Chapter 1786: Waiting for the Evening Breeze

"They were all transferred by the people of Ruoshui Prison." Lin Xi handed the newspaper to Li Shangfeng.

"Schools organizing students to go on study tours, factories sending workers out for labor, and all kinds of travel groups that are unbelievably cheap... The residents currently in Ruoshui Prison should be less than half of the original number."

Li Shangfeng took the newspaper and saw the dense list of cheap travel groups on it, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Not to mention whether travel projects like this should be published in mainstream newspapers, the prices marked on them were simply unbelievable... The amount an ordinary family spends on four or five meals can get you a luxury seven-day tour of Nanhai Prison?

Even Li Shangfeng himself wanted to sign up and try it.

"This kind of travel group is definitely operating at a loss, and a large loss at that." Lin Xi said calmly. "Behind this, Ruoshui Prison and the Chengtian Dynasty must be providing subsidies."

"But... why did they transfer the people? Ruoshui Prison's evacuation safety education is already very good. If it's just to deal with occasional Calamity invasions, there shouldn't be a need for such a big fuss... Even if they send everyone out, they can't just not come back, right?"

Lin Xi looked at Li Shangfeng. "This is the most serious problem..."

"You mean..." Li Shangfeng also seemed to have guessed something.

"The Lord of Ruoshui might be dying."

As soon as these words were spoken, the bench fell into dead silence.

Even though the Chengtian Dynasty had downplayed the existence of the Eight Lords in the hearts of the people, Twilight Society members couldn't possibly not know that the realm relied on the Eight Lords' domains to exist... Frequent Gray Realm intersections and the mass transfer of residents could only be explained by the imminent demise of Ruoshui Prison.

"No wonder they let us lurk in Ruoshui Prison at this time..." Li Shangfeng muttered to himself. "So, it’s to hold a funeral for the realm and enshroud the Lord of Ruoshui?"

"This should be the Twilight Society's first funeral mission. I didn't expect us to catch it as soon as we joined." Lin Xi sighed.

Even someone as fearless as Li Shangfeng couldn't help but feel a little nervous at this moment... This was an entire prison, such a massive city with millions of people. In front of it, any individual seemed too small. Was it really something they could easily hold a funeral for?

Li Shangfeng, a good resident who had lived for more than twenty years on a remote street in the Lin'an District of the Chengtian Realm, couldn't imagine what it would be like to hold a funeral for a realm.

Both Li Shangfeng and Lin Xi were silent for a moment. They still needed some time to accept the reality that a realm was about to perish... After all, in the past few hundred years, this had never happened.

The bench was silent.

On the other side of the park, behind the dancing white pigeons, a group of figures like a children's choir sang in unison, their clear and limpid voices echoing over the park accompanied by the sound of an accordion.

"—Little paper boat, rocking the oars, traveling to the ends of the earth, each to a different side."

"—Bamboo dragonfly, falling on the eaves, old partners, heading to the distance."

“……”

Li Shangfeng turned to look at Lin Xi: "What are you thinking about?"

"If what we are witnessing is truly the final moments of a realm... then it is indeed different from what I imagined." Lin Xi looked at the quiet park and the bustling city in the distance that looked like it was asleep, and said slowly,

"No panic, no turmoil, no mutual slaughter... Even though Ruoshui Prison, the Chengtian Dynasty, the Fire-Stealers, and our Twilight Society are all crowded here, and everyone knows that the life of this realm is coming to an end, no one is starting a war at this moment... Everyone is just watching quietly, as if..."

Lin Xi paused for a long time before continuing,

"As if..."

"Everyone is seeing off an old friend."

Li Shangfeng was stunned.

RUSTLE—

A young couple laughed and scattered a handful of corn kernels, and the white pigeons took flight again, their feathers falling softly amidst the singing.

"—Little arguments, all forgotten; little awkwardness, all turned to frost."

"—Hands held together, looking out the window, waiting for the evening breeze, sending peace."

"—White pigeons, spreading their wings, circling the clouds, heading toward the sky."

"—The wind blows gently, brushing the wheat waves, the world is peaceful, the years are long."

……

Ruoshui Base, deep inside.

Tiny bubbles rose slowly from the hibernation pod.

Under the dim light, the figure hanging upside down in the hibernation pod, who had been asleep for more than three hundred years, frowned involuntarily...

Immediately after, a very slight coughing sound echoed from the dead silence:

"...Cough."

……

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Continuous and weak coughing sounds echoed in the room.

"Lord!"

Jing Si was carrying a bowl of medicinal soup and had just walked through the door when he saw the elderly figure sitting by the bed, coughing violently. He was shocked and immediately walked over.

"Lord, are you okay? Quick... drink the medicine first."

Compared to three days ago, Lord Wei was now as withered as a candle in the wind. The continuous predictions had left him as if he had been hollowed out, and he was visibly weak.

He coughed so hard he couldn't speak for a while, slowly took the medicinal soup, and after drinking it, his complexion improved slightly.

"Lord, you can't continue like this." Jing Si was extremely anxious. "If this goes on, I'm afraid you will really..."

Lord Wei waved his hand, signaling him not to say any more.

Jing Si opened his mouth but said nothing.

Lord Wei sat by the bed for a long time, his gaze passing through the bedroom door to the front hall...

The tea table for guests was sitting quietly in front of the open door. The preserved fruit on the table had been replaced with a new batch, the tea in the pot was kept warm by a small fire, and on the incense burner beside the table, a pool of incense ash was scattered everywhere.

Three days had passed, and still no guest had stepped through that door to visit.

"Jing Si... the incense is out, go light a new one for me."

Lord Wei said hoarsely.

Jing Si was stunned. He looked back at the incense burner covered in thick ash and couldn't help but say:

"Lord, it's been three days, and the person you're waiting for hasn't come yet... Do you really want to continue?"

"Continue."

Lord Wei only replied with one word and said no more.

Jing Si obediently went to renew the incense, then tidied up the empty medicine bowl, and bid farewell to the Lord.

When the room fell into silence again, Lord Wei looked at the pendulum on the wall and took a deep breath... He gathered his spirits and activated the Divination Path, and mysterious patterns spread in the void around him.

Time passed minute by minute. As Lord Wei’s spiritual power was constantly consumed, the flickering frequency of those patterns became faster and faster...

CRACK—

Suddenly, a blue light bloomed from the void out of thin air, shattering the mysterious patterns around it!

As if some power superior to all Divination Path practitioners had swept through the void on its own at this moment, Lord Wei opened his eyes suddenly, and a mouthful of scarlet blood sprayed out!