Chapter 607

Demon-Suppressing First City

Demon-Suppressing City

Demon-Suppressing Hall

At the foot of the great mountain, a cliff a hundred zhang high, its surface smooth as a mirror, trembled slightly, rumbling as it slid open to the right, revealing a huge mouth. A foul, putrid qi burst from the cave, and Wu Tie immediately furrowed his brow.

Wu Tie

Wu Jin

The passage had been polished to be very orderly; on both sides of the square passage countless beast‑oil torches of various sizes were planted, their crimson light illuminating the passage and making the temperature inside noticeably higher than outside.

Within the passage, soldiers wearing half‑body soft armor walked back and forth; unlike the Demon‑Suppressing Army of Demon‑Suppressing City outside, these troops marched in disarray, steps chaotic, faces full of flesh, bristling with killing intent, and moreover they were lax and undisciplined—clearly not a proper military unit.

Seeing Zhao Bao walk in, a man over a zhang tall with his chest bare lifted a heavy iron bar, lazily swinging his arms as he approached: "Captain Zhao, tsk, it's rare to see you come to this filthy place… What's up, any good business for us brothers?"

Huang Yu

Zhao Bao slapped the man's chest hard and shouted: "Cut the nonsense, get Zhao Huangquaner out here quick. A big deal's walked in—it'll knock you dead with pleasure."

Only then did the burly man notice Wu Tie standing behind Zhao Bao. He glanced at Wu Tie's princely robes, then at the heavily armored figures behind him—Wu Jin and others—whose armor gleamed with shifting, mysterious runes. The man's pupils contracted sharply, and he quickly broke into an extremely fawning, obsequious smile.

He bowed deeply to Wu Tie, then turned and ran, shouting at the top of his lungs while he ran: "Boss, boss, a distinguished guest has arrived—hurry, hurry up… ah, distinguished guest… a big fat sheep, hey!"

The burly man sprinted away; in the blink of an eye he was far off. Ahead, about half a li away, the passage split into three branches—forward, left, and right—and he dashed straight into the right‑hand fork. After turning the corner, he suddenly lowered his voice and uttered the four words "big fat sheep, hey."

Wu Tie reached out and lightly patted Zhao Bao on the shoulder, then said in a low voice: "Big fat sheep… hey… Zhao Bao, I, too, once hung around this Demon‑Suppressing City back in the day. How's the market price? Don't try to cheat me, and whatever you do, don't use your brains."

Stone Giant

Not long after, a short, thin‑built middle‑aged man with a sallow complexion appeared; a bluish‑green hue seemed to emanate from his bones, and a faint chill clung to his skin. He led a group of soldiers forward at a quick pace.

Bronze Giant

Silver Giant

Zhao Bao interrupted Zhao Quan beside him: "Zhao Huangquaner, cut the nonsense—this is His Majesty's appointed Prince An, the vice hall master of the Demon‑Suppressing Hall, a genuine important official of the court. Prince An has come in person, so hurry and bring out your finest wares; don't hide them."

Floral Dew

Zhao Quan deeply kowtowed to Wu Tie: "Ah yo, this lowly one pays respects to Prince An... hehe, Prince, please, please... ah, in such a filthy place, how could someone as noble as you come personally? Really..."

While Zhao Quan was paying his respects to Wu Tie, he quickly ordered: "Hurry up, spray more of the hundred-flower dew stored in the warehouse, change the scent—if it ends up fumigating the Prince, do you still want your heads?"

Wu Tie said nothing, merely letting Zhao Quan busy himself here.

Not long after, a group of rock dwarves in coarse cloth came running forward with tiny steps; they were a group of petite figures, faces full of startled vigilance, like frightened mice, these dwarf maidens.

Each of them held a small bucket in hand, and in the right hand a delicate little spoon, scooping out a bit of pale green liquid from the bucket and then vigorously sprinkling it in the passage and on the walls.

A rich fragrance of hundred flowers burst forth in the air, flushing the passage's original foul air clean.

Wu Tie glanced at the hundred or so dwarf maidens, slowly nodded: "Huang Yu, noted—these little girls look clever and capable; I'll take them all."

