Chapter 2: Corpse-Dissolution Court, Commander Lu
History… has fallen ill?
Isn’t history already a fixed fact? Why has it manifested as a long river?
Who could make It fall ill?
And what will happen after the long river of history becomes sick?
These questions flashed through his mind, but Jiang Yan no longer had the strength to think.
Fortunately, the figure deep within the long river of history gradually faded away amidst the surging endless black dust.
The related memories in Jiang Yan’s mind also slipped away like sand through his fingers, fading rapidly and becoming blurred.
Otherwise, he felt like he really would explode on the spot.
“What the hell is this thing?”
Jiang Yan bent over, panting heavily.
The cold air scraped his throat, bringing bursts of stabbing pain.
His clothes were already soaked with sweat, sticking uncomfortably to his body.
But he couldn’t care about any of that.
He temporarily ignored the faint sounds of crying by his ears and swept his gaze around, already having a preliminary understanding of the current situation.
He had been caught up in a supernatural incident and had entered an independent space.
The reason he said this was because the originally bustling pedestrians had disappeared without a trace.
It was completely silent, as if he had been abandoned by the entire world.
Moreover, the surroundings were filled with dust of rust and black hues, continuously clinging to the surrounding antique-style Su-style low tile-roofed houses.
The blue tiles on the rooftops visibly darkened at a speed noticeable to the naked eye.
The bright-tiled windows looked worn and tattered, as if they had been sculpted by the passage of time, reverting to Jiangnan architecture from a hundred years ago.
However, as a local, Jiang Yan’s face turned grim.
He knew very clearly that aside from the old street and a few scattered houses being genuine historical buildings, many of the seemingly quaint buildings were actually recent reconstructions.
Most of the old houses had already been damaged or demolished and rebuilt.
After all, being a tourist county was a development of the past few decades.
Only after people’s lives improved did this sort of aesthetic pursuit emerge.
In earlier years, if people could live in small Western-style houses, who would choose to stay in low ancient houses?
During the plum rain season, the walls would be covered in water stains.
The wooden doors creaked after long use.
All sorts of small animals would scurry in from time to time.
Termites gnawed at the beams in the wall crevices.
Air conditioners were hard to install.
And there was no access to natural gas...
Tourists came with a romanticized lens, but long-term residence severely tested the homeowner’s patience.
As for the grand gardens once inhabited by ancient wealthy merchants…
One should consider how many maids and servants they had attending them to construct such comfortable living conditions.
Therefore, the buildings on the old street had mostly been restored and rebuilt in the past few decades by the local cultural and tourism authorities to boost tourism.
These modern constructions made of concrete and steel, in front of this dust, were visibly aging at an astonishing pace.
So what would happen if it landed on a human body?
At this moment, the dust had filled the entire sky, falling gracefully like drifting snow.
Jiang Yan immediately hid under the eaves of one of the tiled houses, but the dust actually followed him.
It even had auto-tracking?
What kind of cheat was this? This game was unplayable!
Just as he was about to give up struggling, the rust-colored dust seemed to sense his rejection.
It no longer approached but instead swirled in front of him, forming a string of pictograms.
Then it changed into oracle bone script, followed by small seal script and regular script.
Among them were many characters he had never seen before.
Eventually, it settled into the simplified Chinese characters most familiar to Jiang Yan.
【Historical Marker: Turbid Stream — Grade A】
【Main Mission: The space in Pan’an County, Jiangnan Province, has undergone an unknown pathological mutation.
The present world is being washed by a historical turbid stream.
This old street has undergone bizarre changes.
Please survive for one hour. You are free to explore.】
【Mission Hint: Stay alive!】
The final three characters were presented in a blood-red color.
A faint metallic sweetness of blood could be smelled, bringing a violent impact to Jiang Yan’s heart.
The long river of history had turned into a game world?
No, that wasn’t right. His body didn’t seem to have been digitized.
Rather, the power of the historical river had provided him with the most comprehensible hint.
So it really was… keeping up with the times—what a joke.
At this moment,
Jiang Yan’s suspended heart completely sank.
Because anyone who had played games knew, especially horror games,
The hardest part was never defeating the boss or searching for items—
It was survival missions.
