The cultivators of Xianxia Island flew away on their spiritual light, leaving only Ji Yuan and Chang Yi behind in the mountain range.
Ji Yuan looked around. Although the mountain had been burned by the blazing fire, there were not very many scorch marks. However, a faint acrid scent inevitably perated the air. For people with strong spiritual senses like them, the sll was particularly pungent, though ordinary people might not have noticed it.
Looking at that earth vein again, although the gouge was still there, the earth’s poison had dissipated. Now it was just a deep canyon valley, no different from any other ordinary natural landscape.
“What a pity about the mountain god here. This mountain range is rather large. The mountain god’s cultivation couldn’t have been too bad. The rupture of the earth’s veins must have greatly damaged his vital energy, which the demons then took advantage of…”
Chang Yi sighed. The mountain god of this area had a fairly good relationship with their branch of Xianxia Island. After the incident, he tried to notify them as soon as possible, but unexpectedly, this brought disaster to both sides.
“Let’s go, let’s circle around the mountain first.”
With that, Ji Yuan and Chang Yi rode the clouds and flew high into the sky, where they then surveyed the mountains.
The majority of the central part of the mountain range had been fragnted due to the battle between immortals, demons, and monsters, while the outer area was in better condition. However, when Ji Yuan scanned the mountains, he saw countless animal corpses, all caused by the impact of the earth’s poison. It had led to a mass-perishing of animals.
Ji Yuan’s concerns were not unfounded. Although the two immortals scanned the air with their supernatural eyes and found no trace of malevolent energy, the mountain range was littered with animal carcasses.
It wasn’t until they flew further outwards for quite a while, reaching the edge of the mountain range that stretched on for hundreds of li, that they finally began to see living creatures, and observed the mundane behavior of herbivores and carnivores.
Above the clouds in the sky, Chang Yi’s expression relaxed a bit as he spoke to Ji Yuan.
“Mr. Ji, it seems that the evil energy of the earth veins did not spread too far before, otherwise ordinary animals would not have survived.”
“Hmm, let’s go take a look further away. I wonder if human countries here are in chaos?”
“I do not know.”
After briefly exchanging a few words, the two rode the clouds toward the more distant human realm. However, they traveled slowly, as they needed to observe the changes in spiritual energy and the earth veins down below.
In terms of ti, since the mont when the cultivators of the Xianxia Island branch set up the formation at the earth vein fissure, to the attack of the demons, then to the urgent rescue by the main Xianxia Island sect, at least a month had passed.
With the advantage of the speed granted from the flight formation on Xianxia Island, it took them a little over ten days to travel from Dazhen to this location. However, it would have also taken them ti to cross the Eatern Sea from Xianxia Island. Considering the previous circumstances, a little over a month was a reasonable estimate.
Over all this period of ti, although the earth’s poison did not erupt as violently as when it had been detonated by the demons, and had been mostly confined within the mountains, Ji Yuan did not believe that it could have stayed contained.
…
A month and a half ago, in the northwest of the Eastern Cloud Continent, and also to the northwest of the country of Yuanzhao…
On a sunny morning, the ground suddenly began to shake, causing widespread panic. So even ran back inside the buildings.
Until suddenly an elderly man, or perhaps simply soone with better knowledge, shouted, “The earth dragon is turning over—!”1
He yelled for everyone to escape their houses, otherwise they might be crushed to death by the collapsing structures.
However, it turned out to be a false alarm. After all, the mountains were quite far away, and although they could feel a noticeable tremor in this location, it was not enough to cause any major disaster. Even the mud-brick houses were mostly undamaged, and only a few dilapidated buildings collapsed.
Two or three days after the earthquake, most people had forgotten about it and continued with their sowhat difficult lives.
This was the third day after the earthquake, and the weather was calm and sunny.
Liao Daqiu and Old Zhang from the sa village carried rakes and drove an oxcart, slowly making their way along the road outside the village. The old ox at the front of the cart looked very thin, but its steps were still very steady, pulling the cart smoothly along the sowhat bumpy village road.
