Chapter 276: Eye Ability
Riding the tractor through the lively crowd, the bewildered and soaking wet Fang Mu appeared extremely out of place. He was rescued by a nearby villager who passed by. With no other clothes available, he could only drape a jacket over his upper body and wrap a snake skin bag around his lower body, looking utterly disheveled.
At this point, he had nothing left to fuss about. After having seen Hell and experienced despair, the filth of the human world seemed something he could laugh off.
He looked at the clothing and attire of the surrounding crowd, the style of the buildings, and the underdeveloped media equipment. He was certain he had transmigrated again.
“Do I transmigrate every time I die?” Fang Mu fell into contemplation. He recalled his two deaths, both seemingly caused by a massive mantis-like creature, but oddly, neither time did he actually feel the pain of being killed.
Fang Mu touched his neck and patted his chest. There were no wounds or pain. He couldn’t help but suspect whether he had truly been killed or if he had simply been teleported to another era just before death.
While Fang Mu was lost in thought, the villager who had rescued him—a simple and honest farmer brother—kindly inquired: “Little brother, how are you feeling now? Are you cold?”
His surname was Lin, and his name was Lin Fengtian.
It was currently autumn, with yellowed tree leaves and golden wheat seedlings, a scene of bountiful red and yellow harvest colors. Songs and laughter celebrating the nation’s joy spread contentment to every street and alley. Even the occasional cool breeze didn’t feel chilly.
Fang Mu snapped back to attention, tightened his jacket, and forced a smile on his pale face: “I’m okay, thanks for the help.”
“The leader said that now it’s a society where everyone helps each other. If you have the ability and others have a need, you should help.” Lin Fengtian laughed heartily. “Come to my home first, change into some clothes, have a full meal, warm up, and then I’ll take you to the Law Enforcement Brigade.”
Fang Mu gave a dry laugh, beginning to plan in his mind the wording for his conversation with the law enforcement officers later.
Just like last time, pretend to have amnesia…
Suddenly, Fang Mu heard a buzzing sound. A shrill voice pierced from both ears straight into his brain. An unusual sensation made his eyes seem to see hallucinations. The scenery ahead alternated between dirt roads and asphalt roads, with the roadside sometimes bustling crowds and other times flowing future vehicles. The intense visual shifts made Fang Mu dizzy again.
Noticing Fang Mu’s odd facial expression, Lin Fengtian quickly stopped the tractor and asked with concern: “What’s wrong, little brother? Are you unwell?”
“I… I’m fine… Urgh!” Fang Mu looked at Lin Fengtian. The man’s face gradually youthfulened in his eyes, then rapidly aged, even turning into a talking rotting corpse. The eerie image directly stimulated Fang Mu into fainting on the spot.
“Hey hey hey hey! Little brother! Damn, he fainted again!” In his semi-conscious state, Fang Mu heard Lin Fengtian’s anxious voice. He jumped off the tractor, grabbed a young person from the crowd—seemingly asking him to drive the tractor back home—then ran back, hoisted Fang Mu onto his back, and hurriedly pushed against the flow into the crowd.
In truth, Fang Mu was completely unconscious for only a short time. For the rest, though not fully awake, he kept thinking.
Boss Lin from that forest cabin had once said that the nail hammer he bought had killed a monster named Hundun and was a divine artifact belonging to a pair of deities. Those deities’ original intent in using the nail hammer was to open the seven orifices for Hundun, allowing it to hear what they could hear, see what they could see, and taste what they could taste.
Now, using the nail hammer on himself had reopened his orifices. Opening the ear orifice greatly enhanced his hearing, allowing him to hear sounds beyond human auditory range and faint whispers from dimensional space. Before this transmigration, the Toad God had somehow opened his eye orifice for some reason, so his eyes should have undergone corresponding changes as well.
Were the scenes he saw earlier the views that pair of deities could see?
The eerie scenery Fang Mu had just seen seemed to connect the past and future of things. He saw the changes that occurred on this land, as well as Lin Fengtian’s past and future appearances.
“I should be able to control my eyes just like I control my hearing.” Fang Mu wasn’t joyful about gaining this new superpower, because besides seeing changes in all things across different times, he could also see scenery beyond ordinary things—sometimes a blurry mess of rotting flesh and blood, sometimes pitch-black profound darkness, and other times bizarre spacetime filled with flowing lights, twisted colors, and lines.
Those anomalous scenes reminded Fang Mu of the mysterious ancient palace where the Toad God resided, evoking a soul-deep fear of the unknown. Those scenes were like the sneaky whispers he sometimes heard—one must not look, one must not listen—otherwise, it would scramble the brain, gradually erode reason, and drive one completely mad.
To adapt to his eye ability, the reawakened Fang Mu now tried his best not to gaze at any single thing for too long. He discovered that as long as he didn’t deliberately exert his eyes, focus them too intently on observing something, or have thoughts of using their power, he generally wouldn’t see eerie images anymore.
Thanks to the care from Lin Fengtian brother and his friends and neighbors, plus Fang Mu’s vivid performance, he successfully fooled the law enforcement officers again and temporarily moved into Lin Fengtian’s home as an amnesiac.
Taking care of Fang Mu was something Lin Fengtian had volunteered for himself.
Faced with such an enthusiastic and kind farmer brother, Fang Mu couldn’t help feeling guilty. He could only think to cause as little trouble as possible for Lin Fengtian’s family and then figure out how to repay them.
Lin Fengtian figured that since Fang Mu had awakened from the water, something water-related must have happened before his amnesia, so he simply started calling Fang Mu “A-Shui.”
Perhaps after being called that repeatedly, Fang Mu might recall something.
Fang Mu didn’t dare object. In truth, he didn’t care what he was called anyway, as long as it wasn’t an insulting name.
“A-Shui, stop carrying things. It’s autumn now, but the sun is still harsh. Come inside and drink more water.” At Lin Fengtian’s home, a woman who looked about fifty or sixty saw Fang Mu returning from the Village Committee with more items and immediately greeted him into the room with a beaming smile.
“Sister-in-law, I’m fine. My body is in great shape now.” Fang Mu smiled calmly, set down the stack of books given to him by the Village Committee, and obediently went inside to drink water.
These days, while adapting to the eerie ability on his body, Fang Mu was also integrating into the village’s life. He had basically adapted to his eye ability now. Though he couldn’t control it perfectly yet, even seeing strange scenery no longer caused much emotional fluctuation.
Habituation and adaptation are a unique talent of humans.
In these times, anyone who could read, write, and write well with good calligraphy was a talent. The Village Committee happened to need someone idle who could write propaganda. Upon learning of Fang Mu’s ability, they directly took him on to help, paying wages that weren’t meager.
Fang Mu had also studied history and had a rough understanding of this era. He would show knowledge and insights beyond this era but restrained himself to stay low-key.
Looking up again at the sister-in-law’s eager smile, she now appeared as a young girl in her twenties, with a touch of pure beauty.
In reality, sister-in-law Lin was nearly forty, busy with housework all day, long past her youth, and showing signs of aging.
Fang Mu felt somewhat helpless about this. Now, walking on the street, he didn’t dare casually talk or greet people, because sometimes he couldn’t determine a person’s actual age or even whether he was talking to thin air—after all, he might be seeing scenery from some future moment.
