Chapter 179 The Powerful Minister Returns to His Youth 33.
When Ye Boyang was vaguely conscious, he felt that his surroundings were dark, as if he were floating in some cold lake.
Vaguely, he sensed something through the lake.
His body seemed to be moving, but it was beyond his control. His mouth was also speaking, but the sound was sometimes near and sometimes far, and somewhat distorted, as if he were in a dream.
He tried to dive deep, attempting to hear and see clearly.
“You know… they definitely believe you, A-Fan, but… why aren’t we going back… they…”
This was his own voice. He seemed to be in a very dark room with fine wine and food in front of him, talking to a person next to him who was wrapped in a black cloak and whose face could not be seen.
Ye Boyang shook off his daze and focused his mind to capture those sensations.
"Don't worry," the cloaked man's voice became much clearer. His voice was old and hoarse, but his tone was full of youthful nonchalance. "I've already sent someone I trust to stall for time. At least three days. I guarantee you won't be found by them for three days."
"You really have a way! In just three days..."
Long Ran, slurping a pig's trotter with a worried expression, asked, "Will three days really be enough?"
“It has to be done,” the cloaked man poured wine for Long Ran. “Our ceremony will take at least three days. Now you’re making a fuss about leaving. Do you want to be trapped in Prince Yong’s body for the rest of your life, never to be free again, and possibly even to the point of being tortured to death?”
"The master will only make this one move; if you miss it, you'll never have another chance! Ran, you'd better think this through!"
Long Ran picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and his brows remained furrowed.
He manipulated Prince Yong's body to leave the post station, and almost a day and a night had passed.
That night, he took two bodyguards up the mountain and entered the abandoned Buddhist temple, where he found Duan Fan waiting for him. Duan Fan was wrapped in a black cloak, his face was not shown, and his voice was different, but his tone of voice was still the same. There were also some secret little things that only the two of them knew, which could not be faked.
Duan Fan said that he hadn't been in this world for long, only two or three months, but something went wrong. He didn't know why, but he ended up in the body of this so-called Mr. Liang, the leader of the rebel party.
At first, he often fell into a deep sleep, and his struggles were ineffective. Later, somehow, Mr. Liang discovered his existence.
This Mr. Liang seems to know some kind of Taoist master and has used some means to communicate with him. They thought he was a demon, but they couldn't get rid of him using methods for exorcising demons, so they thought of coming to talk to him.
The conversation was rather complicated. At first, Duan Fan was fearless, but after being tortured several times by the master, he came to realize the reality of the situation. They couldn't kill him, but they could torture him.
How could a modern college student like him endure such torture?
He had no choice but to compromise, hand over some secrets to prove his worth, obtain better treatment, and then see how things unfolded.
In the end, Mr. Liang and Duan Fan shared this body, and Duan Fan could come out for three days every ten days.
At the same time, Duan Fan also had to work for the Empress Dowager's rebel party, using his so-called ability to foresee the future to help them deal with the imperial court, kill Emperor Tianxi and his three princes, and support their new emperor to ascend the throne.
"Where did they get a new emperor?" Long Ran was shocked when he heard this. "The Liang family wants to seize the throne and become emperor themselves?"
“There were indeed some people in ancient times who had this idea, but they were still a very small minority, right?” Duan Fan said speechlessly. “They were all brainwashed and only knew that one family ruled the world. The Liang family was no exception. Their new emperor was said to be the posthumous son of the eldest prince from back then.”
Long Ran was even more bewildered: "The eldest prince? The child of Emperor Tianxi and Empress Liang? Wasn't he dead at the age of eight? Where did this posthumous child come from!"
Duan Fan said, "The rebels said that the eldest prince didn't actually die immediately back then. He was on the verge of death and was rescued by the Liang family. Something went wrong, and Empress Liang didn't know, which led to a major incident. Later, the Liang family was destroyed, and although the eldest prince barely grew up, he was too weak and died before he was twenty."
"Only seven concubines remained, one of whom became pregnant. The child was born sickly, but he grew up to be stronger than his father, and they called him the eldest grandson of the emperor..."
Long Ran felt a chill run down his spine: "He was poisoned and his body was already weak, and now he has seven concubines... I don't think the Crown Prince really wanted to take them in, did he? Were they given to him by the Liang family? Just to leave a seed?"
"Otherwise what?" Duan Fan said, "Do you really think those rebels of the Demon Queen are any good people? Anyway, I really want to escape and dare not stay any longer, so as soon as I got the news that it was you, I quickly and secretly took action."
"The two of us brothers, working together like two swords, with two genius minds colliding, what can't we accomplish?"
Duan Fan then briefly explained his plan.
It turns out that he had already discovered that when Mr. Liang was asleep, he could not perceive what he was doing by controlling his body. Therefore, during the days when he could move freely, he got involved with the disciple of the Xuanmen master that Mr. Liang had found.
One wanted to break free from the control of Mr. Liang and the Empress Dowager's rebellious faction, while the other wanted to kill his master and take the throne himself; they hit it off immediately.