Old Liao and Old Zhang sat on the cart. Old Liao would occasionally nudge the old ox’s flank with the tip of his whip, and the ox would know which way to turn.
Soon, a river ca into view. Old Liao glanced at it and sighed.
“Ah…this world…”
Old Zhang, who was sitting next to Old Liao, looked in the direction Old Liao was gazing and saw two corpses by the riverbank. They were both facing upwards, their faces deathly pale, their flesh swollen from being subrged in water. Judging from their attire, they seed to be wearing armor, so they were probably two soldiers.
Because they weren’t far from the riverbank, the two could see the bodies lying there clearly. As they confird that they were indeed corpses, there was no need for them to run over to rescue them.
“I wonder if they drowned, or died in the war?”
Old Zhang sighed, while Old Liao shook his head, not wanting to discuss the topic. He flicked the ox’s rump and turned the oxcart onto a small path. Ahead were several fields piled high with straw.
Liao Daqiu glanced back at the corpses on the riverbank, then looked at his companion, Old Zhang.
“Old Zhang… after we collect the straw and go back, maybe we should…”
Old Zhang knew what Liao Daqiu wanted to say, and nodded helplessly.
“Alright, once the straw is loaded onto the cart, we’ll go to the riverbank, collect the bodies of those two soldiers, load them onto the cart, and then take them to the usual spot.”
“Okay, okay, then it’s settled!”
As they spoke, the two old farrs parked the oxcart and went to work in the fields. They would load up a few cartloads of straw to take back to be used as kindling for cooking. Occasionally, they could also be used as ergency fodder for the cattle, mixed with other feed.
After working for more than an hour, clearing and bundling the straw and loading it onto the oxcart, the cart was now piled high with a thick layer of dry hay. There were still many stalks of straw in the fields, but the rest would not be taken away; instead, they would be burned so that the crops would grow better when it was ti to plant.
“Alright, alright, let’s go back.”
“Okay.”
The two n turned the oxcart around and soon returned to the riverbank. The two corpses were still lying there. This ti, the oxcart did not directly pass them. Liao Daqiu drove it down to the riverbank.
“Sigh…”
Both of them sighed slightly and began to use the rakes to completely pull the corpses ashore. Because of their previous experience, they were especially careful as they did so, for fear of tearing the corpse apart and covering the ground with blood.
The weather was still cool, and the corpses hadn’t started to sll. It took the two n a lot of effort, and their clothes got quite wet, but they finally placed the two corpses on the pile of hay on the cart. Then they got back on the cart and drove the ox forward.
A little over fifteen minutes later, the oxcart was approaching the outskirts of Maotan Village, where Old Zhang and Old Liao lived.
“Old Zhang, you stay here and keep an eye on things. I’ll go get so people.”
“Okay, go ahead!”
Old Zhang huddled in the haystack. His clothes were a little wet, but he hadn’t felt anything before as he had been hot after finishing his work. Now, however, he felt a bit cold.
Liao Daqiu got out of the cart alone and ran towards the village. He chatted with acquaintances along the way before going to the village chief’s house to call for help.
About fifteen minutes later, Liao Daqiu returned with four or five n. They did not return empty-handed; so carried shovels, so carried rakes, and so carried tattered mats.
“Hey, Uncle Liao, can we please not do this kind of thing again? Let the strangers’ corspes go…”
A younger man carrying a hoe instinctively fanned his nose before even getting close to the cart, afraid of the stench of the corpses.
“Xiao Liu, what Old Liao said back then made sense. We can’t help those who are far away, but let’s help the corpses on the roadside and riverbank outside the village. Besides, our village also needs the river water. The county doctor said that accumulating corpses will cause an epidemic. This is both accumulating good karma and helping ourselves.”
“Yes, alright, I was just being nosy…”
The young man said nothing more and followed the group. They first unloaded the straw, and then drove the oxcart in another direction.
Before long, they arrived at a place that resembled a mass grave. There were small mounds of earth everywhere. So had simple wooden signs as tombstones, while others had none.
