txolops Chapter 44 Journey Westward Across the Mountains
Chapter 44 Journey Westward Across the Mountains
The fog outside the Valley of Firewood had not yet dissipated.
A mountain wind swept in from the valley entrance, carrying the damp, cold, and grassy smell, feeling like a thin knife against his face. Huang Chen stood on a high rocky slope, glancing back at the fire hidden in the mist in the valley.
That is the torch.
It is also the foundation that has been built up little by little over these days.
Huang Chen lifted his foot and walked away.
The Mountain and River Boots stepped onto the rocks, and the spiritual patterns on the soles of the boots glowed slightly. The person then glided more than ten feet along the mountain ridge.
Rocks flew up from beneath his feet, but his figure was as light as a shadow, and he quickly disappeared into the western mountain range.
This time, he didn't bring anyone else.
The first stage of the main quest, "Intervening in the History of the Primordial Era," is already upon us, with Mount Buzhou just further west. But Huang Chen has no intention of foolishly plunging headlong into it.
That place was a wild and desolate land.
The closer you get, the more mixed the creatures become, with demonic energy, witchcraft, and chaotic spiritual energy all swirling together.
Even a fierce battle between powerful demons can send low-level cultivators flying and turning them into bloody pulp.
"Rushing to your death is not called being on the right track, it's called being stupid."
'
Huang Chen cursed under his breath, but didn't stop walking.
He deliberately chose to travel along high ridges, rift valleys, and rocky ridges, avoiding plains whenever possible and bypassing marshes whenever possible.
Several times during the journey, he activated his Blood Fiend Sensing, closed his eyes and stood still to capture the remaining fiendish energy from the distant battlefield.
Wherever there is a surge of bloodlust, that's where we'll turn away.
Avoid places where demonic energy gathers.
Over the course of three days, he barely slept through the night.
They traveled by day, explored at dusk, and meditated for two hours in a sheltered crevice at night before continuing their journey. The fasting pills could stave off hunger, and the vital energy pills could alleviate fatigue, but the aching and swelling in their bones couldn't be suppressed.
On the afternoon of the third day, the sky suddenly darkened.
A layer of leaden-gray clouds pressed down on the western sky, so low it seemed to touch the ground.
The wasteland was shattered by the flood. As far as the eye could see, there was only cracked frozen soil, churned silt, and crisscrossing gullies.
A gust of wind blew, and the chill seeped into my bones through my trouser legs.
Several low hills in the distance were half-covered by ice, but closer by, dark brown muddy water could be seen slowly flowing through cracks in the ground. The cold and dampness intertwined, carrying an indescribable fishy smell, like animal hides soaked in rotten water for too long.
Huang Chen lay crouching behind a tilted, bluish-gray boulder, squinting as he looked ahead.
There was a temporary campsite about three or four miles ahead.
A dozen or so black tents were pitched beside a crevice in the ground, surrounded by crooked wooden stakes and animal bone banners, the banners crackling in the cold wind. In the center of the camp were three prison carts, their wooden wheels half-buried in the frozen mud, their surfaces engraved with twisted water-patterned forbidden symbols that faintly gleamed with a cold, bluish light.
Dozens of humans were chained together and being driven toward the edge of the crevice to carry cold crystals.
Those icy crystals are not ordinary minerals.
Each piece, about the size of a palm, was pure white and buried in the fissures of the earth's veins, its surface still covered with a pale blue frost. Every time the laborers dug one out, the demon soldiers beside them would use bone hooks to pick it up and throw it into a black wooden box.
Someone was too slow.
Snapped!
A bone whip lashed out, and blood splattered directly onto the ice.
The one who was whipping people was a foreman covered in slippery fish-scale armor.
The thing was long and slender, with a human-like face, but two pale lines were split along its cheeks. Its eyes were bluish, it carried a long-handled fork in its hand, and a tail covered in slime trailed behind its waist.
