Chapter 58: Out of Place?

Clearly, they had calculated that no matter how powerful the Heavenly Thunder Array was, it had a limit. By using ordinary vengeful spirits to exhaust the power of the heavenly thunder, once the array failed, wouldn't these living people be nothing more than fish on their chopping block? The Sandstorm Season had only just begun; as undead, they had almost infinite time.

The complexions of the living were all looking grim. The undead could wait, but they could not. After enduring the impact of hundreds of vengeful spirits, the electric light of the talisman array was clearly not as active as before; it was evident that borrowing power from the heavens also had a quota.

And the Great Wind Army was testing just how much of that quota remained.

Once this batch of vengeful spirits was exhausted, the Great Wind Army unleashed another thousand or so in one breath. In the current Panlong Desert, these were the things least in short supply.

The living felt their vision go dark, and none could remain calm. A trusted aide said in a hoarse voice, "Grand Coordinator, we... we..."

If they came again, would the array be broken directly? "Stay calm! The more panicked you are, the faster the array will break!" He Chunhua shouted, "As long as the State Preceptor obtains the Great Square Pot, our predicament will resolve itself!"

Amidst the chaos, someone muttered in a low voice, "How much longer will that take?"

He Chunhua turned his head abruptly and sliced off half the man's ear with a sword: "Do you want to get your companions killed? Anyone who disrupts the morale of the army again will be executed without mercy!"

With the sight of blood, everyone actually calmed down quite a bit.

Several hundred more vengeful spirits, driven by the Great Wind Army, crashed into the Heavenly Thunder Array and dissipated into nothingness.

At this moment, He Chunhua also felt a bit dizzy. Looking back at the staff in the array, the color of the State Order held in the beast's mouth had faded, and the green light was gradually weakening; this was the result of the constant depletion of morale.

However, the blood in the pool rippled only slightly, with no other movement.

The Great Wind Army itself had not even suffered any losses, merely sending cannon fodder into the fray. If this continued, how much longer could his side hold out?

He Chunhua sighed inwardly; in the end, he had still fallen into the State Preceptor's trap.

The heroic spirits of Panlong City had spent their lives resisting invasions and were particularly sensitive to the aura of foreign armies. Moreover, he had used the State Order; these hundred-odd living people were simply like bright lanterns in the dark night. It would be difficult for the Great Wind Army not to notice them.

Hm? But speaking of auras...

He Chunhua recalled something and suddenly felt a surge of spirit.

￥￥￥￥￥

The South City Gate was right there; whether they were a little faster or a little slower, they would arrive sooner or later.

Now, the South City Wall was becoming increasingly clear in their field of vision. After walking another two or three miles, they would be able to reach the South City Gate.

The buildings in the south of the city were intact; Nian Songyu had not yet taken action.

Panlong City had a unique geographical location, with its defensive focus entirely on the south. Therefore, during this period, apart from the South Gate, the city walls in the east and west directions were very crude and lacked military equipment, while the north side had no gate at all.

The only position from which one could quickly launch fire over a large area inside the city was the South City Gate.

As it happened, the residential focus of Panlong City was also in the south, with over sixty percent of the city's dwellings concentrated here.

He Lingchuan looked at the South City Gate, thinking that Nian and Sun probably also felt that setting fires in the other three directions was not the priority, so they were leaving the buildings in the south unburned, waiting for the four of them to converge.

Waiting to converge? He Lingchuan always felt something was wrong.

At this moment, the two were just about to bypass a large mansion by the creek.

As long as they passed through an opera house, they would reach the main street, and from there, they could head straight to the South City Gate.

Mao Tao was already covered in sweat and squatted down to scoop up a handful of water to wash his face.

The water in the illusion could not be drunk, but the tactile sensation was very real, and it was fine for cooling off and dispelling agitation.

"Let's go." He climbed up and strode forward.

He Lingchuan, however, grabbed him by the back of his collar: "Wait."

"What is it?"

He Lingchuan didn't say a word; he jumped onto the outer wall of the mansion and climbed into the corner tower in a few quick steps.

Within a radius of several miles, this was the tallest building, with an unobstructed view.

Mao Tao didn't bother with that effort; he walked through the gate into the courtyard and climbed the stairs up.

By the time he found He Lingchuan, this young master was staring blankly toward the south, muttering incessantly: "Out of place, completely out of place!"

Mao Tao hurriedly asked: "What's wrong? What's not right?"

His attitude toward He Lingchuan was becoming increasingly humble, unlike at the beginning when he was just blindly flattering a willful young master.

He hadn't even realized this change himself.

He Lingchuan stared fixedly at the South City Gate and pointed: "Do you see the totem?"

"Ah, I see it." The relief on the city wall was such a large black flood dragon totem; it would be hard to ignore, right? "The triple-layered wall we saw in the desolate city in the desert, the wall surface of the innermost urn wall, also had this black flood dragon totem, exactly the same."

Mao Tao tried hard to recall and nodded: "Right, I remember too."

"Don't you think there's a problem?"

Mao Tao was even more bewildered: "What problem? Young Master, please speak clearly, don't imitate State Preceptor Sun."

He Lingchuan slowly turned his head to look at him: "The best play performed by the opera troupe in Black Water City, and the one everyone loves to hear most, is called 'Panlong Breaking the Army Array,' you've heard it, right?" There was no one who hadn't heard it! "It sings of the guardian beast of the Xiluo Kingdom."

Mao Tao: "It says the guardian beast released by the Xiluo Kingdom, the Golden Bull, was invincible—"

Oh my, why was he singing? "The guardian beast of Xiluo is the Golden Bull, right?" He Lingchuan gestured with his chin toward the South City Gate. "But on the city gate is a black flood dragon! Look, there is an offering table in front of the relief, and a large bronze incense burner with phoenix-shaped handles and three legs. This kind of treatment is not something a mountain deity can enjoy; Panlong City is worshipping it as a guardian of the state, or a guardian of the city!"

"But the desolate city outside also worships the black flood dragon, this—" A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Mao Tao's mind, and his eyes widened, "Strange! This is Panlong City in peacetime; even if they were worshipping a guardian beast, it should be the Golden Bull!"

"Every country has regulations for the worship of divine beasts, and border towns cannot violate them. Otherwise, it is considered an offense, and if discovered, there would be big trouble." He Lingchuan said, "Panlong City should have originally worshipped the Golden Bull like the rest of the country. Perhaps after years of prolonged resistance and isolation without aid, they became increasingly disappointed with their old country, and coupled with their conversion to the worship of the Mitian God, they changed the relief to a black flood dragon."

"Logically, the Panlong City in the illusion shouldn't have this flaw. But since the Great Square Pot is a treasure of the Mitian God, things the owner does not recognize cannot appear here. Therefore, the loophole has been preserved." He Lingchuan shook his head, "But it is simply too large, standing there openly; even if the living who enter see it, they wouldn't think much of it."

When all is said and done, the Xiluo Kingdom perished over a hundred years ago. People today can only look at records to understand it; they are not as sensitive to it as they are to their own country.

Mao Tao exclaimed: "No wonder Tao Bo said in his notes that there is something here that is out of place with reality! Young Master, you have a sharp eye; let's hurry and report this to the State Preceptor!"

He leaned out the window to jump down, but his neck tightened, and he was grabbed by the back of his collar by He Lingchuan again: "What's the rush?"

"Aren't... aren't we reporting it?" Mao Tao was a bit stunned.

(End of chapter)