Chapter 00076: Is It Me
# Is It Me?
Chapter 76
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 76: Is It Me?
In his previous life, Ding Huan had been carried here by the old scavenger.
This time, he followed the old man, leaning on a crutch.
The old scavenger didn’t walk far.
In just twenty minutes, they stopped outside a small private workshop.
On the workshop’s door, someone had scrawled a few crooked words with a paint marker: "Mutant Materials Purchased."
The old man rang the doorbell, but no one came to answer.
He knocked harder, but still, no one appeared.
Ding Huan extended his spiritual sense inside.
Although his range was limited, he could faintly sense that the courtyard was empty.
"Huh, why is no one here today?" the old man muttered to himself, frowning.
He turned to Ding Huan.
"Let’s wait here for a bit. Someone will definitely come."
Ding Huan sighed.
"Even if we wait until next year, no one will come."
"How do you know?" the old man asked, puzzled.
Ding Huan replied calmly, "Because everyone inside is dead."
At this point, Ding Huan had already figured out what was going on.
This place was the territory of the Blade Washing Society.
Their business was clearly shady, dealing in almost entirely illicit activities.
In his previous life, the old scavenger had sold him for a thousand alliance coins.
But a high-quality gene affinity body like his was worth at least a million alliance coins.
The Blade Washing Society had paid the old man a pittance and then resold him for a fortune.
"Hmph, do you know who these people are? This is Blade Washing Society territory. If they hear you, you’re dead," the old man said sternly, clearly underestimating Ding Huan.
Ding Huan chuckled, tossing aside his crutch.
"Because I’m the one who killed them. Do you think I wouldn’t know? Not only do I know that, but I also know you brought me here to sell me because I’m a gene affinity body."
He hadn’t expected that by wiping out the Blade Washing Society in Luohe, he had already altered history.
Did he still need to find the Luohe branch of the Gene Alliance?
Ding Huan shook his head.
There was no need for that now.
In his previous life, he had ended up on the Gene Alliance’s fleet leaving Earth because he was an excellent test subject, sent from the Luohe branch to the headquarters.
But now, with his presence, many things had changed.
He couldn’t think the same way as before.
"You…" The old scavenger stared at Ding Huan in shock.
Before he could react, the leather scroll in his hand flew into Ding Huan’s grasp.
"That’s mine!" the old man exclaimed, lunging forward to grab it, but he stopped abruptly.
He remembered what Ding Huan had just said—that he had killed the Blade Washing Society.
Was he really going to challenge him?
As soon as the scroll was in his hands, Ding Huan confirmed that it was made of the same material as the one he had obtained before.
"Tell me, where did you get this scroll?" Ding Huan’s voice carried a chilling edge.
The old man shivered and quickly answered, "I found it on the roots of the ancient cypress tree…"
"Hmph, can’t you come up with a better lie?" Ding Huan sneered.
He knew about that tree.
It was located in Luohe City, behind the Luohe Shangwu University.
When Ding Huan was young, his school had taken them to visit it.
Almost every school in Luohe had done the same.
The tree was a world heritage site, not because it was particularly valuable, but because of its age.
Experts estimated it to be over ten thousand years old.
What was strange was that fifty years ago, the tree’s circumference was no more than sixty meters.
But in just a few decades, it had grown to nearly a hundred meters in circumference.
Because of this, it had been designated as a world heritage site.
Ding Huan knew the ancient cypress was real, but he doubted the scroll had come from its roots.
The old man insisted, "I really found it on the roots of the ancient cypress. I can take you there."
Seeing that the old man didn’t seem to be lying, Ding Huan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Fine, let’s go."
Ding Huan didn’t need the old man to guide him to the ancient cypress.
He found the old man’s pace too slow and hailed a taxi.
The streets were no longer as bustling as they used to be, and the taxi sped along.
In less than half an hour, they arrived behind Luohe Shangwu University.
Before they even reached the tree, Ding Huan could tell it had grown thicker.
The circumference of the ancient cypress was now definitely over a hundred meters.
With his spiritual sense, he was confident he wasn’t mistaken.
When he had left school, the tree’s circumference had been less than a hundred meters.
The tree’s roots now sprawled out like an irregular net, crisscrossing above the ground and covering an area of several hundred square meters.
The roots were denser and covered a larger area than before.
"This is the spot. When I came here to rest, the scroll was on the roots…" The old man hurriedly explained, pointing to a gap between some protruding roots.
