During the day, everything seemed normal, and the walking corpses outside the town had grown quieter.
Er Sheng sat in her chair for a long while without hearing anything. Growing restless, she gradually inched her way to Chang Yuan’s side under the immortal master’s watchful eye, turning this way and that, trying to snuggle onto Chang Yuan’s bed.
Seeing her eyes dart around, Chang Yuan understood her intentions. He lifted a corner of his blanket and patted the space beside him: “Er Sheng if you want to sleep, come lie here.”
“Okay!” Er Sheng’s figure flashed, and in an instant, she was lying beside Chang Yuan, pulling up the covers and letting out a contented sigh as she nestled against his hand.
Chang Yuan thought that since they had already slept together once last night, doing so a few more times wouldn’t matter much. If Er Sheng enjoyed it, let her be.
Er Sheng, however, was thinking about how her mother had said that sleeping together with one’s husband would lead to children. She should take advantage while Chang Yuan couldn’t resist to “sleep” with him, and once she was carrying his child, he would be hers.
The immortal master nearby widened his eyes, and Er Sheng immediately explained earnestly: “I don’t have any other thoughts! It’s just that yesterday I heard that voice while lying here, so perhaps I need to lie here today to hear it again.”
The immortal master pursed his lips and said helplessly: “As a cultivator of the Dao, how could I interfere with your young couple’s interests…” His face reddened slightly. “Whatever you want to do is none of my business. I’m just responsible for recording what you hear, just… don’t go too far. That would… make things awkward for me.”
Er Sheng pondered for a long while, truly not understanding what she could do to make this immortal master uncomfortable. At most, she could only make things difficult for Chang Yuan.
Unable to figure it out, she stopped thinking about it and slowly closed her eyes while holding Chang Yuan.
Er Sheng was awakened by a long sigh. It was nearly dusk, and she immediately shouted: “He spoke! He spoke!”
The drowsy immortal master was startled awake and immediately conjured a brush in mid-air, ready to record: “What did he say?” Beside them, Chang Yuan, who had been resting with closed eyes, slowly opened them to look at Er Sheng.
Er Sheng concentrated, carefully listening to the person’s words, and soon began repeating them in the same tone: “Wu Fang dares to interfere with my great plan. At midnight today, I will break Wu Fang’s barrier. Once you enter the town, skin their bones and devour them, leaving no survivors.”
The immortal master’s expression changed, and he immediately rushed out the door.
The voice in Er Sheng’s mind echoed a few more times before finally stopping.
She turned to look at Chang Yuan: “Chang Yuan, when this person spoke today, my head didn’t hurt anymore, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable.”
“Mm.” Chang Yuan responded faintly, quietly withdrawing his fingertips from her wrist.
“That person said they want to eat us? Hmph, only rotten worms get eaten. With the immortals protecting us, we’re not afraid of any great demon.”
Chang Yuan frowned: “This time, these people may not be able to protect themselves. The walking corpses are controlled but cannot use magic. To break this containment spell would require magical power stronger than the immortals here. If this barrier is broken, it can only be the person behind this doing it personally, and that person won’t be easy to deal with.”
Er Sheng was stunned for a moment before finally understanding his meaning. She suddenly asked: “Chang Yuan, when the great demon attacks, can you run? If you can’t run, Er Sheng will go eat two more bowls of rice so I can carry you on my back.”
Hearing these words, his previously solemn dark eyes softened slightly. Chang Yuan stroked Er Sheng’s fine hair on her forehead: “Don’t worry about these things. Mortal conflicts cannot harm me, nor can they harm you. It’s just that saving the people here will be difficult.”
“Can the immortal masters win in a fight against the great demon?”
Chang Yuan shook his head: “Unlikely.”
“Then we should hurry up and run!” Er Sheng said urgently. “Why fight if you can’t win? Have they all learned the village teacher’s foolish teachings and become wooden-headed?”
Chang Yuan’s eyes suddenly brightened: “Er Sheng is clever. Go help me call Ji Ling, tell her I have a way to repel the enemy.”
When Er Sheng found Ji Ling, she was busy directing immortals to reinforce the barrier with spiritual power. After Er Sheng told her Chang Yuan’s message, Ji Ling’s expression lifted, and she immediately rushed back to the inn.
Er Sheng stood on the main street, staring at the blue barrier tinged with the sunset’s glow. The village teacher, Brother Liu Snot, Second Brother Zhu from next door, and Sister-in-law Zhu had all died inexplicably, and the village had been burned down by the immortals with no survivors. If only the immortals had come earlier.
In this town, she didn’t know anyone. Every house had its doors tightly shut and windows firmly closed, with no one coming out to help the immortals. She thought that if this were her village, the villagers wouldn’t act like this.
She suddenly felt ashamed that she seemed to miss the village teacher’s endless lectures about loyalty, trust, propriety, and righteousness.
“Little dirty kid! What are you doing? Is money falling from the sky?” A teasing voice accompanied by a heavy pat landed on Er Sheng’s shoulder. Er Sheng turned to see Chen Zhu, the Wu Fang disciple who had carried Chang Yuan back that day.
