Chapter 269: Chapter 168: Another Arrival; A Clandestine Advance
There was no need for questions, only for following orders.
Cheng Zongyang then began to go over the arrangents with Zhao the Seventh.
Thus, under Cheng Zongyang’s direction, Zhao the Seventh went to find Li Xian and the other two.
After conferring, they began arranging for people to sort the grain the next morning and load it onto wooden flatcarts.
Each cart held five hundred pounds of Old Rice, for a total of ten carts.
At the town’s north gate, before the eyes of several thousand townspeople, the leader of the Foreign Race forcefully conscripted thirty able-bodied n to pull the flatcarts out of the County Town.
These thousands of people, from children to the elderly, watched with helpless fury as the grain carts headed north.
The County Town was already short on food, and this just made matters worse.
The families of those conscripted as laborers were wailing in grief, a sight that made onlookers’ eyes turn red as they watched in silent sorrow. Perhaps those thirty n would never return.
In the crowd, Cheng Zongyang watched everything unfold from beginning to end. He had also gauged the Martial Arts Cultivation of the twelve n. A smile played on his lips the entire ti before he finally turned and left.
Zhao the Seventh watched the thousands of townspeople gathered at the gate and sighed in relief.
Although he didn’t know what Cheng Zongyang was planning, he had done everything he was told.
But when he looked around, he couldn’t find Cheng Zongyang anywhere.
’Wasn’t he just here?’ Zhao the Seventh searched back and forth, but he figured Cheng Zongyang had simply gone back and didn’t think much of it.
Next, mbers from the four Gangs dispersed the crowd, sending them back to continue building the new village while also closing the north gate.
Three hundred ters to the right of the main road north of the city, a figure shot northward at an incredible speed.
On the main road, the twelve mbers of the Foreign Race could only travel slowly with the grain carts.
"Captain, did Lü Zhi and his group really head east? They’ve vanished, and they didn’t even requisition any grain."
On the road, a young man asked with so curiosity.
The middle-aged man in the lead replied calmly:
"It should be true. The descriptions from the randomly chosen children, adults, and elderly we questioned were all more or less the sa. It ans the six of them really did leave. They must have run into so urgent matter."
Hearing this, the young man’s doubts were dispelled.
"Captain, is this enough grain?" another man asked. "When we checked the granary last night, we could have gathered several thousand more pounds."
The captain shook his head. "No need to drain the pond to get all the fish. If we leave them so, they’ll be less inclined to resist. If we took everything, it would be a death sentence for them. Once the grain from the rear arrives, we won’t need to requisition any more."
The others all nodded in agreent.
"Who knows how long this war will last. Da Liang is really putting up a stubborn fight," soone grumbled.
"It doesn’t matter. We benefit from every place we conquer. Even if we have to retreat later, we’ll have gained enough to greatly strengthen our families."
"Hahaha, that’s the truth. And if we can use so of these resources to break through and have our families promoted to Middle Third Grade Families, that would be even better."
The group chatted idly as they ambled along, occasionally urging the n pulling the carts to hurry up.
About three kiloters ahead on the main road was a stretch of bamboo forest. The road passed through this forest for about three hundred ters, winding through a low, hilly region.
A figure in black weaved through the bamboo, finally landing beside a drainage ditch on the side of the road.
"This is a good spot." The figure in black surveyed his surroundings, very satisfied.
The newcor was none other than Cheng Zongyang.
Although he had acted so unconcerned in front of Li Lu and Zhao the Seventh, seeming to resolve the issue through compromise...
...that was rely the public version of the story.
’Loose lips sink ships. If everyone only knows the public story, the chance of a leak is minimized!’
’Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the first group ca and left. That had nothing to do with the County Town.’
’And again, under everyone’s watchful eyes, the second group ca, took the grain, and left. That also had nothing to do with the County Town.’
’Even when a third group cos, they’ll never suspect that a bunch of ordinary townspeople from the County Town could have killed a total of eighteen Martial Artists ranging from the Ninth to the Seventh Grade!’
’With thousands of witnesses, no matter how the third group interrogates them, the only answer they’ll get is that the n ca and left with the grain.’
’As long as I take care of them here and retrieve the grain, this little feint will ensure everything goes back to normal.’
He imdiately closed his eyes and raised his right hand to the sky, as if summoning sothing.
「anwhile, at Soul-Soothing Slope in Jade Peak County.」
A seemingly ordinary, man-high Wordless Stone Stele suddenly trembled. The gray mist that had perated the three-ter area around it was instantly sucked back, vanishing completely into the Stone Stele.
