Find a Wife, Till the Land—Isn't This Life Pretty Good Too?

"Jiangbei Defense Line, Sector One intact." "Jiangbei Defense Line, Sector Two intact." "Jiangbei Defense Line—" The people in charge of each sector were reporting, without pause, on the Jiangbei Defense Line through the night. In the end these messages would gather in Wang Kui's hands, and Wang Kui would report them to Chen Fan. Chen Fan stood on the city wall of the Jiangbei Defense Line and looked beyond it, at the crowd braving the heavy rain to pick up ghost stones beneath a fish-belly-white sky. After hearing Wang Kui's report, he paused a moment before he spoke. "Immediately arrange for Fan Domain members to set out. Establish permanent outposts at Defense Line No. 7 and the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line, to pass on information at the first moment." "And survey and mark the ground outside Defense Line No. 7 and the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line." "When a great enemy comes, we must be able to point out precise bombardment zones at once." This reinforcement of the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line had consumed fifty-five Heaven-Reaching Pillars in all. Over these years Fan Domain had accumulated only ninety-eight. One round of support had used up more than half. The main reason was that, right then, he had not known how the battle stood. Nor which area he ought to hit. He could only bombard blindly, a saturation strike. It was a rather wasteful method. At the start he had not even known how long a cleared stretch would take a ghost tide to fill again. He could only make his own estimate: sixty breaths. And— The Heaven-Reaching Pillar was a strategic weapon, not a weapon kept permanently on a defense line. It was never meant for clearing ghost tides. It was a strategic weapon that could reinforce at extreme speed, help sent in the hour of need. This time he had used the Heaven-Reaching Pillars outright as weapons stationed on the line, solely to help Yellow Springs Mouth hold. The cost was naturally heavy. When he held a line himself. He would not use Heaven-Reaching Pillars to hold it. Still. It was fortunate the pillars existed. Aside from the Heaven-Reaching Pillars, he had no means of reinforcing the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line within a few dozen breaths. That was their strategic worth. Set beside their destructive power, the ability to reinforce a defense line at speed was their primary use. A signal tower's coverage was extremely broad. On the way back he had even built another signal tower in the east of the Guanxi Plain. This time he could be sure of reaching the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line directly, and of reaching past it to places farther off. He turned in silence and looked toward the Heaven-Reaching Pillars near the Port, plainly far fewer now. The pillars he had saved over these years—one war had consumed half of them. There was no earning that back. They were picking up ghost stones and exotic treasures over there, and had said they would send this batch to Fan Domain. But... The cost in time was the greatest of all. Even with earth-gold cables, fully charging one max-level Heaven-Reaching Pillar still took a year. He needed to build another batch. At a critical moment, a Heaven-Reaching Pillar could still save lives. After that. He looked again at the people running through the heavy rain on the Jiangbei Defense Line. It was mealtime once more, and the crowd was lively. A long while later. Only then, his expression dazed, did he gaze far into the sky and murmur, "Too cautious..." The Ghost Clan was more cautious than he had thought. In the present war on the Eternal Night Continent, the Ghost Clan clearly held the upper hand. If nothing unexpected happened, time alone would bring them victory. But... The Ghost Clan had not celebrated victory ahead of time. There was not a trace of joy at a coming victory. They were excessively cautious. He had only revealed the strength of having built one defense line, and the Ghost Clan would rather pay an enormous price to pinch out, here in Jiangbei, this spark that might catch. Cautious to this extent. It was truly a bit much. On top of that, he had received word that the Eternal Night Hall had captured a Ghost Emperor last time. What that Ghost Emperor revealed was that the mood inside the Ghost Clan was very tense. They believed they were the ones fighting against the wind, and did not dare relax in the slightest. That was enough to prove the Ghost Clan's inner mood was the mood of a decisive battle. An enemy that clearly held the upper hand nevertheless believed the wind was against it, and was still this