“Master Liao has also mastered his skills. He has a formation ritual that can help us leave our current bodies. At that time, we can either travel back to the modern world or be reborn into a good family as a rich young master,” Duan Fan said.
Long Ran was intrigued, but also felt something was off.
So, his time-travel story wasn't originally about ancient business and power struggles, but also included elements of metaphysics?
Something just doesn't sound right.
But Duan Fan had no reason to lie to him.
He had already tried that formation ritual once after following Duan Fan to this nameless mountain by the water. What he did, Duan Fan did too. Surely Duan Fan wouldn't want to harm himself?
Besides, it's just bloodletting, and the body will be a little weak, so it can't really be considered harmful...
Actually, to be honest, it seemed to have some effect. After all that, he vaguely felt like his soul had left his body. Yong Wang's body even seemed to have become a little heavier, making it less nimble for him to control.
Prince Yong has not yet woken up, which is probably related to that formation ritual...
Long Ran chewed on a pig's trotter, lost in thought, reminiscing and pondering. Perhaps it was because of this rambling, but his head felt a little dizzy.
"Ah Fan, I feel a little dizzy..." Long Ran said.
“This is normal. It means you’re about to leave this body,” Duan Fan said, putting food on his plate. “Come on, eat more. This is all for you. Order more if you need more. We have everything you need. After you finish eating, we still need to continue the ritual.”
"Oh right, although your two bodyguards aren't close enough to hear us, I'm still worried they might discover you're not the Prince of Yong after all this back and forth. How about I take care of them for you?"
Long Ran was stunned, raised his head, and looked at the cloaked man: "Ah, Ah Fan, what do you mean by 'dealing with'? You're going to kill them all? You..."
"What nonsense are you thinking!" Duan Fan rolled his eyes at him. "They are all law-abiding citizens of modern times. Who would dare to kill someone? You lure them into the secret room, and I'll find some skilled martial artists to lock them up and keep an eye on them. After three days, when we leave safely, we'll release them."
"Alright," Long Ran breathed a sigh of relief, "Let's do it this way."
Although the meal was plentiful, it was eaten in a short time, and soon the cloaked man, Duan Fan, urged Long Ran to get up.
Although Long Ran was reluctant to part with the food, he was also eager to go home. Having come to ancient times, he had neither freedom nor relatives and friends. He was usually carefree and could let go of things if he didn't want to, but now that he could really go back, who could sit still?
Long Ran wiped his mouth and went with Duan Fan to fool the guards.
Seeing that Yang Beiwang and Yin Bufan hesitated but still wanted to carry out the order, the real Prince Yong, Ye Boyang, became anxious.
He had just overheard most of the conversation between "Aran," who was controlling his body, and "Afan," the cloaked figure. Many things suddenly became clear, leaving him shocked and enlightened.
It turns out that both the soul within them, which had previously been suspected of being an evil spirit, and A-Fan, were actually people from the future. For some unknown reason, they arrived in the Great Qi Dynasty hundreds of years ago, entered the bodies of others, and lived as if they were two souls in one body, calling themselves time travelers.
They yearn to use the vision of posterity and their foresight to achieve great things here, but they also long to return to their own world. The former is understandable, but the latter…
Ye Boyang was not as optimistic as Long Ran.
He immediately realized that there was definitely something wrong with this A-Fan! They were supposed to be childhood friends, and many small things matched up, but something just didn't seem right. And those array rituals, astral projection, and time travel were definitely not as simple as they seemed.
"idiot!"
Seeing Long Ran walking trustingly alongside Duan Fan, Ye Boyang, for the first time ever, unleashed a torrent of curses, completely lacking any semblance of refinement.
He can't just sit here and wait to die!
Now that he has awakened and is no longer trapped in his body and unable to hear the outside world as before, it means that this time he may have a chance to break free!
Moreover, although he never expected such a fantastical event to happen to him, he had already guessed that something was wrong with him and secretly made some preparations, as long as...
"...So be it, go and find it for me."
Following Duan Fan's instructions, Long Ran gave orders to the two bodyguards. While they went to retrieve the item for him, Duan Fan would activate a trap to imprison them.
"yes!"
Yin Bufan agreed.
Yang Beiwang hesitated for a moment, then raised his eyes and said, “Your Highness, you only brought the two of us with you this time. This mission can be accomplished by sending only one person, Bufan. I should stay here to protect you.”
"In case the rebels find you two, they can also..."
"Do I need you to tell me whether or not to leave someone to protect me?" Long Ran feigned anger.
"Your subordinate wouldn't dare!" Yang Beiwang immediately lowered his head.
Long Ran's eyes widened slightly. He'd sensed Yang Beiwang wasn't very obedient the whole way here. He'd let it go before, but now he wasn't afraid of what he might do. "Yang Beiwang, you really are..."
He was about to say something more, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his head suddenly buzzed, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer. He was stunned and in excruciating pain.
"ah--!"
Long Ran suddenly covered his head, but found that his limbs were weak and he was about to fall forward.
Duan Fan and the two bodyguards were startled and rushed to help him up.
