The All-Heavens Demon King strode forward arrogantly, leading the old, weak, sick, and disabled from the Village of Broken Elders.
"So many people in this village have sound hands and feet. Why is it called the Village of Broken Elders?" the All-Heavens Demon King wondered.
By now, the Village of Broken Elders could no longer be considered a village of broken elders. The village had young people in Grandma Si and Qin Mu, so the word "elders" was open to question.
Old Ma, the Butcher, and the Cripple now had sound hands and feet. Although Grandma Si's Dao heart was damaged, there was nothing wrong with her body.
In the Village of Broken Elders, only the Blind One, the Herbalist, the Village Chief, the Mute, and the Deaf had physically impaired bodies.
However, the All-Heavens Demon King did not know that, to the people of the Village of Broken Elders, physical disabilities were not disabilities. The disabilities in their hearts were their true disabilities.
The Village Chief was trapped by his own ideals and responsibilities, unable to realize them, and had grown disheartened. Even with sound limbs, he would not leave the Great Ruins.
The Herbalist had been forced by too many debts of affection to cut off his own face. Even if he regained the magnificent appearance of his former prime, he probably would not dare go out and meet anyone.
The Blind One's downfall was not merely because he was blind. Even if Old Ma's hands were restored, he would remain sunk in the deaths of his wife and children, unable to free himself or forgive himself.
Grandma Si's inner demon, the Cripple's past, the Deaf's lost homeland, the Mute's mysterious past, and the reason the Butcher had raised his blade to the sky were all shackles that kept them trapped.
The disabilities in their hearts were their true disabilities. Each of them was sunk in a history that brought them sorrow, unable to break free—that was why the Village of Broken Elders existed.
If the child they had raised had not run out into the world, the people of the Village of Broken Elders would have remained quietly in the village, waiting to die of old age there, then digging pits to bury themselves.
Qin Mu's arrival had gradually brought their hearts back to life, but even Qin Mu could not make them leave the past that had turned them into cripples.
A crippled body and a ruined heart—only that was true crippling.
To emerge from it, one could only rely on oneself.
The All-Heavens Demon King was worthy of being a demon king from another world. He knew far too much. Even the Blind One could not help admiring the depth of his knowledge, especially his attainments in mathematics and divination. The All-Heavens Demon King had completely won him over.
They had reached the edge of the forest and were about to arrive at its end. Only about two li of road remained behind them, but even those two-odd li had taken the All-Heavens Demon King most of the day to traverse.
"New Year's Eve has arrived," Grandma Si suddenly said.
Old Ma shook his head. "If everyone from the village isn't here, it doesn't count as celebrating the New Year."
The Butcher's voice rang like a bell. "We must find the Village Chief, the Mute, and the Herbalist! Alive or dead, we must see them! Even if they're dead, we have to drag them back to celebrate the New Year!"
There was no road ahead. Instead, there was the Land of Carefree in a shattered state.
There was no ground here anymore. The end of the forest was a perfectly even cross-section. Qin Mu stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down, seeing another forest.
He could not help staring in astonishment.
"Another forest?"
Qin Mu said in surprise, "This forest is growing on a cliff. How can the trees be perpendicular to the ground?"
The All-Heavens Demon King jumped down from the cliff. With a splash, he landed steadily on the sheer wall, his body perpendicular to Qin Mu's, and walked back and forth along the cliff face. "The seal here is more complicated than I imagined. It is made of cubes that seal the Land of Carefree within them and control the geomagnetic elemental force here. Come over and take a look, and you'll understand."
Qin Mu cautiously extended one foot. Suddenly, he felt a force of attraction rise from the sole of his foot. As his foot came down and his other foot lifted, he discovered that he too was standing on the cliff face, without the slightest discomfort.
Not only that, but from his perspective, he felt as if he were standing at the edge of the cliff, while Grandma Si, Old Ma, and the others stood vertically on the cliff face. He and the All-Heavens Demon King were standing on level ground.
He looked around and felt his heart tremble. He saw another forest opposite them, perpendicular to the ground.
Beyond that, vast forests stretched across the sky in every other direction as well.
It was as if pieces of land surrounded the Land of Carefree, joining together to form a gigantic hollow sphere.
Yet from a geographical perspective, it did not look like a simple hollow sphere. Rather, it seemed to be formed from hundreds or thousands of cubes of different heights, assembled into a gigantic hollow sphere, with the Land of Carefree at its center.
Every cube was a folded forest space stretching for hundreds or thousands of li, and every face of every cube was a front face.
Such divine abilities had reached a height beyond his imagination. Even an existence like the State Preceptor of Yankang probably could not imagine that such divine abilities existed in the world, could he?
"The geomagnetic elemental force here has been altered."
The Blind One had also come over. After sensing the force of attraction, he said, "This kind of supreme divine ability is no small matter. It envelops the entire Land of Carefree. The only exit is probably the path we came by."
"Countless seals were placed here to keep the people inside the Land of Carefree from leaving."
Grandma Si came over as well and looked up. The shattered Land of Carefree floated silently in the distance, still far above them. "The Village Chief and the Ancestor possess vast divine abilities. They must have entered it, right?"