cautious. Truly hard to deal with. It was time again for the post-battle tally. Outside the Jiangbei Defense Line, ghost stones picked up one by one were gathered together and hauled to Fan Domain's storehouse. Fan Domain. Sunset City. In a grade-ten field, the people of Medicine King Valley were deftly stripping every piece of clothing from Tian Yi, then binding him to a wooden stake and planting him in the field. Just like transplanting rice seedlings. His calves had already sunk completely into the soil. Tian Yi, bound to the stake, was deathly pale, without a trace of color. His eyes were shut tight. He was not even breathing. The cracks over his body were like a slab of pork belly sliced up for the pot. He looked every bit a corpse. "Fan Domain has a store of Resurrection Pills. Would they do any good?" Qi Chong, keeping watch to one side, said with some hesitation. "Should I go find Wang Kui and apply for some?" He had farmed all his life, and transplanted seedlings all his life. This was the first time he had seen a person planted in a field. It felt somewhat eerie. "No use." The Valley Master of Medicine King Valley shook his head, face solemn. "This isn't a wound he took. He drove a secret art and forcibly erupted with strength that didn't belong to him. His blood vessels were torn to shreds, and there is no blood left." "So long as one breath remains, a Resurrection Pill can bring him back." "But now he doesn't even have that breath." "If there really is a King of Hell, then his name in the Book of Life and Death has already been written to the end. All that's left is the motion of closing the book." With that. He took a dagger from a disciple beside him and carefully opened Tian Yi's abdomen. The organs within were all clearly revealed, and not a thread of blood flowed out. Those organs were deathly pale. Like something taken out and soaked in water for days, a little like fish-belly white. How were these a living man's organs? Only then did he draw a box from his robe, take out a scarlet seed, round as a chestnut, and press it hard into Tian Yi's heart, which had nearly stopped beating. Standing to one side, Qi Chong couldn't help a twitch at the corner of his mouth when he saw it. Maybe he had turned on pain-sharing. His own chest suddenly hurt a little. After all of this. The Valley Master cut open Tian Yi's stomach, stuffed several Human Blood Pills inside, and only then sewed the stomach and the abdomen shut again. "Done." Only after this whole series did the Valley Master let out a long breath, drenched in sweat, and say quietly, with no great confidence inside, "In theory, after one day, he will begin to recover a faint breath." "Then we can start feeding him a little liquid food." "After three days." "The Ghost Blood Flower will begin to grow inside him and send out roots and stems to take the place of blood vessels. His color will gradually return. By then he can already open his eyes." "After seven days." "He'll be more or less healed. What's left is slow recuperation." "That's the theory." Qi Chong said, hesitant. "And in actual practice?" "Don't know." The Valley Master shook his head, deeply embarrassed. "This is my first time healing anyone this way. In actual practice, it might also be... the Ghost Blood Flower bursting out of his body." "Turning him into a flower-person." Having said that, the Valley Master went on and set up a furnace beside them to refine Human Blood Pills and the batch of pills for later care. The disciples of Medicine King Valley were not idle either. Those giving blood gave blood, those lighting fires lit fires, and those preparing pill materials prepared pill materials. Qi Chong stood to one side with a complicated face and said nothing more. The Hundred Grains Pavilion belonged to the logistics department and did not need to go to the front, but he knew something of how the fighting there had gone. It just seemed a little crueler than he had imagined. In an age of chaos. He only needed to think about how to farm well. He did not need to manage anything else, and his life was in no danger. In chaotic times, this counted as a great blessing. If he could stay this steady until he died of old age. That would be the greatest blessing of all. The Guanxi Plain. On the city wall of the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land, a disciple of the Holy Land stood looking out at the unbroken rain and mist, shivered, and said, trembling, "The weather really is getting colder and colder." The Holy Lord had taken most of the Holy Land's disciples to support the Jiangbei Defense Line, leaving only some to guard the home. After all, ghost creatures increased in the rainy season. Someone still had to guard