Chapter 25: 25 Tanghe County

Everything that happened so abruptly felt like a Dream to Song Cheng; the tranquility of his life had been shattered in an instant.

At this moment, he felt as if he were drunk, his head heavy and his feet light, no longer able to control his body. The world before his eyes seemed to have been torn apart by a cold, ghastly pale giant hand, with scene after scene dancing in chaotic disarray.

When he opened his eyes, the mountain forest was rapidly receding, and the villagers' heads were normal one moment and then transformed into eerie skulls the next; the skulls grabbed him, fleeing toward the outside of the mountains as if for their lives.

When he closed his eyes, the ink-wash, plain white world was suddenly filled with many, many reds—blinding red, red carrying a stench, as if a vat of blood had been shattered, with strands of red splashing down, dancing wildly in this world. The ink-wash ocean suddenly surged, turning into an angry tide, rolling with blood-streaked filaments, howling in the void, drowning the sky and swallowing the earth.

Song Cheng only felt himself become a tattered flat boat, tossing up and down in the giant sea of wind, thunder, and tsunamis, ready to capsize at any moment. At the same time, a cold, rotten, and terrifying aura devoid of any warmth drilled into his nostrils, mouth, eyeballs, and ears from all directions, causing his stomach to churn with extreme nausea.

His only remaining consciousness made him clench his five fingers, gripping Tong Jia tightly, repeating and roaring in his heart over and over: "Cannot let go, cannot let go, absolutely cannot let go!"

His vision began to experience severe "stuttering."

The scenery before his eyes was also being intensely "distorted."

The sounds entering his ears became distorted and strange.

The aura was also wrong.

His brain stopped.

"Tong Jia!"

"Tong Jia!"

He gripped her hand tightly and shouted.

It seemed slow yet fast.

It felt as if a long time had passed, and yet also as if it were only a moment.

He felt himself land, lying in a soft, green-yellow vortex, but his hand remained tightly clasped to another hand.

He instinctively leaned over, pulling the owner of the other hand tightly into his embrace.

Then he widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the distorted world before him, waiting for it to recover; after an unknown amount of time, a strange, piercing scream reached Song Cheng's ears, and two elongated, distorted shadows stood before him as if discussing something.

He took a few deep breaths.

The green-yellow vortex became yellow earth and green grass.

The distorted shadows returned to normal.

The discussion also changed from piercing screams into human voices.

"Finally, two have come out."

"Perhaps they know the news."

"The Young Miss said she wants to ask personally, let's send them back."

"Wait a bit longer, we don't know if they can survive."

After a long time, the scene before Song Cheng finally became clear.

It was a desolate mountain wilderness with lush wild grass; although remote, there was no longer any sense of the previous distortion or coldness.

He saw two men wearing Guard robes standing not far away, their strength both "4~6," and their favorability both 60.

He suddenly turned his head to look and saw the Young Mistress of the household sleeping in his arms.

Alive.

Song Cheng guaranteed that not only had he never experienced such a bizarre event, he hadn't even imagined it.

The matter had happened too abruptly and without any warning.

The man in the distance saw movement here, approached cautiously, and asked: "Who are you?"

Song Cheng said in a hoarse voice: "A villager from Tanghe Village."

The man said: "I am Gao Yiwen, a Guard of the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce."

As he spoke, he took a scroll from his bosom and suddenly pulled it open, revealing the portrait of a beautiful young girl; it was none other than Guan Xi.

"Have you seen her?" asked the Guard named Gao Yiwen.

Song Cheng focused his gaze, looked, and then nodded.

His travel permit was gone, the money he had prepared was all gone, his mind was a mess, and many things were still not sorted out.

He needed connections.

Gao Yiwen asked a few more questions about Guan Xi's physical features, and Song Cheng answered fluently.

Only then did Gao Yiwen say: "Get on the carriage. I don't know what you have been through, but the Young Miss wants to see you."

"Okay, okay..." Song Cheng nodded, gritted his teeth to stand up, carried the still-unconscious Tong Jia horizontally, and walked to the dilapidated carriage not far away.