Liao Daqiu was sowhat emotional. This area of graves, in the end, was all thanks to him. Of course, he couldn’t possibly have killed anyone — this cetery was full of unknown corpses who died near Maotan Village. It was Old Liao who first offered to help bury them.
In these turbulent tis, it was common to find corpses lying on the roadside no matter where one went.
Out of concern for his hotown and out of sympathy for the deceased, Liao Daqiu started visiting the village head’s house seven or eight years ago, then went door-to-door to discuss the matter with people he knew, which eventually led to the establishnt of this cetery.
It must be said that most people were selfish, but even in difficult tis, good people still existed.
The group first prayed at a small, waist-high Land God shrine outside the cetery, asking the local Land God for protection, and then quickly got to work.
They were all farrs who toiled in the fields for a living, so they had plenty of strength to dig a pit. Several people took turns digging, and soon they dug a large pit. The corpses were wrapped together in tattered mats.
Without disturbing the bodies further, the group lifted them together and placed them into the pit.
“Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. We are not the ones who hard you. We just couldn’t bear to see your bodies left to rot in the wilderness, so we found you a place to be buried. In this day and age, it’s good enough to have a burial ground after death. We don’t have the resources to offer you any sacrifices. Rest in peace!”
Liao Daqiu rambled for a while, then he and everyone else started filling the grave with soil. This kind of burial work was not as complicated as a formal funeral.
Soon, with everyone’s combined efforts, a small mound was ford. Liao Daqiu and the old village head used shovels to press the soil firmly and compact it.
When they returned, everyone felt a sense of relief. Even the young man who had complained earlier felt a sense of accomplishnt for doing a good deed, despite his earlier words.
“Hey, Old Zhang, we still need to straighten out the straw bundles.”
“Of course!”
“By the way, Uncle Li, I heard there’s a plague outbreak in the neighboring county?”
“Hey, you know what, I heard about it too. Last ti I went to the county to buy so supplies, I ran into soone from my wife’s family who’s a doctor. He told that there’s been a plague outbreak in the neighboring county recently.”
The old village chief, carrying his hoe, looked at them and then at Liao Daqiu.
“So it really was necessary for us to bury these corpses together, Old Liao. I heard that the plague originated from the poisonous miasma on these corpses, the resentnt of the dead who could not be buried!”
“Hiss… Uncle Li, please stop talking…”
“Hahaha, you’re such a coward, a grown man like you?”
“Hahaha… That’s exactly what I’m saying. Xiao Liu, you’ll never get a wife like this!”
“Go away, who said I’m a coward!”
The group of people chatted amongst themselves, finding joy amidst their hardship as they returned to the village. Life was tough, but it was still much better than those corpses lying on the roadside.
Gradually, the sky darkened and the night deepened. Will-o’-the-wisps began to rise and fall in the graveyard outside the village, while a faint yellow light emanated from the nearby Land God shrine.
In the quiet night, a marten suddenly appeared in the distant wilderness, then darted swiftly toward the graveyard, finally stopping in front of the local Land God shrine.
“Squeak squeak squeak… squeak squeak squeak…”
The marten squeaked incessantly in front of the shrine, its cries rising and falling, sotis sharp and sotis as if it were weeping.
“What? A plague demon? So powerful that even the underworld can’t suppress it?! It’s spreading?”
As the astonished voice rang out, a hunched old man erged from the Land God shrine, staring at the marten with a look of surprise on his face.
“Squeak squeak squeak… squeak squeak squeak…”
“You… never mind, go!”
Upon hearing the Land God’s words, the weasel stood up and bowed to him, then turned and darted away, disappearing into the wilderness.
The Land God sighed, turned, and looked at the graveyard, where will-o’-the-wisps flickered.
In these chaotic tis, the underworld was weak, unable to even fully contain wandering ghosts. The local Land God of this graveyard had long since reported to the City God in charge, but after all these years, he could do nothing more than maintain their current state.
“Alas, a plague demon… how many people will die this ti…”
This was covered in the early chapters, but essentially this is a mythologized way of referring to earthquakes
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