the home. "I wonder when the Holy Lord will be back." It had been some days since they had seen the Holy Lord, and he rather missed him. "Should be soon." Another disciple of the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land lay in a rocking chair beside him, a shed over his head, legs crossed, a cup of hot tea in his hands. He blew on it and said offhand, "The rainy season is already half over. Once it ends and the Jiangbei Defense Line isn't so hard-pressed, the Holy Lord ought to come back." "And besides—" "Coming back a little later isn't bad either. Guarding the city on ordinary days isn't this easy." "It's much more comfortable now." "True." The disciple who had spoken first thought a moment, then nodded, and lay down in proper imitation on the rocking chair beside him, pouring himself a cup of hot tea as well. And so five days passed. About ten days remained until the rainy season ended. Darkness had only just faded. The sky was not yet fully bright. The Eternal Night Hall had sent people again. A flying boat drifted slowly into Fan Domain's territory and came near the Jiangbei Defense Line. This time the one leading them was an old man who looked somewhat aged. His hair was entirely white, and he leaned on a dragon-head cane. He stepped off the flying boat, came up onto the wall of the Jiangbei Defense Line, and saw Chen Fan leaning on an emerald cane with both hands, and that relatively young face. He paused, faintly startled, then smiled. "Accomplished so young. Accomplished so young." "Let me introduce myself." "Qiu Yisi, leader of the Eternal Night Hall's Western Field Operations Group." "I have come specially to apologize because leaked news had nearly destroyed Fan Domain." With that. Qiu Yisi held the cane level across his body and slowly bent at the waist. "I wouldn't dare." Chen Fan, who had still been standing where he was, stepped forward at once, supported this man who looked old enough to be his grandfather, and said in a low voice, "This was an accident. I have no mind to blame the Eternal Night Hall." "Chen Fan, of Fan Domain in Jiangbei." He had known the Eternal Night Hall would send someone to make contact. He had not expected them to send a man of such high station, the leader of the Hall's Western Field Operations Group. Set within the Eternal Night Hall, this already counted as one of the highest offices. In other words. In the operations group as a department, only three people in the Eternal Night Hall stood level with Qiu Yisi, and only one stood above him. To call him second only to one man, and above ten thousand, was not going too far. He reckoned that the potential he had shown the outside world did not yet merit an operations-group leader coming to find him in person. A man like this had myriad affairs every day, and ordinarily was certainly not active in this region. To come here specially. Perhaps he had been on the road all these five days, and only now arrived late. Qiu Yisi rose with the help, lifted his head to Chen Fan's brow and eyes, studied him a while, and then suddenly laughed. "How fine. I used to imagine it too. If I had a son, and he grew up safely, he might be as heroic as you, standing tall between heaven and earth." "It's only a regret. I never saw what he looked like young." "He's even older than I am." "I've always thought that if his years were rolled back, he would surely be very handsome." Then. He walked to the edge of the wall, looked at the people outside the Jiangbei Defense Line picking up ghost stones, then at the wall that ran out of sight, and at the God-Slaying Cannon beside him. "That Person who guarded Nameless Mountain left several years ago, suppressing the mountain with what remained of his aura. When that aura fades, the seabed ghost tide of Jiangbei will come ashore." "Within the Eternal Night Hall, this news is confidential. Not too many know it." "Not many can come into contact with it, either." "Tian Yi said you found a richly yielding ghost-ore deposit in Jiangbei, and that after you learned this, you did not choose to dig the ghost stones out and flee to the interior." "You took on the duty of guarding Jiangbei instead, and used all the ghost stones to build the Jiangbei Defense Line." "On this point, I respectfully speak for everyone in the Eternal Night Hall, high and low, in thanking you for what you have done for the Eternal Night Continent." "We stand or fall together. I have selfish reasons of my own. It isn't as righteous as you say, Old Qiu." Qiu Yisi laughed, open and hearty. "If everyone on the Eternal Night Continent had this selfishness of yours, the war at the front would be much better." "According to the ancient texts we've found, they weren't this hard