Chapter 34: Chipa Plateau

"This thing is actually impervious to blades and spears? I have a bag of melon seeds here, would you like some?" "Hand me a handful." Even though the wind and sand were quite heavy.

"It weighs almost as much as an elephant. Hiss, if it sat on someone, it could really squeeze the sh*t out of them! Father, that unlucky guy seems to be one of Nian Songyu's subordinates?"

"What is sh*t?"

"Nothing. The State Preceptor is casting a spell! He threw two large fireballs into the enemy's mouth, and the toad burped... hmm, it doesn't seem to have worked."

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two purple-gold toads were thrown off the boat.

Compared to how majestic they were when they first jumped onto the boat, their size had shrunk to one-fifth of what it was, turning from bloated to skin and bones.

He Lingchuan remembered that State Preceptor Sun had made incisions on them and then stuffed something inside, and the two toads had slimmed down at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming dehydrated and unable to jump, their eyes bulging even further.

Then they kicked the bucket.

"Did you see clearly?" Looking like they had been drained of all life.

He Chunhua shook his head. As a State Preceptor, he must have extraordinary methods; he imagined these methods would be just as effective when used on people.

During the rest of the journey, the team encountered two more attacks from monsters that didn't fear the stench, but only State Preceptor Sun's boat was affected, while the other two boats remained safe and sound.

Others marveled at the State Preceptor's luck and were glad the monsters hadn't jumped onto their own boats, otherwise, they would never have been able to resolve it so cleanly and efficiently.

However, Sun Fuping and his group frowned in secret.

Why did all three attacks target the State Preceptor? What did this signify? That a tall tree catches the wind?

Hurrying along, the team finally approached their destination before dark.

The messenger on Nian Songyu's boat pointed into the distance and shouted to his companions on the two boats behind: "Ahead lies Panlong City!"

Actually, there was no need for him to remind them; everyone had long since gathered at the bow to view the most spectacular sight in the Panlong Wasteland—the Chipa Plateau.

This plateau had been pushed up by an irresistible force countless years ago, and the drop from the flat ground beneath their feet was at least forty zhang (130 meters)! Between them lay a bottomless chasm six zhang wide.

It was like the dividing line between two continents—clear, distinct, and resolute.

As the walnut boat traveled here, the boatman's operation became very cautious, using the cured meat to lure the earth dragons as they followed the natural chasm westward.

Falling down would be the end of it.

After traveling for a quarter of an hour, the ancient city of Panlong finally began to grow larger in everyone's field of vision, the outline of its gray outer walls becoming more distinct.

This plateau was too vast; its vertical face was like the cross-section of a double-layered cake, forming an almost ninety-degree angle with the flat ground. The words "desolate" and "majestic" were probably coined for it.

At this moment, the sun began to set in the west, casting mottled shadows onto the face of the plateau's edge, making it look like a giant beast lying prone in the desert, winding and silent.

This terrain was absolutely a classic example of being easy to defend and hard to attack, so it was no wonder Zhong Shengguang could hold his ground here year after year. Without such objective conditions as a foundation, sentiment and passion were just empty talk.

Moving further forward, the elevation of the plateau gently descended, as if it were a long, downward slope.

And Panlong City stood right at the mouth of the slope, firmly guarding the only passage south to the Chipa Plateau!

The boat slowed down, and they saw a bridge spanning north and south, crossing the entire deep chasm.

This was a natural stone bridge, connecting to the land beneath their feet to the south, and to the small open space in front of the south gate of Panlong City to the north.

To attack Panlong City, this was likely the only path; even ten times the number of troops wouldn't be able to take it. He Lingchuan looked at this stone bridge and felt anxious for the allied forces of Xianyou and Baling from over a hundred years ago.

Later history proved, ten times? Heh!

As the walnut boat reached this point, the journey came to a temporary end. The boatman picked the cured meat off the pole and threw it to the earth dragons as payment.

Having sprinted for two hours, these three earth dragons were so tired that smoke was coming out of their mouths. If it weren't for the fact that they were naturally single-minded, had brains smaller than balls, and were always thinking about the fragrant meat in front of them, they would have quit long ago.

Now that the meat was finally in their mouths, the earth dragons didn't care about the many prey here and turned around to run away.

Everyone jumped off the boat, and State Preceptor Sun came over to put away his magic treasure. He recited a few incantations, and the large boat turned back into a small walnut.

Despite the heavy wind and sand, the air here was countless times fresher than on the boat, and the soldiers, relieved of the stinking cured meat, couldn't help but breathe deeply.

He Lingchuan tapped the ground with his toe: "Staying here, aren't you afraid of strange beasts or monsters coming?" Just like on both sides of Red Cliff Road.

Nian Songyu smiled: "Underneath this is all rock, with less than half a foot of sand and soil; at most, it can hide a few centipedes or sand snakes. Are you afraid?"

He Lingchuan kicked away a layer of sand and found that underneath it was indeed hard rock. That was right; if the sides of the chasm weren't solid walls, the natural bridge would have collapsed long ago.

Nian Songyu suddenly asked: "What's going on?"

He Lingchuan turned around at the sound and saw several of Zeng Feixiong's men escorting two people over.

These two were struggling desperately; although one was short and the other thin, it took three strong men on each side to barely hold them down.

The most peculiar thing was that they were both wearing talisman robes that looked like vests—actually, they were just two pieces of yellow silk draped over their chests and backs, then tied together to avoid the trouble of sleeves and collars. The vermilion talisman runes on the silk flew up and slowly circled the captives.

Without a doubt, these were originally Zeng Feixiong's men. But the look in their eyes as they stared at the crowd was very strange—both violent and greedy.

He Lingchuan had been hunting before and felt that this kind of look should belong to a coyote.

"Possessed by Three-Corpse Insects." Seeing them like this, Zeng Feixiong didn't feel comfortable either. "The State Preceptor tied up two for observation."

The Three-Corpse Insects on the other boats had all been driven away, but Sun Fuping had kept two.

Now he took the lead and stepped onto the bridge.

Actually, the bridge itself was quite wide, about fifteen zhang (over forty meters), but placed in the middle of the wasteland, above the chasm, and in front of Panlong City, it really looked as thin as a toothpick.

The thousands of troops of the allied forces back then probably met their doom right here, and countless times at that.

He Lingchuan looked down and saw that the surface of the bridge was mottled with color, obviously stained many years ago, and the stains were layered one on top of another, still varying in depth even after a hundred years.

Walking on the bridge, it was as if everyone could smell the pungent scent of blood.

This was the front line of the great battle between the three armies back then; countless battles for control had taken place around this corner.

The number of wandering souls here was far greater than anywhere else.

Sun Fuping suddenly said: "This bridge appeared later; it is not natural."

Nian Songyu stepped on the ground and also said: "The material is indeed different from the wasteland; this should have been built by the allied forces of Baling and Xianyou."

Zeng Feixiong was walking beside He Lingchuan and was very surprised to hear this: "There are no seams in the stone; it is a single piece. Was this built by human hands? Besides, the sentries on Panlong City aren't blind; would they let the enemy build a bridge right under their noses?"

(End of chapter)