The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 752 Your World
“War is the father of all things, war is the king of all things. War makes some men gods and some men, some slaves and some free men.”

—Heraclitus, ancient Greek philosopher
Twenty years have passed since I entered Penglai, when hungry I have eaten green pines and when thirsty I have drunk spring water; from this temple I have seen from afar that Your Majesty was also at the source of immortality."

——Yu Xiangdou, Ming Dynasty, "Journey to the North"

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As dust filled the air, the collapse of Feisheng Cliff continued until the entire Taizipo collapsed. Fear filled the sky like smoke and dust, enveloping Junzhou City.

The giant green python soared into the sky, appearing and disappearing among the clouds. Its body was comparable to the giant turtle on Xiaopao Mountain. It suddenly crashed into Tianzhu Peak and, ignoring the falling rocks around it, plunged into the Han River without hesitation and dived into the water.

"Liu Yufei, what did you summon?! Are you going to destroy heaven and earth?!"

Liu Zhaosun was bathed in golden light and cursed loudly. After confirming that the eldest princess was brought back to the ground by the giant python, he did not look back and continued his journey of ascension.

"Destroy it, destroy it, destroy everything!"

The world is getting farther away, and the common people cannot be kept.

In the past few years at Taizipo, he transformed himself into a god and accepted people's worship, but he had already seen through everything and had a deep understanding of the world.

Since everything is irreversibly heading towards vulgarity and cruelty, it is better to destroy it completely now.

Only by going through fire can one be reborn.

The final destruction was accomplished by the daughter.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of horrified eyes, a corner of Wudang Mountain was smashed open by the giant turtle-snake beast. A mountain torrent tore down, and the collapsed rock and debris rolled down the mountainside, falling like raindrops into the river. The Han River bubbled and gurgled like a boiling cauldron. The fish and shrimp in the river, sensing the impending disaster, rushed to the shore and jumped onto the river beach.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the sky suddenly turned from noon to dusk. It was pitch dark. The wind from the river was howling, and huge waves more than ten feet high were rolled up. Even the dullest person would find it difficult to foresee the impending disaster.

Junzhou City was surrounded by thick humidity drifting in from the river. Even the city walls were covered in dampness. Mist spread upward from the stone bricks of the city corridor, swirling and evaporating. The streets and alleys were wet, as if water was about to emerge from the ground, or something else.

At dusk, the entire city was submerged by the surging Han River.

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Until recently (the 17th year of Yonghe), Qi Meng went north from Nandu City, followed the Yangtze River all the way west, entered the Han River, and took a boat to the site of the ancient city of Junzhou at the intersection with the Danjiang River - an area designated as a forbidden area - and he soon found that he had entered a vast ocean.

The vast ocean is just a metaphor, because this place is deep inland and there is no sea. This idiom is just used to describe the size of the river.

Qi Meng was attracted by the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers along the way. He soon discovered that there were still many ancient fortresses and some dilapidated simple wooden houses on the ridges on both sides of the river.

The fort's cabins had once been scout outposts, but had long been abandoned.

Due to the construction of water conservancy projects (?), the water level in this area has risen sharply, and the water surface is almost parallel to the ridge line. The saying "a flat lake emerges from a high gorge" is used to describe this.

When people are on the yacht, looking around, they see nothing but desolation, and there is naturally no village to be seen.

Everywhere you look, it's all emerald green, yet it exudes an indescribable atmosphere of danger. Even the most casual travelers will quickly become wary, fearing that a strange prehistoric creature will suddenly burst out from the bottom of the water or behind the ridge. Of course, if the traveler is brave enough, they can stop at the cliffs by the river and venture into an abandoned hut or fortress. If you're lucky, you may even stumble upon one or two ancient corpses that have been dried for centuries at the bottom of the fortress...
Most of the time, people can only see the river water, the clear, blue river water, and the century-old trees that are constantly growing.

At night, the sound of mandrills and owls cawing could be heard - the empire had done a pretty good job of protecting the environment in the central provinces.

The terrifying cries of the mandrills mixed with the whispers of the wind in the woods left Qi Meng tossing and turning in the middle of the night. He couldn't help but wonder:
Is that just the wind whispering?

Who could tell whether those broken twigs were signs of wild beasts or of some other, unknown creature?

Fortunately, he is an energetic and fearless explorer.

Perhaps he was tired of the hustle and bustle and intrigue of the city, or perhaps he missed his hometown (Qi Meng's hometown is near this restricted area).

Or maybe he just happened to pass by here.

Surrounding this bottomless water and those gloomy ridgelines, the abandoned fortress huts have been famous long before Qi Meng came to this world.

Places like this usually have some very strange rumors - but they are definitely not groundless ghost legends.

Qi Meng didn't believe in ghosts and gods, just as he didn't believe in the otherworldly bureaucrats of the Imperial Committee. While studying, he came across news of underground rebels.

Beyond the ridge dwell creatures, half-human, half-beast, so mysterious that they are as much a banned word in the Imperial annals as the rebels.

Qi Meng continued to ask the tour guide - if he hadn't been scared to death - detailed questions about the monster. The tour guide quickly shook his head and didn't dare to say a word.

"Let's go back. I feel a chill on my back."

"Don't you know? The waters we just sailed through were once a city. Four hundred years ago, a great flood submerged the city."

"A lot of people died."

Qi Meng finally gave up and agreed to return to the departure pier.

The tour guide seemed relieved and in a good mood. He told the story of a European missionary who lived three hundred years ago.

"That was during the late period of the Empress's reign over Da Qi. The Empire and Europe were trading goods and services, and every year large numbers of missionaries arrived in Da Qi, introducing subjects like medicine, astronomy, and calendars."

The missionary in the story was passing through Xiaopao Mountain to provide assistance to a student in Junzhou. He was rowing a boat and disappeared on the way. Nearby fishermen found the sunken boat by the river and picked up his belongings. Surprisingly, the belongings were intact and not even soaked in water.

A medicine box, a Bible, and a copy of "The Empress of the Great Qi Dynasty's Letter to the World." Inside the book, there were some carefully preserved, puzzling words from missionaries. Translated, they roughly said:

"I am convinced that a monster is following me. My first thought was that it was a bear, but now I have to believe that it is something incredible, more terrifying than anything else in the world. Darkness has fallen, and I believe that I have become a little mentally unbalanced, because I keep hearing strange music and other strange noises that are definitely not natural sounds. I am also troubled by a hallucination that makes me hear huge footsteps and can clearly feel the ground shaking. I also accidentally see a kind of large footprints more than once, but the shape is different..."

(End of this chapter)