Cold Marsh Demon Envoy.
Huang Chen stared at him, his eyes cold.
This thing is not from the orthodox witch clan.
To put it bluntly, they were water demon leaders who recruited, escorted, and supervised people for the Gonggong tribe, doing all the dirty work. To the witch tribe, humans were laborers, sacrificial offerings, and resources; to these vassal demons, they were more like a string of livestock to be squeezed dry.
At the edge of the camp, an old miner's legs buckled and he knelt in the mud.
The icy crystal in his arms fell and chipped off a corner when it hit the ground.
"Spare...spare my life..."
The old man was trembling violently, supporting himself on his hands and not daring to lift his head.
The swamp demon slowly walked over, its tail dragging across the muddy surface, leaving a sticky water trail.
"If one piece is damaged, then replace it with another piece of blood."
It grinned, revealing sharp teeth, and its voice sounded like wet wood scraping, "Drag it over."
'
Two scaly demon soldiers grinned maliciously as they stepped forward, grabbed the old man by the hair, and dragged him to the edge of the crevice. Below the crevice, chilling air surged, and a vast expanse of crystal ore could be vaguely seen buried deeper within.
A skinny boy rushed over and clung tightly to the demon soldier's leg.
Don't kill him!
I'll take his place! I'll take his place!
'
The demon soldier raised his foot and kicked.
The boy rolled two zhang away, crashed into a wooden stake, and coughed up blood.
Huang Chen's face hardened as he watched, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged, but he didn't move immediately.
Now is not the time.
He needs to find out the situation of the camp first.
This period of rest lasted for half a day.
The sky darkened, and the cold wind grew stronger. Huang Chen changed positions three times, using the rocks, ditches, and partially collapsed mounds to circle almost the entire area around the camp.
Three prison wagons. Eight patrol teams patrolled the perimeter, each with three to four demon soldiers, and their routes were not fixed.
Beneath the fissure lies flowing water, its veins connecting to a low-lying swamp ditch to the east of the camp. The Swamp Demon usually resides in the largest black tent, emerging at night to patrol the mine.
The most troublesome thing is that the permafrost beneath the camp is not solid.
This is both a good thing and a potential danger.
Huang Chen held the Soul-Destroying Chisel in his palm, calculating in his mind.
First, break the prison cart's protective markings.
The trampling cracked the frozen ground, causing chaos in the camp.
If the demon soldiers are thrown into disarray, the human race will have a chance to escape.
Even the Frost Swamp Demon Envoy will be forced out.
As night fell completely, the wilderness was eerily quiet.
There was only the wind and the occasional screams that echoed from the camp.
Huang Chen swallowed a Qi-replenishing pill, regulated his breathing, and activated the Breath Concealing Technique.
His aura instantly subsided, even the heat in his flesh and blood diminished by more than half. Then he took out the Wind-Stabilizing Pearl, suppressing the rustling of his clothes and the sound of sand at his feet, and skimmed low to the ground.
In the darkness, he was like a moving, cold stone.
Beside the first prison cart, two demon soldiers were dozing off while holding bone forks.
Huang Chen emerged from behind the car, covered one of them's mouth with his left hand, and slammed his right fist into the other's back.
boom.
The muffled sound was mostly swallowed up by the sound of the wind.
The demon soldier's spine was broken, and before he could even struggle, he collapsed into a limp puddle.
The other one had just opened its eyes when Huang Chen's bloodstained bone knife had already slit its throat.
Hot blood sprayed onto the wooden bars of the prison cart, instantly freezing into a dark ice shell by the cold air.
The people inside the car huddled together, their pupils dilated, staring intently at him.
Huang Chen lowered his voice: "Don't shout."
'
One of the people inside bobbed his Adam's apple and nodded frantically.
The Soul-Destroying Chisel was pinned into the forbidden rune node by his backhand.
Click.
The blue-green light pattern trembled and cracked open.
