Chapter 95: Chapter Ninety-Three: Encampment

Leaving the secret passage, it was a cavern with extremely complex terrain; under the guidance of two gray dwarves, after wandering several hours inside the cavern, Wu Tie and the others arrived at the cavern's exit.

This opening is located halfway up a rock wall, still several hundred meters above the ground.

Standing at the opening and looking into the distance, this is a square space over four hundred li long and about two hundred li wide. On the huge stone cavern's ceiling, three false suns with diameters over three hundred meters are lined up in a row, their warm red light illuminating the entire cavern.

Of the eight largest stone caverns in the Cangyan Realm, the Shi Family occupies three, and the Yan Family also occupies three.

The stone cavern beneath Wu Tie's feet ranks second in area among the three caverns occupied by the Yan Family, but according to information extracted under torture by Shi Meng, this cavern holds the highest importance in the eyes of the Yan Family's senior leadership.

The reason is a massive lava river rushing beneath this cavern, and a huge primordial aperture nurtured along its banks.

Under the red light, Wu Tie tiptoed and gazed into the distance at a massive stone fortress.

This stone fortress was named War Blade City by the Yan Family; it year-round stockpiles large numbers of elite troops and commanders, inside lie countless traps and ambushes, making it a fortress fortified to the extreme.

Outside War Blade City, one can see a round stone fortress occupying a huge area.

The round fortress built of huge black stones stands tens of meters tall, covers up to a hundred mu, and from afar this black stone fortress exudes a chilling, sinister aura.

This round fortress should be the Yan Family's infamous Bloody Arena, a vicious place that devours countless lives each year.

Wu Tie looked up at the three false suns on the ceiling, touched the wind-and-cloud banner at his waist, and waved his hand backward.

"When the false suns darken, Old Bai's people will scout ahead; we'll sneak past War Blade City." Wu Tie recalled the information Shi Meng gave him; after exiting this cavern, they must cross the stone cavern where War Blade City lies to reach the entrance of that primordial aperture.

Without a doubt, this operation carries enormous risk, but if successful, the rewards would also be enormous.

Risk and reward coexist… Wu Tie glanced at the five stone giants standing beside him and the large group of well-armed warriors, feeling somewhat reassured in his heart.

The group returned to the cavern, took out dry rations, and ate them in silence.

Dozens of rat-man scouts had already been sent out; they slipped down the gentle slope of the cliff, heading toward War Blade City.

The group waited silently in the cavern; Wu Tie and several leaders of the party returned to the cavern mouth, hiding behind a few stone stalactites, and watched for any movement at War Blade City.

After three or four hours, the false suns gradually dimmed.

The Yan Family's maintenance of the false suns is clearly less meticulous than the Shi Family's; though the three false suns are identical in specification, their dimming speeds differ. Two of them went out faster, while the third remained lit for another full quarter-hour before finally fading completely.

"This bunch of Yan Family murderous scum." Shi Hu, the trusted warrior commander under Shi Meng, smirked and shook his head contemptuously.

Wu Tie also laughed.

Along the way, he also learned from Shi Hu and others about the Yan Family's modus operandi.

They are a violent family that venerates martial prowess above all, liking to solve every problem with force; they never pay attention to matters of management or production.

Looking at the vast tracts of land outside War Blade City, the growth of the crops is clearly inferior to that outside Dashee City; even in some fields, large patches of edible mushrooms are overrun with weeds, clearly a sign of neglect.

Of course, the Yan Family does not expect to sustain its food and drink from these fields they occupy.

In the Cangyan Realm, nearly half of the mid- and small-sized clans are vassals of the Yan Family… the Yan Family uses its formidable martial strength to force these clans into vassalage; each year, half of the harvest of these mid- and small-sized clans goes to the Yan Family.

"They don't care about the quality of things at all..." Shi Hu snorted contemptuously: "Their usual practice is, when something breaks, they just go seize it… including these false suns. The Lu Family can forge false suns, while the Shi Family's false suns are bought from the Lu Family at a steep discount."

Wu Tie smiled silently.

Among the three most powerful families in the Cangyan Realm, there are truly many stories.

"Looking at it this way, the existence of Mist Blade is actually a great boon for your three great families." Wu Tie began to analyze using the knowledge Old Iron had imparted: "If there were no Mist Blade, that powerful enemy threatening you, you three families would probably have already gone to war with each other."

