New Times, New Hell

Chapter 103 - System Warning Function

The scamming case regarding Zou Weiqin’s family wouldn’t be getting resolved any time soon, but that day, quite a few of their relatives and friends heard that the Zou family, who had been stockpiling useless goods for several years, had suddenly started throwing their old possessions out. Upon hearing this, they specially visited the Zou family.

Originally, many of these people had come to visit out of curiosity and with the goal to tease the Zou family. Yet, the Zou family had really completely cleaned their house out. Though they hadn’t switched to new furniture yet, the entire house looked much bigger and brighter than before. The usual cramped feeling had disappeared, causing the visitors to feel much more relaxed.

Additionally, Mother Zou was surprisingly not as stingy and mean as before. Though she still couldn’t completely hide her pettiness sometimes, she no longer acted as unacceptably as she had in the past. Also, each time she couldn’t help wanting to reveal her true nature, she would get stopped by Zou Weiqin. Magically, Mother Zou, who had previously been in complete control over her husband and son, actually managed to listen to her son this time.

Zou Weiqin had a good personality. After almost a year at the bank, he was quite polite and kind while greeting guests. The visiting experience to the Zou family had gotten better. Eventually, friends and family started becoming more willing to keep in contact with the Zou family. Among them, some people even helped Zou Weiqin in regards to work. Technically, they had chased away the ghost of poverty and were now welcoming their wealth fortune. But that’s a story for another time.

Currently, Yu Zhengdu was in his house, preparing to buy train tickets back to Fu City. Mother Yu was helping him pack while thinking of a way to steal Peppa. “Xiao Shang is so busy with work. Is it inconvenient to keep Peppa around? How about leaving Peppa here with us? We’ll help you guys raise her. I promise that the next time you guys come back, Peppa will be at least ten catties heavier.”

This scared Peppa so much that she started furiously flapping her wings. “Ga ga——” I don’t want to get fat!

Yu Zhengdu’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. “If we don’t bring Peppa back, our programmers might demolish the company.”

Even though Peppa was vicious, she was still very popular among the programmers.

Mother Yu could only reluctantly give up. She buried her face into the goose’s neck and sucked in a deep breath of air. “Peppa, when you get back to Fu City, you must video call Grandma very often!”

Her familiar goose-sucking posture caused Yu Zhengdu to feel extremely exasperated. Off to the side, Shang Que glanced over in the midst of his game. He said, “There’s no need to make video calls. If you guys have the time, you can come visit Fu City too.”

Upon hearing this, Mother Yu instantly broke out in a huge smile. “Oh, I would be too embarrassed to.”

The corner of Yu Zhengdu’s mouth twitched. He really wanted to remind his mom that if she really felt too embarrassed, she shouldn’t smile so obviously. He only acted like he hadn’t heard anything. Instead, he continued to keep his head lowered as he tried to buy tickets while checking the backend server of the Life and Death Accounts system on his computer. He planned to first perform another checkup on the system’s operational situation before work started again.

This year, with the help of the system and Life Management app, in addition to the logical scheduling arrangements at each reincarnation point, reincarnation work had progressed smoothly over the break. Basically, nothing had gone wrong. The system’s data was also mostly stable.

Yu Zhengdu was just about to sigh in relief when abruptly, he received a warning notification from the system’s backend server.

The system warning function was one of the supporting functions of the Life and Death Accounts system. From the start, the system they had designed was capable of collecting biological data, environmental policy information, etc. from published news articles of different areas. From this, it could predict a biorhythm. If the predictions said that there was a possibility of a great number of upcoming births or deaths, the system would send out a corresponding warning. This made it more convenient for the reincarnation points of all locations to prepare in advance.

However, this was the first time since the system had gotten released that it had sent out a warning notification. Yu Zhengdu didn’t know what was going on. He clicked into it, only to see that it was a warning for the number of deaths in the Si Mountain Ridge area.

Before the new year, a rainstorm in Si Mountain Ridge had caused a landslide. Peppa had earned an enormous amount of lucky money from Wei Xiao because she had successfully prevented him from going to Si Mountain Ridge for vacation. At the time, Yu Zhengdu had immediately checked the backend server of the Life and Death Accounts system. However, the numbers had all been normal; there hadn’t been too many serious injuries or deaths. Could it be that there were going to be more catastrophes in the future?