Ding Huan looked over and noticed what appeared to be a tombstone.
Before the old man could finish speaking, his eyes lit up with excitement, and he reached for the spot he had just pointed out.
From a distance, Ding Huan saw something resembling a leather scroll appear in the spot the old man had indicated.
It seemed to contain some kind of cultivation technique.
Ding Huan didn’t move.
This was likely the gene cultivation technique mentioned on the scroll.
It was all too strange and eerie.
Before Ding Huan could figure out what was happening, the object in the old man’s hand suddenly vanished, as if it had melted away like snow.
The old man let out a gurgling sound, then collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Ding Huan gasped, instinctively taking a few steps back.
The poison was incredibly potent.
He was now certain that the scroll he had obtained and this sudden appearance of a fake cultivation technique were part of a deliberate trap.
Someone had arranged for the old man to deliver him to the Gene Alliance, then waited for the old man to return and killed him to silence him.
The biggest beneficiary in all of this was Ding Huan himself.
He had been saved, regained his sight, and left Earth.
Ding Huan suddenly wondered if the person behind this had foreseen that many years later, during Earth’s third cycle, he would be rescued by the Gene Alliance and eventually make his way to the Changyi Continent.
If that were the case, then this person was truly terrifying.
If the gene beasts continued to wreak havoc, humanity on Earth might face extinction.
In his previous life, he had left Earth, and he had no idea what had happened afterward.
But why would this person save him? And why go to such lengths to predict his future?
Not to mention, how had he coincidentally obtained the memory scroll left behind by this person?
The contents of that scroll were nothing short of extraordinary.
Looking at the old man’s lifeless body, Ding Huan felt increasingly uneasy.
He suddenly thought of a possibility he didn’t dare entertain—that the scroll had been left behind by his past self.
Could it be that in ancient times, he had been a powerful figure who knew he would die and face a calamity many years later?
Knowing this, he had gone to great lengths to set up these arrangements to ensure his survival.
Otherwise, it didn’t make sense.
Who would go to such lengths for someone they had no connection to?
Only someone doing it for themselves would expend so much effort to calculate everything.
If this were true, then his past self must have been a ruthless individual.
The more Ding Huan thought about it, the more his scalp tingled.
This wasn’t just possible—it was highly likely.
Think about the authors of classic mythological novels like *Investiture of the Gods* and *Journey to the West*.
If his guess was correct, these authors might have been reincarnated figures from the era of immortals and gods.
They had written these novels based on vague memories etched in their minds, making them seem as if they were recounting real events.
So why couldn’t he have been a great figure in a past life?
In those mythological tales, there were many powerful beings capable of divining the past and future.
If his suspicions were correct, which great figure could he have been?
After a long while, Ding Huan calmed down.
He looked at the old man’s body, reluctant to accept that his speculation might be true.
If everything was as he guessed, then his past self’s personality was nothing like the person he was now.
This old scavenger, though selfish, had ultimately saved him.
Yet, he had been silenced as part of a calculated plan.
Sighing, Ding Huan flicked his hand, sending a fireball to reduce the old man’s body to ashes.
He didn’t dare approach the tree.
It was too strange.
As for whether all of this had been arranged by him, it was just speculation.
With his current strength, it was best to stay away.
Just as Ding Huan was about to leave, his spiritual sense detected two figures approaching—a man and a woman.
He recognized the woman.
It was Luo Xinwei, someone he had secretly admired for years.
It wasn’t surprising to see Luo Xinwei here.
She was a lecturer at Luohe Shangwu University.
"Is that you? Ding… Ding Huan?" Luo Xinwei called out, clearly recognizing him.
The man beside her was tall and handsome, standing half a head taller than Ding Huan, who was already around six feet tall.
Running into Luo Xinwei didn’t bring Ding Huan any joy.
He simply nodded, exchanged a brief greeting, and turned to leave.
The events of the day had been too bizarre.
He needed to go back and study the scroll he had obtained.
Whether he would return to investigate the strange tree was something he’d have to think about.
"Wait, Ding Huan! Did you really teach Fang Chong and the others?" Luo Xinwei called after him, her voice filled with excitement.
"Oh, it was mainly Teacher Geng who taught them. I just helped out a bit," Ding Huan replied dismissively, not wanting to engage in conversation.
"So you’re Ding Huan?" the tall man behind Luo Xinwei spoke up.
(End of Chapter)