Seven Valleys Town

Two days earlier, Seven Valleys Town.

The rain fell without end. The waning moon, veiled by the heavens, slowly sank. Dawn was about to break.

The town was dark, damp, cold, and dilapidated. Fewer than a thousand households still showed any sign of life.

Just a month ago, Seven Valleys Town had been a major town with over a hundred thousand people.

"Th-the twenty-third day..." Wan Kuo lay on the bed, groaning weakly.

He lay on a rotten wooden plank bed in this room.

After the dozen or so hardened coarse-grain buns left on the dining table,

People in the town had kept dying. There were barely any officials left either. It was not a plague, nor was it a man-made calamity. It was an unseen, untouchable Aberration.

The town mayor had long since vanished. There was only one steward left in town, struggling to keep things running normally.

There were fewer than ten constables left in the entire town, yet someone from the authorities came every day to check on Wan Kuo.

Seven Valleys Town seemed to have become an isolated dead zone. The residents had either died or fled.

Those who had survived until now had basically all shut their doors and windows before the sun set,

And thoroughly sealed the cracks in their homes with a kind of Evil-Repelling Liquid distributed by the town.

This was a method the town had only worked out after more than half a month. The number of deaths in town had decreased day by day, but the villages and towns around it were beyond saving.

Fortunately, Evil-Repelling Liquid was extremely cheap to make, and there was also a Buddha Master in town well versed in such matters, allowing them to keep up a daily supply.

The Buddha Master was someone who had seen grand scenes. He soothed the restless emotions of the few dozen households remaining in town.

The Buddha Master had experienced Aberrations before. He told the townsfolk that an Aberration of this level generally would not linger for long.

If it went some time without killing anyone, it would not last much longer. As long as everyone diligently kept up their defenses, they only needed to hold out for another month at most, and the Aberration would disperse on its own.

Working with the authorities, the Buddha Master had placed an incense burner in an open area at the center of town. Before nightfall each day, they would light a stick of evil-repelling incense.

If the incense had not vanished by the next day, it meant the Aberration could no longer hold on. If the incense was still burning in the morning, it meant the Aberration had completely disappeared.

Wan Kuo sat up, grabbed a bun from the table, dipped it in water, and slowly chewed.

"What bitter days these are." Wan Kuo let out a heavy sigh.

Three years ago, he had come to settle in Seven Valleys Town, making a living as a day laborer doing hard manual work.

The lease on this broken house in the slums had originally expired last month. But when the Aberration broke out, no one even knew whether the landlord was still alive, so Wan Kuo got to stay for free.

His water was nearly gone. Wan Kuo drew a bucket of water in the courtyard, then hurried out to collect his Evil-Repelling Liquid.

The sky was dim and murky. The dark clouds above seemed frozen in place, hanging there for over a month. Even in daylight, only a faint glimmer was enough to tell one direction from another.

Evil-Repelling Liquid was distributed collectively in the morning. Those who came late would not have their share withheld, but they would still receive a scolding from the steward.

Everyone waited in the open space outside the yamen, discussing the recent situation among themselves.

No one came to bother Wan Kuo today. He quietly waited for the authorities to distribute the Evil-Repelling Liquid.

"Creak!" The doors slowly opened. Steward Zhou Xiangrong and the Buddha Master carried a small vat of Evil-Repelling Liquid before the crowd.

Zhou Xiangrong was no simple man either. In barely twenty-odd days, he had shouldered this great responsibility. The surviving residents of the town all thought highly of Steward Zhou.

"There is some danger in going out every day now. The sky seems to be getting darker and darker. I fear the Aberration may be able to harm people even during the day, so everyone should go out less often for the time being."

Steward Zhou paused, then continued:

"Buddha Master Ji and I stayed up all night brewing, and we finally managed to make this small vat of Evil-Repelling Liquid.

Each person will receive one small jar today, enough for roughly ten days. Please store it carefully and stay hidden in your homes.

Do not let there be any oversights and throw away your little lives.

In ten days, we will send someone to notify everyone to come collect more Evil-Repelling Liquid."

After everyone lined up and collected their Evil-Repelling Liquid, they each returned home.

Wan Kuo carried his jar of Evil-Repelling Liquid back toward his house, frowning.

Distributing so much Evil-Repelling Liquid all at once meant the Buddha Master must have noticed something.

Could the crisis truly be lifted safely in one month? Wan Kuo shook his head uneasily.

He had been out for over half an hour. The fire in the earthen stove had long since gone out.

That Buddha Master Ji seemed somewhat extraordinary.

"Eleven buns left. How am I supposed to endure for a month?" Wan Kuo sighed.

Most households still had some food stored away. If they made flour-based food to preserve, they could hold out for a month or two.

But Wan Kuo was different. He was poor as a church mouse and had stored nothing at all. With only a dozen or so buns left, even if he rationed them and ate two a day, he would not last many days.

"I should find some grain from an empty rich household."

Wan Kuo acted as soon as he thought of it, relying on his memory to find his way outside the home of a former wealthy family in town.

This had once been the home of one of the town's great landlords, Squire Wang's family. They owned half the fertile fields in Seven Valleys Town, several thousand mu in all.

Most of Wan Kuo's work had been odd jobs for Squire Wang's household.

Now, on the third day after the Aberration arrived, the family had moved away with their entire household. No one knew whether they had escaped the boundaries of the town.

If they had ridden out on fine horses at full gallop, there would have been no problem. Unfortunately, Squire Wang had dragged his whole family along.

They had put every horse cart and donkey cart to use, carrying dozens of enormous bundles when they left. Trying to get out of town like that would have been truly difficult.

Wan Kuo was not the first person to come to Squire Wang's home looking for a little extra income, and he certainly would not be the last.

Perhaps because the steward had just issued his warning, no one came here at this time. Besides, nearly a month had passed. Whatever could be found had probably already been emptied out.

Wan Kuo found a low wall and climbed over it, then made his way toward the house from memory.

Wan Kuo had once helped renovate one of Squire Wang's storage cellars, so he was more familiar with the Wang residence's layout than most people.

"Maybe no one found that cellar." Looking at the chaotic house, Wan Kuo tried to comfort himself.

Arriving at the room from his memory, Wan Kuo found the hidden compartment and pressed inward. A wooden board popped up.

Wan Kuo breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed no one had indeed found the cellar. He just did not know whether Squire Wang had taken everything away before leaving.

Wan Kuo found an oil lamp on the way, lit it, and entered the cellar.

The entire cellar was not large; he could take it all in at a glance.

"Looks like Squire Wang took almost everything with him."

Only two large wooden chests remained, sitting forlornly in a corner.

Wan Kuo walked over, picked up the hammer he had prepared, and smashed it hard against the lock on one chest, breaking it open.

The other wooden chest was secured with a large iron lock, making the small hammer in Wan Kuo's hand seem utterly powerless.

Wan Kuo opened the chest. Inside were only a book and a jade bottle.

"Hm? Li Huo Art... Could this be some immortal art?"

Wan Kuo nodded in satisfaction. "This trip was not in vain. Not in vain."