Chapter 421 - 420: Enemies Are Bound to Meet

Chapter 421: Chapter 420: Enemies Are Bound to Meet

They were also busy settling their horses, shaking off the water, and starting a fire. In a downpour this heavy, even rain capes and oilskins couldn’t keep them from getting soaked; everyone had to gather by the fire to dry off and get warm in the end.

Seeing that the newcomers made no hostile moves, the Stone Gate Merchant Team finally lowered their weapons and sat back down.

Hee Lingchuan looked at the people, horses, and campfire across the way, then tilted his head and asked Fushan Yue, "Did they chase you all the way out here to the desolate wilds?"

He was surprised to see a familiar face, but the other person didn’t seem to recognize him.

That was right—the fellow who had violently searched the Jinquan Bathhouse’s private room last night was right across from them. However, Hee Lingchuan remembered there had been two men and one Demon then, but now there was only one man and one Demon. The other person was gone.

Considering they’d clashed with a Local Bully last night, it wasn’t surprising they were down a man. He wasn’t necessarily dead; he could have been arrested and detained.

"Probably not," Fushan Yue said, wrapping himself up tightly until only his eyes were visible. He stayed hidden in the shadows behind Hee Lingchuan, unconcerned about being discovered. "To get to the Chiyan Kingdom from the north, you have to pass through these mountains. They were likely driven in here by the storm, just like us. Heh, it’s true what they say: enemies always cross paths."

His attire was perfectly normal for a traveler, and the Chiyan People across the way seemed relaxed, as if they truly hadn’t noticed him.

"What are you going to do?"

Fushan Yue leaned forward, whispering right next to Hee Lingchuan’s ear, "That fierce tiger... that’s Uncle Da."

There were only two Demons on the other side: the owl Hee Lingchuan had encountered last night, and a fierce tiger. Hee Lingchuan never expected Fushan Yue to call a tiger "Uncle."

This tiger was a size smaller than its average kin, but its physique appeared more balanced, and its fur was a deeper, scorched color. It had a broad face with upturned eyes, a white-marked forehead, and a puffed-out ruff. As it had padded out of the darkness step by step, it projected the full aura of a crime boss patrolling his turf. It made the Stone Gate Merchant Team’s oxen and horses restless; several pack horses reared up in fright, nearly bolting into the mountains.

The grooms desperately tried to soothe them. The horses only managed to stay put because the tiger crouched by the fire without moving. Even so, they constantly pawed the ground and snorted, still agitated and restless.

Hee Lingchuan noticed that when the tiger crouched down, even the fire seemed to falter for a moment.

He remembered the pair of tigers that had ambushed him by Three-Heart Lake. Though they had been larger than Uncle Da, their intimidating presence was nowhere near as strong.

A Close Guard who had served the King of Chiyan for over a hundred years was not to be trifled with. Last night, while helping Fushan Yue dress his wounds, Hee Lingchuan had seen a conical, bloody hole that pierced straight through his arm. Now, seeing the long fangs revealed when the tiger yawned, Hee Lingchuan thought, ’I’ve found the weapon.’

Uncle Da’s fangs seemed a little longer than those of an ordinary tiger.

Fushan Yue had used a Protective Talisman to mask his scent. Combined with the pouring rain, it was just enough. Otherwise, the reek of blood on him would have long been detected by the tiger’s keen sense of smell.

The two spoke in extremely low voices, their words muffled by the rushing downpour. The tiger didn’t look over, but its ears swiveled in their direction, and its tail twitched.

Fushan Yue immediately fell silent.

Hee Lingchuan casually observed the carriage across the way. A short, skinny man jumped down, holding a golden basin, and went to get hot water from the campfire. But just as he reached for it, an irritable Guard kicked him. "Worthless slave! Don’t you know to wash the basin first?"

"Yes, yes, right away." The man didn’t get angry. He scrambled up with a placating smile, grabbed the basin, and ran toward a nearby stream, heedless of the downpour.

The Guard by the campfire watched his retreating figure, spat on the ground, and cursed, "Swine!"

The members of the Stone Gate Merchant Team heard the basin fall, but they only spared the scene a brief glance.

The servant was undoubtedly one of the lowly slaves of the Twilight Plateau. He washed the golden basin meticulously three times before bringing it back for the hot water. While the other Guards sat sprawled and relaxed, he remained hunched over, his movements timid. He had learned his lesson; before climbing back into the carriage, he picked off every clump of mud and blade of grass from his clothes to avoid dirtying the interior.

Clearly, the passenger in the carriage was of extremely high status.

Seeing how the Guards, including Uncle Da, surrounded the carriage like stars around the moon, was there even a need to guess who was inside?

Hee Lingchuan smiled and asked Fushan Yue, "Why is there such a huge difference in your treatment?"

One was surrounded by a large retinue of Guards, the other was Fushan Yue—injured, disgraced, hiding his identity, and cowering in a merchant team from a minor kingdom.

The difference between a favored child and an unfavored one was like that between heaven and earth.

Fushan Yue rolled his eyes, speechless. But inwardly, he was alarmed.

’Dead men don’t need hot water, so why is Fushan Ji still alive?’

’He was clearly struck by the Woodification Poison... ’ Fushan Yue had confidence in his methods; he had tested the poison himself. The Divine Son’s poison was nearly impossible to cure. With Fushan Ji’s level of Cultivation, he shouldn’t have survived for more than ten double-hours.

Just then, Taozi brought him a cup of hot water as well, but Fushan Yue refused it. Hee Lingchuan observed the little girl. The sewn wound on her lips had already healed.

Judging by her appearance alone, no one would connect her with a Witch Child anymore.

