Chapter 25: It’s not a sin to look up at the sky

The bustling and lively Tianmen Town, which was just there, instantly transformed into a graveyard. The woman with the floral umbrella looked around, only to see desolate graves, and in addition, a dilapidated Tianmen and a house—Su Yun’s house!

This was the real Tianmen Town!

Tianmen Town had been destroyed in the disaster six years ago!

Later, envoys from Dongdu arrived to investigate the cause of the disaster, and they built tombs for the deceased of Tianmen Town.

“You are no match for that man named Qiu Shuijing.”

Qu Bo’s voice came: “Qiu Shuijing saw through the illusion of Tianmen Town. He let out a loud laugh, breaking the illusion, allowing sunlight to shine in. But you, you saw nothing.”

The woman with the floral umbrella stood in this desolate graveyard, genuinely feeling a chill in her heart. Hearing this, she turned her head to look at the gate, only to see that Qu Bo was no longer on Tianmen.

“The Tong family are not easily scared!”

The woman with the floral umbrella emboldened herself, shaking her floral umbrella, and saw Bi Fang divine birds flying out from it, circling around her.

She continued walking towards Su Yun’s house, her legs trembling slightly. On both sides were the graves of Tianmen Town residents; the desolate graves were silent, which could not but fill her with fear.

She was secretly on guard, muttering to herself, “Even if they are ghosts or spirits, their power is far less than when they were alive! My Tong family is a noble family, and our family studies and official studies are very profound…”

Finally, she arrived in front of Su Yun’s house. This was the only place with sunlight, and the only place where someone lived.

The woman with the floral umbrella reached out to push the wattle gate. Just then, she inadvertently saw that her hand had, at some unknown point, shed its flesh and blood, turning into white bone!

Not even a trace of skin or fingernails remained on her five fingers; her flesh and blood seemed to have been completely gnawed away by a swarm of ants!

She screamed, dropped the floral umbrella, and lifted her other palm—it was also white bone!

She pulled up her sleeve, and her arm was the same.

The woman quickly touched her face; there was no flesh or blood on her face. Her finger bones even poked into her eye sockets, and there was nothing in her eye sockets!

“This cursed place…”

She let out a sigh, and suddenly the beautiful skeleton shattered with a clatter, her bones crumbling into powder, and her clothes falling to the ground.

A cold wind blew, and her clothes, like paper turned to ash, scattered with the wind.

Her floral umbrella, and the Bi Fang divine birds flying in the air, also turned into specks of light and vanished.

As this cold wind blew, the desolate graves disappeared again, broken bricks and tiles floated up, broken pillars and beams reassembled, collapsed houses reformed, the buildings of Tianmen Town were renewed, and people came and went on the streets, living their usual lives.

This small town by the North Sea seemed to still exist in the world.

However, when the wind from the North Sea blew over the sea, Tianmen Town seemed like a mirage in the mist, trembling with the sea breeze, as if it was about to be blown away and dispersed by the wind.

The residents in Tianmen Town also trembled with the wind like figures in a painting, giving a very unreal feeling.

Su Yun and the four little foxes were unaware of what was happening in Tianmen Town. It was already noon when they got up. Hua Hu and Hu Buping went to catch a few wild chickens, while Qingqiu Yue and Li Xiaofan went to steal some vegetables from Niujiazhuang’s vegetable garden.

Those ox demons loved to grow vegetables.

Su Yun cooked at home, baking a few wild chickens golden brown with coarse salt, then braising dried sea fish, stewing eggplant, steaming rice, and stir-frying the green vegetables they stole. The five of them—one person and four foxes—sat down to eat.

“We’re out of soy sauce at home, we need to buy some at the market.”

Su Yun said while eating, “My clothes got torn a few days ago when I fought with Senior Brother, so I need to buy a few coarse cloth clothes. Also, Second Brother, if you want to go to the city in the future, you’ll need to buy some clothes too.”

At the dinner table, Hua Hu said nothing, silently gnawing on the salt-baked chicken. Hu Buping, however, couldn’t help but look up and say, “Brother Xiaoyun, why do we have to go to the city? Can’t we not go?”

“No.”

Su Yun’s expression darkened slightly: “Going to the city allows us to receive a better education and learn better cultivation techniques.”

Hu Buping asked, puzzled, “But we can live very well in the countryside. There’s food and drink here, and friends. We can live here. Why go to the city? After going to the city, can we still be as carefree as we are now?”

