sed to take, carried a pungent smell of dust, as she held them in her hands.The middle-aged woman grinned at me: “You’re so lucky, you have a pure yin constitution and aren’t afraid of evil spirits en...I think the little boy is deliberately making so much noise.

He wanted the “attendant” following us to hear him. The creature, a woman who was either a fox or some kind of yellow-furred spirit, drifted through the stone palace like a ghost.

This place was once an empty city.

The Abyss of Souls, the Abyss.

To understand as returning to a place where one once lived, but now stands as an empty city, ruins.

I just took a quick look around the city. All those who passed through the formation have already moved into the old buildings in the city.

They were all down in the dumps, struggling to make ends meet.

There are no clothes, no food here, the most abundant are houses made of mud mixed with wood and brick walls. The wooden furniture inside is all rotten.

I was worried about that newborn infant. I gave the child back to its mother at the time, wondering if such a small infant could survive and reach here.

Mu Wanchen seemed to understand my thoughts. After whispering a few words to Luohou Xingjun and the little boy, he took my hand and led me out.

"What are you doing" I asked.

“I’ll show you around,” he said casually.

"I'll just wander around myself. These people all know me." I pointed to the street below.

Below the Stone Steps are grid-patterned streets. The buildings here are distinctive, each household having a water channel right at their doorstep.

You have to pass through a stone slab to enter the courtyard.

"Is this for preventing thieves" I asked, puzzled.

"There aren't any thieves here. Under the rule of the Divine Witch, everyone believes devoutly and it is almost a place where people don't pick up lost items on the road and don't close their doors at night."

I curled my lip and said, “‘Leave no litter on the road, keep your doors unlocked at night’ is just propaganda from rulers boasting about their enlightened rule and painting themselves as benevolent monarchs of a golden age.”

Mu Wanchen squeezed my hand, a hint of laughter in his voice: "Are you saying I'm foolish"

"Humph, abandoning wife and child..." I scoffed.

Mu Wanchen shook his head, smiling and saying, "It's precisely because you are pregnant that I have to keep you. Facing the unknown is more anxious than facing danger. I can't guarantee that I can protect you unharmed..."

May you be well and unharmed.

He murmured the four words repeatedly, letting out a soft sigh.

"Don't think of me as so helpless. Besides personal safety, which might need protecting, I can handle everything else on my own and even take care of others." I frowned.

Mu Wanchen always takes everything as his own responsibility and silently shoulders it.

"How are the people of Wuzhuang Mountain doing now" he asked, changing the subject.

I looked at the ragged man sitting on the street and sighed, "It's not great, after all, living off others. But at least I have food and clothing, and access to medicine. It's definitely not as difficult as this."

On the street, someone recognized me, was stunned for a moment, and someone shouted, "Little Princess!"

Then, people gradually gathered around.

Most of them are the elderly, the weak, women and children. The men have gone out hunting, fishing, and gathering mountain produce.

"It's really the Young Princess! I heard before that someone saw the Young Princess in the city!"

"Little Princess, it's really you!"

"How did you get here! Did you also come through the formation"

"Is it from the ocean"

“Taken away one soul and one spirit by the shaman”

"Little princess..."

I listened to the clamor and murmur of voices, frowning at their sallow, gaunt faces.

It's a bit heartbreaking, yet helpless.

Life is not something one person can single-handedly turn around.

A tribe, a clan, even a nation or ethnicity, no one can take care of their survival except themselves.

It is better to teach people how to fish than to give them a fish. After helping them through a difficult time, they must ultimately rely on themselves.

"Little Princess! Are you here to help us" An elderly woman couldn't help but blurt out.

I know their hopes deep down, but this time I can only disappoint them.

Her blunt words suddenly silenced the room.

Everyone unconsciously looked toward the back of me.

I could, perhaps, once again tread through the charred forest with supplies and first aid, building them a refuge.

Unfortunately this time, I can't help.

Their eyes quickly became dim.

Here, the heaven and earth belong to the Creator. The shamans can provide shelter for the people, but they cannot manage everything about their lives, such as eating, drinking, defecating, being born, aging, getting sick, or dying.

Seeing their panicked expressions, I patted my hands and said, "You know how you got here. Those relief supplies can't be transported over. Isn't this me sharing your hardships"

Their faces couldn't even manage a smile.

"Don't lose heart, we'll figure it out together. I'm not here just to check on things with the Great Shaman, am I"

An old man sighed and said, "There are fish in the sea, but the journey is far, the wind is high and the waves are rough. No one who has gone to try fishing has returned..."

Better not eat seafood, I feel like the fish in that sea are more likely to eat people...

Mu Wanchen waved his hand to signal them to make way, and he pulled me towards a small courtyard with a two-story earthen hut.

"I know you're worried about this little one. He was choked by the water a few times, luckily he was rescued, but his body is weak. I don't know if he can grow up healthy." Mu Wanchen stood at the entrance of the courtyard, motioning for me to look with his chin.

I saw the woman walk with unsteady steps, yet she used an oval-shaped river stone to pound a broken bowl in her hand.

The child was placed on the steps at the front of the house. The swaddling clothes were just old clothes taken off adults, and to prevent wetting from soiling them, the lower part of the child's buttocks was exposed. She used her sleeve to shield her from the wind.

"Be good, darling. Mommy will be done in a moment..." She muttered to herself, her voice trembling.

I can't take it anymore.

Although I was eating myself, I couldn't help but walk closer and ask, "What are you pounding for him He's so small, he shouldn't eat random things. What if he gets gastroenteritis What if there's no doctor here and we lack medicine"

She stared at me blankly, suddenly put down her bowl and knelt before me, muttering "Save the child, save the child".

I feel like I'm experiencing symptoms of over-exertion and excessive stress.

Without food, a mother naturally has no milk. What does the child eat

I looked at her broken bowl. Inside were some yellow shells and white, watery liquid.

"What is this" I picked up the broken bowl and sniffed it. It smelled like something edible.

"Sū." Mù Wǎn Chén replied.

What

“We found a wild soybean field near here, and we harvested the seeds to plant. But this soybean… it takes ninety days to flower, sixty days to ripen, and a total of one hundred and fifty days to mature. That’s a bit too long. Fortunately, that soybean field is vast and unclaimed, so it will be enough for us to use for now.”

"I sniffed carefully and suddenly realized, “What is this! Isn't this…soybeans!”

What is this, what is this!

Such an old-fashioned name, I didn't react at all!

Mu Wanchen raised an eyebrow, a hint of smugness in his smile as he said, "Little Consort, what has gotten you so excited"

"With this, who would worry about going hungry! Take me there—"

Before I could finish my words, Mu Wanchen had already grabbed me by the waist with one hand and lifted me up!

He whistled, and the hawk spread its giant wings and flew over.

"My little queen, you know so many things I don't.…" His proud expression couldn't be hidden: “Come on, this place is full of ravines and dense forests, I'll show you around.”

Not far from this city, there's a vast expanse of grassland. As soon as I landed, before I could even get excited, a faint plume of smoke rose from the valley in the distance —ghost messengers who were staring at me, with their sinister glares, would quickly lower their heads when met with his eerie tri-eyed gaze, too afraid to look anymore."Bai Wu Chang... Qi Ye..." I whis...