Chapter 1186

"You want us to leave our homeland, wander in unfamiliar places, and watch others' faces? Our kin will be scattered and bullied!" He gave a cold smile: "The outside world is not so easy to conquer." "But we can escape the war." Axun said seriously, "Staying on the Flash Gold Plains means endless enemies. The state of Julu has recently been buying warhorses in large quantities. If Father is willing, we can sell all our fine horses. We are far from them; they do not care about our past and will not refuse our horses as long as the price is right! The money we get will be enough to take a ship to Julu Port and then settle in the new world."

During this westward journey, he stayed long in the state of Julu, and what he saw and heard deeply moved him.

It turned out there were countries not bound by war, peace could bring prosperity, life could improve day by day, and one could live in peace and contentment through one's own hard work.

It turned out people could have hope, not merely exist.

The more he saw, the more he thought, and the more he regretted his past foolishness.

The clan chief stared at him, his gaze growing colder point by point: "You just don't dare to fight, right?"

Axun inwardly thought, "Oh no," he had been too hasty: "I'm not..."

"We are not leaving!" The clan chief interrupted him, "Even if the whole world is our enemy, so what? Look at the state of Yao— which neighboring country does not hate it, which dares to offend it? As long as we are as strong as Yao, why should we care about others' grudges?"

"But..." The ruins' treasury had been reached, Axun immediately swallowed his words, "You are also right— as long as one is strong, others will naturally submit."

Upon arriving here, the mountain forest was empty and silent, even insect sounds had ceased.

The clan chief had kept his head down while hurrying, but now he looked left and right and suddenly asked Axun: "Where are your few attendants?"

"I arrived first, they follow behind." Axun's heart jolted, his face calm: "Father, there is something glowing over there."

He pointed to the nearest platform.

In fact, those attendants, acting on his orders, had taken a detour to this place ahead of time and had already activated the sealing talisman array.

Glowing? The clan chief instinctively followed his finger's direction and indeed saw a faint red light seeming to rise from the top of a tall table; his gaze instantly sharpened.

Just as he turned his head, Axun lunged forward, violently shoving him toward the center of several platforms, shouting at the same time: "Come help, hold it down!"

The clan chief, bolstered by the Luo Sheng Jia, was surprisingly agile— he dodged Axun's lunge as if he had eyes in the back of his head, then backhanded him with a punch that sent him flying. But since they had been walking shoulder to shoulder, they were too close, and Axun had already thrown several ice talismans onto him.

One such talisman could freeze a person solid; three or four together rendered the clan chief immobile instantly, white frost blossoms spreading thicker and thicker on his black armor, condensing into solid ice within just three or five breaths.

This was the ice talisman Axun had prepared in advance using his own heart's essence blood mixed with various materials; its power surpassed even that used by Bai Mao Mountain.

"If you don't want to die, come help— quick, quick, quick! We need to seal him!" Axun, ignoring his surging qi and blood, climbed to his feet, pointed out several people, all of them strongmen of the clan.

The named Ying people were stunned at first, but quickly came to their senses and went to help move him.

At this moment, the sealing talisman array had already been activated, red light flashing on all platforms.

The Flash Gold Empire's array could still be used after a thousand years; although clan elders had repaired it, its inherent quality was indeed excellent.

Everyone worked together, swiftly moving the frozen clan chief to the center of the platform. The clan elder had said, the closer to the array's center, the stronger the sealing power.

Thin threads of talisman symbols emerged from the ground, like human capillaries, the symbols wriggling like tadpoles, swimming faster and faster around the people.

The clan chief's feet also began to sink rapidly—

This talisman array was like a vortex; strong suction came from the center, pulling him toward the earth's core.

The frozen clan chief's face was full of anger, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on his son, cracks bursting forth one after another within the ice.

The ice talisman that could freeze a steppe elephant could not hold him for long.

Axun endured until now, finally spitting a mouthful of blood onto the solid ice.

That punch from his father, it was heavy indeed.

He spoke with red eyes: "I'm sorry!"

Tears streamed down as he pressed his father's shoulder, shoving him hard into the vortex.

He wanted to do the right thing, he wanted to seal the Luo Sheng Jia! He wanted to lead the Ying people away from the Flash Gold Plains, away from all conflict and suffering.

What his father could not do, he must accomplish.

So, father, I'm sorry!

￥￥￥￥￥

Mai Ling, Fu Bao.

The ruins, silent for a thousand years, suddenly echoed with a deep, angry roar from underground!

Countless night birds were startled into flight, cawing as they soared into the sky.

This roar shook the ground, making it tremble, the forest cracking with sound.

Immediately after, the three platforms on the ground erupted in succession with cracking sounds, crisp as grinding beans.

Some distance away, a person walked leisurely toward Mai Ling, occasionally lifting a wine gourd to take a sip, feeling quite content with his slight intoxication. Although drinking while rushing along at night was always a major taboo, he was very familiar with this place, knowing where the pits were without even lowering his head, staggering past them.

When the roar from the ruins' depths rang out, he choked on a mouthful of wine, stood rooted for two breaths, then suddenly sprang his legs and ran toward Mai Ling, urgent as a rabbit shot by an arrow.

