The Nethervault Demon King strode proudly ahead, leading the old, weak, sick, and crippled of Oldridge Village forward.
"A lot of people in this village are perfectly healthy, so why call it Oldridge Village?" the Nethervault Demon King wondered.
By now, Oldridge Village could hardly be called 'crippled' anymore. Among the younger generation, there were Granny Sue and Quinn Shepherd, so even the word 'old' was up for debate.
Grandpa Mark, Butcher, and Crippled Joe had regained their limbs, and Granny Sue, though her Dao-heart was damaged, was physically fine.
In Oldridge Village, only Grandpa Blind, Apothecary, Village Chief, the Mute Smith, and Deaf still had physical disabilities.
However, what the Nethervault Demon King did not realize was that, for the people of Oldridge Village, physical disability was not true crippling; it was the wounds in their hearts that truly bound them.
Village Chief was trapped by his ideals and responsibilities, unable to realize them and left disheartened. Even if his body were whole, he would never leave the Great Ruins.
Apothecary was hounded by too many debts of emotion, forced to cut off his own face. Even if he restored his former handsome looks, he probably wouldn’t dare show himself to others.
Grandpa Blind’s downfall was not simply because he lost his sight; as for Grandpa Mark, even with his hands restored, he would remain trapped in grief over his wife and child’s deaths, unable to forgive himself.
Granny Sue’s heart-devil, Crippled Joe’s past, Deaf’s lost homeland, the Mute Smith’s mysterious history, Butcher’s reason for raising his blade to the heavens—these were the shackles that truly bound them.
It was their inner wounds that were the real crippling; each was trapped in a sorrowful history, unable to break free. That was why Oldridge Village existed.
If not for the child they raised running out into the world, the people of Oldridge Village would have quietly stayed in the village, waiting to grow old and die there, then digging a pit to bury themselves.
Quinn Shepherd’s arrival gradually rekindled their hearts, but even he could not help them escape the past that had crippled them.
Crippled in body, ruined in heart—that is true crippling.
To break free, they could only rely on themselves.
The Nethervault Demon King truly deserved to be a sovereign from another world—his knowledge was vast. Even Grandpa Blind admired his depth of learning, especially in the arts of numerology, which left Grandpa Blind thoroughly convinced.
They had already reached the edge of the forest, almost at the end. The remaining distance was just about two li, but those last two li had taken the Nethervault Demon King most of the day to traverse.
"It’s New Year’s Eve," Granny Sue suddenly said.
Grandpa Mark shook his head. "If the whole village isn’t here, then it’s not really New Year."
Butcher’s voice boomed like a bell: "We have to find Village Chief, the Mute Smith, and Apothecary! Dead or alive, we bring them back! Even if they’re dead, we’ll drag them home for New Year!"
Ahead, the road was gone—only the shattered remains of Carefree Haven lay before them.
There was no ground here anymore; the forest’s edge ended in a clean cross-section. Quinn Shepherd stood at the cliff’s edge and looked down, seeing another forest below.
He couldn’t help but freeze in surprise.
"Another forest?"
Quinn Shepherd exclaimed, "This forest grows on the cliff face—how are the trees standing vertically to the ground?"
The Nethervault Demon King leapt down the cliff. With a thud, he landed steadily on the sheer wall, his body now perpendicular to Quinn Shepherd’s. Walking back and forth along the cliff, he said, "The seal here is more complex than I imagined. It’s made up of cubes, sealing Carefree Haven inside and controlling the geomagnetic forces of this place. Come down and see for yourselves."
Quinn Shepherd cautiously extended his foot, suddenly feeling a pull beneath it. As his foot touched down and he lifted the other, he found himself standing on the cliff wall, perfectly comfortable.
Not only that, from his perspective, he seemed to be standing at the edge of a cliff, while Granny Sue, Grandpa Mark, and the others were standing vertically on the cliff wall—yet he and the Nethervault Demon King felt as if they were on level ground.
He looked around, heart trembling slightly, and saw another forest opposite them, also standing perpendicular to the ground.
Beyond that, forests stretched across the sky in every direction.
It was as if slabs of earth had surrounded Carefree Haven, piecing together a gigantic hollow sphere.
But geographically, it wasn’t simply a hollow sphere—it was formed by thousands of cubes of varying heights, assembled into a massive shell with Carefree Haven at its center.
Each cube folded thousands of li of forest space within it, and every face of every cube was a ground surface.
This kind of divine art was beyond imagination—even someone like the Imperial Preceptor of the Everpeace Empire would struggle to conceive of such a feat.
"The geomagnetic forces here have been altered."
Grandpa Blind also walked over, sensing the gravity. He said, "This is no ordinary divine art—it’s enveloped all of Carefree Haven. The only exit might be the way we came."
"So many seals, all to prevent anyone inside Carefree Haven from leaving."
Granny Sue also walked over and looked up. The shattered Carefree Haven floated silently, still far from them. She said, "Village Chief and the Heavenly Demon Patriarch are so powerful—they must have gone in there, right?"
The Nethervault Demon King looked up, then walked back the way they came, shaking his head. "There are many prohibitions in the sky, and it’s hard to avoid the divine bans and fly across. I’d need to calculate for a long time to find a safe route—maybe thirty to fifty years. If my true body were here, it might be faster, but still a year or two. The gods and demons who left those seals are far too strong for you to handle. If they tried to fly into Carefree Haven, most likely they’re already dead…"
He muttered, "The whole Great Ruins is a cursed land, its bizarre rules shrouding everything. Living here is truly hard. Quinn Shepherd, you summoned me to this world, but I won’t come again. This place is just too warped!"
Grandpa Blind murmured, "Village Chief will make it through. That old rascal never does anything properly, but whenever he truly sets his mind to something, he always pulls it off... Hold on, everyone—look at the outline of Carefree Haven. Doesn't it look just like a ship?"
Everyone looked up. Carefree Haven was colossal—even shattered, its former splendor was unmistakable. Above it hung a sun, half-swallowed by darkness, about to vanish.
But if you pieced together those broken peaks, gigantic machines, and ruined city, it really did resemble a ship—an unimaginably vast, majestic vessel!
Compared to this, the Solar Ark and Lunar Ark were mere toys.
"Carefree Haven is... a ship?"
Quinn’s mind reeled. That sun in the sky was artificial, yet enormous—and the city and mountains combined were even bigger, outstripping the Solar and Lunar Arks a thousandfold.
Was there really such a gigantic ship in this world?
"Sharp eyes, Grandpa Blind!"
Crippled Joe’s eyes lit up, his breath quickening as he pointed at the sun, half-devoured by darkness. "That sun must be the ship’s power source! It’s a colossal alchemical furnace—a cauldron beyond imagining!"
Granny Sue shot him a look. "You could never lug that thing home."