"Cyrene?"
The uncle puffed on his pipe, frowning in thought for a good while before shaking his head.
"Never heard of anyone in our village by that name."
The answer was within Fu Zhu's expectations, so he wasn't too disappointed.
"But… I can take you to see the village chief. Maybe the old man knows something."
The uncle wanted to take this opportunity to lead Fu Zhu to the chief and pass off this hot potato.
Fu Zhu nodded, accepting the proposal.
The uncle finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked ahead to lead the way.
On the way to the village chief's house, Fu Zhu intentionally fell a few steps behind and spoke in a low voice to the Demiurge in his hand.
"It's not that I don't want to help you, little guy. Nobody in the village recognizes the name Cyrene, and I've checked myself. There's no young lady named Cyrene here. Your information seems to be mistaken."
"It's correct. Peaches is in Aedes Elysiae."
Demiurge's reply was firm, and Fu Zhu felt it was probably right.
If Demiurge's data wasn't wrong, then there was only one other possibility: at this point in time, Cyrene had not yet arrived in Aedes Elysiae, or had not yet been born.
If that was the case, things would be a little troublesome.
"Then do you know Cyrene's surname?"
If he knew her surname, he could try to find people in Aedes Elysiae with the same family name. Who knows, they might be Cyrene's parents.
'Don't know. Peaches is Cyrene.'
Demiurge's answer was once again of no value, which made Fu Zhu sigh.
Oh well. He had done all he could. It wasn't his problem if he couldn't find her. He would ask the village chief, and then get on with his own business. As for this Cyrene, they could meet if fate allowed.
"We're here, brother."
The uncle led Fu Zhu to a two-story house in the center of the village and raised a hand to knock on the door.
"Chief! Open up!"
After a moment, the sound of rustling came from inside, and a white-haired, elderly man opened the door.
"So impatient. What is it now?"
The village chief glanced at Fu Zhu standing beside the uncle, his brow furrowing. "Who is this guest?"
The uncle pointed at Fu Zhu and introduced him to the chief. "He's called Zhu Fu, a traveler who's wandering around looking for someone. Chief, why don't we go inside to talk?"
The village chief nodded, turned, and went back inside. Fu Zhu and the uncle followed him in.
"Have a seat, guest. I'll get you some tea."
After showing Fu Zhu to a chair, the village chief turned to head to another room. The uncle quickly followed.
"Chief, I'll help you."
The two of them went into the adjacent room together.
As soon as they were inside, the uncle immediately closed the door and whispered to the village chief, "Chief, I don't think this guy is a good person. The Black Tide is everywhere outside, but he's been able to travel all this time. He's definitely a master!"
The village chief busied himself with getting out the tea set, preparing the tea while replying to the uncle.
"That's a possibility, but you shouldn't be so quick to assume he's a bad person. I'll test him later. Don't be nervous."
"Alright, Chief."
Once the tea was ready, the two came out of the room, and the uncle placed the cup in front of Fu Zhu.
"Brother, try our Aedes Elysiae's barley tea. It's delicious!"
Fu Zhu glanced at the two men who had emerged from the room and nodded with a smile.
"Thank you."
With that, Fu Zhu picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then set it back down.
The village chief now sat down opposite Fu Zhu.
"Guest, I hear you're looking for someone? Do you have any clues?"
"Sir, I only know that her name is Cyrene. I have no other clues."
The village chief thought carefully for a moment before shaking his head.
"I'm very sorry, but there is no one in our village named Cyrene."
"It's alright, thank you, sir."
Fu Zhu didn't seem surprised and casually sipped his barley tea.
With this topic concluded, the atmosphere grew a bit quiet. The village chief immediately gave the uncle a look. The uncle understood and started making awkward small talk with Fu Zhu about a random topic.
Fu Zhu could tell they were trying to force a conversation, but he played along, grunting in acknowledgment from time to time.
While the two were engaged in their awkward chat, the village chief's lips moved slightly, silently reciting the Prayer of [Time].
His originally cloudy eyes became several shades brighter. He then looked directly at Fu Zhu.
He was using the blessing of the Eye of Oronyx, gained from the prayer, to perceive Fu Zhu's past. All he had to do was look…
"Argh!"
The village chief suddenly let out a miserable scream, startling the uncle who was in the middle of his awkward conversation. He quickly turned to look at the chief and found him covering his eyes with both hands. Two streams of fresh blood flowed from beneath his palms.
"Chief?!"
Fu Zhu also noticed the strange state of the village chief. At the same moment the chief had stealthily glanced at him, he had noticed a new BUFF appear on the man called [Eye of Oronyx].
Clearly, he had used this BUFF to observe him, but Fu Zhu had no idea what he had seen.
"Chief, what's wrong, Chief!"
The uncle grabbed the chief's shoulders and shook him frantically. The chief, enduring the intense pain, slapped his hands away. If he was shaken any harder, he was really going to die.
"Sir, some things are not meant to be looked at. But please believe me, I have no ill will. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here right now."
Fu Zhu took a sip of barley tea and snapped his fingers at the old village chief.
The two streams of blood on the chief's cheeks began to recede rapidly, and his movements started to reverse as if convulsing. In a moment, his eyes were as good as new, back to the state they were in before he had used the prayer.
Even after all this, and with his eyes now recovered, the village chief kept his head down in lingering fear, not daring to look directly at Fu Zhu.
"Thank you for your help."
The uncle, standing to the side, shifted his gaze back and forth between the two men before quietly closing his mouth and stepping back to become part of the background.
Fu Zhu asked the old chief with some curiosity, "What did you see?"
The village chief instinctively raised his head, but his body shuddered as his eyes met Fu Zhu's, and he immediately lowered his head again. It took a long while before he could squeeze out a single sentence.
"I saw… your eyes… glowing with white light."
A pair of eyes glowing with white light. The instant their gazes met, he felt as if he were staring at a billion suns at point-blank range!
And in that split second, he thought he vaguely heard Oronyx whisper a single phrase…
Sky Father?