"It's over! Over and over and over!" He muttered while slapping a speed talisman onto himself, cursing loudly, "Are you kidding? You've slept soundly for over a hundred years— why did you choose to wake up and cause trouble just when I'm here?"

What exactly was it that activated the seal?

……

On this side, the road was dark and slippery; Dong Rui asked the great fox spirit: "Have you been to Jing Mountain?"

"Maybe twice." The three-tailed fox also glanced left and right, "This place always gives me an ominous feeling; I don't want to get close."

The great demon's spiritual sense is astonishing; it has no need to contend with this kind of place.

"Cutting straight through Mai Ling is the shortest route out of Jing Mountain. On Mai Ling lie the ruins of the Flash Gold Empire's traveling palace." The three-tailed fox still remembered the way, "Detouring would make it much longer— you'd have to walk an extra half day."

"During your first two visits to Jing Mountain, did you encounter anything abnormal?"

"No."

So they shouldn't be unlucky, He Lingchuan declared decisively: "Let's take the Mai Ling route."

Everyone else, human or demon, had no objections.

However, just as his words fell, suddenly dozens of red lights shot up from the horizon!

That light was too bright and conspicuous, like the evening clouds on the horizon— no creature in the mountains would miss it.

"That direction is..." He Lingchuan thought darkly, "No way? Jing Mountain has been silent for over a hundred years; whoever comes fares well— how could they encounter trouble before even halfway through their journey?" "Mai Ling." The three-tailed fox was also bewildered, "What happened there?"

No one had an answer; Dong Rui joked: "Could it be the Luo Sheng Jia? Hahaha."

"……"

The other monsters and people didn't laugh either; he just embarrassed himself. Still, the three-tailed one spoke up to rescue him: "If it really is the Luo Sheng armor, why appear now and not earlier or later? I'd say eight out of ten times someone went to the ruins to perform a ritual seeking the armor, causing this big commotion."

It doesn't believe in the legend of the Luo Sheng armor.

He Lingchuan's collar began to heat up again—

Just slightly warm, but the divine bone necklace trembled a few times, as if excited.

Is this guy resonating with the red light in Mai Ling? He Lingchuan could only think of one cause for the red light shooting up from the Mai Shan ruins. Is the picky divine bone necklace also taken with it? Come to think of it, they passed Jing Shan last time without entering, so maybe the divine bone necklace didn't react then? He Lingchuan made a quick decision and told the three-tailed one: "Plans changed. We two go to Mai Shan to check it out; you lead the clan onward, we'll meet at Hong Dou Ling!"

Hong Dou Ling lies on the southwest side of Mai Shan, named for the abundance of red beans covering the mountain.

The three-tailed one nodded: "Good."

It knows there are pursuers behind, and without wasting words, it led its offspring onward.

After its silhouette disappeared, He Lingchuan said to Dong Rui: "Lend me your demon puppet for a moment."

The bat was lounging on its master's shoulder, grooming itself; Dong Rui tapped it twice, and it leapt to the ground, revealing its true form.

He Lingchuan hadn't ridden this thing in a long time; when it transformed into its full form, he and the fox demon were equally startled:

Before, when this demon puppet transformed, it looked a bit odd but still roughly bat-like; now, the thing that leapt from Dong Rui's backpack and expanded in size, He Lingchuan couldn't recognize at all.

The bat's short fur became sparse, growing only on the back, head, and tail; over half its body was covered in hard gray scales; its face, originally like it had been punched flat, now had an elongated snout full of sharp teeth, somewhat like a giant lizard's; most astonishing were its wings—the bat wings became very thick, reminding He Lingchuan of coarse canvas, with bony ridges and spikes at the tips; when it swept its wings, nearby small trees were cut clean through at the waist.

"Wow, so ugly." He Lingchuan couldn't praise Dong Rui's taste.

Dong Rui displeased: "It's not fully fixed yet."

He keeps tinkering with it when idle—this clearly isn't the final version, right?

He Lingchuan tapped the scales of the bat demon puppet: "Huh, why does this texture feel a bit like wood?"

Dong Rui only said four words: "Mu Su Zhen Jun."

He Lingchuan drew out an "oh," realizing this was how the wood immortal's avatar was used—truly worthy of a demon puppet master.

Not long ago, the bat demon puppet even ate a large chunk of aged treasure lizard hide; who knows where it was used—perhaps in that limp, sagging jaw? "How about it, your money wasn't wasted, right?"

"Not bad." The boss of the Yang Shan Islands is very strict, usually not giving praise; "I'll go check it out first, you don't rush over."

If he hasn't misjudged, the things in the ruins aren't easy to deal with.

"Understood." Dong Rui responded, letting the ghost ape revert to its true form to carry himself forward.

His agility falls far short of He Lingchuan's; better to boost his own mobility first.

He Lingchuan leapt onto the bat's back, rose into the air, and set off toward Mai Shan.

Those several dozen red lights merely flashed a few times, then immediately went out.

The forest once again sank into night; some unknown gust blew, making trees sway and shadows slant, everywhere appearing especially ominous.

Flying is faster than walking; in no more than a few dozen breaths, the bat reached Mai Shan.

The ruins of the Flashing Gold Empire cover a large area; below, remnants of some buildings' walls remain, resembling a stone tower or……half a wall of some building?

Within the building's shadows, something seemed to move.

(End of chapter)