The sky was a vast expanse of azure, cloudless and clear. In this era of the apocalypse, the emission of many harmful gases had significantly decreased. The once gray and white sky had returned to blue. In this regard, the apocalypse might only be the end for humanity, but for the entire Earth, it signaled a new beginning.
Currently, global carbon emissions had been reduced to a very low level. The carbon dioxide produced by humans burning firewood was also minimal. The true major contributor to carbon emissions was the surge caused by industrial production. For over three hundred years of the industrial age, human carbon emissions had been excessive, indirectly leading to global warming.
And now, human carbon emissions had dropped sharply. The excavation of oil and natural gas had been affected. Furthermore, many volcanoes worldwide were erupting acidic gases, leading to the arrival of a mini ice age. The once scorching summers were finally experiencing a cooling.
At this moment, a small white cloud drifted across the sky. This cloud was not particularly high or large, and it moved slowly at a low altitude.
Sitting on the white cloud, Chang Haojie couldn't help but show off to Hua Jingran, "See? I said I could take you away from Yuzhou, and I did! No one can stop us. We'll go to the Dabie Mountains to hide for a few days first, then head to Pudong. I heard it's very prosperous there, let's live there."
This was Chang Haojie's first time running away from home, and he had prepared well. He carried a map, and besides the map, he had a lot of gold and silver, so even if they reached Pudong, they could live there for a while.
Hua Jingran heard Chang Haojie say this and couldn't help but reply, "But I heard that Pudong is very exclusive and looks down on outsiders like us, saying we are just a bunch of poor devils and should go back to the countryside as soon as possible."
Hua Jingran was worried that she wouldn't be able to live normally in Pudong. After all, in such an international metropolis, xenophobia was very serious. In this regard, even Yanjing might not compare.
Chang Haojie had also heard about Pudong's xenophobia. High consumption meant high income, and only the wealthy could afford to live in Pudong. If outsiders asked locals for directions, they wouldn't bother to respond and would even say, "Hmph, outsiders!"
Across the entire country, there was no place with more severe xenophobia than Pudong.
Chang Haojie thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and see first. Hearing is false, seeing is believing. Every place has regional discrimination. People say that Yunnan, the Northeast, and Guangdong are all wild lands and their people are barbarians. But when it comes to Henan in the Central Plains, they say people steal manhole covers. So, let's see, maybe it's surprisingly inclusive?"
Hua Jingran was persuaded by Chang Haojie and no longer had any objections to his choice.
After becoming a third-tier ability user, Chang Haojie's abilities also improved. In the past, even when he was flying on clouds, his speed wouldn't be particularly fast, and the number of people he could carry wasn't large. But now, Chang Haojie could carry ten people for long-distance transfers. In times of danger, he could also use clouds and fog to obscure vision. He had used this move before when fighting in the Fengshen Palace.
Sitting on the cloud, Chang Haojie couldn't help but say, "My brother-in-law is the Dragon of Yuzhou, known as the God of Wind. Coincidentally, my ability is to control clouds. In the future, if I get a title, I'll call myself 'Yun Zhong Jun' (Lord of the Clouds). It sounds impressive and is very catchy. Wind and clouds, wind arises and clouds move!"
Seeing Chang Haojie so confident, Hua Jingran also felt happy and said, "You will definitely become a great hero in the future!"
Originally, Hua Jingran thought that if Chang Haojie found out she had betrayed Shen Feng before, he would completely ignore her. But now, it seemed that Chang Haojie hadn't changed at all. At this moment, Hua Jingran finally felt at ease, but she also felt some regret in her heart.
"If I had known Chang Haojie liked me so much, why would I have believed the words of that young girl Yu Zhijing?" Hua Jingran thought helplessly.
Hua Jingran also knew why Chang Jianyi disliked her. It was precisely because of what happened. Hua Jingran thought it was just letting the city lord meet others, which was harmless. But in Chang Jianyi's eyes, it was using her younger brother to achieve ulterior motives. Thus, prejudice arose between them.
As the two flew on the cloud, Chang Haojie was still looking at the magnificent mountains and rivers below. Looking from above, this beautiful landscape was something he would never tire of.
But at this moment, Chang Haojie heard some strange sounds, and he became confused. He then looked around and first saw the distant Yangtze River. The Yangtze River flowed mightily, and its currents were even more rapid when passing through the Three Gorges. Ordinary small boats that capsized in the water would find it difficult to resurface, as the underwater currents would drag them down.
"Rustle..." The strange sound continued. Chang Haojie knew that this sound was not from the Yangtze River.
At this moment, Hua Jingran tugged hard at Chang Haojie's sleeve, her face pale, and said, "Brother Jie, look quickly, aren't there many birds below?"
With this reminder, Chang Haojie quickly looked behind him. What he saw was astonishing. In the undulating forests, many small black dots appeared at this moment, and these small black dots were continuously rising. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be mutated birds. The reproductive capacity of mutated birds had greatly increased. Ordinary birds usually lay one to three eggs at a time, but mutated birds could hatch over a dozen chicks from a single nest.
With such terrifying reproductive capacity, mutated birds expanded rapidly.
Chang Haojie was stunned when he saw the dense swarm of mutated birds and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on? Didn't brother-in-law say he encountered mutated sparrows near Wudang Mountain? Why are there some here too?"
