North of the battlefield, Zong Cheng was standing on a hill as he waited for the outcome of the battle.
Two people were standing in wait next to Zong Cheng. The 30 nanosoldiers from the Yang Consortium stood quietly behind him. However, these nanosoldiers who were originally part of the Yang Consortium seemed to be unaffected by everything that was happening with the outside world.
“You’ll probably succeed this time,” a person beside Zong Cheng said to him.
Zong Cheng was not exactly anxious. He exuded a calm and composed aura. “We spent so much time planning this. If we fail, that would be really disheartening.”
“But even if you could control Yang Xiaojin, I’m afraid it wouldn’t affect the Yang Consortium much.” Someone beside him asked, “Can you make her live like a normal person in the Yang Consortium?”
“Yes.” Zong Cheng glanced at him.
However, the voice didn’t come from Zong Cheng’s mouth. He saw a nanosoldier walk out from behind Zong Cheng with a smile and say, “Han Yang, you don’t understand. The Yang Consortium will be helpless now that they’re facing Qing Zhen, so I’m not too interested in the Yang Consortium anymore.” Zong Cheng said calmly, “What I’m targeting is the power of the organization behind her. The Saboteurs are currently controlled by her aunt, so that role will definitely be passed to her someday. I don’t even have to do much. I just bide my time.”
These “puppets” that were controlled by Zong Cheng were just like Zong Cheng himself.
“What about Ren Xiaosu?” Han Yang wondered, “Do you want to leave him around?”
Zong Cheng was somewhat hesitant. His original plan was to go to Stronghold 88 and find an opportunity to take Yang Xiaojin outside. Then, he would use his superpower to control Yang Xiaojin before letting her go back and live like a normal person.
But Zong Cheng did not eye Yang Xiaojin’s influence within the Yang Consortium from the start. He was only interested in her influence with the Saboteurs.
He was a supernatural being himself, so he understood what it meant when organizations like the Pyro Company and Saboteurs started bringing together supernatural beings. That would truly tilt the balance of power in the world.
Meanwhile, Zong Cheng would not even need to spend too much effort on the Saboteurs. He would only require Yang Xiaojin to get the entire Saboteurs involved.
However, an unexpected involvement from Ren Xiaosu happened. When he first learned that Ren Xiaosu was Zhang Jinglin’s student, he was absolutely ecstatic on the inside. If the successor to Stronghold 178 were to fall into his hands, the Zong Consortium would be like a tiger that had grown wings.
Zong Cheng loved his superpower. It was a hand that could control everything from behind the scenes. He could easily gain the status and power of others and control them like a puppet.
However, Wang Congyang said that Ren Xiaosu did not really seem to have that good a relationship with Zhang Jinglin. This made Zong Cheng a little hesitant. He knew that what Wang Congyang said might not be the truth, but even Zong Cheng doubted that Zhang Jinglin really looked upon Ren Xiaosu as his successor to Stronghold 178. Wasn’t Ren Xiaosu a little too young? Furthermore, could Ren Xiaosu convince the masses?
Zhang Jinglin had been at Stronghold 178 for over a decade before he was able to fully win over the masses. As a member of Stronghold 178, everyone was even more supportive of him.
But Ren Xiaosu was different. To the current Stronghold 178, he should still be considered an outsider, right?
So after careful consideration, Zong Cheng still felt that Ren Xiaosu’s value was clearly not as great as Yang Xiaojin’s.
Yang Xiaojin and the leader of the Saboteurs were blood relatives, and Yang Xiaojin was also publicly acknowledged as the successor of the Saboteurs.
“Han Yang, you should go along as well. It’s best if Ren Xiaosu is captured alive. If you can’t, just kill him,” Zong Cheng said calmly.
Even if he could only get his hands on Yang Xiaojin, it would still be a success.
The group led by Jin Lan only numbered around a dozen people, and they ultimately could not stand up to the torrent of northern bandits riding motorcycles.
Zhang Yiheng was walking along when he suddenly came to a stop beside Ren Xiaosu. He looked at Ren Xiaosu, who was still panting hard on Yan Liuyuan’s back, and said, “Boss, I’m going too.”
After that, Zhang Yiheng turned around and said, “2nd Squad brothers! Follow me!”
Their group laughed and headed to welcome the bandits. “We can’t have Jin Lan get all the fun, right?”
