Chapter 103: Hanba

"Are you aware of the great drought in Qingzhou these past few years? Not a drop of rain has fallen for years, the rivers have run dry, the trees have withered, and now there isn't a single living person left in all of Qingzhou."

Zhou Dong did not answer Chen Mo's question immediately, but instead asked in return.

"I am aware." Chen Mo nodded and then added, "Very aware."

He had fled Qingzhou as a refugee to survive, so how could he not be aware of these things?

"Then have you noticed that the drought in Qingzhou is somewhat strange? Why is it only dry in this one region of Qingzhou?

Yet the neighboring prefectures of Xingyuan and Yangyang, even though they are only a few miles away, still have abundant rain and thriving crops, showing not the slightest sign of disaster; in fact, these past two years have even been harvest years."

Zhou Dong spoke in a profound tone, asking one question after another.

An extreme drought lasting for several consecutive years is indeed very rare, but it is not impossible.

However, the area affected by the drought in Qingzhou was so clearly demarcated that it seemed far too strange.

"This, this nephew truly does not know." Chen Mo frowned slightly and shook his head gently.

When he was fleeing, he had no energy to pay attention to such things, but later, when he traveled through Qingzhou again, he discovered this anomaly.

As for the specific reason, that was not something he could know.

But now, hearing Uncle Zhou say this, there must be some hidden story behind it.

The drought in Qingzhou was by no means a simple natural disaster.

"You already know about the Ruins Realm and the Mirage Sea, so there is no need to hide these things from you.

A Hanba has appeared within Qingzhou; once a Hanba emerges, the land is scorched for three thousand miles.

However, the range of its power is limited; as long as one is outside its power, one will never be affected by the drought." Zhou Dong spoke slowly, describing the true cause of the drought to Chen Mo.

"Then what does that have to do with escorting these prisoners? Could it be that they created the Hanba?"

Chen Mo asked, still puzzled; in fact, he had another guess in his heart, but he felt it was unlikely.

"Of course not, how would they have the ability to create a Hanba? This group of death-row prisoners includes Qi Refiners and many Martial Artists from the Dutian Dao Sect; they are the best choice for sacrifices, and they are to be used in a ritual to seal the Hanba."

Chen Mo's expression showed slight astonishment; he had not expected his guess to be correct, and that these people were indeed being used as sacrifices.

"Then since they are being used as sacrifices, why prepare so many people to guard them, and why have you, Uncle Zhou, come in person?

Since these Qi Refiners and Martial Artists of the Dutian Dao Sect could be captured, they should have no ability to resist."

Chen Mo was even more puzzled; since these Martial Artists and Qi Refiners had already been captured, there were plenty of ways to make them lose their ability to resist.

To deal with Martial Artists, one could shatter their dantian or use iron rings to pierce their shoulder blades.

To deal with Qi Refiners, besides the above methods, there is also the Spirit Sealing Talisman made by the Imperial Court, which can seal the circulation of Spirit Power within their bodies.

If that fails, using a Golden Needle to pierce their Shenhai can also make them lose their ability to resist.

Even for escorting eighty Qi Refiners and Martial Artists, there was no need to use such a formation; even if the number of guards were reduced by half, they would have no chance to escape.

"That's true, they really have no ability to resist. But there are people who do not want them to be used as sacrifices and want to intercept and kill them halfway."

When Zhou Dong said this, his brow could not help but furrow slightly; clearly, he found this quite troublesome as well.

Chen Mo, however, was truly at a loss; who on earth would have nothing better to do than to intercept and kill death-row prisoners who were going to die anyway?

Even if the people of the Dutian Dao Sect had not been wiped out, they should be lying low, yet they dared to come and intercept the prisoner transport.

But that should be to save people, not to kill them.

"Since you know about the Ruins Realm, you must be aware that inside the Ruins Realm, one will not be affected by the Mirage Sea.

Therefore, the Ruins Realm, from another perspective, is a rather special Dongtian Fudi.

And the Hanba is also a type of Ruins Monster; the area it can affect is the Ruins Realm. Furthermore, this Ruins Realm has no strange laws; it is simply a drought."

As he finished speaking, Chen Mo had an instant realization; he finally understood why he had never encountered the Mirage Sea when he was fleeing.

You must know that when he first fled, he was not alone; sometimes there were many people.

It was just that he was already near starvation at the time and had no mood to count how many people were beside him.

Before, when he heard his foster father speak of the secrets of the Mirage Sea, he only thought he was lucky that there had never been more than fifty people gathered around him.

And now, all his doubts were finally answered; it was not that he was lucky, but because from the very first moment he fled as a refugee.

Qingzhou had already been covered by that Hanba Xujing, so no matter how many people gathered, they would not be affected by the Mirage Sea.

"If that is the case, why didn't the Imperial Court seal the Hanba earlier? If they want to seal it now, it would be better to just leave it there." Chen Mo asked again.

If the Imperial Court had organized people to seal it as soon as the Hanba appeared, that would have been normal.

But now that there isn't a single living person left in all of Qingzhou, and all the losses that could be suffered have been suffered, sealing it now seems a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

It would be better to leave it as an area exempt from the influence of the Mirage Sea; it might be more valuable.

"The Imperial Court thought the same thing at first, but it is still constantly expanding, so it must be sealed." Zhou Dong explained slowly.

If the drought range affected by this Hanba would not continue to expand, the Imperial Court might still hesitate about whether to seal it.

After all, the losses had already been suffered, and sealing it now would not have much meaning.

But since it will continue to expand, it must be sealed; otherwise, as the range of the drought continues to expand, the problem will become increasingly difficult to solve.

