Chapter 2033: City of the Dead
Zu An frowned, saying, “All of you are seriously injured right now, and need to return and recover as quickly as possible. You can leave the rest to me.”
Suolun Shi shook her head slightly and said, “I only have some superficial wounds. After using your medicine, I’ve already pretty much recovered. So many of our Demon race’s brave warriors have perished here, and I cannot let them die such obscure deaths; I must find out what is going on here. This is my responsibility as a member of the Suolun clan.”
Just then, the guards next to her also spoke up in agreement. After seeing their former comrades die miserably in battle, they were all full of anger and a desire for vengeance. After picking up that there could be a conspiracy involved here from Zu An's words, that feeling grew even stronger.
Just then, Suolun Shi told them, “All of you, go back first. Your injuries are too severe.”
When they heard her say that, the guards all panicked. They were about to say something when they heard the princess continue, “Furthermore, you all still bear an important mission, which is to bring the information from inside here back to the outside. Also, you all need to coordinate with the Yun, Rong, Wu, and our own Suolun clan’s reinforcements, or else they’ll repeat the same disaster we went through.”
When they heard that, the guards all understood the importance of their mission and didn’t insist on staying anymore.
Zu An also said, “Princess, you should go back as well. So many people gave up their lives to protect you, so how can you continue to risk your life?”
Suolun Shi replied seriously, “Whether they are men or women, the people of our Suolun clan are all brave warriors, so how can we be scared of death? If the deceased were watching over me right now and knew that they were protecting a coward, perhaps they would be unable to pass on in peace.”
The other guards also bowed and said, “We ask the regent to take the princess with you.”
Zu An was a bit troubled. To be honest, he really didn’t want to take the extra baggage that was Suolun Shi with him.
Suolun Shi seemed to have guessed his thoughts and quickly added, “The regent has just arrived and doesn’t know much about the sealed land. As such, I can be your guide.”
Zu An nodded inwardly. She was a smart woman after all. With how things were, he couldn't continue to refuse her and said, “Then I’ll be troubling you.”
Suolun Shi finally sighed in relief. Then, she bade her subordinates, as well as Ah Kuan’s remains, goodbye. She tasked her subordinates with bringing him back to the Suolun clan and burying him in the clan burial grounds. After watching her subordinates disappear into the wind and snow, she wiped away her tears and said apologetically, “Sorry, I made big brother Zu wait for a long time.”
“The princess’ sincerity is truly admirable,” Zu An said with a sigh.
Suolun Shi had a distressed smile as she remarked, “Compared to what they’ve done for me, what I have done is really little.”
Zu An became quiet. She had just watched so many of her people die, so no form of consolation would do much right now.
Suolun Shi sorted out her thoughts and said, “Big brother Zu, before the armies split up, the Second Empress’ main army went directly north.”
Zu An nodded and headed north. Suolun Shi quickly followed along. She was the Demon race’s princess, so she naturally had many magic weapons that assisted in flight. Of course, she was still much slower than Zu An.
A while later, Zu An frowned and flew back, suggesting, “How about I take you with me?”
Suolun Shi knew that she was too slow and couldn't help but become embarrassed. She replied, “I’ll be troubling you.”
Zu An didn’t say too much either. He picked her up and flew into the air.
Suolun Shi hadn’t expected him to be so direct. She lost her sense of balance and instinctively grabbed onto his arm. Eventually, however, she got used to the speed of this kind of flight. When she saw how quickly the world beneath was changing, she was filled with admiration.
Big brother Zu’s cultivation really is unfathomable; no wonder he was able to convince the various forces of the king court.
The frigid winds gave her slight goosebumps. As a result, the warmth coming from the arm around her waist was especially striking.
She had been pretty ever since she was little, and she also had a distinguished status, so she never lacked pursuers; as such, she had always paid special attention to these things. She had never let any man have any physical contact with her. And yet, for some reason, in front of Zu An, she didn’t feel on guard at all. He carried her rather casually, and she didn’t resist it at all, as if all this was just that natural.