The next mont, the body of the stele shuddered again, then shot up from the ground into the sky. It transford into a streak of gray light and vanished in a flash, heading north.
About four or five breaths later.
BANG! A Stone Stele fell from the sky, plunging into the ground two ters in front of Cheng Zongyang, leaving only a third of its height exposed.
Dirt flew, a shockwave blasted outward, and dust filled the air.
Cheng Zongyang waved his hand to dispel the dust. Seeing the recalled Soul Gathering Stele, a smile touched his lips.
"Now, to test the strength of your Ghost Wall."
He murmured, then imdiately looked at its new information.
——
Soul Gathering Stele
Tier: Tier Five
Yin Realm: 1300 ters
Quantity: 201/12000
Abilities: Ghost Wall Lv5; Illusion Lv2;
Other: Not Unlocked
Controller: Cheng Zongyang
——
Looking at the brand-new stats, Cheng Zongyang was secretly amazed.
’How long has it been, and it’s already Tier Five! And it even gained an Illusion ability.’
Cheng Zongyang sensed it for a mont and understood the Illusion ability’s function.
If the Ghost Wall was a visual illusion that made people unable to distinguish directions, then this Illusion ability targeted the mind.
"This makes things even simpler."
With a thought, gray mist billowed out from the Soul Gathering Stele, rapidly spreading to cover a 1,300-ter radius.
Only he could control the mist’s visibility, so he wasn’t worried that outsiders would see it before entering the area.
Once they unknowingly entered its range, they would be inside the Ghost Wall. At that point, he could make the gray mist visible.
With his preparations complete, Cheng Zongyang vanished from the spot and entered the Wilderness World.
"Luo Dingran, how goes the purchase of the Soul Crystal Stones?" Cheng Zongyang sought out Luo Dingran to ask.
"My Lord, I purchased three stones at dawn. The cost was 4,186 Points."
"Good!" Cheng Zongyang smiled.
After making his decision last night, he had Luo Dingran work through the night to purchase three Middle Tier Soul Crystal Stones.
Including the one he had saved, the four Crystal Stones were just enough to handle the twelve Martial Artists. The smallest was kept on standby, ready for imdiate use.
The Wilderness World would soon gain four new inhabitants.
With that settled, Cheng Zongyang left the Wilderness World.
The Yin Realm had already ford. Through his unique perspective, he could see the swirling gray mist blanketing the surroundings, a ghastly sight that was enough to make one’s blood run cold.
He retracted his unique observational perspective, and the environnt returned to normal.
Just then, he suddenly thought of sothing.
’If I had chosen the Cyan Netherworld Breathing thod back then, could I have used the Soul Gathering Stele’s Cold Yin Qi for my Cultivation?’
But he shook his head in the end. ’This isn’t Yin Qi, it’s Ghost Qi!’
"This world has Exotic Beasts and Demon Beasts... I wonder if it has ghosts, too?" Cheng Zongyang murmured. But then he suddenly looked around, his brow furrowing.
Because of the Yin Realm, the bamboo forest had beco unnaturally quiet. Anyone with a bit of experience would know sothing was wrong.
The Yin Realm covered a radius of 1,300 ters, which was more than enough to envelop the entire section of the main road.
At that mont, he turned his head and looked back.
Although they were still so distance away, his hearing could already pick up faint, disordered sounds, different from the rustling of the bamboo leaves.
’They’re here.’
Cheng Zongyang’s gaze sharpened.
anwhile, at the entrance to the bamboo-lined road, the middle-aged man and his group had arrived.
Just as Cheng Zongyang had expected, the middle-aged man in the lead, who had been laughing and chatting, felt that sothing was wrong the mont he entered the bamboo forest.
"Stop!" the man ordered in a low voice.
The n abruptly reined in their horses, drawing their blades in alarm.
Now, with their laughter, chatter, and the rumbling of cartwheels gone, it seed as if the entire world fell silent, leaving only the rustling of bamboo leaves.
"Sothing’s not right!" A young man also grew vigilant. He slowly approached the captain’s side, his expression grave. "It’s too quiet. Is it an ambush?"
The man didn’t speak, his hawk-like gaze sweeping across the surroundings.
Although it was a bamboo forest, the stalks weren’t very dense and the line of sight was relatively open. He could see the surrounding area quite clearly.
After about the ti it takes to drink a cup of tea, the middle-aged man saw no movent and finally waved his hand, signaling the group to move on. Their pace, however, was much slower now.
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