“Eh?” William Dawson was puzzled. Was John Archer’s slurred speech also unique to this version of the legend?

To be cautious, William Dawson took out the piece of paper from his pocket and wrote down a sixth point underneath.

Sixth, John Archer spoke unclearly for the first time.

It felt like a key was needed now to string all these clues together.

Although it was still bright outside, William Dawson was a bit tired. As he pondered these messy clues in his mind, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Legend Administration Bureau.

Seeing that the legend had come to a pause, Edward Bennett told Grace Bennett and Emma Foster to go back and rest first, but he and James Foster simply refused to leave.

Charles Cooper had no choice but to let them continue sitting there. No one in the entire Legend Administration Bureau suggested taking a break.

……

No one knew how much time had passed when someone knocked on the door.

William Dawson staggered to his feet and found it was even hotter outside than yesterday. Looking up out the window, he saw a total of ten suns in the sky.

“Pang Meng, brother.” John Archer knocked on the door again.

When William Dawson opened the door, he saw John Archer drenched in sweat.

“Are we heading out now, John Archer?”

“No, we still have to wait a bit longer. Can you do me a favor?”

Following John Archer outside, William Dawson saw a straw mat laid at the door, with an old man lying on it, looking like he had already passed away.

“Can you help me bury him?”

Neither of them spoke. William Dawson silently dragged the straw mat, following behind John Archer.

When they reached an open area, John Archer began digging with a hoe.

This scene was exactly the same as what William Dawson had seen on the screen before he traveled here. At the time, William Dawson had wondered why John Archer was tilling the land in such scorching weather—turns out, he was digging a pit to bury a corpse.

“The good news is that only Uncle Tan passed away today. The bad news is that Uncle Tan’s family is now empty—not a single one of the seven survived.” John Archer spoke in a low voice as he dug, “More than half the people in this village have already died of thirst or hunger. Pang Meng, you should know, I can’t shoot down the suns, so all I can do is try my best to rid the people of harm.”

For the first time, William Dawson felt the sorrow weighing on John Archer.

“But actually, none of these people had to die.” John Archer dug harder and harder, as if desperately trying to escape something. “They all could have survived. They all died because of me…”

William Dawson stepped forward and patted John Archer on the shoulder.

“What are you saying? These people died because of the ten suns. What does that have to do with you?”

It was as if John Archer didn’t hear William Dawson, and as he dug, tears began to fall.

“Pang Meng, if you had to choose, would you save all the people in the world, or grow old together with the one you love?”

William Dawson shook his head and said, “I don’t have anyone I love, so I don’t know.”

“Is that so?” John Archer turned to look at William Dawson. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you. You don’t need to look for that person called Yi who can shoot down the suns anymore. That person no longer exists.”

At this moment, a thread in William Dawson’s mind faintly connected all the clues together.

William Dawson’s eyes widened.

“You knew all along that one day, there would be ten suns in the sky, didn’t you?” William Dawson asked.

“That’s right.” John Archer put down the hoe, picked up Uncle Tan’s body, and slowly placed it in the pit. “Back then, someone gave me a choice, but I chose to grow old together with Heng’e.”

Someone gave John Archer a choice back then?

Who else in this world could have known in advance that there would be ten suns in the sky?

William Dawson was gradually piecing things together. That person named Warren Smith had already appeared when John Archer was a child.

It was his appearance that caused John Archer not to become a half-immortal.

Now that there was a breakthrough, everything else would be easier to figure out.

“The one who gave you the choice—was it Warren Smith?” William Dawson asked.

“You…?” John Archer slowly turned his head to look at William Dawson. “You know Brother Warren?”

“I know him, but not well,” William Dawson said. “We can have a drink together now and then, but if you need to borrow money in a pinch, it’s pretty tough.”

“…?”

“Don’t worry about my relationship with him. Let me just ask you one thing: do you want to shoot down the suns or not?”

Chapter 7: The Hidden Past

Do you want to shoot down the suns or not?

John Archer fell silent.

William Dawson had thought John Archer would agree immediately, but it seemed he still had concerns.

“If I shoot down the suns, Heng’e will leave me, right?”

William Dawson was at a loss for words and couldn’t answer.

Everyone praises the heroic tale of John Archer shooting down the suns, but has anyone ever asked whether John Archer actually wanted to shoot down those nine suns?

“Pang Meng, let’s get going. We can talk as we walk.”

William Dawson nodded heavily. The two of them buried Uncle Tan, said goodbye to Heng’e, and set off on their journey—John Archer carrying a bow and arrows, William Dawson with a time-travel starter pack—walking into the blazing sunlight.

But just as they reached the edge of the village, a little boy blocked their way.

“Youqiong?”

Yukon looked at William Dawson with annoyance and asked, “Who exactly are you? Why do you insist on taking Brother John to fight the Nine Infants?”