Yu Zhengdu was struck by an idea. He quickly searched online for news related to Si Mountain Ridge. All the articles he found were about the rainstorm and subsequent rescue operations, though. As of now, it seemed like everything had already stabilized. There weren’t any new reports.

Yu Zhengdu felt a bit confused. He tugged at Shang Que’s arm and showed the warning notification from the Life and Death Accounts system server to him. “Boss, look at this?”

Shang Que’s expression became solemn. He set down his phone. “That’s not normal.”

“It isn’t. However, I checked the news regarding Si Mountain Ridge and didn’t find any related articles. It doesn’t look like a big number of deaths are going to occur,” Yu Zhengdu said.

Shang Que pondered briefly. “Let’s first look over the data for deaths in Si Mountain Ridge from the past few days. Unless a very sudden catastrophe like an earthquake is going to occur, there should be hints otherwise for the cause of the explosion of deaths before it happens.”

Yu Zhengdu was struck with realization. He instantly pulled up the data for Si Mountain Ridge and looked over it. There weren’t too many differences from when he had checked prior to the new year. However, if one looked at the curve, they would discover that even though the human data was the same as before, the animal deaths were gradually rising.

He then looked into these animals’ causes of death. This caused him great alarm. Only to see that the causes of death for these past few days were basically the same: drought, overheating, dehydration.

But didn’t Si Mountain Ridge just experience a rainstorm? In just over two days, how could so many animals have died from dehydration?

Yu Zhengdu searched “Si Mountain Ridge” online once more. This time, he added the key term “drought.” The results were few and far in between. There were no related news reports from the media. However, there did seem to be a few locals from Si Mountain Ridge who had posted on Weibo, complaining about the drought.

Perhaps the Life and Death Accounts system had noticed this small quantity of information, and, in accordance with the recent causes of death for these animals, had given a warning.

According to the current data analyses completed by the system, there were several mountains, forests, farms, and large-scale farms in the areas around Si Mountain Ridge. This meant that there were quite a few animals. If the weather was truly reflecting severe drought conditions, humans might be able to evacuate or get help. However, animals wouldn’t get the same treatment. Moreover, if the situation didn’t become resolved, it was rather likely that an explosion of animal deaths would occur very soon.

But if the drought was so severe, why were there no news articles about it?

ShangQue instantly reached a decision. “Change of plans. We’re going to Si Mountain Ridge.”

Yu Zhengdu looked at Mother Yu. “Mom, Xiao Shang and I need to leave on an impromptu business trip. Help us take care of Peppa and the wet nurse duck for a few days first.”

Mother Yu immediately made an “ok” gesture. “No problem!”

Yu Zhengdu: = = This English phrase seemed to be one that his mom had learned a long time ago, when Shang Que had still been memorizing English vocabulary.

Si Mountain Ridge and its surrounding regions were in an isolated area. It was surrounded by mountains, forests, and rivers. The mountain ranges were extensive: even to this day, there was still a large portion of the land that humans had yet to set foot in. Apparently, there were many wild animals in the depths of the forests, including endangered species that were close to extinction. There were extensive natural resources too.

Though Si Mountain Ridge was surrounded by resources, the local economic development was extremely behind and occluded. Currently, this area was still relying on farming for most of its income. In the past few years, with the aid of governmental policies, large-scale farms had slowly appeared. They had also started the Si Mountain Ridge vacation resort. These had originally been projects that could’ve helped with development, but the locals were very against having outside investors investing in their economy. When the vacation resort project had just gotten started, locals had even gathered together in protest – this had ended up on the news. The rainstorm before the new year had stranded many tourists. Regarding this, the locals expressed great apathy.

Yu Zhengdu had originally seen a few news articles online, but when he actually reached this location, he still felt slightly surprised.

The local population was actually quite large. Since this was technically an area that the government had helped before, the environment around it shouldn’t have been too poor. But all the areas around the entirety of Si Mountain Ridge looked like they hadn’t been developed at all. Aside from civilian houses, there were only rundown civilian houses. Even the roads were shabby and neglected. It was easy to tell that some places were in the middle of fixing their roads, but even so, they had only finished partway. Traffic was very bad.

Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que first arrived at a little village – named Tongkeng – near the Si Mountain Ridge resort. They wanted to transfer cars here before heading to the resort. Unexpectedly, they learned upon their arrival that there was only one path to the resort from this village. Because of the previous rainstorm, part of this path had gotten ruined. Even now, it hadn’t been fixed.

It was already quite late. Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que discussed amongst themselves and ultimately decided to stay in Tongkeng Village for one night first. They would make another plan the next day.

Though they were near the resort, Tongkeng didn’t have very nice facilities. The entire village only had one hotel that was passable. Thus, Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que headed straight for that hotel.

Along the way, Yu Zhengdu could very obviously feel the unnatural dryness and heat of the area. The Lunar New Year clearly hadn’t even passed yet, but this place already felt like the middle of summer. Everyone around them was wearing shortsleeves. The stray animals along the roads also looked worse for wear.

While wiping away his sweat, Yu Zhengdu asked Shang Que, “Boss, do you sense anything?”

Shang Que glanced at the sky and the sun that didn’t look too fierce. His black pupils were like bottomless pits; his face carried a rare solemnity. “Barren lands for a thousand li……The drought demon appears.”

“The drought demon?” Yu Zhengdu was shocked. “Isn’t that a zombie?”

The drought demon was a rather famous character within Huaxia legends. Though there were many descriptions of the original form of the drought demon, most people believed that it was a zombie who hadn’t rotted after death. The common people believed that drought demons could prevent wind and rain. As soon as one appeared, “The nation it resides in will suffer a great drought. There will be barren lands for a thousand li.”

Yu Zhengdu had heard many legends about the drought demon before, but he had always believed that these were exaggerations of local folklore. He had never expected that he himself would actually encounter one someday.

“The creation of a drought demon is very complicated. Some are zombies, while others aren’t,” Shang Que relayed. “The reason most people so commonly think that the drought demon is a type of zombie is because during the Song Dynasty, there once existed a belief that zombies could absorb water.”

Yu Zhengdu sweatdropped. “That works too?”

“It’s hard to say right now what state the drought demon of Si Mountain Ridge is in,” Shang Que said. “But my guess is, it’s very likely that the prior rainstorm flooded the forests. This caused the stuff under the mountain to become exposed.”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t understand. “The stuff under the mountain?”

Shang Que gazed at him. “Have you ever wondered why this place seems to have such a nice environment, but is actually very isolated?”

Yu Zhengdu looked back curiously. “Un?”

“Because this is a place of life and also a place of death,” Shang Que slowly explained.

Si Mountain Ridge had excellent natural conditions. It was near mountains and streams, meaning it was sheltered from the wind and could gather qi. Yin Yang energy could smoothly pass through, but wouldn’t get overly dispersed. It was a place suitable for living things. However, the exact same reasons made it an ideal tomb location.

For thousands of years, Si Mountain Ridge had always been one of the most ideal tomb locations in Huaxia. From the imperial family to noble families to commoners, it was unknown how many people had been buried here after death. Deep within the mountains, hidden carefully under the earth, rested tomb within tomb and bones stacked upon bones. There were tens of thousands of these – completely innumerable.

In the past, it wouldn’t have been wrong to say that the locals of Si Mountain Ridge lived alongside ghosts.

But eventually, times changed. Si Mountain Ridge gradually disappeared from people’s minds. In the past few decades, the relevant governmental department had forcefully promoted the notions of cremation and scientific burials. As such, even less people knew about Si Mountain Ridge’s past.

Most recent news articles covered Si Mountain Ridge’s resort and large-scale farms.

Yu Zhengdu honestly hadn’t known that Si Mountain Ridge had previously been a huge graveyard. After hearing this, his entire being went into shock. Expression bewildered, he asked, “So it’s a fengshui problem that’s causing this place to suffer a lack of development?”

Shang Que shook his head. “This is an area with valuable fengshui. Naturally, it’s also a very suitable place to live in.”

He guessed, “The lack of development is probably related to a difference in views.”

