I can rewind time to prevent death

"She really did come." Yan Junze realized, his gaze shifting toward the Lantern Woman.

At this moment, the Lantern Woman was also staring blankly at him.

Her eyes weren't covered with a gray film, but instead were bright and clear, as if she were truly a living person.

"What did you just say?" Yan Junze asked.

"Have you seen my husband?" the Lantern Woman asked again, her watery eyes wide open, which made her look unexpectedly beautiful in a different way.

"What is your husband's name?" Yan Junze thought for a moment and then asked.

"Jia Sheng." The Lantern Woman stepped closer, seemingly convinced that Yan Junze might recognize her husband, and kept her gaze fixed on him.

Yan Junze pretended to think seriously, then shook his head: "I haven't heard of him."

"Think again," the Lantern Woman, who had kindled some hope, wasn't willing to give up.

After she had spoken these words, Yan Junze suddenly noticed that the lantern in the Lantern Woman's hand seemed to become much brighter at this moment.

Not wanting to throw a cold bucket of water on her immediately, Yan Junze "thought about it" again, but still shook his head, "I'm sorry, I really can't recall that person."

As the words were spoken, the flame in the lantern in front of him instantly shrank a bit, and even the light around it dimmed somewhat.

After a brief pause, Yan Junze mused to himself: "Is this woman's hope reflected through the lantern in her hand? It feels like the size of the flame is related to her emotional changes."

Even though he knew this, he had no way to help.

The Lantern Woman's obsession was to find her husband, and it was natural to have emotional fluctuations when she received news or became disappointed.

But there was one thing to keep in mind, to not let her lantern turn red.

Seeing that the Lantern Woman had stopped talking, Yan Junze said: "Although I don't know him, I think I can still help you look for your husband."

"How will you help me?" the Lantern Woman asked.

"Before I help you, forgive me for asking boldly, but how did you die?" Yan Junze said.

"Did I die?" the Lantern Woman was surprised.

Yan Junze was taken aback for a moment, his face squeezing out an awkward smile, suddenly not knowing how to respond.

"You tell me, how did I die?" the Lantern Woman continued to ask, seemingly not finding death to be terrifying or worrying.

"This… I don't know." Yan Junze shook his head and said, "Think carefully, did anything unusual happen while you were looking for your husband?"

The Lantern Woman tilted her head, as if thinking.

However, after a moment, she shook her head: "I can't remember anything. I only know that I have to find my husband. Have you seen him?"

"Here we go again," Yan Junze muttered under his breath.

At this point, Yan Junze had an unreasonable suspicion that when a person turns into a strangeness, her obsession will occupy most of her consciousness, and all her actions will revolve around this obsession; no matter what she does, she will return to that same fixation.

The Lantern Woman before him was just like that. In previous encounters with other strangenesses, many exhibited similar behaviors.

After a moment of thought, Yan Junze shook his head and said: "I haven't seen your husband."

With those words, he turned to leave, planning to head to the west side of the village to investigate the situation of Zhang Xiaomo and the others first.

If he arrived late, he was worried that there might be some misfortune.

As for the task involving "The Woman with the Lantern," as long as the Ghost Bridge didn't disappear, it would always be here. It wouldn't be too late to come back and resolve it once he had peace of mind.

After taking a few steps, Yan Junze looked back, just to be cautious.

At this time, the Lantern Woman still stood there, her gaze unfocused, loosely staring ahead with a sense of helplessness.

Yan Junze sighed inwardly, thinking here was another lovelorn woman—hundreds of years had passed, and she still sought her husband.

With this thought, he looked back once more and suddenly paused.

He saw the Lantern Woman still standing, but now the flame in the lantern she held grew brighter, and from it emanated a hint of... red!

"No good, the lantern is turning red."

Yan Junze was startled, taking a closer look at the lantern.

It was indeed turning red.

He didn't think twice and immediately started to run. Meanwhile, the Lantern Woman in white remained standing silently behind him, her lantern gradually reddening.

Yan Junze remembered the mission prompt, so he sprinted with all his might towards the other end of the ditch.

About two hundred meters after he took off, a sharp scream came from behind, distant and roughly at the same two hundred meter interval.

This meant that during the time Yan Junze was running, the Lantern Woman had stood still in her original spot.

