Ancient Road of the Red County

"This ocean is where the souls of all the dead in the universe return? Doesn't that mean the Netherworld of myth and legend actually exists—it's just found in the microscopic world?" Once the terror and shock subsided, everyone voiced their opinions in heated discussion. "Science hasn't been able to locate the three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls in the human body, perhaps because they're too infinitesimal, existing in a special state within the microscopic realm. When a person dies and their souls lose their vessel, they naturally return to the microscopic soul sea before our eyes." "Exactly! The human soul is conceived within the womb. A soul must be smaller than an embryonic egg, or how else could it fit inside?" ... Someone raised a doubt: "Are we truly at Earth's microscopic level? Is Earth the Netherworld where every living soul in the entire universe returns? I feel that at this microscopic scale, Earth's physical matter doesn't even exist anymore. We might... no longer be on Earth at all." "Or perhaps we've arrived at a special plane entirely separate from the macroscopic universe. We really might never be able to go back!" ... Those words—"never be able to go back"—were utterly despairing. They meant an uncertain future and unpredictable life or death. The atmosphere grew stifling. Vicious souls had been howling endlessly in the sea, and from the deep waters in the distance, bizarre cries like claps of thunder sounded from time to time, leaving everyone on edge as they secretly wondered whether demons and monsters dwelled within this soul sea. As the Bronze Ship sailed on, more vicious souls threw themselves toward the deck like moths to a flame, only to be pulverized without a trace. The power protecting the Bronze Ship was formidable; they could not breach it. That was the only thing offering temporary peace of mind! Amidst the gloom and dread, there were naturally optimists. With white bandages wrapped around his hands, Gao Huan stood at the very tip of the bow and exclaimed excitedly, "I told you we definitely plunged into the Netherworld from the Arctic Ocean! Do you believe me now? The Arctic Ocean is the ancient Northern Sea! Tell me, if a Kunpeng thousands of li wide couldn't turn around in the Arctic Ocean, shouldn't it be able to churn heaven and earth at will in this boundless soul sea before us?" "Besides, do you know why people always talk about the First Seven Days after someone dies? Because after seven days, the soul can never return! The distance from Earth to the soul sea is precisely seven days." A third-year graduate student, yet so superstitious, spouting myths, legends, and wild conjectures. In the past, people would have laughed behind his back. But now, with everyone's faith in science shattered, they could only rely on messy guesses just like him to explain everything before their eyes. Li Weiyi had no interest whatsoever in their groundless speculations. Whatever comes, face it with peace of mind. After cultivating an extraordinary foundation, he was no longer as lost and bewildered as when he had first awakened. His life now had a goal to pursue, drive, hope, and a direction to strive toward. Cultivating the extraordinary. Reaching an even higher level of the extraordinary. He wanted to know: at the end of the extraordinary, just how powerful could a human become? Could one truly soar through the heavens and tunnel into the earth, move mountains with sheer strength, and command the stars as told in myths and legends...? Even if they truly had arrived in the Netherworld, the Ghost Wilderness... so what? He and Cai Yutong helped the two elderly professors who had been injured in the stampede, preparing to take them to the medical tent for examination and treatment. By now, the Bronze Ship was very close to the pillar-like stone stele rising from the sea, only a few kilometers away. One of the professors, having injured his leg, wiped his spectacles and finally made out the four written symbols upon it. He gasped in surprise, "These characters are completely different from the inscriptions on the bronze vessel. They look very much like oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions—they share the same origin as Chinese characters!" Though neither of them was a professional paleographer, both were ancient script enthusiasts who had spent the past few days studying the inscriptions on the bronze vessel, attempting to decipher them. The other professor, who had been trampled in the chest and looked ashen, was supported by Li Weiyi. He gazed at the pillar-like stone stele for a moment and said, "They date back even earlier than the era of oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions. The evolution of writing always leaves traceable clues, so we should be able to decipher them." The professor with the injured leg said, "I think they look somewhat similar to the characters on the Stele of Sage Cang's Bird-Track Script. They might belong to the same period." There were twenty-eight bird-track characters on the Stele of Sage Cang's Bird-Track Script in total, said to be the original pictographs created by Cangjie, the father of civilization. Li Weiyi was shaken inwardly. *These four carved characters share the same origin as Chinese script? Doesn't that mean humans from ancient China reached this place in the immensely distant past?