Chapter Eighty-Three: The Caravan

Because of the delay caused by sending the telegraph and dealing with the bodies, today’s descent from the mountain came later than usual.

If it had been a few days earlier, no one would have thought much of it.

But after just surviving an attack by demons, once night fell, the darkness only magnified the fear in people’s hearts.

Not only the raw recruits, even some of the veterans could not entirely hide the unease on their faces.

No one knew whether those strangely vanished demons might suddenly appear again.

Everyone hurried along in silence.

Wang Zhenglin tightened the formation, protecting the machine-gun squad and the signal corpsman.

At the same time, as they withdrew, they left marks on the trees at intervals so they could locate the route more easily next time.

Fortunately, by the time they reached the transport vehicles at the foot of the mountain, they had not run into any more demons.

Just as the machine-gun squad was loading the electric-bolt guns onto the truck, a strange rumble suddenly rose again from the mountain.

Remembering Du Huaishan’s analysis, and fearing the demons might reemerge because of activity deep in the strata, Wang Zhenglin urged them twice. “Faster! Move!”

Hearing the deputy squad leader’s anxious tone, the soldiers also wanted to get away from this eerie place as quickly as possible. Several men rushed over to lend a hand, grunting as they heaved.

The machine gun was loaded aboard, and the veterans climbed up after it in a hurry.

Only when the truck finally started moving, and everyone looked back at the pitch-black outline of White Crane Mountain behind them, did the knot in their chests loosen at last.

“Huai-shan, what did Deputy Squad Leader Wang ask you about?” one of the new recruits from the Seventh Training Unit could not help asking once they had left the mountain pass.

“Nothing more than asking me to describe what happened in detail,” Du Huaishan said casually, brushing it off with an excuse.

But some of the trainees did not believe him.

“Brother Hao, that kid was called away for so long. There’s no way it was just a simple questioning.” Cai Zhizhong turned his back, facing out beyond the truck rail, and muttered quietly into Xing Zhenhao’s ear. “Do you think he found some merit and is keeping it to himself, not sharing it with us?”

Xing Zhenhao hesitated for a moment.

To be honest, he did not believe Du Huaishan’s offhand explanation either. The demons’ sudden departure was definitely not normal; there had to be a serious problem behind it. But what exactly was it...

He felt as though he had heard Lin Zhaoshu mention something like it in theory class, but he simply could not recall.

There was nothing to be done. Xing Zhenhao had practiced martial arts for many years and had spent all his time at the training grounds; he had long since ceased to be the sort of man suited to books and writing.

As for a drifter like Cai Zhizhong, his mind was equally blank. “Should I go and try to coax something out of Li Mingcheng? That kid seems pretty stupid...”

“That won’t help,” Xing Zhenhao said. “Li Mingcheng has been glued to Du Huaishan the whole time, never leaving his side.”

Just as the two were whispering, Guo Tingyu suddenly leaned in and cut in. “Don’t worry, Huaishan is definitely not the kind of person to hog credit. Besides, merit records go through a strict review process. When the time comes, everyone involved will be questioned.”

Seeing this, Cai Zhizhong immediately stopped talking. His narrow, triangular eyes scanned Guo Tingyu warily from top to bottom. “That’s what Du Huaishan told you, isn’t it? Who knows if it’s true or false...”

“Heh. Believe it or not.” Guo Tingyu had a good impression of Xing Zhenhao, but he had always detested the lackey beside him.

He truly could not understand how a straightforward man like Xing Zhenhao had gotten mixed up with such a venomous, rat-like creature.

“You!”

“Brother Tingyu is right,” Xing Zhenhao said, patting Cai Zhizhong on the shoulder as though soothing a younger brother. “Since we came here on the same team as them, we should cooperate honestly.”

Though Cai Zhizhong was usually sycophantic and calculating, his master had favored him greatly.

Now that the Eagle Claw Fanzi Sect had been destroyed, leaving only the two of them, Xing Zhenhao, as the senior brother, had to take care of this younger companion.

