Chapter 258: The Dead City
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Day and night, Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu hurried on with their journey at top speed. The next day at noon, they finally arrived at the boundary of the Omen Ridge.
There were majestic mountain ranges stretching out along the horizon, covered with dense jungle. Although there were hardly any people around, huge and fierce savage beasts could be seen very often.
“We are only half a day’s walk to the Devil Martial City. I think we are safe now.”
Han Qiu heaved a long sigh of relief. Laughing, she said, “I remember there’s a small town nearby called ‘Yueji City’, which belongs to the Yuntai Suzerain. We can take a good rest there. Perhaps someone from the Yuntai Suzerain and the School of the Martial Market has arrived at the city and is waiting for us.”
After pondering for a bit, Zhang Ruochen replied, “Well, it’d be great if that’s the case. But we must be careful. Let’s do a bit of investigating first before we enter the city.”
10 days had passed, and the news must have reached the School of the Martial Market.
The School of the Martial Market would surely send warriors over to receive Zhang Ruochen. After all, with his talent, he deserved extra protection by the School of the Martial Market.
And yet, when they arrived at the Yueji City, they noticed that something very strange was going on.
The gate was wide open, and not a single person could be seen anywhere.
Although the Yueji City was only a small city, it was not at all bleak. Every year, thousands of warriors who ventured into the Omen Ridge would be lodging in this city to refill pills and trade savage beasts’ bodies.
But today was different. There was no one in sight. Like a dead city, the place seemed to be devoid of life.
Zhang Ruochen sniffed the air and immediately smelled the rotting stench that came from the city hundred meters away.
“Why is it so quiet? Don’t tell me that the Evil Warriors from the Poisonous Spider Club have already taken over the city?” asked Han Qiu confusedly.
“No. They would never do something so obvious.”
It looked like Zhang Ruochen had something in mind, so he walked right up to the gate.
After a moment of hesitation, Han Qiu quickly chased after him.
Upon entering the Yueji City, they discovered that the entire city had indeed become a dead city. There was not a single living person could be found on the street.
That was because they were all dead.
Numerous bodies lay scattered on the ground. Some of them were hung on the roof, and some of them were cut in half…
It looked like that they had been dead for a day or two. These shriveled bodies were completely drained of blood. The rotting stench in the air was so nauseous that it made people wanted to throw up.
Although it was daytime, the sight was still too horrible to watch. It was as if the city was a gruesome living hell.
“The whole… city! What happened?”
Even a warrior with psychological quality as good as Han Qiu was rattled by the sight. Her face turned pale, and her heart was pounding with fear.
“Was this done by a ghost?”
Frightened, Han Qiu leaned closer to Zhang Ruochen while gripping the handle of her sword nervously.
Zhang Ruochen looked completely calm as he walked up to one of the bodies. He crouched down and took a close look at the two holes on the neck.
Zhang Ruochen’s pupils constricted. He said, “I knew it was her.”
Han Qiu asked, “Who?”
Zhang Ruochen stood up and said, “Have you ever heard that the masters of the School of the Martial Market are fighting against a vampire now?”
“Well, yes. It is said that the School of the Martial Market sent 10 masters in the Heaven Realm, but she still got away.”
Suddenly, Han Qiu thought of something. She said, surprised, “So it was her who sucked them dry? But there were at least 10 thousand warriors in Yueji City. I don’t think she could do this on her own.”
“Perhaps she has succeeded in cultivating the Blood Spirits.”
Zhang Ruochen said thoughtfully, “With the help of the Blood Spirits and her own power, it wouldn’t be that difficult for her to suck away all the blood from the city. I wonder how powerful she has become after absorbing so much human blood.”
Han Qiu turned to look at Zhang Ruochen in surprise. “You seem to know that vampire very well!” said Han Qiu, looking somewhat confused.
“Of course! I’ve met her before, and I know where she came from.” replied Zhang Ruochen.
Han Qiu felt a bit shaken upon hearing those words. She asked curiously, “Then what is her origin?”
“Now is not the time to discuss that vampire. We are in trouble again!”
Zhang Ruochen stared off in the direction of the city wall.
“BUZZ!”
A swarm of colorful bees flew over the walls of Yueji City. Their eyes, sparkled with lights of wisdom, were staring at Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu.
Their fist-sized bodies were 100 times larger than normal bees.
Their wings were more than half a meter long, and they have a sharp poisonous sting on their tails.
At first glance, it looked like a group of colorful birds flying in mid-air. There were over 100 of them.
“The Swift Bees!” said Zhang Ruochen.
Looking at the huge bees, Han Qiu said, “Being able to control so many Swift Bees at the same time, he must be the master among the Beast Trainers. As far as I know, there is a mysterious man called ‘Ling Xiansu’ working for the Square Commandery Prince. He was a Beast-training Master. Maybe that’s him?”