to deal with before. This time quite a few in the ghost tide awakened intelligence and called themselves the Ghost Clan, and they gradually grew troublesome." "You know this as well." "This time a traitor leaked your intelligence. That is, Tian Yi's master, Zhang Yide, deputy hall master of the Eternal Night Hall's Western Strategy Hall. He has already been put to death according to the rules." "In the ancient era there were no traitors." "After all, the ghost tides then had no intelligence. No one would surrender. But once people found that quite a few ghost creatures in the tides had awakened intelligence, traitors gradually increased. They believe that after the Ghost Clan occupies the Eternal Night Continent, it can open a new city that belongs to them." "I'll put it more plainly." "On the front nearest you, Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1, there are also quite a few traitors. Catching traitors is the operations group's work, but uncovering them is extremely difficult. The Eternal Night Hall doesn't have enough people." "Most important of all, many have received a Ghost Spirit Bone from the Ghost Clan. Like Tian Yi's master. He had never leaked a single piece of intelligence before. Can you call him a traitor?" "You can't." "But the moment he begins to leak intelligence, it is a calamity for the Eternal Night Hall. How do you investigate people like that? There is no end to it." Qiu Yisi's expression gradually grew a little lost. "Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 seized a blue-grade building blueprint and asked the rear of the Eternal Night Hall for aid, hoping several Celestial Master architects would be sent to comprehend it." "But—" "In the past, Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 had a dozen or so architects at Celestial Master level. Only, some years ago, they sent seven Celestial Master architects to support Defense Line No. 7 on the Guandong Plain. On the way back, a traitor leaked the intelligence." "Those seven Celestial Master architects died on the road." "The killing wounds were made by daggers. They were not bites from ghost creatures. They were made by their own people." "Only an architect who has personally built a blue-grade building can be called a Celestial Master architect. To the Eternal Night Continent, every architect is the most precious wealth there is." "Seven." "Fully seven Celestial Master architects." "They died at their own people's hands, just like that. Did the ones who struck not feel even a thread of chill up the spine? To this day we have only traced the one who leaked the intelligence to Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1." "But as for who leaked it, and who struck with his own hands." "There is still no clue." "In Tian Yi's report, you are an architect of extreme strength, even a level above a Celestial Master architect. After the hall master of the Eternal Night Hall's Western Strategy Hall learned this—" "He hopes to see you safely to the Hall's core region, under close protection." "As for the Jiangbei Defense Line, the Eternal Night Hall will send people to take it over." "Domain Lord Chen, what do you think?" Chen Fan was silent a long while. He looked into the distance along Qiu Yisi's gaze, shook his head, and said softly, "I was born in Jiangbei, I grew up in Jiangbei, and when I die I will be buried in Jiangbei." "Jiangbei is my home, and it is Fan Domain's ground." "I will not leave Jiangbei." "Mm." Qiu Yisi did not press. He only nodded and said with a smile, "Very normal. The hall master guessed as much. Quite a few rising powers on the Eternal Night Continent are like this." "They guard their own regions. They would rather deal with ghost tides every day than be kept under protection." "No towering tree can grow in a greenhouse." "A tree that reaches the heavens must be washed by storms." "However—" "In name, you need to join the Eternal Night Hall. That way, later, whether Fan Domain rises again or suddenly gains some new opportunity, the Hall will announce to the outside that it was support from the Eternal Night Hall." Chen Fan paused, and turned his head toward Qiu Yisi. "What?" Qiu Yisi laughed. To see that look on the face of a young man so clearly mature was truly a pleasant thing. "You didn't think the whole Eternal Night Continent was being held up by the Eternal Night Hall alone, did you?" "How capable would the Hall have to be?" "A continent this vast." "Run east, run west, run the whole circuit, and the Eternal Night Hall would be tired half to death." "Actually—" He paused a while before going on. "This is confidential to the Eternal Night Hall. Don't speak of it outside. On the Eternal Night Continent there are