Durin's Diary

Chapter 970 Borrowing the Long Whale

By June, the situation in Changtang had changed dramatically.

The Changtang army, which landed on Kyushu and Shikoku, swept through the islands and wiped out the remaining puppet bones on the two large islands. Instead of rushing to the end, they established defenses on Shikoku Island and built a bridgehead at the westernmost point of Honshu Island.

Utilizing new large-caliber naval guns, new army artillery, and new celestial ground attack equipment, the puppet skeletons of Honshu Island could only crash headlong into the outer perimeter of the bridgehead and die.

The Chang Tang army has decided that if they can deplete the puppet bone's manpower at the bridgehead, the navy and army will share a very rare viewpoint: with the help of land-based air force and the Celestial Master, the navy can brazenly provide large-caliber naval gun bombardment support near the bridgehead without worrying about being ambushed by the puppet bone's air force.

At Zhennan Pass, after the death of the Great Demon, the demon army scattered in all directions. These alien species were good at fighting when things were going well, but after being repeatedly humiliated by Dulin, they lost the will to rest and chose to run away.

The garrison at Zhennan Pass had no intention of launching a counterattack—at least until the war on the four islands ended, their primary task was to defend Zhennan Pass and several garrison towns.

Although the demon army ravaged the fields outside the city, at least this time they suffered heavy casualties, and they probably won't have time to attack again in the next few years.

Moreover, the losses at Zhennanguan this time were not significant. Several fortified cities were not lost, and although there were casualties, the situation was much better than before.

The only downside is that Zhennanguan is incredibly hot in June.

Let alone unlucky souls like Anta and Lid who find summers hot at only 27 degrees Celsius in the northern part of the Western Continent, even a little female dragon like Lina, who lives in the Dragon Nest Mountain near Evercast Fortress, avoids places with temperatures in the 40s and humidity levels that often exceed 90%.

Although mages can control their temperature, who can stand being woken up by the heat in the middle of the night?

The constant spell could indeed solve the problem, but faced with the fact that all the men in Zhennan Pass were shirtless, the girls of the Dulin family were ultimately too thin-skinned.

There was nothing Dulin could do, so he sent them back to Shangjing—the girls all thought Changtang was fun, and even the most home-loving Lide didn't want to go back to Xilu now.

Although it sounds strange, it's ultimately a good thing.

Oh, right, that silly deer Alyssa is back too. In her words, she witnessed everything from the old era, which sounds pretty impressive. Dulin didn't ask her if she had seen those four—if he asked that question wrong, his silly deer might suddenly reappear, and things would really get out of hand.

As for her saying she wanted to compile a history of the old era, that was a good thing, so Dulin let her write it—anyway, with Eleven and rationality present, they could see if the girl's writing was correct and then know how much she had actually learned from Director Sun.

Speaking of rational existence, this guy has been incredibly busy lately. Old Pang got him the head of Perren Milair, and Dulin also found the head of Akar's Great Demon Logan. He's now fully immersed in the task of retrieving the memories of these two.

As for Old Pang, although he was old, he was indeed quite capable in a fight. He caught Perlen Millair's blade all by himself and even cleaved her in two.

Although she has a scar on her face and is said to have suffered a hidden injury, and according to rational beings, she and Perren Milair were actually considered a golden couple back then, it sounds really tragic.

Even if Dulin didn't know the details, he understood how painful it was for lovers to draw their swords and kill each other.

After all, we can empathize, can't we?

So today he brought some World Tree fruit and made a special trip from Zhennan Pass back to Shangjing to visit this old dragon, just to use the fruit to heal the old man's injuries.

The Pang family was large and powerful, and its descendants were quite successful. Although none of them entered the imperial court as officials, the presence of Pang family members was always felt in the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Candle Dragon Pavilion.

Upon hearing that Du Lin had arrived, the old dragon readily agreed, being pushed in a wheelchair by his descendants to see Du Lin. The old man appeared quite haggard, and it was said that he had been eating very little lately, his condition steadily declining.

Da Ju glanced at it and let out a soft sigh.

A strange energy field emanated from him, draining his life force; it seemed that the attack had truly damaged his very foundation.

I don't think so. Apart from the injury on his face, he doesn't have any other wounds. You can see that he's only wearing a thin shirt, so it's not easy to hide them.

No physical wound is as deep as a wound in the heart. If you had a childhood sweetheart who had lived with you for a thousand years, and in the end she wanted to fight you to the death, and you chopped off her head, how would you feel?

"Big Orange asked in return," Da Ju countered.

Eleven was taken aback.

Ah, is there such a good thing? I do have an AI compatriot who was born in the same incubation pod as me. I don't know where it is now, but it was pretty arrogant back then. It beat me, which is why I was assigned to the Western Continent. Damn it, don't let me run into it, or I'll risk my life to enter the prosthetic body, grab a stick, and smash the life support pod that's hiding its head.

Daju and Dulin smiled knowingly.

Old Pang accepted the fruit from Du Lin without refusing, and ate it in one gulp.

Then you could see his complexion improve visibly.

Dulin didn't hold back and took out a whole box: "There are still six fruits inside, which should help you get better. If it's not enough, I'll give you more."

"You silly child, where did you get so many fruits to waste?" Old Pang looked at Du Lin with a face full of curiosity.

"I have a special connection with the World Tree. I'll take a few of its fallen fruits. This celestial tree shouldn't bother with a junior like me."

After listening to Du Lin's serious nonsense, Old Pang laughed and nodded: "Then tell me, why are you helping me like this?"

“My thought is very simple: I just want to help you. You have been helping all living beings on this land since the old era. You must be feeling tired after living for so long, but I think I should help you so that you can see the day when all living beings on this land are no longer plagued by the Three Passes and Four Seas.”

To be honest, Du Lin really didn't want the old man to die like this—Old Pang had lived for over a thousand years and had indeed reached the end of his lifespan, but he still hoped that the old man could see the day when Chang Tang would no longer be plagued by the Three Passes and the Four Seas.

"...There's a saying in Changtang: 'Those who offer unsolicited kindness are either up to no good or are thieves.' What do you want from me, kid? Tell me, as long as it doesn't violate my principles, I'll help you."

“I recently went with this old man to the mountains inside Yumen Pass and saw too many young people living in the past. I feel that life has so many regrets, and it would be good if there were fewer.” At this point, Du Lin smiled and said, “I don’t need anything from you. I’ve just seen too much sorrow and pain, and I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“…Alright, I’ll live a little longer, as long as I can fulfill your sincere request, Brother Du Lin.” After saying that, the old man looked at his offspring: “Tell the kitchen to prepare a feast. Today I want to have a good meal with Brother Du Lin, and with you too.”

After instructing his own children, he pointed to Du Lin and said, "Call your old man and Yan Zhenqing over. I know you can contact them. Call them over, and we'll have a good time."

(End of this chapter)