I have Taoism and can understand other worlds

Chapter 637 A glimmer of hope

"Living dead?" Jiang Wen looked at Rui. "You don't need to eat either?"

“We don’t need to eat. Even if we go without food and water for several years, we won’t die of hunger,” Ray said. “In fact, we’ve tried all sorts of ways to commit suicide, but without exception, none of them have worked. Even if we’re cut into pieces, the wounds will slowly heal over several years.”

"Then, what is the price?" Jiang Wen asked, looking directly into Rui's eyes. "Now that you possess an immortal body and a long lifespan, what is the price you must pay?"

In this world, everything has a price, except for what one earns through hard work. An eagle soaring high is destined not to leap and run on the ground like a tiger or leopard. A bat possessing keen senses is destined to have very poor eyesight. And these living dead living in sacred places, possessing immortal bodies and eternal life, must have paid a heavy price.

“There is a price to pay,” Rui said. “Our ability to live forever means we are destined to remain here. Our bodies decay day by day, and our consciousness slowly weakens. Until our bodies can no longer decay, we will go to a place and perish there. Our souls will have no resting place and will ultimately be imprisoned in this sacred land.”

"The price of immortality is eternal damnation."

A hint of fear crossed Rui's face, but it vanished in an instant. It seemed he was also deeply afraid of death.

“I have witnessed the souls of those ancestors; they remain here forever, just like the corpses in the Land of Fallen Immortals.”

"Is this the price you've paid? Didn't you try to escape?" Listening to Rui's description, Jiang Wen gained an understanding of this group that called themselves the Forsaken of Immortals. For cultivators, physical death sometimes meant nothing. Only the complete annihilation of the soul could be considered true death.

Just like cultivators who rely on the life fire, even if their physical bodies are destroyed, they can still revive with a wisp of life fire.

But if death means imprisoning one's soul, then anyone would feel despair and fear. No wonder the people in the village looked at him strangely when he entered earlier.

“We can’t escape, we can’t escape.” Rui said, picking up the stone cup. “Everyone wants to escape, but no one can escape. Once the words on this stone tablet are completely gone, no one will be able to approach the River of Wandering. Even the heroes of the tribe cannot get close to the River of Wandering.”

"So why did you stop me?" Jiang Wen asked again.

“No outsiders have come here for several years, and everyone wants to see. We also want your help to fulfill the wishes of some of the living dead in the village. If you are willing to help us, we can give you all the treasures we brought in before. Of course, the premise is that you can get out. We have asked many people for help, but in the end, they were all left here.” Rui put down the stone cup and told Jiang Wen his purpose.

Many villagers who came in from outside are unable to leave again. They miss their relatives, friends, and partners dearly. They want someone to help them fulfill their wishes, at least to send some words back to their loved ones.

"This is their last wish, and the reason they are unwilling to die. Even though they have lived enough, it is an obsession they cannot let go of. If this obsession could be fulfilled, perhaps many people in the village would die." Rui's face showed a hint of emotion, his expression filled with helplessness and bitterness. Even after experiencing the vicissitudes of life, it is difficult to describe his inner feelings.

Jiang Wen hesitated for a moment, then nodded as he looked at Rui's thin frame: "It's just a small favor, so I'll agree to it."

"Really? Thank you so much." Rui breathed a sigh of relief, a rare smile appearing on his aged face. "I'll have them hand over what they want to send back, and you can take it with you then."

Rui spoke casually, but Jiang Wen could also sense a hint of nostalgia in him. Perhaps this man, over four hundred years old, also harbored some of his own obsessions.

"And what about you? You've lived this long, don't you have any lingering thoughts you can't let go of?" Jiang Wenchao asked.

Rui opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he shook his head helplessly.

"I have no obsessions. Or rather, the person I am obsessed with has already passed away."

"But you're still alive."

"I'm alive only because I can still live. If one day I'm too weak to continue, then I will face death with equanimity. There are no cowards among the warriors of the Tianqi Clan." Rui's voice was hoarse, but resolute. Jiang Wen had met many people, but rarely had he seen someone like Rui who so desperately sought to live. It wasn't a matter of merely clinging to life, but a fearless defiance of death. Even the most despairing things in the world could not defeat him; he would live until death itself came.

"Don't you really have any attachments?" Jiang Wen asked Rui again. "I can help you, if you still have relatives alive?"

"..." Rui remained silent for a long time, knowing that what this person said was right.

He seemed to have thought of something, his hands clenching and unclenching. Finally, he stood up.

Entering the house, Rui retrieved a necklace of stones from a hidden spot. The necklace was beautiful; the stones were all round and full, of various colors. It was clear that its owner had put a great deal of effort into making it.

Rui handed the stone chain to Jiang Wen, his expression filled with nostalgia, and said, "If possible, I hope you can help me send this necklace to the Tianqi clan and give it to a woman named Tianqi Shui. If she has already passed away, then give it to her descendants."

"Tianqi Water? I understand." Jiang Wen nodded and took the stone chain. He secretly put it into his storage bag, and then talked with Rui Xian about the situation around this holy land.

Rui had clearly traveled to many places; he gave Jiang Wen a map made of animal hide. This map recorded the situation within a thousand miles of the village, including many forbidden areas.

Not long after, Rui went out to gather the villagers. Jiang Wen looked closely and saw that there were roughly several hundred blue-faced men in the village.

They each brought something to Jiang Wen's door, entrusting their thoughts to him.

Among them was an elderly man who had been trapped in the holy land for fifteen years. He missed his daughter dearly and hoped that Jiang Wen could help him convey his longing as a father.

Jiang Wen accepted all these tasks and kept them firmly in mind.

Rui said he wasn't sure if Jiang Wen could get out, given the perilous situation in the Holy Land.

Jiang Wen didn't care at all. Even if this place was too strange, he was sure he could get out if he wanted to.

Not long after, Jiang Wen left the village. He bid farewell to the villagers and prepared to go deep into the sacred land to retrieve what the elders wanted.

Watching the young man's departing figure, Rui took a deep breath.

Do you think he can get out?

"Maybe?"

"Aside from those holy maidens, how long has it been since anyone left this sacred place?"

“It’s been four hundred years,” Rui sighed. “That’s why I hope he can go out, at least that way he’ll have a thought.”

“I am old and frail and will not live much longer. But you still have a glimmer of hope.”

(End of this chapter)