by <unknown>
"Yes. Brain cells do not have a sense of pain themselves. Your junior sister's dull pain right now is probably caused by the high cranial pressure. Opening her skull to reduce the cranial pressure can temporarily relieve her of the pain, but it does not remove the root of the problem. Your junior sister's body is still growing at her age. Since brain mutations have taken place, the problem cannot be fixed by simply stopping practicing the Heavenly Heart Transformation. It's best that you ask some professional brain doctors and Meditation Healers to treat her."
Han Te was completely confused. "Our place is rather remote. Few doctors ever dropped by. As for 'Meditation Healers', what are they?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. Thinking for a moment, he said, "How about this? Since your junior sister's problem is her unsteady field of brainwaves, maybe I can help her craft a special helmet first with appropriate tools and parts. After she puts it on, it will temporarily prevent her brain from further mutating. But it won't be an ultimate solution. You will have to figure out a way to find a real expert in the meantime."
"Thank you. Thank you very much, senior!" Han Te felt both worried and delighted. Finally, sticky tears flowed out of his eyes. Holding Liu Li's hand, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Senior, do you…"
Instead of waiting for him to finish, Li Yao said, "I can help you, but you must help me, too. Let's make a deal.
"As you have seen, I… only have part of my remaining soul left. I have been buried for hundreds of years and lost all my memories. I do not know anything of my past or the new era. You will work as my guides to help me get to know the new world."
"Of course!" Seeing that Li Yao had agreed to help him, the young man regained his vigor that resembled a jumping monkey again. Bashing his chest hard, he said, "You can count on us for that. Please come back to the Village of Peace with us. We will certainly help you to get familiar with the world and be integrated into the Land of Sins!"
Li Yao smiled and said, "One other thing. I do not want anybody else to know my real identity yet, not even your master. To him, you can say that you have picked up a common spiritual puppet for cleaning and maintenance purposes from the ruins, and you will perform random modifications and upgrades on it. Is there a problem?"
The young man and the girl looked at each other and nodded at the same time. "Of course not!"
After some thought, Han Te carefully said, "We can pretend that we have picked up a Universal Janitor in front of the outsiders, but how should we address you in private, senior? Do you still remember your name?"
"I vaguely recall that there is a 'Yao' in my name. Therefore, you may call me 'Grandpa Yao'."
"Hey," the mental devil said gloomily next to Li Yao's soul. "Do you not feel any sense of shame when you say such a nauseating name?"
Chapter 1955: Manjusaka, the City in the Sky |
Forsaken cities, broken freeways, high buildings that were riddled with holes, and lead gray clouds that fell from the sky in threads like skinny claws that were going to grab all the creatures on the bleak land and feed the prey into their mouths.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every now and then, explosions echoed in the distance, mixed with the collapses of the skyscrapers. Gray and red smoke rose on the horizon, like enormous tumors that were floating in midair.
A shuttle that had been through crazy modifications ran without any noise despite the ragged appearance in the middle of the bones of the city, leaving a long pillar of smoke behind.
From the ruins of the skyscrapers on the two sides of the road, lizards with multiple heads and venomous cysts crawled out and stared at the shuttle greedily.
But before they released their venom, the shuttle flashed by.
Li Yao had been carried to the backseat of the shuttle. He observed the world from a brand-new angle.
The two young fellows' day had been full of twists and turns. After just surviving the disaster, they were struck right in the head by the devastating diagnoses, only to be given a slim chance of hope by 'Grandpa Yao' in the end again.
Right now, Han Te and Liu Li were still unable to calm themselves. Holding each other's hands, they could not tell whether their hands were warm or cold.
"So, this is what the world looks like now," Li Yao mumbled.
"The world has always been like this for us. Gray, barren, and full of fights and slaughter. You have to keep your eyes open every second, stay wary of threats from all directions, and search for the slightest food in ruins and crevices. But it doesn't matter. Grandpa Yao, you are so awesome that you are almost an ultimate 'old grandpa'. You will certainly live a good life here."