The All-Heavens Demon King gazed upward, then walked back along the path they had come from and shook his head. "There are many restrictions in the sky. It would be very difficult to avoid the divine prohibitions and fly over. I need some time to calculate a route of survival. It will probably take thirty to fifty years. If my true body were here, it would be faster, but it would still take a year or two. The gods and devils who left behind this seal are too powerful for you to deal with. If they tried to fly into the Land of Carefree, they are most likely already dead…"
He muttered, "The entire Great Ruins is a cursed land, shrouded in strange rules. It is truly difficult to live in a world like this. Cult Master Qin, even though you invited me to this world, I will never come again. This world is far too abnormal!"
The Blind One muttered, "The Village Chief must have survived. That old fellow never takes anything seriously, but once he does take something seriously, he can certainly accomplish it… Wait a moment, look at the shape of this Land of Carefree. Doesn't it look like a ship?"
Everyone looked up one after another. The Land of Carefree was enormous. Although it had already been destroyed, its former grandeur and magnificence could still be seen, along with a sun hanging there, about to sink into darkness.
Yet if the shattered peaks, enormous machines, and ruined cities were put together, the shape really did resemble a magnificent ship of inconceivable size.
By comparison, the Sun Ship and Moon Ship were nothing.
"The Land of Carefree is a ship?"
Qin Mu's mind could barely keep up. Although the sun in the sky was an artificial sun, it was also extraordinarily immense. The cities and mountains of the Land of Carefree combined were even larger, hundreds or thousands of times greater than the Sun Ship and Moon Ship.
Could there really be such a colossal ship in the world?
"What sharp eyes you have, Blind One!"
The Cripple's eyes lit up, and his breathing quickened. Pointing at the sun that had been swallowed by darkness for the most part, he said, "This sun should be the energy source of this ship! That is a great alchemy furnace—a great alchemy furnace beyond imagination…"
Grandma Si rolled her eyes at him. "You can't carry it home."
The All-Heavens Demon King was also somewhat shaken. In a low voice, he said, "With an alchemy furnace so enormous, what was this ship used for? Why was it sealed here? Could it be… Haha, I'm thinking too much."
He gave two dry laughs and said no more.
Old Ma said, "A ship is used to carry people. A ship carries people so that they can reach a destination. This ship has a destination of its own."
The Deaf had remained silent all this time. He suddenly spoke. "Isn't it the Land of Carefree? If the Land of Carefree is carefree and without worries, why would it need a destination? Once it has a destination, it is no longer the Land of Carefree. If it is not the Land of Carefree, then where is its destination?"
Everyone exchanged a glance and said in unison, "The true Land of Carefree!"
Qin Mu was stunned. The guesses of the village's elders left him even more bewildered. The Land of Carefree—wasn't this the Land of Carefree?
Still, what Old Ma and the others said made perfect sense. Since such a huge ship had been built, it must have had a destination. The destination of this ship might be the true Land of Carefree.
However, the enemy had discovered the ship and smashed it apart, sealing it away. The survivors aboard had tried to escape the seal, and the casualties had been terrible. It had taken them countless years to carve out a path.
The monsters in the darkness were also searching for the Land of Carefree, even believing that this place was the Land of Carefree. In truth, it was merely a ship traveling toward the Land of Carefree.
"If this is not the Land of Carefree, where is the true Land of Carefree?"
Qin Mu was lost. "Where exactly is my homeland? Are any of my people still alive?"
His mind was in turmoil. Just then, a silver light flashed through the sky. A silver boat flew out from that city. The Mute stood on it, holding a wooden chest in his hands. Inside the boat were two white-haired old men, a faceless man, and a youth.
The Mute controlled the silver boat, maneuvering nimbly through the sky and dodging the divine prohibitions above.
The All-Heavens Demon King stared in stunned amazement. The silver boat's route at that moment was precisely the route of survival that would have taken him decades to calculate.
The silver boat carried the group, darting agilely among the divine prohibitions like a clever fish swimming through water, avoiding danger after danger.
After a moment, the silver boat descended from the sky and landed before them. The Herbalist carried the Village Chief down from the boat. The Ancestor shook his head and said, "Why are you carrying him? He can obviously fly down by himself."
The Herbalist was startled. He set the Village Chief upright on the ground and laughed. "I've gotten used to it."
Qin Mu and the others hurried forward. The Mute opened the wooden chest, and the silver boat dissolved, turning into silver pellets that fell into the wooden chest with a series of tinkling sounds.
The Mute skillfully closed the chest and held it in his hand. Seeing everyone approach, he smiled and waved. "Ah, ah!"
Everyone surrounded them as they came forward, eager to ask all kinds of questions, especially the Mute.
Even an existence as knowledgeable as the All-Heavens Demon King needed decades to calculate a route of survival. How had the Mute known it?
And what exactly had they seen when they went to that city in the sky?
Was that place actually the Land of Carefree? Were there any survivors?
Just as everyone was about to speak, the Village Chief floated up and smiled at Qin Mu. "Mu'er, I have good news for you. We finally know your surname. Herbalist, give it to him."
The Herbalist poured many things out of the bag on his body: a waist tablet, a bronze mirror, a plaque, a seal, a jade pendant, clothes, and other objects. Every one of these things bore the same character.
Qin.
"Your surname is Qin."
The Herbalist smiled. "There were many things like these inside that city, so the Village Chief had me collect some. Look at the writing on them. Is it the same as the writing on your jade pendant?"
Qin Mu's mind boomed. He turned and looked back at the small village along the road they had traveled.
A thread of hope arose in his heart.
The Village Chief seemed to see what he was thinking and said, "That place may not be where you were born, and that household may not have been your parents. Your parents may still be alive."