Tales of Herding Gods - Chapter 240
Chapter 240: New Hope
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Dutian Devil King raised his head up high as he brought the old, weak, sick, and disabled elders of Disabled Elderly Village forward.
‘There are many able-bodied people in the village so why is it called Disabled Elderly Village?’ he thought to himself.
Disabled Elderly Village today no longer fit its name. It even had young people like Granny Si and Qin Mu in the village, so the word elderly itself owed some discussion.
Old Ma, Butcher, and Cripple were already able-bodied, while Granny Si might still be disabled in her heart, her body was fine.
The only ones who were still missing parts of their body were Blind, Apothecary, Village Chief, Mute, and Deaf.
However, Dutian Devil King didn’t know that to the people of Disabled Elderly Village, the disability of the body was not a disability. Their true disabilities lay in their hearts.
Village Chief was exhausted from not being able to fulfill his responsibility, which left him disheartened. Even if he was able-bodied, he still wouldn’t walk out of Great Ruins.
Apothecary had sliced his face off due to the pressure caused by the debts of relationships. Even if he regained the looks of his golden age, he still wouldn’t dare to go out and face people.
The reason why Blind was down was not because he had turned blind. And even though Old Ma had regained both his hands, he still couldn’t pull himself together after the death of his wife and child. He was still unable to forgive himself.
Granny Si’s heart devil, Cripple’s past, Deaf’s homeland, Mute’s mysterious past, and the reason Butcher raised his knives at Heaven were all shackles that restrained them.
The disability in their heart was their true disability. They had sunk into a sorrowful past and were unable to break free of it. This was the reason behind Disabled Elderly Village.
If it was not because the child they had raised ran out, the people of Disabled Elderly Village would have stayed quietly in the village and awaited their deaths, digging a pit to bury themselves.
Qin Mu’s arrival had gradually livened their hearts, but even he couldn’t make them walk out of the past that had left them disabled.
The true disability is when both the body and the heart are disabled.
Because of this, these people could only rely on themselves to walk out.
Dutian Devil King was truly the devil king of another world. He knew so much that even Blind was endlessly impressed by his knowledge and concrete details. Dutian Devil King had completely convinced him with his attainments in algebra.
They came to the border of the forest, which was near the end. There were only two more miles or so, but Dutian Devil King had to spend half a day just to cross these two miles.
“It’s New Year’s Eve,” Granny Si suddenly said.
Old Ma shook his head. “It’s not considered New Years until all the people of the village are present.”
Butcher’s voice was loud like a bell. “We must find Village Chief, Mute, and Apothecary, see their bodies. Even if they’re dead, we’ll drag them back for New Years!”
There was no more path in front of them, just the crumbling Carefree Village.
There was no more land here at the end of the forest but a clean cross-section. Standing at the edge of the cliff, Qin Mu looked down and saw another forest.
He couldn’t help being stunned.
‘Another forest?’
He said in astonishment, “This forest grows on the cliff so how are the trees perpendicular to the ground?”
Dutian Devil King jumped off the cliff and gave a thump as he stood steadily on the side. His body was perpendicular to Qin Mu’s as he walked to and fro.”The seal here is much more complicated than what I thought. It’s formed by a cube which seals Carefree Village within it, controlling the electromagnetic force of this place. You guys will know when you walk over here to take a look.”
Qin Mu stretched out his leg carefully and suddenly felt an attraction force below his feet. Placing his feet down and lifting up the other leg, he realized that he was standing on the cliffside without any discomfort.
Not only that, from where he stood, it seemed like was standing at the edge of the cliff while Granny Si, Old Ma, and the rest were standing on the cliffside. Only he and Dutian Devil King were standing on flat ground.
He looked around and was slightly shook. He saw that the opposite side also had a forest that was perpendicular to the ground.
Other than that, the sky in the other directions also had forests.
This kind of situation was like pieces of land wrapping around Carefree Village to form an enormous hollow ball.
However, looking from the geography, it didn’t seem like a simple hollow ball. It seemed to be pieced together by thousands of cubes of different heights while at the center of it was Carefree Village.
Every cube was a thousand miles of forest that was folded up, and every side of the cube was the obverse side.
This kind of divine art was beyond what he could imagine. Even an existence like Imperial Preceptor wouldn’t have been able to imagine that such a divine art could exist in this world, right?
“The electromagnetic force here has changed.” Blind also walked over and felt the force of attraction. “This great divine art is no small matter to cover the entire Carefree Village, I’m afraid the only exit is the place from which we came.”
“Countless seals just to prevent the people of Carefree Village from walking out.” Granny Si also walked over and raised her head to look at the debris of Carefree Village floating silently. They were still quite a distance away from it, and she said, “Village Chief and Patriarch possess remarkable abilities, so they should have gone in there, right?”
Dutian Devil King raised his head and walked back onto the path they had come from before shaking his head. “There are many restrictions in the sky, and it would be hard to avoid them if one was to fly over. I would need to calculate for some thirty-fifty years to find the safest path. If my true body was here, I could do it faster, but it would still take me one or two years. The god that left behind this seal is too strong, not something that you guys can handle. If anyone tried to fly into Carefree Village, they are most likely dead…”
He muttered, “The entire Great Ruins is a cursed land, with a peculiar rule that shrouds it. It’s really hard to live in a world like this, so Cult Master Qin, even if you invite me into this world, I won’t come back again. This world is too twisted!”