Zhang Yiheng asked, “Do y’all blame me? If I hadn’t brought y’all here from the mountain hideout, you might not be dying today.”
Someone said, “There wasn’t really a point in living back where we were.”
Zhang Yiheng smiled and said, “Yeah, it was boring.”
“I wonder where we’ll go after we die. Underground?” one of the bandits asked as he inspected his gun.
“I don’t know. In any case, study hard in your next life and learn a handy skill. Look at that Xu Jinyuan. Just because he knew how to build a house, he attracted that woman into pulling him into her house every day,” Zhang Yiheng lightheartedly mocked. “I’ll have to learn how to build a house in my next life as well.”
“I wonder if I’ll get to meet Boss again in my next life?”
“We should be able to reincarnate in time to meet him.”
“Does anyone have a poem for the situation we’re in?”
“Hahaha, who would fucking know something like that?”
These people had never been educated in their entire lives. When they were living in town, only the richer families could send their children to school. For them, they were sent to the factories and coal mines by the organizations.
It was precisely because they could not stand those dark days that they became bandits. Now that they saw the light and knew what hope was, they preferred to die with some dignity.
Suddenly, a sniper rifle boomed from a hill in the distance. Then a motorcycle in the cluster of bikes exploded into a huge fireball. Following that, the motorcycles exploded into balls of fire one after another. Yang Xiaojin was once again using her specialty to dominate the battlefield.
But there were too many bandits, and they were still getting closer!
Zhang Yiheng turned around and looked at Ren Xiaosu’s back. He shouted, “We’re gonna fucking take them on! My name is Zhang Yiheng! I’m a hero too!”
Zhang Yiheng did not know why he shouted out his name, but he felt that this was probably the most glorious moment in his life.
From this moment on, it wasn’t Zhang Yiheng who needed the world, but the world that needed Zhang Yiheng! He was not going to retreat, not even a single step!
Yan Liuyuan did not turn around. He did his best to carry Ren Xiaosu as he ran west. Every nanomachine was making an agonizing sound inside his body at the burden they were carrying. Yan Liuyuan was already pushing his limits.
“Bro, does this world not want to see us lead a good life?” Yan Liuyuan panted as he spoke.
“We’ve already left the stronghold. We were already planning to hide in the wilderness and not have anything to do with them, so why are they still doing this?”
Yan Liuyuan ran while carrying Ren Xiaosu and asked blankly, “Bro, are these the sorrows of this era?”
He was not sad for Jin Lan and the others since he had never interacted with them before. Nor did he think that these people were that heroic, because he had witnessed a more heroic act before.
It was just that this era did not seem like it had any intention of letting anyone lead a good life.
In this chaotic world, one could only dream if they sought to better their lives.
Ren Xiaosu was still a young man and did not used to understand why Zhang Jinglin was so tired of war. He also did not understand why Qing Zhen and Li Shentan would bother fighting to the death with their enemies.
But now he and Yan Liuyuan understood why the world was called chaotic. It was because no one would be spared from it.
Without enough power, there would be no way to build a place of one’s dreams. Before achieving absolute power, everything else was just wishful thinking.
In the past month, everything that had happened in this valley was like an indulgence for Ren Xiaosu. In his 17 years of struggling and suffering, he had never seen his hands create something so beautiful before.
So even though everything felt really surreal, he was still willing to give up his rationality and believe it was all true.
It was a normal day today, just like any other day before.
But when the bullets arrived on the battlefield, the peace from before vanished into thin air.
Yan Liuyuan did not dare to use Curse Manipulation because Ren Xiaosu was on his back. Right now, Yan Liuyuan was unsure if he could help Ren Xiaosu avoid the backlash together with him. If the backlash hit Ren Xiaosu, it would be over for him.
Ren Xiaosu’s weak voice came from behind. “Put me down.”
Yan Liuyuan pursed his lips and did not say anything as he continued running.
The sound of the sniper rifle ringing in his ears was like an artillery bombardment, but there were too many northern bandits here. They had broken through the suppressive fire and come to where Zhang Yiheng was!
Ren Xiaosu said while trembling, “Liuyuan, put me down.”
He struggled while on Yan Liuyuan’s back, but the pain was still numbing his nerves. Although the pain was gradually fading away, he still remained helpless at this moment.
Right at this moment, the northern bandits went around the defensive position Zhang Yiheng and the others were guarding. They split into two groups, and one of them rushed towards the sniper, while the other chased after Yan Liuyuan and company.
