Zhāng Shàochóng was still prone on the ground, groaning and rubbing his bruised elbow. Upon hearing this, he looked up blankly: "Huh? What sound? Birdsong? Nothing strange about that…"
"Shut up!" Líng Qīngxuě hissed in a low voice, listening intently, her brow furrowing tighter. "That low, continuous hum… it's definitely not a beast's roar, nor the sound of wind and rain! And that occasional sharp ringing… it sounds like metal striking metal, yet it’s even more piercing and regular! The spiritual energy here is so sparse, yet there are such strange noises, this is definitely not a good place!"
Yè Mèier also suddenly looked up at the sky, her pupils constricting sharply: "Look at the sky! What is that?!"
They saw that in the clear blue sky, a distinct, straight white cloud line stretched across, and at its end, a tiny "iron box" reflecting sunlight was slowly moving.
"A… Flying Boat?" Líng Qīngxuě also saw it, murmuring subconsciously, but immediately denied it. "No! That's not right! There are no spiritual energy fluctuations at all! The shape is also completely different! What kind of Flying Magic Tool is this?! To be able to fly in such a sparse spiritual energy environment?!" Her voice was filled with disbelief and deep apprehension. Whoever could create such a "Flying Magic Tool" that completely relied on something other than spiritual energy, the foundation of this "place" must be terrifyingly unimaginable!
Zhāng Shàochóng followed their gaze, his mouth twitching. "Uh… that's an airplane… it's… a means of transport, people sit inside, and it flies in the sky…"
"People?! How can mortals ascend to the heavens?!" Líng Qīngxuě interrupted him sharply, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "Without cultivation to protect them, the fierce winds would tear them apart! Nonsense!"
"And over there!" Yè Mèier pointed to the distance in the mountains again. Through the gaps in the sparse trees, they could vaguely see some square, variously colored, "giant blocks" standing in the distance, reflecting bizarre light under the sun.
"Those giant square mountains? Or some kind of fortress? Why is the style so strange? I've never seen such buildings!"
Zhāng Shàochóng almost choked on his breath. "Those are… those are buildings! Residential buildings! Just… houses where people live!"
"Houses?" Líng Qīngxuě let out a cold laugh, her tone laced with sarcasm. "What kind of weak race needs to build their dwellings so high? Without the protection of formations, and the material not being spiritual wood or precious metal, they look like they could fall with a push. This place is indeed extremely strange!"
Just then, a faint, rhythmic "Beep—Beep—" sound drifted over with the wind (possibly a car horn from a distant mountain road).
"Enemy attack?! Some kind of sonic attack?!" Yè Mèier's fur bristled instantly. She immediately assumed a defensive stance. Although her body was empty, her posture was imposing, and she scanned the direction of the sound with fierce eyes.
Líng Qīngxuě's face also paled. She instinctively formed her fingers into a sword, but couldn't muster any sword energy. She could only nervously look in that direction.
Zhāng Shàochóng: "…That's a car horn… You know, too many cars on the road, traffic jam, honking to hurry them along…"
"Car? What is that? Traffic jam? What does that mean?" Líng Qīngxuě's brow furrowed. She couldn't understand these words at all.
"Kid!" Yè Mèier suddenly approached Zhāng Shàochóng. Although she couldn't attack due to the contract, her aura still made Zhāng Shàochóng tremble. "Where the hell is this place?! Speak! Is this your doing? Did you transport this old lady to some bizarre Illusionary Realm or Another Realm?!" Her eyes were full of suspicion and vigilance, clearly believing that Zhāng Shàochóng, this "variable," was the culprit behind all this.
Líng Qīngxuě's cold gaze also focused on Zhāng Shàochóng again. She clearly harbored the same suspicion. This kid's words and actions were strange, and his appearance was so coincidental, making it impossible for them not to be suspicious.
Zhāng Shàochóng felt he couldn't explain himself, and wanted to cry without tears: "Esteemed ladies! Esteemed grandmothers! This is the Mortal World! It's Earth! It's the 21st century! Not some illusionary realm or another realm! Those things you're talking about, airplanes, cars, buildings, are just normal things here!"
"Mortal World? Earth? Twenty-one… century?" Líng Qīngxuě repeated these completely unfamiliar terms, the confusion and vigilance in her beautiful eyes deepening. "Do not weave these strange names to deceive us! In the Mortal World's Nine Provinces, where do such peculiar sights come from? And why has the spiritual energy declined to this point?!"
Yè Mèier also looked unconvinced. "Nonsense! I've roamed the Demonic Path for many years, I've been to every nook and cranny of the Mortal World! I've never seen such a bizarre place! It must be some Secret Realm or Small World we don't know about! Speak! Where is the exit?!"
Zhāng Shàochóng felt like he was about to break down. This was like playing a lute to a cow, no, it was like explaining high technology to ancient people! He frantically scratched his head. "I'm not lying to you! This really is the world you came from! Maybe… maybe many, many years have passed? Times have changed, esteemed ladies! Your talk of cultivation, of spiritual energy, is almost like myths and legends here!"
"Myth and legend?" Líng Qīngxuě's delicate body trembled violently. Her face instantly turned extremely pale, and for the first time, a trace of disbelief… panic? flashed in her eyes. "Are you saying… the Age of Dharma's End? Spiritual energy completely depleted? This… how is this possible…"
Yè Mèier was also struck by lightning, standing dumbfounded. She murmured, "The ancient scriptures of the Holy Cult do contain prophecies… Could it be… could it really be…"
Seeing that the two seemed to be shocked by this news and were starting to waver, Zhāng Shàochóng quickly seized the opportunity and pointed at another airplane flying overhead. "Look! That's really an airplane! Hundreds of people sit inside! It's a Big Iron Bird that flies by burning oil… uh, some kind of fuel, producing power!" He then pointed to the highway faintly visible in the distance. "That's a road over there, where cars run, they don't need horses, they can run by themselves, and they're very fast!" He even wanted to take out his phone to prove it, but when he patted his pocket, he remembered it had been lost somewhere long ago.
Líng Qīngxuě and Yè Mèier followed his direction, looking at the "Big Iron Bird" flying steadily in the sky without any spiritual energy fluctuations, listening to the continuous, rhythmic "strange hum" and occasional "sharp ringing" from the distance, and then feeling the spiritual energy environment that was so impoverished it was appalling…
A fact that made them feel a primal fear and chill from the depths of their souls seemed to be slowly revealing its cruel veil. Here… might truly not be the "Mortal World" they were familiar with anymore. Or rather, it was the "Mortal World" they were familiar with, but during the time they were trapped in the valley, some earth-shattering, unimaginable change had occurred?! Time passed? Seas turned into mulberry fields?
The two women exchanged a glance, seeing unprecedented shock, confusion, and a hint of… deep panic in each other's eyes. If this kid was telling the truth… What were they now? Old relics abandoned by time? And, old relics bound together by a damnable contract!