What Chen Ye saw before his eyes was a village.

That's right, a village built on the back of an elephant.

If they had seen such a village anywhere else, Chen Ye and the others would have only one choice: to flee, to get as far away from this village as possible.

But now...

Chen Ye rubbed his eyes, somewhat unable to believe it.

The houses in the village weren't the reinforced concrete structures from before the apocalypse. Instead, there were rows of earthen houses standing on the ground.

On the ground!

Yes, that's right, on the ground.

Before, Chen Ye had been wondering how these people lived on the elephant's back, but now...

Chen Ye reached out and touched the ground. It was soil.

The people of Divine Elephant Village had transported a lot of soil onto the back of the Divine Elephant. They had built a village here.

Although he didn't know how they managed it, they had indeed built a village here.

Moreover, the area of this village was quite substantial. The village was densely populated with figures moving about, indicating a considerable population.

Chen Ye looked around in disbelief. Wisps of white clouds drifted by, making it feel like they were high up in the mountains.

The air was much cooler here.

When they were on the ground, they only felt that the Divine Elephant was huge, so huge it didn't seem like a creature from this world.

But now, standing on the soil atop the Divine Elephant's back, Chen Ye realized the Divine Elephant wasn't just big;it was a miracle.

The roofs of those civilian houses were made of various materials: some were thatched with straw, others were pieced together with plastic sheets. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Some even looked like they were made of color-coated steel tiles.

Basically, there was a bit of everything.

It looked rather interesting.

Like Chen Ye, Chu Che, Captain Chu, the Pink-haired Girl, Iron Lion, and Ding Dong were also amazed.

As were the group of stunned survivors.

Some people's eyes were already turning red, and tears began to fall as they looked at this village.

Yes, they had been drifting from place to place, never staying in one location for more than three days.

But now, what they saw was a village where people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

In the past, seeing such a shabby village, these people would have just treated it as a tourist spot to walk around.

But now, someone had actually established a village and settled down here. It was simply a miracle...

Some survivors had already started thinking about how they could stay.

At the village entrance, many villagers had curiously stopped to look at this group.

Their eyes held both curiosity and a sense of pride.

However, when these villagers saw the large amount of fish and meat on the vehicles behind the group, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

It seemed the people of Divine Elephant Village were also ordinary folks who would covet supplies when they saw them.

"Everyone, how about coming into the village first for a cup of tea?"

Big Head Village Chief waited until everyone's surprise had subsided a bit before speaking.

"Alright, we'll trouble you then, Village Chief!"

Chu Che finally took up his responsibility as captain and walked alongside Big Head Village Chief.

"Xiao Zheng, please help arrange things!"

Big Head Village Chief said to a bespectacled young man beside him.

The young man was likely something like the village chief's assistant. After receiving the order, he began arranging for the survivors, except for Chen Ye and a few others, to go to the village to rest.

As for those vehicles, Xue Nan had already had people drive them to an open space in the village and park them.

Chen Ye and the others were then taken on a tour of the village.

Chen Ye still couldn't quite believe it. Stepping on the ground, it felt exactly like real ground, without any sense of unevenness from being on an elephant's back.

Moreover, the village was much larger than he had imagined, and the ground in the village was mostly flat.

Only the direction of the village entrance was slightly raised, looking like a small hill.

The top of the small hill looked somewhat like a temple.

Chen Ye suspected this small hill was the elephant's head.

Big Head Village Chief led everyone all the way to the temple.

"Everyone, this is our village's temple. Every outsider who comes to the temple visits it to offer a stick of incense to the Seventeen Elders!"

Big Head Village Chief said with a smile.

"The Seventeen Elders?"

Seeing Chu Che's confused expression.

Big Head Village Chief continued, "Our village temple enshrines the Seventeen Elders. The earliest Divine Elephant Village was formed by the Seventeen Elders. Without them, Divine Elephant Village would not exist."

"Whenever our village has any major or minor matters, we come to pay respects to the Seventeen Elders, seeking their protection!"

"For example, when a new couple gets married in our village, they must stay overnight in the temple, seeking the Seventeen Elders' approval."

"When a child is born, they must also come to the temple to pray for blessings, seeking the Seventeen Elders' approval!"

"And if any family wants to build a new house, they must also seek the Seventeen Elders' permission!"

Big Head Village Chief rambled on with his explanation.

The temple's incense offerings were indeed thriving. Even before getting close, one could smell the scent of incense.

Villagers constantly went to or came out of the temple. When they saw Big Head Village Chief, they would come over to greet him.

Seeing Chen Ye's group, they would also cast curious glances.

As Chen Ye listened, he began to feel something was off.

This "Seventeen Elders" sounded a bit like some kind of cult, didn't it?

Also, newlyweds having to stay overnight in the temple... this plot sounded a bit like...

Before Chen Ye could think further, Big Head Village Chief had already led a Taoist priest and a monk into the temple.

Unlike the kindly Big Head Village Chief outside the temple, once inside, his expression became very serious and solemn.

The somewhat slovenly Taoist priest behind him also became much more serious.

The monk's face was even more solemn and dignified.

As soon as Chen Ye entered the temple, he saw seventeen busts enshrined inside.

Some were in sharp suits, some wore caps, and some even had lip piercings.

Seventeen half-body statues, including old people, children, men and women—all kinds of people were represented.

Chen Ye had initially thought they would be seventeen dignified and solemn divine statues, but he never expected them to be like this.

Big Head Village Chief led the two to respectfully offer incense to the seventeen statues before turning to Chen Ye and the others with a smile:

"Alright, thank you all for attending the ceremony."

"Let's go see other places now. I hope you have a pleasant experience in Divine Elephant Village."

There was also a large square in the center of the village, with a basketball court in the middle. Chen Ye even saw many teenagers playing basketball on the court.

Seeing Chen Ye's group, the teenagers stopped and looked over.

Chen Ye even saw several women pushing strollers passing by.

Damn... this is simply...

There were even children...

This truly shocked Chen Ye.

Having children meant this village had hope.

There were also some simple shops in the village. The shops didn't look big, but they were already impressive enough.

They finally reached the very back of the village.

Here was a vegetable plot, densely planted with several types of vegetables, as well as rice.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ye didn't know what to say anymore.

Although he had anticipated it, seeing it with his own eyes still left him speechless for a moment.

"Hey, Professor Liu, come over here!"

Big Head Village Chief called out to a white-haired old man in the middle of the vegetable plot.

The old man didn't even turn his head, just rudely retorted, "I'm busy! Don't bother me if it's nothing important!"

Was this old man's temper really that bad?

He didn't even give the village chief face.

Who would have thought Big Head Village Chief wouldn't be angry at all, still smiling as he said, "This is Professor Liu. Before the apocalypse, he was a professor at an agricultural university. Later, he awakened to the Botanist Sequence. This vegetable plot is Professor Liu's masterpiece."

"Professor Liu has cultivated many seeds that can be grown in the apocalypse. We can offer a portion to exchange with you. I believe you'll like them."