Previously, Shen Feng had encountered mutated birds in the sky twice, both times near Wudang Mountain. This area was densely forested with sparse human population, so it was normal for birds to breed here.
However, Chang Haojie carefully observed and confirmed that he was currently near the Daba Mountains, close to the Three Gorges. He hadn't expected to encounter a flock of mutated birds here.
Seeing the current situation, Chang Haojie immediately instructed Hua Jingran, "At this moment, don't make any sound. Let's leave quietly!"
After speaking, Chang Haojie directly used his abilities, and a cloud of mist drifted over, directly obscuring the figures of the two on the cloud. Chang Haojie grabbed Hua Jingran's hand, ensuring she wouldn't be too panicked in this situation.
The two hid in the mist, not daring to say a word, for fear of being discovered. But as they feared, these two wanted to leave silently, but the mutated bird flock had already flown into the sky and surrounded the cloud, as if ready to attack at any moment.
Chang Haojie couldn't understand why this was happening. He hadn't made any noise, yet they were immediately surrounded. Now, if they wanted to escape, their speed couldn't match the mutated bird flock. These birds were flying in the sky, and the sky was their paradise. They couldn't compete in terms of speed.
To prevent being attacked, Chang Haojie had a sudden inspiration and used his abilities to create more mist. Thus, it looked like giant cotton candy drifting in the sky. Birds flew in and out of the clouds, but found nothing.
The most numerous birds in this flock were sparrows, a dense mass of them. These sparrows had a spot on their faces. Such sparrows were distributed throughout China. Besides sparrows, there were also many cuckoos, shrikes, albatrosses, and other birds, but in smaller numbers. No particularly large birds appeared.
This was also understandable. The food in the mountains was insufficient to support large birds. Generally, large birds needed a stable source of meat. Therefore, some birds lived near water for easy fishing, while others lived on high mountains, eating small birds or rabbits. If desperate, they wouldn't hesitate to eat lambs.
"Yee..." Suddenly, at this moment, a giant peacock took to the sky, its feathers a riot of seven colors. Generally, peacocks wouldn't fly very far. The flight capability of peacocks, let alone compared to geese or swans, couldn't even match that of sparrows in terms of migration.
Therefore, to see a peacock, one could basically only see it in Yunnan Province. In other provinces, one could only see peacocks in zoos, and they were transported from the south. It wasn't easy for people in the north to see peacocks.
And now, Chang Haojie suddenly found himself seeing a peacock in the mountains, and he immediately felt that something was wrong.
In the sky, the mutated peacock spread its wings, with a wingspan of ten meters. Such a wide wingspan indicated that this peacock was a genuine Bird King.
Just as there are Beast Kings among wild beasts, there are also Bird Kings among flying birds. The existence of Beast Kings and Bird Kings could directly command animals with ordinary intelligence. Now, the peacock had mutated. It was a blue peacock. As it flew into the sky, its tail feathers seemed to draw a rainbow in the air.
But then, the blue peacock let out a cry, and many birds around immediately sprang into action. Countless birds flew towards the cloud, and they began to peck at the cloud.
Clouds were merely water vapor, almost without substance. It was very difficult for them to be pecked at. But when the birds actually acted, the size of the cloud began to decrease. The birds in the air continued to flap their wings, causing the mist to dissipate.
At this moment, Chang Haojie completely regretted it. He regretted not listening to his brother-in-law's advice. His brother-in-law had said that even the sky might not be safe, but Chang Haojie had never experienced such a thing and had naturally assumed Shen Feng was scaring him. Only now did Chang Haojie realize that all of this was true.
"We're finished. We must quickly get to the ground and find a place to hide. If we stay in the sky, we will eventually be killed by these birds," Chang Haojie quickly said to Hua Jingran beside him.
Hua Jingran was already in a panic and quickly asked, "But how can we get down now? There are birds all around!"
Chang Haojie didn't answer, because this situation was not within his consideration. He had never encountered an attack in the sky. Now, being suddenly surrounded by a flock of birds, it was already very difficult to descend to the ground.
To survive, Chang Haojie had to fight desperately. In the sky, visibility was the most important. Currently, Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran had not exposed their location because of the mist. Therefore, Chang Haojie began to frantically gather mist. As soon as the birds' wings dispersed a small patch of mist, more mist immediately appeared.
No matter how the bird flock pecked and batted at the mist, the mist did not disappear. Instead, it tended to grow larger.
By now, Chang Haojie's face showed a smile. He felt a glimmer of hope for survival. As long as he persevered, there was hope of landing safely.
Bird flocks lacked intelligence, as their brain capacity was insufficient. However, the blue peacock was a Bird King. The mutated blue peacock had a greatly increased brain capacity and was intelligent. Seeing the current situation, it immediately began to give commands.
The blue peacock let out another cry, and the bird flock subsequently changed its attack method. These birds no longer pecked at the mist, because no matter how much they pecked, the mist would increase, and those hiding inside would not be harmed.
At this moment, countless birds flapped their wings rapidly and rushed straight into the mist in the sky. Clearly, if they entered the clouds, they would lose all visibility, yet these birds did so fearlessly.
For a time, sparrows, thrushes, cuckoos, and other birds all rushed in, not caring if they collided with walls or other objects. They had simply lost their instinct for self-preservation.