The back of the carriage was loaded with firewood, and there was only a small spot on the edge where they could sit.

He let Tong Jia lie as flat as possible, her head resting on his knees. The two Guards, one drove the carriage, and the other watched them from the back.

The carriage soon started moving, dust kicked up by the wheel hubs, and in the soft moonlight, the old village in the distance, shrouded in mist, was receding: 'We've left the village.'

'Nan Hui did not manage to follow.'

Song Cheng lowered his head and glanced, only to see that a large piece of his sleeve had been torn off.

'What on earth happened?'

He rubbed his forehead.

After thinking for a long time, he roughly pieced together a process.

Behind the Hou Shan of Tanghe Village, there existed a forbidden area called the "Extreme Bliss World."

That forbidden area had never "reawakened," but with the arrival of spring and the moistening of the frozen earth, it had woken up.

He had been swept into it, and in that moment of seamless transition, their cognition was distorted, and they directly participated in the "Chongxian" of the master of the "Extreme Bliss World."

So, when did he start being swept into it?

And why was he unable to see the blood-red Taboo warning? Perhaps his cognition had been distorted?

Or perhaps, from the moment he first smelled that rotten stench, he had already become a bird in a cage? And fortunately, that Extreme Bliss World was right next to Tanghe Village.

Yun E of Tanghe Village felt he was in danger, so she came to "save the day."

The method of "saving the situation" is also a "Chongxian."

Using the "Chongxian of Tanghe Village" to invade the "Chongxian of the Extreme Bliss World."

The moment when Yun E's resentment was at its thickest was the drowning in the pig cage.

Although this moment was slightly disrupted by his arrival, it still remained frozen at that scene.

Therefore, the deceased village head and the villagers quickly arrived at the Extreme Bliss World next to them and snatched Song Cheng and the others over.

It is just unknown whether there will be strife between the Taboo.

Will Yun E be targeted by the Extreme Bliss World?

At that time, Song Cheng risked his life to pull the Young Mistress of the employer.

The Young Mistress of the employer therefore also escaped along with him.

Nan Hui grabbed his sleeve, but the fabric was fragile after all; it was torn apart halfway, and Nan Hui did not know where she had fallen.

Perhaps she did not escape from the Extreme Bliss World, or perhaps she fell back into Tanghe Village.

At this moment, Song Cheng scanned his own tattered and mud-covered clothes. And on his knees, Tong Xiaoniangzi also slowly opened her eyes, a pair of bewildered eyes staring at him.

After a long while, those eyes finally regained their clarity.

Tong Xiaoniangzi said nothing and hugged Song Cheng tightly.

Song Cheng also closed his eyes and hugged her tightly.

A man does not easily shed tears, but at this moment, he could not stop his tears from falling.

"I was wrong, I was wrong!"

"I almost lost you!"

"Just barely!"

He should have risked the danger and taken everyone on a detour to the county town; that way, there might have been hope! He should not have had the slightest hesitation, nor the slightest bit of wishful thinking.

Tears slid down Song Cheng's cheeks.

Tong Niangzi hugged him tightly with both hands, gently stroking his back, and said softly, "It's okay, it's okay."

Nearby, the Guard named Gao Yiwen coughed twice lightly.

Song Cheng and Tong Jia then separated slightly.

No matter how heavy the experiences have been, the road ahead must still be traveled, and because of this, one cares more and cherishes those around them more.

Gao Yiwen also breathed a sigh of relief; he had originally been wary of these two, but listening to their conversation and observing their behavior, they should just be an ordinary young couple from that Tanghe Village.

They had no power, and it was only because of good luck that they had escaped.

After a while, Song Cheng wiped away his tears and asked, "Brother Gao, can one open a medical clinic in the county town?"

Gao Yiwen said, "Why? Do you know medicine?"

Song Cheng said, "My wife does; she also ran a medical clinic back in the village."

Gao Yiwen said, "If she really knows it, then that counts as talent. This opportunity naturally exists; not to mention other places, my Ruyi Chamber of Commerce has them. But whether you can catch the eye of the Young Miss depends on whether you and your wife can seize the opportunity."

(End of chapter)