Looking Up at the Sky Is Not a Sin

Chapter 25: Looking Up at the Sky Is Not a Crime

The bustling and lively Tianmen Town had instantly turned into a graveyard. The woman with the flower umbrella looked around. She saw only desolate graves and, besides them, a dilapidated Heavenly Gate and a courtyard house—Su Yun's courtyard house!

This was the real Tianmen Town!

Tianmen Town had been destroyed six years ago in a cataclysm!

Later, envoys from the Eastern Capital arrived to investigate the cause of the disaster. They built graves for the deceased of Tianmen Town.

"You're not as good as that Qiu Shuijing," Uncle Qu's voice echoed. "Qiu Shuijing saw through the illusion of Tianmen Town. With a loud laugh, he shattered the illusion, allowing sunlight to shine in. But you... you didn't see anything."

Standing amidst the desolate graves, the woman with the flower umbrella felt a chill down her spine. Hearing this, she turned her head to look at the gate. She saw that Uncle Qu was no longer there.

"People of the Tong Family aren't scared easily!" The woman with the flower umbrella bolstered her courage and shook her flower umbrella. A flock of Bi Fang Divine Birds flew out from the umbrella, circling around her.

She continued walking towards Su Yun's courtyard house, her legs trembling slightly. On both sides were the graves of Tianmen Town's residents. The silent, desolate graves couldn't help but fill her with dread.

She remained vigilant, thinking to herself, Even ghosts and gods aren't as powerful as they were in life! My Tong Family is a noble lineage, and our family's and the official academies' teachings are both exquisite...

Finally, she arrived in front of Su Yun's courtyard house. This was the only place bathed in sunlight, and the only place inhabited.

The woman with the flower umbrella reached out to push the wooden gate. Just then, she inadvertently saw that her hand had, at some unknown time, shed its flesh and blood, revealing only bone! Not a shred of skin or a fingernail remained on her five fingers. It was as if an ant colony had gnawed away all her flesh and blood!

She screamed, dropping her flower umbrella. She raised her other hand, which was also bone! She lifted her sleeve, and her arm was the same.

The woman frantically touched her face. All the flesh and blood were gone. Her finger bones even poked into her eye sockets, and there was nothing inside them!

"This cursed place..." she sighed. Suddenly, the beautiful skeleton girl collapsed with a rustle, her bones turning to powder, her clothes falling to the ground.

A gust of cold wind blew, and her clothes turned to ash, scattering with the wind like burnt paper. Her flower umbrella and the Bi Fang Divine Birds flying in the air also vanished into specks of light.

As this cold wind blew, the desolate graves disappeared once more. Broken bricks and tiles floated up, snapped pillars and beams reassembled, and collapsed houses were rebuilt. The buildings of Tianmen Town were renewed, and people bustled in the streets, living their lives as usual.

This small town by the North Sea seemed to still exist in the world.

However, when the North Sea wind blew in from the sea, Tianmen Town shimmered like a mirage in the mist, swaying with the sea breeze, as if about to be blown away and scattered. The townspeople of Tianmen Town also seemed to sway like figures in a painting, giving an extremely unreal impression.

Su Yun and the four little foxes were unaware of what had happened in Tianmen Town. By the time they woke up, it was already noon. Flower Fox and Hu Buping had caught a few wild chickens, while Qingqiu Yue and Li Xiaofan had gone to the Niu Family Village's vegetable patch to steal some greens.

Those ox demons loved growing vegetables.

Su Yun cooked at home, baking the wild chickens to a golden brown with coarse salt. He then stir-fried dried sea fish, braised eggplant, steamed rice, and stir-fried the greens they had stolen. The five of them sat down to eat.

"We're out of soy sauce at home, so I need to buy some from the market," Su Yun said as he ate. "I also tore my clothes fighting with my senior schoolmates a few days ago, so I need to buy some coarse cloth clothes. And for you, my second brother, if you plan to go into the city in the future, you'll need to buy some clothes too."

Flower Fox said nothing at the table, silently gnawing on the salt-baked chicken. Hu Buping, however, couldn't help but ask, tilting his head back, "Brother Xiao Yun, why do we have to go into the city? Can't we just stay here?"

"No," Su Yun's expression turned grim. "Going into the city allows us to receive better education and learn better cultivation techniques."

