I can rewind time to prevent death

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"That scavenger, was it a man or a woman?" Yan Junze asked.

"A woman." Grandpa Zheng answered while recalling.

Yan Junze thought for a moment, "Who else in the community might remember this incident?"

Grandpa Zheng wiped his mouth and pointed inside the community, saying, "Elder Pu living on the first floor of Building No. 4, I mean, I call him Elder Pu, but you should call him Old Master. He has lived here for a long time and might know something."

"Then Grandpa Zheng, you take your time eating."

Yan Junze left the duty room and didn't immediately go home, but went straight to the building opposite his own, Building No. 5.

Elder Pu must be over 90 years old, hard of hearing, and after Yan Junze knocked, Elder Pu's daughter came to open the door.

Yes, his daughter is 64 years old, and Yan Junze calls her grandma.

Elder Pu was lying in bed because his legs and feet were not agile – he rarely got out of bed, and even if he did, he usually sat in a wheelchair.

Since the outbreak of "strangenesses," he hardly ever went out.

Yan Junze had seen this old master before – Elder Pu's hair had already fallen out, his frame was skinny, his cheeks hollow. It was said he loved to chat.

Yan Junze said he was there to ask Elder Pu about something from the past in the community, and the daughter let him into the bedroom.

As soon as he entered the bedroom, he cheerfully said, "Old Pu, how are you? I hope I'm not disturbing you? I've come to understand some matters."

Elder Pu raised his head, showing a kind smile as he looked at Yan Junze.

Worried that he might not hear him, Yan Junze raised his voice, "Old Grandpa, hello!"

"Hmm, nice weather, the weather is good today," Elder Pu nodded.

Yan Junze's face turned embarrassed, and he said again, "Grandpa, I just want to ask you two questions."

"How did you know I can paint?" Elder Pu looked surprised.

Yan Junze turned to look at Elder Pu's daughter standing behind him, and she shook her head with a resigned smile, "He's always like this now, answering out of context, maybe… just go with the flow."

"Go with the flow?" Yan Junze found that the old people nowadays were quite humorous. He turned back to Elder Pu and raised his volume even more, emphasizing each word, "Grandpa, do you still remember anything about the FH Community's underground storeroom before it was remodeled?"

"I remember," Elder Pu finally gave a correct response.

"Then tell me about it, I would like to understand some things," Yan Junze nodded and sat down by the bed.

"I remember that year, my father said, the underground resistance in Shuntian was pursued and intercepted by the enemy forces, and eventually had no choice but to change their appearance…"

"Alright, alright, Grandpa, my mistake." Yan Junze stood up and gave Elder Pu's daughter a wry smile, then said to Elder Pu, "I won't bother you any longer, you rest well."

Just as he was about to leave, Elder Pu's daughter curiously asked, "What did you want to inquire about? Maybe I know something as well."

Yan Junze casually said, "Just wanted to ask about a woman who used to scavenge in the underground garage."

"Oh, you mean Aunt Mei."

"Hmm? You really know her," Yan Junze said, surprised.

Elder Pu's daughter nodded, "I've heard the old master talk about her. Aunt Mei had been scavenging for a lifetime, quite pitiful. Later, when her economic condition got a bit better, she always lived in the underground storeroom of FH Community."

"Wasn't the storeroom later remodeled into a parking lot?" Yan Junze asked.

"Yes, but there was a maintenance tunnel inside, and Aunt Mei lived in there afterward. Her rheumatism was severe, and it seems it led to other diseases, which caused her death."

"Was she married? Did she have any children?"

"No," Elder Pu's daughter lowered her head and thought for a moment, "Apparently, later she found a pair of abandoned infants with disabilities. It is said that Aunt Mei was raising them, but they were rarely seen, and it was only half a month after Aunt Mei died that her body was discovered."

```

"What about the infants?"

"They died before Aunt Mei, couldn't be raised, and Aunt Mei was heartbroken for a long time."

"Hmm, I think I've got a rough idea, thank you, Grandma Pu." Yan Junze revealed a smile, nodded to Old Pu's daughter, then took his leave.

Now it seemed certain that the old lady in the underground garage was indeed Aunt Mei, and the two strange babies were the disabled abandoned infants she had picked up.

However, what made Yan Junze curious was that when he activated "Perception of Strange Events", he didn't detect any mission information regarding Aunt Mei and the two strange babies.

This meant that Aunt Mei and the babies might not have any obsessions, or that the strange babies did have obsessions but were being heavily suppressed by Aunt Mei.

This could be determined from the way the strange babies shrank back in fear whenever they looked at Aunt Mei.

Yan Junze was filled with absolute curiosity towards this strangeness that was Aunt Mei.

First of all, the old lady was incredibly powerful; the Back-faced Woman, upon seeing her, didn't say a word and ran away, just like Ke'er did upon encountering other high-level strangenesses, without even the thought of challenging her.

This showed that Aunt Mei's strangeness level was very high, though its exact level was unknown.

Most importantly, Yan Junze now saw that Aunt Mei was very kind to people, had no obsessions or resentment. At least for now, he couldn't see any threat to others, otherwise, she wouldn't be quietly living in the underground garage for who knows how long.

If possible, it would be more beneficial than detrimental to foster a good relationship with Aunt Mei.

Only, Yan Junze knew that his "Evil Spirit Solid Lock" skill seemed unable to lock down strangenesses above the semi-Sculpting Spirit level. It wouldn't work on the Resentful Granny, the Back-faced Woman, and certainly not on Aunt Mei.

"Might as well do this: in a couple of days, I'll buy some candles to visit her, activate Rewind beforehand, and probe whether it's possible to establish some rapport with Aunt Mei."

Yan Junze made up his mind.

He returned home without another word the whole way.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

On the weekend, the school announced ahead of time that all seniors would have a large classroom session, with university teachers coming over to give lectures and former top students sharing their examination experience.

This was completely unexpected by Yan Junze and Zhou Dali.

Fortunately, it didn't last long and ended around 3 pm.

Yan Junze and Zhou Dali immediately went to the "Zhou Erfu" jewelry store and, upon arriving at the workshop, found only the two apprentices there without Master Gu Bai.

Yan Junze saw that the mold for the mallet had been finished and was placed neatly on the table, but there was no sign of Gu Bai.

"Master Gu said he will be here later, you guys just wait for a bit," one apprentice called out and then hurried off to busily tend to other tasks.

About half an hour later, Gu Bai finally arrived, looking very late.

The guy had very noticeable dark circles under his eyes, drooping eyelids, and shuffling steps, clearly having not rested well.

Seeing this, Yan Junze was actually worried about him starting work now.

However, Gu Bai seemed to be aware of his condition and didn't immediately start working, but instead sat down to rest for a while, smoked a cigarette, drank several sips of the strong tea the apprentice had brewed, and started work when he felt less tired.

Yan Junze was puzzled about what this guy had been up to at night to be so tired. Was it just poor sleep?

Curiosity aside, it wasn't convenient for him to ask questions at the moment. Standing with Zhou Dali, he just watched from a distance.

"Brother Gu, if you find any special structures inside, please stop and let me consider whether to continue," Yan Junze spoke up as a reminder.

Gu Bai nodded, then shook his head, "From my experience, the craftsmanship of this statue isn't very fine, so the chance of finding any special structures inside is very small."

Though he said this, he was still very careful and, before long, the Lin Yishan statue in front of him melted into a large mass. Gu Bai carefully poured it into the mold.

At that moment, a black bead rolled out from the molten golden liquid.

Continue reading on empire

"Wait a minute," Yan Junze immediately spoke up.