“It must be!” said Zhang Ruochen.
The Swift Bees were first level superior class savage beast with average attack power. They were mainly used to track down enemies, conduct a field survey and deliver messages.
An inferior Beast Trainer could only raise one or several Swift Bees.
Considering that this person could send hundreds of Swift Bees at the same time, he must be someone who had reached the master level.
The power of a Beast-training Master was more terrifying than a normal warrior in the Heaven Realm. He could easily destroy a city.
A Beast-training Master was as powerful as hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He would be the most destructive person on the battlefield.
After discovering Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu, those Swift Bees immediately flew out of Yueji City to notify the Beast-training Master.
Han Qiu said, “Let’s run away before that Beast-training Master arrives!”
“Run? Where to?”
Zhang Ruochen said calmly, “What makes a Beast Trainer powerful? It’s his ability to control savage beasts to attack other warriors. The walls, houses, and arrays in Yueji City can serve as barriers to block off savage beasts. It gives us a chance to fight back. If we run into the Omen Ridge, we’ll be at a grave disadvantage when the savage beasts besiege and intercept us.”
Han Qiu asked, “Does that mean that we should stay in Yueji City and fight with the Beast-training Master?”
“We can’t stand up to the power of a Beast-training Master! All we can do is try to stall for time, hoping that the masters from the School of the Martial Market and Yuntai Suzerain can be here as soon as possible,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Han Qiu finally understood Zhang Ruochen’s idea. Staying here in Yueji City would be easier for the masters from the School of the Martial Market and Yuntai Suzerain to find them.
If they fled into the mountains, they had to face the constant attacks from savage beasts, and the masters might also find it difficult to rescue them.
Zhang Ruochen began to check the resources available in his Storage Ring and took out one after another.
45 Thunder Pearls.
10 bottles of Third-class healing pills with 10 pills each. Among them, there were healing pills and Genuine Qi recovering pills, as well as power transient increasing pills.
Two bottles of Fourth Class healing pills with five pills each.
Seven attacking War Maps.
Two defensive Formation Flags. Five attacking Formation Flags.
…
Looking at Zhang Ruochen who took out a lot of resources from his Storage Ring, Han Qiu was completely dumbstruck.
The 45 Thunder Pearls alone were worth more than 10 million silver coins and capable of destroying tens of thousands of armies.
On top of that, there were also pills, War Maps and Formation Flags. All these treasures added up to at least 30 million silver coins.
She was a daughter of Yuntai Suzerain as well as a genius. But compared with Zhang Ruochen, she was wretchedly poor.
Han Qiu picked up one of the War Maps and unrolled it.
A figure of Purple-horned Beast, third-level superior class savage beast, appeared on the map. According to the instructions on the map, if the map was activated, it would summon 10 Purple-horned Beasts to help the warrior.
This War Map alone would cost over two million silver coins.
“How do you have so many treasures?” asked Han Qiu.
These treasures were taken from the warehouse of the Red Spider Vessel. They were once the expensive items ready to be auctioned by the Poisonous Spider Club.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen did not tell her the source of these treasures. He said, “We need an array to fend off the attacks from savage beasts. I noticed that the defensive array of Yueji City is somehow damaged. Even if it is fixed, its power will be reduced.”
“There’s only one way now. I’ll combine its defensive array with my seven sets of Formation Flags to form a new Defender Array. You should go and put up the Formation Flags on the wall first.”
Among the seven sets of Formation Flags, there were two defensive Formation Flags and five attacking Formation Flags.
The Glimmer Skull Formation required the least Formation Flags which were 24, whereas the Armies and Beasts Formation required the most Formation Flags which were 81.
A Formation Flag’s flagpole was made of bronze and it was about seven feet long each. The Array Master would equip the flagpole with a Spiritual Crystal to sustain its power. At the same time, they wove the flag with spun gold and carved the Inscription Array on it. Then, they connected it with the flagpole.
As long as the Formation Flags were installed on the ground according to the specified pattern, the array could be easily activated with the warriors’ Genuine Qi.
Among the seven arrays, even the cheapest Glimmer Skull Formation would be priced at three million silver coins at the Poisonous Spider Club’s Auction House, which was equivalent to the total assets of an eighth-class family.
Not only did Zhang Ruochen need to set the seven arrays ready, he also had to connect the seven arrays with Yueji City’s Defender Array in order to unleash the full power of the array.
At that time, even if Yueji City was not totally impregnable, at the very least, it could withstand a tough fight with the Beast-training Master.
Han Qiu turned into a swift illusory figure and flew over the city wall. She installed the Formation Flags on the wall, and began to set the array.
Installing the Formation Flags did not require any skills. Any warriors could do it.
Even though Han Qiu knew that the upcoming battle would be more ominous rather than propitious, she did not seem scared at all. Instead, she was very excited and looked forward to it.