Chapter 30 The Cataclysm Arrives, Preparing to Go into the Mountains
The violent shaking sent the villagers staggering about, screaming in terror. Birds and beasts in the woods behind them scattered in panic, letting out furious howls. Unidentified loud noises came from all directions, leaving everyone's heads buzzing.
The earth shook, mountains collapsed and the ground cracked; this was nothing short of the end of the world.
Lu Xuan firmly anchored the blood-sucking vines around himself, protecting Lu Chen in his arms. Listening to the sounds of boulders rolling and trees collapsing all around him, he silently counted the time since the earthquake started, while looking down at the village below the mountain.
The already fragile houses in the village collapsed and crumbled almost instantly, leaving huge, jagged cracks in the ground. These cracks, amidst the continuous tremors, swallowed the unrecognizable ruins of the houses, closed up again, and then cracked open once more, creating a truly horrific scene.
All of this was witnessed by the viewers in the live stream room, which had been open for some time.
Most of the viewers were also witnessing such a natural disaster for the first time. While interstellar people may not encounter natural disasters in normal times, if they do, without prior precautions, their reactions may not be much better than those of the people of Yunlu Village.
Faced with a super earthquake with a magnitude of eight or even nine, how insignificant is the power of humankind.
Only under such natural disasters can people's awe of the power of nature be rekindled.
The earthquake lasted for nearly five minutes before gradually subsiding. The ground shaking stopped, but those present remained stunned for a long time.
It wasn't until a young child let out a sharp cry that everyone helped each other to their feet, their faces still full of shock, yet they still subconsciously looked down the mountain.
When they saw the state of the village, everyone was terrified.
There was no village left at the foot of the mountain. All the houses had vanished without a trace, as if someone had erased them from a painting. All that remained were scattered ruins that were unrecognizable from their original state, uneven ground, and... a narrow crack in the ground that almost divided the entire village in two.
The crevice stretched endlessly to the left and right. From a high vantage point, it appeared pitch black and bottomless inside, with an estimated width of at least ten meters. Centered on this massive crevice, dozens of smaller crevices were irregularly distributed throughout the original site of the village.
Still reeling from the devastating earthquake, the crowd collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way beneath them. Their faces were pale with fear, disorientation, lingering dread, and utter bewilderment.
"Gone, all gone..." someone murmured helplessly.
"My house—!" With a scream, a series of cries of pain erupted around them.
Seeing their entire lives, even the houses passed down from their ancestors, vanish into nothingness, the older generation burst into tears on the spot, and the young people couldn't help but have tears in their eyes as well.
Those who had stubbornly refused to believe Lu Xuan were now incredibly grateful that they had chosen to follow the village. If they hadn't taken Lu Xuan's advice and gone up the mountain to hide in the village, they couldn't even imagine what a terrible situation they would have faced.
Lu Chen, who had been protected by Lu Xuan when the earthquake started, was so frightened by the crack in the ground below that he clung tightly to his brother's leg.
The air around us was thick with grief and a somber atmosphere.
Nearly half an hour later, someone finally spoke up and asked Li Tie, "Village chief, what should we do next? The village is gone..."
The others also came to their senses. Right, their homes were gone. Where were they going to go? There were so many cracks in the ground in the village; they dared not go back and rebuild the village on the original site.
Someone suggested, "Why don't we go to town and wait for the higher-ups to send people to provide disaster relief?"
Li Tie shook his head and said, "Didn't I say before that this catastrophe has spread throughout the entire Central Plains? The situation in the town may not be better than here." It's even hard to say whether Baisong Town still exists.
What if Baisong Town also collapses, and the townspeople don't believe in the impending disaster and failed to find a place to hide beforehand...?
Others also realized this, and their faces paled again.
“Even if Baisong Town still exists, we can’t go there now.” Lei Yan finished speaking and his gaze fell on the largest crevice in the ground at the foot of the mountain.
This fissure in the ground completely cuts off the village's access to the outside world. Not only can they not go to the town, but they also cannot go to other villages in the surrounding area.
Those families who hadn't managed to keep their married daughters in the village before the disaster immediately showed expressions of regret. Most people in other villages didn't believe in the disaster, and if they encountered a situation like Yunlu Village... they didn't know if they would still be alive.
Miao Jinfeng was filled with remorse, pounding her chest in regret. She should have kept her daughter and granddaughter even if she had to use force!
Li Tie's expression also turned sour when he thought of Li Yue.
At this moment, someone thought of magic and immediately looked at Lu Xuan, "Lu Xuan, do you have any ideas? Didn't the gods tell you how to survive the catastrophe?"
Lu Xuan said calmly, "Immortals don't care about these things, but there are caves to live in in the mountains, so you can consider going into the mountains."
After a major earthquake, the temperature will rise sharply. Even if the village is still there, it will become too hot to live in after a few days. The mountains are covered with shady trees and the temperature is much cooler than down in the mountains.
The villagers looked at each other, puzzled. Going into the mountains? Wouldn't that be even more dangerous?
