Chapter 238: Belated Motherly Love
All-Heaven Demon King heard Qin Mu's words, paused for a moment, and immediately understood what he meant.
This forest forbidden zone was not meant to guard against external enemies, but to prevent the people of Carefree Village from leaving Carefree Village!
If it were meant to guard against external enemies, the defenses would face outward, and only those trying to break in would be attacked by the forbidden zone.
But this forbidden zone would mercilessly destroy anyone trying to enter or leave!
Those ruins should be paths forcibly opened by the people of Carefree Village trying to escape, not naturally formed roads.
"From a tiny clue, one can see the whole picture. Ordinary people would never think of this problem. The one who taught this kid must be cunning to the extreme, a thorough scoundrel."
All-Heaven Demon King couldn't help but shiver. Clearly, those demons clinging to the Moon Ship hadn't escaped Qin Mu's notice, yet he had never said a word, all for the purpose of using those demons to scout the path ahead!
Such a ruthless and sinister young man—his teacher must be a complete scoundrel!
All-Heaven Demon King surveyed this forbidden zone, thinking to himself: "Relying solely on the Moon Ship, we simply cannot set foot in this forbidden zone. The Moon Ship is too large; forcing our way in will inevitably trigger the forbidden zone. If the forbidden zone destroyed that female demon god so easily, destroying the Moon Ship shouldn't be too troublesome either..."
Just as he thought this, suddenly the Moon Ship trembled. The three-legged giant ship slowly crouched down, then a massive tremor came as the ship pressed against the ground, motionless.
All-Heaven Demon King immediately sensed Qin Mu's god-like powerful aura dissipate and finally breathed a sigh of relief. If Qin Mu had forcibly driven the Moon Ship to charge into this forbidden zone, even he would have been destroyed by it.
Although Qin Mu had seen Carefree Village destroyed, he still maintained his rationality, which surprised him somewhat.
All-Heaven Demon King kicked Dragon Qilin awake and walked out.
Dragon Qilin shook his head and followed behind him, rumbling: "Iron lump, where are we?"
All-Heaven Demon King was furious: "You slept the whole way, and you have the nerve to ask me?"
Dragon Qilin chuckled: "You don't know where we are either? That shows you slept the whole way too."
At the center of the Moon Ship's giant pillars, Qin Mu's body had fully recovered, and he was pulling his legs back out from where they had sunk into the ship's hull.
The hull of this great ship was connected to his legs and feet. Just now, Qin Mu's body had been extremely massive; now that he was shrinking, it left huge footprints. The footprints were automatically closing up, giving him the chance to extract his legs.
Qin Mu stood up and immediately felt his mind waver, extremely weak. The divine hideouts that had been forcibly opened by the Moon Ship's immense energy were closing one after another, leaving only the Spirit Embryo and Five Luminaries divine hideouts open.
The power of this ship was too great, rushing into his body. To control this power, he had to pay the price of his own life force.
"Yan Jingjing has been living on the Sun Ship all along; the life force she's lost is far more than mine. It's really hard on her..."
Qin Mu took a couple of breaths, swallowed some spirit pills to replenish himself, stood up, and said: "Demon King, Fatty Dragon, we'll walk into this forbidden zone."
All-Heaven Demon King exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and said: "You're planning to use my insight and experience to avoid danger and find the scoundrel from your village?"
Qin Mu nodded and said: "You are the Demon King of the All-Heaven World, the king of demon gods. Your insight and experience far surpass mine. Only you can lead me in."
All-Heaven Demon King laughed heartily, said arrogantly: "That's right, only I can safely take you in and bring you out. You can lick my foo—"
Qin Mu's expression changed slightly. All-Heaven Demon King quickly changed his tune, said with a flattering smile: "I'm just joking. Look how scared you got. I'll take you in and bring you out, and you must release me as agreed. You promised!"
Qin Mu smiled and said: "Don't worry, I won't go back on my word. I can sign a Lord Tu Bo's Pact with you!"
All-Heaven Demon King shook his head and said: "No need. If we signed a Lord Tu Bo's Pact, I wouldn't trust you. You'd definitely find a way to screw me over."
Qin Mu gave a dry laugh, thinking to himself: "All-Heaven Demon King truly understands me. Since he's made an oral agreement with me, I'd feel bad about screwing him over... Lame Grandpa was right—I'm still too kind."
He jumped onto Dragon Qilin's back. All-Heaven Demon King also jumped up. Dragon Qilin generated fire clouds under his feet, stepping on the fire clouds as he slowly descended. Before long, they landed at the edge of the forbidden zone.
All-Heaven Demon King was extremely nervous. Several gears shot out of his mouth as he said: "Although there is a path of survival here, it was opened from the inside out. Walking along it from the inside out isn't too dangerous, but walking in will still encounter many perils. You must follow me closely and not make a single wrong step, or we'll all die if we trigger the forbidden zone!"
Qin Mu quickly stepped forward, opened his chest, rearranged the gears inside his chest cavity, added a few parts, and reminded him: "Demon King, don't try any tricks, or you'll be trapped too."
All-Heaven Demon King said impatiently: "Don't worry, I understand. Stay close!"
Qin Mu followed him forward. All-Heaven Demon King's four faces and twelve eyes looked around in all directions, his four mouths muttering as he saw through the dangers in the forbidden zone, making calculations and deductions.
