Ch. 33 - Youth Turns To White Hair

Ye Fan looked at the dozen or so white-haired elderly people, unable to speak for a long time. They were undoubtedly familiar classmates, yet all had become like this, it was truly frightening.

Pang Bo was also stunned, filled with lingering fear and unease. If he had ended up like this too, he might have preferred to die.

The two of them quickly went over to check on everyone’s condition. Thankfully, they were still breathing and not in danger of death.

“Huh?”

Pang Bo spotted Liu Yiyi in the grass. She showed no signs of aging, still delicate and gentle as before, eyes closed, looking pitifully serene.

This pleasantly surprised Ye Fan and Pang Bo. They had been close friends with Liu Yiyi since school, and now they felt deep sympathy for her, naturally hoping nothing bad would happen to her.

Under an ancient tree, Ye Fan found Zhang Ziling, who now looked to be in his forties. Though he had seemingly lost twenty years, he wasn’t as aged as Zhou Yi and the others.

“Handsome Ziling has become Uncle Ziling.”

“Better Uncle Ziling than Grandpa Ziling.”

Ye Fan and Pang Bo whispered a couple of jokes to each other.

Before long, Liu Yiyi woke up. When she saw Ye Fan and Pang Bo, she gasped in shock.

Soon after, Zhang Ziling also regained consciousness. Once he realized his condition, he couldn’t help but shout. From a vigorous young man to a middle-aged uncle, who could accept that?

“Don’t panic, Ziling. Look at their condition and you’ll feel better.”

Zhang Ziling looked toward Zhou Yi, Li Xiaoman, and the others, and froze. He realized that no matter how bad it seemed, someone else had it worse.

“How did this happen…” he muttered in a daze, though he looked less despairing than before.

Among the dozen or so people: Ye Fan and Pang Bo had become children again; Liu Yiyi was unchanged; Zhang Ziling had lost two decades of youth; the rest had aged into old men and women, their bodies withered.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo exchanged a glance. They instantly thought of those translucent, ruby-like fruits. At the time, they had only noticed the sweet taste and energizing effect. Looking back now, those fruits were clearly extraordinary, practically magical.

For some unknown reason, everyone else had aged, but only those who ate the fruit had resisted the erosion of time.

“What kind of power could strip away their youth and vitality?” Pang Bo was puzzled, unable to make sense of it.

“I think it must be that Forbidden Ancient Realm,” Ye Fan speculated.

Just hearing the name "Forbidden Ancient Realm" suggested danger. Related to the ancient era, perhaps existing since then. Even birds, beasts, and insects avoided it. It was barren and filled with death, undoubtedly a place of great danger.

Yet, they had left unharmed, without encountering any real threat. It seemed odd and made the name "Forbidden Ancient Realm" appear unearned.

“Yes, it must be because of that place!” Pang Bo also grasped the core issue.

According to their shared theory, a terrifying power within the Forbidden Ancient had stolen everyone’s youth and vitality. But why did the effect only strike after they exited the area? That puzzled them.

“Maybe it’s like a curse, once you enter, no matter where you go, when the time comes, it activates and no one can escape it.”

Ye Fan and Pang Bo could only feel fortunate. If not for eating those strange fruits, they too might now be decrepit old men.

Some time later, everyone began to wake up. Cries of grief echoed across the hilltop, chilling to the bone, soon followed by sobs from all around.

Premature aging. Youth turned to white hair. It was one of the most tragic things in the world. In their twenties, the prime of life, now wrinkled and white-haired in a blink. It was unbearable.

“Why did this happen to me?” Zhou Yi shakily stretched out a hand to touch his wrinkled skin, pulled out a strand of white hair, and roared in a feeble, aged voice, “Why?!”

Beside him, Wang Ziwen trembled as he examined himself. His eyes were cloudy, with puffy bags the size of pigeon eggs. Aged beyond belief, he muttered, “I don’t believe this…”

“Ahhh!” Lin Jia nearly collapsed. Her scream sent birds fleeing from the forest.

A woman’s appearance is her most valued asset, especially a beautiful one. Lin Jia, naturally stunning and seductive, was devastated to see her once-fair skin rough and wrinkled, aged beyond recognition. She would rather be dead.

On the other side, Li Xiaoman felt the same. She was so pained she wanted to die. If she had once been a graceful lotus flower, now she wasn’t even a withered lotus leaf, her black hair turned white, dull and lifeless like weeds. Her skin sagged and wrinkled, her eyes were murky, her face lined with creases.

Seeing Ye Fan approach, Li Xiaoman shrieked, “Don’t come closer!” She covered her face with her hands, sobbing, then buried her head in her knees.

Ye Fan didn’t approach to avoid upsetting her more. He called out loudly to comfort everyone: “Don’t lose hope. In a world where even gods exist, nothing is impossible. There’s definitely a solution.”

A dark cloud of sorrow hung over the hilltop. Many were in deep despair, especially when they saw Ye Fan and Pang Bo, now 11 or 12 years old. That contrast was a cruel blow. While most had aged miserably, those two had reversed time, looking young and fresh. It broke their hearts.