Wu Tie chuckled lightly: "This is called… well, vertical and horizontal alliances? Or perhaps it's the internal effect of external pressure…"

Wu Tie raised his head, carefully pondering the things Old Iron had input into his mind.

Some things he still cannot understand, so when he speaks of them they come out rather fragmented.

Shi Hu opened his mouth, but for a long while could not find words.

He simple-mindedly scratched his head and gave a hehe laugh. Shi Hu has obvious Giant Bloodline traits: a sturdy, broad build, rough and rugged features. He's adept at swinging a blade to slash people, and also capable of judging ore quality.

Asking him to ponder such profound questions, Shi Hu truly cannot.

On the contrary, the old wolf-man One-Eyed gave Wu Tie a surprised glance and said softly: "Well, you're truly a scion of a noble family, having studied things since childhood that differ from ours… tsk, a learned child… rare."

One-Eyed gave Wu Tie a deep look, then turned to gaze at the clansmen resting in the cavern's shadow, and gently shook his head.

"Having knowledge… is a good thing." One-Eyed fell silent for a moment, then added wistfully.

"When I have free time, if there are little wolf cubs, I'll teach them." Wu Tie laughed brightly, extending a hand to One-Eyed while also looking at Old Bai and the others: "If your clan has clever youngsters, come find me and I'll teach them… reading, writing, arithmetic, accounting, and many other things… I know quite a lot."

Wu Tie laughed brightly.

One-Eyed was obviously stunned for a while, then quickly reached out, firmly gripped Wu Tie's hand, and shook it vigorously.

Old Bai, Hei Pi, and Tie Bashiba's eyes lit up simultaneously; they instinctively moved closer to Wu Tie.

Strangely, the atmosphere among the group became increasingly intimate and harmonious.

An indescribable warm current flowed through the air.

In this era… knowledge is extremely precious; any scroll could become a family heirloom.

Willing to share knowledge with a group of "barbarians," in the eyes of Old Bai and his ilk, Wu Tie at this moment practically glows all over.

Suddenly from afar came heavy footsteps and mournful cries, accompanied by incessant bloodthirsty laughter.

The group's hearts jolted; they hurriedly poked their heads out to look into the distance.

Several burly figures clad in crude, tattered leather armor, holding various notched blades, staggered forward in a rapid, disordered run.

Behind them, dozens of gray rock lizards lumbered along, each bearing a stout warrior of the Yan Family whose skin, hair, nails, or eyes glowed red, as if about to spew fire.

These Yan Family warriors gave low, vicious chuckles; wielding specially made lances, they would occasionally spur their mounts to catch up to a fleeing strongman, thrust the lance fiercely, and in the victim's cries of pain, various non-vital parts of his body would be pierced, creating bloody holes.

These strongmen each had at least seven or eight bleeding wounds, their bodies covered in bloodstains, several faces pallid from excessive blood loss.

Their steps staggered; when running, their gait became so heavy they could collapse at any moment.

Yet they continued to sprint wildly toward this side; Wu Tie glanced in their direction and saw, at the base of a cliff about 1,560 meters away, a small passageway entrance.

The strongmen's goal is that passageway, though they do not know where it leads.

"How miserable." Shi Hu muttered beside Wu Tie: "They must be war slaves from the Bloody Arena… Yan Family slaves, after warrior training, used specifically for the Yan Family's youths to slaughter in order to gain combat experience."

"War slaves?" Wu Tie looked at Shi Hu.

"Human-shaped livestock… or rather, they're no better than livestock." Shi Hu spat on the ground, coldly saying: "The men among them are somewhat better, but if they are women…"

The Yan family believes that only the descendants bred from powerful warriors will become stronger.

So, the battle slaves in the bloody arena, those powerful warriors, are forced to constantly mate with those powerful female warriors… those powerful female warriors, besides constantly fighting in the arena, also bear the responsibility of constantly becoming pregnant and giving birth…

Shi Hu muttered: "Our Shi family also has many slaves, but at least our slaves can eat their fill and stay warm… at least our slaves still form families based on their own preferences."

Shaking his head, Shi Hu let out a sigh: "But those battle slaves of the Yan family… they're literally human-shaped livestock… not even as good as."

