**Chapter 91: The Moon Guardian**
"This is Fengdu. A forbidden zone for the living."
The bird-headed creature spoke through its beak, its voice strange and not as smooth as a human's. "You are alive. You should not be here."
The Village Chief's expression was solemn, but he smiled. "I'm already here."
The bird-headed creature said, "If you wish to leave, you must pay a price."
The Village Chief asked curiously, "What price?"
"Fengdu has a King of Hell."
The bird-headed creature's eyes seemed to look at its own beak tip, as if annoyed by the many questions. "The King of Hell has noticed you and admires you. So he has a requirement. If you agree to this requirement, you may leave."
The Village Chief's expression shifted slightly, and he asked politely, "What requirement?"
The bird-headed creature said, "After you die, you belong here."
The Village Chief pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "The world of the dead for the living, and the world of the living for the dead. If I can still live here after I die, why not? The living world outside is death here, and death outside is life here. After I die, being able to live here is a good thing. I agree. But can you answer a few questions for me first?"
The bird-headed creature tilted its head. "You may ask. I may not answer."
The Village Chief smiled faintly. "That moonship—is it the Carefree Village?"
"No."
The Village Chief was stunned and blurted out, "If it's not the Carefree Village, why would it attract Mu'er's jade pendant? Why would the jade pendant point here? And why would the moonship appear here?"
The bird-headed creature frowned, its eyes again looking at its own beak tip, clearly annoyed by his many questions. "The Moon Shepherds of the moonship are all dead. Extinct. The moonship was brought here by the last Moon Guardian. There is a dead man living on the ship. Go ask him—he probably knows."
"A dead man? Could it be the Moon Guardian?" the Village Chief wondered.
The bird-headed creature lifted one leg and scratched at the feathers on its neck, flicking out a golden worm which it ate. It said impatiently, "You ask too many questions."
The Village Chief said, "What about the demon god that attacked me? Isn't Fengdu the territory of the Heavenly Demons?"
"She is a resident here. This place belongs to the King of Hell, not the Heavenly Demons."
The bird-headed creature ignored him, using its beak to preen the ruffled feathers. "In the future, you will live here just like her. The King of Hell admires you."
The Village Chief exhaled a breath of turbid air. He had originally thought this was a world of demons, but he was wrong again. It seemed the demon god he had trapped was merely one of the great powers in the world of the dead for the living.
He asked again, "Where is the Carefree Village?"
The bird-headed creature was completely fed up with him, flapping its wings and flying away. "You ask too many questions. I hate you. Don't forget your promise. After you die, I will come for you. Don't go with the spirit guides!"
The Village Chief watched him fly away, then looked at the moonship. The massive vessel had already risen to its feet, pulling the moon along as it wandered aimlessly.
"I've been disliked. Could it be that when one grows old, one talks too much?"
The Village Chief laughed bitterly and walked toward the moonship. The vortex in the sky was still there, still bleeding, and the demon god was still struggling inside, trying to break free.
"That demon god used the moonship to attract Mu'er. She must know some secrets of the Carefree Village. Unfortunately, I can only trap her, not force her to reveal what she knows."
He boarded the moonship and came to the vessel on the toad's back. Looking around, he saw a palace complex in ruins, with crumbling walls and fallen structures, and giant weapons lying on the ground—most were moon-shaped, some were mirror-like objects.
The palaces here were enormous, not like places for ordinary people to live.
He passed a great hall and stopped, examining the sculpture in front of it. The sculpture was a three-legged jade toad—half-human, half-toad, with a human body and a toad's head.
"Hee hee hee..."
Eerie laughter came from among the palaces. A sinister voice sang a nursery rhyme: "Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, rock to grandma's bridge..."
The Village Chief hesitated for a moment, then ignored the voice and entered the palace. Inside was a mess—incense burners overturned, incense ash scattered everywhere, bronze sparrow lamps smashed, broken screens, and shattered jade beds. Clearly, a great upheaval had occurred here.
He looked around and stopped before a mural on the wall of the great hall. The mural depicted tall, slender figures in white robes shepherding the moon. They commanded the moonship, appearing at night.
Outside the moonship were many powerful and ferocious demonic creatures attacking the vessel, but they were repelled by the giants on board with bows, spears, swords, and blades.
When dawn came and darkness retreated, the moonship would return to an abyss—presumably the Moon Well.
The Village Chief studied the mural carefully. The giants on the moonship were handsome, with a crescent moon mark on their foreheads.
