**Chapter 81: The Dark Realm**
The little girl who herded the sun had vanished along with her Sun Ship, and darkness surged forth swiftly, swallowing heaven and earth.
"What exactly did the patriarch of the Sun-Herding Clan mean to say?"
Qin Mu sank into thought. The darkness shrouded the land, and the dragon pillars blazed to life once more. Fire basins throughout the city ignited one after another, and temples cast their glow into the night.
The jade pendant at his chest also emitted a faint light. According to the Sun-Herding Clan, this pendant came from Wuyou Township — and he himself might have come from Wuyou Township as well. Yet the map of the Great Ruins bore no such name. It was as if the place did not exist within the Great Ruins at all.
"Wuyou Township — where exactly is it? Why does it only appear when the darkness falls?"
He stared blankly at the darkness beyond the city walls, yearning to walk into it and search for that Wuyou Township. But the darkness covered so vast an expanse, engulfing the boundless Great Ruins. Who could know where that ethereal Wuyou Township lay?
And moreover, how could he traverse the mysterious darkness safely?
The darkness was far too dangerous. A small jade pendant could not protect him, and the stone idol was far too heavy — carrying it on his back would be like carrying a god, which he was entirely incapable of.
"Might my parents be in Wuyou Township?"
Qin Mu's spirits sank. He stood upon the dragon-head of the dragon pillar, raising his palm as though he wished to reach out and touch the thick darkness beyond.
The borderless darkness surged outside the city, separated from the brightly lit scene within by what seemed like a thin membrane. A colossal hand appeared upon the membrane wall, reaching toward his own palm.
Qin Mu looked up. The two hands drew ever closer.
Whispers drifted from the darkness, as though many gentle voices were murmuring, coaxing him to walk into the darkness and merge with it.
The whispers grew louder and louder, penetrating deeper into his mind, ceaselessly entreating.
Qin Mu's gaze grew hazy. The two hands were almost touching.
Gradually, the darkness before him was no longer darkness. It became another grand world — a realm glimpsed through smoke or upon the surface of still water. A woman was reaching out from afar, her palm extended toward his, as though she sought to make contact.
Her features were blurred and indistinct. He tried to see them clearly, but could never quite make them out.
The jade pendant at his chest drifted upward, as though it wished to float toward that world within the darkness.
"Mu'er, what are you doing?"
A voice — both alarmed and furious — came from behind. Qin Mu withdrew his hand. The Deaf had appeared at his back, snapping him out of his trance. Qin Mu jolted awake from his stupor, hurriedly pulling his hand back, drenched in cold sweat.
Had he truly touched the hand in the darkness, what would have happened? Others who fell into the darkness had died in the most wretched of ways. He too would have been devoured by the monsters within.
The colossal hand in the darkness also withdrew of its own accord, vanishing without a trace. The otherworldly vision faded.
In his daze, Qin Mu thought he heard a sigh echo from within the darkness, but the Deaf was clearly oblivious to it.
The Deaf was furious. He seized Qin Mu and strode off, fuming. "There are demons in the darkness, skilled at ensnaring the mind. Be careful, or they'll snatch you away!"
"Demons that ensnare the mind?"
Only then did fear truly seize him. Qin Mu tucked the jade pendant at his chest beneath his clothes, as though hiding his innermost thoughts along with it. A silent resolve formed in his heart: "One day, I will traverse the darkness, seek its origin, and find Wuyou Township!"
"Grandpa Deaf, what was that thing in the darkness just now? Why could I suddenly see what was within it?" Qin Mu asked after a moment's thought.
"What lies within is the Dark Realm," the Deaf replied. "The Village Chief knows about the Dark Realm. He has been there. Let us go to the City Lord's Manor — the Village Chief is there as well. He can tell you himself."
Qin Mu's heart trembled. The Village Chief had been to that world within the darkness?
He was truly so powerful — to have entered the darkness and returned alive?
"Mu'er, you actually saw that world within the darkness?"
In the City Lord's Manor, the residents of the Village of Broken Elders had gathered together. Grandma Si still wore Fu Yundi's skin. The Herbalist, the Mute, Old Ma, the Deaf, the Blind One, the Cripple, and the Butcher were all present, listening as Qin Mu recounted his encounter with the Sun Ship and the dark hand that had reached for him.
The Village Chief was visibly shaken. "I have indeed been to that world within the darkness. Many years ago, I arrived in the Great Ruins with every hope extinguished. I believed that nothing in my life would ever bear fruit again. I was so despondent I wished to die — yet I could not even die."
He revealed a bitter smile. But the other villagers of the Village of Broken Elders understood that sentiment all too well — the courage to die but the inability to do so, because responsibility still rested upon one's shoulders and had not yet been passed to another.
"I was walking along the edge of life and death, seeking time and again to end my existence. Once, I failed to resist the temptation of the demons, and I walked into the darkness."
