On the surface of the Qing River, a large ship was cutting through the waves.
On the part of the hull that touched the water, there were many fin-like objects flipping up and down.
This was a Hundred-Fin Ship created by the Mo family’s mechanical arts, imitating the fins of fish to assist in swimming.
A dozen strong men were treading waterwheels in the bottom hold to propel these “fins,” accelerating the ship’s progress.
Of course, it would actually be faster without manpower. One only needed to place Dao Yuan Stones into the ship-traveling array plate carved by Mo family cultivators.
But obviously, using manpower was cheaper.
This large ship could carry two hundred people and was considered good in the entire Zhuang Kingdom’s waters. It originally belonged to the official government ships, but it also operated passenger and freight businesses.
Du Yehu was currently on this Hundred-Fin Ship.
Maple Forest City was located in the northeast of Zhuang Kingdom, and Jiujiang City was located in the west. Going to the Qing River first and then taking a boat via waterway was the most convenient.
Military control was quite strict. He finally had a long vacation. After getting on the ship, he drank a jar of strong liquor and fell asleep. Now he woke up to catch the river breeze.
It was already the cold of the twelfth lunar month, but because the Lunar New Year was approaching, the people on the ship were still very noisy.
At this time of year, the people on this ship were most likely travelers returning to the three city regions of Wangjiang, Maple Forest, and Three Mountains.
Du Yehu approached the crowd and listened quietly for a while, but did not find anyone with a Maple Forest City accent. He somewhat boringly curled his lips and turned back to the cabin alone.
Before long, he came out carrying large packages, and during the ship’s brief stop at the shore, he disembarked alone.
There was still a stretch of waterway to Wangjiang City from here, so he was the only one getting off the ship.
In such cold weather, the Qing River should be fine, but the Green Willow River was likely frozen.
Therefore, taking the land route from here should be more convenient.
These things were all told to him by the centurion in the army who claimed to have traveled all over the mountains and rivers of Zhuang Kingdom, and it was very useful.
The large packages were filled with gifts he had carefully prepared, including specialties from the Daishan region (the Jiujiang city region itself had no specialties other than fierce beasts), spoils from the battlefield, and some good things for the Jiujiang Black Armor (only the keywords were censored).
In short, Du Yehu dared to guarantee that it would definitely make those hicks overjoyed. His An’an sister would surely grab his big beard and smack him a few times.
With both hands full, he looked like a moving shelf from afar, but Du Yehu didn’t feel tired at all.
It had been many years. He had spent the Lunar New Year with Linghe, Jiang Wang, Fang Pengju, and Zhao Rucheng for several years.
He and Linghe had no families, Jiang Wang’s trip back to Fengxi Town was always a quick visit, Fang Pengju didn’t like staying in the clan, and Zhao Rucheng wasn’t much of a homebody either.
So the five of them were always together.
This year, Fang Pengju was missing, but there was an extra Jiang An’an.
Thinking of Jiang An’an’s cute little face, Du Yehu couldn’t help but grin.
His blood relatives were all gone, Jiang Wang and the others were his own brothers, and Jiang An’an was his own sister.
He desperately strived upwards in the Jiujiang Black Armor, thinking of showing off in front of his brothers and receiving his sister’s worshipful gaze.
When he left, he even made a bet with Jiang Wang on the cultivation speed of the Four Spirits Body Tempering Technique.
Now that he had taken the path of ancient military scholars’ Qi and blood to impact the meridians, and the Four Spirits Body Tempering Technique was complete, with the Four Spirits merging, it was time to let the third brother know who the older brother was.
Du Yehu moved forward quickly, the closer he got to home, the faster his steps became.
He strode quickly on the road, eager to return home.
“Stop!”
When he was still some distance from Maple Forest City, a squad of soldiers stopped him.
“What’s going on?” Du Yehu stopped and asked with dissatisfaction, revealing the Jiujiang Black Armor military badge on his waist.
The soldiers looked at each other, and the leader saluted and said, “Sir, you can’t go any further ahead.”
“Why?” Du Yehu immediately had a bad feeling in his heart.
The soldiers looked at the large packages on him and probably understood what he was here for, and couldn’t help showing expressions of sympathy.
“You probably left the camp early and happened to miss the notification.” The soldier said cautiously, “The evil cult White Bone Path is wreaking havoc here, sacrificing the entire Maple Forest City region to welcome the descent of an evil god. Although the plot was exposed by Dong A, the dean of the Maple Forest City Dao Academy, and even alarmed the state chancellor to personally come and exterminate the culprits, the entire Maple Forest City region has already fallen into the netherworld. No living person can enter again.”
