried in the sea—it's not a bad fate..."
Chen Gou paused, then continued: "But this time is different."
"How is it different?"
"Hm." Chen Gou slowly said, "These past two days... my father has been visiting me in dreams."