Mythical Scroll Artist: Starting with the God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming

Chapter 23 Active Self-Help
Inside the shantytown, screams of terror echoed continuously.

On the streets, worms swarmed like a flood, only to disappear in the blink of an eye.

On either side of the door frame, the Rooster King and the Divine Tiger glowed faintly. Although the two practice scrolls had not been completed, they were, after all, products made of spiritual materials and contained considerable spirituality. At this moment, they were quietly exerting a mysterious effect.

Wu Xian calmed down from the shock and swallowed hard.

Dimensional mirage!

It turned out to be the legendary dimensional mirage.

A special kind of disaster mentioned in history textbooks, where extradimensional forces invade the world in a way similar to a "mirage".

The difference is that a mirage is just an illusion, but a dimensional mirage is more than just an illusion.

The probability of a dimensional mirage occurring is extremely small; the most recent recorded instance was nearly a century ago.

Therefore, the vast majority of people in this generation have never experienced such a disaster, let alone know how to cope with it.

Grandpa is still outside!

Wu Xian hurriedly took out his phone, trying to contact the old man, but the phone signal was severely interfered with by dimensional fluctuations, and he couldn't make the call at all.

Although the old man has recovered some of his cultivation and has a guardian tiger protecting the house, no one can say for sure what will happen to the disaster brought about by this dimensional mirage.

"How was the alert text message sent?"

Perhaps the authorities possess some kind of special signal transmission device.

"Ghost... ghost!"

Screams echoed from the surrounding neighborhood, making Wu Xian's heart pound.

Soon, a commotion erupted from Grandpa Wang's house next door. "What the hell is this?! Oh my god... Ah—! Don't eat me... Don't eat me... I'm so old, my flesh is tough... not... not tasty!"

Without hesitation, Wu Xian released the God of Wealth painting spirit and leaped over the wall into the courtyard.

With a roar from the black tiger, the strange fluctuations in Grandpa Wang's house vanished instantly.

"Grandpa Wang, Grandpa Wang..."

Before his eyes, several ghostly figures drifted by as if no one else was there, seemingly completely oblivious to Wu Xian.

Wu Xian rushed into the house and quickly saw Grandpa Wang huddled in a corner, his head in his hands. His frail body trembled uncontrollably, and he kept repeating, "Don't eat me...don't eat me..."

"Grandpa Wang, don't be afraid!" Wu Xian stepped forward and patted Grandpa Wang on the back. "I'm here for you."

Grandpa Wang was so frightened that he scrambled to his feet.

Wu Xian was also greatly startled.

Old Master Wang's face was twisted in a bizarre way, blood flowing from his seven orifices. A tentacle shot out from his terrified, gaping mouth, aiming straight for Wu Xian's brow, but was blocked by the flowing light of wealth and treasure.

boom!
The God of Wealth slightly twitched his steel whip, and a flash of electricity streaked across it.

The eerie tentacles twitched and vanished instantly.

A wisp of smoke rose from the top of Grandpa Wang's head, and he regained his senses. "Little Xianzi? What... what was that thing just now?"

"It's nothing, just an illusion caused by a dimensional mirage. Just don't take it seriously, just treat it like watching a 3D movie."

Wu Xian said this, but he was secretly feeling apprehensive.

Especially the strange situation that happened to Grandpa Wang just now, it was obviously not an illusion or hallucination, but a real monster.

Although it's only a first-tier minor demon, it's still not something an ordinary person can contend with.

"Come on, let's go to my place. It's safer there."

The elderly neighbors watched Wu Xian grow up and still trust him a lot.

After arriving at Wu Xian's dilapidated courtyard, Grandpa Wang's panic gradually subsided. The rooster king and divine tiger paintings on the door seemed to not only ward off evil spirits but also calm people's negative emotions.

"Please stay here and don't wander off. I'll go and move Grandpa Zhang and Grandpa Niu here as well."

"Okay, okay, you be careful too."

