NOVEL NEXT Chapter 256: Finding the Path
Chapter 256: Finding the Path
Xu Lian felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and the world spun around him. It was a familiar feeling, a familiar formula.
After a moment.
He found himself in a gray, dim world.
The land was flat, stretching endlessly with nothing but soil, sand and stones.
There were no mountains, rivers, flowers, trees, or any sign of life – no insects, fish, birds, or animals.
Only desolation and loneliness, as if they had landed on the surface of a strange planet.
A lifeless star…
The sky was a dull gray, with no sun, no moon, no stars, and not a single cloud.
Four to five thousand people looked around curiously, taking in their surroundings.
“What kind of strange place is this?”
“Haha, it’s inside the ruined world.”
“That’s obvious! Of course I know that we’re in the ruined world. Our cultivation and physical strength have been suppressed, so we are no different from ordinary people. Clearly, we’ve entered the ruined world.”
People started moving around, looking for their companions.
Liu Qing raised her hand and waved. Xu Lian spotted her and walked over to join her.
And so.
The four to five thousand people gathered in small groups just like before, whispering and discussing.
Xu Lian asked Liu Qing, “Have you ever heard of a situation like this?”
Liu Qing shook her head, “No, I haven’t.”
Xu Lian sighed. Aside from the soil, sand, and stones, there was nothing here – no clues or hints.
The two of them stared at each other, at a loss for words.
Xu Lian said, “Since we don’t know what to do, let’s watch what others do first.”
Liu Qing nodded silently.
Time passed slowly.
One by one, people began to move, forming small groups and heading off in all directions.
Most people, like Xu Lian and Liu Qing, didn’t rush and stayed where they were.
“Fellow Daoists and friends,”
An old man with a Daoist bun spoke in a loud voice, attracting everyone’s attention, “Waiting here like this won’t solve anything. Let’s pool our ideas and see if anyone has any insights or discoveries.”
A stocky middle-aged man spoke up, “I will share my thoughts. Since people are going in all directions, I plan to wait here for news.”
A blue-haired girl asked puzzled, “People are indeed going in all directions, but even if they find something, they won’t come back to tell us. How can we wait for news?”
The burly middle-aged man replied, “Young lady, think about it. If someone finds a clue, what will they do?”
The blue-haired girl said, “Of course they’ll follow the clue.”
The burly middle-aged man nodded, “Exactly! Those who find the clues won’t come back here. So those who don’t find anything will have to come back, right?”
The blue-haired girl suddenly understood, “I see. So if people don’t return from a certain direction, we should go in that direction.”
Everyone couldn’t help but look at the burly middle-aged man with admiration. His method was quite ingenious.
Elimination… Xu Lian nodded silently. By eliminating all the wrong answers, the remaining one must be correct.
Liu Qing suddenly remembered something, “I have an idea. Our cultivation has been suppressed, so we can’t fly or teleport. That means we can’t explore the sky. So we should dig underground and see if we can find anything.”
Upon hearing this, everyone agreed.
“That sounds feasible.”
“Since we’re just waiting, we might as well give it a try.”
The old man with the Daoist bun chuckled, “It’s great to pool our ideas and work together. We’ve already come up with two methods so quickly.”
Xu Lian had a sudden inspiration, “I have an idea as well.”
The old man looked at the inconspicuous young man, “Go ahead, speak freely.
Xu Lian said, “There are so many of us here. We can build a human tower. By standing on it, we can see further away.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to this inconspicuous young man, and they all praised the idea. It was a good plan.
The old man said, “Good. Now we have three methods.
First, let’s build the human tower and see if we can find anything.
If we don’t find anything, we’ll dig underground.
If we still don’t find anything, we’ll have to wait for those who have gone in all directions to return.”
And so.
Everyone began to build the human tower.
The strong men formed the base.
The younger ones climbed up, stacking themselves layer by layer.
Then the older ones climbed up. Though they were powerful figures outside, here they were just old and frail, with little strength.
Finally, the women climbed up.
Layer by layer they piled up.
The light-skinned, blue-haired girl stood at the top of the human tower, looking out in all directions.
“Any discoveries?”
The burly middle-aged man asked.
The blue-haired girl said, “Nothing. The distant areas look the same as here – nothing but emptiness. I can only see the people who have gone off in all directions.”
After a while, the group couldn’t hold the tower any longer and had to disband it.
They began to dig.
With their cultivation and physical strength suppressed, they couldn’t use any secret techniques, and their storage bags were sealed. They could only dig with their bare hands.
Fortunately, some people had been cautious and hadn’t kept their weapons in their storage bags, so they had some “tools” to use.
However, some people’s weapons were cauldrons, furnaces, seals, and the like, which couldn’t be used for digging. Only swords and long knives were useful.
But after a short while, they became reluctant to use them. The weapons were also suppressed, and digging with them caused significant wear and tear, which was painful to see. They had no choice but to dig with their hands.
After digging for a while, everyone’s hands were injured and bleeding. They couldn’t bear to continue.
The old man sighed, “It seems that the human tower and digging methods are useless. We’ll just have to wait for those who have gone in all directions to return.”
One by one, the people sat down to rest, tearing strips of cloth from their clothes to bandage their wounded hands.
Time passed slowly.
Everyone became thirsty, tired, hungry, and sleepy. They had no choice but to lie down and rest, conserving their energy.
Xu Lian felt strange. With his cultivation at the Unity Realm, he had long surpassed the need for food. Absorbing spiritual energy was enough to sustain him. It had been years since he had last eaten, and now that he was feeling hungry and thirsty again, he found it quite uncomfortable.
Drowsily, he fell asleep.
After an unknown amount of time.
He faintly heard loud voices and felt someone pushing him. He woke up with a start and saw Liu Qing standing next to him.
Liu Qing smiled bitterly, “Something happened!”
Xu Lian quickly sat up and looked around. Everyone’s faces were grim and they were cursing loudly.
“If I see her, I’ll kill her and scatter her ashes!”
“Killing her would be too merciful. I’ll extract her soul and roast it over true fire, making her suffer endlessly!”…
Xu Lian was confused, “Who are they cursing?”
Liu Qing said, “They are cursing the blue-haired girl. While we were asleep, she took a few companions and left!”
Xu Lian’s eyes widened and he immediately understood, “When we built the human tower, she must have found some clues, but she deliberately said she didn’t?”
Liu Qing nodded, “That must be it. Otherwise, why would she leave while we were asleep?”
Impressive… Xu Lian was speechless. Everyone had worked hard to build the Human Tower, sending her to the highest point, but she had hidden the clues she found and slipped away with her companions while everyone slept, betraying them all.
The burly middle-aged man’s face darkened, “Did anyone see which direction the blue-haired girl went?”
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.
“No, I didn’t see.”
“If anyone had seen her, they would have followed her and not stayed here…”
The old man with the Daoist bun made a decisive decision, “We can’t waste any more time. Let’s rebuild the Human Tower!”