Hee Lingchuan suddenly asked, "Is Taozi sick?"

The little girl’s lips were pale, yet her cheeks were flushed. Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and her expression was pained.

Hee Lingchuan pressed her forehead. "She has a fever."

It was unclear when she’d caught a cold, but she was so accustomed to pain that she hadn’t said a word, simply gritting her teeth and bearing it.

Fushan Yue sized her up for a moment, then suddenly leaned in and sniffed at her.

The movement was so dog-like that Taozi squirmed uncomfortably.

"Commoners don’t get sick that easily," Fushan Yue said faintly. "She’s inhaled too much Evil Qi."

The poor were a hardy lot. In fact, his words should be interpreted in reverse: any commoner who fell ill easily would have long since turned to bones. Those who remained were all resilient.

"Evil Qi?" Hee Lingchuan asked, slightly surprised, before it dawned on him. Lingxu City had sent people to perform rituals and cleanse this place of Evil Qi at least a dozen times, but judging from the current state of the Twilight Plateau, their efforts hadn’t been very effective.

After all, the world-shocking massacre of years past had touched every corner of the Twilight Plateau. Like weeds, the evil grew back as soon as it was pulled.

Fushan Yue had a natural instinct to gather Evil Qi, and arriving on the Twilight Plateau felt like a fish returning to water. But here in the ruins of Thousand Star City—one of the very wellsprings of Evil Qi, where its concentration was highest—the qi wasn’t flocking to him. Instead, it seemed the little girl beside him was more attractive to it.

’So Taozi really is a Witch Child.’

"Mm, it’s time she learned a technique to control the Evil Qi," Fushan Yue said, lost in thought. "Otherwise, she’ll probably be killed by the Earth Demon here. Even if she survives, absorbing too much Evil Qi will turn her into a truly inauspicious being."

Taozi asked timidly, "Will I kill other people?"

"If they die, they deserve it. What’s that got to do with you?" Fushan Yue patted her head. "At worst, you’ll become an Earth Evil Child. If you stay in one place too long, the people around you will get sick easily, and the crops will wither—just like this whole Twilight Plateau."

But Taozi’s logic was clear. "Sick people die easily. If they die, won’t it be because of me?"

"I already told you, they deserve to die," Fushan Yue said cheerfully. "Why do they have to be so weak?"

He looked up to find Hee Lingchuan studying him. "What?"

"You two are quite alike," Hee Lingchuan said, stroking his chin. "You both absorb Evil Qi."

’Come to think of it, wasn’t the original Ba created when a Resentful Corpse encountered an Earth Demon?’

Fushan Yue scoffed. "You and I both eat rice. How come you don’t look like me?"

It was as if the heavens had flipped a switch. The wild wind and rain suddenly subsided. A short while later, the gloom vanished completely, the clouds parted to reveal the moon, and the night became exceptionally bright. The Moonlight was like liquid mercury, casting a hazy glow upon the ground, allowing the travelers to see their surroundings without needing a campfire.

Only the smell of mud and grass remained, a reminder of the storm that had just passed.

The weather in the mountains was truly unpredictable.

The Little Witch Child, Taozi, suddenly pointed ahead. "It’s changing!"

The water vapor on the ground mingled with the Moonlight, then suddenly began to rise and take shape.

This wasn’t just happening in the direction she pointed, but all throughout the ruins where they were camped.

Those who had never been here before drew their weapons with a CLANG, bracing for a great enemy. But Shi the Second waved his hand dismissively. "Calm down! It’s just an Illusion that shows up now and then. It’s completely harmless!"

The water vapor began to grow from the foundations of the Thousand Star City ruins, quickly forming into the shapes of city walls, high platforms, and towers.

A huge structure "grew" up over the stone house they occupied, resembling a palace. Hee Lingchuan reached out to touch the palace wall and, as expected, his hand passed right through it. There was no physical sensation, just a hint of coolness.

Under the moonlight, everything was rapidly being restored.

Within half an hour, the phantom of a complete Ancient City had risen from the ground. Not only was it majestic and whole, but even though every person running through its streets was also an image, their facial features were exceptionally clear.

A perfect, to-scale restoration.

In this way, the Thousand Star City of old traversed time and space to appear before the eyes of the living once more.

Hee Lingchuan could now see that the Stone Gate Merchant Team was camped in what used to be the armory, right behind the city gate.

Meanwhile, the sounds of battle shook the heavens both inside and outside the city walls. A Giant Elephant clad in heavy armor carried a massive ramming wood, striking the city gate again and again.

These Giant Elephants were over six meters tall, with long, curved tusks exceeding three meters in length. Their mountain-like bodies were fitted with imposing armor, rendering the arrows raining down from the city walls completely useless.

The ramming wood was tipped with a dragon’s head holding a fiery ember, and every strike shattered a layer of red light on the gate’s surface.

It was a Barrier woven from Primordial Power, and it was about to shatter.

A tide of enemies surged before the city gate, a dense mass of Demons of all shapes and sizes, their roars shaking the very heavens.

Even knowing it was all an illusion, the sight made the skin of the living onlookers crawl.

The Chiyan People’s camp was positioned right in the middle of the phantom Demon Army. Uncle Da, lounging amidst the horde of illusory demons, didn’t look the least bit out of place.

One after another, siege ladders were thrown against the walls. The Garrison on the ramparts suffered heavy casualties, and their defense grew ever weaker.

Since it was all just an Illusion with no real danger, the members of the merchant team began to form groups of two and three to explore the Ancient City that had vanished from history.

Fushan Yue pointed toward Shi the Second and instructed the Witch Child, "Stay close to him." Then he turned to Hee Lingchuan. "Shall we go for a walk?"