Chapter 81: The Dark Realm
The little girl who herded the sun vanished along with her sun boat, and darkness quickly surged in, swallowing heaven and earth and the entire universe.
"What exactly did the chieftain of the Sun Herding Tribe want to say?"
Qin Mu sank into thought. Darkness shrouded the land, the dragon pillars lit up again, braziers within the city were rekindled one by one, and temples emitted light amidst the night.
The jade pendant on his chest also glowed faintly. According to the Sun Herding Tribe, the pendant came from Carefree Village, and he himself might also hail from there. However, in the geographical map of the Great Ruins, there was no such name as Carefree Village—it was as if this place did not exist within the Great Ruins.
"Where exactly is Carefree Village? Why does it only appear when darkness falls?"
He stared blankly at the darkness beyond the city, longing to step into it and seek out that Carefree Village. But the darkness stretched so far, covering the vast, boundless Great Ruins—who could know where that elusive Carefree Village truly lay?
Moreover, how could he safely traverse the mysterious darkness?
The darkness was so perilous. The small jade pendant could not protect him, and treasures like the stone statue were too heavy; carrying it would be like bearing a god on his back—something he simply could not manage.
"Would my parents be in Carefree Village?"
His spirits sank. Standing atop the dragon head of the dragon pillar, he raised his palm, as if trying to touch the thick darkness outside.
The boundless darkness beyond the city churned, separated from the city's light by what seemed like a thin membrane. A massive hand appeared on that membrane, as if trying to touch his.
Qin Mu looked up. The two hands drew closer and closer.
From the darkness came whispers, like many gentle voices murmuring softly, urging him to step into the dark and merge with it.
The whispers grew louder and louder, as if drilling into his mind, ceaselessly persuading him.
Qin Mu's gaze grew dazed. The two hands were almost touching.
Gradually, the darkness before his eyes was no longer darkness but another vast world. He saw a world like smoke or a water mirror, where a woman was reaching out her hand from afar, as if to make contact with his.
Her face was blurry; he wanted to see clearly but could never make it out.
The jade pendant on his chest gently floated up, as if about to drift into that world within the darkness.
"Mu'er, what are you doing?"
A voice, both startled and angry, came from behind. Qin Mu withdrew his hand. The Deaf Elder appeared behind him, snapping him out of it. Qin Mu came to his senses and quickly pulled back his hand, breaking out in a cold sweat.
If he had truly touched that hand in the darkness, what would have happened? Others who fell into the darkness had died horribly—would he too have been devoured by the monsters lurking there?
The giant hand in the darkness also withdrew on its own, vanishing, and the strange phenomena in the darkness dissipated as well.
In his daze, Qin Mu felt as if a sigh came from the darkness, but the Deaf Elder clearly sensed nothing.
The Deaf Elder was furious. He grabbed Qin Mu and pulled him away, saying angrily, "There are monsters in the darkness that are good at beguiling people's hearts. Watch out, or they'll snatch you away!"
"Monsters that beguile people's hearts?"
Only then did Qin Mu feel a lingering fear. He tucked the jade pendant on his chest under his clothes, as if hiding his thoughts along with it, and thought to himself, "One day, I will traverse the darkness, seek its origin, and find Carefree Village!"
"Grandpa Deaf, what exactly was that in the darkness? Why could I suddenly see things in it?" Qin Mu pondered and asked.
"That was the Dark Realm."
The Deaf Elder said, "The Village Chief knows about the Dark Realm. He's been there. Let's go to the City Lord's Mansion. The Village Chief is there too. He can tell you about it."
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. The Village Chief had been to the world within the darkness?
The Village Chief was so powerful that he could enter the darkness and still return alive?
"Mu'er, you actually saw that world in the darkness?"
In the City Lord's Mansion, the people of the Wasteland Elder Village were all gathered. Granny Si was still wearing Fu Yundi's skin. The Medicine Master, the Mute, Master Ma, the Deaf Elder, the Blind Elder, the Lame Elder, and the Butcher were all there, listening as Qin Mu recounted his encounter with the sun boat and the dark hand.
The Village Chief was astonished and said, "I have indeed been to that world in the darkness. When I first came to the Great Ruins, I was utterly despondent, thinking all my life's ambitions had come to nothing. I was weary of life and wished for death, but I couldn't die..."
He gave a bitter smile, but the other villagers of the Wasteland Elder Village understood this feeling—having the courage to die but being unable to, because responsibility still rested on their shoulders, and they hadn't passed it on to anyone else.
"At that time, I walked on the edge of life and death, trying again and again to end it all. Once, I couldn't resist the temptation of the demons and stepped into the darkness."
