The man nodded slowly and Abdin chuckled softly before turning to go.

Sulat's heart darkened but he was smart enough not to show it on his face. Even Biyakis didn't have the strength to conquer the castle so easily, what could an ant like him do?

He was there when Abdin had so easily killed Kininura, the third strongest man in Biyakis. By all appearances, the castle was here to stay, and since Sulat had lost his home, the castle was the best place he could find at the moment. Opportunities only came to the people that could wait.

He would persevere through all the downgrading treatment he was facing until he could find an opening to strike.

***

On his part, Abdin distributed the remaining soldiers and went toward his quarters. He stationed a hundred men at the entrance gate and some around the walls. The whole place seemed woefully undermanned because of the recent expansion.

This was one reason for inviting the victims of the expansion. A tenth of them could be enough to arm the castle. Though he feared that ordinary people would be the most likely to accept his invitation. At least, a cultivator would have different options to choose from.

He shook his head and continued walking in silence.

He stopped as he reached a block of three buildings joined together in an arc. A dozen Will of San disciples stood sentry. When he appeared, they bowed to him.

"Welcome, Commander."

Despite it being a part of their ten-year contract, Abdin still felt that the disciples were trying their best. To them, the castle was a cultivation holy land. None of them would want to piss the owner of the castle off for fear of being chased out.

Abdin nodded at them and went inside. He had observed how the cultivation of most of them had been steadily increasing, especially Tairen who was one step from being a core formation expert.

This might not pose any problem at the moment, but eventually, Abdin would have to choose his men who would be independent of Will of San or any other force within the castle. The target was to dissolve all forces into one. But that would take time, he knew that better than anyone.

He sat down in his room after locking the door. He placed protective charms around the room before calming himself down.

He took a few seconds to calm his breathing before he rummaged through his magic bag and took out a level 8 Ayrid seed. He placed the seed before him and stared at it for a long time before he found the courage to pol-activate it.

The seed glowed as video footage appeared above it.

It was footage of an ancient era. There were many big structures, but all were made of mud and adorned with dark clay.

It was deep into the night and Abdin was standing by a palace-like courtyard. He glanced around to make sure he was alone before he snuck out to another street in the cover of the dark.

Soon, he left the buildings and disappeared into the surrounding trees.

Abdin looked to be around thirteen at the time of the footage. He walked for a long time before he reached the cemetery. It was a simple ancient cemetery, unguarded and with no lights on, so Abdin found no trouble in sneaking himself inside. Calmly, he found his way to a fresh grave.

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He brought out an axe and a digger from his bag and started digging.

The gravestone held the words, 'Yunusu Nuhu'.

Yunusu Hamu was his name when he was alive, but all the family answered their grandfather's name, Nuhu. This young man, who was now a corpse, was Abdin's cousin.

Abdin removed the fresh corpse from the tomb and placed it aside. It was the body of a boy around his age. He quickly drew a seal and surrounded the body with charms.

He looked around and made sure he was alone before he sat down cross-legged and started chanting.

The body slowly began to glow and the radiance entered Abdin's body. The lifeless body could now be seen clearly in the moonlight as it brightened. It was a young boy of about thirteen or fourteen, with long hair and very pale skin.

Abdin absorbed the radiance for thirty minutes before it dimmed, and by then, the corpse had turned black as if burned.

He replaced the charms inside his bag and wiped away the seal. But he wasn't done yet; he brought out a knife and cut the head of the corpse. There was no bleeding, not that he expected to see it.

After a long while, he placed the head in his bag.

He stood there watching the corpse for a long time. A long while later, he placed Yunusu back in his grave, refilled the sand, and adjusted the overturned gravestone.

Dawn was already upon him and his face could now be seen clearly. It was wet with tears. His shirt was already drenched in his tears such that it was gummed to his chest.

Unseen, a pretty woman wearing grey robes was observing all these.

She had stood by the eastern section of the graveyard and was the one who took the footage on this level 8 Ayrid.

This woman was Abdin's sister, Rahana Nuhu. Her reason for recording everything on this day was still a mystery, but she had eventually handed it over to her brother.

Abdin wasn't aware of her presence when he was committing the act. He was terrified when she showed it to him later, but contrary to his expectations, Rahana hailed him.

She told him that Yunusu was responsible for his death. When his cousin was alive, they didn't hurt him and everything had been done with his parent's agreement.

Instead of letting the Blood of Nuhu go to waste, it was better that this happened. She insisted that Abdin had done the right thing and she kept repeating it to him until he believed it.

Abdin sighed. He was still pained by his cousin's loss. But his sister was right, Yunusu was dead and there was no use in letting the Blood of Nuhu in his body rot in the grave. The dead did not need cultivation.

He had become numb to all of this. It happened ages ago. If he wasn't suspecting Yunusu for his current predicament, he wouldn't have watched the footage ever again.

He sighed again deeply and replaced the level 8 Ayrid in his bag. Yunusu was dead. He had been for ages, and Abdin had followed him to the grave to ensure that. In other words, his current predicament was unlikely to be caused by Yunusu.

Though none knew the secret of the castle except for him and Yunusu, something else might have happened.

Did Yunusu by any chance reveal the secrets of the castle to someone before his death? The two cousins had vowed not to divulge any secret but maybe Yunusu had changed his mind before his death. People could change even at the last moment.

Who did Yunusu share the secrets with? And why were they acting just now? It had been so long since that event happened.

Originally, Abdin had expected the loop to bring Yunusu back. And perhaps he did return just like Abdin did. But, after so long, that was no longer possible. If it were the loop's doing, the time would have reset to the moment before Yunusu killed himself.

Abdin mastered the loop through the castle. He still needed a green Ayrid to ensure the exact 'save point'. Yunusu couldn't be using the loop without the castle, right?

Unless... his cousin's time loop was different from his...

Abdin shook his head. It was the likely scenario and yet the most dangerous one. Two different loops happening at the same time. Or maybe Yunusu had died when he killed himself and he remained dead after that, but he was revived when Abdin died and the loop was activated. It was possible but that would mean that when Abdin died, the whole world would ignore him and continue forward. It was only when Yunusu died that the world would reset. And when he woke up, he wouldn't have the slightest idea about what had happened.

But after Yunusu died for the first time, he spent several decades before he died. Did that mean when he died, Yunusu could also spend decades alive?

If he had been alive, why didn't he seek him out?