Chapter 66: The Village of Loneliness

Stepping onto the stone stairs, thick fog rolled in.

In an instant, Zhang Xingyu vanished from everyone's sight.

At the same time, Zhang Xingyu discovered he had arrived above a vast, boundless ocean.

Blue waves rippled, the sea breeze caressed him, and the air was filled with a faint, fishy scent.

What the hell is this?

He was clearly on the Dengxian Lu; how did he end up in the middle of the ocean?

Could this be an illusion?

He kicked the reef beneath his feet hard, but it didn't budge.

He bent down to splash the seawater; it felt slightly cool.

Looking into the distance, seagulls circled in the sky and flying fish leaped from the water.

Looking down, the seawater was clear and azure, with schools of fish beneath the surface.

Damn. This illusion is way too realistic.

Zhang Xingyu took off his shoes and played in the water barefoot.

He had wanted to do this for a long time, but because he was a boy, he had always been afraid of being mocked and never dared to do anything so out of character.

The sun dipped into the west, and the sky grew dark.

Only then did Zhang Xingyu remember that he was trapped in the middle of the ocean.

Surrounded by water on all sides, a reef of about ten square meters was his only place to stay.

What was he to do?

He stood up and gazed into the distance.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a single fishing boat in sight on the sea.

He sat down in disappointment.

Before long, he stood up again.

He gazed into the distance once more, and was disappointed once more.

After doing this over ten times, the sky had turned pitch black.

In the night sky, a crescent moon cast a cold, clear radiance.

The surroundings were eerily quiet; the sea breeze had stopped howling, and the ocean had stopped roaring.

The long night was endless, especially when one was alone.

Zhang Xingyu lay on the reef, looking up at the starry sky, feeling deeply lonely.

At this very moment, he missed his parents on Earth immensely, as well as his friends and brothers in the Xianxia World.

"The nights missing you are hard to dream in, so I close my eyes and count the sheep; do you miss me the same way? Shimmering tears dampen my eyes; I wish I could fly, fly to that distant place, light a candle, and kiss your face..."

Singing "The Night I Miss You" in a low voice, tears flowed down his face without him realizing it.

The Golden Crow rose in the east, painting the ocean a deep red.

Zhang Xingyu yawned, rubbed his red, swollen eyes, and slowly stood up.

The sunrise was beautiful, but he had no heart to enjoy it.

His stomach was growling with hunger, and his throat was so thirsty it felt like it was smoking.

The primary problem before him was survival.

Zhang Xingyu cupped some seawater, took a light sip, and immediately spat it out.

It was salty as hell!

He drew his Dharma blade from his waist and slashed hard at the fish in the water.

Water splashed everywhere, and the fish swam away.

Zhang Xingyu plopped down onto the reef.

Am I going to starve to death here?

No, I absolutely will not become a starving ghost.

Zhang Xingyu closed his eyes, recalling the wilderness survival shows he had watched on Earth.

He went to the edge of the reef and bent down to grope in the crevices with his hands.

"Ah!" Something pinched his hand, and it hurt like hell.

There's something here! Zhang Xingyu thought to himself.

Even though his fingers hurt, his heart was joyful.

Before long, he pulled a palm-sized sea crab out from the crevice.

The crab clawed and snapped, struggling non-stop.

Zhang Xingyu took out his Dharma blade and gave its back a heavy tap.

"Brother Crab, I've wronged you. But if I don't eat you, I'll starve to death."

Zhang Xingyu muttered to himself while eating the raw crab.

After eating the crab, Zhang Xingyu used his Dharma blade to carve a small pit in the reef to store rainwater.

Then, it was just gazing into the distance and waiting.

Unfortunately, no boat came that day either.

The long night remained, and Zhang Xingyu remained sleepless.

On the third day, he tried holding onto the reef to catch fish underwater.

That day, he caught fish, but the boat still didn't come.

On the fourth day, the boat didn't come.

On the fifth day, the boat didn't come.

Below Dengxian Feng, at the entrance to Dengxian Lu.

