"I arrived at Baimu Village and met a strange old man named An Bo. He kept hinting at things to me. After eating, following his hints, I found Zhao Xue in a house near the ancestral hall."
Closing the diary, Fang Ming's mind churned. This An Bo was indeed hinting at the location of his previous "self," and according to the diary, that "self" was named Zhao Xue.
"I hope it's the same person."
Fang Ming prayed. If he couldn't save that "self," he would feel guilty for the rest of his life. He could never forget that gaze fixed upon him.
However, saving Zhao Xue presented two serious problems: when to save her? And where to go after saving her?
During the day, villagers kept watch. At night, monsters roamed the village. Even if he rescued her, he couldn't leave the village. Entering the white mist meant death, and hiding in the village would inevitably lead to being found by the villagers sooner or later.
Fang Ming looked at the diary in his hand and flipped through it again. It was still the same few sentences. He couldn't help but mutter, "This damn diary is so unhelpful. Why doesn't it say anything?"
He had hoped this diary would give him some hints on how to proceed, but it was as good as saying nothing. Was it just an outline? He wanted details!
Putting the diary aside for the moment, Fang Ming had to make his own decision.
"Wait, if the diary said I would find Zhao Xue, doesn't that imply I would find her no matter what method I used?"
Fang Ming suddenly realized the key point. As long as he kept a close eye on the diary's changes before acting, wouldn't that suffice?
"Hahaha, I'm such a clever little imp."
After much thought, Fang Ming decided to act after dinner, taking advantage of the brief window as the sun began to set, villagers returned home, and monsters had not yet appeared, to find Zhao Xue.
An Bo cooked quickly, or perhaps the food was simple. Fang Ming was in the house for less than ten minutes before being called out to eat.
Entering the kitchen, An Bo had already laid out the meal: a few steamed buns, a plate of stir-fried greens, and two bowls of thin porridge.
Seeing Fang Ming arrive, An Bo said, "Eat, don't be picky. In a small village, we don't have much."
"No, no, no, I'm grateful for any food."
Fang Ming sat down and began to eat. An Bo quietly ate his meal.
"This village..." An Bo suddenly began to speak.
"What?" Fang Ming asked, confused.
An Bo shook his head. "Nothing, nothing. Eat."
After a while, An Bo spoke again. "The villagers are usually wary of outsiders. Be careful when you go out."
Fang Ming nodded, understanding An Bo's meaning. He suspected someone might be watching and that he needed to be cautious when going out.
The meal was simple, and they finished quickly, within ten minutes.
An Bo stopped Fang Ming from offering to wash the dishes, telling him to attend to his own matters.
"You go do your thing. It's not dark yet, so do what you need to do. If you're worried about disturbing the villagers, use the back door, where there are usually fewer people."
Fang Ming hesitated. "Thank you, Uncle An."
Leaving the kitchen, Fang Ming glanced at the sky. It was already dim, and sunset was approaching.
Finding the back door of An Bo's house, Fang Ming opened the diary. The content hadn't changed, so he carefully opened the courtyard gate and left.
The location of the ancestral hall was easy to identify, being the tallest building in Baimu Village, and there was an unusually tall ancient locust tree. It would be hard not to find the ancestral hall.
The place where Zhao Xue was held was near the ancestral hall. And according to An Bo's previous hints, the room assigned to Fang Ming was the second one to the right of his bedroom, meaning it was the second courtyard to the right of the ancestral hall?
Baimu Village was not very large overall. After leaving the back door of An Bo's courtyard, Fang Ming headed in the direction of the ancestral hall, dodging the occasional villager. It took him half an hour of winding through alleys to reach the vicinity of the ancestral hall.
"The second courtyard? Is it that one?"
The general buildings in Baimu Village were similar, with little distinction. Fang Ming found the house An Bo had hinted at and cautiously crept towards it. Observing that no one was around, he climbed over the courtyard wall.
Inside one of the rooms in the courtyard, villagers were chatting. Fang Ming hid in a corner, waiting for an opportunity, while also searching for the room where Zhao Xue was imprisoned.
When he had woken up, he had been in a woodshed. So, Zhao Xue should also be in a woodshed now.
"It should be that one."
Fang Ming cautiously moved towards a house, reached the window, and looked inside through a gap.
A woman's figure appeared. Although her back was to Fang Ming and he couldn't see her face, her familiar clothing and the familiar woodpile filled his heart with surprise.
This woodshed was where he had been locked up!
This woman was Zhao Xue, his "self"!
Having confirmed the outcome, Fang Ming did not let his excitement cloud his judgment. He cautiously found a corner to hide in and waited quietly.
If everything followed the previous timeline, Zhao Xue would awaken in the middle of the night and be taken to see the village chief by an old man the next day.
He had to seize the opportunity during this interval to rescue Zhao Xue!
He opened the diary, and new content suddenly appeared.
"I am quietly waiting for Zhao Xue to wake up."
That's it?
