Erii: A Journey Through the Heavens Begins with Frilian

Chapter 73 Bai Yuekui: You've Got Something Wrong with Your Brain (Two Chapters Combined)

The armored jeep gradually moved away from the barren Gobi Desert. The grasslands stretched down the hillsides, and the distant mountains were covered in snow. There was not a trace of the Devouring Beasts in the towering mountains.

Seemingly noticing Erii's confusion, Suixing glanced at Baiyue Kui, who was driving with one hand, and the latter nodded.

So, Sui Xing explained, "Dragon Bone Village is located in the core ecological area. The towering structures we just saw are seven in total, called Ecological Shielding Towers. The biomagnetic field they release forms an energy shield around Dragon Bone Village, which can isolate Mana spores and cover up the life essence signals of humans. Therefore, there are no Devouring Beasts near Dragon Bone Village."

Erii pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why weren't you attacked by the snake-dogs?"

After thinking about it carefully, she realized that the large group of snake-dogs that had appeared at the spaceship ruins came from the area where Bai Yuekui and the others were hiding.

"Hehe, that involves even more knowledge!" Xia Dou chimed in, humming pretentiously, "Do you know why those trash collectors at the Lighthouse always get spotted by the Devouring Beasts? It's because they can't hide their emotional fluctuations and life essence!"

"Emotional fluctuations?" Erii didn't understand.

"The Devouring Beasts can sense intense human emotions and smell the scent of life essence, including anger, sadness, and excitement."

"Fear, and even more profound emotions like liking and love, can be detected by the Devouring Beasts," Xia Dou continued. "And the villagers of our Dragon Bone Village have basically mastered a special cultivation technique that can suppress emotional fluctuations and life essence, which is called the Return to Origin State."

"High-level talents like us, the Awakened Ones, aren't the only ones who can use superpowers," Xu Tong said cheerfully. "How about it, impressive, right?"

Erii immediately became interested, "You all have superpowers?"

"Of course, but I can't tell you, since you haven't even joined our Dragon Bone Village yet." Shan Da smiled slyly, coaxing him gently.

"Oh." Erii pouted, but in her heart, she felt a great curiosity about Dragonbone Village.

Bai Yuekui drove very fast, and the surrounding scenery rushed past his mind.

Along the way, there were picturesque landscapes as well as terrifying scenes, making the journey quite dramatic for 9033 and the other two.

The towering, broken mountains formed large piles of rocks, the soil was rusty red, and the landscape was barren and lifeless. Occasionally, a flock of strange-looking crows would fly by, cawing.

On some parts of the ground, thick vines, like exposed steel bars or the bulging veins of monsters, drifted about like mana spores and dandelions.

Driving through this desolate wasteland has a unique charm.

"We're home," Xia Dou pointed ahead, "Look there, inside Dingmao Peak is Dragon Bone Village."

boom!

Seemingly eager to bring Erii home as soon as possible, Bai Yuekui floored the gas pedal, instantly increasing the car's speed to 200 miles per hour.

The jeep drove straight up the hillside, turned east and west, and entered a narrow, hidden canyon passage. It then descended and became gentler, revealing a wide mountain tunnel.

The heavy iron gate opened automatically, exuding a strong old-world industrial vibe.

Once inside, the view opens up dramatically, revealing a vibrant cave settlement that exudes life.

Erii and the three little ones widened their eyes in shock as they surveyed the paradise hidden in the mountains.

The huge searchlights located high on the mountain wall are like suns, illuminating the entire cave as if it were daytime. After being refracted and cut by the lush greenery, they emit a filter-like hue like the dawn of summer.

This is an artificial sunlight system that simulates the 24-hour day-night cycle.

While being alive is important, a healthy mind and spirit are key to harmonious coexistence and a lasting legacy. The humanistic aspects of Longgu Village have already revealed just the tip of the iceberg.

The cave is tall and large, with a long and narrow layout. The most eye-catching feature is the white skeleton supporting the hollow cavity above the mountain!

Upon seeing this, Erii realized that the name of Dragon Bone Village was not just something made up, but based on real evidence.

A massive skeleton, with its spine connecting to its ribs, envelops the village, winding its way up to the horizon before disappearing at a deep bend. Broken bones are embedded in the rock walls and ground, making Dragonbone Village truly deserving of its name.

"This looks like the remains of a king-level Devouring Beast. Anyway, it's incredibly huge. I really don't know how such a terrifyingly large creature died," Xia Dou said.

As the group walked, Xia Dou acted as a tour guide, explaining the facilities and services in detail to the four guests who were about to check in.

To give the four of them a panoramic view, Bai Yuekui led them to a cliffside walkway at a high elevation, where the wooden planks creaked underfoot.

"That's the All-Science Hall, the place where they play football," Xia Dou pointed out.

