I can rewind time to prevent death

Yan Junze and the middle-aged leader nodded at each other.

Then Guo Youliang extended his hands and patted Yan Junze and the middle-aged leader, "The situation is very urgent now, you'll be putting in much effort. After this Ghost Bridge incident is over, I will apply to the organization to give you generous remuneration and special treatment."

He looked at Yan Junze with a tone of concern, "Junze, you just triggered your Semi-Spirit power. I suggest you'd better take a rest and not rush things too much, you should prioritize your own safety."

"Hmm, understood." Yan Junze nodded.

Guo Youliang quickly left after opening the door.

Watching his retreating figure, Yan Junze reflected. The first time he met this four-star Exorcist, the guy nearly finished him off with a slash, and the second time, he was ready to chop again, if not for his timely interjection that saved him from dying a second time.

But after interacting with him, he realized that Guo Youliang was actually kind-hearted and led people earnestly, it was only when facing strangenesses that he, like all Exorcists, was ruthless and decisive.

The middle-aged leader closed the door, returned to his seat, and said to Yan Junze, "Should I go check out the western part of the village? You can rest here. I've sent people out on patrol, and we've just cleared a few ordinary strangenesses. There shouldn't be any other major dangers around here."

Yan Junze shook his head, "You are familiar with them, it's best that you stay here. I'm already used to fighting alone, and besides, my Semi-Spirit power is still abundant. There is really no need for concern. I'll go!" Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

The middle-aged man hesitated, eyeing Yan Junze up and down, as if trying to discern whether he truly was capable or was at the end of his strength.

To be honest, right now, even Yan Junze himself couldn't bear to use the Semi-Spirit power, because from the recent encounter with the Back-faced Woman, he deeply understood that if he were to force it, it wouldn't just affect him, but it could endanger the Back-faced Woman and Ke'er.

So from that moment on, he decided not to use the Semi-Spirit State at all; if worst came to worst, he would simply rewind time. After all, he had plenty of time, and there was no immediate concern for the Different Dimension Energy in the Spacetime Atlas.

However, regardless, Yan Junze still wanted to check out the western part of the village.

There was an indistinct feeling in his heart that he couldn't let go of something, whether it was the two detected tasks or something else, he didn't ponder too deeply.

"You lead them here, I'll go alone. If it really is dangerous there, I'll wait for Uncle Guo to join me before I take any further action with him. You don't have to worry at all!" said Yan Junze again.

"Should we accompany you?" asked the other two younger Exorcists in the house.

Yan Junze shook his head, "I'm used to being alone; having you with me would only make me cautious and hinder my actions. Otherwise, even if I have to escape, with the state of being a Semi-spirit, I have a good chance of getting away on my own."

"You must be careful over there," the middle-aged leader finally relented.

"No problem," assured Yan Junze.

Yan Junze checked the contents of his backpack – food, water, a lighter, and a flashlight were all there; he wasn't lacking anything essential. He slung the backpack over his shoulders, bade the middle-aged leader and the two young Exorcists farewell, and stepped out the door.

On the way, he encountered a group of Exorcists arranged by the middle-aged man to patrol nearby. After exchanging greetings, Yan Junze did not linger; following the map, he hurried towards the western side of the village.

Walking along the flat ground to the village's west end would take just over ten minutes. However, Mo Family Village's terrain is unique, with a small Plum Blossom Forest running through the middle of the village, separating the west from the east. Normally, villagers were reluctant to cross the Plum Blossom Forest at night.

Since the incidents of strangenesses began, this Plum Blossom Forest had never been peaceful, and especially after the emergence of Ghost Bridge, it gave rise to several higher-level strangenesses that even the Exorcists struggled to subdue after exhausting effort.

Then a woman carrying a lantern appeared. This time, even those Exorcists met their match.

Yan Junze started out quickly but soon realized something was amiss. Gazing straight ahead, the mist-covered silhouette of the Plum Blossom Forest emerged before his eyes, and it was only then he suddenly noticed the fog around him had thinned even more.

It was already completely dark, as the day had been sunny. Since entering Mo Family Village, the constant white mist had enveloped him and made it less noticeable, but now, as the fog lessened, Yan Junze immediately spotted the anomaly.

The white mist that had almost entirely concealed the sky above now, due to its sparsity, revealed parts of the nighttime sky's outline.

Yan Junze merely looked up and saw a vague semicircle moon appearing overhead. Moonlight spilled down, piercing through the thin fog, casting his own body in light and stretching a compressed black shadow behind him on the ground.

"Not good!"

Startled, Yan Junze turned to look at the ground behind him. In the midst of what seemed like a perfectly normal shadow, an arm extended out, rapidly approaching his ankle and seizing it.

At the same time, Yan Junze immediately felt a tightness around his ankle, the shadow overlapping his footstep, but he couldn't see any tangible object.

Then, a woman's figure seemed to crawl out from the ground, or rather, revealed her upper body along his own shadow, with her other hand swiftly targeting his other calf.

As she appeared, the woman let out a mournful laugh, as if deeply grieved, yet laced with a sinister sweetness, almost like an unburdening of endless longing for someone.

"I want to be next to you every single second!"

That familiar, hoarse voice emerged out of nowhere, instantly raising goosebumps all over Yan Junze's skin.

"Fang Ning? Damn it!"

Caught off guard, both his feet were caught by the emerging Fang Ning from his own shadow. Though he tried to take a step forward to escape, he ended up sprawling on the ground.

In this moment, Fang Ning's upper body, still in shadow, became more evident, contorting and wriggling upwards as if about to completely emerge from Yan Junze's shadow.

"I like the moonlight, and I like you too!"

As she wriggled out, she spoke in that harsh, hoarse, unique voice, her hands gripping Yan Junze's legs, frantically climbing up his body.

Yan Junze took the opportunity of falling to the ground to immediately start crawling forward.

He could see very clearly that he was standing in an area where the fog was thin, but about three meters ahead, the fog thickened again, though not as dense as before, enough to obscure the moonlight from above.

With a great force pulling at him from behind, Yan Junze ignored it and used all his strength to crawl rapidly forward.

"Rapid" was a relative term, as he barely managed to move forward against the force tugging from behind.

At the same time, Fang Ning's shadow continued to climb up, her hands nearing Yan Junze's knees, gradually taking on substance, the charred appearance from electrical burns emerging.

After completing the "Reflection Under the Moonlight" mission, the Spacetime Atlas had informed Yan Junze that he had earned Fang Ning's affection, and the favorability was "Intimate." However, "Intimate" was followed by parentheses—abnormal.

Yan Junze looked back, wanting to kick out fiercely, but his feet were caught and he couldn't muster any force.

He had no choice but to put his arms to greater use, desperately crawling forward.

Soon, he reached the area where the fog was relatively dense, his upper body entering it, and he felt his thigh muscles tighten, as if Fang Ning had grabbed hold.

Yan Junze almost decided to rewind, but seeing success so close at hand, there was no need to waste energy. He hurriedly sped up, finally merging most of his body into the enveloping fog, cutting off the moonlight above.

At this moment, one of the calves that hadn't been retracted in time was visible, with Fang Ning's head pressed out of the fog, slowly, as he withdrew his foot, Fang Ning's shadow along with Yan Junze's disappeared.

Gasping for breath, Yan Junze lay on the ground, lifted his head, peered into the Plum Blossom Forest, and glanced at the nearby fog, revealing a bitter smile.

This time, he had forgotten to bring a very important tool with him—an umbrella.