Chapter 41 - 41: The Burden Is Actually Myself

Sensing the goodwill in the young man's eyes, Liu Heng's tense heart inexplicably relaxed, and he boldly started to chat with him. Zhu Haomiao responded intermittently, quietly gathering intelligence about this world from his words. At the same time, Liu Heng also realized from their conversation that the person in front of him was definitely one of those noble youths, who grew up pampered and had little worldly knowledge. He had no common sense about this world at all! I absolutely don't believe that a noble young man like him would go out for training without a few bodyguards! Liu Heng instinctively glanced outward, as if he could feel the piercing gaze from the darkness, threatening to slice him into pieces at any moment if he dared to make a wrong move. Unaware that Liu Heng was waging a mental battle with an invisible force, Zhu Haomiao's eyes lit up when he heard that their destination was also Shanghai. "You are also going to Shanghai?" Upon hearing this, a thought occurred to Liu Heng. "Mr. Zhu, are you also heading to Shanghai? Why not travel with us, it would be good to have some company?" "Hmm..." After pondering for a moment, and considering his near 100% chance of getting lost without satellite navigation, Zhu Haomiao nodded willingly. "Then I'll trouble you all." Hearing this, Liu Heng felt a secret joy in his heart. "No trouble, no trouble at all." It's just taking another person, what's the hassle? More importantly, forming a good relationship with someone of his stature might one day save their lives with just a single word from him. At this moment, someone handed Liu Heng some food and water, and he instinctively passed it to Zhu Haomiao. "Mr. Zhu, if you don't mind..." Looking at the dusty pancake, Zhu Haomiao showed hesitation. He initially wanted to refuse, but the hunger in his stomach stopped his words. It was unclear whether it was the energy expended earlier or the attributes buried deep in the flesh and soul needing nutrition to grow, or perhaps both... Zhu Haomiao's instincts kept urging him; he was very hungry and needed to eat, eat a lot... "Uh... thank you." Seeing the young man take the pancake from his hand, Liu Heng felt a strange sense of delighted surprise. He had clearly noticed the young man's disdain earlier, assuming he would scoff at food meant for common folk, yet he caringly accepted it, forcing himself to eat; what a kind young man! Watching the young man frown, slowly chewing and swallowing the dry pancake, Liu Heng was touched, quickly offering him a cup of tea. "Mr. Zhu, this biscuit is hard to swallow, you must eat it with water." "Oh, thank you." He had never eaten such a horrible biscuit before; the flour was roughly ground with bran, and the salt used was inferior, leaving a briny taste. Bitter, astringent, and dry; even though it was baked, it was still hard enough to kill someone. Only after a few hours in the Illusion Realm, Zhu Haomiao already missed modern cuisine. Even pre-made food tastes a million times better than this! Taking a sip of coarse tea, he soaked the hard biscuit, chewed it softly, and swallowed, Zhu Haomiao looked at the night sky outside the temple with a bitter face. I need to make a lot of money! I want to eat delicious food! ......... Before dawn the next day, Zhu Haomiao was awakened by the noise, groggily opening his eyes to see that Liu Heng and the others were already packing up, feeding the draught horses and donkeys. "Mr. Zhu, you're awake? Please have some breakfast." Looking at the dusty pancake before him, Zhu Haomiao once again donned a mask of pain. After painfully finishing breakfast, the young man touched his flat belly, feeling as though he hadn't eaten anything at all. But he was too embarrassed to ask Liu Heng for more, so he could only endure the growing hunger in his stomach. At the same time, he noticed the aftermath of last night's "exercise". After using the Extraordinary Power of Anger, his entire body was now sore and weak, hurting with even the slightest movement. His physique was not strong enough to bear the burden of the extraordinary power's overuse... Clenching his fist, he quickly understood the core issue, instinctively checking his attributes. [God]: 0.7↑(1) [Body]: 0.5↑(1) How long would it take for this potential to fully manifest? After careful consideration, Zhu Haomiao reached a pessimistic conclusion. In a well-nourished situation, it would take at least two to three months! But from another perspective, in reality, it took him more than ten years for his body to grow to 0.5; if in the Illusion Realm it could double in just two or three months, the growth rate would be ridiculously fast… After some self-consolation, Zhu Haomiao saw that Liu Heng and the others had packed up and, bearing the soreness and pain, he followed along. Soon after they started walking, Liu Heng noticed Zhu Haomiao's subtle discomfort, quickly offering an olive branch. "Mr. Zhu, if you are not used to walking, you may ride in the cart." "This..." The carts in Liu Heng's caravan were all for goods, with everyone else walking; he felt it inappropriate to seek special treatment for himself. Seeing his hesitation, Liu Heng smiled calmly. "It's no issue, you're not as heavy as we are; the horse won't feel much burden pulling you, and if you can't walk, we'd have to stop and rest anyway..." Catching the implication in Liu Heng's words, Zhu Haomiao could only nod awkwardly. Sitting up straight in illness, he realized that he was the burden! Sitting in the bumpy cart, the group quickly reached the official road, but Zhu Haomiao frowned even deeper. The desolation along the way was unexpected; they traveled several miles without seeing any signs of habitation, only occasionally spotting unburied bones by the road. It should be known that this is in the Shen Zhou Land's most fertile and prosperous region! In reality, the Yangtze River Delta's city cluster in a similar location has a population of over 220 million, with not a single piece of land left idle, how could it look like this... barren as far as the eye could see... "Liu Heng, I have heard that Yangzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture are densely populated and prosperous places, why are they so desolate now?" After traveling for a while longer, Zhu Haomiao couldn't help but ask. S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Upon hearing this, Liu Heng shook his head bitterly. "Isn't it because of the Taiping Heavenly... cough, the havoc caused by the Long-haired bandits." "Hmm? Weren't the Long-haired bandits eradicated nearly twenty years ago?" Zhu Haomiao queried with puzzled frown, recalling the committee's provided materials, confirming that he was in the 1890s, nearly twenty years after the last remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were crushed! "Haha, eradicated they were, but during the back and forth battles, the once fertile Yangtze River Basin was turned into a wasteland, with millions upon millions dead..." "So many died, the earth's resentment and death energy are rampant, who knows how many Demons and Ghosts were bred from that..." "That's why this rich land has not yet recovered to this day."