I can rewind time to prevent death

After leaving Wan Shouguang, Yan Junze didn't walk far, but wandered around the area before returning to the vicinity of the villa.

He had been pondering, "Resurrection" was the hint provided by the mission information, and the way Wan Shouguang and his wife were acting so secretively, it felt like they were hiding something.

If their son had been resurrected, and the couple was hiding something, it could be that Wan Cong's resurrection involved some unconventional methods.

However, the mission details were very clear, stating that this strangeness wasn't newly born, but had existed for some time and had made contact with other strangenesses.

Looking at it another way, if the couple's son was resurrected, it was likely that he was being possessed by another strangeness rather than actually being brought back to life.

With this question in mind, Yan Junze returned to the grave where Wan Cong was buried and carefully examined the soil that had been used to cover the grave.

Sure enough, he found scattered clumps of soil around the grave, which did not look like they had been professionally arranged. Digging a bit further, he discovered neat stones inserted among the soil, clearly placed there in a hurry.

Apparently, the grave had been tampered with.

Since it was still early, Yan Junze didn't immediately go back to the area around the villa, but looked around instead. There was a small grove of trees nearby, and he sat down under a tree at the edge of the woods, planning to wait for darkness.

He had checked the weather earlier, and it was going to be cloudy today, with no moon appearing at night.

Still, just to be safe, it was better to stay near the woods where he could take shelter under the dense branches should moonlight appear.

What Yan Junze least expected was that, as he waited, the events that unfolded started to become unimaginable.

Just as night began to fall, from not far behind and to the right of where Yan Junze was in the small wood, there suddenly came a rustling noise, as if something was crawling.

He thought it might be a small cat or dog, but when he turned his head, he jolted with shock. He saw a blurred mass resembling rotting flesh crawling out from the woods.

This thing didn't resemble anything, and it was obvious it was no longer living, having been crushed by something before its demise.

It had no head, and its body was completely twisted and deformed. It looked like it was crawling along the ground, but in reality, it was dragging and writhing.

It hadn't detected Yan Junze's presence, and upon seeing it, Yan Junze immediately hid his body perfectly behind the large tree he was leaning on, watching cautiously.

Gradually, the creature dragged its mutilated body out of the woods without stopping and continued to crawl forward.

Yan Junze stood up and went to the place where it had crawled, and upon closer inspection, he found a long trail left by its dragging movement.

He turned his head to look, the dark silhouette was still crawling forward in the distance. Extending his gaze to the faintly visible Wan Family villa, Yan Junze thoughtfully followed the strange crawler's path, heading into the woods.

Even though it was getting dark, he could still see and moved carefully, observing the trail of dragging marks deeper into the forest.

The darkness in the woods meant he sometimes had to crouch down to see clearly, but the trail never broke.

Before long, he arrived at the base of a large tree that was possibly the biggest in the woods, with a rough and uneven surface and some bark that had peeled away, but its branches spread out, covering the tops of other trees.

Approaching, Yan Junze found a patch of soil that had been disturbed, revealing a small pit. Judging by the size and depth, it was probably where that crawling creature had been hiding.

He crouched down and carefully examined it, touching it with his finger, and found shed fur, confirming it was where that creature had stayed.

However, just then, the patch of soil moved slightly, barely perceptible, but as Yan Junze was crouched observing, he instantly noticed something was amiss.

He immediately got up and moved back to find a dark corner under the tree canopy to hide, not showing himself, only allowing one eye to watch over the area.

"Could there be something else buried beneath this soil?" Yan Junze speculated.

After a short while, the soil moved again, some of it was pushed upward, crumbling to both sides.

Soon more soil turned over, and a pale arm emerged, clutching the edge of the hole where the soil had fallen away.

In that moment, Yan Junze was certain, not only had that weird crawler been buried in this patch of soil, but there was also a person buried deeper down.

And now, this person, just like the crawling creature, was about to emerge from the ground.

Likewise, this person could not possibly still be alive.

After the arm appeared, another hand soon burrowed out of the soil, both hands clutching the edge of the hole. Shortly after, a dishevelled man with dirt-streaked hair stood up from the soil, crawling out silently and slowly, standing under the big tree, motionless.

Yan Junze withdrew his gaze and hid his body behind the tree.

Though he was at an angle from where the man was standing, watching the man intently might have risked being sensed by him.

About five minutes later, Yan Junze glanced again and saw that the man was still standing there, with no intention of moving.

The man's hair was filthy and tangled, and his clothes were in tatters, making him look like a beggar at first glance.

Another five minutes passed, and the beggar moved slightly, turning to walk out of the woods in the same direction the weird crawler had gone.