Chapter 50 - Seeing the Light Again
This was a strange space glittering with hazy white light, and it was similar to the marble white color of the dawn sky that the common people would see from the east; waves of mist curled and lingered around this area.
What kind of place was this? No one from Stone Village knew as they all stared blankly. How could they have suddenly left those desolate lands and from that mountain range?
The little guy looked left and right within the hazy mists, and what seemed like a chaotic world loomed outside of Stone Village. There was a desolate yet ancient aura colliding against him as he walked forward; it was quite easy for a person to get lost.
The thick willow tree was ingrained at the entrance of the village. The scorched black bark of the old willow was split open, and its single branch no longer seemed tender and alluring; it only emitted a dim light.
What the villagers saw in front of them made them frightened. A beast flood ran through the endless mountain ranges and they suddenly detached themselves from the mountain grounds. Where did they end up? Everyone stood in front of the willow tree and piously prayed.
“Willow Deity used its supreme technique to help us avoid disaster.” Chief Shi Yunfeng said. With such major events unfolding, he was naturally alarmed and came out in advance.
Where they were wasn’t important. The most important thing was that they were all alive.
“Don’t get flustered. We prepared enough jerky, nuts, grain and enough dried vegetables to last several months.” A village elder said.
“That’s right. As long as we wait patiently under the protection of the Willow Deity, we won’t face any problems.” Shi Linghu added.
After several authoritative members of the village spoke, everyone began to calm down and no longer worried. Everyone started to handle their own affairs, such as grinding dried vegetables and taking the dried jerky off of the rooftops.
In a flash, two months passed by and the little guy became four years old. His soft hair reached his shoulders and his divine black jewel-like eyes shone even brighter and lovelier. Although he looked like a little white baby, he had extraordinary strength. He became the number one expert of Stone Village, and he was able to leap thirty to forty meters away instantly.
“Little guy, why are you lost in thought again? Were you drinking milk again? Quick! Come here. There’s a bowl here.”
He held both his knees as he sat below the willow tree. The little guy who was in a daze heard what was said and quickly stood up. His large eyes swiveled as he shouted “Where? Where?”
“Haha…. you actually were thinking about milk. We can’t leave right now, so without the taste of milk in your mouth, you’re being smothered now right?” A group of larger kids all started laughing.
The little guy was greatly embarrassed as he explained “What… I’m just asking around a bit.”
The group of kids broke out into a huge laughter. The nasally kid had a rotten idea and whispered, “A little child was just born into uncle Linghu’s family. Little guy… if you truly want it…”
“Go away!” The little guy hastily stopped him in the middle of his sentence as he stared at the nasally kid. The nasally kid was just a few months older than he was, yet had so many evil tricks up his sleeves.
“A gentleman uses his mouth and not his fists.” The nasally kid wiped off his mucus and quickly backed off.
Kacha!
Suddenly, the sky split open and a ray of sunlight shone upon them, dispersing the ashen mist around them. The entire space instantly brightened up.
“Ya, It’s daylight again!” A group of kids shouted loudly and all of them let out a pleasantly surprised expression.
The adults were alarmed as well, and they all stood up while gazing towards the sky in excitement. They were trapped for over two months, and their bodies were beginning to get rusty.
Kacha!
Like a jade vase cracking apart, the area violently shook. Then, with unceasing flickering and a final weng sound, the hazy ashen mist completely dissipated. The chaotic world was no longer visible as sunlight finally shined down.
The sun was suspended in the sky. Although it was rather glaring, everyone was still very excited. They kept gazing towards it as they cheered. They finally escaped from that prison and arrived on the great earth again.
A group of children were unable to wait any longer. They loudly cried as they rushed out of the village. They greedily breathed in the smell of plants and fresh air as they jumped up and down.
“Yi, something’s wrong. This isn’t the forest outside of our village.” Er Meng was stunned. What was in front of him right now was completely different from what he had experienced as a child.
A river flowed past the front of the village and large fish leapt out from within. Their golden fish scales flickered splendidly as they stirred up ripples in the river. Not far from their location was a clear and dark blue lake. A few beautiful bright-winged birds were leisurely pacing back and forth. Each of them were over two meters long as multicolored light surrounded them. Lastly, there was a group of unicorns flickering in silver while drinking from the side of the lake.
“What a beautiful scenery!” The group of children were shocked as they stared in amazement.
The adults were all dumbstruck as well. When they broke out from within the strange space, what was in front of their eyes wasn’t the forest they were familiar with for over ten years, but a completely different one. They were surprised that they arrived at such a beautiful place.
Jiu Jiu….
Zi Yun, Da Peng and Xiao Qing rushed out in excitement. They were salivating at the sight of the big fish in the river. Currently, their body lengths were 3.5 meters long. For the past two to three months, their growth rate had finally slowed down.
The Green Scaled Eagle appeared and flapped its enormous silver wings. Waves crashed against the shore and seven to eight big golden scaled fish flopped up and down on the shore. Each of them weighed over ten jin, but what was most mystical about them was that at the side of their mouths were two sparkling dragon whiskers, and they emitted a sweet smell.