Han Te shrugged and said, "I'm told that a long, long time ago, before Judgement Day took place, the world was different. It had green mountains, running rivers, and singing birds. That is what the few incomplete paintings I saw from master depicted. Tsk, tsk, tsk. How unbelievable. Could such a world really have existed?
"Grandpa Yao, can you tell me what the world of green mountains, running rivers, and singing birds is like exactly?"
Li Yao responded with silence.
Liu Li jabbed him softly and glared at him.
"Well…" Han Te scratched his hair hard and blushed. "Forgive me, Grandpa Yao. I almost forgot that you lost your body and your memories of the past, and the last remnants of your soul hid in loneliness for hundreds of years… Oi, Liu Li, you're poking me again!"
He was a young man after all. Hearing that Li Yao would like to do them a favor, Han Te gradually became the carefree and disobedient guy he used to be.
Li Yao was not bothered at all. Smiling, he raised a very critical question. "It's occurred to me that the resources here are highly insufficient. You can barely find a spiritual puppet for cleaning and maintaining purposes in the ruins of such a vast city. Besides, the radiation everywhere makes it impossible to grow crops on the land. From what I've heard just now, the Village of Peace alone has thousands of people, and there are more than ten villages in the hundreds of square kilometers around. How do you survive? Where do you get your food, water, training resources, weapons, and maintenance magical equipment?"
"Part of them come from scavenging and hunting," Han Te said. "However, you're quite right, Grandpa Yao. It's been hundreds of years since Judgement Day. Almost all the city ruins have been explored hundreds of times by the scavengers. You'd be lucky to find half a track in them. As for hunting, the beasts that can easily be hunted have mostly been captured. The remaining animals are all the most ferocious creatures that are as difficult to deal with as those Thunder Salamanders. You'd have to risk your life to catch them, which is not a fair deal at all.
"Thankfully, abundant resources fall from the sky on a regular basis. Food, water, daily necessities, you name it. We mainly live on them."
"From the sky?" Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Not only do 'old grandpas' fall from sky, but tremendous materials, too? Isn't it too strange?"
"Not strange at all. It's the gratuitous aid that the 'angels' offer to the 'sinners'."
Narrowing his eyes, Han Te searched the dark, gloomy clouds on the horizon. Then, his eyes suddenly shone as he pointed at the gray sky and exclaimed, "Grandpa Yao, look, it's the Heavenly Rail!"
Li Yao looked into the distance. Releasing his senses to the maximum, he saw a super enormous rail that extended from the horizon behind him to the horizon in front of him through the entire sky.
Like a sword that stabbed into the sky and an endless bridge leading to the sea of stars, it could not have looked more splendid and magnificent!
Li Yao immediately recalled the circular rail stations that surrounded the entire planet when he broke into the atmosphere of the planet.
In great excitement, Han Te pointed at the sky and shouted, "That is the Heavenly Rail. Tremendous resources or even living people are projected from there often to help us survive through the difficulties. At the end of the interconnected Heavenly Rails, there's Manjusaka, the City in the Sky, where angels live! One day,
I will leave the wretched Land of Sins for the City in the Sky and the most brilliant universe beyond like my sister did!"
This was not the first time that Li Yao had heard the name Manjusaka, the City in the Sky, from him.
"Please explain," he said briefly.
"Manjusaka, the City in the Sky, is the place built and inhabited by the 'angels'," Liu Li said. "It is also the gate between the Land of Sins and the universe.
"According to the seniors in the village, a long time ago, most of the people in the Martial Meritocrats Sector were unpardonable, ravenous criminals, whose attack against each other eventually led to Judgement Day that destroyed the surface of the entire planet. Those people are our ancestors.
"But not all people were as greedy and evil as them. Some of the kindhearted people with clear minds escaped from the catastrophe that would last hundreds of years. With the enormous ships they built, they fled before Judgment Day and travelled in the sea of stars."
"Do you know what's in the sea of stars?" Li Yao asked.