quite a few powers like Fan Domain, powers that suddenly found ghost ore and rose, or some power that suddenly produced a genius architect, innately gifted at comprehending building blueprints." "Things of that sort." "These rising powers are few, but their potential is ample. Most of them build defense lines to guard their own regions. And where do their ghost stones and architects come from?" "What is announced outside is that the Eternal Night Hall supported them." "Actually—" "Most of it was their own to begin with." "It won't work any other way." "You have only just risen, and the Ghost Clan's main force in the seas off Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 sent great batches of the ghost tide slipping across to find you. Do you know how great a price they paid for that crossing, spanning two regions?" "Not one in a hundred lived. Not one in a hundred." Qiu Yisi gazed at the horizon and murmured, "The great ghost tide you saw was only one percent of that tide. Ninety-nine out of a hundred were slaughtered by the grand-array heavenly lightning while stealing across the regions." "If you rise again later." "Guess what the Ghost Clan's main force at Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 will do." "But once you have joined the Eternal Night Hall in name." "Then every rise of yours afterward can be announced outside as support from the Eternal Night Hall. They will still notice you over there, but at least they will lower their guard a good deal." "All right." Chen Fan nodded and agreed. Qiu Yisi laughed, very pleased. He liked the young man before him. Few words, but he grasped the meaning quickly, and he showed little resistance to joining the Eternal Night Hall. "You needn't worry that the Eternal Night Hall will covet Fan Domain's ghost ore." "The Hall has never coveted any power's opportunity." "The Eternal Night Hall is mainly responsible only for watching the front. Whether this war is won or lost does not, in the end, depend on the Hall. It depends on the powers that gradually rise under the Hall's protection. Only when those powers finally gather together can they resist the Ghost Clan's new strength." "Until those new powers take the Hall's place, and go on sheltering other powers as they rise." "Passed down generation after generation. So long as we can hold, there will come a day when we counterattack the Ghost Clan." "And also—" "Although I know Fan Domain's opportunity certainly isn't a ghost-ore deposit." Chen Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. Qiu Yisi spread his hands, a little helpless. "You all seem to have agreed on it beforehand. Every rising power announces outside that it discovered ghost ore. It isn't as if the people of the Eternal Night Continent have all died out these years." "How many ghost-ore deposits would have to lie buried, undiscovered all this time, and happen to be found by the lot of you?" These things. Were core secrets of the Eternal Night Hall, not lightly told. The chief fear was a traitor leaking them. Once leaked, the seedling powers under the Hall's protection would suffer the Ghost Clan's frantic blows. He told Chen Fan because he trusted him. If a power that could guard Jiangbei were one day to go over to the Ghost Clan, that would mean the Eternal Night Continent's allotted fate was truly spent. But even so. He still did not give the names of the powers under the Hall's protection. Chen Fan said nothing. He only lowered his head and rubbed his nose. The shape of the Eternal Night Continent seemed a little better than he had thought. At least the Hall's upper ranks were not simply holding on one day at a time. They had a plan for the future. He did not know whether that plan could be carried out, but at least it existed. "But—" "I actually do need a little support." "You actually want some?" Qiu Yisi froze where he stood and looked at Chen Fan, somewhat blank. Had he not made himself clear? The Hall's support was for the Ghost Clan to see. It was cover for your rise. How are you actually asking for it? "Mm. A little." "There isn't any." Qiu Yisi shook his head, quite decisive. "That there certainly is not. If the Jiangbei Defense Line urgently needed ghost stones, we could spare a little, to help you hold the line. But the supply lines to the Western Desolate Isle have all been cut. Large stores are very hard to move to the isle." "Building blueprints are being comprehended at the front. They certainly can't be given to your Jiangbei." "I need some high-grade building blueprints." Chen Fan did not take up what Qiu Yisi had said. He weighed his words and went on. "I comprehend building blueprints very quickly. I can basically finish one within three days." "But the