“Oh my God… Goddamn it!” Cade cursed in both English and Chinese, expressing his utter heartbreak.

“Calm down, foreign devil,” Pang Bo came over and patted him rather insensitively on the shoulder. “Growing old with your beloved is the most romantic thing in the world.”

Cade immediately burst into tears, sobbing like a child. “My girlfriend… isn’t here. There’s nothing romantic about it.”

Pang Bo was stunned, glanced at Li Xiaoman, then said nothing and walked away.

“Ye Fan, why didn’t you two age?” Zhou Yi was the first to calm down. His murky eyes locked onto Ye Fan and Pang Bo, gleaming with intensity.

The others, too, temporarily set aside their grief and all turned to look.

Pang Bo felt uncomfortable with Zhou Yi’s question and replied cheekily, “Come on, Grandpa Zhou, you’re not suspecting us of pulling some trick, are you? If we had that kind of power, we’d already be gods, not mortals.”

Lin Jia stopped crying and looked at Ye Fan, her expression earnest, almost pleading: “Ye Fan, please tell me the truth, how can we get our youth back? What did you do?”

Ye Fan could only offer comfort and hope. The strange red fruits had already been eaten, there was no other known solution.

“Let’s leave here… head for that celestial palace!” Zhou Yi stood up shakily and pointed toward the distant high mountain, where grand temples sprawled like a heavenly palace descended to Earth. Though his body was old, his mind remained clear, he pointed out their only hope. If immortals truly existed there, perhaps everything could be resolved.

Everyone helped each other down the mountain. Many were frail and moved very slowly. Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Liu Yiyi, and Zhang Ziling had to run back and forth helping people.

“Grandpa Zhou, Grandpa Wang, I’ll help you both,” Pang Bo said, walking between them with a hand on each. Wang Ziwen gave a bitter laugh; Zhou Yi remained expressionless.

For some reason, Li Xiaoman chose to let Ye Fan support her, but said nothing along the way. She just kept crying, and nearly fainted from grief.

“What’s going on? Why is there still another mountain in the way?”

Ye Fan and the others sensed something was off. There was supposed to be just one mountain between them and the celestial palace, but after laboriously climbing it, another peak still lay ahead, nothing had changed.

“For a while now, no matter how far we walk, the distance to that palace never seems to shrink. What’s going on?”

They looked again. They walked forward again. They climbed another mountain. Still the same.

Now, everyone realized the truth, they simply couldn’t get closer.

“It’s time to make a decision. Maybe we shouldn’t go there anymore. That place might be an unreachable maze.”

Suddenly, a strong stench filled the air. The trees rustled. A massive black beast, five meters tall, rose on two legs and charged at them, its claws flashing with deadly light. Its body was covered in half-meter-long black hair, chilling to see. Its frame resembled an ape, but its head was bizarre, sporting a beak over a foot long, like a demonic bird. No one had seen anything like it before.

Most people were instantly terrified. Two collapsed on the spot. If that monstrous thing grabbed them, they’d be torn apart.

“Ye Fan, watch out!” Pang Bo shouted, because Ye Fan was right in front. He rushed over swinging the bronze plaque from Grand Thunderclap Temple.

Ye Fan shoved two people aside and wielded the Vajra Pestle he had taken from Liu Yunzhi, swinging it fiercely.

Bang!

The Vajra Pestle collided with the beast’s claw and bent it completely, clearly breaking the bones.

Everyone froze. They assumed it was the weapon’s power. Only Ye Fan knew: the Vajra Pestle’s last divine energy had been drained by Liu Yunzhi. The impact had come entirely from his own physical strength.

He was shocked. The old him could never have done this. But ever since reverting to a child’s body, he had felt boundless energy, as if he had the strength to tear apart tigers and hurl elephants.

The beast let out a piercing, shrill cry. Its beak opened wide and stabbed at Ye Fan, while its other claw swung down like a blade.

Ye Fan moved with incredible speed, vanishing from sight and reappearing behind the beast. He swung the Vajra Pestle with full force, smashing it onto the creature’s spine. The sound of breaking bones rang out.

Boom!

The five-meter-tall beast flew eight or nine meters like a puppet, landing heavily on the ground. It twitched twice, then went still.

Everyone was dumbfounded. They couldn’t believe it. Ye Fan’s body looked like a slender eleven-year-old, delicate and calm, but his strength and speed were terrifying.

They had survived another crisis. With sighs of relief, they began to chatter in amazement. None understood where Ye Fan’s power came from. Their hearts were filled with awe, envy, and even jealousy.

The sky gradually darkened. The last light of sunset disappeared. Unwilling to give up, they climbed another mountain, only to find the heavenly palace still separated by yet another peak, always the same distance away.

This time, everyone gave up hope. They decided not to press forward.

But just then, a rainbow light suddenly streaked across the sky like a heavenly arc, brilliant against the darkening sky.

“What is that…?”

Everyone was stunned. Within the rainbow light was a figure, flying through the air. Soaring across the sky. Clearly not a mortal!

Whoosh!

The light suddenly changed direction, flying straight toward them. The speed was astonishing, like a rainbow tearing across the heavens, reaching them in the blink of an eye.

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