Because that meant the GM (game master) never believed you could overcome the unknown horror.
They were just walking you through a process.
In games, for the sake of the player’s experience, there would usually be mechanisms or items for players to clear the level.
But in reality, this translated to…
Certain death!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
At the same time, violent winds surged.
The historical dust scattered with the wind, transforming into thick red mist.
The mist condensed, so dense that water seemed to drip from it.
Or rather… it was a flowing stream.
A turbid branch split from the vast long river of history, rushing from the ancient past onto the shores of the present.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
From within the mist came the sound of hooves pounding against bluestone slabs, and the breaking of stone, like war drums beating.
In the fog appeared the tall silhouettes of mounted cavalry.
However, the leading figure was extraordinarily massive—both horse and rider stood four meters tall, carrying a giant banner.
The mist around its body receded, and its form gradually became clear.
“These are clearly Jiangnan buildings? But this doesn’t seem like the desolate frontier anymore...”
As a low and hoarse voice rang out, they fully emerged onto the street.
Jiang Yan’s gaze froze.
He felt no delight at the arrival of the voice’s owner, but instead took a deep breath.
Because what appeared were monstrous creatures with the heads of wild boars and the bodies of humans.
They had green faces, tusks, and jade-like skin all over.
Their bodies were piled with fat, bloated like bronze war chariots, clad in armor engraved with characters, though much of it was covered by body secretions.
Their abdomens bore giant mouths filled with teeth, constantly chewing and letting out hungry growls.
They did not ride horses.
Instead, their lower halves extended countless strands of bloody tissue, binding together severed limbs and fragments of arms and legs.
There were faint traces of tattered linen clothing and stark white bones, chopped from some unfortunate beings.
These were forcibly assembled into six thick, heavy “hooves,” supporting their obese bodies—ten such monsters in total.
Their presence made the once spacious old street feel crowded.
At the front, carrying the flag, was a white-jade-colored deer-headed cavalry.
Including the three-meter-long blood-red horn, it stood seven meters tall.
Its right antler had been severed, leaving a smooth flat surface, like a giant beast.
Its left hand formed a seal, exuding a solemn and dignified aura.
Its right hand held the flagpole.
The bright yellow banner bore a five-clawed golden dragon with glaring eyes, surrounded by flame patterns and dragon motifs.
Each breath stirred strong winds, causing the banner to flap violently.
At the center of the flag were embroidered characters, but they were obscured by dried bloodstains, leaving only one recognizable word: “王” (King).
“This seems to be… the Qing Dynasty’s dragon banner!”
Jiang Yan’s eyes narrowed—he had recognized the flag’s origin.
This kind of banner was typically used by high-ranking generals of the Qing Dynasty during military campaigns.
It was decorated with flame motifs and princely insignia.
If it came from a specific tribe, there would also be corresponding tribal emblems to denote identity.
In other words, these mutated monsters seemed to originate from…
The Qing?
Though the possibility of a parallel world couldn’t be ruled out.
“The stench of those Taiping peasant troops is gone. And this place indeed isn’t the desolate frontier anymore. It’s more like...”
The deer-headed monster’s voice carried disbelief as it muttered, “The present world.”
“What?”
“This is the present world?”
“The power of mutation is much weaker now—this is way better than our cursed land.”
“Never expected that while chasing the remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we’d gain such a reward...”
“We finally won’t mutate any further...”
“...”
One of the boar-headed monsters flattered:
“Commander Lu, shall we hurry back to the Corpse-Dissolution Court and report to the prince?”
“No rush!”
The monster known as Commander Lu waved its hand and twitched its nose, murmuring, “This place has only been washed by the long river of history, forming a borderland of desolation. It’ll still take some time to fully materialize. Besides…”
As it spoke, it turned its head and looked at the old street with a strange smile...
Meanwhile, inside a house deep within the street, Jiang Yan held his breath.
The moment they appeared, he had already hidden himself and bolted the metal door.
Through a narrow crack in the door, Jiang Yan stared at the nearby Commander Lu and the numerous boar-headed monsters.
His body trembled uncontrollably, and he murmured in his heart:
“Truly...”
“Beautiful!”