There are many ferocious beasts like jackals, tigers, and leopards in the mountains. If they go deep into the mountains, won't they just be waiting to be eaten?
"The mountains are so dangerous, can you guarantee our safety?"
Lu Xuan glanced at Chen Rong, who had spoken, and scoffed, "Still breastfeeding?"
Chen Rong's expression froze.
Chen Rongniang slapped her son on the back of the head again, and said irritably, "If you can't speak properly, then shut up, okay?" Does Lu Xuan owe them anything? They expect him to guarantee their safety.
Lu Xuan said calmly, "You can also choose to stay and perish with the village... in ruins."
Chen Rong: "..."
Lu Xuan said, "No matter what the village decides, our family will definitely go into the mountains."
Zhang Chengming immediately stated, "Our family will go with you too."
Grandpa Zhang nodded, "As long as Xuan doesn't mind us holding you back, we'll follow you."
Li Tie also said, "Our family is also following Lu Xuan's lead."
Several other families in the village who were related to them by marriage, and those with foresight, expressed their stance, including Xiong Mao and Wei Xiang, who were basically among the first to go to Baisong Town to stockpile supplies.
When the others saw that all the capable people in the village were preparing to go into the mountains, they didn't dare to hesitate any longer, fearing that if they spoke too slowly, the village chief would abandon them.
"We didn't say we weren't going, we're going too!"
"Since we don't know where to go if we stay, we might as well go into the mountains and give it a shot!"
As expected, everyone in the village decided to go into the mountains together.
The cave that Lu Xuan had previously found was deep in the mountains. Even for an ordinary person, it would take half a day to get there, no matter how fast they walked. Since the village had already made a decision, everyone decided to set off as soon as possible to avoid danger if they didn't reach their destination by nightfall.
Li Tie quickly urged everyone to check their luggage, as they would depart in half an hour!
The process of checking luggage brought joy to some and sorrow to others.
Two days ago, the village chief reminded the villagers to move their supplies up the mountain in advance to avoid unnecessary losses during the earthquake.
However, not everyone will follow the reminder, and even if they do, it's impossible to move everything. Some people are simply too lazy to move their things.
This resulted in almost every household suffering some property loss, including but not limited to live chickens and ducks, pots and pans, clothes and bedding, and even grain that some people planned to dig up after the earthquake and left behind.
The families that have preserved the most complete supplies are the village chief's family, the Zhang family, and the Wu family.
Lu Xuan even helped the Zhang family move their belongings. It can be said that, apart from bed boards, tables, chairs, water tanks, and other items that were not really suitable to carry, the Zhang family really brought everything that they could move and that they could use.
Zhang Yangshi didn't even give up the vegetables in the garden. A couple of days ago, she and her daughter-in-law Ye Ping picked all the ones they could, either drying them or making them into pickles.
However, having a lot of supplies also brings a lot of troubles. For example, how do you carry so many large and small bags of luggage into the deep mountains?
"I'll do it."
Lu Xuan walked to where the Zhang family had placed their luggage and packed everything away in front of everyone.
"Wow—!" Zhang Dafu and Zhang Xiaofu exclaimed in surprise, as if they had never seen anything like it before.
Not only them, but the rest of the Zhang family also stared wide-eyed.
"It's really hidden away! Can it still be taken out?" Zhang Chengming asked Lu Xuan excitedly and curiously, and the latter immediately demonstrated it to him.
He took out a bag of grain that the Zhang family had marked, then put it back, and then took it out again and put it back again.
Madam Zhang said happily, "Now we can relax a lot. Xuan boy, thank you so much. If it weren't for your help, your aunt would have been discussing with your uncle and the others about leaving some of the less important luggage behind."
As the saying goes, even a broken home is worth a fortune. To outsiders, their belongings might be worthless, but they themselves wouldn't throw away a single basket. It would be best if they could take everything without delaying their journey.
Old Master Zhang was a little worried, "If you use magic to help us move our luggage, won't the gods be unhappy?"
Lu Xuan: "As long as I'm willing, the gods won't say anything."
After helping the Zhang family pack their belongings, Lu Xuan went to the village chief's place and helped the Li family pack their things as well.
The villagers had been watching Lu Xuan's actions closely and naturally noticed them. One by one, they gathered around the village chief and Lu Xuan, hesitantly asking, "Village chief, Lu Xuan, could you also use magic to pack our luggage?"
Li Tie looked at Lu Xuan for his opinion, and the latter didn't put on airs, "Okay."
Let them carry their own luggage; they won't reach their destination today. If they encounter danger along the way and are reluctant to throw away their luggage, they might cause trouble. It's better to be a good person this time.
Anyway, the few space beads he recently bought were still empty, more than enough to hold the villagers' luggage.
Soon, Lu Xuan packed up all of Da Tou's luggage, and each family kept only some valuables and food for the day's journey.
After Li Tie counted the number of people and confirmed that everyone in the village was there, he announced, "Then let's set off now and head into the mountains!"
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