Chapter 190 : Apocalypse World
Chapter 190: Apocalypse World
After the Village Chief’s figure disappeared, most people still had pale faces, and several of the younger ones were even trembling slightly.
Shi Wenyuan and two other somewhat older youths quietly comforted everyone.
After quite some effort, they finally led the group to the old banyan tree with luxuriant branches at the crossroads.
Under the shade of the tree, the eight young people all looked dispirited.
Long Tao could understand. The group of sixteen or seventeen people who had arrived together had now lost more than half—anyone would feel their morale sink under such circumstances.
What was even more frightening was the way Ji Boxiao had disappeared; it was too strange, casting a layer of shadow over everyone’s hearts.
To ease the heavy atmosphere, Long Tao walked over to Shi Wenyuan again and took the initiative to ask,
“Do you gather here every day?”
“Yes,” Shi Wenyuan rubbed his slightly reddened eyes. “But usually we wait until close to noon. By then Big Brother Xin returns from hunting, and we help deal with the prey. If there are Knocking Tasks, we also discuss how to distribute them.”
“What about the morning? What do you usually do then?”
“In the mornings we usually wander outside the village, looking for clues.” Shi Wenyuan sighed, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the house where Ji Boxiao had disappeared. “What Boxiao said earlier wasn’t wrong—this place really is safe during the day. As long as… you don’t court death like he did, nothing ever happens. Even the Drifters outside the village won’t attack people.”
Long Tao nodded thoughtfully and lowered his voice. “By the way, how did you all come here? Didn’t Xin Wushe and Du Yiluo tell you that this place is actually a fragment of the Ancient Heavenly Court?”
Shi Wenyuan gave a bitter smile and nodded. “Sister Du mentioned it, but nobody really believed it. The Heavenly Court… for us, that’s purely a myth and legend. But since even you say so…” He shook his head helplessly. “Then it should be true. As for how we came here…”
He paused, organizing his thoughts. “Our Star Vessel Institute has always been investigating various ancient ruins, hoping to obtain something useful. We never expected that this time we would really find a ‘treasure’—the legendary Heavenly Court. Though this Heavenly Court… is a bit too grounded.”
At this moment, Long Tao glanced at Mingzhu and noticed she was surrounded by three girls, including Yingxia, who had acted impulsively earlier.
Judging by their expressions and behavior, they seemed to be sincerely apologizing. Mingzhu responded with a gentle smile, which made him feel slightly reassured. He then turned his attention back to Shi Wenyuan.
“The spiritual energy in your world seems very thin?” Long Tao asked curiously. “What kind of place is it exactly?”
Shi Wenyuan revealed a complicated expression, with a hint of self-mockery. “Honestly, if it weren’t for the Knocking Tasks and those things at night that disturb the mind, when we first arrived we even considered settling down here permanently.”
“Your homeland… is it really that bad?”
“It’s not a matter of bad or not.” Shi Wenyuan sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “The very foundation of our entire world is collapsing. It’s already close to the end of days. Interested in hearing about it?”
“Of course.” Long Tao sat down on the stone bench beside him. “I’m idle anyway.”
“Alright, I won’t waste words then. Our world possesses the inheritance of the ancient Mo Palace and excels at Mechanism Arts.
Although much of the ancient craft has been lost due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, with the technology left behind by our predecessors, life was still manageable. Until one day, we discovered that the entire world was decaying at an accelerating rate.
Not only was the spiritual energy dwindling, but plant growth and even the fertility of the land were deteriorating.”
“So… are you all working together to save the world?” Long Tao asked tentatively.
Shi Wenyuan showed an awkward bitter smile, filled with too much unspeakable helplessness.
“On the contrary. The upper ranks of the Mo Palace split into three factions due to ideological disagreements: the Pure Land Faction, the Soul Cage Faction, and our Star Vessel Faction.”
When mentioning these three factions—including his own—there was not the slightest pride in his tone, only deep exhaustion and helplessness.
“Let’s start with the Star Vessel Faction.” Shi Wenyuan picked up a twig and casually scratched lines into the dirt. “We believe the world is beyond saving. All resources and technology should be concentrated to build a gigantic vessel capable of sailing the star seas. This ship must be large enough to carry sufficient life, allowing everyone… sigh… allowing some people to board it and search for a new homeland.”