price is that the blueprint is permanently ruined." "Didn't Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 seize a blue-grade building blueprint?" "Give it to me." "After I finish comprehending it in three days, I can go in person to Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 and build that structure for them." Qiu Yisi's brows locked. He thought a long while before he shook his head. "No." "Blue-grade building blueprints are extremely rare. Every one is vital. When they are moved to another region, they are escorted as the highest secret." "Once one architect finishes comprehending it, that architect can run the length and breadth of the land and build the structure for many defense lines." "Once ten architects finish comprehending it, ten architects can build it for many lines." "So long as the blueprint remains, architects will finish comprehending it in a steady stream." "The price of your comprehension is the blueprint's complete destruction. That will not do. Unless the Eternal Night Continent has already reached the last life-and-death battle, we will not destroy humanity's foundation for the sake of a moment." "But—" "I know Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 has a duplicate blue-grade blueprint. If I remember right, it should be a city-defense building. I can put in a word for you. But the front does not take every order from us. They will not give it to you for nothing." "You will certainly have to pay something in exchange." "That works too." Chen Fan nodded. "Almost forgot." Qiu Yisi suddenly thought of something, drew a token and a Mother-Child Stone from his robe, and handed them to Chen Fan. "In the report Tian Yi sent up, he said you have a way to open a supply line to the front." "This is the Eternal Night Hall's token." "To hold it means one's own power is a power under the Hall's name." "It carries no real authority." "It is only a mark of identity. You will have use for it when you go to the front." "The Yellow Springs Coastal Defense Line has already been urgently completed. But... if you mean to move large quantities of supplies, remember to report to me directly through this Mother-Child Stone. Otherwise, if the Ghost Clan gets word, they may smash the line again." "Mm." Chen Fan took the token and the Mother-Child Stone, hesitated slightly, and only then said, "The Yellow Springs Coastal Defense Line was destroyed. The Yellow Springs Mountains should already be half fallen. Ghost creatures can move in daylight. How were they cleared?" Qiu Yisi paused before he said softly, "Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 sent support and cleared the ghost tides moving in the Yellow Springs Mountains. The Eternal Night Hall sent people to rebuild the defense line and took the region back." "Most of the ghost tide died at the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line." "Bringing it back under control was not that hard." After they had spoken a while longer, Qiu Yisi turned toward the flying boat hovering level with the wall. His work on this trip was done. His main task had been to stand in for Tian Yi, and establish contact between Fan Domain and the Eternal Night Hall. And to give Fan Domain a measure of cover. Only. This trip had not originally required him to come in person. He had come in person. Because he wanted to see what the world had looked like, the world his son and the subordinate he valued most had seen before they died. He wanted to walk the road his son had walked, look upon the people his son had looked upon, and feel the wind his son had felt. Now he had walked the road. He had seen the people. The wind of Jiangbei had blown over him too. And that was enough. Just then— Chen Fan's voice came from behind him. "Old Qiu, why not stay for a meal before you go?" Qiu Yisi's body went stiff. He looked at the people moving on the Jiangbei Defense Line. The smell of food slowly reached him. He stopped, turned, and smiled at Chen Fan. "Did Tian Yi and the others eat, back then?" "They did." "Then all right. I'll have a taste." The food was soon brought up. It was still that little house standing on the Jiangbei Defense Line. Chen Fan sat as he had last time, only the one across from him now was not Tian Yi and the obese man in a black robe, but a white-haired old man. "The food on the Jiangbei Defense Line really is good." Qiu Yisi smiled, picked up a pork rib, and set it in his bowl. "What did they eat before they left?" "The same as today. Steamed pork ribs with fermented black beans." The hand holding Qiu Yisi's chopsticks trembled slightly. He smiled as he had a moment before, only several threads of bloodshot red had risen in his eyes. He put the rib into his mouth. "Fine