Bang! Bang!
With Du Yehu’s strength, he couldn’t even hold onto the packages for a moment, and let the large packages fall to the ground.
“…What about the people in the city?” he asked tremblingly.
The soldier sighed, “They’re all gone…”
Crack!
Du Yehu was startled by the sound and came back to his senses, only to realize that he had inadvertently stepped into the ground, sinking several inches.
He pulled his foot out, and then heard a wailing sound from beside him.
“It’s gone, it’s all gone! Everything is gone!”
Du Yehu looked in the direction of the sound, and saw only a man with a package on his back crying on the ground, his voice already hoarse.
He cried for a while, and then stopped when he ran out of strength. After a while, he wailed again.
Judging from the looks of it, he should also be a villager returning to the Maple Forest City region. He was stopped on the way home.
“Dong A, Dong A! Dong A is our dean!” Du Yehu suddenly seemed to have grasped something and asked excitedly, “Since Dean Dong exposed the evil cult’s plot, the monks in the City Dao Academy should have all escaped, right?”
The soldier said apologetically, “Except for Dean Dong, including the instructors and students, none were spared.”
Du Yehu sat down on the ground, scratching his hair hard.
“No, it can’t be.”
He muttered to himself, lost and distraught.
“Aren’t you wise, Boss?”
“Aren’t you better at fighting than me, Third Brother?”
“Aren’t you smarter than me, Fifth Brother?”
“How can you all be gone? How can you all be gone?”
At the end of his mutterings, he shouted, “You three big men, how can you not even take care of An’an!”
“I don’t believe it.”
He mumbled for a long time, then suddenly stood up, gathered the gifts he had brought together, hugged them into a ball, and rushed towards the Maple Forest City region without looking back.
“Sir, you can’t go over there!”
The soldier reached out to stop him, but Du Yehu had already rushed far away in a few leaps.
“Let him go.” The soldier next to him sighed, “He can’t enter the netherworld, so it’s okay for him to take a look from afar.”
According to the memories of the soldiers who sealed off the periphery of the Maple Forest City region, the entire Maple Forest City region had been very silent since falling into the netherworld.
Only around the Lunar New Year that year, for some unknown reason.
There was a sound of sorrow like a trapped beast roaring, which lasted for three days.
The mountains were high and the road was far, and Jiang An’an slept and woke up on her brother’s back, and woke up and slept again.
They traveled during the day and cultivated at night, sometimes in mountain caves, sometimes in trees.
They ate in the wind and slept in the dew, and could only eat some wild fruits to fill their stomachs along the way.
But she was very sensible and never complained once.
She knew that her brother would only be more tired and work harder.
Several times she wanted to get down and walk by herself, but Jiang Wang simply wouldn’t allow it.
It was getting dark, and it was time to rest again.
Jiang An’an liked the night the most, not only because there were stars, but also because her brother could finally stop and talk to her.
After leaving the Maple Forest City region, her brother spoke much less.
According to previous experience, her brother should find a mountain cave, then light a bonfire and let her rest in his arms.
But tonight, Jiang Wang carried her all the way up the mountain, all the way to the top.
The wind was bitterly cold on the top of the mountain, freezing her little face red. Her body was fine, as she was wrapped in a very warm animal skin.
Jiang Wang put her down from his back and took her little hand.
The brother and sister looked around on the top of the mountain, only to see a few stars scattered, and the fields were peaceful. The distant mountains were hidden in the night, stretching out at their feet.
“Brother, what are we doing here?” Jiang An’an asked.
“Tonight is Lunar New Year’s Eve.”
Jiang Wang asked slowly, “An’an, do you want to see fireworks?”
“Yes!” Jiang An’an answered immediately, but quickly shook her head, “An’an doesn’t want to…”
She probably also knew that it wasn’t like when they were in Maple Forest City. Where could she find fireworks in the wilderness? She knew that no matter what she wanted, her brother would do his best for her, so she didn’t dare to ask for too much.
Jiang Wang squeezed her little hand and said in a hoarse voice, “Look.”
He let go of Jiang An’an and flicked his fingertip into the air.
A flame flower flew high and bloomed brilliantly.
His ten fingers moved in succession, and flame flowers rose and fell one after another, blooming in the night sky in sequence.
Exploding into a sky full of starlight.
Like stars in the sky, falling into stars on earth.
Every point of starlight was like a person who had passed away.
Although their bodies and souls were destroyed, their light would last forever.
This was the Lunar New Year’s Eve of the Dao Calendar 3917.
On the top of an unnamed high mountain, Jiang Wang set off fireworks for his sister for half the night.