One more time.
The entire forbidden pattern flickered between light and shadow, then exploded into fragments of light with a snap.
"Listen, when things get chaotic, run northeast. There are ravines there where you can hide."
'
Inside the prison van, a man with half his sleeve torn off said in a hoarse voice, "My benefactor, there are two more vans..."
"I'll go open it."
Huang Chen broke the lock and released the man. He then repeated the process, breaking the protective seals on the other two prison carts.
When the third car was opened, a boy covered in injuries was huddled inside.
It was the same person who rushed out to save the old man during the day.
His legs were trembling when he crawled out, and his face was covered in frozen mud and blood scabs. Huang Chen glanced at him again.
"Can it still run?"
The boy gritted his teeth: "Yes."
'
"What's your name?"
"Lan Gu".
'
Huang Chen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Beside the last prison cart, a scaled demon soldier finally sensed something was wrong. He turned around and saw the corpses all over the ground, and opened his mouth to let out a fierce roar.
Huang Chen's feet sank, and his Mountain and River Boots slammed into the ground.
Click!
The ground trembled violently, and then large sections of frozen soil collapsed and cracked as if an ice shell had been smashed open by a heavy hammer. Cracks spread out along the center of the camp, and tents, wooden stakes, and braziers all fell to the side. Several demon soldiers fell into the cracked mud pit before they could even finish their screams.
The entire camp erupted in chaos.
"Enemy attack!"
'
"Someone's kidnapping slaves!"
"Hold the mine crevice!"
'
A cacophony of shouts, cracking whips, and wailing erupted all at once.
Huang Chen grabbed Lan Gu's shoulder and shoved him away: "Take them and run!"
'
After saying that, he casually cleaved the charging demon soldier with his sword, and then used the collapsing ground to rush towards the central black tent.
The black tent exploded with a loud bang.
A pale blue figure rushed out from inside, enveloped in a foul, chilling mist, and thrust a three-pronged fork straight at Huang Chen's throat.
The envoy from the Frozen Swamp has arrived.
It was incredibly fast and ruthless, its fork tip flashing with three points of cold light, making the air crackle with cold. Huang Chen didn't dodge; instead, his shoulders and back suddenly slumped, and the spiritual light of his Xuanhuang armor rose half an inch as he rammed head-on into it.
puff!
The water splinter still pierced his left shoulder.
A bone-chilling cold immediately seeped into his meridians.
Huang Chen felt a sweet taste in his throat, but he didn't back down an inch. He grabbed the fork with his right hand and punched his opponent in the face with his left fist.
The swamp demon didn't expect him to fight like that. It screamed and lashed out with its tail, slapping Huang Chen's side.
Huang Chen groaned, his waist and abdomen burning, but he used the momentum to press himself even closer.
They're close now.
These water sprites are most afraid of being touched closely.
He immediately discarded the Asura Blood Blade, and used both hands simultaneously. With one hand, he grabbed the neck of the Cold Swamp Demon Envoy, and with the other, he tore at the crack on its cheek. He then slammed his knee into the mud, driving it hard into the ground.
boom!
Ice and mud splashed everywhere.
The swamp demon envoy struggled frantically, its claws leaving several bloody scratches on Huang Chen's chest, and it spewed out icy mist: "You're courting death!"
Gonggong Council—
"Knows nothing."
Huang Chen cursed and slammed his forehead down hard.
Boom!
The blow caused the other person's nose to collapse, and blood to flow freely.
The swamp demon envoy was stunned by the impact. Just as he was about to raise his trident, Huang Chen stepped on it, and the Mountain and River Boot crushed his wrist into pieces.
Click.
The screams were piercingly sharp.
The surrounding demon soldiers were in disarray; some tried to rush forward, while others were busy capturing escaped slaves, making it impossible for them to form an encirclement and kill the enemy.
