Chapter 45: The Appearance

After waving the white banners for just this short while, the two strong, young attendants, Bai Shan and Qing Shui, were already drenched in sweat.

However, the sixteen-eyed monster stopped moving as well, its original ferocity and suspicion replaced by confusion. The soul-summoning banner before its eyes obscured other signs of life and emitted fluctuations that brought it pleasure, but focusing too much on this banner consumed a great deal of soul power, making its already murky mind even more muddled.

To it, this thing acted just like a sedative does to a human.

After a while, the sixteen-eyed monster even scratched the back of its head in a very human-like gesture, turned around, and walked away slowly.

Seeing it finally transform into black smoke and follow the main group into the sky, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Bai Shan and Qing Shui also put away the soul-fixing banner and sat down on the spot, struggling to regulate their breathing, unable to care about the sweat pouring down their foreheads like rain.

Waving the banner for even this short time caused a double exhaustion of both physical strength and spirit.

At this time, the entities emerging from the pool were all massive vengeful spirits; they were large in size and few in number, each maintaining a certain distance from the others, unlike the previous vengeful spirits that crowded together in a rush with no sense of boundaries at all.

Some even had a small group of vengeful spirits following behind them, trailing closely as if they were attendants.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan understood that these things held relatively high power and status among the vengeful spirits. Just like humans, those with status and reputation never lacked underlings by their sides.

Fortunately, they were not as sensitive as the sixteen-eyed monster, or perhaps they simply had no intention of looking down, and they ascended into the sky surrounded by the crowd of souls.

Once they had all left, the pool became quiet, and no new vengeful spirits emerged.

At this moment, the light of the Void Barrier also began to wane; clearly, Sun Fuping’s claim about its short duration was no excuse.

Taking advantage of this gap, Nian Songyu whispered to Sun Fuping, "It seems they’ve all run out."

Sun Fuping, striving for caution, shook his head to indicate, "Wait a little longer."

They were safe and sound here and could still converse normally, but outside Panlong City, it was already a scene of howling winds and flying sand and stones, with not an inch of peace left. The effect of the Soul-Dissipating Powder was still active, and everyone clearly saw the soul-pillar formed by thousands of vengeful spirits erupting halfway to the sky before scattering; every black dot the size of a sesame seed was a vengeful spirit, and such dots filled the sky, riding the gale toward every corner of the Panlong Desert.

The Sandstorm Season had begun. This was the first time everyone had clearly seen the process of its birth.

Within a mere half-day, the Sandstorm Season would sweep across the entire Panlong Desert and block out the sun for the long months to come.

Seeing this, the entire team silently lowered their heads.

He Lingchuan turned his head and caught the gravity on He Chunhua’s face.

Although it was only a few days until September, regular travelers of the Red Cliff Road understood the unpredictable, foul temper of the Panlong Desert and would mostly avoid it as early as possible, but because Sun Fuping had triggered the Sandstorm Season early, many people would certainly lose their lives.

Not to mention anything else, those courier stations that hadn't managed to evacuate in time would surely be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Yet they only learned of Sun Fuping’s intentions after entering Panlong City, and the other party’s rank was far higher than their own; how could they defy him? Fearing his father would carry too heavy a mental burden, he whispered, "Father, are you alright?"

"Hmm." He Chunhua was staring blankly at the pool and replied subconsciously, "Protect me; the real danger is likely only just beginning."

"Oh, alright."

For a good while, no new vengeful spirits appeared in the pool.

Everyone asked the State Preceptor for instructions.

They were all standing and watching, but Sun Fuping was not idle; he had long since picked up a tree branch and was drawing a talisman array on the ground.

The array was large, encircling everyone within it, and the drawing process did not look complex.

Even though the lines were very simple, the more He Chunhua looked, the more interesting he found them, and he couldn't help but say, "State Preceptor, this is a summoning array, isn't it?"

"Yes, just in case." Sun Fuping also felt he had waited long enough and stopped his work. "Alright, since nothing else is coming out of the pool, we shall prepare to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the calm pool water exploded again without warning, and another cluster of vengeful spirits emerged.

It was, shockingly, another army of the dead.

Among them were infantry holding blades and shields, and cavalry riding horses and brandishing spears; the moment they appeared, they brought with them a sky-high murderous aura! Even from several yards away, He Lingchuan felt a chill run down his back, raising goosebumps all over.

There was the same sorrowful howling, the same overwhelming hatred, but the onlookers felt something was different.

They did not look stronger or better equipped than the other war spirits; on the contrary, many soldiers appeared even leaner. Some soldiers had colorful feathers in their quivers, likely scavenged from somewhere; some cavalrymen held spears made of freshly whittled white wax wood, still covered in prickly wooden thorns, not yet polished smooth; most soldiers' armor was very old, carrying the grey aura unique to ancient objects, with armor plates of different colors and sizes—clearly repaired and repaired again, and likely pieced together by stripping armor from one place to patch another.

Yet their eyes were as resilient and cruel as a pack of mountain wolves.

Even the leanest among them ran with a spirit of pressing forward, fearless of death.

The people from Black Water City happened to be facing this army directly, and almost everyone immediately lowered their heads and closed their eyes, not daring to meet their gaze.

That sharpness, honed through thousands of trials, was something even the Black Water City army, which had repelled enemies many times, and the fierce bandits who roamed the desert licking blood from their blades, dared not face.

These vengeful spirits were truly different from all the ones before.

He Lingchuan clenched his fists secretly.

These must be the Great Wind Army, right? Sure enough, the appearance of a flag-bearer confirmed his thoughts.

This vengeful spirit rode a date-red horse and held high a large flag; on the bright red fabric was only one character written in a bold, sweeping hand: "Zhong!" He Lingchuan remembered that his own team also hid a "Zhong" flag, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions. His own team carried the "Zhong" flag to avoid disaster and ensure safety, while these people carried the flag to go out and fight to the death.

This was the real Great Wind Army, the legendary force.

He could hear the heavy breathing of the people beside him; clearly, everyone present was stirred with great emotion.

He Lingchuan even widened his eyes subconsciously, wanting to catch a glimpse of the two legendary figures.

He had already seen quite a few generals in the ranks of the war spirits; did that mean Zhong Shengguang or General Red would also emerge from the pool?

Regrettably, although he strained his eyes searching through the vast, mighty ranks, he could not find his targets.

Just at this moment, Sun Fuping said urgently, "The barrier cannot hold."

Nian Songyu and the others were shocked; looking again, the Void Barrier indeed appeared to be in a precarious state, its earthy-yellow light shield flickering on and off, looking exactly like the temperamental pendant lamp in the attic He Lingchuan used to rent.

He Lingchuan let out a strange cry: "Can't it hold on for a bit longer?"

The ones appearing now are the Great Wind Army! Whether in life or death, they are equally fierce when it comes to killing.

(End of chapter)