It was a three- or four-story building pieced together from numerous corrugated iron sheds and metal platforms. The exterior walls were decorated with colorful murals, and one could vaguely see vending machines, children's billiard tables, slides, miniature trains, and other recreational facilities.

On the open ground nearby, several children were running and chasing each other, scrambling for a soccer ball with great enthusiasm, their excited laughter erupting from time to time. Watching this, 8925 and 9027 were eager to join in.

"All the children in Dragon Bone Village have to go to school there to learn knowledge, return to their origin, and awaken their abilities," Xia Dou said, looking at 9033 and the others. "The three of you will also have to go to school in the future and experience the terrifying exams~~ I get worried just thinking about it, but thankfully you've graduated."

Erii looked around and saw that many sheds and wooden houses had been built from the ground to the mountain wall, like a stilted building complex. In the air, houses were also suspended by steel cables and connected to each other by swaying rope bridges.

The artificial sun on the dome is dazzling, and its warm sunlight shines on the eaves of the row of houses, where the flowers, plants and trees greedily carry out photosynthesis.

"Those areas, and the ones below, are all residential areas, and also the liveliest parts of Longgu Village. We'll go down there last."

Bai Yuekui spoke first.

"Boss, we're off now. My brat's gotten into trouble, and I need to get back and teach him a lesson!" Shan Da waved his hand and headed straight down with Sui Xing and Xu Tong, following the winding cliffside corridor into the residential area.

Erii couldn't help but recall a foreign tourist attraction she had seen in the news, something like Hongyadong. The buildings built against the mountain were very similar in structure, and the three-dimensional living area with its ups and downs was also quite similar.

They continued their tour of the village along the boardwalk, steps, and vertical ladders.

Erii noticed that there were elevated tracks, like roller coasters, running in all directions throughout the cave, solving the transportation problem.

"That's the research area, and that's the senior citizens' activity center," Xia Dou explained one by one.

"Hmm?" Erii looked surprised and doubtful.

The three little ones were also dumbfounded, rubbing their eyes and trying to refresh the loading screen.

"Don't be shocked, it's just something the elderly do every day," Xia Dou waved her hand, speaking as if it were commonplace.

In that senior citizens' park, a group of elderly men and women were exercising, but their methods and intensity could only be described as Ragnarok.

Whatever the fancy moves like double-legged single-bar windmill, chin-hanging swing, head-on-the-ground whirlwind—any one of them could kill a twenty-year-old ox or horse.

"They are still young, at the prime of their lives, and should be building up their health," Bai Yuekui said casually, his tone as if he were evaluating a group of promising young children.

"Hmm?" Erii glanced at her sideways and realized that she couldn't tell Bai Yuekui's real age at all.

Her appearance, demeanor, and figure all suggested she was a perfect 25-year-old woman, but Erii's intuition told her that the person in front of her was definitely not simple.

"Apocalyptic version of Frillian~" Erii muttered to herself.

The higher you go, the more treacherous the plank road becomes; it's practically a treacherous path, and a slight misstep could send you tumbling to your death.

However, Bai Yuekui moved with ease, and Xia Dou hopped and skipped around with practiced ease.

Erii remained expressionless, not caring if she fell; she considered it a shortcut.

As for the three little ones who cosplay Tarzan in the Dust City every day, they are even less of a problem; they don't understand what acrophobia or anything like that means.

They gradually reached the top area of ​​the cave, where the main track and main elevator started at the main entrance to Dragonbone Village located on the mountaintop.

The seemingly nonexistent boardwalk also merges into a residential area built against the mountain. This area is located on a wide and safe gentle slope, where you can see villagers busy at work.

Whoosh!

The wind howled, and the water surged.

Xia Dou pointed ahead, "See those three fan-shaped terraced fields? That's a folded composite agricultural cultivation area!"

It unfolds when it needs sunlight and collapses and overlaps at night. A vertical elevator has been built so that villagers can take care of the harvest.

Compared to the three planting platforms, Erii and her team were clearly attracted by the source of the water sound.

The collision of water and stone was like a thunderous roar!

A continuous stream of clear water gushes out from the cave at the top, cascading vertically between the rocks at an almost 90-degree angle to form a breathtaking waterfall. The flow is slowed down by the layers of hillsides, providing water resources for crops and ensuring the daily drinking and domestic water needs of the villagers.

Finally, the waterfall flows through an underground river into a lake in the living area at the bottom, as tranquil as a magnificent sapphire.

Erii was so shocked by this that she was speechless.

Compared to Daguogaizi, the air in Longgu Village is fresher and sweeter, with fresh oxygen released by green plants, moist morning dew from flowing water, and heartfelt laughter from the people.

If the lighthouse is a faint ember left to humanity by the old world, it is so suppressed that it could be extinguished at any moment.

So Longgu Village was like a wild grass that sprouted from the barren land, growing tenaciously and wildly until it grew into a towering tree that sheltered many sparks of life.