A large group of teachers and students were still gathered there, arguing endlessly.

"Who can climb the highest?" someone asked.

"Who else could it be? Of course, it's my big brother, Long Xiaotian," Bai Ping said, waving his arms.

"Pfft, who does Long Xiaotian think he is? I think it should be Fifth Senior Brother Cheng Haonan. Fifth Senior Brother is the most handsome, he must have climbed the highest." The speaker was a chubby fangirl.

Nearby, Liu Ruoxin, a die-hard fan of the First Senior Brother, glanced at her and said loudly, "Bullshit, how can looks compare to cultivation level? In the academy, First Senior Brother is the best. This time, First Senior Brother will definitely reach the peak."

"Yes, yes, First Senior Brother will definitely reach the peak and become the first person in tens of thousands of years to do so," several girls shouted behind Liu Ruoxin.

"Pfft, if Fang Shiwen can reach the peak, then our goddess, Fairy Yunxi, will have even less of a problem. It's just a real pity that Fairy Yunxi didn't come this time." The speaker was a tall, thin youth in white.

"Exactly, exactly. Fairy Yunxi is the academy's number one. If anyone can reach the peak, it should be Fairy Yunxi." There were quite a few fans of Fairy Yunxi in the crowd, especially a staggering number of male fans.

"First Senior Brother will win! First Senior Brother will win!" Fang Shiwen's female fans cheered.

"Fifth Senior Brother is the most handsome! Fifth Senior Brother is the best!" Cheng Haonan's female fans waved their fists.

"Big Brother, go! Big Brother, go!" Long Xiaotian's lackeys shouted. 【74】 "Goddess! Goddess!" Tang Yunxi's male fans' voices were earth-shaking.

"Goddess, Goddess!" The voices of Tang Yunxi's male fans were earth-shattering.

Days passed by just like that.

Zhang Xingyu's beard was scruffy, his clothes were in tatters, but the boat still hadn't come.

Looking at the dense tally marks on the reef, Zhang Xingyu muttered to himself, "Why hasn't a boat come? Why hasn't a boat come?"

He had even hesitated about whether to jump into the sea and end it all.

No, I can't.

No matter how lonely I am, I must live on well.

Gradually, he learned to swim in the sea, learned to pick up starfish on the seabed, and learned to play with schools of fish.

Seagulls sang overhead, schools of fish led the way, and Zhang Xingyu swam freely in the sea.

He spat out water, took a breath, and lifted his head.

A golden coastline appeared at the edge of his vision.

Land, land was right ahead.

Using his last ounce of strength, Zhang Xingyu crawled onto the soft sandy beach.

Half an hour later, he arrived at a small village surrounded by high walls.

"Brother, where is this?" Zhang Xingyu asked, grabbing a listless teenager.

"This is the Village of Loneliness," the teenager replied.

"Village of Loneliness? What a strange name," Zhang Xingyu asked.

The teenager nodded: "Village of Loneliness, 'lonely' as in solitary, 'loneliness' as in desolate, 'village' as in the village."

Strange.

Zhang Xingyu walked aimlessly through the village.

Everyone in the village looked solitary and walked alone.

At the end of the village, there was a large, golden, glowing gate, with a golden, glowing brush hanging on the lock.

Zhang Xingyu picked up the brush.

The golden light on the gate vanished, and several small grids appeared in the door frame.

What does this mean?

Does it mean I have to write on this gate to open it?

Zhang Xingyu held the brush and stood quietly before the gate.

In his mind, the lonely days of being trapped on the reef played over and over.

Zhang Xingyu lifted the brush and gently wrote eight large characters on the gate: "Loneliness as a companion, the road lies ahead."

The eight large characters shimmered with golden light, and after a moment, they gradually faded away.

The gate creaked open, revealing a small path shrouded in thick fog behind it.

Dengxian Lu?

Zhang Xingyu glanced at the path, feeling it looked somewhat familiar.

He didn't hesitate any longer and stepped across.

Behind him, the gate creaked shut again. ===== CHAPTER 67 =====