Hu Buping was puzzled. "But we can live very well in the countryside. We have food and drink here, and we have friends. We can live here. Why go into the city? Once we're in the city, will we still be as carefree as we are now?"

Qingqiu Yue and Li Xiaofan stopped eating chicken and quietly watched Su Yun.

Su Yun put down his chopsticks and fell silent for a moment. "Then you'll die like Mister Wild Fox? Or like Huqiu Village, silently erased without even knowing who your enemy is? Or like the whole village eating, working hard to cultivate into a Flood Dragon only to be captured and used as a mount?"

He said bitterly, "Or do you want to be like me, going blind just because you looked up at the sky?"

Hu Buping opened his mouth, then fell silent.

"I want to learn more, I want to control my own destiny, I want to climb higher, to live better myself, and to let my loved ones live better," Su Yun pursed his thin lips. "I don't want to die like Mister Wild Fox, nor do I want to be erased like Huqiu Village with just a name. I don't want my descendants to live this kind of life in the future! Looking up at the sky is not a crime!"

"I want to seek justice for myself, for Tianmen Town, for Mister Wild Fox and Huqiu Village. I don't want to live a mediocre life!" Although he couldn't see, he accurately picked up a piece of sea fish and placed it in his bowl. "And to achieve these things, we must go to the city, we must study, learn more skills, and learn better skills!"

"Xiao Yun is right," Flower Fox put down the half-eaten salt-baked chicken and said in a deep voice, "We'll go to the city with you. If we don't go, how can we avenge Huqiu Village?"

Li Xiaofan gnawed on a chicken foot and mumbled, "I'll follow Brother Xiao Yun. Wherever Brother Xiao Yun goes, I'll go. By the way, do you think there are really dragons in Fallen Dragon Valley? Ghosts of dragons? I really want to see... If Brother Xiao Yun goes, I'll go too..."

Hu Buping's eyes darted around. "Me too."

Qingqiu Yue diligently dealt with the chicken in front of him, wagging his tail to show his agreement.

"Then, should we go take a look at Dragon Burial Mound?" Hu Buping asked excitedly.

Su Yun thought for a moment. "Beyond the cliff is Dragon Burial Mound, and behind Dragon Burial Mound is Fallen Dragon Valley. Everything else is fine, but the cliff is impossible to climb. Only birds can fly over it. However, we have this rope, so we might be able to cross the cliff..."

The four foxes' eyes lit up.

Not long after, Su Yun and the four foxes passed by Linyi Village again. Linyi Village had suffered heavy casualties in the battle at Snake Ravine, and this time they didn't mock them. Many Paoxiao hid in their treehouses to recuperate.

Outside Linyi Village, they turned and walked a few more miles along the mountain road before arriving at Niu Family Village. From afar, they saw an old black bull sitting on its hindquarters, one foreleg pressing down grass and bringing it to a chopping machine, while the other foreleg lifted the chopper to cut grass for itself.

In Niu Family Village, more than a dozen houses had white banners hanging in front, holding funerals. A group of graceful Cat Demons had set up a stage and had been blowing trumpets and suonas all night with puffed cheeks.

Several Bull Demons below the stage were heckling, demanding to hear "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix."

"Scared of you? This grandma can blow from when you were born until your whole family is buried!" the leading Cat Demon elder said fiercely.

The "people" of Niu Family Village had terrible tempers, and so many Bull Demons had died. The Cat Demons also had bad tempers. Su Yun and Flower Fox wisely took a detour.

"The name 'The Whole Village Eats' is too fitting."

Hu Buping muttered, "These Cat Demons specialize in the business of 'The Whole Village Eats'; they could get rich..."

Everyone listened, their hearts pounding, fearing that the gossipy fox's words would anger Niu Family Village and Mao Family Village. Fortunately, the loud suona and trumpet music from Niu Family Village masked their whispers.

They bypassed Niu Family Village and walked a few more miles before reaching a cliff.

This cliff was not the one at Snake Ravine, but the second cliff behind Snake Ravine. It was extremely steep, and crossing it would lead to the Dragon Burial Mound.

However, among the nearby villages, only the villagers of Linyi Village had been to the Dragon Burial Mound; no other "people" had.

Su Yun and the others arrived at the foot of the cliff. The four foxes nervously looked around. Flower Fox said, "No one around!"

Su Yun took out the Immortal Rope, held the head of the rope, and threw it into the sky. The rope whizzed upwards.

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