Si Mountain Ridge was extremely isolated. Additionally, from very early on, they had believed in tomb and reincarnation culture. Of course they wouldn’t have too much of a desire to join the modern world.

Shang Que snorted. “Basically, they haven’t caught up with proper education yet. If they taught more concepts regarding the socialist economic system theory, they wouldn’t have been so against building a resort.”

Each time Yu Zhengdu heard the Ghost King speaking about socialism, he would get an indescribable feeling that something was wrong. Coincidentally, the two of them had already reached the outside of the hotel. Thus, they stopped their conversation and walked into the hotel lobby together.

“One room, thank you.” Yu Zhengdu handed his ID and credit card to the receptionist.

Shang Que leaned slightly closer to him. He coughed and lowly said, “One room with a king-sized bed.”

Yu Zhengdu burst into laughter. “I know.”

Just as he was about to tell this to the receptionist, the receptionist spoke up first. “We’re very sorry, sir, but our rooms are all taken today. Right now, there’s only one room with a king-sized bed left. You don’t mind, right?”

A calm smile appeared on Shang Que’s face. He very generously nodded before Yu Zhengdu could do so. “No, we don’t mind.”

Yu Zhengdu was a bit surprised. He asked the receptionist, “Are there a lot of guests today?”

The resort had temporarily stopped accepting customers. Tongkeng didn’t look like a place that would get a lot of visitors either. Normally, it would be rare for a hotel at a small place like this to be half full, but this hotel was actually completely occupied?

The receptionist revealed a perfunctory smile. She didn’t respond. Instead, she seemed to be a bit displeased.

Just as Yu Zhengdu was feeling confused, he suddenly heard a familiar voice shout out, “Householder Shang, Householder Yu, what a coincidence that we’re meeting again!”

Upon hearing this voice, the receptionist rolled her eyes. It appeared that she was displeased with these customers.

Yu Zhengdu turned around to look, only to see a few people dressed like Daoists walking out of the elevator and in this direction. The two in front happened to be Daoist priest Mu and little Daoist priest Yuan Qing from Diyang Temple. There were three people behind them. Yu Zhengdu had seen one of these people before: he was Daoist priest Kou Buzhi from Minan’s Danyang Temple. Last Qingming, he had been invited by Old Mr. Yu to the Yu clan’s public ancestral temple for a religious ceremony.

Yu Zhengdu was slightly surprised too. He hurriedly dragged Shang Que over to greet these people, asking, “How come you guys are here too?”

“Naturally because of the issue with the local drought.” Daoist priest Mu completely acted like Yu Zhengdu was one of them. Without even keeping any secrets, he lowly explained, “Just now, Yuan Qing, Daoist priest Kou, the others, and I had a long discussion. We have an initial assumption and suspect that the drought in Si Mountain Ridge might have been caused by the appearance of the drought demon.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded in understanding. So many famous religious masters from around the nation were all gathered here. They obviously hadn’t come here of their own accord; they had probably been asked to come here by the relevant department. As such, the higher-ups had probably discovered that something was off about this drought as well. This would also explain why no media sources had reported on such an incident. They honestly couldn’t.

As expected, when Daoist priest Mu saw that Yu Zhengdu didn’t look surprised in the slightest, he instantly revealed an expression that read “we both know.” With a slight smile, he asked, “Have Boss Yu and Boss Shang received an invitation from the relevant department too? Is that why you have specially rushed over?”

“No, it’s not like our company knows how to cast spells.” Yu Zhengdu waved his hands.

Daoist priest Mu became perplexed. “Then why are you guys here?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Our company’s system discovered that a great number of drought-related animal deaths might occur in this area. We’ve specially come to investigate the situation.”

The Daoist monks all fell silent.

Only Yuan Qing excitedly replied, “I know I know! I watched your speech at the technology summit and also read reports about it. Are you talking about the system developed by your company that can regulate the ecology and achieve sustainability for resources?!”

Yu Zhengdu dryly replied, “Yes.”

Yuan Qing’s tone was filled with an admiration for technology. “Too innovative!”

The author has something to say:

Yuan Qing: I must begin the revolution for a more technological approach to practicing Daoism.