The Village Chief recalled the past, his expression calm. "I thought that walking in would mean certain death. But I was simply too powerful — so powerful that even the darkness could not destroy me in a short while."
The words might have sounded like boasting, but not a single villager of the Village of Broken Elders thought so. If the Village Chief said he was too powerful, then he was too powerful.
How terrifying was the darkness? Every member of the Village of Broken Elders was among the most formidable of experts. Yet apart from the Village Chief, none dared claim they could enter the darkness and survive.
The Village Chief continued. "I walked within the darkness. I was mad — shouting and raging at the demons, seeking death. But at that very moment, the darkness in my eyes gradually grew faint. I saw the world within the darkness, a realm that overlapped with the Great Ruins yet was entirely different. It was a strange world, suddenly peeling itself away from the darkness..."
Everyone was shaken. Could such a world truly exist?
What was this world within the darkness like?
"Though the darkness had grown thin, a haze still shrouded my vision, and I could not see far. Those twisted shadows made me come to my senses. I could see them, but not clearly. They were all powerful — some even more powerful than I. They beckoned to me, as though inviting me. I remembered that I still bore my responsibility and could not die there, so I withdrew from the darkness."
The Village Chief spoke gravely. "Afterward, I tried to enter the darkness again, to seek the hidden world within. But I could not find it. The world that Mu'er saw must be the same one I witnessed. That world within the darkness — I call it the Dark Realm. And the world we inhabit, I call it the Bright Realm. Light and dark correspond, taking turns. During the day, the Bright Realm holds dominion. At night, it is the Dark Realm that rules. Mu'er, the Sun Guardian of the Sun-Herding Clan told you that you might have come from Wuyou Township, and that Wuyou Township sometimes appears within the darkness?"
Qin Mu nodded.
The others exchanged glances. The Herbalist smiled. "Mu'er, you should go back and rest. The Yankang army has only just retreated, and the city is full of mixed company. We all need to keep watch."
Qin Mu agreed and left the City Lord's Manor, returning to the inn to rest.
Within the City Lord's Manor, the Village Chief, the Herbalist, the Cripple, the Mute, Grandma Si, and the others wore grave expressions. After a long silence, the Cripple let out a laugh. "The child we raised — it's possible he comes from the Dark Realm. That he's a demon lord from the world of darkness..."
The Deaf's iron ears twitched. He sighed. "The truth is, when he appeared out of nowhere in the darkness all those years ago, we should have been suspicious. An ordinary child in that situation would have long since died, yet he survived. Mute, what do you think?"
The Mute said a few words in his wordless way. The Deaf sneered. "If he is not of our kind, his heart will surely be different! Don't speak up for him!"
"Deaf, you are too extreme," the Herbalist said gravely. "Mu'er's jade pendant may have come from Wuyou Township, but that does not mean Mu'er came from Wuyou Township. And even if he did, what of it? No one has ever been to Wuyou Township. It does not necessarily belong to the Dark Realm, nor is it necessarily evil. Moreover, the Dark Realm does not necessarily consist only of demons. There are other possibilities for Mu'er's origins."
Grandma Si sneered. "Even if Mu'er is a little demon lord from the Dark Realm, what of it? We raised him, spoonful by spoonful, wiping his filth. He is our child — our own flesh and blood!"
The Cripple grew angry. "Grandma, you're being unreasonable—"
"Unreasonable? You dead cripple — are you thinking of killing Mu'er?"
...
The quarrel dragged on and on. Old Ma, who had been silent throughout, suddenly spoke. "Mu'er grew up under our eyes. He was taught by us. If we are demons, then we have raised a demon. Whatever kind of people we are, that is what we made him."
Everyone fell silent. Old Ma rarely spoke, but when he did, his words carried weight.
"Old Ma is right."
The Cripple deferred to him most readily and nodded. "I was overthinking. Deaf, what do you think?"
The Deaf looked at the Mute — his closest companion. The Mute's face, flushed red from the forge's heat, broke into a smile. He said a couple of wordless sounds. The Deaf translated: "I know you're not a bad person, and I don't think I am either. If Mu'er becomes a demon lord, then blame them. In our village, apart from you and me, none of the others are any good!"
Grandma Si nearly choked with rage. "You dead bookworm — are you discriminating against those who cultivate demonic paths?"
The Deaf sneered and pulled out both his iron ears, signaling his refusal to pay attention to any of you.
The Village Chief rubbed his temples. "We are all from the same village. Less talking. Deaf, put your ears back in — it's disturbing."
The Deaf popped his ears back in with two muffled sounds. The Village Chief said, "I intend to take Mu'er into the Dark Realm, to explore whether Wuyou Township lies within."
Everyone was startled.
The Village Chief smiled. "Rest assured. The first time I entered the Dark Realm was four hundred years ago. I have made some progress since then. I will prepare for a time, and then I will take Mu'er for a walk through the darkness."