Chapter 75: I Make the Decisions—No Objections, Right?
Gu Changqing wore a smile on his face, meeting every gaze with an unflinching look, utterly indifferent. Finding his glasses inconvenient, he removed them and casually held them in his hand.
“You’ll stay here for now. The conditions are a bit basic, but it’s the same for everyone,” Jian Lan said, leading Gu Changqing to a corner. “But I heard they’re planning to build a new city here, modular construction, so it’ll be fast. Maybe by the time you go in and come out, you’ll have a new place.”
“Do you need anything else?”
“My bag is in the car,” Gu Changqing replied, tossing her the car keys.
Jian Lan nodded and left. If anyone else had treated her like a porter, she would have been annoyed. After all, everyone here was an awakened one, and support-type awakened had considerable status. But after what had just happened, she was certain that Gu Changqing’s current attitude was already quite amicable. As long as he didn’t cause trouble, running errands for him wasn’t a big deal. Indeed, one’s baseline could always be lowered.
Gu Changqing glanced around before entering the tent. In truth, the tent was spacious, two meters and twenty centimeters high, about twelve square meters. There was an inflatable bed, an inflatable sofa, a table, a chair, a small box, and even an electric wire was drawn in.
Outside, a canopy provided shade; many put tables and chairs there, sunbathed by day, enjoyed the evening breeze by night, and grew acquainted with fellow awakened ones.
Gu Changqing moved his table and chair outside, placed the lamp under the canopy, then sat down and began reading the materials.
He was curious about what lay inside the Qingfeng Battlefield.
Opening the documents, he first found a record in the first person.
...
On the morning of the sixth, eight of us entered the fog. The mist had no direction, nor sense of time—it felt as if we walked for minutes, or perhaps hours, before emerging. Checking the clock, sixteen minutes had passed.
We appeared in a mountainous region, dense with vegetation, some plants unfamiliar, uncertain if they belonged to our world. The air carried a faint stench of decay, making us uncomfortable. The sun shone in the sky, and the temperature was normal.
After careful deliberation, we decided to toss a shoe to pick our direction, leaving marks along the way.
By nightfall, we confirmed something: though the vegetation was normal, there was no wildlife.
The moon appeared—two in total, both red. We began to suspect this was not our world.
On the seventh, we continued southwest. This world’s day was about twenty-four hours. Still, no living creatures.
On the eighth, around noon, we arrived at a small town, bustling with people. Excitement filled us.
The town had an ancient style, reminiscent of old times, yet somehow different.
---
We entered the town; the residents were surprised by our attire. Attempting to converse, we found the language was not completely the same, but not unrelated—we understood some parts.
Splitting into two groups to explore, we found no abnormalities, but did discover some books; most of the script matched ours, though pronunciation seemed inconsistent.
We decided to spend the night in the town, remaining cautious.
As the blood moon rose, the town erupted. All the residents shed their skins, revealing gruesome masses of flesh.
Though not strong, they moved swiftly and were bloodthirsty, fearless of death.
We fought our way out, escaping into the mountains, only finding safety by dawn. Two were wounded.
On the ninth, we observed the town from afar. By day, it had returned to peace.
We began our journey back.
The wounded’s injuries began to rot, worsening rapidly. Our medicines proved useless.
That night, both disappeared.
On the tenth, we searched for half a day, discovering traces of clothing and skin, but no sign of the two missing.
This left everyone in low spirits.
In the afternoon, we continued our return.
...
Gu Changqing had imagined that the Qinghe Battlefield, as an ancient battleground, would be filled with bones, spirits, or other eerie entities, but the records far exceeded his expectations.
When he saw mention of the ancient town, all sorts of thoughts arose.
Was this some kind of nested reality? He had come from Daye to this place—could the town they found belong to Daye’s world? Gu Changqing even wondered if Daye and Nan Chu were two timelines of the same world, separated by unknown ages, but he dismissed the idea as soon as it came. The skies of the two worlds were not alike.
The mist was clearly not the Qinghe Battlefield as imagined, nor anywhere in Nan Chu, though its connection to Daye’s world remained uncertain.
He would have to see it for himself.
The records indicated that the scripts in the three places were all the same—an intriguing detail.
And that small town piqued his interest.
It sounded like a place full of culinary delights.
This trip had indeed not been wasted.
After finishing the first record, Jian Lan returned with his bag.
Gu Changqing continued reading.
Up to now, three teams had entered to explore. The first was military, about a hundred men, who stayed in the forest for three days before being forced to retreat.
On their return, all suffered various physical changes, even mutations.
The conclusion in the documents was... something akin to pollution.
---
The second team was the one whose record he had just read—eight awakened ones, stayed seven days, six returned.
The third team set out a day later, ten awakened ones, heading in one direction for four days, reaching the end of the world.
They encountered another white mist, but unlike the one before, this mist acted as a barrier—a wall invisible to sight but tangible to touch.
They then retraced their steps.
A world with an end—this sparked many thoughts in Gu Changqing, making him even more interested in the world within Qinghe Battlefield.
The tent, though spacious, offered little sound insulation. After all, everyone here had sharp senses.
Luckily, they thoughtfully provided earplugs for each person.
The next morning, Yan Hao assembled everyone: “Everyone’s here. Let’s assign groups and get familiar with your teammates, since you’ll be entering and exiting together.”
“Is everyone really here?” someone asked in surprise.
“Those from Chendu didn’t come?”
Chendu was the capital of Nan Chu, where the headquarters boasted several renowned young experts.
Others had expected them to arrive later, but apparently, they weren’t coming.
“Quiet!” Yan Hao announced. “There are thirty-six people present, six from each province. Teams will be assigned by province, and you’ll act together once inside.”
“How you distribute roles within your group is your own concern. While most regions inside lack living beings, there are plenty of dangers. I trust you’re all aware.”
“You have one day to get acquainted, meeting tonight!”
No one was surprised by this arrangement; most were already familiar.
Only the Yongzhou group frowned, glancing at Gu Changqing—clearly, he was the most unruly.
Gu Changqing glanced around, identifying everyone, then twisted his neck, bones cracking like firecrackers.
Grinning, he asked, “Which one of you is Ning Ze? And who’s Pei Yuntai?”
“I’m in charge. Anyone object?”
At his words, the others from different provinces looked over, eager for drama.
He was as unruly as ever.
Both Ning Ze and Pei Yuntai were famous prodigies, top-tier among level four awakened.
Chapter Three is finally released...
(End of chapter)