Chapter 300: Back To The Starting Point
The little assistant personally delivered Fang Mu’s draft and that necklace. She was very concerned about Fang Mu’s health. Seeing Fang Mu’s weak appearance, she also asked with concern if he had eaten. After Fang Mu casually replied that he hadn’t, she immediately told him to wait there and ran to the kitchen to cook.
Fang Mu ignored the figure busy in the kitchen. The other party could accurately find the things he had placed in various cabinets, which obviously wasn’t her first time coming to his home. She was already familiar with everything in the home and knew her way around.
Fang Mu didn’t immediately look at the manga depicting “Lin Sen”‘s past. Instead, he picked up the necklace and stared at it in a daze.
It was a half-piece black jade pendant, which should fit perfectly with the half-piece black jade that Fang Mu had obtained in his first life.
The Shenzhou Continent and the Aztec region were tens of thousands of miles apart, and this exquisitely carved black jade was speculated to be a product from five thousand years ago. Not to mention how it was made with technology that even modern craftsmanship could hardly replicate in that technologically backward era five thousand years ago, how it crossed mountains and the sea to reach another piece of land was even more unimaginable.
Since the half-piece black jade obtained in the first life came from the mourning articles of the second life, Fang Mu had actually always been paying attention to the origin of that half-piece black jade. However, after experiencing the complete second life, he never saw the black jade, and even the final mourning articles were placed into that box by himself. Obviously, the black jade was not put in by him; it was placed there by others after he died as “Fang Lin.”
The first person Fang Mu thought of was his wife An Qin, that virtuous and considerate yet unfortunate woman. She knew part of the things that had happened to him. Although he had admonished An Qin not to get involved in the things happening to him, he was also very clear about his wife’s outwardly soft but inwardly strong personality. She must have wanted to find the culprit who killed her husband and destroyed her family.
This half-piece black jade was most likely a clue about the Toad God that she found later and placed together with his mourning articles.
This was the most likely scenario Fang Mu could think of, but he didn’t rule out that it was done by his children or even An Qin’s parents.
Today is June 3, 2023. At this point in time, his first life had already died in the cave on Nong Mountain. That half-piece black jade carved with the Toad God pattern was also left behind somewhere on Nong Mountain at this time. He felt it necessary to return to the starting point and investigate again.
First, reinvestigate his late wife An Qin and his children; second, try to retrieve the other half-piece of the Toad God’s black jade. Fang Mu felt that if he could collect the complete black jade, he might obtain some useful clues.
Fang Mu had originally thought that after reaching an “agreement” with the Toad God, the blessing of the Toad God acting on him was no longer important, and the focus should be on the great being surpassing the Lord of All Things. However, now, he felt that the breakthrough for everything was still with the Toad God.
Yes…
If the one surpassing the Lord of All Things chose him because of his uniqueness and a kind of inevitability, then what was the reason for choosing the Toad God?
As for the draft, Fang Mu had looked at it. Lin Sen’s change, his ability to possess Lin Sen’s body, originated from Lin Sen buying this half-piece black jade pendant at the market in Tenoch. From that moment on, Lin Sen seemed to slowly lose himself. Instinctively, he didn’t want to disappear, so he desperately drew pictures, trying to draw down his experiences and preserve his consciousness. However, he ultimately failed. After discovering he couldn’t resist gradually losing himself, he chose to return to his home in Shenzhou.
What followed was the content not recorded in the draft: he quietly awaited “death” on the bed at home, and Fang Mu also got the opportunity to possess this body.
After looking at the draft, Fang Mu became even more convinced that the Toad God was the breakthrough for all the strange events.
After eating the meal made by the little assistant, Fang Mu originally wanted to set off immediately to check on his home from the first life, where some investigations related to the second life were still preserved. However, he didn’t expect the seemingly weak and powerless little assistant to be unexpectedly strong and robust.
The little assistant stubbornly pushed Fang Mu back onto the bed, covered him with the quilt, and to prevent him from escaping, sat on his waist like a nail, pressing down on his arms under the quilt with both hands. Fang Mu was unable to move.
Meeting those beautiful eyes that were shy yet serious, Fang Mu chose to yield temporarily. He was indeed a bit tired.
Until he heard the little assistant’s steady sleeping breathing, Fang Mu, who had been pretending to sleep, opened his eyes, glanced at the little assistant sleeping soundly on top of him, gently and quietly moved her into the bedding, then got out of bed, changed into clothes for going out, and departed.
The Xinlong City where “Lin Sen” lived was not far from his residence in the first life. He drove and only spent three hours passing through two cities to arrive at his first life’s residence.
Considering the special nature of his profession in the first life plus his monotonous and dull interpersonal relationships, no one should have noticed his disappearance yet.
Fang Mu arrived at the door of the apartment where he lived, lifted the cover of the electronic lock’s keypad, quickly entered a complex 16-digit password, and the door unlocked with a click.
Entering the house, although there was little dust and it looked fairly clean, Fang Mu already smelled a faint musty odor permeating the air.
He found the locked cabinet in the room, used tools to violently pry it open, picked up the reports collected by the private detective, and read them carefully again.
Unknowingly, Fang Mu read until midnight. During this time, “Lin Sen”‘s little assistant called. Considering that not answering might lead to the young girl calling law enforcement officers with serious consequences, he chose to answer the phone.
The young girl was very angry about his sneaking away alone, blaming him for not cherishing his health. Fang Mu also patiently comforted her, saying he was just going out for a walk and guaranteeing he would return the day after tomorrow. Only then did the young girl reluctantly agree, after which Fang Mu could finally read the detective’s investigation reports undisturbed.
Due to a change in the perspective from which he viewed things, Fang Mu finally discovered clues in the materials collected by the detective that he hadn’t noticed before.
“During the time An Qin was working in the city, she rarely returned to her hometown to see the child even on holidays and spent most of her time traveling around Shenzhou, especially liking to go to the southern region… No, she wasn’t traveling; she was looking for clues related to the Toad God.” After reading the text in the report, Fang Mu muttered to himself and then shook his head firmly. He knew his wife’s character well; she would never abandon her family and child for her own enjoyment.
Fang Mu continued reading and discovered that the last place An Qin had traveled to was the Guinan Region.
“Going around in circles, do I still have to return to the starting point?” Fang Mu frowned. He glanced at the mobile phone beside him, shook his head. It seemed he would have to break his promise to the little assistant.
