Peach Blossom Land On Longyin Island Chapter 48
byThe thick fog disappeared
After a long while, Anle closed her mouth and murmured: “Humanity… all living things… are all dead… like the dinosaurs became extinct?” Anle suddenly asked eagerly: “What is it because of a planet hitting the earth?”
Anmu shook his head sadly and said, “It’s a human being.”
Anle was stunned for a while, then said: “Humans…Humans have killed themselves and all living things…How is this possible…”
“Grandpa An,” An Le looked at An Mu blankly, “What happened in your world?”
“War,” Anmu sighed deeply, “it is war, and war will never disappear.”
“But… what kind of war can destroy the entire earth?” Anle couldn’t believe it.
Anmu slowly narrated: “In my world, as if guided by God, history has done everything right at every key node in the history of human development.”
Anle looked at Anmu in confusion, and Anmu continued: “I found the point where this world deviates from my world.”
“Deviation…” Anle became even more confused, “What do you mean?”
An Mu said: “You must have heard of parallel worlds, right? Every different choice will lead to a different future. I found that choice.”
Anle understood and asked, “What is it?”
“In the history of my country, there was a dynasty called the Qin Dynasty.”
“Qin Dynasty?!” Anle exclaimed, “Is it possible that we are in the same world line?”
Anmu shook his head and said: “There is also the Qin Dynasty in this world line. In this world line, after the death of Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, Hu Hai succeeded to the throne. But in my world, after the death of Qin Shi Huang, the eldest son Fu Su succeeded to the throne. The Qin Dynasty lasted for another five hundred years and the country was strong. But in this world, Qin II died and war broke out again.”
Anle murmured: “In my world, Qin II also died, but there is no mediocre country in my world.”
Anmu nodded and said, “Maybe the world line has changed since then.”
“But what does this have to do with the demise of mankind?” Anle asked doubtfully.
“Wars will slow down the progress of mankind, and in my world line, wars rarely occur.”
Anle was even more confused. Anmu didn’t wait for him to ask, and continued to explain: “So in my world line, human beings are developing very fast, and technology is developing very fast. Human beings explore the world and explore the universe… Human beings are addicted to exploration and development but ignore one thing – the development process of human beings is accelerating, but the earth maintains its due speed.”
Anle seemed to understand what Anmu meant.
Anmu said: “The earth has existed for billions of years, but humans have only existed for a few million years. Human beings are insignificant to the earth. The earth does not need humans, but humans depend on the earth.”
“Resources…can’t keep up?” Anle expressed his guess.
Anmu nodded and said, “Yes, the resources can’t keep up.”
“In order to snatch resources, a war broke out among humans?” Anle asked again.
“Yes.”
An Le was silent for a long time, then suddenly shook his head and said: “What kind of war can destroy all life on the earth? Do humans want to drag all living things to death in order to snatch resources? No, Grandpa An,” An Le looked at An Mu and said, “If you are like me, you came here after you died, then how do you know that all living things are extinct? No one can be sure that all living things no longer exist, unless that person is the last living being on the earth.”
Hearing this, Anmu let out a wry smile and said, “Our world is developing very fast, in all aspects, including weapons.”
“Humans have created a weapon that can destroy all living things?” Anle asked in surprise, but after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that it was not impossible, “What kind of weapon is it?”
“Cobalt bombs,” Anmu said, “are coated with cobalt-59 in the outer layer of the shell. The neutrons produced by the nuclear explosion will convert the cobalt-59 into the radioactive isotope cobalt-60, and the cobalt-60 will release extremely strong gamma rays. After a large enough cobalt bomb explodes, its radioactive dust can be spread around the world.Killing almost all life and turning the earth into a no-man’s land within a few decades, it was thought to be a theoretical idea until one country claimed they had created it, and that country was under siege by other countries because it had the most unavailable resources within its borders.”
“So they dragged all mankind to perish together?” Anle took a breath, still finding it unbelievable.
Anmu sighed deeply and said: “At first, they only used it to threaten other countries to leave their country, but at that time, no one believed that they had actually built it until it was detonated.”
After speaking, the two fell into a long silence.
After a long time, Anmu looked at the sea and said: “After I came here, I often thought that as time-travelers, we have far more knowledge than they did, but should we use it? The reason why my world develops so rapidly is that there are time-travelers like us from the future. So every time that world is about to go astray, someone will intervene to push mankind’s choice to the correct answer. But they think they are accelerating the progress of mankind, but in fact they are also accelerating mankind’s end.”
“So, you don’t want to change Longyin Village and let them develop on their own?” Anle seemed to understand Anmude’s approach.
Anmu nodded and said: “To this world, we are outsiders, and we should adapt to it instead of changing it. Escaping from the world is the choice of the people of Longyin Village, and it is up to them to decide whether to be born or escape from the world.”
Hearing this, although it was inappropriate, Anle’s heart still moved, and suddenly there was a glimmer of hope, and he asked: “Then you…won’t interfere with their choice?”
Anmu glanced at Anle with a clear look and said, “Do you want to persuade them to go out?”
Anle lowered his head and said dullly: “Well, I want to go out. I want to change the village rules that prohibit leaving the island.”
Anle didn’t hear Anmu’s answer for a while. Just when he thought Anmu was going to refuse, he heard Anmu sigh: “Anle, I told you, now is not a good time to go out. The outside is not better than here.”
