Chapter 399: Where They Go (10/10, Autumn Subscription)

"Awesome! So awesome! Ye Ge!!"

Jing Yan was so excited that he danced about wildly under the bone shell, even becoming a little incoherent.

The others were in much the same state.

If it weren't for the Night Rain still falling outside, they would have been unable to resist rushing up to toss Fang Yue into the air right now.

"We did it! We did it!"

"We held Gu Yue Cun! We held Gu Yue Cun!"

"Captain Ye! Captain Ye! Captain Ye!"

The crowd cheered in unison, but as they called out, they began wiping at their tears, weeping and laughing and getting worked up all at once.

Looking back at the ravaged Gu Yue Cun, then at the few dozen people who remained of Gu Yue Cun in the end.

They said they had held Gu Yue Cun, but in reality, everyone knew in their hearts what had been lost.

Hua Wuye, Lord Han, Hong Dafu…

Countless familiar friends, from childhood to adulthood, had all been killed by the uncanny in this single night!

It seemed as though everything had been held, and yet it seemed as though nothing had been held.

Only the tears sliding down the corners of their eyes were real.

Lin Ling wiped away her tears, gazing at Fang Yue from afar, her emotions churning, unable to settle for a long time.

A true man should have a day like this — emerging like a hero, sheltering everything like a shield!

At this moment, Fang Yue's image, in Lin Ling's heart and in everyone's heart, seemed to become a symbol, sacred and radiant!

But in the next instant, everyone suddenly cried out in unison.

Because they saw that Fang Yue, who had been standing still, suddenly dropped straight down, crashing onto the ground.

The Night Rain was still falling, yet several people instinctively wanted to rush out and bring Fang Yue back.

Fortunately, Lin Ling was calm enough at this moment, exerting the authority of the Chief Captain, having people report the status of their pill poison, then factoring in each person's actual stamina, before arranging for Jing Yan, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, and two Guard Team members to go over to Fang Yue and bring him back to shelter from the rain.

Everyone's medicines were all pooled together and handed to these four people.

It was Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's first time being entrusted with such an important mission, and being vested with so many people's expectations.

She felt it was quite novel, thumped her chest and vowed to definitely bring Fang Yue back, and the four of them charged out into the Night Rain.

Popping pills the whole way, sprinting the whole way.

Upon reaching Fang Yue's side, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu even anxiously checked for breathing.

Once she confirmed Fang Yue had merely fainted, she immediately coordinated with Jing Yan and the others to carry him back.

One person per limb carrying him, popping pills single-handed, they sprinted back quickly.

Only then did Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu heave a huge sigh of relief.

The crowd immediately burst into cheers, circling around Fang Yue.

"What are you celebrating?"

Just as everyone was overjoyed, a figure suddenly spoke up beside them.

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu froze, turned to look, and her face instantly changed drastically, nearly fainting from fright.

"A ghost, a ghost!!"

She scrambled and crawled back into the crowd, so scared her face was deathly pale.

The crowd looked over in confusion, and their pupils all contracted at once.

"Lord Han?!"

That's right, what appeared before them was unmistakably Lord Han's… head.

Only a head, no body.

A lone head, yet blinking its eyes like a living thing.

"It's me, I'm still alive."

It really was Lord Han?!

The crowd first trembled with excitement, but very quickly, Lin Ling calmed down, using both uncanny-testing talismans and questions only Lord Han would know, leaving Lord Han caught between tears and laughter.

"It's really me, Chen Lao can't kill me that easily. Though I can't beat him either, for that matter."

Lord Han sighed gloomily: "Deeply afflicted with 【Yuhan zhi shi】, fallen to half a step into Rain-rank, my current strength is ultimately a notch short. Now that I've become like this, I'm merely alive, that's all. But I wasn't going to live much longer anyway, so this is fine too."

After confirming it really was Lord Han, the crowd burst into cheers.

This was the best news of this entire night, aside from Fang Yue defeating Chen Lao.

Although it was only a head, with Lord Han holding the fort, the crowd at least had a backbone, and began discussing how everyone should survive.

"Of course we rebuild Gu Yue Cun! We were born in Gu Yue Cun, we'll die in Gu Yue Cun — with so many corpses not yet cold, why would anyone want to leave?"

Someone offered their opinion.

But more people shared Lin Ling's view.

"Gu Yue Cun is already destroyed, Lord Han is gravely wounded, Captain Ye's fate is unknown, and the rest of us aren't even enough to form a Guard Team for the nightly patrols."

"Right, although we all love Gu Yue Cun, the reality now is that we no longer have the ability to survive on our own. Only by requesting the Qing Division to send people to assist can we rebuild the village. And until then, relying solely on our own strength, we cannot hold the ruined Gu Yue Cun."

These people made very good points, and everyone knew the logic — it was just emotionally difficult to accept all at once.

Lord Han had been about to speak up, when he saw the silent Lin Ling suddenly stand up.

"We are people of Gu Yue Cun, Gu Yue Cun is our homeland — that will never change! And we are not abandoning Gu Yue Cun, only going to a safe place to recuperate for now. Once the Qing Division sends people to rebuild Gu Yue Cun, we will return to Gu Yue Cun."

After a pause, Lin Ling surveyed the crowd, looking into each of their eyes, and said: "I, Lin Ling, swear it here! You are the ones I lead out of the village, and when the day comes that Gu Yue Cun is rebuilt, I will definitely bring you all back to the village!"

Lin Ling's words finally gave the others a little spiritual comfort.

Those who had been making a fuss gradually quieted down as well.

"Then where should we go to settle for now? Seek shelter with distant relatives?"

When distant relatives were mentioned, some people began chattering away with their opinions.

Most of them had distant relatives in other large villages, scattered all over the place, so no consensus could be reached.

After all, a distant relative was, in the end, just the distant relative of one or two individuals.

The rest were like strangers arriving in an unfamiliar large village — they felt no sense of belonging or identity, and were inwardly resistant.

"Let's go to Qingsi County," Lin Ling said suddenly.

"Qingsi County? But that's so far from us…"

"Right, and on the way there, who knows how many dangers we'll run into."

Even so, upon hearing they were going to Qingsi County, most people still shut their mouths, and there were far fewer objections.

For villagers like them, who had hardly ever left their own village a handful of times—

a county seat, more or less, stirred a certain longing in people.

Lord Han gave Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu a look.

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu immediately pouted, and reluctantly rotated Lord Han's head ninety degrees — a perfect tool of a person.

Earlier she had gone offline to call Fang Yue, but no one picked up; then she hurried back online, and still hadn't seen Fang Yue wake up in the game.

She was genuinely a little worried something might have happened to Fang Yue, because Tail had told her before that the person from the neighboring boys' school who had an accident while playing the game — really did have the accident because of the game!

So this game really could cause problems in real life!

"Fang Yue will be alright, right…"

(End of Chapter)