“Yes. I’m going with Robert Grant to slay the Nine-Headed Serpent.”

“Can you… not go?”

“Don’t worry, my dear. I will definitely come back safely.”

Helen Archer bit her lip, silently murmuring, “John, you promised we’d grow old together… That Nine-Headed Serpent is no easy foe. Since that Robert Grant is an immortal, he shouldn’t need help from a mere mortal like you, right?”

John Archer stood up, gently embraced Helen Archer, and said, “Don’t worry, my dear. Did you forget? Brother Warren told me that the two of us would surely grow old together.”

Yes, so far everything has happened just as Brother Warren predicted.

Yukon felt a bit unnecessary standing by, and slowly retreated to the doorway.

“Yukon.” John Archer called out to Yukon, “I’ll leave Helen Archer in your care.”

“No.” Helen Archer interrupted, “Yukon must go with you. He can control Xiao Ba, so you’ll be safer.”

“My dear,” John Archer said, “the weather is scorching, and you still have to manage the household. I really can’t bear to trouble you, so let Yukon help you. Don’t worry about me. Did you forget? If I really run into danger, I still have ‘that’.”

Hearing this, Helen Archer finally felt a little more at ease.

……

Legend Administration Bureau. Charles Cooper pulled up two screens, watching William Dawson and John Archer respectively.

She carefully recorded everything John Archer said, but even now she didn’t know what secret John Archer was hiding.

“William Dawson.” Charles Cooper said to William Dawson, who was lying on the bed, “Things seem to have changed a bit. I need to discuss something with you.”

“Go ahead, Sister Charles, I’m listening.”

Charles Cooper organized the materials in her hand and said to William Dawson, “We told you before that you are the second person in nine hundred years who can enter the legend.”

“That’s right, I remember.”

“And the first person was called Warren Smith.”

“Warren… Smith?”

“Yes. Nine hundred years ago, after he entered the legend, he never came back.”

“He ran into danger?”

“No, to be precise, he betrayed the Legend Administration Bureau.” Charles Cooper spoke in a cold tone, as if talking about someone unrelated.

“Betrayed…? Why?”

“I won’t go into the details now. I just need to remind you that Warren Smith himself is very likely involved in the story of Yi shooting down the nine suns.”

“He… is with me now?”

“Yes, and he has cut off contact with the Legend Administration Bureau. We can’t see his feed, but just now I listened to the conversation between John Archer and Helen Archer. John Archer mentioned a ‘Brother Warren’, and this person is very likely Warren Smith.”

Charles Cooper pushed up her glasses and continued.

“To quell the chaos, it must be Warren Smith. That’s the code he left behind. So, the one who helped John Archer kill the demon wind beast was also Warren Smith.” Charles Cooper looked grave. “I suspect he’s been involved in this legend from very early on, but we can’t determine his purpose.”

William Dawson pondered for a moment. The clues he knew were all jumbled. He sat up, took out a stack of scripts, turned to the back, and picked up a charred tree branch from the floor, starting to jot down all the current doubts.

First, John Archer is a mortal. Charles Cooper once said she had watched this legend countless times, but what exactly caused the deviation in John Archer’s background?

Second, out of the ten suns, one will set. This means one is the real sun, but what are the other nine?

Third, John Archer and Helen Archer are hiding something. The content of the secret is unknown, but there’s a vague sense that John Archer is not just a simple mortal.

Fourth, the supposedly gold-digging Helen Archer. If he hadn’t met Helen Archer, William Dawson might have believed the story. But he had seen the way Helen Archer looked at John Archer—there was light in her eyes. Also, William Dawson touched this side room that hadn’t been used in years, yet it was spotless. That’s not something a woman who loves wealth would do. Helen Archer is very virtuous, well-read, and truly loves John Archer.

Fifth, John Archer’s friend Warren Smith. This Warren Smith should be the “Little Warren” the director mentioned. William Dawson doesn’t know his stance or his purpose, only hoping he won’t cause trouble at a critical moment.

Looking at the clues William Dawson had organized on the screen, Charles Cooper’s attitude toward him changed a little. Although this person seemed careless, he was actually very meticulous. Maybe there really was a sliver of hope he could complete the mission.

William Dawson carefully folded the paper and put it in his pocket.

“Sister Charles, traveling into a legend is truly an incredible thing.”

“Is that so?” Charles Cooper replied coolly.

“Yes, so many things are hard to imagine. For example, the hero Yi who shot down the suns, John Archer, is actually so approachable.”

“Indeed,” Charles Cooper said, “maybe it’s because he’s a mortal and has no reason to be arrogant.”

William Dawson gave a wry smile. “And who would have thought that this great hero speaks with a lisp.”

“A lisp…?” Charles Cooper frowned and said, “That’s right, in previous versions, John Archer didn’t have a lisp.”