Chapter 2352

Shenguo lies to the northwest, over five hundred li away.

Below are dense forests, with tree shadows swaying.

The crane demon landed halfway up the slope, bowed to He Lingchuan, then went off to forage.

After flying tens of thousands of li, especially without rest for the past two days and one night, they were indeed somewhat fatigued.

Ten li north from here lies Shaocheng.

He Lingchuan did not want to attract the attention of local tyrants, so he disembarked early and proceeded on foot via a detour.

Based on Liu Qingdao's description, the Earth Mother should be a demon with exceptionally outstanding earthly innate talent, so it would also be best not to use the snail toad to advance, lest we startle the snake.

Dong Rui first released bats as scouts, sending them into the city to reconnoiter.

Which city lacks bats? This little creature is a natural scout.

After about half an hour, the bats returned and perched on Dong Rui's shoulder.

They have a peculiar means of communication; after listening, Dong Rui was visibly startled and said to He Lingchuan:

"We just need to press forward—no need to hide."

He Lingchuan frowned: "What, has the Earth Mother already left?"

Have we rushed here in vain, only to find nothing?

"The city is empty," Dong Rui also said, puzzled, "It's a ghost town—no one remains, not even in the surrounding counties."

"No one? As in, no living people?"

"No, just no one at all!"

He Lingchuan's curiosity was also piqued: "Let's go see."

At their pace, Shaocheng was reached in an instant.

It is a lakeside city, nestled against mountains and water, with an excellent geographical location.

Standing on the hillside, He Lingchuan gazed afar; judging by the city walls' size and building density, the population should exceed one hundred thousand—making it a medium-sized city.

Including its subordinate counties, the population reaches about three hundred thousand.

The three did not enter through the main gate, for it had collapsed. Zhu Xiuer stood on the ruined city wall remnants and inspected:

"Looks like it was crushed by some huge object."

The city wall was not only reduced to ruins but also pressed deep into the ground; even the thick, hard city bricks were crushed into powder, scattered everywhere.

This could not be achieved by human strength.

Dong Rui offered an analogy: "Like the Flying Peak that the Qixia Sect used to block the Luo River?"

If the Flying Peak had fallen onto this city wall, the result would be similar, wouldn't it?

With no wall, they simply entered the city directly.

Everywhere lay chaos—overturned cargo vehicles, shattered doors and windows. Zhu Xiuer walked to a broken wall, examined it, and declared firmly: "This was smashed by brute force. Something rammed through the wall and snatched the people inside."

Inside, the wooden tables were overturned, with two bloody handprints on the edges. Clearly, someone in this room had been dragged, grabbing the table edge in desperation.

As for the final fate, just look at the street scene and you'll know.

Zhu Xiuer added: "The handprints are very small—those of a child."

Dong Rui's voice came from outside: "Oh, there's half a human hand here!"

He found half an arm in the stable behind an inn.

"Adult male, used to hard labor—probably a groom." He could tell at a glance: "From the fracture, it was torn apart by force. Looking at this row of tooth marks on the back of the hand, it should be from wolves' teeth—not just one wolf tearing at it, but several large ones."

"The haystack is full of blood; this person was likely eaten alive, which happened twenty-some hours ago. Wolves devour their prey in competition, not waiting for it to die before biting." Dong Rui was about to conclude when the ghost ape snorted, dug in the haystack several times, and pulled out several pieces of black, tattered hide, riddled with tooth holes, plus two segments of horse tail soaked in blood.

It disagreed.

"... Oh, I see, I see!" Dong Rui, hearing its correction, amended: "Not only people—horses and dogs here were also eaten. Speaking of which, my bats said there were no living creatures in the city—no chickens or dogs left, not even a mouse seen. Oh, and there are also many feathers."

Indeed, feathers could be seen in every nook and cranny, of various colors and types.

"Looks like there are still quite a few avian demons around."

He Lingchuan inspected over a dozen households in succession before returning, his expression gloomy:

"No intact corpses, but we found fabric and hair fragments, plus two or three skulls and several pieces of scalp. You'd never guess—where bloodstains are most abundant is often in the cellars!"

That is, the townspeople were unable to resist, could only hide in the cellars, yet were still found and slaughtered on the spot!

In the cellars, there was nowhere to flee—how desperate must these people have felt in their final moments?

They stood in the street center, looking around—how could this scene be described by merely "desolate"? The mountain wind blew over broken tiles and ruined walls, emitting wailing, choked sounds like ghosts crying.

Dong Rui let out a sound: "A massacre—this method is too cruel."

To slaughter innocent civilians on such a scale—even the local tyrants and mountain bandits of the Jinjin Plains rarely did this. After all, people are the most important productive force; if civilians are all killed, who will they plunder for food in the future?

"The Earth Mother's ill fame spreads far—it eats people, and its underlings eat people too." He Lingchuan and the others walked down the main street: "We just don't know why it left its original lair at Mount A to come here. Also, have the two divine beings of Shi Yu ever come here?"

Shaocheng had become a ghost city; the three, plus Dong Rui's demon puppet patrol, walked for half a day and found no useful clues.

Just as He Lingchuan was about to leave, Dong Rui's No. 66 suddenly let out two low growls and charged into the alley.

"Something's there!" Dong Rui immediately followed.

No. 66 darted into the alley, stopped at the doorway of a house at the deepest point, sniffed twice, then jumped inside.

As the three followed in, they happened to hear a sharp scream—

No. 66 charged into the cellar and actually dragged out a living person!

This person looked about thirty, lean and dark-skinned, struggling madly in No. 66's grip, screams full of terror, as if they would be torn apart limb from limb the next second.

But standing in such a city, everyone thought his fear was entirely understandable.

No. 66 released its grip upon Dong Rui's signal.

The person immediately shrank into the wall corner, trying to jump over the wall to escape, but was gently pulled back by a single spider silk thread from Zhu Xiuer.

"Save me!" he cried, seeing the ferocious spider demon, burying his head in his arms, too afraid to lift it: "Spare me! Spare me, great kings!"

Seeing him cry hysterically, He Lingchuan sighed, stepped forward two paces, and used his own body to block his gaze toward the spider queen.

"Don't be afraid, we won't kill you."

These words were spoken with true force, each character transmitted into the other's ears, carrying a strange, soothing power.

This is also a divine ability, capable of making the listeners' emotions resonate. The Nine Abysses Great Emperor usually only uses it when inspiring people's hearts, but now it is to calm the other down.

These seven short words, like a Buddhist mantra, made this person feel a warmth in his chest, and even his fear eased somewhat.

He also came to his senses from the state of shock, staring fixedly at the human and demon before him.