The Village Chief recalled the past, his face calm. "I thought I would surely die if I went in, but I was too powerful—so powerful that the darkness couldn't kill me instantly."
This statement might sound like boasting, but none of the Wasteland Elder Village villagers thought so. If the Village Chief said he was too powerful, then he was too powerful.
How terrifying was the darkness? Every person in the Wasteland Elder Village was a top-tier expert, but aside from the Village Chief, none dared claim they could enter the darkness and survive.
The Village Chief continued, "I walked in the darkness, madly shouting at the monsters there, seeking death. But then, the darkness before my eyes gradually faded, and I saw a world within it—a world overlapping with the Great Ruins but different. It was a strange world that suddenly peeled away from the darkness..."
Everyone's hearts stirred. Such a world truly existed?
What was the scene in that world within the darkness?
"Though the darkness faded, it was still like a mist before my eyes; I couldn't see far. Those twisted shadows brought me to my senses. I could see them, but not clearly. They were all very powerful—some even more so than me. They beckoned to me, as if inviting me. I remembered I still had responsibilities and couldn't die there, so I withdrew from the darkness."
The Village Chief said solemnly, "Later, I tried to enter the darkness again to find that hidden world, but I couldn't. The world Mu'er saw should be the one I saw. I call that world within the darkness the Dark Realm. And our world, I call the Bright Realm. Bright and dark correspond and alternate. During the day, the Bright Realm dominates; at night, the Dark Realm takes over. Mu'er, the Sun Herding Tribe's Sun Keeper told you that you might come from Carefree Village, and that Carefree Village sometimes appears in the darkness?"
Qin Mu nodded.
The group exchanged glances. The Medicine Master smiled and said, "Mu'er, go back and rest first. The Yan-Kang army has just retreated, and the city is a mix of dragons and fish—we all need to keep watch tonight."
Qin Mu agreed and left the City Lord's Mansion, returning to the inn to rest.
In the City Lord's Mansion, the Village Chief, the Medicine Master, the Lame Elder, the Mute, Granny Si, and the others wore grave expressions. After a long silence, the Lame Elder chuckled grimly and said, "The child we raised might be from the Dark Realm—a demon from the dark world..."
The Deaf Elder's iron ears twitched, and he sighed, "When he suddenly appeared in the darkness back then, we should have suspected. An ordinary child in that situation would have died long ago, but he survived in the darkness. Mute, what do you think?"
The Mute made some sounds, and the Deaf Elder sneered, "Not of our kind, their heart is sure to be different! Don't speak for him!"
"Deaf, you're too extreme."
The Medicine Master said solemnly, "Mu'er's jade pendant might come from Carefree Village, but that doesn't mean Mu'er himself does. Besides, even if he does come from Carefree Village, so what? No one has ever been there; it doesn't necessarily belong to the Dark Realm or to evil. And the Dark Realm doesn't necessarily hold only demons. Mu'er's origins have other possibilities."
Granny Si sneered, "Even if Mu'er is a little demon from the Dark Realm, so what? We raised him with our own hands—he's our child, our flesh and blood!"
The Lame Elder said angrily, "Granny, you're being unreasonable..."
"Unreasonable? Dead Lame, do you want to kill Mu'er?"
...
They argued back and forth. Master Ma had remained silent the whole time, but suddenly he spoke, "Mu'er grew up under our watch, and we taught him. If we were demons, we'd have raised a demon. What kind of people we are is what we'll make him into."
Everyone fell silent. Master Ma rarely spoke, but when he did, his words carried weight.
"Master Ma is right."
The Lame Elder, who respected him the most, nodded and said, "I was overthinking it. Deaf, what do you think?"
The Deaf Elder looked at the Mute, his closest friend. The Mute's face, reddened by the furnace, broke into a smile, and he made some sounds. The Deaf Elder said, "I know you're not a bad person, and I don't think I am either. If Mu'er turns into a demon, it'll be their fault. In our village, aside from you and me, none of the others are good people!"
Granny Si was exasperated. "You bookworm, are you discriminating against those who practice demonic arts?"
The Deaf Elder sneered, pulled out his two iron ears, and indicated he didn't want to deal with them.
The Village Chief found it all a headache and said, "We're all from the same village. Let's say less. Deaf, put your ears back in—they're creepy."
With two soft thuds, the Deaf Elder reinserted his ears. The Village Chief said, "I want to take Mu'er to the Dark Realm and see if Carefree Village is there."
Everyone was startled.
The Village Chief smiled and said, "Don't worry. The first time I entered the Dark Realm was four hundred years ago. In these four hundred years, I've made some progress. I'll prepare for a while, then take Mu'er for a journey through the darkness."