Immortal Travel of Longevity

The wailing across the entire city continued deep into the night.

The place was in utter chaos. In the pitch-black night, countless households suffered, and who knew how many were running for their lives just for a single bite of food.

The courtyard door was smashed open.

A loud bang jolted Chen Changsheng awake.

He saw a boy gripping a hoe.

He was alone. He was shaking all over when he burst in, but he seemed to steady himself in an instant. There was no murderous intent in his eyes, only a ruthless desperation.

By the moonlight, Chen Changsheng got a clear look at the boy.

The boy saw him clearly as well and demanded, "Hand over anything you have that can be eaten! Hurry up! Or else I'll..."

The boy gestured with the hoe in his hand.

The boy faltered for a moment, then steeled himself. He stepped forward and swung the hoe, striking the stone table with a sharp clack.

"Hurry up!" the boy roared.

Chen Changsheng sat up straight, reached into his clothes, and produced a few pieces of Broken Silver. "Do you want silver taels?" he asked.

Seeing this, the boy said, "I don't want silver, I want food! I want rice and flour!"

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "I don't have any."

"Don't lie to me!"

The boy glared at Chen Changsheng, then began to ransack the courtyard.

He searched for a long time, turning almost the entire courtyard upside down.

But he found absolutely nothing.

There was no food whatsoever.

Finally, the boy's gaze landed on a tree in the courtyard.

The boy cast a wary glance at Chen Changsheng, but saw he wasn't moving.

So he cautiously walked over to the tree, pulled a stone knife out of his shirt, and crouched down to do who knew what.

Chen Changsheng frowned slightly. "What are you doing?"

The boy jumped in fright and hurriedly raised the hoe in defense. Looking back, he saw Chen Changsheng was still lying comfortably in his chair, not having moved an inch. Only then did his mind finally ease.

He didn't answer Chen Changsheng, merely continuing to work away with the stone knife.

By the moonlight, Chen Changsheng saw clearly what the boy was doing.

He was cutting tree bark.

Indeed.

Just cutting tree bark.

It didn't seem to be the boy's first time doing this. In fact, his technique was particularly practiced, and he quickly peeled a strip of bark off.

Chen Changsheng did not stop him; he just watched quietly.

After cutting the bark, the boy rolled it up and hid it inside his shirt, tucking it in tightly, terrified that it might show or fall out.

The boy picked up his hoe, seemingly intending to leave.

He glanced back at the man lying in the chair. He seemed to want to say something, but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.

He left without looking back.

Chen Changsheng watched as the boy walked away.

Qingshan City had deteriorated to such a state. Breaking into someone else's courtyard for a bite of food, finding nothing, and leaving with only a piece of tree bark.

Protecting it so carefully, as if it were incredibly precious.

Chen Changsheng snapped out of his daze. He walked over and closed the door.

Lying back in the chair, he stared up at the night sky.

The moonlight pierced through layers of haze to sprinkle over the Mortal World. It was not fog, but smoke and dust—the smoke lit by the commoners when the locusts passed through. Now, the entirety of Qingshan City smelled of smoke that lingered and refused to disperse.

It obscured the starlight, and tried to obscure the moonlight as well.

This chaotic night passed in the blink of an eye.

When morning came on the second day, there was no longer much wailing in the streets.

But there were people lying at the edge of the street, on the verge of death.

They relied on drinking water to stave off hunger. Their faces were pale, and they were so starved they were completely disoriented.

Chen Changsheng looked around. The miserable state of this place looked exactly like Water's End City had back then.

Some people, however, had already stopped breathing completely; it was impossible to tell whether they had starved to death or been beaten to death.

Chen Changsheng walked toward the tea house.

Halfway there, however, he spotted a figure on the ground.

The person was lying face-down by the street. Blood trickled from his mouth, and his skin was deathly pale. It seemed he had been dead for some time.

Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then walked over and turned the body over.

The face was identical to that of the boy under the moonlight.

Chen Changsheng stared at the corpse before him, lost in a daze for a long time...

The boy's hoe was nowhere to be seen, nor was the piece of tree bark hidden in his shirt.

He was dead.

In just a single night, a living person had met a violent end on the street.

Chen Changsheng recovered his wits and looked to the side, where another person lay dying.

Chen Changsheng stepped forward and asked, "What happened here last night?"

The man no longer had the strength to speak.

Chen Changsheng reached out and tapped lightly on the spot between his eyebrows.

The dying man paused, as if suddenly gaining some strength. He swallowed hard and said, "I think they were fighting over a piece of tree bark. That person, alive and breathing, was beaten to death just like that."

Chen Changsheng froze upon hearing this.

He slowly stood up, unable to believe what he had just heard.

A person was beaten to death over a piece of tree bark!

What kind of world was this?

What kind of logic was this?

Chen Changsheng muttered, "Is there really nothing left to eat? A piece of tree bark... how could it be worth beating someone to death?"

The man said, "My lord, the trees outside the city have all been scraped clean. What else is there to eat? This locust plague is going to claim everyone's life, my lord."

Chen Changsheng fell silent.

He looked at the devastated street. It was no longer the way it used to be.

"A natural disaster... is it truly a natural disaster..."

Chen Changsheng murmured as he walked out of Qingshan City.

He traveled all the way outside the city, arriving at the Daoist temple on the mountain.

Now, not a single blade of grass or leaf could be seen at Qingxian Temple either. Everything had been completely devoured by the locusts.

Even though these Daoists possessed superhuman abilities, they were still overwhelmed by such a massive swarm of locusts.

The temple was a miserable sight, and disciples had already begun leaving one after another.

Chen Changsheng went to see the abbot of Qingxian Temple.

Times had changed, and the abbot of Qingxian Temple had once again been replaced.

This abbot's Daoist name was Wulei. He was a direct disciple of True Man Zhixuan, had considerable attainments in Thunder Art, and possessed deep Dao Cultivation despite his young age.

True Man Wulei was taken aback after hearing this. "Fellow Daoist, you want to use my Qingxian Temple as an array eye?"

Chen Changsheng said, "Yuanchuan is a land embraced by mountains, and it sits right in the midst of the Mortal World. It is the most suitable location for an array eye."

True Man Wulei was momentarily stunned, but then a sudden tingling washed over his scalp as he cautiously asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you planning to lay down a Mortal World grand array to drive away the insect plague?!"

Chen Changsheng said, "I hope you will allow me to borrow your treasured land."

True Man Wulei was stunned for a moment, but then said, "If Fellow Daoist wishes to lay down such a massive array, just this Northern Domain of Great Jing might not be enough to form it. I'm afraid you will also need to make a trip to Hongyuan Tianxia."

"I suppose I will have to make a trip there."

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