Unable to answer the question immediately, Ji Mofan opened his mouth again and again, swallowing back the words he wanted to say, and then bringing them back to his tongue.
"Yes or no, just one or two words." The masked man's patience was running out, and he pressed on, "Is this question really that hard to answer?"
An unpleasant aura lingered around him, and Ji Mofan had no doubt that if he remained silent any longer, he would be flattened right there by the other party.
"Are you Demon Lord Xiao Wangyan?" Not knowing what the consequences of dying in the secret realm would be, several thoughts raced through his mind, and he finally chose the option with the highest survival rate.
The masked figure fell silent.
An unpleasant aura instantly approached Ji Mofan from afar, its oppressive force overwhelming him, making it hard for him to breathe, and causing his knees to buckle several times, as if he wanted to kneel and submit.
But Ji Mofan gritted his teeth, raised his head, and even reached out towards the demon mask that was so close to him.
Surprisingly, the masked figure in front of him didn't dodge at all.
Ji Mo Fan's strength was far weaker than his, and his movements were already slowed down in his eyes, not to mention that he was now shrouded in the other party's pressure.
But it was this snail-like movement that allowed Ji Mofan to touch the edge of the other party's mask.
With a sudden burst of force, he ripped the Nuo mask off his face.
The moonlight is faint tonight, shining on people's faces and making their features very blurry.
But Ji Mofan wouldn't mistake this face.
Xihe once sat on the throne of the Demon Lord for more than a decade with this face.
The person before them was clearly the Demon Lord Xiao Wangyan himself.
"Are you satisfied with what you see, Xiao Zhengdao?" Xiao Wangyan smiled, seemingly anticipating Ji Mofan's reaction.
The manner in which Xihe said these words was similar, but with an added touch of unrestrainedness.
Ji Mofan could clearly sense that the person in front of him was the real deal; what he had seen before was merely Xi He's clumsy imitation of Xiao Wangyan.
The surprise in his eyes lasted only a moment before quickly turning into understanding. Ji Mofan casually tossed the mask aside, looked up, and changed the subject, "What do you want to do with this child?"
Xiao Wangyan looked down at the child he was holding in his hand.
Xiao Jimo Fan was already pitifully thin from hunger, and even after being teased by Xiao Wangyan, his eyes were still darting around for quite some time.
Xiao Wangyan couldn't help but frown, "How can you be so weak?"
Ji Mofan was speechless. "He's just an ordinary child, and one who's been hungry and cold for years. What kind of strong physique do you expect him to have?"
Xiao Wangyan stared at the dizzy little Jimo Fan in his hand, lost in thought.
"What is your relationship with this child?" he suddenly asked Ji Mofan, looking up. "Why are you so nervous as soon as I take him away?"
The sounds of Jimo Fan fell silent again.
How should I answer?
He is most likely an unregistered person who suddenly appeared in this illusory world. He only met Xiao Jimo Fan for the first time today, and their only interaction was when he handed him two steamed buns.
"I am him." After hesitating for a moment, Ji Mofan decided to be direct. "I am the future him."
Anyway, this is an illusion, and Xiao Wangyan has no choice but to believe it.
If he couldn't say it aloud, the illusion array would automatically silence him.
But he didn't react after he finished speaking, which means there are no such restrictions in the illusion.
Xiao Wangyan initially seemed skeptical.
After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly put a cleansing spell on the child's head, then grabbed Ji Mofan's shoulder and put their faces together.
"...It really does look quite similar," he concluded.
Little Jimo Fan looks even more confused.
He glanced at Ji Mofan beside him, then at Xiao Wangyan who was carrying him.
"Uncle, brother, who are you?" he asked.
These words provoked Xiao Wangyan to grab him and shake him again, "You brat, why is he the older brother when I'm the uncle?"
Ji Mofan couldn't hold back any longer and snatched the image of himself as a child from Xiao Wangyan's hands. "Stop shaking it. You'll shake my brains until they're all mixed up."
Watching Ji Mofan skillfully soothe the child by placing him on a rock beside him, Xiao Wangyan pondered for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.
Ji Mofan gave him a strange look.
"No...it's just..." Receiving his gaze, Xiao Wangyan laughed even more excessively, "If what you say is true, and you are his future self, then don't you find it funny to be fooling yourself?"
Ji Mo Fan didn't understand the joke.
He would be incredibly grateful if he could really have a chance to go back to his past.
I'm so glad I was able to save that clueless version of myself sooner.
“You’re over a thousand years old, and you’re still bothered about what an ordinary child should call you,” Ji Mofan said.
“He’s not just an ordinary child.” Xiao Wangyan raised an eyebrow. “You say you’re from the future, so do you know any secrets about him?”
"Or rather—a secret about your own origins?"
My heartbeat suddenly became very loud.
Ji Mo Fan didn't know how much Xiao Wangyan, the creation of this illusion, actually knew about these past events.
But there's a high probability he didn't just appear out of thin air.
If something unexpected had happened back then, preventing Shen Yun from finding Ji Mo Fan in time and bringing him back to the Yun Cang Sword Sect, he might actually be taken in by the Demon Lord now.
“I don’t remember anything before I was seven years old,” Ji Mofan said. “I only know that in the same year that I was picked up by righteous cultivators and joined the sect, you disappeared from the Demon Realm and instead had your disciple Xihe carry a wisp of your soul and impersonate you to confuse the public.”
Xiao Wangyan looked very surprised.
He circled around Ji Mofan, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
"Now I believe half of what you said," Xiao Wangyan said.
"So why did you pick up... me?" Ji Mofan felt that the question was a bit strange, but in the end he still used the first person.
The child, who had been listening to their conversation for a while, struggled to understand the meaning behind their words, his mind clouded by hunger. He reached out and tugged at the hem of Ji Mofan's clothes.
"Brother, are you really me from the future?" The child's eyes sparkled, as if crushed stars had been sprinkled into them.
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