Chapter 318: One Thousand Years Later
"Ghost Catcher, what's the matter? Haven't you caught all the Nie Xiaoqians in Lanruo Temple yet? Also, have you ever seen a guy named Yan Chixia?"
Zhang Yang casually said that he didn't quite believe that this world that was heading towards death was the world of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.
However, the bearded ghost-catching Taoist priest on the opposite side snorted coldly, "The Lanruo Temple completely collapsed five hundred years ago, and the Nie Xiaoqian and Yan Chixia you mentioned happened a thousand years ago. There is no second Yan Chixia to save Guobei County now, or even if the real Yan Chixia came, it would be useless. In the Dharma Ending Age, ghosts are rampant, and people are either killed by ghosts or become ghosts. They can only linger on and live one day at a time."
Zhang Yang was not too surprised to hear this, because this was normal. If it was the world in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, it definitely could not be considered the Dharma Ending Age.
Nodding, he said seriously, "My name is Zhang Jiao. I was a fellow disciple of Yan Chixia a thousand years ago. Well, he should call me senior brother, but Yan Chixia practiced the way of entering the world, and I practiced the way of leaving the world. So after a thousand years, he died without even a bone left, but I still have another three thousand years of life left."
"It's just that I was meditating in the cave these days, and suddenly I had an impulse and came to the human world. What I saw was a scene of desolation in humanity. It was indeed the end of the Dharma, an unprecedented catastrophe. I am powerless to resist it and can only take shelter temporarily. However, since you and I have met, we are destined to meet. I am still short of a boy. Are you willing to follow me? It is impossible for you to live forever, but at least I can extend your life by a hundred years."
Zhang Yang was talking nonsense, but the ghost catcher on the other side was unconvinced. However, he did not let Zhang Yang show off his magical powers. He just shook his head and said calmly: "I don't understand what you said, and I don't want to understand, because I am a ghost catcher. Although I may not be able to eliminate all the ghosts in a county in this lifetime, I will not give up."
"Where are you going? I've been walking along the way and found that the only popular place is around Guobei County." Zhang Yang asked again.
"I'm going to Liangshan County, which is 800 miles away. The harvest in Guobei County was poor last year, and there's not even enough seeds this spring. I have to go buy some seeds."
"Since you are a ghost catcher, why do you want to do this?"
"Because there are no people in the wilderness for thousands of miles, and there are ghosts everywhere. Except for a ghost-catching master like me, ordinary people can't go far."
"I'm afraid your Guobei County won't be able to hold out for a few more years. I've noticed that the spiritual energy here is getting thinner and thinner. When the spiritual energy dissipates to a certain extent, everything you plant will fail, and even children won't be born anymore. So have you ever considered migrating?"
Zhang Yang asked again, and he was telling the truth. In his opinion, Guobei County could only hold out for ten years at most, and then it would become a dead place, just like a low-lying puddle on the arid prairie, which would dry up sooner or later.
"Where should we migrate to? There are only three ghost catchers in Guobei County, including me. How can we ensure the migration of thousands of people in the wild? Although Liangshan County, eight hundred miles away, is slightly better than Guobei County, it cannot accommodate us." The man sighed.
"Farther away, such as the imperial court in the mortal world."
"The imperial court? Hehe, since my grandfather's generation, no county magistrate has come to Guobei County. The only ones we know of are Liangshan County and Qingzhou, but Qingzhou is even farther away from us, almost two thousand miles away."
When the ghost-catching master said this, the Heaven and Earth Village Building Order in Zhang Yang's hand finally trembled, and a series of task information appeared.
"The Tiandi Village Building Mission has officially started. Mainline Mission 1: The total mortal population of this world is less than 100,000. Please try to maintain this level. Friendly reminder: If all the mortals in this world die, the village building mission will fail completely. Although there will be no punishment for failure, it also means that your fate with this Tiandi Village Building Order has ended."
"Main Quest 2. Because an ancient god has awakened in the First Sequence, he will bring some unknown changes to the Six Sequences. Please take this opportunity to extend the life of this world by at least one million units of heaven and earth spiritual energy."
"Main quest three, establish a sect of immortal cultivators, cultivate the lost immortal power of this Dharma Ending World, and train at least one thousand immortal cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage."
"Main quest four, no matter what method you use, please survive the catastrophe and ascend to heaven."
"The deadline for completing the mission is five hundred years."
"Mission reward: unknown."
——
After reading the task information, Zhang Yang was very calm. He had become immune to it. No matter how crazy the village building task was, it was no more than this.
After thinking for a while, he said to the ghost-catching master:
"If you just want to buy some seeds, I can provide them for you. In exchange, you need to take me to Guobei County. I need to select a few boys with immortal affinity."
Zhang Yang was being polite. Even though he could blow the ghost-catching master to pieces with just one breath, he was not born in this world to be invincible. There were only a hundred thousand mortals left. What else could he do? Without waiting for the guy to reply, Zhang Yang took out a bag of wheat.
This method of taking something out of thin air finally shocked the ghost-catching master. He widened his eyes, his beard twitching, and after a long while he stammered, "Master, do I still have a chance to be your boy?"
——
Guobei County is very desolate, even though it is the only low-lying spiritual area within a thousand miles.
That's right, the spiritual energy here is low. Before the arrival of the Dharma Ending Age, the spiritual energy here will naturally be thicker than other places, so it is natural that stories like "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "Black Mountain Demon" will appear.
But now all the monsters in the world are dead. Apart from mortals, the only ones still alive in Guobei County are three old cows and a nest of rats.
Even the cockroaches are dead. Well, people are so hungry that they will eat anything.
There are now 1,237 people left in Guobei County. Oh, just now, twelve more died, killed by ghosts.
Zhang Yang did not intervene, at least for the time being, because the collapse and destruction of this world had nothing to do with these ghosts.
The Dharma Ending Age does not come about because of the existence of ghosts.
It is precisely in the Dharma-Ending Age that ghosts appear.
"Master, you have great magical powers. Can you save our Guobei County?"
An old man with grey hair and beard knelt in front of Zhang Yang. This was Li Guozhi, the chief ghost catcher of Guobei County and the only remaining wealthy family in the county. It was said that his ancestors had produced several great men named Li Xiuyuan.
The other two ghost catchers are his younger brother and his son.
The bearded man Zhang Yang had met on the road before was called Li Guoxiang, and the last one was called Li Zhong.
The three of them are currently the highest level of power in Guobei County.
(End of this chapter)
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