Chapter 22: Chapter 21 The Course of History
Although the people of the Li Family generally lived for a long time, averaging over a hundred years if there were no accidents, the ginseng bloodline's fertility rate was low. They also had to contend with an ancient monster that had lived for thousands of years, stirring up trouble everywhere. The pressure, as one could imagine, was immense.
Father often sighed, "If only the Li Family bloodline was more numerous…"
He remembered that sentence very clearly!
There definitely used to be no "Li Shan" branch before!
But now it had abruptly appeared, and the only explanation was—his time travel had subtly altered the course of history!
This… was simply terrifying!
What kind of supernatural phenomenon could forcibly change the course of history? This matter was too significant; it concerned the safety of all humanity!
Thus, Li Qingshan stumbled through his explanation.
"Your meaning is, your memory doesn't match reality… You suspect that history has been tampered with, not that your memory is faulty, is that right?" The electronic voice from across the screen remained unfluctuated—the benefit of using a voice changer.
"Yes, but I'm not entirely sure," Li Qingshan paused for a moment, "I request a mental level test."
This message was too shocking, and he even doubted whether he was suffering from delusions.
"The psychotherapist will arrive soon to further inspect your mental state. The message you've submitted will be duly delivered to the upper council."
"Understood."
The Black-clothed Guard was, after all, an organization with a long history. It deeply knew the multitude of mysteries in the world; humans had only scratched the surface. No matter how absurd the investigation results might be, they would be meticulously passed upward.
…
…
"Troubles have arisen, it seems," Li Qingshan's superior, a middle-aged man with a commanding presence and one of the council members, remarked.
Code name: Number 12.
To prevent information leakage, the upper council predominantly used code numbers instead of real names.
After hanging up the video call, Number 12 lit a cigarette with a lighter, took a drag, and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke: "I'd rather hope he has a mental illness, and all of this is just his delusion. That would be less trouble."
"What should be done otherwise?" asked another person on the screen.
"Otherwise… this kind of supernatural phenomenon that can modify the course of history has touched another level. We refer to it as—Demon God."
"A new Demon God is meddling with our world."
…
Kunlun Mountain headquarters.
The upper council was urgently convened half an hour later.
In the office, projectors started up on all four walls, casting beams of light that outlined silhouette figures in the room.
Within just a few seconds, the room was filled.
This was holographic projection technology; these people couldn't clearly see each other's faces, but each had their distinct features.
Among the crowd, some faces were stern, their straight bodies standing tall like pine trees, exuding a military demeanor; some had just woken up, appearing drowsy; others, having previously learned the truth, bleakly smoked.
In the difficult times of the past history of the Black-clothed Guard upper council, there had been as few as five people; at most, there were just ten.
However, with significant technological advances and the nation growing stronger, ushering in an era of peace, it had now increased to twenty-eight members—an unprecedented presence.
The eldest among them, seeing that everyone had arrived, cleared his throat and explained, "Gathering everyone here naturally means there is a significant issue to discuss."
"We've received suspicious information from the etheric abyss about a High Level Demon God, which might have surfaced in our world. The results of this meeting will be recorded on a memory hard disk. After the meeting ends, irrelevant information will be deleted from memory."
The term "High Level Demon God" instantly made the 28 members tense up.
Whether irreverent or sleepy, everyone suddenly became serious, perking up their ears to listen.
Including the unpleasant method of "memory deletion," they had to endure it toughly.
The elder narrated the events that had transpired with Li Qingshan, and when the words "time travel" and "resurrection" were mentioned, people didn't have much of a reaction.
Indeed, there were supernatural means in the world that could achieve these functions.
As the upper echelon of the Black-clothed guard, they were privy to related secrets; some had even personally experienced time travel events.
However, it was the mention of "altered timelines" that prompted a change in expression among the members.
Altering the course of history was too rare, involving too many variables... The butterfly effect was not something ordinary supernatural powers could control.
For a while, the atmosphere in the office turned somewhat quiet.
The elder continued, "... After various mental level testing methods, Li Qingshan's mental condition is normal, with a confidence level above 95%."
"Diagnosed by a professional Dream Master, he still possesses the consciousness of a human."
"In the depths of his dreams, the Dream Master saw a blazing flame, resembling a human eye. The nature of this flame is unknown for now, and it brought no harm to the Dream Master. Conventional methods to dispel curses had no effect."
"How many methods to dispel curses were used?" someone asked.
The elder answered, "Except for some methods not used abroad, every domestic method was tried. Frankly, I don't think holy water from abroad would be effective either; it's likely not a curse, but something else."
"According to the Eye of Truth's assessment, Li Qingshan has not betrayed humanity."
"According to a professional 'spirit measurement' device, his soul's strength has slightly improved, from 314 to 342."
"Comparing the atomic clock in the Heavenly Pillar with the external world, a minor deviation indeed occurred, but this deviation isn't enough to fully prove that the timeline has shifted."
"The shift could be very minor, limited to a particular family branch. We are currently investigating this branch, finding that all individuals in its family registry are rather ordinary; even the ginseng bloodline is in decline, trending toward ordinariness."
"This is all the intelligence we command."
This batch of intelligence was hefty.
The elder let out a heavy sigh from deep within his chest, "Hence, today's meeting's main purpose is to investigate whether the hidden supernatural phenomenon behind it could endanger the normal operation of the human world."
"Whether it involves a Demon God from the etheric abyss that has surfaced in our world, whether we need to seek assistance from foreign supernatural institutions."
Listening to the elder's words, council members fell into deep contemplation.