Abdin turned around to take a look at the owner of the voice. He didn't recognize him.

"It is Commander! Thank heavens!" the man said, going on his knees before Abdin. "You are welcome, our king. It is only you we recognize as the rightful king of the castle."

The rest of the customers' attention was caught by that, and they all turned to stare open-mouthed.

Abdin beckoned for the man to come to him. He stood up and moved closer to him with a trembling body.

"What's your name?" Abdin asked.

"My name is Yunusu, your highness," the man replied.

"Yunusu?" Abdin couldn't believe his ears.

He frowned. All the cultivation outlets on the man were normal, and there was nothing to show that his mind had been tampered with. But why would he be called Yunusu of all names? Abdin had met two persons bearing the name Yunus in just one day.

It wasn't an archaic name or anything, but it also wasn't that common to be found in every nook and corner.

It became clear that someone was playing mind games with him. He forced a smile and said, "Don't tell anyone that you saw me." With that, he rushed out of the shop. As soon as he left, the man called Yunus ran after him, but it was too late as the exit was already blocked by a cultivation wall. They had to watch helplessly as Abdin went out of sight.

He felt that it wasn't a problem to show himself now that he had at least a year to wait before any Archbishops come after him. He needed to reveal himself to his subjects if he were to succeed. But he planned to do it his way.

He walked toward the entrance door of the castle after sending a message to Renga and the others to meet him there. But he sensed that there was a new problem even before he reached there.

The first thing that alerted him was the lack of response from Renga. Sect leader San also hadn't sought him out. It had been some time now since they left, and they should have returned by now, but there were no signs of them.

That seemed to be a lesser problem after he caught a glimpse of a troop of men leaving the castle just then. They were walking closely packed together as they left. Their numbers increased as he moved closer.

"Hey, what's the problem? Where are you going?" he said, grabbing the hand of someone beside him.

The man didn't reply but instead walked past him with his head bowed down.

Using his cultivation, Abdin forcefully stopped the man.

He forced his chin up and looked into his eyes. They were vacant and unseeing.

He held another man and checked him with the same result.

After checking ten men with the same result, he concluded that someone had tampered with their minds and was forcing them to leave the castle.

Whoever the culprit was, it was obvious that they were very talented in mind control. Abdin was certain that what these men were currently seeing in their minds wasn't the real scenario in the real world.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

They were trapped in a world designed solely for them in their heads.

It was obvious that Abdin's recuperation and his mission to revive the castle had alerted the culprit. The bonus cultivation he would have received from expelling the intruders and restoring peace and order in the castle was being targeted.

His hands clenched into fists. He would destroy whoever was behind this malicious setback.

The pit created during his battle with Munniq's golems was still there, and people circled it as they passed toward the part of the wall that had collapsed.

When he reached it, he climbed up the wall and scanned the horizon.

Thousands of men were streaming out of the castle and into the forest. Inside the castle, it was quiet and calm, but men continued to leave in large numbers.

Just then, he felt movement from his side, and when he looked up, he saw an aged man with a walking stick climbing over the wall.

The way he walked laboriously made Abdin wonder how he had managed to get up the wall in the first place.

"What are you doing here, son?" the ancient man asked.

Abdin kept quiet, believing that the question was best directed at the old man and not at himself.

"Old man, when did you arrive at the castle?"

"It is my castle," the old man replied. "So there is no question of when I arrived. Just answer me, what are you doing up here?"

Abdin readied his cultivation and straightened his back for an easy strike. "May I know your name, sir?" he asked again.

The old man frowned. "My name is Yunus," he replied after a long pause.

The atmosphere around Abdin crackled, and a young man emerged from his magic bag. "I am also called Yunus," the young man said. He was the man whom Renga claimed to be betrothed to his daughter.

A third man appeared behind Abdin. "My name is also Yunus," he called out. He was the man Abdin had met at the shop just moments ago.

Abdin raised his hand and chanted. A bright light encased him and whirled around before compacting and rising into the skies. It illuminated the entire castle.

All three namesakes instantly vanished, leaving only Abdin.

He flew up and returned to the house where he had first found himself after awakening.

It was where he met the first Yunus. Still, in the air, he drew a straight line and linked it to the shop where he met the second.

He retraced the line back to the wall to the exact spot where he met the third and last Yunus.

It formed a triangle, and Abdin flew to the center before landing on the ground.

A small house stood at that exact spot. The houses around it looked more or less the same, but the only difference was the complete lack of energy in the house, suggesting the presence of someone or something that used it up.

He stood at the door and knocked once before stepping aside.

If it was who he suspected, there was no need to knock a second time.

He waited there for five minutes. People occasionally passed by, glancing at him, but no one spoke to him.

Many things had changed in the past month he had been indisposed, especially the fact that no one seemed to recognize him among the passers-by.

The stone tablet in his pocket beeped while he stood waiting. It was a message from Renga. San and he had rallied the army as he had asked, but a division from Biyakis had blocked their way, and they needed his help.

According to the message, more than half of the golems he had sent after them, which had saved many lives, had perished.

So, in addition to the men trying to leave the castle, there were also dissidents around the castle at that moment trying to cause unrest.

As he moved closer to knock a second time, he heard footsteps from within. Quickly, he stepped back and channeled his cultivation into a spear. He intended to kill them both if the door opened and he sensed any foul play.

The sound of the footsteps grew closer, and soon the bolt was pulled and the door opened.

A young woman with small but pretty eyes stood there, grinning at the sight of Abdin.

His chest pounded, and he hurriedly took a step back.

"Welcome, brother," she said.

At that moment, Abdin resolved to kill his cousin a second time. Revered ancestors were normally left to rest when they die, but since Yunus seemed to disregard this simple concept, it was very likely that Abdin would dig out one of his parents to make them into a golem before sunset today.

The woman standing before Abdin was none other than Rahana, his blood sister. Yunus had disrespectfully made a golem in her likeness.

His fury could be sensed from miles away. A dark, steamy cultivation, like any other Nuhu's offspring, emanated from his body.

"YUNUSU!" he thundered.