Chapter 81: Dark Realm
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
The girl that herds the sun disappeared with her Sun Ship and darkness soon surged forth and swallowed the lands.
"What was the patriarch of Sun Herd Clan trying to say?"
Qin Mu fell into deep thoughts as darkness shrouded the lands. The dragon pillars lighted up again and the fire basins in the city were also ignited. The temples gave off a glow when night fell.
The jade pendant on his chest also gave off a faint glow. From the words of the Sun Herd Clan, the jade pendant should be from Carefree Village and he should also be from Carefree Village. However, on the maps of Great Ruins, there are no records of Carefree Village. It was like this place didn't exist in Great Ruins.
"Where exactly is Carefree Village? Why would Carefree Village only appear when darkness descends?"
He stared blankly at the darkness outside Great Ruins. He wanted to enter the darkness to search for that Carefree Village but the areas shrouded by darkness were so vast, who knew where the vague Carefree Village lies?
Furthermore, how can he travel safely through this mysterious darkness?
The darkness was so dangerous, the little jade pendant was not enough to protect him. Treasures like the stone statue, on the other hand, were too heavy. Carrying a statue was like carrying a god, he couldn't do it.
"Will my parents be at Carefree Village?"
Qin Mu's determination declined. Standing on the dragon's head of the dragon pillar, he raised his head, seemingly trying to touch the thick darkness outside.
With the darkness surging outside the city, there seemed to be a thin membrane separating the light from the darkness. A huge hand appeared on the membrane as if it wanted to touch his hand.
Qin Mu raised his head and saw the two hands going closer and closer to each other.
Whispers came from the darkness. It was like numerous gentle voices whispering to him, persuading him to enter the darkness and embrace it.
The whispers grew louder and louder as if the voices had tunneled into his brain as they repeatedly persuaded.
Qin Mu's gaze became hazy and the two hands were close to pressing against each other.
Gradually, the darkness in front of him was no longer darkness but a grand world. He saw a world inside like a mist or a water mirror, where a woman was stretching out her hand from a distant, trying to touch his hand.
The woman's face was blurry and he wanted to see it clearly but he couldn't no matter what.
The jade pendant in front of his chest slowly floated upwards and as if it was trying to float into the world in the darkness.
"Mu'er, what are you doing?"
A startled and angry voice came from Qin Mu's back and Qin Mu pulled back his hand. Deaf appeared behind him and startled him back to his senses. Qin Mu woke up from his trance and immediately pulled back his hand, breaking out in cold sweat.
If he really touched the hand in the darkness, what would happen? Every person who had landed in the darkness died horribly so would he have been eaten by the monsters in the darkness?
The huge hand in the darkness also pulled back and disappeared. The phenomenon in the darkness also vanished.
In Qin Mu's absent-mind, he seemed to hear a sigh coming from the darkness, but Deaf apparently didn't notice anything.
Deaf erupted in anger and pulled him away, scolding him furiously, "There are devils in the darkness that is good at bewitching the heart of people, be careful not to be abducted!"
"Devils, that bewitch the heart of people?"
Only now did Qin Mu feel fear after the event. He hid his jade pendant back into his shirt as if he was hiding his thoughts together with the jade pendant and thought to himself, "The day will come when I walk in the darkness to search for the source of darkness and find Carefree Village!"
"Grandpa Deaf, what exactly was that in the darkness? Why could I suddenly see the things in the darkness?" Qin Mu pondered for a while before asking.
"The Dark Realm lies in the darkness."
Deaf continued, "Village Chief knows the best about things in Dark Realm as he had been there before. Let us move to City Lord's Manor, Village Chief is also there so let him explain it to you."
Qin Mu's heart trembled. Village Chief had been to the world in the darkness?
Village Chief was actually so powerful to survive even after going into the darkness?
"Mu'er, you actually saw the world in the darkness?"
In City Lord's Manor, everyone in Disabled Elderly Village gathered together. Granny Si was still wearing Fu Yundi's skin. Apothecary, Mute, Old Ma, Deaf, Blind, Cripple, Butcher were all here and listening to what Qin Mu had encountered onboard Sun Ship and the hand in the darkness.
Village Chief was incessantly astonished, "I indeed have been to the world in the darkness. When I came to Great Ruins, all my hopes turned to dust and my heart died when my ambitions had no fruition, yet I was unable to die…"
He gave a bitter smile. However, the rest of the villagers in Disabled Elderly Village all knew this feeling. They all had the courage to meet death yet they couldn't die. This was because they all still had responsibilities lying on their own shoulders and they haven't passed on to others.
"Back then, I was lying on the edge of life and death, wanting to end my life time and time again. One time, I couldn't resist the temptation of the devils and entered the darkness."