Grandpa Wang nodded obediently, but he was also worried about his old friends.

He moved all the elderly garbage collectors in the neighborhood to his home in one go, which terrified the old men. Some of them encountered situations similar to Grandpa Wang's.

"Hey kid, where's your grandpa?" the old friends asked with concern.

"He went out early this morning and probably won't be back for a while," Wu Xian said with a sigh. "You all stay here and don't wander off. I'm going out to find my grandfather." After settling the old men in, Wu Xian left alone.

Dimensional mirages would appear from time to time, making it difficult to discern the route.

One second it was a road leading outside, and the next it turned into a wasteland littered with insect remains, or a mass grave piled with bones.

This greatly slowed down Wu Xian's journey.

Along the way, there were screams and cries of agony everywhere. They rescued a few poor and pitiful families along the way, but they couldn't save everyone.

Looking at the corpse in front of him, being devoured by countless bizarre worms, Wu Xian felt incredibly heavy-hearted.

Even though they are clearly mirage-like illusions, how exactly do these strange and evil spirits harm humanity?
At this moment, he couldn't find a single clue.

Not far away, a pale and emaciated mother covered her child's eyes with her hands, huddled in a corner among piles of scrap.

"Don't be afraid, baby, Mommy's here..."

But the fear on the mother's face intensified, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The strange creatures nearby, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, appeared to sense something and slowly approached the mother and child.

A strange aura began to gather around the mother.

Is it related to fear?

Wu Xian watched this scene from afar and muttered to himself.

The God of Wealth beside him immediately unleashed a thunderbolt, instantly dissipating the strange aura that had just gathered there.

After hesitating for a long time, Wu Xian took out drawing paper and brushes, and on the spot drew a rooster king and a divine tiger on a practice drawing paper. He then folded the drawing paper and handed it to the mother.

"Don't be afraid, this painting will protect you."

Looking at the shimmering folded paper in her hand, the mother felt a rare sense of peace and security. She knelt down before Wu Xian, expressing her deepest gratitude, "Thank you, sir... thank you, sir..."

Wu Xian did not respond, but silently left.

Soon after, the Chicken King was summoned, and he once again transformed into the Rooster Knight.

Activating two scrolls simultaneously consumes a significant amount of spiritual energy, but fortunately, with the [Laurel Tree] acting as a power bank, there's no need to worry about mana issues.

And so, despite the annoying obstruction of the dimensional mirage, they continued their journey towards the edge of the shantytown.

They rescued some poor and destitute people along the way.

Fortunately, the residents of the shantytown have begun to actively help themselves. Some people with spiritual cultivation have taken the lead. Although they do not have the blessing of the scroll, they are still able to cope with some strange situations.

In the sky, the eerie dimensional rifts grew increasingly distorted and chaotic, resembling a terrifying eye watching over everything.

"Keep up, keep up!"

"We'll be safe once we get to the city."

Waves of refugees were heading in the same direction as Wu Xian.

Upon seeing Wu Xian, they silently followed him, perhaps making them feel safer.

However, shortly after the crowd left the shantytown, they were blocked by a cold, protective barrier. On the other side of the barrier was the relatively safe old town of Sanzaigang.

"What's going on? Is it under quarantine or lockdown?"

"It's not like there's a plague, why the quarantine?"

"Heh," many people chuckled self-deprecatingly, "maybe they're afraid we poor bastards will all swarm into the city?"

Wu Xian was disgusted by this scene. Although he had no intention of seeking refuge in the city, he was still disgusted to the bone by the official's "differential treatment".

The disaster has laid bare the ugliness and class divisions of the world today.

The key issue is that Grandpa Wu Mingchang is still over there, but he can't get there right now.

"Brother Dao, you're so damn hot!"

A myriad of emotions are condensed into a traditional greeting.

But what's even more devastating is that despair has begun to spread among the crowd, and more and more refugees are continuing to gather here.

(End of this chapter)