Qin Mu also saw All-Heaven Demon King using his demonic energy to perform spatial calculation methods, with countless numbers and runes jumping in three-dimensional space, making extremely complex calculations.
"Demon King, your skill in mathematics is also extremely high," Qin Mu said in surprise.
All-Heaven Demon King said impatiently: "Nonsense. If you don't learn mathematics well, you can only grasp the form of many divine abilities, never receiving their true transmission."
"Can you teach me?"
Qin Mu said with great interest: "I have a copy of the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic, but I still haven't thoroughly studied it. The Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic uses the eight trigram symbols to represent one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight—an octal system. It's very troublesome."
All-Heaven Demon King said in surprise: "An octal calculation classic? You need to use the eight trigram diagram to calculate—Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Mountain, Lake. If you use numbers instead, the calculations are very troublesome, but if you use the eight trigram diagram as an abacus to manipulate its changes, then it becomes much easier... We'll talk later. Don't talk to me now; if I make a calculation error, we'll all be finished!"
All-Heaven Demon King's skill in mathematics wasn't just extremely high—it was unfathomably deep. A casual remark from him gave Qin Mu a sudden epiphany.
These days, he had been studying the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic, but he hadn't gained much. The Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic was too profound, and the calculations were terribly troublesome.
But using the eight trigram diagram as an abacus was an ingenious calculation tool that could solve many problems!
"The Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic doesn't just have the octal system of the eight trigrams; it also has the binary system of yin and yang, and the quaternary system of the four phases!"
Qin Mu extrapolated. Many of the mathematical principles in the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic were calculation methods, but they didn't list the calculation tools. Now, with All-Heaven Demon King's casual guidance, he finally had the possibility of thoroughly understanding the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic!
"To thoroughly comprehend the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic, I need a calculation formation—the Supreme Ultimate Four Symbols Eight Trigrams Diagram!"
Qin Mu took out the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic, flipped through it, and his primordial energy transformed into yin and yang, the four phases, and then formed eight trigram runes, floating before him.
Qin Mu reached out and pulled. This Supreme Ultimate Four Symbols Eight Trigrams Diagram clanked as it replicated forty-nine copies. Yin and yang rotated, the four phases operated, and the eight trigrams changed.
"So this is what the great deduction calculation in the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic is all about..." Qin Mu watched the diagrams and runes change, and numbers automatically generated in his mind. He murmured.
"Don't get distracted!" The face on the back of All-Heaven Demon King's head scolded him.
Qin Mu quickly dispersed the eight trigram diagram. Along this path, with All-Heaven Demon King present, it was still safe. After all, All-Heaven Demon King was the ruler of the All-Heaven World, with insight and experience far surpassing Qin Mu's. Although he didn't have the ability to break the forbidden zone's restrictions, avoiding them wasn't difficult for him.
Moreover, the restrictions along this path had already been broken from the inside out, and with Village Chief and the others forcibly breaking them, the journey was uneventful.
Before they knew it, they arrived at the first ruin. Qin Mu stopped. This was a village with only four households. Stoves, pots, and pans were all there, but no one lived there.
Qin Mu saw eleven graves in the village, without tombstones. The yellow earth mounds weren't large, and he didn't know who was buried inside.
"It's safe here!" All-Heaven Demon King said.
Qin Mu walked into the village, looked around, and suddenly his heart trembled. In one household, he saw a cradle and a small wooden horse. On the bed were a few pieces of baby clothes, very tiny.
On the chest of one of the clothes was embroidered the character "Qin."
Qin Mu took out his jade pendant. There was also a "Qin" character on the pendant.
The young man closed his eyes. After a long time, he opened them. There were no tears in his eyes because they had already dried up.
"Is this my home?"
He walked past the stove, looking at the pot hanging on the wall and the bowls covered on the counter. He wanted to find more things, to get more information, but he couldn't find any more clues.
He came to the door and suddenly froze, standing there silently.
On the door was pasted a "double happiness" character. There was no wind or rain here, but after more than ten years, the writing was already somewhat blurred.
The double happiness character indicated that the owner of this house had gotten married, right here in this forbidden zone.
And the small wooden horse in this courtyard should have been prepared by the owner of this house for their unborn child. Those tiny clothes should have been sewn for that child.
"Time to go!"
All-Heaven Demon King urged: "This matter is settled. I should also go back. I don't want to stay in this damned world of yours for even one more day!"
Qin Mu composed himself and followed him deeper into the forbidden zone. Two hours later, they arrived at another ruin.
This was a small town with over a hundred households. Outside the town were rows of graves.
Qin Mu walked around and saw a school here. Some young people must have studied knowledge here, right?
Once, this place must have been very lively, with people coming and going. Despite facing the extremely dangerous forbidden zone outside, life still thrived here.
But by the next village, only four households remained...
They continued deeper. The third ruin was a stretch of city. Huge fragments of spiritual treasures were scattered everywhere. If placed in Yan'guo, they would make one incredibly wealthy, but here they were just thrown around carelessly.
"Let's continue!" Qin Mu said in a deep voice.
"We're going to die!"
Granny Si's voice came from afar, shouting angrily: "You old undying bastards, even I'm being dragged down by you, about to be trapped here!"