"It seems that bird creature was right. Mu'er is indeed not a Moon Shepherd. Mu'er has no crescent on his forehead."
He walked around the hall but found nothing else, then came to the area near the several massive pillars in the center of the palace complex. Thick, enormous pillars were wrapped in chains, the other ends of which floated in the sky, tethering a crescent moon.
As the moonship moved, the crescent moon in the sky was pulled along. When this crescent moon rolled, giant fireballs fell from the sky—they were rocks from the moon.
This moon had been shattered. As long as it moved, rocks would fall, becoming meteors.
Some meteors that didn't burn up completely would crash into the Carefree Village, smashing craters into the ground. Very dangerous.
"A pack of candy, a pack of fruit, grandma bought a fish to cook. Head not cooked, tail burnt, served in a bowl squeaking, eat in belly jumping! Hee hee hee hee hee..."
The singing grew more eerie. The Village Chief frowned slightly, looking around but still seeing no one. A chill ran down his spine.
Then he saw the source of the voice. On the flat ground in the center of the massive pillars was a face—a huge face.
The giant face was singing, singing this somewhat sinister nursery rhyme. His hair was disheveled, like a madman sealed in a mirror, but he had a crescent moon mark on his forehead.
"The Moon Guardian of the Moon Shepherds..."
The Village Chief sighed, sat down, grabbed a stone, and carved it into the shape of the jade pendant hanging from Qin Mu's chest. "Moon Guardian, have you seen this pendant?"
"Jumping in the belly!"
The giant face laughed. "Jumping!"
The Village Chief frowned. This Moon Guardian must have died after completely merging with the moonship. He had used his last strength to guide the moonship into the world of the dead for the living, but died within the ship's body. Even if he came back to life in the world of the dead, he could only exist within the ship, unable to emerge.
After death, he had gone mad.
The Village Chief stood up, about to leave, when suddenly the face in the ground spoke: "The jade pendant of the Carefree Village?"
The Village Chief stopped and quickly turned back. "You know where the Carefree Village is?"
"Of course I know."
The face in the ground seemed to regain some clarity. "We Moon Shepherds came from the Carefree Village. The Moon Guardian's token was forged there. Even the moonship came from the Carefree Village... Yes, Moon Shepherds, Moon Shepherds!"
He laughed loudly, tears streaming down his face. "Dead. They're all dead. Bodies couldn't even be pieced together. Haha, dead! I ran, I ran. I was cowardly. I threw them away, hee hee..."
The Village Chief frowned. "Where is the Carefree Village?"
"Grandma says I'm a good baby..."
The Village Chief sighed. Seeing he couldn't get any more answers, he rose and left.
He came to the dock and saw that his legs and hands had disappeared again. He sighed inwardly, then saw the gold coins on the wooden post and smiled. "Mu'er is so thoughtful."
He took out the gold coins, which emitted a faint glow. The Village Chief waved the coins at the mist. Before long, a small boat drifted over, a lantern hanging from it.
The Village Chief drifted onto the boat, standing alone at the bow. The small boat drifted into the mist. This mysterious place held many unsolved mysteries. Perhaps in the future he would have a chance to explore its secrets—but that would likely be after his death.
"Fellow Daoist Jingzhi is more carefree than I am, wandering everywhere and witnessing many wonderful things. After I die, I suppose I'll be able to let go of the burdens in my heart?"
He thought silently: "But by then I'll be dead, able only to stay in this world of the dead, unable to explore the unknown wonders of this world."
The boat reached the entrance to this place. The Village Chief saw Qin Mu running frantically, the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra transforming into silver threads that constantly wove and cut, killing the skeletons lunging at him. He finally relaxed.
Qin Mu saw the small boat drifting over and also relaxed, his heart filled with joy. He now had only the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra and the Emperor's Disc as his last resorts, and he was nearly at his limit.
Just then, the strange world behind them suddenly became hazy and blurred. A loud rooster crow echoed.
"Trouble! Dawn is breaking!"
The Village Chief's expression changed. He rose into the air, wrapped around Qin Mu, and shot outward at incredible speed!
The two burst out of that strange world. Qin Mu's feet sank as he stepped onto the surface of the surging Yong River, waves lapping over his feet. They were back on the river. He quickly looked back and saw that world had become like a painting drawn from mist, scattering like the wind. In an instant, it vanished, and even his jade pendant was silent.
With the retreat of darkness, that world disappeared completely from the Great Ruins, as if it had never existed.
The entrance to this world would appear again the next night, but where it would drift, no one knew.