Chapter 2 'World' (Part 1)

Suddenly, the sea surface was in turmoil, with waves surging as if a tide was about to rise. The refugees hurriedly moved the food and belongings from the stranded ship to the shore. Thousands of people, including children, were involved, and they worked tirelessly until they were exhausted, finally emptying the ship's hold. By this time, half of the ship's hull had already been submerged in the seawater, and it was on the verge of being swept away by the waves

Before he could find the answer, the young man suddenly felt a flash before his eyes. As his vision gradually returned, he was enveloped by a scorching and blinding radiance. At the same time, a low, chilling wail began to echo around him.

As soon as his thoughts began to shift, that distant voice echoed one last time: "The true name is confirmed as 'World', the guidance has ended." After that, the young man suddenly felt a sinking sensation beneath his feet, and his body plummeted rapidly, crying out as he fell from the clouds at an unknown height of several thousand or even tens of thousands of meters, landing in mid-air less than one hundred meters above the ground.

Struck by this heavy blow, the vicious wolf did not even have time to let out a mournful howl before it met its demise

The flickering sparks caused the young man's heart to tighten

The remaining men swarmed onto the nearby large ship to search for any other survivors, while also inspecting the damage to the vessel and assessing whether it could continue to sail

At this moment, the common people on the ground are suffering as if they have fallen into hell, while the Asian youth in the sky is also anxious and restless. After all, as a civilized person, witnessing a ferocious beast hunting its own kind, it would indeed be strange not to react.

After provocatively killing one person, the lead wolf noticed that the crowd not only did not retaliate but instead trembled in fear. It realized that although this group of prey was numerous, they were not difficult to subdue, and immediately bared its teeth, leading the pack of wolves to close in step by step

Then, the largest wolf at the forefront of the pack suddenly lunged forward, biting down on the nape of the last straggler. Amidst a piercing wail, it ended the life of its prey

One of the elders, leaning on a wooden staff topped with a vividly carved monkey head, suddenly struck the ground with his cane, producing a few loud "bang bang..." sounds. In a hoarse voice, he spoke: "Do not wail any longer. While escaping with our lives is certainly good, we have less than a hold of food left for over two hundred people on this ship. If we do not plan carefully, we will ultimately face death; whether at sea or on the shore, we will perish..."

I survived, I escaped and survived, this, this, this is truly a stroke of luck, a stroke of luck indeed

What he did not expect was that by inhaling air into his mouth and transferring it mouthful by mouthful to the old man's mouth, after several attempts, a terrifying scene suddenly unfolded

Immediately, the people on the deck obediently began to act according to the elder's instructions. After disembarking, the women looked at the children

With the fall of the youth, the vast continent, which was originally shrouded in thick black mist, suddenly revealed a bay area approximately five kilometers long and wide, located by the sea, becoming clear and visible.

Thus, with chest compressions and artificial respiration... The youth continuously repeated the life-saving actions on different subjects, while strands of black and white shadows were pulled from the bodies of the victims and drawn into his abdomen

Mr. Zhou, the fortune teller from the previous market, had long predicted that I am blessed with great fortune and destiny, so I knew I would not be devoured by those sea fish... Before long, some could no longer contain the overwhelming joy of having escaped death and began to shout and cheer in a chaotic manner

Those people mostly had blank expressions, faintly revealing a look of lingering fear. It was only when they saw the blue sky and white clouds, realizing that they had drifted to land, that their expressions gradually became animated, and a wave of ecstatic atmosphere began to spread among the crowd

They had just finished bowing when the entire world suddenly froze in place, and then a golden twenty-sided die, the size of a waist drum, fell from the sky, landing in front of the Asian boy who was floating in mid-air. It rolled in the air for a moment before revealing the number '4'.

In a situation where one is trapped in peril and at a loss as to how to conduct oneself, even when the existing social order collapses, ordinary people will instinctively obey authority. Thus, as soon as the elder's words fell, someone immediately responded with a sense of relief, saying: "Yes, yes, Master Xu, you have always been exceptionally capable, and even the governor speaks highly of you. We will listen to you, we will all listen to you"

The intense pain in his body was overshadowed by a dazed mind, and in what seemed like a slow yet actually rapid movement, the young man thought in a muddled manner: "What, what is happening to me, where am I, what is going on..."

As the smoke and dust dissipated, a vast expanse of land, stretching endlessly and unknown to extend for thousands or even tens of thousands of miles, slowly emerged beneath his feet.

Seeing the crowd shift from wild joy to anxiety, an elderly man, who possessed considerable life wisdom, changed his tone and said: "However, all of us on this boat, young and old, are craftsmen. Building houses, forging iron, and casting plows are trivial matters. If we apply ourselves diligently, we need not fear that we cannot carve out a living. The most important thing now is to stabilize ourselves. First, let us check on the others on the other boats, gather our strength, and work together; that is the right path."

The Asian boy in mid-air gazed at the scenes unfolding beneath him as if watching a historical drama, utterly perplexed by what had transpired. Subsequently, he witnessed the survivors from other vessels being found one after another, and by noon, thousands of fleeing women and children had already gathered on the beach

In the dazzling crimson glow, a blurred silhouette composed of smoky black and white dashed lines was pulled out from the old woman's body by an invisible force, struggling in extreme terror as it was drawn into the mouth and nose of the young man

Due to the tears blurring his vision, the young man did not notice this terrifying scene. After performing first aid for a while, he realized that the elderly woman had completely lost her vitality and ceased his actions, crawling half on his hands and half walking towards another dying passenger who was closest to him.

Unlike the overly joyful village women and foolish men, several individuals on the deck, dressed relatively neatly and elegantly, maintained a calm demeanor. After displaying a hint of joy at their escape, they revealed traces of worry and concern.