"As for why it was dragged out until now, there are many reasons, mainly because there were no sacrifices.

If it weren't for the fact that this roundup of the Dutian Dao Sect gathered enough sacrifices, and a Golden Core Ancestor who had awakened from a deep sleep learned of this and was willing to use themselves as a sacrifice, this matter would probably have been dragged out even longer."

Zhou Dong sighed softly as he spoke; many common people had died in Qingzhou, which was indeed very tragic.

But it is easy for everyone to express sympathy with their words; if they were truly asked to be the sacrifice themselves and save the people of Qingzhou with their own lives, then I am afraid few would be willing.

To sacrifice one person to save the world—not everyone has the courage to do that.

Especially since the required sacrifice is not an ordinary expert, but a Golden Core Ancestor, which makes it even harder to find.

You must know that every Golden Core Ancestor is the most important foundation of a power; the death of one could trigger a turmoil.

Such people, even when near the end of their lives, will use a Secret Technique to fall into a deep sleep, waiting to be awakened only at the most dangerous moment.

For example, the Golden Core prepared to be sacrificed this time was one who had fallen into a deep sleep near the end of their life.

As for the people of the Dutian Dao Sect, they can only be considered a supplement in this matter; the main focus is still on that Golden Core cultivator.

If he hadn't been willing to sacrifice himself this time, who knows how much longer the sealing of the Drought Demon would have been dragged out.

"Who exactly are these people who want to stop the sealing? Could they be some Qi Refiners from demonic or heterodox paths?" Chen Mo asked softly.

If there really were someone with the motive to do this, then that person would likely be a Qi Refiner.

The reason is simple: as long as a Qi Refiner has attained even a slight level of cultivation, they can practice Inedia; they don't need to eat, and they can live quite well just by absorbing Heaven and Earth Power.

Even if the whole world were to suffer from drought, they would neither starve nor die of thirst.

And an area unaffected by the Mirage Sea would undoubtedly be very beneficial to them.

Therefore, if there really is someone who doesn't want to see the Drought Demon sealed, then it could only be a Qi Refiner.

"You guessed right; it is a small group of Qi Refiners who want this Ruins Realm to continue expanding, but they aren't necessarily from demonic or heterodox paths.

Because a Blessed Land is also unaffected by the Ruins Realm; even if everywhere else is suffering from drought, the Blessed Land remains full of rain and can grow crops.

So, of course, they want this Ruins Realm to keep spreading; this is of great benefit to them."

Zhou Dong nodded slightly, confirming Chen Mo's guess.

With a Blessed Land present, these Qi Refiners don't have to worry about their descendants starving to death due to a lack of food.

Thus, they don't care if the drought continues to expand; they only care about whether they can disperse the Mirage Sea to make their own movements and cultivation more convenient.

Admittedly, the vast majority of Qi Refiners understand that once there are no ordinary people left, relying solely on their own family reproduction, the sect's inheritance will sooner or later be severed.

Therefore, the Drought Demon must be sealed.

There was even a Golden Core powerhouse willing to sacrifice himself for this, using his own life as the price to solve this problem.

But there are always some Qi Refiners who don't care about these things; they might not even care about their own kin, only about whether their own cultivation is convenient.

To satisfy their own selfish desires, they don't care at all, even if it means sacrificing the common people of the world.

In their eyes, ordinary people are just lowly existences like ants; if they die, they die.

Of course, they want to stop the Drought Demon from being sealed, so that this Ruins Realm can further expand, allowing them to cultivate better and walk more easily between heaven and earth.

As for Martial Artists and the Imperial Court, they must seal the Drought Demon.

Because the vast majority of Martial Artists have to eat, and they are not much affected by the Mirage Sea.

As for the Imperial Court, if there are no common people left, then what kind of Imperial Court would there be?

"Then how many Qi Refiners do we actually need to guard against?" Chen Mo pondered for a moment and asked in a grave voice.

"There won't be too many; even if some Qi Refiners don't want to see the Drought Demon sealed, at most they will only make small moves in private, not daring to do so with great fanfare.

Right now, every Blessed Land within Qingzhou is guarded by powerhouses from the Heaven Inspection Division to prevent them from causing trouble at this time.

In addition, there might be some demonic or heterodox practitioners who want to stop this, but the number won't be too large either.

I estimate that at most some Qi Refining realm cultivators will appear; there won't even be any Foundation Establishment cultivators."

Zhou Dong's expression was not particularly tense.

Sealing the Drought Demon is already the consensus of the vast majority of people, even if some don't want it to be sealed.

It is impossible for them to openly oppose it; at most, they will use some small tricks in secret.

"However, you must also remember that this matter must never be taken lightly; you must not stop paying attention to it," Zhou Dong added immediately.

Although there might not be any great danger along this journey, one must never be too relaxed; the basic precautions must still be taken.

"This junior understands." Chen Mo bowed and stepped back.

Mo Hu was standing outside the door waiting, and he smiled and put his arm around his shoulder, "Today, your Fifth Brother has come to your territory, so you must treat me well."

He smiled very happily; as for what exactly Chen Mo and Zhou Dong talked about, he didn't ask a single word.

He knew that given his relationship with Chen Mo, if these things could be told to him, then he certainly wouldn't hide them.

Conversely, if they couldn't be told, then even if he asked, he wouldn't say.

Chen Mo took Mo Hu to the best restaurant in the city, and the two brothers drank to their hearts' content.

Not until Mo Hu was slumped under the table talking nonsense did Chen Mo put down his wine cup.

The soldiers of Anyang Prefecture escorting the prisoners rested and reorganized there for a day, and continued their journey the next day.

(End of this chapter)