Chapter 286: Where Is the Longxiang Army?!
Although the Shaman Queen suffered severe damage and was forced into a long slumber under the alliance of Luxianbei and Hong Bian, her erosion of the God Realm Yumen did not stop completely…
The spiritual energy extracted from the suppressed Shaman Queen is the crucial foundation for the God Realm Yumen, which is isolated from the outside world, to persist for a long time.
Without the supply of that spiritual energy, it would be difficult for Hong Bian, who has already sacrificed himself to the God Realm Yumen, to maintain vitality for a long time.
Water sources will dry up, flora will wither, livestock will d*e, and survival will become increasingly difficult.
If the efforts of Hong Bian can be likened to assembling a machine and installing the associated software, then the slumbering Shaman Queen is the power source that drives this machine.
However, can the Shaman Queen’s spiritual energy be easily utilized?
Even after the purification in the central operation of the God Realm, the faint authority hidden within that spiritual energy would inevitably spread to every corner of the God Realm Yumen.
Spirit Ability Users might still be able to resist the gradually accumulating weak authority of the Shaman Queen, but ordinary people will inevitably be affected sooner or later.
From a certain perspective, the existence of the Shaman Queen is like a severely polluted, buried water source; without that water source, survival is impossible, yet using it is bound to harm the body and incur serious illness due to pollution.
But the residents of the God Realm Yumen had no choice.
Those on the verge of starvation do not care whether the food in front of them is a grand feast or a moldy bun.
……
The impact of the Shaman Queen’s authority accumulation initially manifested like a plague.
Those “infected” would develop scarlet sores on their bodies; as the sores gradually spread over their whole body, they would suddenly become irritable, delirious, and aggressive.
Unfortunately, the residents of the God Realm Yumen a thousand years ago did not know about rabies; otherwise, they would surely think this “disease” was some form of mutated rabies.
Only Chen Long left a note in his notebook stating, “After discussion among everyone, temporarily referred to as: Scarlet Sore Plague.”
In the first hundred years after Shen Baiwei and Luxianbei left, there were very few cases of Scarlet Sore Plague, only about a dozen throughout the year. Though it caused some panic, it did not attract too much attention.
There were Spirit Ability Users like Chen Long who suspected a connection between the Scarlet Sore Plague and the Shaman Queen, but after investigating, they found no direct connection and gradually became forgotten over time.
After all, as resources became increasingly scarce, the number of people who starved to d*ath each year far exceeded those who died of the Scarlet Sore Plague.
————
“If only it had been discovered earlier…” At this point, Long Bang’s already weathered face seemed to age a few years more.
There was still some time before the welcoming banquet began, and after receiving that little booklet, Shen Baiwei suddenly fell into a “frozen” state. Long Bang led the two of them to the center of the God Realm Yumen residents’ gathering place—Dai Mu Institute—to rest for the time being.
While waiting, with nothing to do, he began to “report” his experiences of over a thousand years to Luxianbei.
“It’s not your fault…” Luxianbei patted his shoulder.
As she spoke, she unobtrusively observed the elder in front of her, with a hint of surprise.
After such a long time, his appearance had already aged, his back bent, and he was no longer the spirited youth of yore, but from the contours of his features, she could still see a trace of familiarity.
If not seen with her own eyes, it was hard to imagine how a person could age to this extent; every inch of flesh and bl**d in that body, even every cell, exuded a sense of decay.
More dead than the dead… this phrase would aptly describe the current Long Bang.
What truly surprised Luxianbei was Long Bang’s current clear consciousness.
In fact, on the way here, she had secretly observed Long Bang.
However, throughout this journey, Long Bang had exhibited signs of severe confusion.
Though his steps were steady as he led the cart horse, his body would uncontrollably spasm like someone having an epilepsy attack, mumbling to himself at times, laughing unexpectedly, and sometimes letting out deep beast-like roars.
Luxianbei even heard him talking to Longxiang, saying things like “When you come of age, do not practice martial arts but instead take the imperial examination,” as if forgetting he was already over a thousand years old.