Er Sheng scratched her head. That pat had made her shoulder hurt. Following her usual style, she would have already spat in his face, but since he was an immortal who had saved her, Er Sheng forcibly suppressed her urge to spite him, wondering if she should perform some courtesy.
But before she could figure it out, he threw another punch at her shoulder, laughing: “I didn’t expect you to be so brave! I heard about what happened last night.” Chen Zhu leaned close to Er Sheng’s ear and said, “Actually, I’ve always thought Senior Sister Ji Ling had no chest! If you don’t look at her face, who wouldn’t think she was a man? Haha!” As he pulled back, he patted Er Sheng’s shoulder again: “Little dirty kid, you’re something else! What a shame I didn’t see her face yesterday!”
These repeated blows angered Er Sheng. She grabbed Chen Zhu’s hair, not much, just about ten strands, held tight, and pulled hard, tearing off part of his scalp along with it.
Chen Zhu howled in pain and anger, covering his scalp: “Are you crazy!”
Er Sheng clutched her shoulder and shouted back: “You’re the crazy one! You nearly broke my bones!”
“How was I supposed to know you’re so weak! Crying from just two punches!”
“Well, I didn’t know you were so tender-headed! Just a few hairs and you’re screaming in pain?”
Chen Zhu couldn’t argue with her and could only glare at her furiously. Er Sheng lifted her head proudly, her face challenging. Chen Zhu had never suffered such humiliation, and his opponent was just an uncultivated child. How could he let her intimidate him? He raised his fist to hit Er Sheng.
Er Sheng, seasoned by years of “battlefield” experience, immediately understood Chen Zhu’s intentions and shouted: “If you dare hit me, I’ll tell Lady Ji Ling what you just said!”
Chen Zhu froze, and Er Sheng stuck out her tongue at him before turning and running away, leaving Chen Zhu standing there, his face turning blue with anger.
Back at the inn, Ji Ling had already reached an agreement with Chang Yuan. Er Sheng pushed open the door just as Ji Ling was leaving.
Ji Ling said: “Er Sheng, pack your things, we’re leaving now.”
Before Er Sheng could ask for details, Ji Ling had already gone far.
“Chang Yuan, where did Lady Ji Ling say we’re going?”
“To the woods behind the village where you grew up.” Chang Yuan’s expression remained as peaceful as ever. “Er Sheng, help me catch some insects to eat when we get there.”
The woods where Er Sheng grew up were to the north of town, while the walking corpses came from the south. Although walking corpses had reached Er Sheng’s village before, they had been eliminated. Retreating north now might be an act of escape, but it was a good way to stay alive.
Wu Fang’s Immortal Lord certainly wouldn’t arrive by midnight tonight, but if they could hold out for another day until Wu Fang’s elders and Immortal Lord arrived, these walking corpses and the powerful person behind them wouldn’t be so frightening anymore.
After all, Wu Fang’s Venerable One was nearly five hundred years old, with profound magical powers and few equals in the current world. If even he couldn’t handle the person behind this… then they could only accept their fate.
The town’s barrier remained to buy them more time to escape.
Although Er Sheng didn’t understand all the careful considerations behind Ji Ling’s decision, in her view, running when you couldn’t win was correct. So she obediently packed her bundle and waited for Ji Ling to send someone to carry Chang Yuan.
But when Er Sheng saw who came to carry Chang Yuan, her face darkened.
The other party was equally unwilling: “I won’t carry him.”
“Don’t let him carry you.”
They glared at each other, then turned away with a snort. After Ji Ling gave a cold “Hmm?”, both lowered their heads without further objection.
Upon returning to the village and seeing its state, Er Sheng suddenly felt her legs weaken, nearly falling. Knowing the village was destroyed was one thing, seeing it with her own eyes was another.
The feeling was like when someone had told her that her parents had died in a stampede while shopping at the market in town. She had smiled and said she understood, then continued running wild through the mountains, playing freely. One day, when she was fighting with the fat kid from the village entrance, his parents came to drag him home for dinner. Er Sheng looked back and realized her parents weren’t coming. That’s when she understood that her parents would never come looking for her again.
She finally understood that death meant never seeing someone again.
So when a village was destroyed, it was truly destroyed. Along with her past, dead.
Suddenly, a hand gently supported her back. Er Sheng looked back to see Chen Zhu awkwardly turning his head away: “Right now, staying alive is most important. Later, we can help you set up a monument for the villagers and carve all their names on it.”
Er Sheng nodded and continued walking toward the woods. She felt warmth on her forehead as Chang Yuan’s steady voice reached her: “Don’t be too attached. In this mortal world, there is always life and death.”
Er Sheng’s nose stung with emotion: “Will everyone around Er Sheng leave? Does everyone end up living alone? Will Chang Yuan leave too?” Er Sheng froze, then suddenly said, “Chang Yuan can’t leave! You can’t abandon me!”
“Alright.”