104: Chapter 104 You are Shen Ye, and so am I.

Hearing that Wu Tian was still so considerate of him, Shen Ye was moved to tears of gratitude.

"It's just a pity..."

Wu Tian shook his head regretfully.

"Once you leave, the Night Curtain team will likely be leaderless and fall apart completely."

Just then, the ward door was slammed open.

"Brother! Without you, what kind of Night Curtain would it be!"

Xia Qing, pale-faced and still in his hospital gown, rushed in.

He had clearly overheard the entire conversation at the door; his eyes were tearful, yet exceptionally firm.

Xia Qing looked at Wu Tian, his tone brook no argument.

"Wu Tian, I want to go with Brother Ye!"

Shen Ye was shocked: "No! Xia Qing, are you crazy? If you leave too, Night Curtain really will be finished! And Xiao Xiao, A Dong, and the others..."

"What's the panic!"

Xia Qing interrupted him.

"The others have already made a name for themselves in Night Curtain; plenty of people are scrambling to poach them! You have no idea how many 'shovels' I had to block for you every day!"

After saying that, he turned and bowed deeply to Wu Tian.

"Wu Tian Wu, please let me go with Brother Ye as well!!"

Wu Tian looked at Xia Qing's determined expression, then at Shen Ye's complicated face, and finally shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Heh, young people these days... it really is a pity. I was hoping Night Curtain could win some glory for our school in the Challenge Tournament this year."

Shen Ye lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Wu Tian. But if this matter isn't resolved... my heart won't be at peace. Once this is over, I'll come back to face my punishment immediately!"

Wu Tian stood up, patted Shen Ye on the shoulder, and then rubbed Xia Qing's head.

"Punishment for what? I've watched you brat grow up since you were little; would I not know your character? A small matter like a Forbidden Curse, I'll cover for you."

"Fine then, since you've decided, go together. It's better to have two people looking out for each other. To the public, I'll just say you both were seriously injured and need long-term treatment."

"Come back alive, that's an order."

"Yes!!"

...

Southern Outside the Border, the Altar.

As the tide of memories receded, Shen Ye's thoughts returned to the eerie altar before him.

"I remember the story now, and I understand the sequence of events."

Shen Ye took a deep breath, the killing intent in his eyes increasing rather than diminishing.

"Now, it's your turn."

"I'll give you one minute to explain everything clearly, or leave your life here!"

Beside him, Xia Qing also tightened his grip on his magic staff, even though he felt an instinctive fear facing this mysterious person.

But as long as Shen Ye made a move, he would definitely pounce without hesitation.

The Black-Robed Man stood quietly in the shadow of the statue, looking at the two young men who were acting as if facing a great enemy.

"Hehehe..."

The Black-Robed Man let out a low chuckle, his voice filled with the vicissitudes and exhaustion of someone who had seen through the world.

"One minute? Young people are always so impatient."

The Black-Robed Man slowly raised both hands, reaching toward the edge of his wide hood.

"Don't get excited, Shen Ye."

His movements were very slow, every detail tugging at the nerves of Shen Ye and Xia Qing.

"I have no ill intent."

As his voice fell, that pale hand suddenly flipped back the black hood.

Whoosh—

Moonlight spilled onto the Black-Robed Man's face.

The moment Shen Ye and Xia Qing saw that face clearly, they felt as if they had been struck by lightning, their pupils dilating violently.

Clang.

The magic staff in Xia Qing's hand fell to the ground.

In his terror, he even instinctively took two steps back.

"How... how is this possible..."

Shen Ye was frozen in place, his mouth agape, the word 'you' stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.

It was a weather-beaten face, covered in scars.

But none of that mattered.

The most important thing was—

The contour of this face and the shape of these features were exactly the same as Shen Ye's!

The Black-Robed Man gazed at the two of them calmly, a bitter smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Are you surprised?"

"That's right."

He took a step forward, his voice perfectly overlapping with the aged voice in Shen Ye's mind.

"I am you from thirty years in the future, from another time and space."

"You are Shen Ye."

"And so am I."

As the vice-captain of the Night Curtain team, Xia Qing was a brother who had shared life and death with Shen Ye; he was all too familiar with this face.

But at this moment, looking at this weathered, older version of the man, Xia Qing's Adam's apple bobbed as he couldn't help but curse.

"What... what the hell?!"

Xia Qing's eyes widened, his gaze shifting back and forth between the young, one-eyed Shen Ye and the elderly, Black-Robed Shen Ye, his voice trembling: "Brother Ye? This is also fucking Brother Ye?"

Shen Ye ignored Xia Qing's shock, for the upheaval in his own heart was like a raging storm.

He stared fixedly at the Black-Robed Man before him.

Those facial contours, the habitual set of the wrinkles between the brows—they were identical to his own.

The only difference was that this man, who claimed to be 'Shen Ye from thirty years later,' looked much older; his sideburns were gray, and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes were as deep as if carved by a knife.

But what gave Shen Ye the greatest sense of dissonance was—

This 'Old Shen Ye' actually had both eyes perfectly intact!

Those deep eyes shimmered with a wise yet weary light; he wore no eyepatch, and there were no signs of blindness.

"You..."

Shen Ye took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

If an ordinary person encountered this situation, they would certainly think it was a disguise technique or an illusion.

But Shen Ye was different; his class was Time-Space Traveler.

He had a deeper sense of the mysteries of time and space than anyone else.

Since he could control a portion of spatial power, then if he could control time one day in the future and cross thirty years of time to come here... it didn't seem entirely impossible.

Thinking of this, Shen Ye slowly withdrew his fist, but his muscles remained tense, maintaining a posture ready to strike at any moment.

"Just what is going on here?"

Shen Ye pointed at his own empty left eyepatch, his voice raspy and urgent.

"If you really are me from thirty years later, why are your eyes intact? While my left eye is..."

At this point, Shen Ye's deadened heart suddenly throbbed violently, a surge of intense hope rising within him.

"Could it be... that you have some way in the future to restore my eye?"

Shen Ye still couldn't accept the loss of his left eye.

If it could be restored, he would be willing to pay any price, no matter how great.

However, facing the longing gaze of his younger self, Black-Robed Shen Ye slowly shook his head.

"Regarding this matter... I am truly sorry."

Black-Robed Shen Ye looked at his younger self wearing the eyepatch, his eyes reflecting an indescribable pity and guilt.

"What you sacrificed was erased by the Laws. Whether it's current healing techniques, future technology, or even Time Reversal... none can restore it."

"It's gone; it's gone forever."

Shen Ye's body swayed, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

"Then you..."

He pointed at Black-Robed Shen Ye's eyes, his voice trembling with anger.

"Then why are you fine? Aren't you me? Since we are the past and future of the same person, why am I blind while you are perfectly fine?"

Black-Robed Shen Ye sighed and slowly sat down on the edge of the altar.

"No, I am of this world; I am not a visitor from a parallel world."

He looked up, his gaze meeting Shen Ye's directly.

"The reason my eyes are sound is very simple—because in my thirty-years-ago, which is your current age, I never used a Forbidden Curse."

"What?"