Still, the heat around her waist did have a numbing sensation. She couldn't help but sneak a look at the man beside her. When she saw his handsome features that seemed to be sculpted out of marble, she couldn't help but blush a bit.
Suolun Shi's ladylike movements didn’t escape Zu An’s notice. He had to admit that the princess was beautiful. Even though she had been fighting all this time and was a bit haggard, it still didn’t cover up her beauty. The bit of redness on her face made her look even more charming.
Even so, Zu An was already completely different from before. He was more worried about the Second Empress and Yu Yanluo, and about the safety of the Fiend races’ main force. He was worried about whether the monsters from different worlds were going to launch a full force invasion, and if this world would meet its end… Compared to those things, lust didn’t cause the slightest ripple in his mind.
However, in order to help ease her awkwardness, he asked, “Princess, can you please tell me what happened over the past few days in detail? Also, what exactly are you looking for?”
Suolun Shi’s expression became serious. As the Demon race’s distinguished daughter, she had received a meticulous upbringing ever since she was young. She naturally wouldn’t be the type to lose her head over her emotions. She answered, “After we split up, apart from looking for the Second Prince and his troops, we were also looking for the real sealed land.”
“The real sealed land?” Zu An repeated, stunned. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.
“This was something I only heard about after entering as well,” Suolun Shi replied. “This is a secret that only the successive generations of Fiend Emperors knew about. The Second Empress needed to assist the Fiend Emperor, so she had the right to learn about it. Since the situation was dire, she decided not to keep restricting the information. She summoned the various leaders to discuss this confidential matter.
“There is a true sealed land inside this place. That is the place where the ancient powerful beings sealed the other worlds’ monsters, which they referred to as the ghost race at the time. But as time went on, the seal loosened a bit. Many monsters snuck out from within, and they slowly encroached on the surrounding territory. By the time the Fiend races noticed, it was already too late.
“After thousands of years, one after another, the Fiend races lost their outposts on the front line. The monsters’ range of influence spread continuously. Fortunately, the situation was still manageable, but that conflict formed what those of the present world now know as the sealed land.”
Zu An now understood. He said, “So, that means there's a true seal in the depths of this world. As long as we can repair that seal, we can completely avert the sealed land crisis, no?”
Suolun Shi answered with a bitter smile, “How could it be that easy? That is most likely what the Second Prince thought back then, so he took the risk of barging in. Now, everyone has sacrificed so much because of him. What we should focus on now is to try to control the sealed land’s outer region, preventing the monsters inside from spilling out; that should already be enough.”
Zu An was actually starting to admire the Second Prince a bit.
That guy has quite the sharp strategic insight, but he overestimated his abilities a bit. This is a problem that the past Fiend Emperors haven't been able to solve for thousands of years, and yet he thought he alone could fix it all?
He was probably driven mad from despair, right? He knew he had already been practically abandoned and could only exhaust his troops here. In order to strive for that sliver of a chance at life, he could only take the risk.
It was still both Zu An and the Second Empress who had been too careless. They had never expected him to actually make such a a choice.
Then, Suolun Shi and Zu An talked about what had happened during the intervening days. After Zu An listened to it all, he just felt that something wasn’t quite right, yet he couldn't really place his finger on it either.
Suddenly, a trace of red fluttered in front of them. Even Suolun Shi’s attention was drawn in that direction. After all, the world around them had contained nothing but an expanse of pure white, and yet now, an entire area was red. How could it not be surprising?
“Could this be the true sealed land?” Suolun Shi murmured, her voice trembling.
Zu An shook his head slightly and said, “That’s not too likely. If it had been that close, at least one Fiend Emperor could have reached this place over several thousands of years…”
His eyes suddenly narrowed, because he already knew what that trace of red was. It was a city - a city of the dead that was dyed entirely red from blood!
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