Having witnessed such a Long Bang, Luxianbei now looked at the clear-headed Long Bang she was speaking to, and there was a lingering feeling of watching a dying elder suddenly wake from a coma to share final thoughts before leaving, provoking inexplicable guilt and heartache.
But how could she compensate him? Luxianbei could not figure it out.
One or two years of delay might still be redeemable, but over a thousand years of hardship was beyond her limited life experience of less than twenty years.
“What happened next? What happened afterward?” Coming back to her senses, Luxianbei questioned, “As time passes, the Scarlet Sore Plague should have grown worse, right?”
“Hmm…” Long Bang nodded, and then, noticing Luxianbei’s tightly furrowed brow, tried to reassure her with a smile, “Miss Lilith, you need not worry, although the Scarlet Sore Plague has become more serious, the big guys back then were quite sensible.”
“They realized they were sick, and in order not to harm others, they spontaneously left the northern city and went to the southern city, finding a place to settle down and supporting each other; it wasn’t as difficult as imagined.”
Luxianbei, “…”
She believed that most of Long Bang’s words were true, but there were certainly some hidden aspects.
After all, the conditions in the God Realm Yumen were harsh, and having been devastated by those tribal warriors and afflicted by illness, moving to the thoroughly abandoned southern city was basically akin to waiting for d*ath.
People cherish their lives; it is impossible for everyone to be willing, or to have the courage to face d*ath.
————
【I never expected that I too would fall ill with the Scarlet Sore Plague. I can feel that my body is gradually losing control; perhaps I should go to the southern city like everyone else? But what about the tasks entrusted to me by Miss Shen? Maybe I should find someone to replace me.】
This was the last passage written down by the maid of the Dai Mu Institute.
As this passage flashed through Shen Baiwei’s mind, the figure of the maid before her stood up from the writing desk, turned, and walked into the darkness.
However, soon, a small figure emerged from the darkness, came to sit in the place the maid originally occupied, picked up the pen, and left slightly childish handwriting on the notebook’s inner pages.
In the first hundred years after the appearance of the Scarlet Sore Plague, there was no significant upheaval.
After being afflicted by the Scarlet Sore Plague, people largely left the group voluntarily for the southern city’s ruins, distancing themselves from others like aging horses ready to d*e. Occasionally, a few unwilling to leave would go berserk in the northern city and would soon be suppressed by the Longxiang Army.
And this fragile balance maintained until a hundred and fifty years after Shen Baiwei and Luxianbei left…
As more and more people traveled south due to the Scarlet Sore Plague, eventually succumbing to madness, along with the spread of various rumors and legends among the residents of the God Realm Yumen, strange tales began to flourish in the southern city…
【Today, ordered to go to the boundary to exterminate monsters and evils, but when I severed its head, and the miasma dissipated and I saw its true face, I was filled with regret.
That monster was actually Zhu Sanming!
To this day, I can still remember when he first entered the Longxiang Army, shared the same tent with me at night, and whispered to me, “Brother Chen, I miss my mother!”}
This was the record left by Chen Long.
It would prove that his worries were not unwarranted; only a few years later, it would lead to a tragedy.
A team of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers lost contact while on a mission to purge the boundary between the southern and northern cities, and when they were found, only a pile of severed limbs remained.
The long-standing conflicts in the city erupted completely.
Some began to question the authenticity of the Miracle Flower and the Miracle Saintess, believing that the God Realm Yumen was destined for doom.
Some voluntarily left the northern city, running to the southern city, hoping to contract the Scarlet Sore Plague and merge with those strange tales and madmen.
Some blamed the team of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers—and those who had perished from the Scarlet Sore Plague—on Long Bang.
And on one night shortly after the outbreak of conflict, Chen Long left two new records.
【Today, the Long Commander convened the soldiers at the County Prince’s Mansion for discussion, selecting twenty trusted men.
The Long Commander said that he believed in miracles, but in order for the people of the city to believe in miracles, he prepared to launch a night raid on the southern city tonight.
He also said that he was going to create a miracle with his own hands.
I volunteered but was refused!