Huang Yu sprang out from the large retinue of soldiers following behind Wu Tie, swiftly produced a brand-new ledger half a foot thick, took out a brush, and quickly wrote a line on the first page.

"Your Highness, 128 dwarf maidens, recorded."

Wu Tie nodded at Zhao Bao and Zhao Quan, then said calmly: "Let's go, see what good stuff you have here. Hmm, my purchase this time will be relatively large; if your stock isn't enough..."

Zhao Quan bowed deeply with a fawning smile: "Rest assured, Your Highness, if the stock here at the First City of Demon Suppression is insufficient, there are the Second, Third, and Fourth Cities... if really not enough, we can immediately summon the hunting teams out there that haven't returned yet; they will surely bring back good goods."

Zhao Quan narrowed his eyes, smiling especially obsequiously: "Besides, if you're still not satisfied... you are, after all, the venerable Deputy Hall Master of the Demon Suppression Hall... hehe, getting as much good stuff as you want is just a word from you, isn't it?"

Wu Tie waved his hand and gave a cold snort: "Don't bother, I'm merely a deputy hall master... His Majesty hasn't issued an edict letting me officially take up residence in the Demon Suppression Hall to intervene in military affairs... Let's first check your inventory, then we'll talk about other matters."

Following the passage forward, then turning left, the sloping passage went deeper underground; along the way, the number of soldiers wearing soft armor seen increased.

"Clang clang clang," a massive iron gate forged from alloy pillars as thick as a person's head slowly rose, and an increasingly strong odor rushed out from the passage behind the iron gate.

The smell of blood, sweat, various strange odors, and the stench of rotting, fermenting corpses.

These viscous, horrible odors mingled into a mass, surging forth as if they were substance.

A large group of dwarf maidens rushed forward quickly, sprinkling the hundred-flower dew swiftly; the air's odor became somewhat better.

On the passage walls, fine runic arrays lit up, some minor restrictions in the passage activated, and a "whooshing" sound came from the air; soon, gales blasted out from fist-sized ventilation holes in the passage.

The wind was strong, dispersing the horrible odor in the passage, and the fragrance of the hundred-flower dew quickly spread.

"You don't usually ventilate?" Wu Tie glared at Zhao Quan.

"These underground demons, when they're underground, don't they just live in such filthy places?" Zhao Quan accompanied with a careful smile: "Besides, Your Highness, the underground prison beneath this mountain is enormous, over two hundred layers high; this little ventilation formation must consume some spirit stones, right?"

Zhao Quan smiled obsequiously: "These are just costs—if we can save a bit, we save a bit."

Wu Tie said coldly: "If they suffocate to death..."

Zhao Quan smiled even more fawningly, more servile: "Ah yo, Your Highness, can those underground demons even be counted as people? If they die, they die—it's just a matter of sending out a few more hunting teams to make extra rounds."

Wu Tie remained silent.

Zhao Bao and Zhao Quan led the way; after passing through the iron gate, the view ahead suddenly opened up—a colossal stone cavern had been hewn out of the mountain, towering over three li high and spanning tens of li in width.

A small False Sun hovered above the cavern, illuminating it completely.

Vast numbers of soldiers wandered leisurely in the cavern; some simply sat on the ground, happily playing with various gambling implements; others used square blocks of large stone as tables, piling them with wine jars, braised pork trotters, roasted chicken and goose, and were enjoying themselves immensely.

Inside the cavern stood neat rows of metal pillars as thick as water tanks and ten-odd zhang tall.

Thumb-thick metal chains extended from these metal pillars, about seven or eight zhang long, with the other end fastened to the necks of extraordinarily stalwart giants, generally three to four zhang tall, some reaching seven to eight zhang or even more than ten zhang.

About half of these giants have grayish-white skin; these are stone giants.

A few giants have dark skin with a faint metallic sheen; these are the relatively rare black-iron giants.

Still others have bronze-colored skin; these are bronze giants, whose bloodline is higher than that of black-iron giants and whose strength is greater.

On several of the thickest, tallest metal pillars in the cavern's center—over a hundred zhang high—are bound twenty-odd giants nearly thirty zhang tall, their skin faintly silvery, with innate serpentine rune totems beneath their skin.