Qingqiu Yue and Li Xiaofan also stopped eating chicken, silently watching Su Yun.

Su Yun put down his bowl and chopsticks, remained silent for a moment, and then said, “Then die like Mr. Wild Fox? Or be silently erased like Huqiu Village, without even knowing who your enemies are? Or like the whole village eating, cultivating painstakingly to become a flood dragon only to be captured and used as a mount?”

He said bitterly, “Or do you want to be like me, just because you looked up at the sky, you became blind because of it?”

Hu Buping opened his mouth, but said nothing more.

“I want to learn more, I want to control my own destiny, I want to climb higher, to live a better life for myself and for my relatives and friends.”

Su Yun pursed his thin lips: “I don’t want to die like Mr. Wild Fox, nor do I want to be casually erased like Huqiu Village with just an excuse. I don’t want my descendants to live this kind of life like me in the future! Looking up at the sky is not a sin!”

“I want to seek justice for myself, for Tianmen Town, for Mr. Wild Fox and Huqiu Village. I don’t want to live an ordinary life!”

Although he couldn’t see, he accurately picked up a piece of sea fish and put it in his bowl: “And to achieve these things, we must go to the city, we must study, learn more skills, and learn better skills!”

“Xiaoyun is right.”

Hua Hu put down the mostly gnawed salt-baked chicken and said in a deep voice, “We’ll go to the city with you. If we don’t go to the city, how can we avenge Huqiu Village?”

Li Xiaofan, gnawing on a chicken claw, said in a muffled voice, “I’ll follow Brother Xiaoyun. Wherever Brother Xiaoyun goes, I’ll go. By the way, do you think there’s really a dragon in the Fallen Dragon Valley? A dragon that became a ghost? I really want to see it… If Brother Xiaoyun goes, I’ll go too…”

Hu Buping’s eyes darted around: “Me too.”

Qingqiu Yue diligently dealt with the chicken in front of her, wagging her tail to show agreement.

“So, shall we go to the Dragon Burial Mound to take a look?” Hu Buping said excitedly.

Su Yun thought for a moment and said, “Beyond the mountain behind the cliff is the Dragon Burial Mound, and behind the Dragon Burial Mound is the Fallen Dragon Valley. Everything else is fine, but the cliff simply cannot be climbed; only birds can fly over it. However, with this rope, we can cross the cliff…”

The four foxes’ eyes lit up.

Soon after, Su Yun and the four foxes passed through Linyi Village again. Linyi Village had suffered heavy casualties in the battle at Snake Ravine, so this time they didn’t mock them. Many Paoxiao were hiding in treehouses, recuperating.

Outside Linyi Village, they turned and walked a few more miles along the mountain road before arriving at Niujiazhuang. From a distance, they saw an old black ox sitting on its rear, one front hoof pressing down on grass, sending it under the chopper, while the other front hoof lifted the chopper to chop grass for itself to eat.

In Niujiazhuang, more than a dozen households had white banners hanging in front of their doors, holding funerals. A group of graceful cat demons had set up a stage, puffing out their cheeks and blowing trumpets and suonas all night long on the stage.

Several ox demons cheered below the stage, asking to hear “A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix.”

“Afraid of you? Your grandma can blow from your birth until your whole family’s funeral!” The leading cat demon sister was very tough.

The “people” of Niujiazhuang had very bad tempers, and so many ox demons had died, and the cat demons also had bad tempers. Su Yun and Hua Hu wisely took a detour.

“The name ‘Whole Village Eats’ is so fitting.”

Hu Buping mumbled, “These cat demons specialize in the ‘whole village eats’ business; they can get rich…”

Everyone listened with trepidation, fearing that this garrulous fox’s words would anger Niujiazhuang and Maojiatun, but fortunately, the sound of trumpets and suonas from Niujiazhuang was too loud, covering it up.

They bypassed Niujiazhuang and walked a few more miles before arriving at the cliff.

This cliff was not the Snake Ravine cliff, but the second cliff behind Snake Ravine. It was extremely steep, and crossing it would lead to the Dragon Burial Mound.

However, among the nearby villages, only the villagers of Linyi Village had been to the Dragon Burial Mound; no other “people” had ever been there.

Su Yun and the others arrived at the base of the cliff. The four foxes nervously looked around. Hua Hu said, “No one around!”

Su Yun took out the Immortal Rope, held the end of the rope, and tossed it into the sky. The rope shot up into the sky with a whooshing sound.

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