cooking." His gaze then fell on the plate of brown-sugar buns on the table. He could not help picking one up and putting it in his mouth. Sweet. So it seemed. Before he left, he must have gotten a mouthful of sweetness. His son had loved sweet things so much in life. He certainly would not have missed this brown-sugar bun. "All right. I won't eat any more." Qiu Yisi drew a deep breath, tucked the bitten brown-sugar bun into his robe, and, as if he had suddenly remembered something, rose and walked out in a hurry, unsteady on his feet, patting his head and muttering, "Look at this memory of mine. I nearly forgot I still have urgent business on me. I have to go at once." "I'll see you off." Chen Fan rose and saw Qiu Yisi to the edge of the wall. After Qiu Yisi stepped onto the flying boat, he suddenly thought of something and turned back toward Chen Fan. "Right. Domain Lord Chen, that Nightwatcher who followed behind Tian Yi—was activating him worth much?" Chen Fan paused a moment, then nodded lightly. "It was." "His activation held until Fan Domain's support arrived." "The Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line was held. Far fewer people died." "That's good." Qiu Yisi laughed. Standing on the deck, leaning on the dragon-head cane, he looked at Chen Fan and waved. "I'm off. Before I go, let me leave you one more word." "Don't find me long-winded. People get like this when they're old." "You may trust the Eternal Night Hall completely. But you must not trust the Eternal Night Hall completely." "First protect yourself. Then protect Fan Domain. Then protect the Western Desolate Isle. Only then can you protect the Eternal Night Continent." "The premise of protecting the Eternal Night Continent is to protect yourself first." "Quite a few people take protecting the Eternal Night Continent as their mission, but they all forget that they must protect themselves first." "Live." "Even if the road ahead is rough, you must still strive to live. Live long enough, and you will see the day the dawn comes." "One day—" "Our children will stand beneath a sky full of stars and lift their heads to the starry sky." "And they, too, will become stars, smiling as they look toward you." The flying boat rose. And raced off into the distance at extreme speed. Qiu Yisi stood on the deck and watched the Jiangbei Defense Line shrink, though it covered the whole Jiangbei coastline. From the air, so small a line. Yet it sheltered all of Jiangbei. Sheltered countless common people. The Field Operations Group members with him on the deck tactfully went into the cabin, leaving the space to the group leader alone. And now. For the first time, Qiu Yisi truly looked down over all of Jiangbei. Looked down over all of the Western Desolate Isle. His child had died here. Died here, protecting the Western Desolate Isle. He could understand Chen Fan's feeling for Jiangbei, just as he himself now had a feeling for Jiangbei. A person's bond with a stretch of land was often made this way. He laughed again. Only this time he did not have to hide it. Eyes rimmed red, he took from his robe the brown-sugar bun he had bitten and put it in his mouth. Very sweet. He had not told Chen Fan this. He did not want Chen Fan to carry any weight or burden because of it. The Western Desolate Isle was so large. They had flown so long and still had not flown clear of it. And yet it was so small. Too small to make room for one more person. "Domain Lord." Only after Qiu Yisi had gone did Wang Kui come over from the side and say, hesitant, "Why didn't you tell him Tian Yi is still alive?" In these five days. Tian Yi had gradually woken and could open his eyes. Only speaking was still difficult for the moment. After a period of care, he would return to normal. Chen Fan shook his head and said softly, "This was Tian Yi's wish. Tian Yi burned out the blood in his body. He has already lost the identity of that special cultivator, the Fire-Phase Sun." "From now on he will be an ordinary man." "He does not want to face his old comrades in this identity." Only then did Chen Fan look into the distance. These five days. He had been improving Fan Domain's foundations—surveying and marking the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line, Defense Line No. 7, and the Jiangbei Defense Line. It was the rainy season. It would not do to leave Fan Domain lightly. If something sudden came, an accident would come easily. Once the rainy season ended. He would have to start laying the supply route to the front, and make contact with Eternal Night Western Black Tortoise Front No. 1 as soon as he could. It would take time. And this visit from the Eternal Night Hall had brought him more of the present shape of the