Chapter 940: Earth's Pombo

Chapter 941: Pang Bo of Earth

Pang Bo had not left Earth!

Upon learning this news, Ye Fan stood motionless like a clay statue, completely petrified, staring blankly at the sky.

For all these years, who had shared hardships and joys with him? Who had fought alongside him? Who had traversed the world with him? Who had faced life and death with him?

Ye Fan's body went cold. How could such a devoted friend be fake? If that were true, whom else in this world could he trust?

His heart felt empty. If Pang Bo had not left Earth and had not traversed the starry sky with him, how terrifying and astonishing would that be!

If that were truly the case, then who was the person who rode the Nine Dragons Coffin with him? That person had been there since Mount Tai. "Did they set off together from this world? There was an extra person..." Ye Fan murmured to himself.

He still clearly remembered that scene: when counting the people, there was an extra person in the bronze coffin, which shocked everyone. But he was the first to accept Pang Bo.

There was no other reason; he trusted Pang Bo, trusted his feelings at the time, and perceived no falsehood.

"Who has he been all these years, and what benefit is there in continuing this act?"

A chill permeated Ye Fan's bones. All of this was hard for him to accept. How could a good brother with whom he had shared life and death turn out to be fake, or be a problem?

"I don't believe it. He holds no ill will toward me and knows everything about me. How could he know so much if he weren't truly him?"

Ye Fan instantly shook off his sorrow. His entire body tensed, and he clenched his fists. Although he had returned to Earth, he couldn't relax; he needed to break through this thick fog.

He broke free from the shadow of his parents' passing, his eyes gazing into the distance as if he were back in the Big Dipper system. His heart soared to a state of combat readiness!

Ye Fan headed south, determined to uncover the truth and discern what was real. Deep down, he didn't want to believe there was another Pang Bo on Earth; otherwise, there would be no one left in this world to trust.

Pang Bo's family address had long changed; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed Xu Qiong's help to find it. He would have visited them himself. Twenty-something years had brought many changes; they had moved from their original city.

Ye Fan arrived in C City. Following the recently obtained information, he found his destination. He stood on the rooftop of a building, silently sensing. He extended his powerful spiritual sense into the building, and his expression instantly shifted as he saw Pang Bo's parents.

His father was a burly man. Though almost eighty and showing his age, one could tell how formidable he must have been in his youth. Pang Bo inherited his physique; both were tall and well-built, towering above ordinary people by a head or more.

His mother had white hair and seemed to be in poor health, her vitality appearing weak, with a touch of melancholy on her face.

Only Pang Bo was absent. In the not-so-small room, there were only the two elderly people. However, it was evident that a couple should also live there, and a young person. "That must be Pang Bo's elder brother and sister-in-law, two or three years older than him. The other person should be his nephew, but none of them are home right now. Why isn't there a room for him?" Ye Fan looked puzzled.

He secretly apologized, then transformed into a streak of light, entering the living room and making himself invisible. He searched carefully but found no trace of Pang Bo having lived there.

Suddenly, his expression was shocked. He saw a photo frame, clearly meant for the deceased – it was Pang Bo's black and white photo!

Ye Fan felt as if struck by lightning. How could this be! Pang Bo had not left Earth, but he had already died. This was his best friend; no matter where he was, he never wished him harm.

He froze on the spot, unable to accept this fact, his body trembling. His parents had passed away, and now even his best friend?

"Pang Bo's death anniversary is coming soon again. How time flies, ten years in a blink," Pang Bo's father lamented.

Ye Fan was bewildered. Pang Bo had been dead for ten years. How did he die? He couldn't believe it; he knew that back in school, their physiques were the best. How could he have died so young?

"More than twenty years ago, Pang Bo didn't make it to Mount Tai and escaped that calamity. But who knew fate had made up its mind? There was no escaping it, alas!" His mother wiped away a tear, walking over to wipe the photo frame, as the tenth death anniversary was approaching.

"That rascal..." Pang Bo's father murmured softly, then fell silent, sitting there and smoking quietly. "Forgive me," Ye Fan whispered. He extended his spiritual sense into the minds of the two elderly people, wanting to clarify everything.

Half an hour later, he left, standing dazed on the building's rooftop, unable to believe any of it.

Pang Bo's death was very strange; he died from a lightning strike in the wilderness. No wonder his mother lamented that even after escaping the Mount Tai calamity, fate wouldn't let him go.

Ye Fan was utterly stunned. All of this exceeded his expectations. He muttered, "Heavens, what is wrong with you? Even if Pang Bo's true body was on Earth and didn't board the Nine Dragons Coffin, you couldn't be so cruel!"

He didn't know how he left the place. Unconsciously, he found himself at the public cemetery in C City. Gazing at the rows of gravestones, his feet felt heavy.

Now, he truly feared entering such a place. In this world, there was no greater pain than separation by death. It had only been a few days, and he was encountering it again.

In a place where pines and cypresses stood lush and green, Ye Fan found Pang Bo's tombstone. He stood silently for a long time, then laid down the large bouquet of white flowers he held. "I really don't believe you're gone..."

Ye Fan sat on the ground, took out a bottle of liquor, and poured it all onto the earth. Then he lit a few cigarettes, took a drag from each, and placed them before the tombstone. "How could this happen? Everything feels like a dream. I often wondered if everything in the Big Dipper system was real, and now I've woken up to such cruelty."