* "I'm afraid so... Let us decipher them first and see what four characters are carved there." The two elderly professors were deeply fascinated by the script. Not even bothering to have their injuries examined first, each pulled out ancient texts on epigraphy, fountain pens, and notebooks from their bags, earnestly discussing and studying. Before long, they arrived at a conclusion. They wrote four characters down in a notebook: "Ancient Road of the Red County." "Ancient Road of the Red County!" Quite a few people had gathered around, all looking baffled. Why would a pillar-like stone stele in the sea bear such an inexplicable set of four characters? With its sails fully unfurled, the Bronze Ship was as swift as a galloping horse and had already arrived beneath the pillar-like stone stele. Seeing it at close range made the imposing, magnificent pressure of the stele peak even clearer. It was unknown how many ages it had stood within this vast soul sea—precipitous and steep, impassable even to apes and swans, so towering and eternal. There should not have been a sheer, flat-faced stone peak like this in the sea; perhaps some being of great power had transported it here. The four characters carved into it seemed hewn by divine axes and heavenly blades, each stroke resembling a fissure in the earth. The professor with the injured leg put away his pen and brown leather notebook as he said, "The 'Red County' is not a mere county among municipalities and districts as you might understand it!" "The earliest record concerning the Red County appears in the *Records of the Grand Historian*, in the 'Biographies of Mencius and Xun Qing,' where Zou Yan stated that the ancient name of China was the Divine Province of the Red County." "Legend has it that in ancient times, the land governed by the Yan Emperor was called the Red County, and the land governed by the Yellow Emperor was called the Divine Province. In ancient China, the designation 'Divine Province of the Red County' originated from this." Gao Huan gasped. "You mean, 'Ancient Road of the Red County' means the road leading to the Divine Province of the Red County? The direction back to Earth?" Li Weiyi looked back. The pillar-like stone stele carved with "Ancient Road of the Red County" was receding into the distance. Further away, leaden gloom-clouds blanketed the sky and sea level, where the soul sea seemed to break off, impermeable to any light. The Bronze Ship had sailed out from those very black gloom-clouds. Li Weiyi said, "With this stone peak and stele, wanderers who plunge into the soul sea can find their way home in the future. The Ancient Road of the Red County must be the route the Bronze Ship traveled over these past seven days. Secrets we cannot yet fathom must be hidden within those gloom-clouds." In his mind arose the scene of the Jiuying being seized from the gloom-clouds by a glittering golden claw. Every time he recalled it, he felt thoroughly shaken. "Unfortunately, the Bronze Ship is not under our control. If it turned around, perhaps we could return to Earth," Director Yang remarked pointedly, his gaze settling upon Li Weiyi. After Li Weiyi helped the two professors to the medical tent, Zhao Meng arrived shortly after. "Come with me." Rifle never leaving his hand, Zhao Meng pulled Li Weiyi toward a secluded spot beneath a burial mound, his expression grim the entire way. Seeing that no one was around, Zhao Meng spoke with utmost gravity: "Now that the gloom-clouds have dispersed, everyone's illusion of returning to Earth has been shattered. That means the law—the greatest restraint—has completely vanished, and those harboring treacherous thoughts no longer have any reservations. I expect mutiny will erupt on this ship very soon. Weiyi, remember every single word I'm about to tell you." "First, you're too badly injured; I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you once chaos breaks out. Tonight, after everyone is sound asleep, gather as much food as you can. Then, deep within the forest of graves, find a mound and bury both the food and yourself shallowly