Yan Junze didn't know what was happening behind him, but that scream sent a layer of goosebumps across his skin, causing his feet to tremble slightly, but without pausing, he actually sped up even more.

After turning a corner, he could see the rooftops of houses on the western side of the village from the ditch.

Just then, a cold breeze blew from behind, and Yan Junze couldn't help but shudder, looking back to see the Lantern Woman, dressed in white, quickly chasing after him, holding a lantern that had turned completely red.

The red light was unnaturally bright, casting its glow on her dress, making the white gown appear wholly red at that moment.
Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

This scene added an extra layer of creepiness.

"Fuck!"

Yan Junze flung his arms and ran for his life.

At this moment, using Semi-spirit power was absolutely impossible; not only had the Semi-spirit power been completely drained during the treatment of the human skin, but even borrowing the strength from the Back-faced Woman had nearly depleted her.

If he were to borrow from the Back-faced Woman again, leaving aside if it would be successful, Yan Junze didn't want to make the mother and daughter suffer any further.

So all he could do was try to run away by himself.

If he could dash out of the ditch before the Lantern Woman caught up, perhaps she would no longer pursue him relentlessly outside of her territory.

However, while ideals are beautiful, reality is often cruel.

After feeling the cold wind, just a few seconds passed before Yan Junze sensed something was wrong.

Glancing back, he saw the Lantern Woman's speed was unimaginably fast, her feet not even touching the ground, the red lantern in her hand seemingly pulling her forward as she charged toward him.

"I can't escape!" Yan Junze confirmed immediately.

He turned around, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small mirror, facing it towards the approaching Lantern Woman.

The darkness within the mirror continued to whirl slowly, and at that moment, it seemed something was about to emerge from the swirling vortex.

Just then, the red lantern neared, pressing fiercely against the mirror's surface.

The darkness within the mirror was instantly stained red, and a black arm that was about to reach out was bathed in the red lantern's light, subsequently unable to extend any further.

It was in that instant that the Lantern Woman came right up to Yan Junze, extending an arm with fingernails nearly ten centimeters long, white and sharp, reaching out to grab him.

At close range, Yan Junze could clearly see her current appearance.

The Lantern Woman no longer had any semblance of elegance; instead, her normally proportionate features were stretched grotesquely.

The corners of her eyes reached up to her temples, her eyes long and narrow, and her mouth was stretched down to the roots of her ears, revealing terrifyingly white teeth.

At this moment, Yan Junze had reason to believe that even if the Back-faced Woman and Ke'er themselves were here, they would be at a loss against the Lantern Woman.

What he hadn't expected was that the red lantern in her hand could actually suppress the Mirror Spirit in the little mirror, making it impossible for the spirit to break through and harm him!

With this thought, Yan Junze didn't hesitate any longer and activated Rewind.

As the Lantern Woman's fingers were about to touch his face, the scene froze, and time rewound to when he had just turned the corner and saw the Lantern Woman squatting in the ditch, digging tirelessly.

But this time, as Yan Junze caught sight of the Lantern Woman's squatting silhouette, the white lantern by her foot began to brighten.

Yan Junze didn't approach but watched in astonishment.

He remembered that the first time he saw the Lantern Woman, the lantern had looked normal and not as bright as it was now. But this moment seemed different from the previous encounter.

Yan Junze silently observed the lantern on the ground, and gradually, it shifted from white to slowly transforming, as a shade of red emerged from within, completely altering the color of the lantern.

Almost at the same time, the hitherto quiet digging Lantern Woman's soil in front of her burst, forming a small hole; she stood up, crushing a yellowed skull in her hands and muttering to herself, seemingly deranged.

Yan Junze roughly made out her words, which were, "Not this, not this, not again, where have you gone? Where on earth have you gone?"

As these words fell, the red lantern on the ground leisurely took flight, ending up in her grasp, as she took steps toward Yan Junze.

Yan Junze revealed a bitter smile.

Clearly, the Lantern Woman had gone mad ahead of time; it was just that she hadn't noticed him yet.

In such a situation, he didn't know how she would react upon seeing him.

As the thought crossed his mind, the woman holding the red lantern turned the corner and appeared before Yan Junze, immediately spotting this somewhat timid, troubled, and uneasy man.