Village Chief recalled with a serene expression, "I thought I was definitely going to die when I entered but I was too strong, so strong that the darkness couldn't kill me in a short time."
This sentence would make others think that he was boasting but the villagers of Disabled Elderly Village didn't have this kind of thoughts. When Village Chief said he was too strong, he really was too strong.
What kind of terror was the darkness? Everyone in Disabled Elderly Village was the finest experts in this world but other than Village Chief, no one else would dare say they could enter the darkness and not die.
Village Chief continued, "I walked in the darkness frantically, screaming towards the monsters and devils in the darkness, begging for death. However, at that moment, the darkness in my eyes gradually faded and I saw the world in the darkness. It was a world that overlaps with Great Ruins but it was a different world. It was a strange world that was peeled off from the darkness all of a sudden…"
Everyone's heart shuddered, there was really such a world?
How does the world in the darkness look like?
"Even the darkness had faded then, there was still something like the fog that shrouded everything in front of my eyes, making me unable to see too far. The warped figures cleared my mind making me able to see them but not clearly. They were all very strong and even stronger than me. They waved to me, seemingly trying to invite me over. However thinking of the responsibilities I was still carrying, I couldn't die there and retreated back out of the darkness."
Village Chief continued solemnly, "After that, I tried to enter the darkness again to search for the world hidden in the darkness but I couldn't find it anymore. The world that Mu'er saw should be the world I saw. I refer to the world in the darkness as Dark Realm and the world we are in as Light Realm. Light and dark correspond and alternate with each other. During the day, the Light Realm dominates and when the night falls, the Dark Realm dominates. Mu'er, the Sun Guardian of the Sun Herd Clan told you that you might be from Carefree Village and Carefree Village sometimes appear in the darkness?"
Qin Mu nodded.
Everyone looked at one another while Apothecary smiled, "Mu'er, go back to rest first. Eternal Peace Empire has just retreated and there are still crooks mixed in with the honest folks. We'll have to be on night watch."
Qin Mu understood and left the City Lord's Manor, returning to the inn to have a rest.
In City Lord's Manor, Village Chief, Apothecary, Cripple, Mute, Granny Si and the rest had a grave expression. After some time, Cripple chuckled, "The child we raised just might have been born in Dark Realm, a devil of the darkness world…"
Deaf's iron ears twitched and sighed, "We should have suspected so when he suddenly appeared in the darkness back then. If it was the child of an ordinary family, he would have died in that situation yet he was still able to survive in the darkness. What do you think, Mute?"
Mute gave a few ah's and Deaf sneered, "Not of our race, the heart is certainly different! Do not speak for him!"
"Deaf, you're too extreme."
Apothecary solemnly said, "Mu'er's jade pendant might be from Carefree Village and he might not necessarily be. Furthermore, so what if he is from Carefree Village? No one has been to Carefree Village before and it might not belong to the Dark Realm and be evil. Furthermore, not only devil resides in Dark Realm. There might be other possibilities to Mu'er's birth."
Granny Si sneered, "So what if Mu'er is a little devil from Dark Realm? He is our child that we endured all sorts of hardship to raise, he is our flesh and blood!"
Cripple retorted angrily, "Granny, you are being unreasonable now…"
"Unreasonable? Damned Cripple, are you think of killing Mu'er then?"
…
The few people argued here and there. Old Ma who was silent all this time suddenly said, "We are the ones who brought Mu'er up. We are also the ones who taught him. If we are devils, we would have brought up a devil. What kind of person are we to determine how he would be raised."
Everyone became silent. Old Ma always had little to say but every word he said were significantly important.
"Old Ma is right."
Old Ma was the one Cripple respected the most, therefore, he nodded his head, "I've worried too much. What do you think, Deaf?"
Deaf looked at Mute as he was the closest with Mute. Mute's rosy red face that was roasted by the furnace revealed a smile as he gave some ah's. Deaf replied, "I know you're not a bad guy, I also feel that I'm not bad neither. If Qin Mu does become a devil, we'll have to blame them. Other than us, the rest of them in the village aren't any good!"
Granny Si became angry, "Damned bookworm, are you discriminating those that are cultivating the devil path?"
Deaf sneered and plucked out his iron ears, indicating that he didn't want to pay attention to them anymore.
Village Chief got a headache and said, "We're all from the same village so the less said, the better. Deaf, put your ears back, it actually quite scary."
Deaf stabbed his ears back with a plop and Village Chief continued, "I was thinking of bringing Mu'er to Dark Realm and have a look if there's a Carefree Village there."
Everyone jumped in shock.
Village Chief smiled, "Don't worry, when I first entered Dark Realm, it was four hundred years ago. I have also improved in the past four hundred years. Let me have some time to make preparations and then bring Mu'er around the darkness."