Chapter 848: Dead End

Has the Tiangong team started fighting the Monster King?

He Chunhua's eyes were filled with heaviness: "Chuan'er, what do you think..."

He Lingchuan didn't wait for him to finish asking, replying bluntly: "Zhang Lianhai is a dead man; if we don't hide well, we're dead too."

Qiu Hu, however, whispered: "What is the Tiangong team doing going east?"

The people of the Tiangong were not fools. Clearly, hiding was the safest option, yet they insisted on running around in an environment teeming with monsters.

He Lingchuan didn't hesitate: "Naturally, they are tracking the direction of the ghostly light."

"The Great Fanghu!" He Chunhua understood instantly, "They are convinced the divine artifact is there!"

For the Tiangong to risk such great danger to rush east, they must have had some certainty.

Among the adventurers in the city, whose insight and knowledge could surpass that of the Tiangong? He Chunhua remained silent, but his heart was stirred.

If the Great Fanghu were truly hidden in the east of the ruins, if they could get their hands on it, could they end this grotesque nightmare before them?

He Lingchuan watched the situation in the east, while keeping one eye on He Chunhua. "The golden light has vanished."

Everyone looked at each other, shocked and speechless.

Did Zhang Lianhai and his dozen subordinates die so easily?

He Lingchuan saw He Chunhua's gaze shifting and probably guessed what he was thinking: "Father, you wouldn't be thinking of going east too, would you? Zhang Lianhai is a cautionary tale."

"If planned carefully, it is not impossible." He Chunhua looked at his eldest son, his gaze flickering. This expression was very subtle; had He Lingchuan not been keeping a constant watch on this cheap father, he might have overlooked it.

But on the surface, he had to pretend ignorance: "What plan? Splitting up?"

He Chunhua pondered: "If we can lure the Snow Beast leader's attention elsewhere, we might have a chance."

"Zhang Lianhai thought the same, look at his fate! Besides, Father, who do you want to use as bait?" He Lingchuan refused to his face, "Me? I won't do it!"

He was no longer the Young Master He who had been forced to follow He Chunhua into the Panlong Desert two years ago; he had the ability to say no.

This stubborn brat! He Chunhua wasn't angry: "Chuan'er is so calm and collected, does he have another good plan?"

If it were the eldest son of the past, would he have already...?

He Lingchuan was about to speak when a whistling sound suddenly erupted from the northeast.

The howl was low and powerful, chilling the heart even from such a distance, and was very distinctive.

It was that monster leader.

It had changed locations again; this time, who knew which team would be unlucky.

"Let's go!" He Chunhua made a prompt decision, "While it's being lured away!"

With outsiders as bait, they naturally had to seize the opportunity.

He waved his hand, and Zhao Qinghe and other trusted aides followed immediately.

He Lingchuan also gave a few words of instruction to the Rongshan people, and Qiu Hu and the others stepped forward immediately.

He Chunhua waved at He Lingchuan: "Too many people are hard to conceal, cut a few!"

The two sides combined totaled twenty-two people; it was too many.

He Lingchuan didn't yield an inch: "No, if we cut, we cut together."

He Chunhua finally couldn't help but glare.

But time was too precious to spend arguing. He forcibly swallowed his anger and reduced his team of trusted aides by five.

He Lingchuan also reduced his side by five, making it exactly twelve people.

Time was life; He Chunhua immediately led the team down from the easternmost exit of the city wall.

But he moved too hastily, and the wall ladder was in disrepair from years of neglect; he missed a step and nearly tumbled.

He Lingchuan was right beside him and reached out to steady him.

He Chunhua subconsciously grabbed his wrist to maintain balance, letting go as soon as he stood firm.

He glanced at his eldest son, his gaze somewhat complex, but he said nothing more, simply turning his head to lead the team forward.

Below the city wall were post stations, merchant stalls, and armories; these buildings were all in the shadow of the wall, providing even more cover for the group.

The team carefully avoided several monsters, sticking mostly to the base of the wall as they headed east.

Several times, He Chunhua led them the wrong way, walking into dead ends, and the team had to circle back to find the direction again. During this process, they startled two small monsters.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan and Zhao Qinghe were sharp-eyed and quick-handed, shooting them dead in two moves without causing a commotion.

Seeing He Chunhua about to lead the team into another dead end again, He Lingchuan couldn't watch anymore and pointed to the alley on the west: "Choose this path! The street planning in the east of the city is poor; it's not laid out in a grid."

The east of Panlong City was the old district, and after Zhong Shengquan took over as Commander, he hadn't renovated it much; the urban layout was quite different from other areas of Panlong City. Looking east now, one would actually end up circling further away if they chose the eastern path.

"Oh, alright." He Chunhua followed his advice.

Sure enough, this alley turned east halfway through. The eldest son's choice was indeed correct; He Chunhua handed over command: "You are a lucky general, you lead the way."

Things having reached this point, He Lingchuan accepted brazenly.

The team's progress was indeed very smooth, encountering no more dead ends. He Chunhua looked back at the South City Gate and could confirm that his orientation was indeed in the east, having walked quite far.

The eldest son was leading the way very well.

Just then, there were a few beast roars ahead, and a few thumping sounds of impact.

It turned out to be a dozen monsters gathered in an open space fighting. This open space used to be a vegetable market, relatively spacious, with no cover for over a hundred zhang around.

