Chapter 521: Wei Yang
Qi Xia acted as if he had turned the page on the matter, walking ahead on his own and refusing to answer any questions posed by Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajing.
It seemed that for a single moment, he had opened his heart, but he quickly sealed himself off again, leaving only that icy exterior behind.
The three of them continued eastward in complete silence. After walking for about an hour, the tall buildings around them were gone, replaced by rows of low, squat bungalows. What was startling was that there were quite a few original inhabitants here as well, staring blankly as they performed repetitive tasks, like so many machines.
After roughly an hour and a half, the group could no longer see any "Zodiacs." Only an occasional original inhabitant remained, and after another half hour, even those became rare.
Their surroundings, apart from the dilapidated road beneath their feet, had turned into a barren wasteland. Yet this wasteland was different from the ones in the real world—there were no overgrown weeds, only bare, dirt surfaces.
"Don't you think there's very little plant life here?" Qi Xia asked.
The two of them glanced around indifferently, feeling that Qi Xia's focus was a bit odd.
Even the people here weren't normal; did the place really need to be covered in lush vegetation?
"Not that strange," Chen Junnan said. "Could any plant survive here? The sun in the sky is so bizarre, and the air is filled with a stench so foul it's hardly suitable for life."
Qi Xia nodded and fell silent. The group walked on for another ten minutes or so, and just as they were starting to feel tired, a house appeared on the distant wasteland.
It was a low wooden structure, looking old and dilapidated, with countless cracks like wrinkles running through the planks. Under the setting sun of the "Land of the End," it appeared grotesque and foreboding.
They walked a few hundred meters closer and looked behind the small house. Someone had stuck scrap iron and broken wood into the ground, crudely forming a fence. Inside that fence was a horrifying sight.
There were countless "scarecrows" standing there.
But upon closer inspection, something was off. Each scarecrow was moving slightly, even their eyes darting left and right.
Just what kind of "scarecrows" were these?
In this small farm, dozens of wooden crosses stood upright, and each cross had an "original inhabitant" bound to it. Their arms were stretched out and tied to the crossbeam, making them as motionless as real scarecrows.
Then, the "crops" in the fields came into view.
The ground was filled with severed hands and feet, lined up neatly, as if they had been carefully tended to.
The farm had not only been meticulously tilled, but the soil had been turned over. The ground around each severed limb was damp, even watered.
Some of these limbs had already dried up and turned black, showing wrinkles like dead tree bark. Others looked quite fresh—not only were they still ruddy, but they were also covered in fresh blood.
A gust of wind carried the nauseating scent of the farm into the three men's nostrils.
"What the... hell..." Qiao Jiajing's lips trembled slightly. "Jerk... Jun Nan... have we come to hell?"
"It's always been hell here," Qi Xia said coldly. "No matter what anyone does... it all seems normal."
Chen Junnan swallowed hard at the sight. "I've got a bad feeling... This guy's completely lost it. He's way crazier than he was seven years ago. Are we really going to try to have a friendly chat with him?"
"Judging by this scene, he's certainly far gone," Qi Xia said. "Compared to him, Chu Tianqiu is too gentle."
"They're both just as bad..." Chen Junnan said with a frown.
He remembered that when he woke up this time, he had suddenly appeared in Chu Tianqiu's basement. It was filled with bloodstained animal masks and several "Zodiac" heads. Those eerie objects, in the dark and damp basement, gave off a sickening stench—a scene not much different from this farm.
"So... do we knock now?" Qiao Jiajing asked cautiously.
"Uh..." Chen Junnan scratched his head, feeling that this was indeed a tough spot. Did you even need to knock before meeting a madman like this?
Just as the three of them were standing at the gate, the wooden door of the house creaked open. A gaunt figure stepped out, holding a rusty metal watering can in his hand.
"Is that him?" Qi Xia asked.
"Yeah..." Chen Junnan nodded, staring at the thin, middle-aged man. "He hasn't changed a bit."
From a distance, Wei Yang obviously noticed the three men standing on the street. His expression froze for a moment, and then he stood up straight with the watering can, silently facing off with them for over ten seconds.
He slowly opened his mouth and rasped two words: "I'm impressed."
Only then did Qi Xia notice that this man named Wei Yang had fairly regular features; he must have been handsome in his youth. But time had left its marks of age on his face, and the "Land of the End" had given him a mad glint in his eyes.
Now, standing a dozen paces away, he radiated an eerie aura, so much so that even Qi Xia hesitated to step forward and speak.
Seeing that the three had no reaction, Wei Yang slowly bent down, placed the watering can behind him, pressed one hand on his stomach, and gave a very gentlemanly bow to the trio. Then he turned and walked toward his "fields."
His bizarre behavior left Qi Xia bewildered. He lowered his voice and said, "He's recognized us."
"Most likely," Chen Junan nodded. "He was always a snake hiding a smile back then."
Wei Yang turned his back to them, watering can in hand, and walked into the fields. He bent down to inspect the severed limbs, wiped some dust off one, and then tilted the watering can to pour.
The three men watched his every move. It was then that they realized what came out of the watering can wasn't water, but thick, black blood.
The blood oozed out in sticky streams, flowing down onto the severed limbs, making the already horrifying scene even more grotesque.
"Hmm hmm hmm~" Wei Yang hummed an old tune. The melody sounded familiar to them, though they couldn't recall where they'd heard it. He was truly acting like a farmer, watering each limb while singing a little song.
"It's getting dark. We can't wait any longer," Qi Xia said, forcing down his nausea. "I'll go talk to him."
Just as he was about to take a step forward, Wei Yang spoke, as if talking to himself: "I'm not going, though..."
"What...?"
"Rebelling against 'Tianlong,' destroying the entire 'Land of the End'... I'm not going," Wei Yang finished 'watering,' reached out to check the condition of his 'crops,' then turned back with a beaming smile. "Anyone who wants to die can go die on their own... but don't drag me into it."
As he finished speaking, he wiped his cheek with his hand, smearing a patch of black-red blood across his face.