Eternal Night Continent. That information mattered to him. He had also gained one more cover. He felt it was quite good. Later he could toss all sorts of things onto the Eternal Night Hall's head. For example... don't ask why the Jiangbei Defense Line had suddenly reached grade ten. The Eternal Night Hall had supported it. Fan Domain. Sunset City. Tian Yi, planted in the field, raised his head toward the flying boat fading into the distance. He knew it at a glance. That was a flying boat of the Eternal Night Hall's Field Operations Group. It bore no mark. But he could tell. Fan Domain's flying boats had marks, after all. In Jiangbei, aside from Fan Domain's boats, there were only the Hall's. Tian Yi watched the departing boat without expression. He would rather he had died. He was grateful Fan Domain had saved him. They must have paid no small price. But... he was already a useless man. What was the point of living? "Time to eat." Qi Chong came up to Tian Yi with a bowl of liquid food and said, helpless, "Come on. Open your mouth." Feeding Tian Yi these past days had been hard. The fellow meant to starve himself to death. At the start, once the Domain Lord saw Tian Yi awake, he had come specially, plucked the ripened fruit of the Ghost Blood Flower from the top of Tian Yi's head, and handed it to him, just as he had once returned that soul-fragment of Shao Qiu to Shao Qiu. To show he would not control Tian Yi's life by such a means. The fellow took it and tossed it straight into his mouth. It startled the Domain Lord so badly he did not finish speaking, and snatched it back at once. A thing like that was better kept by Fan Domain itself. Perhaps because he had seen the Hall's flying boat, Tian Yi's mood was unsettled today. His body was still weak. He said, hoarse, "I'm already a useless man. Living has no meaning left." "What useless man?" Qi Chong rolled his eyes. "In a few days you'll be full of life. You haven't lost an arm or a leg. How does that make you useless?" "I am no longer a Fire-Phase Sun. I've been reduced to an ordinary person." "And then?" Qi Chong, out of patience, pointed at the Hundred Grains Pavilion members working the field beside them. "Fan Domain has heaps of ordinary people. You mean they're all useless?" "Without them transplanting seedlings, you wouldn't even have this bowl of liquid food." "Without them putting up a shelter for you, you'd still be out in the storm." "Without them picking up ghost stones, could you, one Fire-Phase Sun, gather every ghost stone the Jiangbei Defense Line drops in a day?" "Their work is completely invisible to you, and they're just useless people?" "Hurry up and eat. Once you're full, get ready to work. You think Fan Domain is going to keep you for nothing? Farm with me. No work, no food." Tian Yi paused. For the first time a ripple crossed his face. Then, as if he had thought it through, he slowly opened his mouth, took a large mouthful of the liquid food, and chewed with real force. A thread of hope for the days ahead rose in his eyes again. What he feared most was being of no use. But... Qi Chong had suddenly made him see that he was still of use. So long as he was of use, that was enough. "What the hell are you chewing? This is liquid food. What's there to chew?" Seeing that Tian Yi had finally started eating in great mouthfuls, Qi Chong couldn't help a laugh. "If I'd known a scolding was the only thing that would wake you." "I wouldn't have spoken to you so nicely these past few days." "Let me tell you." "Just treat it as retirement. Later, find a wife in Fan Domain, have a child, till a bit of land every day. That counts as doing something for the Eternal Night Continent too." "The front is still at war. How could I set my mind on matters between men and women?" Weak as he was, Tian Yi still shook his head, firm. "Well said." Qi Chong said with feeling, "You lot are truly high-minded. None of you want wives. Once your bunch dies in the war, the people of the Eternal Night Continent will die out too." "Just perfect." "Even if the Ghost Clan retreats, humanity will have ended itself." "You don't want them. I do. I'll have a great pile of children. Later the Eternal Night Continent will be renamed the Qi Chong Continent, all my descendants." Tian Yi froze again. After a long moment he said, hoarse, "I should find a wife. That matters too." "That's more like it." "Find a wife, till the land—isn't this life pretty good too?" Sunset City. Chen Fan stood beneath a distant shed, watching the scene in the field, and laughed softly. He did not go over to disturb them. He only watched from afar. The rainy season was almost over. It was time to get ready. Once the stocktaking was done, the work would start.