Seeing that Xing Zhenhao would not stand up for him, Cai Zhizhong could only forcibly swallow his anger.

There was no helping it; his martial skill was not up to par.

Without the shelter of his sect, he could only cling to Xing Zhenhao. Only by keeping the senior brother satisfied could he survive this chaotic age.

But now Xing Zhenhao had yielded again and again, and the resentment building inside Cai Zhizhong only grew heavier.

Du Huaishan.

Guo Tingyu.

Even that big-shouldered water peddler, Tan Hai, could trample on me!

No. If I do not vent this rage, I, Cai Zhizhong, will never be able to hold my head up again!

If Xing Zhenhao cannot be relied upon, then it seems I will have to find someone else to help me...

At that thought, a face suddenly flashed through Cai Zhizhong’s mind: Nie Renjie!

“Look, there seems to be light on the side!” someone in the ranks of the new recruits suddenly shouted.

By then, night had already fallen deep. The last trace of sunset stretched its long shadow over the wasteland, staining the entire expanse a dusky purple-red.

Beneath that grape-colored twilight, everyone faintly made out a few glimmers like fireflies, as though they were vehicle lamps.

“A convoy is approaching,” said a veteran, lowering his binoculars.

Under ordinary circumstances, Wang Zhenglin would not have thought much of it. But at a time like this, his nerves instantly tightened.

Du Huaishan likewise frowned, instinctively placing his hand on the hilt of the military knife at his waist.

After noticing this, Xu Yuan also shifted slightly to the side, choosing a more agile position.

The convoy drew nearer.

It was a black foreign-made vintage car, followed by two transport trucks.

Wang Zhenglin tightened his grip on the reins and, with a glance, signaled Pei Qingfeng to ride over and warn them. “Listen, convoy ahead: we are on military duty, do not approach! If you do, you will be treated as the enemy!”

After Pei Qingfeng shouted the warning, Wang Zhenglin raised a hand, instructing the men from the machine-cannon section to prepare the machine gun.

It was not very effective against demons, but against humans it was an absolute killing weapon.

“Don’t shoot! We’re a merchant convoy! We were attacked by demons on the road and came for help! There are wounded on the truck—don’t shoot!”

Someone on the transport truck responded at once.

Du Huaishan raised his binoculars and looked more closely, and sure enough he saw someone clutching an arm, blood streaming down from their forehead.

The side of the black vintage car in the middle had been struck by something heavy; the entire door was caved in and warped, and all the windows were smashed to pieces.

He found that old-style transport vehicle oddly familiar, as if it were one of the merchant convoys that had been ahead of them when they set out from Yan Shun City.

He had even asked Wu Ming about them at the time, so he remembered the gang enforcers riding in those trucks.

Wang Zhenglin also recognized them as merchants from the vicinity of Yan Shun City. Seeing wounded aboard, and the gang enforcers raising their weapons to show they meant no harm, he relaxed slightly.

But the main thing was that they had indeed been attacked by demons.

“Demons attacked you? Where?” he asked, slowing down so the two convoys could travel side by side while he watched the direction from which the merchants had come.

“Reporting to you, sir, it was near the northeast slope of White Crane Mountain. Our master had gone today to buy medicinal herbs from the herb gatherers, and was attacked by demons at the foot of the mountain.”

“All the gatherers were killed. Our master’s car was smashed in one blow, and one of my men was taken down as well. This arm here has a broken bone too. Sir, do you have any medicine for stopping the bleeding on board? Please save this brother’s wretched life!”

The speaker was a rough-faced man in a black homespun short jacket, his hair tied in a ponytail, bowing with clasped hands on the truck bed.

Beside him, the subordinate with the bleeding arm was in very bad shape indeed; it looked as though his forearm had been snapped clean through, his face white with pain.

There were two old transport trucks.

One carried medicine, the other people.

Du Huaishan studied the gang enforcers aboard carefully.

There were twelve in all.