These are silver giants, quite rare even in the underground world; they count as noble blood among the giants, endowed with exceptional talent, innate divine abilities extremely powerful, and their combat prowess after adulthood is astonishing. As long as they grow normally, upon adulthood they reach the Embryonic Storage realm of cultivation; this is a race especially favored by heaven.

Whether stone, black-iron, bronze, or silver, these giants sit cross-legged expressionless and lifeless beneath the metal pillars.

Around their necks are thick iron rings, each set with a fist-sized red crystal. Inside these crystals, runes flicker faintly, and waves of powerful, volatile elemental energy continually emanate from them.

Moreover, some exceptionally burly giants have their shoulder blades, ribs, elbows, knees, and other vital spots pierced by specially made dragon-locking hooks. The gleaming hooks are covered in barbs and also bear special restrictive seals, sufficient to limit these giants' movements.

A group of sturdy-built gray dwarves and stone dwarves are busy.

They push a series of fully loaded four-wheeled carts, slowly walking out from a cave mouth far in the stone grotto, and bring these carts to each giant's side.

The carts are filled with thick moss and some plant tubers.

Wu Tie, Wu Jin, Wu Yin, and Wu Tong's faces are all cold, extremely cold. How could they not recognize that moss and those plant tubers?

That is the lowest, worst food in the underground world; normally only herbivorous small beasts would gnaw on it.

Back then, even the slaves raised by the Wu family would not normally eat such things.

Even when food was scarce, the Wu family's slaves would not eat these things.

The giants, with numb, dull expressions, casually grab cart after cart, swallowing the moss and plant tubers inside mouthful by mouthful.

Their bellies emit thunderous rumblings, and their intestines writhe violently.

But it's obvious that these things cannot satisfy the giants' big bellies.

Wu Tie quietly watches these giants; through their numb, dull eyes, he sees anger like magma deep in their pupils.

Wu Tie nods in satisfaction and lets out a "hehe" laugh.

If there's still fire in their hearts, these giants are worth his effort. If they had already become walking corpses, it would be better to just kill them; why would Wu Tie expend so much energy coming here?

"These big guys, I, the Prince, will take them all." Wu Tie said leisurely: "Not one left, take them all…… tsk, I, the Prince, will form a…… unique-flavored honor guard."

Zhao Quan laughed until his eyes narrowed into slits: "You're the Prince, you decide…… hehe! These big guys eat too much, have huge appetites; ordinary nobles look down on them. If you really want to take them all in, I, this humble person, will give you a big discount."

Wu Tie slapped Zhao Quan with a backhand, knocking him to the ground, making his whole body twitch, unable to get up for a while.

Wu Tie pointed at Zhao Quan and sternly laughed: "Bullshit…… I, the Prince, have also hung out in Demon-Suppressing City, you want to give me a discount? Hey, do you think I, the Prince, am an inexperienced novice? How much these guys sell for isn't just up to your mouth."

"These big-guys with huge appetites are all excess baggage; besides me, the Prince, who would want them?"

"Give me, the Prince, a big discount?"

Wu Tie suddenly turned around and kicked Zhao Bao flying away with one foot.

Zhao Bao, caught off guard, let out a strange cry, was kicked by Wu Tie's violent kick flying over ten li, and heavily slammed his head against the stone grotto's rock wall.

That kick was extremely heavy, shattering the armor near Zhao Bao's lower abdomen, and a mouthful of blood spurted out involuntarily.

"Your…… Prince…… subordinate…… where…… did I make a mistake?" Zhao Bao roared in anger.

"Is this Zhao Quan the manager of your Zhao clan? He tried to fool me, the Prince, as an idiot; if I don't beat you, who should I beat?" Wu Tie laughed brightly, then said slowly: "Don't do that kind of taking advantage and playing innocent in front of me, the Prince…… I, the Prince, don't tolerate sand in my eyes."

Zhao Bao, furious and embarrassed, scrambled up from the ground, lunged back with a leap, whipped out a leather whip from somewhere, and lashed Zhao Quan fiercely, making him howl "ahhh" as he kept rolling on the ground.

From all directions, low growls came simultaneously from the many holes chiseled into the stone grotto; some stomped their feet in approval, while others one after another cursed Zhao Quan without cease.