That night, a great fire blazed in the southern city, and bl**d filled the air.】
……
【This evening, I learned that the Long Commander had returned to the County Prince’s Mansion.
I also learned that of the twenty-one sent, only three returned.
After more than a hundred and thirty days, there was no news of the Long Commander, nor did any monsters or evils reappear.】
The brief three lines, with heavy handwriting, pierced directly into Shen Baiwei’s mind.
————
“My hands…” Long Bang looked at his own hands, tears streaming down his face, his voice trembling as he said, “I clearly promised my brother that weapons should only be used against the enemy, yet in the end, my hands are still stained with the bl**d of the people of Yumen.”
“But I had no choice! If I did not k*ll them, more would suffer and d*e, and I could not grow stronger to stop the disaster from continuing to happen.”
“Miss Shen, did I… did I really protect Yumen?”
It’s hard to imagine how a youth who had once been attacked by frenzied crowds in the Dai Mu Institute market without ever resorting to violence decided to raise his weapons against those strange tales transformed from the people of Yumen, even using their core essence to strengthen spirit patterns.
Luxianbei gazed at the spirit hall for a long time before finally speaking, “No, Long Bang, you did nothing wrong! You did it; you protected Yumen.”
Upon hearing this, Long Bang’s cries intensified.
Despite his aged appearance, he resembled a wronged child, finally meeting a family member, shedding all defenses and crying loudly.
Seeing this, Luxianbei stepped forward, embracing his head, and gently stroked his back in silence.
————
Since that night raid on the southern city, every hundred days, Long Bang would lead a team of Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers into the southern city to hunt down strange tales, and each time, only two or three would return heavily injured.
After healing and resting for a few days, they would embark once more.
The rumors and legends of strange tales in the southern city continued to circulate in the northern city, but since then, there had been no more strange tale disturbances, and the unrest in the city gradually calmed.
【Everyone says this is a miracle, unaware that it was the Long Commander’s life exchanged for it.
That’s not right; the Long Commander was injured every time he launched a surprise attack, on the verge of d*ath, yet he always managed to struggle back from the brink; perhaps this itself is a miracle?】
The notes left on the inner pages of the notebook contained such records, written by someone named Chen, but no longer Chen Long; it was now a descendant named Chen Yun Ge.
Old friends had passed, like droplets falling into rivers, leaving no trace behind, only the records in black and white continued.
As the days passed, Long Bang’s level of spiritual energy grew to a terrifying degree in this seemingly endless hunting, as described in Chen Long’s records, just a step away from disaster.
Two hundred and sixty-one years after Shen Baiwei and Luxianbei left, Long Bang made a shocking decision—to disband the Longxiang Army.
【Today, the County Prince convened all Longxiang Army soldiers for discussion, saying that times have changed and there is no longer a need for the Longxiang Army, causing a fierce backlash from many uncles, even threatening with their lives.
But I observed that the County Prince seems to have unspoken difficulties?】
In the end, the Longxiang Army was disbanded, leaving only more than thirty veterans.
That night, Long Bang once again raided the southern city.
This time, he went alone, armed with a Fengchi Spear.
Once again, he returned heavily injured, nearly losing his life, falling into a sporadic coma for nearly two hundred days.
He had overestimated his strength and underestimated the speed at which the strange tales in the southern city were growing stronger.
During Long Bang’s unconscious state, the strange tales stormed in, their ghostly, menacing forms pervading every corner of the God Realm Yumen until a loud call shattered the nighttime stillness.
“Where is the Longxiang Army?!”
Under the night sky, someone raised their arm and yelled, drawing a hundred responses.
Several hundred Longxiang Army soldiers, who had already returned to civilian life, donned their armor once more, lovingly covering their sleeping family members with blankets, quietly leaving their homes.
“Longxiang Army soldier Wang Liang is here!”
“Longxiang Army commander Xu Mao is here!”
“Longxiang Army physician…”
Thus, almost all the veterans who were over fifty, many of whom were over ninety, picked up their long-dusty weapons, rushed to the battlefield, and fought against the strange tales invading the northern city until d*ath, leaving an unbreakable boundary with their flesh and bl**d.