On this exposed ground, the most conspicuous sight is a few beached ships, connected by rusty iron chains as thick as a baby's fist

Logically, there should be over a thousand people on the beach, with middle-aged men accounting for about 30 to 40 percent. In the presence of weapons, it should not be a problem to fight against dozens of forest wolves.

A few lagging behind were running while shouting, "Wolf, wolf, there are wolves and leopards here, help, please help..." As soon as the words fell, more than thirty dark-colored black wolves sprang out from the forest.

As the wolf pack drew closer, people instinctively trembled and began to retreat. Only one man, limping with a broken right finger, who had remained silent and had only focused on his work, suddenly shouted: "Do not retreat, do not retreat. The nature of these wolves is akin to that of the Hu people; the more you yield, the more audacious they become. If you retreat any further, your wives and children will be devoured."

Then the craftsmen who assessed the damage to the large ships reported pessimistically to the person in charge that several wooden boats had completely rotted at the bottom, and unless they underwent major repairs in dry dock, they would fall apart in less than half a day at sea

After several calls without response, the young man did not give up; instead, he clumsily began to perform cardiac massage on the elderly woman and initiated artificial respiration, using the first aid methods he had learned in physical education class at school

Upon witnessing this scene, some desperate commoners in the crowd were initially taken aback, but soon tears of hope welled up in their eyes. Ignoring the advancing wolf pack, they collectively knelt down and prayed: "We do not know which deity or Buddha may show great mercy to rid us of these evil wolves. If you can ensure the safety of our lives and property, we are willing to build a temple and worship you for generations. During the four seasons and three festivals, we shall offer the grandest sacrifices of livestock, and we will never go against this promise."

"To think that it wants to eat children," a wicked wolf gazed down with one eye fixed on a child hiding beneath its mother's skirt. The young boy couldn't help but grit his teeth and think, "Damn it, truly damn it..."

Just as he was turning his thoughts, the walls of the compartment, splattered with blood all around, revealed wires that resembled the blood vessels and meridians of the human body due to the accident, suddenly emitting a series of chilling crackling sounds.

Ancestral blessings, this is, this is a narrow escape from great calamity

When the youth was at a loss and bewildered, that distant voice suddenly echoed again in the darkness, "What is this?"

Realizing that now was not the time to be dazed, he exerted all his strength to support his battered body. However, instead of directly escaping the hellish carriage, he hesitated for a moment and hurriedly stumbled to the side of an elderly woman slumped on the seat in the front. He bent down and called out in a hoarse voice, "Madam, Madam, are you alright, Madam..."

Those ships, approximately fifty to sixty meters long at both the bow and stern, with a width exceeding twenty meters, feature ancient and rustic carvings of Chinese dragon heads at the bow. The deck is adorned with large, hard sails resembling reed mats, which are now completely unusable, appearing as if they have suffered a maritime disaster

At that moment, several piercing howls of beasts suddenly echoed from the dense woods near the beach, gradually approaching. Immediately afterward, the men who had been instructed to investigate the situation came running out of the forest, their bodies bloodied and mangled.

Hearing these words, as he looked down from a height of thousands or tens of thousands of meters at the magnificent and vast ocean and land, the words "the world..." involuntarily emerged in the young man's mind

"Where is this?" Slowly regaining his senses, the young man could not remember why he had suddenly fallen from the bright green park into the overturned carriage that resembled a hellish corridor. Shaking his head and looking around, he was confronted with bloodied and disfigured elderly faces, and he could not help but wear an expression of disbelief, horrified by the thought.

However, previously, due to the emptying of the ship's hold, everyone had exhausted their strength, their hands trembling on the knife handles and gun grips. Moreover, the vast majority of the men were craftsmen, lacking any experience in battle. As a result, for a time, the wolf pack completely gained the upper hand in terms of momentum.

Unfortunately, his individual strength is ultimately limited; no matter how reasonable his words are, no one pays attention. As the wolf pack draws near, the common people would rather shed tears and tremble in prayer to the myriad gods and deities than grasp their weapons and charge at the enemy, fighting their way to survival

Several of the strongest men formed groups of three, armed with the spears, broadswords, and round shields that had been retrieved from the cabin, to investigate the surroundings and see if they could find any signs of human habitation

Without the shelter of the cabin, they could only sleep rough in the wilderness. The dire situation, which was clearly exacerbated, caused the spirits of those who had just escaped from a desperate situation to plummet. Some frail women could no longer hold back their tears, secretly wiping them away.

As the number of devouring phantoms increased, the scorching rays of light seeping from the leaking fuel began to penetrate through the skin and infiltrate the boy's body, causing his recently restored consciousness to become hazy once again

To his astonishment, as his resentful thoughts turned, a conical spike over three feet long, sharp as a needle at the tip, suddenly emerged from the ground on the beach, violently piercing through the soft chin of the wolf that was spying on the child, breaking through its skull and erupting with brain matter and blood from the top of its head.

A few minutes later, the bloody carriage, the crimson light, the terrifying corpses... In a daze, everything gradually became blurred in the boy's mind, transforming into a swirling haze of black and white smoke.

Looking down from a high vantage point at those ancient ships, the young man truly could not comprehend his bizarre predicament. Just as he was lost in a perplexing confusion, he noticed a hidden door on the deck of the large ship being lifted. A group of people dressed in strange ancient attire, tattered clothing, and with haggard expressions, both men and women, young and old, began to emerge in single file.

After listening to the elder's words, the common people on the ship suddenly realized that although they had escaped the dire fate of drowning, they had ended up in a completely unfamiliar and desolate land, which could not be considered a complete escape from danger. They immediately fell silent, like a deflated balloon.