More than 400 members of the northern bandits remained behind. Their numbers were too great for Zhang Yiheng and his people to stand up to.
When Zhang Yiheng saw the bandits going around them, he immediately got anxious. “Stop right there! Come and kill me instead!”
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But the bandits did not care about them.
Yan Liuyuan saw that the bandits were about to reach them, and no one could stop them.
Five plum blossoms suddenly flew out of Jiang Wu’s arm with five crimson petals on each of them.
In the intense wind, Jiang Wu’s petals flew towards the bandits like blades. But there were far too few petals. It was still not enough.
After one of the blade petals flew towards a bandit and sliced the life out of him, it transformed into a red glow before fading away. However, there were still hundreds of bandits around.
Jiang Wu gritted her teeth and three plum blossoms bloomed again from the markings of a plum blossom stalk on her arm.
But that was still not enough. She was about to attempt to burn up her life force as someone else had once done.
Wang Yuchi pulled her back and said calmly, “Teacher, we’re still here.” Then Wang Yuchi picked up his gun and prepared to charge.
At this moment, a surge of bandits were charging in Yang Xiaojin’s direction. Yang Xiaojin was a sniper, so how could she kill so many bandits in a short time?
Then Yan Liuyuan stopped in his tracks. He turned around and said to Jiang Wu, “Ms. Jiang, carry my brother on your back and keep walking forward. Don’t turn back.” He placed Ren Xiaosu on Jiang Wu’s back and walked alone towards the battlefield and towards disaster.
Xiaoyu shouted at the top of her lungs, “Liuyuan, what are you doing?!”
Yan Liuyuan said calmly, “Uncle Fugui, take Big Sister Xiaoyu and go.”
Xiaoyu tried her best to break free from Wang Fugui’s grip. Meanwhile, Wang Fugui felt terribly awful on the inside.
He did not know what Yan Liuyuan was trying to do, but he knew he could not let go of her hand. If he let go of her, something could happen to Li Xiaoyu as well.
Xiaoyu cried out, “Liuyuan, come back here. What are you doing!”
Yan Liuyuan turned around and smiled at Xiaoyu. “I want my sorrows to become the sorrows of this era.”
After that, Yan Liuyuan gradually stepped away. This was an era on the decline, and a new era was definitely arriving.
But how strong would you have to be to build an era filled with hope? Yan Liuyuan did not know, but he felt that Ren Xiaosu should be able to do it.
Suddenly, dark clouds appeared in the sky, and the distant earth let out a keening cry.
This was a time when gods seemed to be walking the Earth again—the era of “The Rise of Gods.”
Yan Liuyuan walked towards the oncoming bandits step by step. Suddenly, a gray aura wrapped around him like an evil dragon representing calamity.
The beast whose heart was bound was roaring. It was roaring at this era!
Yan Liuyuan, who was just a harmless boy-next-door in the past, had mastered the power of wishes and curses.
No one knew what he could do, nor did anyone know the extremes of his curses.
Now he was cursing the sky to collapse and the ground to split. And so, the ground really broke apart.
As Yan Liuyuan overexerted his power, his willpower suddenly stabbed and gave him a splitting headache.
Finally, two teary streams of blood flowed down his cheeks.
“Hnnng, this won’t kill me,” Yan Liuyuan said softly. He did not feel any sadness. All he wanted was to bury this old era together with the world.
“Bro, it’s time that I protected you now and that impending new era as well,” Yan Liuyuan said softly.
In the distance, a huge amount of energy abruptly burst out of the trembling crust. Cracks suddenly started spreading across the ground just like the one that had originated from the Jing Mountains and was capable of tearing the strongholds apart. Almost instantaneously, the ground in front of the bandits broke apart.
It was almost exactly the same as back then.
That was the force of nature that Yan Liuyuan had witnessed with his own eyes and was now being released by him.
The fracture cut through the ground like a knife as the world rumbled loudly like it was about to collapse.
The fracture reached all the way to the bandits and trapped them in an abyss they could not overcome.
Deep below the abyss was an endless darkness. When the winds of the wilderness blew into it, it sounded like a behemoth lived in it.
However, the fault did not stop as it continued shooting northwards. Yan Liuyuan could not see any threat in the north, but he felt a very disgusting existence there that needed to be erased from this world.
When Zong Cheng, who was in the north, saw this scene from afar, he was scared out of his mind. He had not thought there would be such a powerful supernatural being in this world!