Suddenly another suspicion flashed through his mind. Anle walked quickly to Anmu, stared at Anmu and said, “Grandpa An, have you been out?”
As the words came out, Anmu’s cloudy yet shrewd pupils showed compromise. He nodded slightly and sighed: “Yes, sixty or seventy years ago, I was just like you. I also wanted to go out and see the outside world. So one day, I secretly left Longyin Island.”
“Did you really go out?!” Anle was shocked, “What’s it like outside?”
“Hungry will bring death to the road, and livelihood will be ruined.” An Mu said.
After just eight words, Anle’s heart sank and he said, “Is it because of the war?”
“No, the war has subsided. During the war when Yong’an Village fled, the Dayong Kingdom was destroyed and a new country was established, but the peaceful life of the people only lasted less than a hundred years. When I left, the Dayong Kingdom had been replaced by the Jin Kingdom. The emperor of the Jin Kingdom at that time was obsessed with Taoism and did not care about government affairs.The traitorous ministers were in power, the taxation and corvee were severe, and the government was doing nothing.I only stayed out for three days, and then I came back.In those three days, I saw many corpses, including men, women, and old people…” Anmu sighed deeply, “But some people didn’t even have corpses.”
“No?” Anle asked puzzled.
Anmu nodded: “In a butcher shop, I saw the shop owner tying women and children to the table while people came to buy their meat.”
Anle’s heart tightened and she exclaimed in shock: “Eating people?!”
“Well, they bargain like buying and selling beef and mutton. They say that the meat of women and children is tighter, and the meat cut alive is fresher…”
Anle’s face turned pale and she bit her lips to prevent herself from spitting out.
Anmu turned to look at Anle and said, “Ten years is too short. Anle, you and I know very well that eighty years is not enough to turn such a country into a strong, prosperous, and peaceful age. War will still break out, and it is the best choice for the people of Longyin Village to live in seclusion on Longyin Island. Anle, I can agree with you to change the village rules, but it is up to you to decide whether to persuade the villagers to go out. Besides, the white mist has disappeared, and I can’t stop you.”
Anmu looked at the line of sea and sky that should have been hidden by the thick fog, and murmured: “Rationally, I know that I cannot interfere with their choices, but emotionally, I don’t want them to be hurt. No matter how the thick fog is formed, it is protecting Longyin Island. I hope that the white fog can come back. Whether to be born or escape from the world should be in our hands.”
Anle was silent for a long time and whispered: “The Dragon King statue is not completed. I…can’t do it. If it were you, maybe you can.”
“You didn’t fail either,” An Mu said, “The wind stopped.”
I don’t know when the wind stopped, the branches stopped shaking, and the dust returned to the earth.The sky is still dark, but the dark clouds are gradually receding. Behind the dark clouds, there are faint traces of the white sun.
Without the sound of wind and rain, Longyin Village suddenly became extremely quiet.There was only the sound of waves lapping at the shore, one after another, endlessly.
Anle walked towards home in silence. Along the way, there were many broken branches that were blown down wildly. Many trees were broken to the ground and were lying across the country road.The fields became a mess, and the winter wheat was knocked here and there.
This winter crop will definitely be harvested next year. Fortunately, there will be a bumper harvest this fall, so eating will not be a problem.Food can be grown again, houses can be repaired, and Longyin Village can soon return to its former peace.
As long as the thick fog returns, the people of Longyin Village can continue to live in a peach blossom land.
“Anle!” Anle thought like this. As she was walking with her head bent, she suddenly heard a high-pitched cry. She looked up and saw many people coming towards her, noisily walking towards the way he came from. The people who greeted her were An Linmian, Anmai Antu and the others.
An Linmian said in a cheerful tone: “Have you heard that the thick fog has disappeared and we are about to go see it, shall we together?”
Anle looked at the three of them and smiled lightly: “No, you go ahead.”
“The thick fog has disappeared, what should I do…” When an old man passed by Anle, Anle heard the man’s low murmur.
“Hey, Dong’er~ Do you think we can go out now?” The young and energetic young man happily said to his friends.
Anle walked through the crowd, listening to the villagers’ strange or worrying words along the way, and entered the house with a heavy heart.
There was something wrong with the atmosphere at home, and Anle noticed it as soon as he walked in.An’s father, An’s mother, and An Xiaoyu were all in the yard, and everyone had strange expressions.
An’s mother was clutching her chest and looking very painful, An’s father was supporting An’s mother with grief in his eyes, and An Xiaoyu was avoiding his gaze with his head lowered.
“Dad…Mom…” Anle stopped at the door, her fingers holding the fence turned white, and asked in a harsh voice, “You…what’s wrong?”
The tears in An’s mother’s eyes fell instantly.
My heart felt like it was being pinched hard by an iron vise.”Mom…” Anle called out tremblingly.
An’s mother’s cries were heartbreaking, even worse than last night in the Dragon King Temple.
Parents know.
It was as if the air had been sucked out of his whole body. Anle found it difficult to breathe, and his fingertips were deeply embedded in his flesh.
Anle looked pale and stood motionless outside the door.
“Ye Zi, Ye Zi,” An’s father endured the pain, hugged An’s mother and comforted him, “Okay, okay, don’t cry, you will scare the child…”