Blind muttered, “Village Chief is definitely alive. That old fellow doesn’t take anything seriously, but once he does take something seriously, he will definitely be able to do it… Wait a minute, don’t you guys think that the shape of Carefree Village looks like a ship?”
Everyone raised their head to look. Carefree Village was extremely huge, but even though it was in ruins, they could still see the glorious and magnificence sight it was in the olden days. There was also a sun that was about to sink into the darkness hanging farther away.
However, if they pieced these shattered peaks, huge pieces of machinery, and the destroyed city together, its shape did indeed look like a huge and grand ship that was inconceivable!
In comparison, the Sun and the Moon Ships were nothing.
“Carefree Village is a ship?”
Qin Mu felt it was too much for his brain to handle. Even though the sun in the sky was a man-made one, it was extremely huge. If the city and mountains were combined, it would become even larger and surpass the size of the Sun and the Moon Ship by a thousand times.
Could there be such a huge ship in this world?
“Great observation, Blind!” Cripple’s eyes lighted up, and his breaths became rapid as he pointed towards the sun that was half-consumed by darkness. “This sun should be the source of energy for this ship! It’s a huge pill furnace, an unimaginably huge pill furnace…”
Granny Si rolled her eyes at him. “You can’t carry it home.”
Dutian Devil King was also slightly shaken and said under his breath, “Such a huge pill furnace, what was this ship used for? Why is it sealed here? Could it be… Ha haha, I must be thinking too much.”
He laughed coarsely and didn’t speak another word.
Old Ma said, “Ships are used for ferrying passengers. They bring people to their destination, so this ship must have its own destination as well.”
Deaf who had been silent suddenly said, “Isn’t it Carefree Village? Carefree Village is carefree, so why does it need a destination? With a destination, it won’t be Carefree Village anymore. If it’s not Carefree Village, what’s its destination?”
Everyone looked at one another in the eyes and said in unison, “The true Carefree Village!”
Qin Mu stared blankly. The guess of these elders from his village left him even more at a loss. True Carefree Village, wasn’t this place Carefree Village?
However, what Old Ma and the rest said made sense. Since such a huge ship was constructed, it definitely had its destination, and the destination of this ship might really be the true Carefree Village.
Yet this ship was discovered by the enemy which had destroyed and sealed it. The people who were lucky enough to survive tried to escape from the seal but ended up suffering disastrous casualties. They had then spent countless years to pave a way out.
The devils in the darkness were also searching for Carefree Village and even thought that this was Carefree Village. However, this was only a ship that was headed to Carefree Village.
‘If Carefree Village is not here, where’s the true Carefree Village?’ Qin Mu was at a loss. ‘Where exactly is my hometown? Did any of my clansmen survive?’
His mind was in a mess, and at this moment, a silver light flashed across the sky. A silver boat flew out from the city, and on that silver boat stood Mute who was holding onto a wooden chest. On the boat were also two white-haired elders, a faceless man, and a youth.
Mute controlled the silver boat, flying nimbly in the air to avoid the divine restrictions in the sky.
Dutian Devil King was dumbfounded. The path that the silver boat was taking now was the safest path that he had to take dozens of years to calculate!
This silver boat ferrying the people traveled back and forth among the divine restrictions. It was like a clever fish going in all directions to avoid all kinds of danger.
After some time, the silver boat descended from the sky and landed in front of the group. Apothecary carried out Village Chief and walked down the boat while the young patriarch shook his head. “Why do you have to carry him? He can clearly fly by himself.”
Apothecary was stunned and placed Village Chief upright on the ground with a smile. “I’m already used to it.”
Qin Mu and the rest immediately came forward, and Mute opened up the wooden chest. The silver boat melted and turned into silver pellets which went tinkling into the wooden chest.
Mute closed the lid with skill and picked up the chest. When he saw everyone walking over, he revealed a grin and waved his hand. “Ah, ah!”
Everyone went forward and surrounded the newcomers, full of all kinds of questions for everyone, especially Mute.
How did he know about the safe path that even the extremely knowledgeable Dutian Devil King required dozens of years to calculate?
What exactly did they see when they went into the city in the sky?
What that place Carefree Village or not? Were there any survivors?
Everyone was about to say something when Village Chief floated over and smiled at Qin Mu. “Mu’er, let me tell you a piece of good news. We have finally found your surname. Apothecary, hand the things to him.”
Apothecary poured out many things from his pouch. There was a waist tag, bronze mirrors, a horizontally inscribed board, an imprint, a jade pendant, and some clothes. On all of these items, there was one word – Qin.
“Your surname is Qin.” Apothecary smiled. “There are many such items in that city and Village Chief asked me to gather a few. Look at the handwriting on them, doesn’t it look like the handwriting on your jade pendant?”
Qin Mu’s mind was blown. He looked back at the small village he had passed by on the way here.
A flicker of hope reignited in his heart.
Village Chief seemed to know what he was thinking and said, “That place may or may not be where you were born, and that family may or may not be your parents. There is still a chance that your parents are alive.”