Including the rough-faced man speaking, four of them had different-colored pupils, meaning they had completed spirit possession.

For a civilian gang, that was already exceptionally strong; no wonder they had escaped the demon attack.

The gang members were also curiously examining the trainees on the trucks.

Looking at their cotton armor and the arm-mounted grappling gear flashing with scarlet light, their eyes were full of envy.

Among them, a thin, dark middle-aged man kept glancing left and right, then suddenly met Du Huaishan’s gaze. After that, the two of them simply stared at each other.

Yes.

They stared at each other for a very long time.

“Fine then, logistics—bring the medical kit!” Wang Zhenglin was planning to toss them a packet of medicine.

The logistics soldier had just lowered his head when, clang, clang, clang, clang!

Several sharp reverberations rang through the air.

The sound jolted him wide-eyed as he rapidly entered his demon-human state.

Whoosh—whuummm!

The rough-faced man let out a furious roar.

From the ground, four small tornadoes of earth, each more than ten meters high, suddenly sprang up and spread outward!

Horses neighed in terror. The windshield of the transport truck was instantly pelted by dust, and a shower of gravel and dirt crackled against the glass.

Many of the veterans and recruits involuntarily narrowed their eyes.

Some forced themselves to keep them open through the sting.

“All units, prepare for battle!” Wang Zhenglin roared at the top of his lungs. “Machine-gun squad, attack!”

The veteran in the machine-gun squad hurriedly raised the gun, only to hear a tremendous tearing sound through the air.

Amid the yellow dust, there was the rough-faced man, his body like a bear’s, wielding a huge crimson broad blade nearly as tall as a man with both hands, whirling forward like a cyclone as he hacked down at high speed!

Screech!

With a grating metallic shriek, the rough-faced man’s terrifying strength caused the broad metal blade to cut through the railing in an instant.

The two machine-gun veterans closest to him were struck by the blade’s light on the spot, and blood burst from their chests in two sprays.

Gun and man alike were split cleanly in two!

The tremendous force sent the entire transport truck lurching violently to one side before overturning in an instant.

At the same time, the other three members of the gang who had completed spirit possession also moved.

The thin dark man and Du Huaishan almost simultaneously entered their demon-human states.

The former’s clothing tore apart, revealing the metallic leather vest underneath. His entire skin turned a pale gray-white, like the White Impermanent from the underworld come to claim a life. His muscles lengthened, black fissures appeared on both sides of his face, and his hands became like the claws of a fiend.

Clang!

The thin dark man swiftly drew two short blades linked by thin tubes from his waist. With two whooshing sounds from the shoulder mounts of his vest, two streaks of silver shot out.

Mobile grappling lines!

The elite trainees were horrified, unable to believe that apart from the military, even ordinary gangs could obtain such things.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, the thin dark man transformed into a bolt of lightning and came killing in at high speed.

He’s coming for me!?

Seeing the cold gleam slash toward his face, Du Huaishan yanked out his military knife.

The second to strike was Xu Yuan.

The two of them nearly jumped from the truck at the same time. In the next instant, the thin dark man had already reached the transport truck, his twin short blades instantly stabbing through a trainee.

At the same time, his body spun like a top, blade light and purple shadows slicing through the surrounding trainees, while in the same instant he flashed toward Du Huaishan in midair!

What terrifying speed!

This must be ended quickly!

Du Huaishan’s gaze sharpened. His black-red demon eyes were ringed with blood, and the instant that purple light shot toward him, he vanished in midair.

Whoosh!

The thin dark man’s twin blades slashed through the black-red afterimage.

“Die!!”

With a booming blast, Du Huaishan suddenly appeared behind him, black mist coiling around his whole body, his eyes domineering and cold. He swung the military knife with all his strength, drawing a savage streak of silver through the air!

Form, will, and five elements:
Single-Pass Horizontal Blade!

But the instant he struck, a blinding light suddenly exploded from the thin dark man’s body.

Editor’s notice: the book will go on sale this Friday, and I hope everyone will support the first-day orders then!