Wu Tie felt his scalp go numb.

The Yan family's bloody arena is infamous abroad, and the Yan family has become notorious because of it.

Wu Tie originally thought the bloody arena was just a slaughterhouse, a place where the Yan family cultivated powerful warriors. After hearing Shi Hu's words, he realized that inside the bloody arena there was actually such a terrifying, dark aspect.

Suddenly, a miserable howl came.

A big man finally lost too much blood and could no longer run; he collapsed face-first onto the ground, his hands scratching at the earth as he dragged his body forward, painfully crawling a few feet.

A gray rock lizard came charging; the Yan family warrior sitting on it fiercely stabbed down with his lance, then suddenly thrust upward.

The big man, screaming, was flung up; a shake of the lance threw him nearly a hundred meters away, where he slammed headfirst into a large stone, his brains bursting out.

"Alright, we've played enough…… take the rest back…… in front of those lowly scum, take them to feed the war beasts." A Yan family warrior who seemed to be the leader raised his lance and shook it.

A large group of gray rock lizards suddenly accelerated; the Yan family warriors emitted sharp whistles, throwing out rope after rope made of twisted animal sinew, which they looped around the necks of the fleeing big men.

The gray rock lizard suddenly spun in place, its sharp claws gouging up a large cloud of dust, letting out a low growl as it dashed toward Battle Knife City.

The ropes were pulled taut; the fleeing big men clung desperately to the ropes around their necks, shouting loudly, being involuntarily dragged to the ground, all the way enveloped in rolling dust as they were pulled back.

At first, these big men could still barely emit painful roars.

But after being dragged hundreds of meters along the ground, they could no longer make a sound; their bodies went stiff, rolling about like wooden stakes, leaving deep bloody traces on the sandy‑stone ground.

Wu Tie and the others stood on a cliff hundreds of meters high, blankly watching this scene unfold several li away.

They didn't even have time to think about rescue.

Moreover, even if they did rescue them, the large forces from Battle Knife City would swarm out, and their small group might very well be wiped out here.

"The Yan family." Wu Tie once again personally witnessed the brutality and cruelty of this harsh world.

Compared to the flaming gold‑eating ants that burned the crops of Stone City, this scene before him exposed blood and violence in an ever more naked way, dealing him a tremendous shock.

Certain 'people' can do such cruel things to their own kind.

Wu Tie clearly heard the words of the Yan family warrior leader: "We've had enough……"

Those fleeing big men were, in his mouth, merely "we've had enough"—just tools for his amusement.

More than two hours had passed since the False Sun set; down the slope, a few black shadows flickered up—the rat‑person scouts sent out by Lao Bai had returned.

They quietly reported the information they had gathered to Wu Tie.

Wu Tie and the others' hearts sank slightly at once.

The rat‑person scouts, surprisingly, saw the banner of the Changsheng Sect at the gate of Battle Knife City.

A pitch‑black large flag hung on either side of Battle Knife City's gate, its center emblazoned with the bloody characters "Changsheng".

As scouts, these rat‑person warriors could still recognize a few characters, especially the two characters "Changsheng", which they kept firmly in mind, not daring to forget.

"Are the Changsheng Sect people stationed in Battle Knife City?" Wu Tie muttered to himself: "I don't know—what sort of people are stationed here?"

"But no matter who they are, we'll do our business." Wu Tie produced the Wind and Cloud Banner; wisps of faint smoke surged forth, quickly covering a radius of several hundred meters.

"Gather together, walk carefully, and absolutely avoid making too much noise." Wu Tie whispered: "The False Sun has set; if we follow the mountainside, we'll surely be fine."

Wu Tie led the large group out slowly from the cavern, carefully following the slope down to the plain below.

In Battle Knife City, inside the largest stone fortress at its center, in the spacious hall, Jia Zhengfeng sat grim‑faced on a grand chair, looking down upon the group of handsome men and women kneeling on one knee below.

"It's taken this long for you to show up…… let me guess—among you, is anyone an ally of Boxi and his gang?"

Jia Zhengfeng lightly tapped the armrest of his chair with his finger, giving a sinister cold smile.

The young men and women lowered their heads ever more humbly, daring not to make a sound.