"Not exactly." The two little fellows shook their heads. Liu Li said, "Whatever there is in the sea of stars, the kindhearted people have never abandoned their home and their compatriots. After Judgment Day, they returned to the planet that was scarred and ruined.
"Right now, they call themselves angels and have established the enormous Heavenly Rails and Manjusaka, trying to eliminate the pollution and radiation on the ground and repair the heavily-wounded planet.
"Before the Land of Sins is completely restored to its original appearance, they send all the necessary resources, weapons, and training arts to us via the Heavenly Rails, helping us to survive through the difficulties on the harsh land."
"Do you really believe such legends?" Li Yao asked. "Since 'angels' can roam the sea of stars, why don't they take all of you away?"
Biting her lips, Liu Li replied, "The angels have their limits, too. Perhaps their ships are not large enough, or they do not have enough resources to save each and every one of us.
"Besides… we are all 'sinners'. The cursed blood of our ancestors with the genes of brutality flow in our veins. Just look at what happens in the Land of Sins, and you will understand. Pillaging, slaughter, arson, war. Most of the 'sinners' are even more brutal than the most brutal mutated beasts. Before they are completely purged, we are naturally unworthy of stepping into Manjusaka. Otherwise, what can be done if they cause trouble in the world of the angels?
"The so-called 'Judgment Day' was our ancestors' own fault. The 'angels' do not owe us anything at all. It is generous enough of them to offer tremendous resources to us as aid so that we can survive. What qualifications do sinners such as us have to demand more from the 'angels'? Wouldn't that make us insatiable scoundrels?"
"That must be what the seniors in the village told you," Li Yao sneered. "Where did they learn it in the beginning? Let me ask you again. Do you really believe in such legends? The seniors in the village naturally learned it from their own seniors. Generation after generation, the nonsense must've been passed on for hundreds of years!"
Han Te grinned and said, "Is there any difference whether we believe it or not? In any case, the 'sinners' who struggle to survive in the Land of Sins depend on the charity of the high and mighty 'angels' to live. As long as they offer the resources, it doesn't matter what the legends are!
"However, hehehe, now that I have recovered some of my strength, I will definitely enter Manjusaka like my sister did to become a well-respected 'angel'. Then, everybody in the village will live a good life. They will have food, water, and clean air aplenty!"
Li Yao was rather curious. "Your sister… is in Manjusaka, the City in the Sky? Can sinners turn into angels?"
"Yes." Liu Li nodded heavily. "Han Te's sister is very awesome. She is a real genius among geniuses and even stronger than my dad. She went to Manjusaka a long time ago. She is the greatest pride of the Village of Peace!"
Li Yao found it odd. "According to what you said earlier, the Village of Peace seems to be in the middle of a crisis right now. Why can't you ask Han Te's sister for help?"
Liu Li blushed, not knowing how she should respond.
Han Te's face turned red in embarrassment, too. He was lost for words for a long time before he finally made up his mind and said, "The connection between the City in the Sky and the Land of Sins is intermittent. I have no idea where my sister is specifically, but it doesn't matter. I will certainly go to Manjusaka someday and ask my sister about everything!"
Chapter 1956: The Myriad of Old Grandpas! |
Despite the attempted cover-up of the young man and the girl, Li Yao still understood it.
Han Te's sister used to be the best young expert in the Village of Peace that everybody in her village placed their hope on. Finally, she truly ascended to 'the City in the Sky', but she abandoned the villagers and even her own brother, never to return again.
Li Yao sighed and asked, "What exactly does Manjusaka look like?"
The two little fellows both grew excited when they heard the question. With brilliance more dazzling than stars beaming out of their eyes, they said at the same time, "Manjusaka is a paradise that has everything. Clean air and water, inexhaustible food and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, green mountains, running rivers and singing birds, forests! Wow. Forests. It's said that a lot of tall trees grow in such places. There are green, thick leaves on the trees and bird nests among the branches. They are entirely different from the trees in our place!
"Besides, through Manjusaka, we can also travel in the infinite sea of stars. That's really…"
The two little fellows described Manjusaka in amazement. Looking at each other, they were both at a loss about how to depict the glamor and splendor of Manjusaka. They suddenly laughed at the same time.
