I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 342 - 342 341. Seed of Hope_1

Chapter 342: 341. Seed of Hope_1 Chapter 342: 341. Seed of Hope_1 Lu Ban moved quickly, and the figure was himself.

He was sitting in a movie theater, holding a large cup of cola and popcorn, surrounded by some familiar faces.

It seemed like a movie was playing on the big screen, one that Lu Ban couldn’t understand, but he could only feel it was quite spectacular.

However, just when the movie reached its most exciting plot point, the people around Lu Ban stood up one after another, leaving their seats.

First, it was the familiar employees of Silent Media, then people he knew from the movie theater chain, two police officers, and lastly, Qin Tiantian and Feng Yu, among others.

As these people left one by one, in the end, only Lu Ban was left sitting in the movie theater, watching that never-ending movie.

As the firelight dimmed, some impulse seized Lu Ban, prompting him to pull out another match and light it.

The movie began again, and those who had left returned to Lu Ban’s side. He settled down and watched the movie with focus.

At that moment, Lu Ban suddenly felt that something was off.

He felt the heat in his hand, that of a match.

“This place is…”

Lu Ban suddenly woke up.

The match in his hand was about to burn out, the campfire still not lit. He looked across at Amber, who was also staring at the fading light of the match, her eyes brimming with age-appropriate longing and expectation, reluctance and sorrow.

As the light from the match died away, Amber seemed to drain of energy, her expression dulled.

Suddenly, Amber tensed up, looking at the match in Lu Ban’s hand and reached out.

“Give it to me! Give it to me!! Give it to me!!!”

She screamed heart-wrenchingly, wanting to snatch the match, her face contorted with ferocity. Her originally weak body mustered tremendous strength from somewhere, clutching Lu Ban’s wrist with a death grip, leaving deep claw marks.

New green grass sprouted from the wounds, and Lu Ban pressed on Amber’s nape, her fate’s point, grabbed her by the collar, and lifted her up.

“Snap out of it.”

Lu Ban patted Amber’s face.

After struggling for a moment, Amber finally relaxed and reverted to her original weakened state.

“What just happened…”

She looked at Lu Ban with a blank expression.

Amber had seen a blooming cherry tree in the flames, she was picnicking under it with her parents whom she had never met, friends came to play, they ran and frolicked on the lush grass, with no filth, no Shrine, all so beautiful, as if it had never happened.

Coming back to her senses from such an illusion, Amber suddenly realized that her collar had loosened from the earlier commotion and immediately clutched at her clothes.

“It might be some sort of illusion, don’t watch me light the fire.”

Lu Ban had Amber turn away as he continued to light the fire with matches.

Each time he lit a match, Lu Ban would see scenes that relaxed and indulged him, and these scenes would fade away with the burning out of the match while simultaneously igniting the urge in anyone who saw them to continue lighting matches.

In the end, such people might become trapped in the illusions created by the matches, starving to death, dying of thirst, or encountering some accident.

“Thank goodness I’m content with what I have, without any strong desires.”

Lu Ban felt that in life, one should learn to be satisfied.

Some people are never satisfied, and in the end, only fall into the vortex of their desires.

But like Lu Ban, although he had several billion of pocket money, his material desires were low, and he had no grand ambitions. He simply wanted to live a peaceful life, and that’s how he could break free from such illusions.

It took several matches before Lu Ban finally managed to light the wood.

It was said that the wood used on ships was treated and difficult to ignite under normal circumstances. However, after being bombarded by artillery, these scattered pieces of wood seemed to return to their origins, flaring up fiercely under the cloak of flames.

Lu Ban now had to worry that the planks underfoot wouldn’t catch fire.

The flames brought warmth and also light, allowing Lu Ban to see some fish approaching the waters nearby, seemingly drawn by the light.

He whistled.

Laika immediately jumped into the sea and after a short while emerged with two fish in its mouth.

The fish were spindle-shaped, their surfaces covered in fine scales, and through the tight muscles, one could sense the speed at which they swam through the sea.

Lu Ban decisively killed the two fish and placed them beside the campfire to roast.

Even if it was for the sake of these fish, Lu Ban had to prepare them properly.

After roasting for a while until their surfaces were crispy and fragrant, Lu Ban took them off the fire.

The fish were hot, but Lu Ban’s skin was thick and tough, completely unfazed. He ruthlessly grabbed the fish and took a bite.

The flesh was firm, with a hint of the sea’s flavor. As they were sea fish, they didn’t need seasoning to have a salty taste, making them quite delicious to eat.

In no time at all, Lu Ban ate the fish down to the bone.

He glanced at Amber.

She looked at the fish in her hand, somewhat conflicted.

“Fish should be eaten with white rice, pickles, and soup… and, I don’t have chopsticks…”

It seemed that Amber was only familiar with formal education, where meals were to be complete with utensils, having heard that ladies like her could use chopsticks to pick out every tiny bone from a fish’s flesh. It appeared she had no experience eating fish with her hands.

“Eat it; you need to replenish your fluids and energy,” Lu Ban urged.

Amber didn’t stay conflicted for long and bit into the roasted fish.

One bite, two bites, three bites, Amber’s originally small bites grew more intense, and she ate the roasted fish voraciously like a child who hadn’t eaten for days.

“Does it taste good?”

Seeing the normally dignified shrine maiden eating in such a disheveled manner, Lu Ban smiled and asked.

“…The taste is alright,” Amber replied, wiping her mouth and turning her face away.

Upon hearing her words, Laika jumped up and dived into the sea, bringing back several more fish.

“Enough, enough, there’s barely any room left,” seeing the eager-to-please Laika, Lu Ban intervened.

This dog sure knew how to show off in front of girls, it seemed that Hunter’s weakness was women.

Drawing upon the recollection of another Hunter devoured by Feng Yu, Lu Ban reached this conclusion.

Her clothes now dry and by the cozy campfire, Amber gradually began to feel drowsy.

After a whole night of tense nerves, it wasn’t until this moment that she finally relaxed, and as she did, fatigue washed over her.

Looking at the fire, Amber tried to imagine the beautiful Illusion Realm she had once seen in a matchstick, but she quickly found that she couldn’t even conjure up such a scene.

Her eyelids were heavy, and with the slight rocking of the fragment of the boat’s hull beneath her, Amber soon fell asleep gazing at Lu Ban’s silhouette.

Lu Ban glanced at the sleeping Amber; Laika crawled into her arms, serving as a warm pillow.

Not until dawn broke, and the first ray of sunlight blossomed across the sea surface, casting a golden glow, did Lu Ban finally see the silhouette of land.