Chapter 267: The Real World

Meng An, the younger brother, continued, "Father, Mother, last night while we were looking through the files, we saw that Cangyu County in Yunzhou was completely destroyed by demon kings, and the county town has been utterly abandoned. My sister and I thought about it all night and want to go see it."

"Is that all?" Meng Chuan calmly continued eating.

"The files said that most of the remaining ten thousand or so residents of the county town were slaughtered. Fewer than two thousand survived, and they have all moved into the wilderness, completely abandoning Cangyu County," Meng You said, her eyes red. "We want to see it."

"How did intelligence from Yunzhou reach you?" Meng Chuan asked, looking at his wife, Liu Qiyue. Liu Qiyue explained, "Since Cangyu County town was completely abandoned, it naturally had to be reported to all other prefectures, which is why this information was specifically sent."

Meng Chuan nodded slightly.

Liu Qiyue then transmitted her voice, "A'Chuan, You'er and An'er have always lived in Jiangzhou City and haven't experienced demon king massacres. Should we let them see this?"

"They're old enough; it's time they saw it," Meng Chuan transmitted back. "You need to stay in Jiangzhou City and cannot leave. Leave it to me."

"Aren't you supposed to be investigating underground?" Liu Qiyue transmitted.

"Spending an hour with You'er and An'er is no big deal. I can just come back an hour later tonight," Meng Chuan transmitted.

The couple settled the matter through their whispered exchange.

"You want to see it?" Meng Chuan asked his children.

"Yes," Meng You and Meng An both nodded, their eyes red-rimmed. Since childhood, they had heard how terrifying the demon race was, how various regions across the land were invaded, and the immense suffering that ensued. Yet, they had lived in peaceful Jiangzhou City, feeling as if life was filled with songs and dances. This made them increasingly curious about the outside world. Especially in recent months, frequently reading the files had fueled their desire to see it for themselves.

"Alright," Meng Chuan stood up. "Come, follow me. Let's go see this real world."

"The real world?" Meng You and Meng An were startled.

Immediately after, the siblings felt themselves enveloped by an invisible force, moving rapidly. They looked down and saw Jiangzhou City shrinking in their view.

"There's no need to go to Cangyu County," Meng Chuan said as he flew at super-high speed with his children. "Cangyu County has been abandoned, and the bodies have been collected by the Diwang (Earth Net). Going there would only be to see an abandoned county town, which holds no real meaning. What you want to see are... the things described in these files, right?"

"Yes," Meng You and Meng An both nodded.

"Good."

Meng Chuan continued to fly swiftly with his children.

He flew towards the central part of the Great Zhou Dynasty. There were too many demon kings across the land. After flying aimlessly for over three thousand li, Meng Chuan spotted a county town with wolf smoke rising and two demon kings slaughtering its inhabitants.

"Over there," Meng Chuan said. You'er and An'er were still a bit confused, their eyesight far inferior to Meng Chuan's.

In a blink of an eye.

Meng Chuan had taken the siblings to a spot over ten li away, directly above the county town.

The siblings, after all, were also Seamless Realm cultivators, and now they could see clearly!

They saw an ugly pig demon over three zhang tall, wielding two large axes. There was also another snake demon king, surrounded by a pervasive green poisonous mist.

Bodies lay in many parts of the county town. In one area, hundreds of people had been cut in half horizontally, their fresh red blood pooling into small streams. In another area, hundreds of bodies were corroded by potent poison, each grotesque and bloated, hundreds of agonizing corpses gathered together—the scene was an absolute nightmare.

There were several similar scenes elsewhere.

Evidently, over a thousand people in this county town had already been slaughtered, all of whom had not managed to escape in time.

"What's that?" Both demon kings watched the three figures hovering in mid-air with terror.

"How did a Godfiend arrive so quickly?"

"We've been slaughtering for less than twenty breaths."

Both demon kings couldn't believe it.

Crack! Crack!

Lightning pierced through the void, and two bolts struck the demon kings, killing them instantly. This lightning was naturally generated by the Thunder-Magnetic Field, but it was powerful enough to kill two Second-Heaven demon kings.

"This, this..." Meng You and Meng An stared at the scene before them. Such a horrific sight was beyond anything they could ever dream of.

Demon king massacres were different from ordinary demon killings.