Li Yao smiled, too. He asked, "Then, it must be very difficult for someone to go to Manjusaka and become an 'angel', right?"
"Of course. All the sinners in the Land of Sins—I mean each and every one of them—want to go to the City in the Sky where they can live a happy, carefree, peaceful life without worrying about food. But how many people can actually make it?"
Han Te licked his lips and drew a big circle with his finger. "The Land of Sins is mainly divided into three worlds. As you must've sensed, Grandpa Yao, the area we are currently in is heavily polluted with high radiation. The resources here are highly insufficient, and not too much aid is projected from the Heavenly Rails regularly. Such areas are known as 'Desolate Worlds' in the Land of Sins. They are essentially the countryside of the planet.
"Life in the countryside is certainly very difficult. However, because of the lack of resources, few advantages can be taken here. So, the truly ferocious beasts and the insane bandits hardly visit such places. Therefore, we have managed to build some villages to protect ourselves.
"Most of the 'sinners' live in the uncomfortable 'Desolate Worlds'.
"However, there are some locations where tremendous resources will be projected from the Heavenly Rails on a regular basis. When the time comes, all kinds of high-energy nutrition drugs, compressed food, filtration cartridges, antiradiation suits, and powerful magical equipment and techniques, as well as 'old grandpas' of all types and all levels, fall from the sky there.
"Those landing points of abundant resources are known as Bloody Worlds. You must've guessed it. The Bloody Worlds are where the real experts frequent and fight brutally. The strongest mutated beasts and the toughest bandits, as well as the most awe-inspiring criminals, are all active in those lawless places!
"Also, although the Heavenly Rails are high in the sky, they are connected to the ground by enormous iron ropes. Those iron ropes are all hollow and installed with some sort of 'elevator' and 'vacuum shuttle' inside, which can quickly transmit objects between the Heavenly Rails and the Land of Sins.
"Around the elevators and the vacuum shuttles, prosperous metropolises have been established. Those cities constructed under the support of the 'a
ngels' are like oases in the desert. They are known as the 'Elysian Worlds'.
"I'm told that all the Elysian Worlds are controlled by the most powerful gangs and experts in the Land of Sins. Each of them has their own rules. So, they are not as chaotic as the Bloody Worlds. You can find anything in the markets in the Elysian Worlds. All kinds of extraordinary professionals can be found there, too. The 'brain doctors' and 'Meditation Healers' can only be found in the Elysian Worlds if they do exist.
"Also, the angels will release quests through the Elysian Worlds regularly. As long as you complete the quests, you will be given a lot of cash and contribution points. After your contribution points surpass the threshold, you will be qualified to enter Manjusaka!
"Hehehe. I should've left for the Bloody Worlds three years ago. Who could've known that my capability would plummet? If I can really recover my strength, I will certainly have a few fights in the Bloody Worlds. As long as I am tough and lucky enough, and I can claim some secret treasures and resources that have fallen from the sky, my Cultivation will definitely soar.
"Then, I will go to the Elysian Worlds to complete the quests that the angels release and accumulate enough contribution points. In the end, I will be able to go to the City in the Sky to look for my sister.
"I absolutely don't believe that my sister is such an ungrateful person that she forgot the people of our hometown after she went to the City in the Sky. She—she must have her reasons. Or, she may be planning something big for the family and friends in the hometown. That must be it. I will find her and ask her about everything!"
The young man confessed the truth before he knew it. He realized that he had misspoken after he spoke and coughed somewhat in embarrassment.
Li Yao considered for a moment. Not particularly bothered about Han Te's sister, he said, "What are the quests that the angels release?"
Han Te was slightly dazed. "I don't know the details. I'm told that they are mostly about hunting deadly animals, capturing lawless criminals, or exploring ancient relics. The death rate is rather high, that's for sure. But this is Manjusaka, the City in the Sky, that we're talking about. It's certainly not a place any random person can visit."