62: Chapter 62 The Untouchables

[The next day, you set off on the road to the Demon Kings Castle.]

[The teleportation magic circle—this was indeed a condition you could not refuse.]

["Ziyi, Xi'er." You couldn't help but look up at the sky. The sun was dazzling, blinding you for a moment.]

[If you were still in your twenties, you would likely have scoffed at their request. You were just a product of the simulator; at worst, you would die. Your heart was your own, and you lived as you pleased.]

[But this year you are forty-four. Even within the simulator, you have spent over twenty years. Sometimes, you even wonder if you are truly just a product of the simulator, and if this world is really just a string of text seen by your original self.]

[You don't know, and you don't want to know. But if possible, you want to go back and see your wife and daughter—an emotion that only arises after becoming a father.]

["Forget it." You stared at the tightly shut city gates, where the King stood with a host of ministers and nobles, watching you.]

"Prisoner 5, I see characters in those novels who live for thousands of years without changing at all. How have you changed so much after only twenty years?" Lin Heng couldn't help but think.

Just a moment ago in the simulation, Prisoner 5 had run straight to the Zhao family to "study."

To Lin Heng, that was only a moment ago, but for Prisoner 5, over twenty years had already flashed by.

People change. Lin Heng couldn't keep up with his own thoughts from twenty years in the future.

"Forget about being forty; even without the simulator, I probably wouldn't understand my thirty-year-old self, would I?" Lin Heng couldn't help but think of Lin One.

The version of himself who, during the first simulation, was scared off by a mere 500,000.

Lin Heng sighed and didn't think too much about it. The text on the simulator continued.

["Your Majesty!" Lorne watched your retreating back and said to the gluttonous King beside him, "If the hero really defeats the Devil King and asks us about the teleportation magic circle—"]

[Lorne looked at the King's wrinkled face, where it was unclear if his eyes were open or closed, and he swallowed hard.]

[The Hero Summoning Magic Circle was created a thousand years ago by a Genius mage. In that era, the Demon Race occupied the continent, and humans were nothing more than food. This mage used the magic circle to summon a hero from another world.]

[Under the leadership of that hero, humans became the Dominator of this continent.]

[But after the passage of time, the knowledge of the Hero Summoning Magic Circle had long been lost. Lorne had only been trying anything as a last resort, never expecting that he would actually summon you as the hero.]

[As for the magic circle to send you back, it does exist, but it has also long been lost.]

["What's the rush? Let's talk about that after he defeats the Devil King. Besides, isn't the Goddess Magic Circle working fine?" The King picked up a flatbread offered by a servant and stuffed it into his mouth. "Judging by this hero's speech and mannerisms, he's just from a lowlife background. A lowlife like that can't use magic attacks; could he possibly turn the Kingdom upside down?"]

[Hearing the King say this, Lorne chimed in, "Your Majesty is wise. A lowlife will always be a lowlife! For a lowlife like this, we can just reward him with some random title and money when the time comes."]

[As he spoke, Lorne glanced at the Captain of the Knights beside him.]

[The Captain of the Knights didn't say anything after being glanced at by Lorne; he just quietly watched the direction in which you left.]

["By the way, Lord Lorne, what do those people at the Mage Association say? We must also prepare for the possibility that the hero fails to defeat the Devil King." The King stuffed more flatbread into his mouth.]

[That flatbread, which was larger than the King's face, was sent down into his stomach after he chewed it only two or three times.]

["Replying to Your Majesty, the Mage Association is the same as always; they insist that we provide all the Goddess Magic before they will send troops to support us," Lorne said. "Even though those guys go around saying every day that the Goddess doesn't exist."]

["Heh!" The King took another flatbread. This time, he chewed for a long time before speaking. "Let's wait and see the hero's results before making a decision."]

[The Falun Kingdom isn't actually very large. If measured by the standards of the Dragon Kingdom, its land area is only about the size of one province of the Dragon Kingdom.]

[You set out from the capital and wandered along the dirt road.]

[The level of technology in this world is probably not much different from Earth's Middle Ages; roads like this are still just dirt.]

[As for why you aren't flying, you are quite depressed; you actually can't fly. Whenever you try to mobilize even a little bit of magic power, that Goddess Magic Circle starts to glow.]

[However, according to that old geezer Lorne, the Demon Race is not protected by the Goddess, so you can use magic against them.]

[It seems this Goddess even practices racial discrimination.]

[Outside the royal city, there is a vast stretch of wilderness. Although you are walking, your speed is actually very fast. Even though your Spiritual Qi cannot be projected externally, you can still mobilize it within your body.]

[This means you don't need to rest at all.]

[Moreover, there is something similar to Spiritual Qi floating in this world. You tried absorbing it, but you couldn't convert it directly into the Spiritual Qi within your body; it has to undergo secondary processing by the Martial God Golden Core to become Spiritual Qi.]

[Looking at the map, you see that you can find a town or village about every three days of travel.]

[Following the map, you arrived at the border of the Falun Kingdom. Moving forward would take you out of the Falun Kingdom; this is the last village you will encounter in the Falun Kingdom.]

[You originally intended to find the village chief to ask for some water and food, but the scene in this village didn't look like it could provide you with any food.]

[Refugees were sitting by the roadside in small groups, their eyes hollow and their clothes barely covering their bodies.]

["Big brother, big brother, can you give me something to eat?" A small child ran up to your side and grabbed your pant leg.]

[The child's face was covered in grime, and you couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Someone nearby glanced at you and quickly pulled the child away.]

["My lord knight, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the child doesn't know any better!" A person who looked like the mother knelt on the ground with the child, kowtowing to you.]

[At this time, you are wearing the armor of a Falun Kingdom knight, so people often mistake you for a knight, and you don't explain much.]

[You took a flatbread out of your backpack and handed it to the child.]

[The child happily took the flatbread. The mother remained on her knees, kowtowing to you repeatedly. "May the Goddess bless you, may the Goddess bless you. The lord knight must be a messenger of the Goddess."]

[As she spoke, the mother took the flatbread and began to gnaw on it hungrily, tearing off only a small piece for the child, though the child was still very happy.]

[The other refugees nearby watched you, their eyes pleading.]

[There weren't many people; the flatbread you had was actually just enough to share.]

["Forget it, I'm still kind-hearted after all." You said, taking out a few more flatbreads and handing them over. Anyway, this flatbread had no taste and was a bit hard on the teeth.]

[You yourself could completely achieve fasting by relying on the Spiritual Qi within your body.]

["Has this place been attacked by the Demon Race?" you asked, looking at a refugee nearby who was gnawing on the flatbread.]

[From the royal city to the border line, although the villages and towns you saw were shrouded in gloomy clouds and the people looked troubled, order still existed.]

[Only this village looked as if it had been attacked.]

["My lord knight, it was the Lord—" a refugee said, looking at you.]

[But before he could finish, an old man tapped him with a stick. "Shut up! We are all lowlifes; if the noble lord wants us to die, we must die."]

[As he spoke, the old man looked at you again. "My lord knight, may the Goddess bless you."]

[After that, no matter what you asked, they all said, "May the Goddess bless you."]

[You were helpless and had no choice but to leave. However, you had gathered enough information: it appeared that this place hadn't been attacked by the Demon Race yet. It was the local noble who had confiscated their grain and left them to fend for themselves.]

[They were just some lowlifes, anyway; if they died, they died.]

[You glanced at the refugees one last time. The noble lord had ordered them to die here, and they didn't even dare to run.]