The Days of Being Forced to Become the Savior of a Cultivation Civilization

These past few days have been quite fulfilling. Zhiyue once again demonstrated the meaning of caution to the fullest. Whenever the other three felt they were sufficiently prepared, he would promptly raise new requests.

"Food, medicine, clothing, and lodging have all been taken care of. We've almost completely plundered the wild animals and grasses on the outskirts of the Lonely Desert, and we've also ravaged the Yuan Beasts and Yuan Plants quite a bit. Apart from what we need for the journey, what's left is enough to feed the village for a year and a half. This supply list should be the last one, right?"

Yingzi sat under the tree with a piece of paper in her hand, looking very imposing, with a bird's leg bone in her mouth, one end of which she had sharpened to use for picking her teeth.

Qian Xintong, standing to the side, was quite speechless and complained:

"You didn't even go hunting, yet you know so much, huh?"

"It's not like you went there yourself. You could have guessed it already. Batch after batch of materials were brought back from the desert. If it weren't for Boundless Starry Sky, it would have filled several rooms."

These past few days, Zhiyue has been extremely busy. He's basically been out in the desert for a whole day at a time, and when he comes back, the sun is mostly behind him. Sometimes, it's not until it's completely dark that you can vaguely see his figure in the distance.

The villagers were stunned. It turned out that their previous hunting efficiency was limited by the inconvenience of carrying things. But now that they had found a treasure to carry things in the desert, their hunting speed had become even more terrifying.

As for the other three, they naturally became the logistics team, working alongside the other rebels from the village to process various materials. Animal hides were made into insulating materials, animal armor into protective gear, animal meat was preserved, and almost all the animal blood was lost, having bled dry in the desert.

Of course, with limited ability and time, I can only do some simple and basic processing.

"By the way, do we really need so many supplies to get to Zhenyue Border Town?"

Yingzi asked, scratching her teeth in confusion.

Zhiyue: "Stop picking your teeth. You're not a decrepit old man anymore. Your teeth are perfectly straight. There's no need for you to pick between them. Of course, you don't need them. These are mainly for the village."

Yingzi rolled her eyes:

"I don't need you to remind me repeatedly. Yes, yes, I'm a child now. I can still say these are baby teeth. Anyway, they'll all fall out later. What's wrong with playing with them now?"

Zhiyue pursed his lips and didn't reply. Just as he picked up a vat, preparing to fetch water, the village chief called out to him:

"Xiao Yue, let's say goodbye to the giant tree too."

Zhiyue was taken aback. The village chief gave him a look, and Zhiyue, his eyes darting around, immediately replied:

"Village chief, it's not like I'm not coming back, why are you saying goodbye?"

The village chief shook his head and said in a solemn tone:

"It's nothing. You can come back anytime you want. Nijimura is right there; you can't go anywhere else—but I don't want you to come back."

The village chief still held his head high, gazing at the canopy of the giant tree, but his eyes were unfocused.

"Rainbow Village is ultimately just a small village with scarce cultivation resources; it cannot offer you a future."

"I understand, but I've already been here for eight years..."

The old man and the young man chatted away, one sentence after another, almost forgetting about getting water.

Yes, what's the rush? Once we leave this time, it will probably be hard to say a word to each other again, whether it's to the village chief, the villagers, or the Yara Tree.

Even the patient herself wanted to stay a little longer. Although she had only been in the village for a few days, it was the first place she had become familiar with since arriving on this continent. She had just become acquainted with the villagers and did not want to leave in a hurry. Like a tangled tumbleweed, she had only rolled in from afar and then rolled away to another place in the blink of an eye, without taking root anywhere, just like herself when she was a child.

"Xiao Yue, have you ever thought about going back?"

The village chief broke the brief silence.

"Go back to where?"

"Return to where you belong, find your true home."

"Where do I belong?"

Zhiyue shook his head: "Hongcun is where I belong."

"No, you clearly know what I'm talking about, don't you? You come from Huanlong, you're a young master of the Kun family, that's not hard to guess."

"..."

Zhiyue fell silent, then turned to look at Yingzi:

"There is no place for me in Huanlong City anymore. I have never used that Void Condensation Treasure again, partly to make myself forget—but mainly because it consumes too much Reverse Yuan."

The village chief shook his head:

"But you still chose to pick it up again, didn't you?"

It's okay, whether you choose to return to Huanlong, venture out elsewhere, or even eventually return here, even though I don't want you to do that—

Everything depends on you; you should write your own life story.

The village chief turned and left without saying another word.

"Alright, what are you standing there for? Go get some water. Once you've got the water, everything will be ready. We'll set off tomorrow morning."

Yingzi leaned closer and said:

"By the way, could we pay our respects to that Oulo? Even though I only stayed for a few days, I was still under the protection of his totem, after all."

Zhiyue resolutely refused:

"No chance. Ouro is quite a distance from here, and it's usually inaccessible. Only on a few fixed days every ten years will several surrounding villages go together to worship the totem."

"Alright. At least we'll know what Oro looks like, right?"

"...No. Unfortunately, the worship ceremony just ended not long before I came here, so I don't know what it looks like. I only know that the villagers would place a stone in their homes as a symbol of their totem."

"It might just be a rock."

"You should say less."

-

Zhiyue returned to the giant tree, and the other two followed.

The giant tree has many branches, but they are not dense. At the end of each branch, the leaves are clustered together, like big hands swaying in the wind.

Zhiyue slowly walked forward and gently placed his hand on the tree trunk:

"Giant tree, although I am not a native of Rainbow Village, I have drunk your water for eight years and absorbed your rebellious energy for eight years."

Now, this is probably the last time I'll ask you for anything.

Zhiyue's expression was filled with doubt and struggle:

"I have a strange intuition that Rainbow Village is about to change, and the entire Lonely Desert and even the continent of Pound are about to change. I've always been a cautious person and have never believed in intuition, but this time the feeling is just too strong, like—a subconscious cry, as if something has been reminding me all along. For so many years, I've been absorbing your reverse energy, watching your figure outside my window as I fall asleep. I always feel that you've already developed sentience. I'm looking at you, and you're looking at me, watching everyone in Rainbow Village sleep peacefully."

Zhiyue smiled helplessly:

"That's enough. You've never spoken to me or anyone else in these eight years, so it's no use talking to you. Anyway, if you have a spirit, I hope you can lend a helping hand when Nijimura faces a crisis, although I have nothing to repay you with, and I don't know what you need in return."

The treetops swayed, but there was no wind at all. A branch hidden deep within the canopy vibrated and extended out, pointing straight towards the towering mountain.

"Wow...it really moved!"

Qian Xintong exclaimed. Zhi Yue was first surprised, then shocked and delighted:

"Indeed, you truly have a spirit!"