Ye Fan sat before the grave, lighting a cigarette for himself. After being away from Earth for so long, over twenty years, he once again savored the misty emptiness of the smoke.

He was very quiet, sitting there for a long time, smoking an entire pack of cigarettes, before finally muttering, "Honestly, I don't believe you're dead."

Then, silence fell again. He pondered, thinking deeply and meticulously, as if suddenly everything clicked. He abruptly stood up and forcefully threw a cigarette butt to the ground. "To be precise, I don't believe you are the real Pang Bo. My friend is still alive; he hasn't returned!"

Ye Fan's eyes sharpened, his entire being surging with a fighting spirit, as if preparing for a great battle. His sharp edge was completely different from the weariness he had shown these past few days. "This is a fight, and I will drag you all out!"

Putting aside the true nature of the Pang Bo in the Big Dipper system, with whom he shared such deep camaraderie, even from what he observed in his parents' minds just now, there were several points of suspicion.

First, his death was too bizarre: how could he have been struck by lightning and died? Moreover, at the time of his death, his face was distorted and grotesque, scaring many people ten years ago.

Second, his temperament was different. According to what his parents remembered, this Pang Bo's behavior was somewhat strange, confusing even the two elderly people.

Third, why did he quit his job and constantly visit ancient sites and mountains across the country, yet have an endless supply of money?

Fourth, why was he so persistent in asking the two elderly people about all their blood relatives, visiting each one of them, even those they hadn't contacted for years?

In short, many of his words and actions left the two old people with doubts and confusion. They only remembered one time when he seemed to be drunk and claimed that their family had demon-god blood within them.

Of course, that time the old man slapped him hard, waking him up, and scolded him for spouting nonsense. "Earth is far more complex than I imagined..."

Ye Fan returned to Pang Bo's home and carefully sensed the environment. Indeed, he found that the burly old man's vitality was very strong, surpassing that of ordinary people. "No wonder Pang Bo was so burly, towering over others, with arms thicker than other people's legs. Could it be true that he has ancient demon blood in him? No wonder the lineage of the Azure Emperor's descendants wanted to seize his body."

Ye Fan muttered to himself, Pang Bo's father and brother did have somewhat vigorous vitality, but it wasn't enough to surprise him. He mused that it probably depended on the individual, and perhaps only a few could experience an atavistic return. "Pang Bo was able to cultivate the Azure Emperor's ancient scripture. Could it be that the bloodline within him had awakened?"

Ye Fan stayed in C City for several days, gathering sufficient information and helping Pang Bo's parents improve their physiques, repeatedly cleansing their flesh, blood, and bones with spiritual medicine, though he did not reveal himself.

This trip south, he hadn't gathered enough evidence to be 100% certain that the deceased Pang Bo was indeed a fake. So, after leaving, he began to use all his resources to investigate. "Did he actually go to Mount Tai back then?"

To verify this at Mount Tai was undoubtedly impossible; after so many years, who would remember?

He investigated indirectly, finding the company where Pang Bo used to work, hoping to find some of his former colleagues to uncover clues. Unfortunately, the relevant people had long since left their jobs.

It must be said that for an ordinary person, this would have been impossible to find, akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. But Ye Fan was no ordinary person, and although it took a great deal of effort, he eventually found them.

He secretly observed their sealed memories and finally confirmed that Pang Bo had indeed gone to Mount Tai back then; a colleague had even helped him book the flight.

Initially, both the real and fake Pang Bo had claimed there was a family matter. However, the deceased Pang Bo returned home on the day of the Mount Tai incident, saying he hadn't made it.

But the colleague who helped Pang Bo book the flight had a different memory: Pang Bo had specifically called him to express gratitude when he got off the plane and was transferring to a long-distance bus to the foot of Mount Tai.

Ye Fan smiled. Although it had been a lengthy, troublesome, and convoluted process, he finally confirmed that the deceased Pang Bo was most likely a fake. For him, this was incredibly significant, a huge piece of good news. "Are ancient demon races still in existence? I want to see what you're planning."

Soon after Ye Fan returned to the city, he received a call from Yang Xiao, who told him something related to the small stone Buddha.

According to Yang Xiao, those ancient Sanskrit characters and symbols deeply startled the previous Sanskrit authority, who then specifically consulted his own teacher. Somehow, this ended up alarming several mysterious masters. "They've come to C City and insist on meeting you. I really couldn't turn them down," Yang Xiao said, clearly troubled. "Aren't they just a few ancient Sanskrit characters? Is it really necessary to bring them all the way from India?" Ye Fan asked. "They are several old monks, and the people accompanying them practically treat them as living Buddhas, almost kneeling in worship. It seems they claim to have manifested some divine miracles, but this is what era? Even with faith, it shouldn't be like this," Yang Xiao explained. As a scholar, he naturally didn't believe in such things.

Ye Fan's heart stirred. Currently, beyond the mountains, Hinduism was revered, and Buddhism had long declined in its place of origin. How could masters still come from thousands of miles away? Could there still be cultivators in this world?

This was good too. He was about to investigate everything about the fake Pang Bo. If these were indeed reclusive masters, it would be a perfect opportunity to follow the trail and understand everything that was happening on Earth now.