Fang Ming was taken aback. Zhao Xue wouldn't wake up for the next six hours?
No, no. Fang Ming suddenly realized something. The previous entry in the diary only predicted him seeing Zhao Xue. This had only taken about an hour. Normally, the diary's prediction time was within the next six hours. The content couldn't possibly change now.
Unless...
Fang Ming frowned. "Has the diary's predictive ability weakened in Baimu Village?"
The weakening was obvious: it couldn't predict details, and the predictive time frame had significantly shortened.
This greatly impacted him. He would need to make his plans more flexible, as with predictions only an hour in advance, he would have to check the diary frequently, and his plans could only extend an hour ahead.
"Oh well, one hour is one hour. It should be enough for me to handle various situations," Fang Ming sighed, feeling as though he had gone from luxury to frugality. If he could have acted carelessly before, now he had to be more cautious.
Time ticked by, and the sky gradually darkened. As the last ray of sunlight faded, the entire Baimu Village fell into silence.
But soon, the roars of various monsters appearing in Baimu Village shattered this silence. Fang Ming glanced at the house where the villagers were. The people inside had not come out and had not turned into monsters.
"It seems there are conditions for turning into monsters?"
Fang Ming pondered this in his mind, but his immediate concern was not this. He flipped open the diary again. The content had not changed.
However, suddenly, just as Fang Ming was about to close the diary, the content changed, and the prediction for the next hour appeared.
"For reasons unknown, I suddenly began to exhibit monstrous characteristics. I thought of all possibilities and finally concluded that An Bo's food was problematic."
Cold sweat slowly trickled down Fang Ming's forehead.
A tingling, uncomfortable sensation soon spread from his arm. Fang Ming tremblingly rolled up his sleeve. Patches of dark scales were faintly visible, but due to some reason, they were unstable and not fully solidified.
"What should I do?"
Fang Ming clutched his arm. After a brief moment of panic, he quickly calmed down. If An Bo had indeed poisoned him, his current situation was undoubtedly very dangerous!
Was that old man An Bo good or bad?
A series of questions flooded Fang Ming's mind. If An Bo harbored ill intentions towards Fang Ming, then his actions had already been exposed to the high-ranking officials of Baimu Village.
Fang Ming opened the diary again, staring intently at the content. He was eager to know what would happen in the next hour and if he would turn into a monster.
Time ticked by, an hour felt neither long nor short. Finally, the content of the diary changed again.
"Zhao Xue woke up. I found that I was unable to take Zhao Xue away, so I gave her some advice to temporarily preserve her life: have no curiosity about the outside world and prepare to marry her future husband."
The diary entry for the next hour did not mention Fang Ming's own changes, focusing instead on Zhao Xue. This indicated that Fang Ming's condition had not worsened in the next hour. Thinking this, Fang Ming breathed a deep sigh of relief.
However, Fang Ming soon frowned again. The diary entry meant that he couldn't save Zhao Xue today.
"Based on my previous experience, the fool didn't take a liking to me because I bit him when he was turning into a monster, which made him fear me," Fang Ming mused, rubbing his chin, and began to think.
"If Zhao Xue has no interaction with him before meeting, will the fool take a liking to her?"
Fang Ming's eyes lit up. He thought this method might work. As long as the fool no longer feared Zhao Xue, their marriage prospects would greatly increase, and Zhao Xue would be able to preserve her life!
Closing the diary, Fang Ming quietly crept to the window of the room where Zhao Xue was held and observed her situation.
Soon, according to the diary's prediction, Zhao Xue groggily woke up. She appeared somewhat dazed but had indeed woken up.
"Piu! Piu!..." Fang Ming made strange, soft sounds under the window. Zhao Xue, still groggy, heard the sounds and gradually became more alert.
"What... what's happening? Where am I? Why am I tied up here?" Zhao Xue cried in panic. "Help! Is anyone there? Please help me!"
Damn it!
Fang Ming had calculated everything, but he hadn't expected Zhao Xue to react this way. Afraid her cries would attract monsters or alert the villagers in the nearby houses, he quickly tapped on the window to get her attention.
But it made sense. Zhao Xue had been brought here completely unprepared. She was a weak woman, and not crying in fear already showed her resilience.
"Here, here," Fang Ming whispered. "By the window."
Zhao Xue finally heard Fang Ming's voice and quickly turned her head towards the window. In the moonlight, Fang Ming could finally see her face. She was naturally beautiful, and this panicked, fragile look was something Fang Ming had never seen before.
"Who are you? Why did you tie me up?" Zhao Xue asked fearfully.
Fang Ming quickly explained that he had come to save her, but she didn't seem to believe him much.
Fang Ming didn't care anymore. He didn't have much time to prove to her that he was a good person who wanted to help her. If they continued to whisper here, and it attracted the villagers, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Listen, this is a terrifying place. You must remember every word I say seriously!"
Fang Ming's tone was stern, causing Zhao Xue to unconsciously become serious. She quickly shut her mouth and listened attentively.