Erii shuddered.

She suddenly realized something: the spark was not a lighthouse, nor Dragonbone Village, but a group of vibrant, hopeful human beings!

Having figured this out, she looked at Bai Yuekui with respect and admiration, as if to say: This is a reliable and trustworthy older sister.

On the way here, Shan Da had mentioned that Longgu Village was established by Bai Yuekui, and the elderly villagers were all raised by Bai Yuekui with great care.

At the time, Erii thought it was too difficult, that they were so poor that they had to eat excrement and drink urine, so she didn't have high expectations for Dragon Bone Village.

After a brief tour of Dragon Bone Village, they took a railcar back to the central living area.

The tidy streets, clean parks, open-air cinema plazas, old-fashioned arcade games, the aroma of fried food wafting from snack shops, and the clatter of mahjong tiles coming from card rooms—everywhere is filled with the lively atmosphere of everyday life, forming a stark contrast to the solemn and austere atmosphere of the lighthouse.

The elderly practiced Tai Chi, children played hopscotch, hide-and-seek, and video games. From a house, the sound of Shan Da treating his son to bamboo shoot stir-fried with pork could be heard. A warning sign on a steep cliff read "Rockfall area, do not climb," which almost made Erii feel like she was in a neighboring country next to her hometown.

Although she had never been abroad, she had watched related movies, TV series, and animations, and was very interested in the local customs and culture, and really wanted to see the giant pandas.

"Hey, Boss Bai, you're back?"

"Three more brats? Wait, and there's this stunningly beautiful woman too!"

"Xia Dou, tell us about her!"

"Boss, wanna have a bowl of noodles?"

"Those two boys are definitely troublemakers; they're going to cause even more chaos in the village. This little girl is quite cute, though; she looks about the same age as my daughter. Tsk, she's just too thin. Has she never been well-fed?"

Along the way, the villagers greeted them warmly and offered them a lot of snacks and food, showing a kindness that made 9033 and the others feel a little uncomfortable.

Xia Dou's mouth didn't stop either, quickly introducing Erii like popping beans: "Her name is Jiu Ge, our Juexingzhe's wet nurse, next to her is Kolova, and leaning towards her is Po Kong, that's Tasia, Er Tong, Wumen—hey! Mai Duo!"

"Xia Dou! Boss!"

Not far away, a short-haired girl who was playing "Eagle Catches Chicks" with a group of children turned around and revealed a charming smile.

"Her name is Ulan Maiduo, the righteous squad leader of Longgu Village. Don't let her small stature and thin arms fool you," Xia Dou said proudly, "she's incredibly skilled. She wields the Six Harmonies Spear with formidable power, and in a one-on-one fight, few in the village can match her!"

"Xia Dou, go play," Bai Yuekui said.

"Okay, my throat is practically burning!" Xia Dou winked at Erii and then happily skipped away.

Afterwards, Bai Yuekui led Erii and the other three to the research and medical area.

"According to the village's regulations, new members need to undergo a physical examination to rule out diseases, which also lays the groundwork for their subsequent learning of returning to their origin and awakening," she said calmly.

This place is naturally not comparable to a fully standardized lighthouse; the environment appears simple and messy. However, it has all kinds of advanced instruments preserved from the Old World, and is even more complete and abundant than a lighthouse.

Bai Yuekui, as the top scientist in the old world, has expertise in biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, artificial intelligence, and other fields. She also passed on all her knowledge to the children she raised. In terms of top talent, Lighthouse is far inferior.

Bai Yuekui opened the glass door of a standing inspection booth. "Who wants to go first?"

The three little ones looked at each other, a little scared. After all, they had never seen anything like this in the lighthouse. The only time they had ever had a physical examination was when they were born.

Erii went inside without saying a word.

As the hatch closed, a beeping sound rang out, and beams of light swept across her body repeatedly.

Bai Yuekui stared intently at the computer screen, carefully reviewing the various data displayed. Gradually, disbelief spread across her face, and a look of astonishment she hadn't experienced in decades emerged.

After the examination was completed, Erii came out, and Bai Yuekui stared at her, unable to help but ask, "Are you really human?"

'

Erii looked at her, puzzled, and answered with silence.

Bai Yuekui was speechless. He thought he was already outrageous enough, but he never expected there to be such a formidable person in the world.

Whether it's muscles, bones, or internal organs, they're just like the human species. Luckily, no genetic testing was done, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to control herself and tie Erii to the dissection table.

Little did they know, this was only Erii's non-combat state; once she activated her dragon form...

Drop drop!

Suddenly, the computer beeped.

Bai Yuekui looked over hurriedly, his face suddenly turning serious, and said earnestly, "There's something wrong with your head."

Upon hearing this, Erii looked dazed, then patted her head with both hands before saying with absolute certainty, "No problem!"

>