Events from Months Ago

The black goat had been disposed of with exceptional cleanliness, leaving nothing behind. This locust tree forest was like an abyssal maw, insatiably greedy—not a single drop of blood, not a single strand of hair could escape being devoured cleanly.

Old Yang had seen much of the world, and since he confirmed that this place would leave no lingering trouble, naturally no one else could argue.

Yet none of the crowd could muster any joy.

The locust tree forest, which had never shown any change, had clearly grown stronger.

To enter or leave the village, one had to go either through Cècè's side or through the locust tree forest.

Yu Ziqing had been meaning to ask—though the village was surrounded on all sides by mountains, sealed within, given the physical fitness of the villagers, climbing over them shouldn't have been particularly difficult.

Why, then, did everyone, including outsiders coming and going, have to use this single path?

But having seen so many strange things and learned of so many bizarre occurrences, Yu Ziqing no longer wanted to ask.

If they didn't go that way, there was a reason for it. Since everyone said this was the only entrance and exit, then it was.

The group stood there watching for a while. Seeing the locust tree forest grow quiet again, the swirling eerie wind dissipating, they prepared to leave.

Yu Ziqing had already turned around, but the Village Chief was still gazing at the locust tree forest, speaking as if to himself.

"There were always some locust trees here, just not this many."

Yu Ziqing stopped and walked back to the Village Chief's side.

He had never asked about the locust tree forest, nor about Cècè. No one in the village ever discussed these things privately. Back when he was still an outsider, he couldn't pry. Now that the Village Chief treated him as one of his own and even intended to let him take the reins, there was no need to ask.

If the Village Chief felt it was time to speak, he would tell him.

And that time was now.

Yu Ziqing said nothing, standing there quietly waiting. The Village Chief's eyes held a trace of nostalgia.

"Back when the weather wasn't so harsh, small wild beasts would often wander in from outside. And there were some locust trees here too. Every year, before the heat set in, they'd bloom with clusters of white locust flowers.

The villagers would even pick those flowers to celebrate—because hardly anything else could grow in this village, and this was one of the few edible things we had.

But this year, those locust trees never bloomed white again. Where there were once only a dozen or so, now this forest has no other trees left—only locust trees.

Everything that enters this forest vanishes. We can no longer eat the locust flowers we once had every year.

And to this day, we still don't know why this change happened."

As he spoke, the Village Chief glanced to the right, his expression growing even more complicated.

"When you came in, you took that path, didn't you? You must have seen her."

"Mm." Yu Ziqing nodded.

"I knew that if you could get in, it couldn't have been through the locust tree forest. And the fact that you could walk in from her side already told me you carried no malice and weren't a Shepherd. No Shepherd could walk in alive from her side."

Yu Ziqing glanced toward Cècè's Abyss of Despair and suddenly understood why, when he first entered, the Village Chief had asked nothing, let him settle in without a word, shown no suspicion, and had been kind from start to finish.

"A few months ago, something happened out in the outside world—no one knows what. Waves of refugees kept pouring into the village.

There were also animals that were natural enemies of each other, even demon beasts. They all acted like they'd gone mad, not attacking one another, just fleeing. Some even charged into the village.

If it had only been that, it might not have been so bad.

But among those refugees, some weren't starving poor folk at all. All sorts of people showed up, and the village fell into chaos.

Some people just passed through, trying to keep running, but within two days, they'd all come back to the village. The crowd kept growing.

I put down the chaos decisively. I killed quite a few people, including cultivators. But I never expected disaster to strike again.

One night, an earth-shaking tremor collapsed the mine tunnels. Many died—among them, key pillars of the village. Er Han's brother was among the dead.

If it had only been the mine tunnels caving in, that might have been bearable. But the cavern where the Jinlan Mushrooms grew also collapsed."

The Village Chief slowly closed his eyes, his breathing turning ragged.

Yu Ziqing quickly stepped forward to support him, but the Village Chief pulled his hand away and shook his head.

"I'm fine."

"Back then, all our food came from the Jinlan Mushrooms, and they had to be fresh.

I led people to dig again. When we finally dug down, we found that the original cavern had become an Abyss Rift. All the Jinlan Mushrooms were gone.

We ran out of food.

Some people tried to flee. Within a day of escaping, those who fled later found them all dead outside.

Frozen to death. Killed. All of them dead.

They came back to the village, hoping to find food again, to endure the winter until spring came.

But there was nothing left.