Huang Chen glanced at him and suddenly dragged the Cold Swamp Demon Envoy toward the crack.
"Don't you like to use people to fill the gaps?"
'
"Here, try it yourself."
The swamp demon finally panicked, squeezing out a muffled, shrill sound: "Spare me—"
Huang Chen pressed its head down and shoved it hard into the icy mud.
a bit.
Two times.
On the third blow, the slippery, grotesque head was smashed into a crack in the frozen earth, half its face shattered, and brain matter mixed with blue blood sprayed onto the icy crystals. The creature's limbs twitched a few times, then remained completely still.
At the same time, a system notification exploded in my mind.
【Ding!
The target, "Frostswamp Demon Envoy," was detected to have committed grave sins and has been slain!
Gained 12000 Karma Points!
】
Immediately afterwards, another notification appeared.
【Ding!
The side quest "Rescue the Laborers of the Cold Plains" has been completed!
【Mission Requirements: 1. Slay the Frost Swamp Demon Envoy (Completed)】
[Mission Requirements: 2. Rescue the manipulated humans (Completed)]
The side quest "Rescue the Laborers of the Cold Plains" has been completed!
【Mission Requirements: 1. Slay the Frost Swamp Demon Envoy (Completed)】
[Mission Requirements: 2. Rescue the manipulated humans (Completed)]
[Rewards: 12000 Karma Points, 4000 Merit Points!]
】
Huang Chen took a deep breath, wiped the blood from his mouth, and turned to kill.
With their leader dead, the vassal demon soldiers collapsed on the spot.
Some people are fleeing.
Some people even wanted to take two convicts hostage.
Huang Chen punched each enemy with deadly precision, striking them down in close combat and giving them no chance to linger. Meanwhile, the humans who had escaped seized the opportunity to counterattack with pickaxes and stone hammers. In less than half an incense stick's time, only a handful of demon soldiers remained standing in the camp.
The wind grew colder.
The ground was littered with corpses, and blood had congealed into a dark crust on the frozen mud.
The broken brazier lay askew to one side, the charcoal still crackling and emitting a choking odor.
None of those who were rescued spoke up.
It was as if they couldn't believe they had actually survived.
Huang Chen first scanned the camp to make sure no one had slipped through before pulling out the broken water splinter from his shoulder.
When the skewer was removed from the flesh, it brought out a string of blood droplets, and the area around the wound was already frozen white.
He frowned, casually swallowed a Rejuvenation Pill, then took out the oil from the demon soldiers' tent and set the camp ablaze.
The fire, fanned by the wind, quickly blazed up.
The black tent, the cage, the bone banner, and the wooden box were all swallowed up by the flames.
A group of people stood not far away, staring blankly at the firelight.
Huang Chen walked up to them, his gaze sweeping across each of their faces.
There were about forty people, young and old, men and women. Almost everyone was injured, with their ankles and wrists worn down to the bone, and some even had water-patterned slave marks branded on their bodies.
The man with the homosexual sleeve was the first to kneel down.
"My benefactor..."
His voice trembled as he slammed his forehead into the mud.
After he knelt down, everyone behind him followed suit.
Huang Chen raised his hand: "Stop knocking, save your energy for the journey."
'
Suppressed sobs could be heard from the crowd.
Lan Gu stood at the edge of the crowd, her fists clenched until they turned white. Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she could only manage to stammer out, "My grandfather... that old man from earlier in the day..."
Huang Chen remained silent for a moment, then glanced at a corpse that had been whipped and then frozen stiff by the cold air.
Lan Gu's eyes immediately turned red.
He didn't cry out loud, but gritted his teeth and his shoulders trembled.
At this moment, a pale-faced middle-aged man staggered out from the back of the crowd.
His left leg was injured, and he was dragging half a chain around his foot. His eye sockets were sunken.
"My benefactor, my name is Xin He."
Huang Chen looked at him.