The three hatchlings cheerfully rushed up to enjoy their delicious food.
Shi Yunfeng was shocked and quickly followed. He held a big fish and turned it over and around several times and alarming said “It’s actually a genuine Dragon Whiskered Fish? A really high quality one at that. This certainly is valuable stuff. They contain plenty of spiritual essence, so if we eat them for a long time, our strength will increase and our bones and muscles will grow strong as well. It will greatly benefit our children!”
A group of children heard everything and immediately shouted as they charged towards the river shore.
Fish that contained such abundant spiritual essence was quite rare and very costly in the outside world. Now, there were enough of them within this lake to sustain the village for a long time.
“Chief, look, isn’t that flock of large birds beside the lake made of Five-Colored Chickens?” Er Meng’s father was a bit emotional as he pointed ahead. He once met one from very far away in mountains, but he wasn’t able to catch it.
“Looks like…. it actually is!” Shi Yunfeng stared with his eyes wide open, and he also became emotional as soon as he saw them.
Five-Colored Chickens had very gorgeous feathers. Their appearances were close to a Luan [1. Luan is a type of phoenix.], and were all over two meters long. They could be made into a type of rare bone-repairing medicine.
The Five-Colored Chicken was a divine medicine. If one fell and broke their bones or injured their muscles and ate a cauldron-full of Five-Colored Chicken as well as drank its soup afterwards, their broken bones would be repaired.
Shi Yunfeng turned around and carefully warned, “There are a lot of them living here, don’t rush out indiscriminately and kill them as you wish. I’ll support you guys if we need its medicine. We can’t startle them, as we need them to stay by this lake all year round.”
A group of able-bodied men all nodded in agreement because their gazes were not on the Five-Colored Chickens. Their state of mind weren’t clear, and they were actually all staring toward the Unicorns on the other side. Those precious silvery mounts made their hearts beat in excitement.
After living for such a long time in the middle of the mountains, all the strong males wanted a mount that could run ten thousand li a day. This was the males’ dreams and wishes.
Unicorns were mutated from Scaled Horses. They were extremely rare, yet there was an entire herd of them present. There wasn’t any less than fifty to sixty of them, and it naturally made a bunch of old men’s eyes turn red. They all knew however, that these were hard to deal with vicious beasts as well.
“Slowly, we will catch a few sooner or later. Don’t startle them. So long as they live year round in this beautiful land, they will eventually be ours!” Shi Feijiao whispered.
The scenery outside the village changed greatly. After their initial shock, none of the villagers were frustrated anymore because this place was just too wonderful. They were surrounded by many rare and intelligent creatures in this beautiful and precious land.
The little guy was stupidly lost in his thoughts. After seeing the Golden Scaled Dragon Whiskered Fish in the middle of the lake and those Unicorns on the shore, he became distracted as well. He muttered to himself “I’ve seen this place before. A large lake, and birds more beautiful and larger than these little Luan being hunted by an aristocratic tribe.”
Seeing him like this, Chief Shi Yunfeng’s wrinkled face trembled. Even Shi Linghu, Shi Feijiao and the others’ expressions changed as they looked away from those Unicorns.
“Father, mother, I miss you.” The little guy said in a saddened voice as he sat by the lake despondently while embracing his knees.
Shi Linghu, Shi Feijiao and the others looked at each other without saying much.
“Grandpa Chief, are they still on this earth or not? I miss them!” The little guy suddenly raised his head with a watery mist in his eyes as he carefully asked. This was the first time that he was this direct.
Shi Yunfeng remembered all kinds of things about the past and his heart suddenly became complex. He squatted down and rubbed the little guy’s head with affection, but he did not know what to say.
Suddenly, a splendid scarlet electricity streaked across the sky. It immediately dyed the entire sky red like the sunset glow.
A sparkling blazing red sparrow, bright, red and alluring and only the size of a palm fell from the sky in front of the willow tree at the village entrance.
“Ya, Little Red!” The little guy immediately stood up and rushed over.
This sparrow’s entire body was scarlet red, but after falling down, all of its divine light had dimmed. Its scarlet feathers darkened and a terrifying wound cut across its chest, practically splitting it in half. Furthermore, there were a few claw marks on top of its head that practically penetrated into its skull.
This scarlet sparrow looked miserable, and its injuries were incredibly severe. Terrifying symbols flickered by its wounds, and they were still destroying its life force.
The little guy didn’t dare act prudently because after this red sparrow dropped from the sky, it immediately burned the entire ground like a frighteningly high-temperature furnace.
“Little Red, what happened to you?” The little guy quietly asked.
The only part of the sparrow that weren’t red was its two eyes as it layed on the ground, and they were distinctly black and white. They were like gems, and they blinked at the little guy with superiority. The extreme bitterness and anger it showed made the little guy scratch his head in embarrassment.