The mountain was still shaking.
Fang Shuo could no longer remember how many disasters he had been through.
Gravel and boulders tumbled down the mountainside. His right leg was pinned beneath a rock the size of a millstone, rendering him entirely unable to move. The sheer agony sent waves of blackness across his vision, and his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.
“Don't move!”
A figure lunged over from the side.
Before Fang Shuo could get a clear look at the person's face, a deafening whistle roared directly over his head.
It was a massive boulder, dragging down torn tree roots and clumps of earth as it plummeted straight toward him.
But he felt no pain.
A Zhenbei Army soldier had thrown himself over him.
The dull thud of armor colliding with stone rang clearly in Fang Shuo's ears. He heard the soldier let out a muffled groan as his back bent like a bow under the immense weight. Yet, the man somehow held up the massive boulder, his forearms straining and veins bulging with exertion.
“Young Master Fang, run...” the soldier squeezed the words through his gritted teeth, his voice raspy with unbearable strain.
“Run! For the Divine Lady, no matter what, you must bring the item back to Xindu City!”
Fang Shuo stared at the youthful face of the soldier.
“You...” He opened his mouth.
“Run!”
The soldier repeated the word, using his back to heave the boulder half an inch higher to help Fang Shuo free himself.
Seeing this, Fang Shuo could only grit his teeth and drag his pinned leg out from beneath the stone. The sharp edges of the rocks tore a deep gash through his flesh, and blood instantly soaked through his robes.
But he did not stop. He scrambled and rolled out from under the soldier. Immediately after, a hail of rocks rained down, burying the soldier beneath a mound of stone in an instant. Dark blood seeped through the crevices of the rocks, pooling into a grim stream that soaked into the dirt.
Watching this, Fang Shuo felt as though something was choking his throat, leaving him utterly speechless.
Then, he turned around and began to run.
The wound on his leg bled continuously. Every step he took felt as if someone were slicing his flesh with a blade.
Behind him, more parts of the mountain continued to collapse, the low rumbles relentlessly chasing his footsteps.
It was as though the heavens would not rest until they were all dead.
Sure enough, a second landslide struck without warning.
Just as Fang Shuo reached a narrow pass, the cliffs on both sides let out a terrifying cracking sound at the same time.
His leg injury was simply too severe for him to run fast. He could only watch as the massive boulders in the air plummeted closer and closer to him.
“Go!” Yet another Zhenbei Army soldier used his own body to shield Fang Shuo from the falling rocks.
This time, Fang Shuo did not even have the chance to commit the man's face to memory.
He had no time to look back. He could only keep running, desperately pushing forward toward Xindu City with every ounce of strength he had left.
Normally, traveling on horseback from Wuling City to Xindu City would take only half a month, but he had spent a grueling two months on this journey.
Perhaps this was what Mr. Shen had meant when he said that for a mortal to attempt defying heaven to change fate, a steep price must always be paid.
Only, he had never expected the cost to be so devastating.
Two months ago, when he set out from Wuling City, Mr. Shen had assigned a full hundred elite Zhenbei Army cavalrymen to escort him and the item back to Xindu City. Now, not a single one remained.
Fang Shuo finally ran out of the canyon.
The deafening roar of the landslide finally subsided.
He looked back. The path he had come from was completely sealed off by rubble. Mountains of shattered rocks and fallen trees blocked the entire canyon, with only a few scattered shreds of torn cloth peeking through the gaps, fluttering slightly in the wind.
Those were the military robes of the Zhenbei Army.
A dark, somber blackish-blue, stained with mud and blood.
With a thud, Fang Shuo fell to his knees.
His knees sank into the soft soil. Agony flared from his injured right leg, but he seemed not to feel it, his eyes fixed on the exposed scraps of fabric and shattered pieces of iron armor.
Just the night before they set out, the young soldier whose face he had managed to remember had crouched by the campfire, laughing and chatting with him. He had said that once the south was reclaimed, he would go home to marry his wife.
At the time, the soldier had proudly bragged that his fiancée was a well-known weaver in Xindu City, and that the cloth she wove was exceptionally beautiful...
At the thought of this, Fang Shuo curled in on himself, pressing his forehead against the muddy ground as his shoulders trembled violently.
He could not even cry out loud.
Over the past two months, he had faced life-threatening disasters almost every single day. Watching one person after another fall before his eyes had long dried up his tears; even when he wanted to weep, nothing would come.
“I won't let you die in vain!” he muttered, pushing himself up from the ground. A piercing pain shot through his injured right leg.
Then, he took a step forward, limping heavily. He dragged his right leg along the ground, leaving a winding trail of blood behind him.
His eyes were bloodshot, and the mud on his face was a messy smear washed by sweat. Yet, his chin remained held high, his gaze fixed straight on the sliver of faint light on the eastern horizon.
This was a road paved with a hundred lives.
Even if he had to crawl, he would make it to Xindu City.
*
Since Yun Shu and the little fox were fully occupied with matters in the south, they naturally had no time to spare on monitoring Fang Shuo.
As such, neither of them knew what Fang Shuo had endured over the past two months, nor what kind of danger he was currently facing.
The little fox trotted over, panting. “Host, the livestock are all sorted. I fed them all the pomegranate seeds.”
“Splendid job, Tongzi.”
Yun Shu put away the Illusionary Sound Gu Flute in her hand.
Just now, she had also utilized the skills of the Illusionary Sound Gu Flute to have insects sow her saved crop seeds into the soil.
Over the past few years, the north's development had skyrocketed like a rocket, leaving the south far too behind. She had to find a way to give the commoners across the south something to secure their livelihoods.
Once everything was ready, she asked, “Tongzi, how far have Feng Chunya and Pei Du fought by now?”
“Let me check.”
The little fox opened the system panel.
“Host, with the help of those ministers you infected with the Evil-Devouring Gu, Feng Chunya and Pei Du haven't encountered any major obstacles while reclaiming cities along the way.”
“I reckon that in half a month at most, they will reclaim the final prefecture of the south, Heluo.”
Yun Shu took out her map and looked at the markings on it.
“Seeds, rivers, minerals, land... almost everything that can be improved has been improved.”
She put away the map. “Tongzi, let's go grab a good meal first. Once Feng Chunya and the others take Heluo and the realm is unified, we won't even have the time to eat.”
According to what the little fox had told her before, the people of this world were all paper people, including the male lead, Shen Jue. Their sole purpose for existing was to play out the novel's plot, pushing this novel world to evolve into a real world.
Although she had completely disrupted the plot by now, the ultimate outcome remained the same—the unification of the realm.
If she guessed correctly, the day the realm was unified would surely be the catalyst for turning the unreal into reality.
At that time, she would inevitably have to face the Great God.
This was unavoidable.
“Host, something seems wrong!” the little fox suddenly blurted out, interrupting Yun Shu's train of thought.
Rate on N.U.