Qiu Hu whispered: "No wonder they are wounded." When guarding the city wall earlier, he had noticed that most of these monsters were wounded; one rhino-like monster even had its horn broken.

So it was infighting, wounded by infighting.

The group was just thinking of going around when one of the monsters was knocked flying by its opponent, crashing into the low house in front of them with a "crack."

This happened suddenly, and the cover was gone.

Amidst the flying dust, humans and monsters stared at each other.

This accidental encounter left both sides stunned, motionless.

He Lingchuan squeezed a few words through his teeth: "Run, run quickly!"

Since they were exposed, there was no need to be cautious anymore. He turned and took the lead heading east, the others following closely, running wildly.

The monster pack roared as they chased after them.

Who knew where they harbored such malice toward humans? The group ran, the monsters chased, and the commotion was not small. Seeing more and more monsters chasing from behind, He Chunhua decided decisively: "Split up and run!"

Zhao Qinghe and Qiu Hu both pointed to a few subordinates, ordering them to split up into other alleys.

Twelve people split into four groups in an instant.

The monsters behind seemed stunned too, not knowing which group to chase.

They hesitated for a good while before chasing after them in twos and threes.

There were only sixteen or seventeen monsters left trailing behind the father and son of the He family.

He Chunhua ran another two hundred zhang, feeling the wind and snow hitting his face becoming more fierce; not only did the snowflakes blur his vision, but the strong wind also desperately dragged people back.

He couldn't help but ask He Lingchuan: "Chuan'er, how much further?"

He Lingchuan jumped onto a roof to look into the distance for a few moments before coming down to tell him: "It looks like at least another five or six li."

"Three or five li." He Chunhua gritted his teeth, as if calculating something. "Fast, almost there."

If you don't have to use it, don't! He Lingchuan saw him as if suppressing something. However, everyone looked anxious now, so it didn't reveal his abnormality.

Just then, a scream came from not far away, followed by someone cursing loudly, their voice cracking.

Soon, the person's cursing turned into a scream.

Clearly, they had been caught by the monsters.

Zhao Qinghe's expression changed: "That's Liu Yu's voice."

Liu Yu was He Chunhua's trusted aide, having followed him from Heishui City to Xiazhou, then to Dunyu, and finally to the Yuan Capital; he hadn't expected him to end up buried in the Panlong Desert after all.

Just then, a few dull and loud roars came from the north.

He Lingchuan and Qiu Hu looked at each other, both with solemn expressions: judging by the sound, that Snow Beast leader who had never shown its face was probably not far from them.

He Chunhua could naturally hear it too.

The four stopped, because there was another open space ahead; this was originally the confluence of two rivers, now the water was very shallow, but there was no cover around the river channel.

There were also many monsters staying here.

To avoid startling them, they had to take a wide detour.

A very wide detour.

He Chunhua swallowed, his voice hoarse: "I'm afraid we can't make it."

He Lingchuan looked at him strangely: "We can get through with some illusions."

That would require setting it up on the spot.

Setting it up would take time; compared to taking a detour, it was hard to say which choice was more troublesome.

"Chuan'er, Chuan'er!" He Chunhua grabbed his arm, "Father is tired, let's rest for a while!"

His eyes were bloodshot, looking indeed very exhausted, and somewhat haggard.

He Lingchuan looked at him carefully for two moments before nodding silently.

Although Qiu Hu and Zhao Qinghe were anxious, they had no choice but to follow them into a stone enclosure.

In front of the stone enclosure was the old site of a merchant stall; judging by the foundation, it was probably a merchant stall, but unfortunately, it had been destroyed by time, while the horse-penning stone enclosure behind it had been preserved.

Here, it was surrounded by stones on all four sides, and the alleys were small; large monsters couldn't get in.

He Chunhua leaned against the stone enclosure and gasped for breath, looked at He Lingchuan for two moments, and suddenly pressed his lower abdomen: "I, I need to relieve myself."

That couldn't be stopped.

The other three had to turn and walk out, keeping a distance of three zhang from him.

He Chunhua stood at the corner, and soon the sound of water came.

The mirror in He Lingchuan's arms suddenly said: "Your father is still chanting something." It was almost drowned out by the sound of rushing water, but it couldn't be hidden from it!

"Hmm?" He Lingchuan's heart tightened; was this cheap father using the excuse of peeing to send them away?

He didn't have time to think, his toe flicked a pebble and kicked it backward.

With a "pop," the pebble hit He Chunhua's back, with excellent accuracy.

He Chunhua felt a pain in his back and was startled, and the mosquito-like voice stopped.

Before he could get angry, He Lingchuan was already teasing: "Father, you mumble even when peeing, when did you pick up this habit?"

He Chunhua was slightly angry, tidying his clothes: "Why did you kick me?"

"Afraid you'd be taken advantage of by evil spirits." He Lingchuan said solemnly, "There are plenty of ghosts in this city; once your heart is weak and your qi is low, it's easy for them to invade."

Naluo Tian boasted of controlling the "Power of Fate" and might very well have discovered that the He father and son's trip to the Panlong ruins had undergone major changes.

If He Lingchuan's plan was to succeed, he must never let He Chunhua find an opportunity to communicate with Naluo Tian.

He must never let He Chunhua discover anything unusual, otherwise...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 849 =====