Demon kings carried out large-scale exterminations, and the scenes of their massacres were far more gruesome.

For instance, hundreds of people were cut in half at the waist... One could tell at a glance that it was a single move, severing hundreds of people, leaving hundreds of bodies neatly divided into two halves.

"Oh..." Meng You and Meng An felt nauseous, an instinctive bodily reaction. But their Seamless Realm cultivation allowed them to barely control themselves from vomiting.

"This county town only had a little over a thousand people slaughtered, which is considered few," Meng Chuan said indifferently, looking down. "That's because the people here are experienced; they can quickly hide in underground tunnels, and the Diwang agents can light wolf smoke as fast as possible. However, it takes time for Godfiends to arrive. We just happened to be passing by, which shortened the time the demon kings had to kill. Otherwise, these two demon kings would likely have destroyed more tunnels and killed more people before leaving."

"Considered few?"

Meng You and Meng An trembled, their legs weak.

"Years ago, when I was stationed in Jiangzhou City with other Godfiends, demon kings launched a major invasion," Meng Chuan recounted. "That time, it was led by a Fourth-Heaven demon monarch, the 'Blackwater Palace Lord.' Many Godfiends died, and over a hundred thousand people in Jiangzhou City were slaughtered. Yet, that was considered a great victory! Had we not stopped the Blackwater Palace Lord, Jiangzhou City's losses would have been ten times more catastrophic."

"There have been numerous instances across the world where entire cities, with hundreds of thousands of people, were completely annihilated during invasions."

"What you see before you is truly far too common. Your mother and I have witnessed it countless times," Meng Chuan said.

Meng You and Meng An's faces turned pale.

Although they had heard much about it and read extensively in the files, seeing it with their own eyes was entirely different.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Diwang soldiers quickly emerged and respectfully saluted Meng Chuan from a distance in the sky.

"Let's go," Meng Chuan said, sweeping his children away into the wilderness.

In the wild, as far as the eye could see, there were no people.

"Look, beneath that patch of weeds is an underground dwelling," Meng Chuan pointed to a spot. Only when he spoke did the siblings manage to discern it.

"A family of five lives in there," Meng Chuan said. "In that entire weed-covered area, there are over ten families, all of whom have already dug out their homes. The weeds growing on top are merely camouflage."

The siblings looked closely and saw two dirty children peering up at the sky through a patch of weeds.

The children's gazes made the siblings' hearts tremble.

"Children aren't allowed to come out freely without an elder's permission," Meng Chuan said calmly. "Only when elders are patrolling nearby will children be allowed out to bask in the sun. Being able to walk on land is a great blessing."

Meng Chuan then took his children to a lake.

In the lake's reed marsh, one could only see boats tied together upon closer inspection.

"Each boat is a home, and seven or eight families here support each other," Meng Chuan explained. "There are many people across the world who now live on boats. Even along the East Sea, many families have taken to the sea in their vessels."

Some women were washing clothes at the bow of the boats, while children practiced martial arts forms, their movements clumsy but earnest.

"They have no academies, only guidance from their elders," Meng Chuan said calmly. "Even with extraordinary talent, what kind of cultivation can one achieve in such an environment?"

The siblings watched the children earnestly practicing on the boat's bow, a scene they felt they would never forget.

"Let's go."

Meng Chuan had seen too much.

That was why even when he flew ceaselessly for six hours a day underground, relentlessly hunting demons, he never felt tired.

"Whoosh."

As they flew with their children, Meng You and Meng An remained silent.

They flew past a prefectural city, bustling and populous. Finally, they saw Jiangzhou City again. As one of the Great Zhou Dynasty's top ten largest cities, with over ten million residents, Jiangzhou City was incredibly vibrant and prosperous. Yet, as the siblings looked at it now, their hearts were filled with mixed emotions.

In this cruel, nightmarish world, a place like Jiangzhou City was truly a dreamland.

"Human resilience is incredibly strong. The populations of the prefectural and provincial cities are ultimately only a small fraction," Meng Chuan said calmly. "The majority of the world's population is scattered throughout the wilderness. What we Godfiends must do is make the entire world as peaceful as Jiangzhou City, so that everyone can live stable lives."

"Can that be done?" Meng An asked, and Meng You also looked at her father, their eyes a little uncertain.

Meng Chuan calmly replied, "Exterminating all demons in the world will be enough."