Chapter 247: The Abandoned Humans

Chen Shu stepped into this scorched earth and frowned again.

Before, when he was far away, it was naturally impossible to discern the situation here, but now that he had arrived, he immediately found the familiar one among the chaotic Spirit Power residues between heaven and earth—

Violent, scorching, disordered...

Like a sun.

Chen Shu lowered his head and rubbed the ground with his foot.

There was a strange kind of crystal.

"So that's it..."

This was the Spirit Power residue of the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art; the Small Blazing Sun Art could be considered its super-weakened version.

It just so happened that one of Yiguo's Zhan Lue Wu Qi was developed based on the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art; in essence, it was the modern weapon application of the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art, and once activated, it was equivalent to the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art released by a Ninth Stage Spirit Cultivator.

Chen Shu tilted his head slightly, exchanged a glance with the dragonfly standing on his shoulder, and continued to ponder as he walked toward the large crater.

The crystals on the ground were becoming more numerous, and the Spirit Power residue of the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art was becoming increasingly obvious.

Five people were hiding in the large crater; four of them were eating a kind of gray flatbread and drinking water, while one person was lying on the edge of the crater keeping watch, and as Chen Shu approached them, he kept reminding him to hurry and stay hidden.

Chen Shu was also very obedient.

Until he arrived in the large crater, both sides sized each other up.

Chen Shu was still dressed casually and lightly, as if he were going to the beach for a vacation, or like an old man resting in a chair during the summer, wearing a tank top, shorts, and slippers, with a dragonfly from the dense forest on the other side standing on his shoulder.

These five people, however, had the appearance of yellow-skinned people.

Compared to the people of Yiguo today, they appeared exceptionally thin and small, their skin was relatively dark, and they wore strange clothing with deep colors; one could vaguely see some characteristics of clothing common among the commoners of the Xia Dynasty, but there was a significant difference.

"Why are you the only one?" asked a person who looked slightly older, with a slightly strange accent, "Where is that woman from just now?"

"She was too agitated and couldn't say anything, only saying that you said you could take us back." Chen Shu's expression was brilliant and complex, possessing both the nervousness of having accidentally wandered into this incredible place, the excitement of seeing humans here and catching a glimpse of a great secret, the agitation of having drifted for so long and finally being able to go home, and a few parts of the vigilance indispensable in a strange place, "I came over to ask about the situation again; can you really take us back?"

"What is there to ask about? We have seen too many people like you who came here because of a shipwreck."

"Did they all eventually go back?"

"Some were sent back, some didn't want to go back and wanted to stay here to find excitement, so they stayed here."

"Good."

Chen Shu immediately gained a bit more trust in him, then asked urgently, as if he were about to pry into some earth-shattering secret:

"Is this really Nanzhou?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"But wasn't the Nanzhou Continent proven not to exist? How did it pop up again?"

"Who said it doesn't exist? The Nanzhou Continent has always existed; it's just that after our world suffered an invasion from the starry sky, this place became a base for exotic beasts. The outside world abandoned us, letting us resist the maddened exotic beasts here alone." That person revealed a look of resentment, "It has already been several thousand years; you live stable and happy lives outside, while we spend our days here fighting to the death with maddened exotic beasts."

"Exotic beasts? Maddened?"

"Yes."

"Why do they go mad?"

"The source of the exotic beasts is here; it is what turns ordinary wild beasts into exotic beasts. Although the gods made the exotic beasts in the outside world lose their madness, it attracts the exotic beasts of the whole world here every once in a while and turns them mad again." That person glanced at the well-dressed, fair-skinned Chen Shu, his expression complex, "And our mission for staying here for thousands of years is to kill all the maddened exotic beasts to prevent them from leaving."

After a slight pause, he said again:

"The reason the exotic beasts didn't attack you while you were outside just now is simply because madness takes time; they are still docile for now, but as you have seen, they have been staring at you and could devour you at any time. I suggest you hurry and bring your companions over; I will take you to a safe place, as war could break out here again at any moment."

"So a war happened here." Chen Shu revealed a look of realization, "No wonder it was beaten into such a state."

"That's right, this is our battlefield with the exotic beasts; we are the scouts on the front line, responsible for investigating their movements."

"Truly..." Chen Shu revealed a look of sympathy, "It really has been hard on you all."

"Glad you know!"

"Has the outside world sent troops to help you?"

"Sometimes they do, but very, very rarely! It's just that a few countries will periodically launch some... attacks here? Sometimes they even accidentally injure us!"

"Why don't they come to help you?" Chen Shu was very interested.

"Why do you have so many questions?"

"I'm empathizing with you..."

"Sigh, it's all because we offended the Shengzu of Great Xia... didn't your female companion tell you?"

"No..."

"It's a long story..."

This person lay in the pit, revealing a look of sorrow: "A long time ago, the Cultivators of Great Xia came to our homeland, and we went to war; in the end, during the war, our ancestors captured the wife and children whom the Shengzu of Great Xia loved most, and killed them..."

"The Shengzu's wife and children?"

"Yes."

"No wonder... please continue."

"So after we were conquered by the Shengzu, we were exiled here to resist these exotic beasts for generations."

"But it has already been several thousand years."