“If this weren’t the end of the world, that would actually be quite romantic,” Long Tao could not help remarking.
Shi Wenyuan raised his head in surprise and studied him carefully. “Romantic? I thought you would say we were indulging in wild fantasies.”
“It’s a wild fantasy—but undeniably romantic: building a grand vessel and roaming the star seas. However… judging from your spirit stones—ah, crystal stones—that would be extremely difficult. Just thinking about the technical challenges is enough to make one’s head spin. You’d also need to account for the ship’s internal ecosystem, its energy supply, and how to withstand the Astral Gale Layer, among other things.”
“You… have studied Mechanism Arts too?” Shi Wenyuan’s eyes lit up slightly.
“Mm, you could say I’m interested in it. Back in my sect I learned a little from an elder specializing in Mechanism Arts.”
“To immediately think of issues like ecosystems and theAstral Gale layer… that’s definitely not just ‘a little.’ Brother Long must have seriously considered this idea before, right? Haha, I didn’t expect to meet a fellow enthusiast from another world here.”
Shi Wenyuan finally showed a genuine smile, though the fate of Ji Boxiao prevented it from lasting long.
“What about the other two factions?” Long Tao changed the subject at the right moment.
“Let’s talk about the Pure Land Faction first. You can guess most of it from the name.” Shi Wenyuan’s tone carried a trace of mockery. “They fantasize about repairing the world and restoring it to its original state.”
“That faction should have the most supporters, right? After all, if there’s a choice, most people wouldn’t want to leave their homeland.”
“That’s right—at first it was. But they quickly realized the world’s decay was far faster than expected. So they changed their strategy, focusing on protecting only a few regions while abandoning the rest.” Shi Wenyuan sneered. “But that’s just deceiving themselves. We’ve already calculated it: if the world continues to decay, it will eventually become a dead land. The Pure Land Faction is merely delaying the arrival of death.”
“Just like what we’re doing here now?”
“You really know how to talk.” Shi Wenyuan glanced at him helplessly. “Anyway, as the environment keeps worsening, more and more people have realized the problem with the Pure Land Faction. Many insightful figures have now turned to support our Star Vessel Faction.”
“And the last faction…” Long Tao recalled the name he had heard earlier. “The Soul Cage Faction?”
“Yes. Soul as in spirit, cage as in prison.” Shi Wenyuan’s tone suddenly sharpened with obvious disgust. “You might think our Star Vessel Faction is already radical enough, but compared to those lunatics in the Soul Cage Faction, we’re practically normal.”
He took a deep breath, as if steadying his emotions.
“They advocate transferring everyone’s souls into specially made Mechanism Puppets. They call it the ‘Eternal Life Plan,’ claiming that this way people can completely escape environmental constraints. Even if the world turns into a dead land, they could survive on the remaining spiritual energy. They even say that with puppet bodies they could directly explore the star seas.”
Long Tao almost choked on his own saliva. As expected, when people are pushed to desperation, all sorts of ideas appear. Even the path of “mechanical ascension” had its proponents.
“That… sounds quite advanced,” Long Tao said carefully.
“Advanced? Maybe. If they were simply conducting research quietly, calling it advanced would be fine. But they’ve completely gone mad. Anyway… I’d rather not talk about them.”
At that moment, a light set of footsteps came from the east. Du Yiluo approached with the familiar mail pouch slung over her shoulder. Her red hair gleamed brightly under the sunlight as she walked toward them with a smile.
“Everyone’s here?” She blinked playfully. “But today there’s only one letter. Long Tao and Mingzhu—this one’s for you.”
Seeing the mischievous smile on her face, Mingzhu immediately felt a bad premonition. She stood up, took the letter, and pulled Long Tao aside to the roadside. Both their names were written on the envelope, while the sender was simply listed as “Parents.”
Mingzhu carefully opened the envelope with her fingers and unfolded the letter.
The contents were extremely simple:
“Long Tao, Suyue:
You two children have finally become husband and wife, but since the marriage came so late—Long Tao is already eighteen this year, and Suyue is even more than eight hundred years old—you should have let your parents hold a grandchild long ago. By this time next year, we must see our grandchild.”