The guards, being skilled in martial arts, were quicker and caught Long Ran.
"Your Highness!"
"Your Highness!"
Duan Fan seemed a little nervous, gripping Long Ran's arm tightly, but for some reason, his feet subtly shifted backward, as if he was ready to rush out the door at any moment if things went wrong.
"N-nothing..." Long Ran gasped for breath, his face contorted, waving his hand with all his might, "It just hurt for a moment, it's nothing..."
The three men helped him sit down. Long Ran lowered his head and rested for a while. He seemed to have recovered and his breathing calmed down. He immediately gave another order, sending the two guards away to carry out the mission that had no return.
The two guards seemed to hesitate for a moment, but under Long Ran's slightly stern gaze, they bowed and slipped away.
Duan Fan watched quietly from the side. After the guards left, he came over with a worried expression and asked a few questions. Then, without even activating the mechanism to lock up the two guards, he took Long Ran and quickly headed to the location of the formation ceremony.
"Perhaps the Prince of Yong is about to awaken and is resisting. We must hurry!" Duan Fan said.
The two left the house and, following the darkness, went to the back of the village and entered a cave.
Duan Fan lit a tinderbox and led Long Ran downwards.
Deeper inside, there is a faint light. Upon closer inspection, one can see an offering table, a blood pool, yellow paper, and some strange animal-headed herbs. At first glance, it does indeed seem somewhat mystical.
A middle-aged Taoist priest with a long beard stood by the offering table. When he saw the two of them enter, he handed them two extremely sharp knives: "The auspicious time is approaching. The second formation ritual should begin. You two take the medicine and then sit down to begin the bloodletting."
"Same as the first time?" Long Ran asked.
"The front is the same, but the back is different," the Taoist priest said simply.
Long Ran looked at him and saw that Duan Fan had already swallowed the bowl of medicine that smelled of nothing without thinking. Suddenly, he frowned and sighed, "Ah Fan, I suddenly feel that things are not so bad now...".
"What?"
Duan Fan, having drunk the herbal soup, revealed his aged face, which was supposedly belonging to Mr. Liang. Upon hearing these words, his old face seemed to lose control for a moment and contorted.
But Long Ran seemed not to see it.
“I say, being the Prince of Yong isn’t so bad,” Long Ran said.
"Aran, do you know what you're saying?!" Duan Fan looked at him in disbelief.
"Is there any need to be so surprised?" Long Ran gripped the small knife and looked at him. "If I go back, I'll just be an ordinary college student, but if I stay, I can become the Prince of Yong. Although I currently have two souls in one body and can't take the lead, there must be a way to kill the Prince of Yong and let me take the lead, right?"
"If his body is weak enough, then it's possible, isn't it?"
The cave was dimly lit, and Duan Fan's face was ashen and difficult to discern.
"How could you say such a thing, Long Ran? You shouldn't be like this right now, you shouldn't be thinking like this! You should be thinking that while time travel is interesting, going home is the most important thing!" Duan Fan's tone was strange. "No, that's not right, you're not Long Ran, who are you? Where did you come from!"
Long Ran's expression also turned cold: "I'm not Long Ran? I think you're not A Fan at all!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Duan Fan shouted angrily.
"I'm talking nonsense?" Long Ran said with absolute certainty, glaring back angrily, "You know best whether you are Duan Fan or not! You are definitely not him!"
Duan Fan and Long Ran stared at each other, and then suddenly fell silent.
Long Ran's hand gripping the knife trembled: "Who...who are you?!"
Duan Fan suddenly sneered, his gaze sweeping across the cave entrance before turning to the Taoist priest. "Still standing there watching? Subdue him! Force-feed him medicine, bleed him! All this talk of three days or two days is a lie. Once your two bodyguards are gone, I'll make you 'step down' tonight!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hand and threw up a cloud of medicinal powder.
Long Ran was on guard against the Taoist priest, but he didn't expect Duan Fan to suddenly ambush him. Caught off guard, he immediately went limp. The Taoist priest, his face covered, rushed out and captured him.
"Sir, this...aren't you going to act yet! We didn't go to Nanshan, we've separated from the main force, and now we have no reinforcements. It wasn't easy for us to find this place. Rescuing the prince and getting out unharmed is the most important thing! If we delay any longer, and something really happens to the prince, we'll both be beheaded!"
In the shadows, a soldier led a small group of men, cautiously lying in ambush, peering anxiously into the cave through a crevice in the rock. He spoke urgently to the scholar in blue beside him.
"Wait a little longer."
Yu Shiqing's voice was calm as he looked at Long Ran, who had been lifted up, tied up tightly, and thrown into the blood pool. His eyes narrowed slightly. "It was fine a quarter of an hour ago, but now... if we really go to save him immediately, I'm afraid your prince will be more displeased than happy."
This is the person whom the Sixth Prince completely trusts and has entrusted with all matters here. Old Zhao... has no choice but to trust him! Zhao Wei silently recited, gritted his teeth, calmed his breath, and continued to stare intently ahead.
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