inside. Make sure you hide thoroughly. And remember: do not go near the nine-story deckhouse. It's extremely dangerous over there." "Second, the Daozu Taiji Fish and the Yellow Dragon Sword are buried beneath the very mound you crashed onto when you first fell onto the Bronze Ship. A string of bone wind chimes hangs from the gravestone in front of it. Look carefully; it's easy to recognize." "Third, I don't know how soon this mutiny will erupt, nor do I know how many people are plotting in the shadows. So, even though I've rallied a group of brothers and made some arrangements... to be honest, we have no odds of winning at all." Zhao Meng gripped Li Weiyi's right shoulder, his eyes fervent yet conflicted. "Three days! We'll set a limit of three days. Within three days, no matter what noises or commotion you hear, do not come out—even if they threaten you with my life." "After three days, I will come looking for you in the forest of graves and call your name. That will mean I have brought the situation under control." "If three days pass and you don't hear me calling for you, it means I'm dead! When that happens, you must understand that the situation has become unimaginably dire... But no matter how hard it gets, you must understand: never surrender the Daozu Yinyang Fish. If you hand it over, you're dead for sure!" "Also, don't trust anyone. Without the constraints of law and morality, when faced with survival, self-interest, and desire, humans have no bottom line. Morals, shame, and dignity might all be worth nothing. When subjected to torture, not even the toughest man can guarantee he won't break." Li Weiyi could sense his senior brother's concern and worry. He said, "Is that why you made this three-day pact with me in advance, Senior Brother? Because you worry that if you fall into their hands, you won't be able to hold out under torture?" "Unless you've experienced torture, who can guarantee they'll endure it? If it really comes to that, having this three-day pact will at least give me some mental buffer," Zhao Meng said with a wry smile. Li Weiyi hesitated, wondering whether he should tell him right now that his injuries had completely healed and that he had cultivated the extraordinary foundation their master had spoken of. His senior brother was certainly trustworthy. Yet the people around his senior brother might not be, or Zhao Meng wouldn't have warned him not to trust anyone. In the end, Li Weiyi decided to keep it hidden for now; that way, he could instead serve as an unexpected trump card for his senior brother when the time came. "Brother Meng! Brother Meng! The backup generator has been repaired, haha!" Chen Hong ran over waving his arms in wild joy, covered from head to toe in machine oil stains. He was the technician responsible for operating equipment aboard the research ship and had been personally interviewed and hired by Zhao Meng; in other words, he was Zhao Meng's absolute confidant. Li Weiyi was no stranger to him, having met him several times. The two brought their secret conversation to an end. Li Weiyi looked delighted. "With electricity restored, doesn't that mean the cold storage can be used again?" "Of course! That temporarily resolves our biggest crisis. The food aboard the ship is enough to last us at least several more months." Chen Hong beamed, looking thoroughly bright and optimistic. Over the past few days, Zhao Meng had been leading people to rush repairs on the cold storage and generator. Only by doing so could they fundamentally prevent conflicts from erupting over food shortages. "Come on, take me to see it." Much of the haze in Zhao Meng's heart cleared. In high spirits, he hurried off with Chen Hong toward the fractured, overturned research ship. Watching their departing figures, a smile appeared on Li Weiyi's face. *This world never lacks builders of civilization. No matter how desperate the circumstances, there are always people mending what is broken.* Civilization and morality were born to restrain human nature and enable humanity to go further, rather than living like the primitive era—slaughtering one another, enslaving the weak, and engaging in cannibalism. When facing adversity: Kind and courageous people often chose civilized means to mend their shared home, standing against the destruction of primitive human nature—like Cai Yutong clearing land to plant crops, or Zhao Meng rushing to repair the generator. Selfish and ambitious people, driven by primal instincts, mostly chose to trample civilization without ever thinking to build it. Ordinary mortals could only be followers. ... Li Weiyi walked alone into the eerie, terrifying Sea of Graves and Forest of Steles, deciding to retrieve the Yellow Dragon Sword and the Daozu Taiji Fish first.