Chapter 521

Arc 5: I Am Deeply Disappointed Feb 16 Written By Pure Preview

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Chapter 521 Wei Yang (魏杨)

Qi Xia seemed to have turned the page on this matter entirely, walking ahead without a word, refusing to answer any more questions posed by Chen Junnan or Qiao Jiajin.

It was as if, for a fleeting moment, he had opened his heart—but just as quickly, he sealed it again, leaving only that cold, impenetrable exterior.

The three men pressed eastward in silence. After about an hour, the towering buildings had disappeared, replaced by squat, modest houses. What surprised them even more was that there were still numerous indigenous inhabitants here, moving in a daze, repeating the same motions over and over, like machines.

An hour and a half later, they saw no trace of any {Earthly Branches}. Only the occasional indigenous inhabitant remained, and half an hour after that, even they had become scarce.

Around them, beyond the cracked, abandoned road beneath their feet, stretched a desolate expanse. Yet this wasteland was unlike any in the real world: no weeds grew here, only bare, exposed earth.

“Don’t you think there’s remarkably little vegetation here?” Qi Xia asked.

Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin glanced around with little concern; Qi Xia’s focus lingered on matters most would find trivial.

People here weren’t even normal, was it really necessary for lush plants to grow here as well?

“It’s not particularly strange,” Chen Junnan remarked. “Can any plant even survive here? The sun above is abnormal, and the air reeks so foully…it’s hardly a place for life.”

Qi Xia nodded silently and fell quiet. They pressed on for another ten minutes or so, until fatigue began to gnaw at them, and then, in the distance across the wasteland, a house appeared.

It was a low wooden structure, entirely of timber, its exterior decrepit. Many of its planks were cracked like wrinkled skin, and under the setting sun of {End Point}, it looked grotesque and menacing.

The three of them pressed on a few hundred meters further. Peering behind the low house, they saw a crude fence fashioned from scrap iron and discarded wood, and within it lay a scene that made their blood run cold.

Rows upon rows of {scarecrows} stood upright.

Though called {scarecrows}, a closer look revealed something deeply unsettling: each one twitched slightly, their eyes rolling back and forth.

These were no mere {scarecrows}.

Within the small ‘farm’, dozens of wooden crosses were planted into the ground, each one binding an {indigenous inhabitant}. Their arms were outstretched and lashed to the crossbeams, rendered utterly immobile like true human scarecrows.

Beyond that, the {crops} in the fields were no less horrifying.

The soil was pierced with severed hands and feet, all arranged neatly, as if tended with care.

The farm was meticulously cultivated; the earth around each limb appeared freshly turned and damp, as if watered.

Some of the limbs had dried and blackened, their surfaces wrinkled like withered tree bark, while others were fresh, red and glistening with blood.

A faint breeze carried the stench across the field, crashing into the three men like a physical blow.

“I…damn…” Qiao Jiajin’s lips trembled. “Swindler lad… Junnan lad… have we… come to hell?”

“This has always been hell,” Qi Xia replied coldly. “No matter the deeds, no matter the doer… here, all seems wholly unremarkable.”

Chen Junnan swallowed hard at the sight. “I’ve got a bad feeling…He… He’s gone completely mad. He’s far worse than he was seven years ago. Are we really going to try to reason with him?”

“Just looking at this scene, he’s clearly gone far beyond madness,” Qi Xia said. “Chu Tianqiu, by comparison, was nothing but gentle.”

“These two are cut from the same cloth…” Chen Junnan remarked with furrowed brows.

He recalled waking up in Chu Tianqiu’s basement, filled with blood-stained animal masks and several {Terrestrial-grade Earthly Branches’} heads. The oppressive, damp darkness had exuded a nauseating stench. That scene had been no less disturbing than this farm.

“Should we… knock on the door?” Qiao Jiajin asked tentatively.

“Uh…” Chen Junnan scratched his head, uncertain. To face such a madman, was knocking even necessary?

The three stood frozen at the entrance when the wooden door of the house shivered. A thin figure stepped out, holding a rusted metal watering can in his hand.

“Is that him?” Qi Xia asked.

“Yeah…” Chen Junnan nodded, his gaze fixed on the thin, middle-aged man. “He hasn’t changed one bit.”

From a distance, Wei Yang had clearly noticed the three standing in the street. His expression flickered briefly before he straightened, watering can in hand, and silently faced them for several tense seconds.

Then he opened his mouth and, in a hoarse voice, muttered the word, “Impressive.”

It was only then that Qi Xia took in Wei Yang’s features. He was actually fairly handsome, likely striking in his youth, but time had carved deep lines into his face. {End Point} had added a touch of madness to his gaze.

Now he stood a dozen steps away, radiating an unsettling aura. Even Qi Xia dared not step forward.

Seeing that the three made no move, Wei Yang slowly bent down, placed the watering can behind him, and, with his other hand resting on his abdomen, gave them a surprisingly polite bow. Then he turned and walked toward his {field}.

Qi Xia murmured, bewildered by his bizarre behavior, “He recognizes us.”

“Most likely,” Chen Junnan replied with a nod. “He was always the type to hide a knife behind a smile.”

Wei Yang turned his back, carrying the watering can into the field. Bending down to inspect the severed limbs, he carefully brushed aside the dust and angled the watering can’s spout at them.

The three of them watched Wei Yang’s every move, and only then did they realize that what poured from his watering can was not water at all, but thick, darkened blood.

The viscous liquid spilled from the spout in clinging strands, draping itself over the severed limbs and rendering an already horrifying tableau even more grotesque.

“Hmmm~ Hmmm~” Wei Yang hummed an old tune under his breath. The melody sounded faintly familiar, yet none of them could recall where they had heard it. He behaved as though he were tending an ordinary field, watering each limb while softly singing to himself.

“Night’s almost here. We cannot afford to wait any longer.” Qi Xia said, forcing down the nausea churning in his stomach. “I’ll go speak with him.”

He had just taken a step forward when Wei Yang suddenly spoke, as if to himself. “I won’t be going.”

“What?”

“Rebelling against {Celestial Dragon}, tearing down the entire {End Point}… I won’t be doing that,” Wei Yang said. After finishing his {watering}, he reached out to check the condition of his {crops}, then turned back with a broad smile. “Those who wish to die are free to do so. But I want no part in it.”

As the words fell from his mouth, he lifted a hand and wiped his cheek. In an instant, a smear of black-red blood stained his face.

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TL Note: Official art I found for this chapter~

Source: https://weibo.com/6560746089/PewvufdRC