The underground river had changed course. The riverbed dried up. The insects that used to gather along the banks vanished. In less than ten days, of all living things, only one kind remained."

The Village Chief opened his eyes, a sharp, cold light shooting from them. His tone carried killing intent, fury beginning to erupt—but within that rage was a deep, profound helplessness.

"By the time I caught the first person secretly eating White Meat, it was already too late.

People driven mad by hunger were no longer human. They'd lost their reason, lost everything—only thinking of taking one bite, of surviving.

It spread like a plague. In just one day, it infected everyone. Masses of people lost their minds, slaughtering, devouring. In a single day, over a hundred died."

The air was thick with madness and the stench of blood. We tried to control it, but we couldn't—because those of us still sane had already starved to death by more than half, and the ones left didn't even have the strength to speak, just lying in our dugouts waiting to die.

Watching those madmen drag people out of the dugouts, all we could do was watch, without even the strength to shout."

Yu Ziqing's breathing slowed. Just listening felt hopeless. How hopeless must those people have felt back then?

On one side were those clinging to life by a thread, on the verge of breathing their last; on the other were the cannibals, frenzied and full of strength.

"What happened next?"

"Next, enough of those who would rather die than take a single bite had starved to death.

For some reason, they all turned into Starvation Ghosts, never to be hungry again.

They came back for the ones who had eaten them, to take revenge."

The Village Chief laughed, a bitter laugh, his face full of sorrow.

"More and more Starvation Ghosts appeared. They fought without rest, battling the cannibals for an entire day, killing every last one of them.

We were already waiting to die. To see all those cannibals dead before we went was at least a small comfort.

Who would have thought those Starvation Ghosts wouldn't attack us at all? They dug open tunnels downward with their bare hands, found a new underground river, and gave us water.

They dug up new places where Jinlan Mushrooms grew, fed them to us, and kept us alive.

Before hunger could drive us mad, they all left the village, burrowed into the underground, and vanished without a trace.

From their appearance to their disappearance, it only took three days. By the time we recovered enough strength to stand, the village had become what it is now."

As he spoke, the Village Chief suddenly took a step forward, into Cècè's Abyss of Despair.

Yu Ziqing was startled and tried to grab him, but the Village Chief had already vanished. He glanced at Er Han, who was sniffling and holding back tears, showing no reaction, then took a step himself and entered the Abyss of Despair.

The Village Chief stood there, looking at Cècè in the Abyss of Despair, his eyes full of pain.

"She was a good child, very strong. She fled to the village alone with her child, never falling behind anyone in anything. Most importantly, she brought a child to the village.

When I realized the chaos was spreading like a plague, I told her to run, to flee—at least there was a sliver of hope to survive. Otherwise, she and her child would have been the first to fall to those monsters.

But I never expected that by the time everything in the village was over, I'd learn she hadn't escaped either. Instead, she's been trapped here even after death.

She didn't stop the villagers, didn't harm them. But later, when outsiders came seeking refuge, those with ill intentions were all blocked by her.

Young Master Yu, I want to ask you for a favor, is that alright?"

With that, the Village Chief began to bow.

Yu Ziqing was shocked and quickly supported him.

"Village Chief, what are you doing? We're all family, eating from the same pot. There's no need for favors—are you treating me like an outsider?"

The Village Chief shook his head, stubbornly insisting on bowing.

"This is different. What I want to ask isn't for me, nor for the village.

I want to ask you, if you ever have the ability in the future, could you see if there's a way to save her, to set her free?

I'm not forcing you to succeed—just that you keep this matter in mind."

With the Village Chief putting it that way, what else could Yu Ziqing say?

"Village Chief, don't be stubborn. Get up. I promise I'll remember this and find a way later."

The Village Chief glanced once more at Cècè dropping the swaddled baby off the cliff, closed his eyes in pain, turned, and stepped out of the Abyss of Despair without any hindrance.

Yu Ziqing considered himself not particularly kind, with a fairly hard heart, but even though this wasn't his first time seeing it, he couldn't bear to watch that scene again.

He understood how much a child meant to a village.

He also understood why, after he had wasted most of the Jinlan Mushroom's value as a Spiritual Medicine, leaving it only fit to fill stomachs, the villagers—including the Village Chief—still held him in high regard.

The food they could produce and store meant far more to the village than he had ever imagined, a magnitude he might never truly grasp.

"Don't worry, there will be a chance later." Yu Ziqing gazed at Cècè on the hillside from afar, murmured to himself, then turned and left the Abyss of Despair. This time, he too felt no resistance at all.