"I heard that the tyrant Shengzu eventually became a god; gods do not die, and with him around, who dares to get too close to us?"

"That is true..."

Chen Shu frowned and said: "After I get out, I will definitely make the matters here public, let the people of the whole world know of your contributions, and let the countries of the world send troops to help you! I cannot let you suffer here alone!"

"Heh... everyone says that!"

"I promise! I am different from them!"

"Hurry and go bring your companions over; many exotic beasts are already eyeing them, and these exotic beasts could go mad at any time..."

"Good!"

Chen Shu climbed out of the deep pit and suddenly turned back: "By the way, where do you usually live?"

"Over there."

That person turned around and pointed behind them.

Chen Shu raised his eyes to look; the barren ground stretched for a thousand miles.

Their homeland has turned into a Battlefield, hasn't it?

Truly tragic.

Chen Shu put on a saintly expression, so moved he was about to cry, nodded to these heroes in greeting, and only then turned to leave this place.

Just at this moment—

A huge flapping sound suddenly came from the sky.

A giant raptor with a wingspan of over twenty meters and feathers shimmering with a cold metallic light flew over from the other side of the boundary; its speed was extremely fast, and it assumed a hunting posture, its two huge hooked talons already extended, aimed at the area below.

A large shadow was cast upon the ground.

Chen Shu only heard the group behind him shout:

"Quick, hide!"

But Chen Shu stood still.

"Whoosh!"

The airflow from the raptor flying past distorted his face.

Yet the raptor bypassed him directly and flew toward the large pit in the rear, and then the sound of Spirit Power exploding came from behind.

Chen Shu looked back; the raptor failed its first strike, crossed the deep pit, and rapidly gained altitude, while the few people in the pit were also on full alert, ready to deal with the next wave of attacks at any time.

"Come help us quickly!"

"..."

Chen Shu withdrew his gaze and looked toward the dense forest.

Several more raptors flew up from the dense forest; they were of different species, yet all were extremely large, flying toward this side.

The black shadows on the ground moved rapidly.

Chen Shu looked back at those few heroes again, only to see that after they dodged another wave of the raptors' offensive, they cursed at him a few times, ran a few dozen meters to the rear, and then dove into an inconspicuous hole in the ground, disappearing from sight.

The raptors continued to hover in the sky.

Chen Shu could feel their gaze scanning him, sharp as a pointed awl, but they had no intention of launching an attack on him.

Ten minutes later.

Chen Shu returned to the small boat.

The little dragonfly on his shoulder had also long since flown away.

Qingqing on the boat still had a calm expression.

Zhang Suannai, however, was still shaken, and said to him: "I thought you were going to be snatched away by those birds just now, I almost came to save you... How was it?"

"Almost everything they said was a lie, only one sentence was true," Chen Shu said, "Though their acting was not bad."

"Yes," Qingqing confirmed.

"Which sentence?" Zhang Suannai asked.

"That many people have come here by accident due to shipwrecks; just that one."

"How do you know the others were all lies? And how do you know this one is true?" After Zhang Suannai finished asking, she looked at Ning Qing, "How do you know too?"

"The lies they fabricated are quite similar, which shows that people from the outside world have indeed come here, believed their words, had more in-depth communication with them, and enriched their lies," Chen Shu said, squinting his eyes; as for the fate of these people, he was not sure.

If not for his understanding of Shengzu, if not for his knowledge of history, if not for him being a disciple of the Spirit Sect and having entered the Phoenix Tower to read books related to exotic beasts, perhaps he would have believed it too?

But even if he had believed it, he would have been corrected very quickly.

Because Qingqing was by his side.

Although the Secret Sect is restricted in this place, Qingqing still possesses a strong ability to discern lies, especially the lies of humans.

But why?

Being human, why would they be abandoned here?

Why would they be treated with hostility and hunted by gentle exotic beasts?

Why would they use lies to deceive him?

Why would they be bombed by countries around the world? The major powers even specially set up a shared Zhan Lue Wu Qi target range nearby as a cover.

Chen Shu remained puzzled.

He only heard Qingqing's voice beside him, very low in volume, her voice clear and cold: "There is a strange power over there, secretly eroding us."

"Hm?"

"What power? What erosion? Why don't I feel anything?"

"This power is strange and powerful; we have stayed for a short time, so we cannot perceive it, but if the time is long, the consequences may be unpredictable."

"So that's how it is," Chen Shu said.

"So that's how it is," Zhang Suannai followed up.

"Perhaps we will know the answer soon," Qingqing said while looking into the distance.

The two followed her gaze and looked; another bird rose from the dense forest, but its wingspan was only a few meters, its feathers black and white, flying toward their direction.

"Clang!"

The large bird landed on the boat, folded its wings, and was as tall as a person; its two round eyes scanned the three of them, and when it opened its beak, it actually spoke human language:

"Humans! Come with me! Take you home!"

"Who are you?"

"Humans! Come with me! Take you home!"

"How to take us?"

"Human! Come with me! Take you home!"

"Is that the only sentence you know?"

"Bullshit!"

"......"

The boat suddenly began to move.

By the time the few of them reacted, that Dragon Shark had already lifted the boat and headed toward the dense forest on the right side of the boundary.