“Run!” Zong Cheng’s calm demeanor disappeared. He madly dashed to the side to avoid it, but the fault kept chasing after him. He could not shake it off.
However, Zong Cheng realized the fault was running out of momentum. He was too far away from the battlefield. Even with Yan Liuyuan’s full-power attack, he could not kill Zong Cheng, who was several kilometers away.
Gradually, the fracture came to a halt before the abyss slowly started closing up.
Zong Cheng’s heart sank as he fled north with the nanosoldiers.
He never expected the bandits charging Yang Xiaojin and Ren Xiaosu would be buried alive by an abyss!
After surveying the area through her scope, Yang Xiaojin looked up at the young man who had summoned the calamity.
Zhang Yiheng and the others stared blankly at the sight before them. They had survived?
Was this… the power of the gods?
Yan Liuyuan just stood quietly and waited for the backlash.
Since the curse was a natural disaster, the backlash would also be a natural disaster.
Suddenly, a loud rumble came from the west. It sounded like the galloping of thousands of horses. Yan Liuyuan understood that a flood was coming
Yan Liuyuan used whatever was left of his strength and shouted at Wang Fugui and the others, “Run for higher ground!”
Then he slowly sat onto the ground in his weakened state. His nanomachines were out of energy, and the curse he had overexerted his willpower to cast left him unable to avoid the backlash. He could only wait for fate’s judgment.
Every spring, the floods in the valley would arrive as expected. When that happened, the valley would form a new river, and most of the landscape here would be changed by the flood.
But the difference was that the peak of this year’s floods seemed to have arrived a few days early.
A boundless amount of water gathered upstream, which then crashed down like an avalanche. It was cascading at a speed faster than the blink of an eye!
Yan Liuyuan could already hear trees breaking upstream. He turned around and looked up into the distance at the floodwaters that were towering high. It was going to crash down on them!
But then he saw Ren Xiaosu break free from Jiang Wu’s back. Xiaoyu had broken free from Wang Fugui’s grip as well.
While everyone else was running for higher ground, Ren Xiaosu and Xiaoyu were running towards him with all their might. Yan Liuyuan was stunned. “Bro…”
As the crest of the flood arrived, Wang Fugui and the others who were uphill could not avoid the rushing waters in time and got dragged into the waves. The plum blossom branches on Jiang Wu’s arm suddenly materialized an extension of themselves, and the long plum branches tied everyone together as they got swept down along the river.
When Ren Xiaosu heard the rushing of the floodwaters coming up from behind, he knew it might be too late. As such, Yan Liuyuan heard Ren Xiaosu’s angry bellow as he shouted, “City Crusher!”
An instant later, Ren Xiaosu’s speed increased again. He suddenly arrived in the front of Yan Liuyuan as the torrent of floodwaters touched his back.
But yet another unexpected event occurred! A supernatural being suddenly appeared atop a hill in the north. It was none other than Zong Cheng’s subordinate, Han Yang!
In an instant, Han Yang raised his arm and a bright red spear appeared in his hand. When he tossed the spear, Yan Liuyuan said anxiously, “Bro, dodge it!”
The spear looked like it was soaring through the bounds of mortality.
Ren Xiaosu also knew there was danger behind them, but he did not care. He forcefully grabbed Yan Liuyuan and Xiaoyu’s arms before City Crusher could deactivate and flung them onto the shore. After Xiaoyu landed on the ground, she passed out.
In midair, Yan Liuyuan saw the sharp red spear pierce Ren Xiaosu’s right side.
The long stream of floodwaters split the north and south into two different worlds. Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan were looking at each other from afar across the lengthy river of time. Ren Xiaosu’s abdomen was bleeding profusely, but he smiled at Yan Liuyuan as though nothing had happened and said, “Don’t you die.”
Then Ren Xiaosu got swept away by the floods and disappeared within the murky waters.
“Bro, wait for me!” Yan Liuyuan cried out in grief. He wanted to get up and give chase down the river, but he lost all strength when he stood up and fainted.
Suddenly, the wolf pack in the south headed north. The Wolf King rushed to where Yan Liuyuan was without caring about the floodwaters. When it came to Yan Liuyuan’s side, it picked Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan up with its mouth and left.
Right after, the floodwaters came in and engulfed the area where they had just been.
End of Volume Three: The Sorrows of Our Era
Next Volume: Ruler of the Northlands