Human Calendar

Lin Shan leaned against the wall, waiting quietly.

He also wanted to see what crossing over actually looked like.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Suddenly, without any warning, someone appeared in the middle of the hall. It was a female student wearing a long dress and carrying a schoolbag. The instant she crossed over, she had yet to register what had happened, and her eyes were filled with bewilderment.

Then came ten people, fifty, a hundred...

In the blink of an eye, the hall was packed with people.

"Ah!" someone screamed.

"Where is this? Wasn't I playing games at home?" someone asked.

Others stayed silent, observing their surroundings.

"Everyone, calm down. If you want to know what happened, keep quiet first!" At that moment, someone spoke up, cutting through the crowd's noisy chatter.

The speaker was a middle-aged man in a green silk robe. Once the hall quieted down, he continued, "First, there's a fact you must know: you've crossed over. You've come from Earth to this unfamiliar world. Next, you'll learn everything you want to know."

"Nearly ten million people mysteriously disappeared worldwide... So they all crossed over..." someone murmured.

"Crossed over? Why did we cross over?"

"Can we still go back?"

"Dad, you crossed over too!"

"Yes, your mother's here too. Our whole family is here."

The crowd gradually grew noisy again.

"Quiet! All of you, shut the hell up!" the middle-aged man in the silk robe roared.

Pressure instantly spread through the hall. Every ordinary person felt their breathing grow labored, as though someone had seized their throat. At once, no one dared speak again. They all stared at the middle-aged man in terror.

Pseudo-Transcendent? Sensing the spiritual pressure, Lin Shan immediately judged that its strength had not reached true Transcendence.

"Someone will now explain the history of the Human Race in this world, and the arrangements for you. Listen carefully!"

After speaking, the middle-aged man nodded to the person beside him and stepped aside.

An elderly woman in coarse linen clothes stepped forward from beside him. Looking at the crowd, she said, "I won't discuss anything else, only the history of the Human Race in this world and the situation you're about to face. Let me warn you beforehand: you have no path of retreat, and neither does the Human Race. Like you, I was once born on Earth and enjoyed its prosperity... But now, everything is different."

The elderly woman adjusted her reading glasses and began slowly in a somewhat hoarse voice:

"At the beginning of year one of the Human Calendar, dozens of Human Race pioneers crossed over into a forest filled with purple othershore flowers. They suddenly encountered a Transcendent, and dozens of them spontaneously burned to death for no apparent reason, leaving only eleven survivors. Those eleven remaining pioneers received guidance and obtained the Human Race Clan Artifact within a Mysterious Palace. It remains the foundation of the Human Race's existence today... Afterward, the pioneers began making all kinds of attempts in this world. Books such as the Medical Canon, Curious Works, and Agricultural Book were first written during this period..."

"In the middle of year one of the Human Calendar, a pioneer named Lin Shan endured a thousand hardships in the ash fog and finally obtained the power of Transcendence... He then returned to the clan territory and led seven other pioneers toward Transcendence..."

"At the beginning of year two of the Human Calendar, the Human Race began arriving in large numbers. Under the instruction and leadership of three pioneers, the Human Race began building a new home in the Ash Fog World. That same year, the Cat Clan, which had been helping the Human Race all along, turned against us. War broke out between the Human Race and the Cat Clan. Countless humans died at the hands of the merciless Cat Clan, leaving nine homes out of ten empty... Afterward..."

"At the beginning of year two of the Human Calendar, seven Human Race pioneers successfully advanced to Transcendence and returned. They led the Human Race in resisting the Cat Clan, opening a battlefield along the border of the clan territory where fighting continues to this day..."

"At the beginning of year three of the Human Calendar, which is this year, the Human Race and the Cat Clan remain at war. According to the records, nearly 150,000 people crossed over into the clan territory over those two years, yet fewer than fifty thousand remain here! Nearly thirty thousand of them are on the front lines..."

"That is the history of the Human Race in this world. It is very short... Only three years. If you want a more detailed history, you can look through the Clan Artifact when you have the opportunity. Historical events are recorded there in detail..." the elderly woman concluded.

"What? Out of 150,000 people, fewer than fifty thousand are left after just two years!" someone exclaimed.

"I want to go back! I don't want to stay in this terrifying world! This Human Race and Cat Clan business has nothing to do with me. I'm from Huaxia on Earth!"

"A new world, a new history. The cards have all been reshuffled... Interesting. I never amounted to much on Earth. Coming here might be an opportunity..."

The crowd gradually grew noisy again.

"Quiet!" The rebuke rang through the entire hall, and everyone immediately felt that suffocating pressure again. This time, it was not the middle-aged man in green who had spoken, but the elderly woman who had seemed so frail a moment earlier.

Her sharp gaze swept across the crowd. Once the hall fell so silent that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard, she spoke again:

"You have no choice! This isn't Earth, and there are no laws to protect you. Every system we have now exists so the Human Race can continue surviving in this world!" As she spoke, she looked coldly at the crowd and said, "When necessary, anyone who undermines military morale can be executed on the spot!"

"Sigh..." Watching the scene, the middle-aged man sighed. "They've lived in comfort for so long that they've lost their fighting spirit."

"Not necessarily." A young man beside him smiled. "Weren't the people on the front lines all like this before they went? Would you still dare say they have no fighting spirit now? That spirit lies hidden in the heart of every person from Huaxia. It isn't talked into existence-it's carved out through killing!"

"To think that, as the ancestral territory, we should have developed the best, yet those beasts of the Cat Clan have reduced us to this..."

"Those at the top have already prepared for the worst. The Cat Clan has been harvesting our race's fortune all this time. We can't just let them keep raising us like livestock..."

"Mm..."

Seeing that the hall had quieted down again, the elderly woman continued:

"For unknown reasons, people cross over as family units. Under wartime regulations, every family must send one person to support the front lines. You'll depart in two days. This is the prerequisite for your family members to remain in the rear."

Before anyone could say much, the elderly woman waved a hand. "Go outside and register. You'll be assigned work according to your skills and specialties. Even staying in the rear won't mean a life of ease. Essential work must still be done. With industry so scarce, every aspect of production requires human labor."

Finally, she added:

"If there's anything you want to know, ask the people around you. They arrived earlier than you and know a little more."

After hearing the account of the Human Calendar, Lin Shan felt that something was wrong with this history. The Cat Clan's motives were far too strange. If they truly wanted to wipe out the Human Race, it should have been effortless given the number of Transcendents they had. Yet the Human Race had managed to hold on for two years.

"Lin Shan!" An exclamation reached his ears. "Someone reported that a very strange Red Lantern had appeared above the Clan Hall. I knew right away that you were back!"

Lin Shan turned to look at the newcomer, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

It was none other than Jin Tianzong.