This early morning, the skies were universally clear.
In Linzhou, three people were facing two Red Shoulders simultaneously. Meanwhile, the two-man Needlefish-class craft from Wucheng carved an arc across the sky, drawing four Great Spike craft directly toward Linzhou.
Around the same time, in western Huaxia, in a remote little mountain village named Niuti.
High above on the communal threshing ground shared by the entire village, a ten-man Swordfish-class source energy craft glinted in the morning light as it slowly lifted off.
To be fair, He Tangtang's parents had never ridden a plane or even a train in all their decades of life, and now they were placed straight aboard a source energy craft; they were bound to feel nervous and uneasy.
He Tangtang squatted beside their seats, patiently reassuring them for quite a while, only managing with great effort to settle them down a little.
Standing up, he picked up the half carcass of pork his parents had insisted on bringing aboard. He Tangtang walked over to the supply cabinet, opened the door, tossed the pork inside alongside the source energy blocks, and shut the door.
Last night, they had arrived at the village near midnight.
Fortunately, when the craft touched down, the entire old village was already fast asleep; otherwise, had the villagers scattered into the mountains and forests, tracking them down would have been a real nightmare.
The mountains here were numerous and intricate; no one knew them better than the locals.
Once the situation was explained and they realized they had to leave, Father and Mother He's first reaction wasn't panic or fear, but remembering that they needed to butcher the big, fattened pig they raised at home.
In the simple mindset of mountain folk, this was their son's first time bringing comrades and officers home, so they had to treat their guests properly—and nothing was more genuine and substantial than slaughtering a pig.
At the same time, they thought that since they were leaving and who knew if they would ever return, they simply had to share a feast with their neighbors, even if just to treat it as a housewarming farewell banquet.
Just like that, the little mountain village had shared a midnight pig-slaughtering feast.
Then morning came, and Father and Mother He gave away all the belongings they couldn't take or weren't allowed to bring to the neighbors, wiping away plenty of tears before finally boarding the craft to set off.
"How are they doing?" Lao Xiu asked when he saw He Tangtang return to the forward cabin.
"Much better. My mom's already pondering becoming our cook once we get there, starting right with that half pig... She has no concept of what ten thousand people actually looks like."
He Tangtang smiled, sat down in his seat, and let out a long breath.
"Speaking of which, your village actually ought to be pretty safe on its own. Doesn't look like there's much human habitation for dozens of li around," Lao Xiu said, looking down into the observation scope.
"Yeah. That's why when I saw the two of them crying while sweeping up the old house this morning, even I was thinking, maybe just forget it and let them stay?" He Tangtang chuckled. "Turns out while I was still hesitating, they were already heading toward the craft carrying their bundles on their backs.
"Don't let the fact that they've holed up in this little village for most of their lives fool you. My parents' personalities take after mine—both love excitement, novelty, stirring things up, and joining in the commotion. Right now they're definitely thinking, 'Our son seems like a big deal now, and big exciting things are happening outside, so we definitely have to go see it.'"
He Tangtang finished speaking.
Lao Xiu looked up, turned toward him, and scolded, "What do you mean your parents take after you? What utter nonsense and fabricated rubbish! Truth be told, the main reason they decided to leave is because they learned about the situation out there and couldn't stop worrying. They figured if they came along, they'd get to see you a few more times and hear more news of you, wouldn't they?"
A few soldiers nearby who understood smiled at that.
At the same time, the craft completed its turn in the air and began to accelerate.
"Hey! Tangtang..." Little Prince Zhu Jiaming, who hadn't uttered a word since boarding, suddenly turned around and called out.
"What is it?" He Tangtang asked, growing tense.
"Let's make a slight detour and head to Yuzhou first. We can park the craft a bit farther off, and then you guys wait for me for half a day. Shouldn't be much of a problem."
Zhu Jiaming's words clearly came after careful consideration.
"Go to Yuzhou? What are you going to Yuzhou for? To help out? Or..."
He Tangtang was puzzled, but mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly widened with a jolt of realization... Exaggerating his expression, he mouthed in an aspirated whisper:
"The bones are there?!"
Little Prince looked at him in silence, then nodded mournfully.
"Then you'd better think it through. Once that stuff is brought out and taken back... there's no telling what'll happen to it," He Tangtang said with a mischievous grin.
Zhu Jiaming naturally understood what He Tangtang meant. Over there was a shameless bastard who had been eagerly coveting the last five Bones of Eternal Life in his possession.
Ever since Little Prince let the secret slip last time, Han the Bug's bootlicking and brazen daily fawning, alternating between warm-hearted melodrama and tear-jerking sob stories, had never ceased for a moment.
The sheer level of brazen shamelessness was enough to give even someone as thick-skinned as Zhu Jiaming goosebumps from time to time, conceding defeat.
Of course, other than that, Han the Green Snake had never once attempted to use any other method—anything that could genuinely be called a scheme—to get his hands on the Bones of Eternal Life.
"Cut the crap, I know," Little Prince muttered, looking up toward the distant sky. "I'm giving them to him... I'm fucking sick and tired of him bugging me."
Little Prince had decided to give those five Bones of Eternal Life to Han Qingyu.
Why? Probably because they couldn't gather the full set anyway. And when the world had become like this, every member of their little band knew in their heart that none of them—especially Han Qingyu—could stay out of it.
Under this premise, Han Qingyu's very strength meant constant, endless danger.
No one knew what day, where, or what kind of enemy he might suddenly run into! Where he might die!
There was only one solution to this problem: he had to keep getting stronger, growing increasingly powerful.
"Change heading. To Yuzhou," He Tangtang said.
The Qing Spear-class craft veered slightly and sped away.
...
Yuzhou City.
One of the two cities in Huaxia to suffer blanket attacks from the Great Spikes this time.
The city's rugged, complex terrain gave the Great Spikes plenty of trouble, while offering Azure troops great advantages in combat raids and evacuation operations. It was precisely because of Yuzhou that people realized Great Spikes could actually get lost, even when choosing to ram through everything in their path.
At the same time, however, it posed considerable difficulty for searching for and evacuating citizens.
Evacuation efforts were still underway with great urgency.
On an old street, in a small storefront shop whose signboard had fallen off out front, stood what seemed to be a hot pot restaurant with a very long history.
"Daddy, Daddy, aren't you coming with us?" asked a little girl held in her mother's arms, her eyes moist.
The woman said nothing and did not urge him. Choking back sobs, she looked at her husband with red-rimmed eyes.
"That's right. Nini and Mommy go first. Daddy has to stay behind to look after our family's master broth," the man said with a smile, gesturing to the pot of old master broth in front of him.
This pot of broth had been simmering for several decades, passed down from great-grandfather and grandfather. And since the little girl could remember, her parents had told her again and again that this broth was their family's very life.
On the surface, just like those heritage roast chicken shops, beef shops, and noodle houses that also kept old stock, this broth kept simmering indefinitely, representing the shop's history and its distinctly precious flavor.
In truth, however, the father wasn't being entirely honest. What he meant by "life" was, more accurately, mission.
"Go on, take Nini and leave," the man waved his hand, urging them away.
The woman gritted her teeth and tried to turn around, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Knock, knock-knock..."
A knock with a peculiar rhythm.
They hadn't heard it in years. The man and woman froze.
Then the door was pushed open from the outside.
Zhu Jiaming led his men inside, stopped, looked at the family of three in the room, and said:
"Go on. Leave together with your wife and daughter."
Chapter 616