Xin He looked around and lowered his voice: "These water demons aren't just digging for icy crystals. For the past month, they've been transporting things westward, not by the main road, but through secret passages carved along underground water veins."
'
Huang Chen's brow furrowed: "Transport what?"
"Black chain".
'
Xin He licked his dry, cracked lips, his Adam's apple bobbing. "It's as thick as an arm, covered in pulse-suppressing talismans. We laborers dig out the cold crystals, bleed it, and nurture it to suppress the cold evil spirits of that thing."
According to the demon messenger, it was sent to the outskirts of Buzhou Mountain.
Another rescued miner standing nearby quickly chimed in.
"Yes, yes, I saw it once. The escorts weren't ordinary demon soldiers, but soldiers from the Gonggong tribe wearing black armor."
They were all carrying bone axes, preventing anyone from getting close.
"They travel at night, following the waterways."
'
"Sometimes they would bring in new convicts to fill the vacancies; they died quickly, so they were replaced just as quickly."
As Huang Chen listened, his gaze slowly darkened.
Zhenmai Black Chain.
It's "Suppressing the Meridians" again.
He already possessed fragments of the Zhenmai Black Chain, its core, and remnants of the Sacrifice Key, and was wary of such methods. Now, with the Gonggong tribe frequently mobilizing troops outside Buzhou Mountain and even opening a secret passage specifically for transporting the Black Chain, the matter was far from trivial.
The wind carried sparks that blew over and hit the side of his face, burning hot.
Huang Chen turned his head to look west.
In the depths of night, it was pitch black.
It felt like something was pressing down on it, making the sky seem lower.
"We can't stay here any longer."
He withdrew his gaze and said crisply, "Those who can leave, leave now."
"In the northeastern mountain hollow, there is a sheltered cave; hide inside first."
Lan Gu looked up: "If those demon soldiers chase after us—"
I'll handle it.
'
Xin He hesitated and asked, "My benefactor, are you alone?"
Huang Chen tore off the animal skin rope he found in the demon soldiers' tent and threw several packets of dry food and medicine to them.
"There are many of you, and your tracks are more obvious. You're more likely to die if you follow me."
'
He paused after speaking, then added, "Let's survive first."
No one dared to offer any further advice.
Under the cover of night, the group moved northeast. The elderly were carried on the backs of the young men, while the seriously injured were supported by two men on either side. Their steps were unsteady, but no one complained.
After escaping the camp, every step they took seemed to be accompanied by the fear that the firelight would suddenly catch up with them, and they dared not look back.
Huang Chen brought up the rear, casually erasing some obvious footprints and re-covering several sections of the route with gravel and frozen mud.
After walking for about half an hour, the terrain ahead gradually rose, revealing a rock wall eroded by the wind. Sure enough, there was a natural valley below the rock wall, a recessed section that could barely provide shelter from the wind.
As soon as everyone went inside, several women collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Huang Chen took out two bottles of Rejuvenation Pills and had Xin He take them according to their dosage. He then placed several Concealment Talismans in the cracks of the rocks near the cave entrance. A faint light flashed, and the wind and rocks outside immediately became distorted.
'
Lan Gu sat in the corner, hugging her knees, and suddenly looked up at him: "What's your name?"
Huang Chen glanced at him: "Huang Chen."
'
The boy silently repeated the name, as if trying to memorize it.
The firelight illuminated the stone walls outside the cave, and the wind whistled as it rushed in through the narrow opening.
The crowd suppressed their cries as they tended to their wounds; occasionally, someone would gasp for breath, their voice trembling.
Huang Chen didn't stop.
He stood at the entrance of the cave and looked down at the half-dried watermarks on the ground.
That wasn't rainwater, nor was it frost melting from the ground.
It's a thin line that seeps out from the cracks in the rock after the underground water veins surge. The swamp ditch near the Cold Swamp Demon Envoy's camp extends along this vein.
He squatted down, dipped his finger in the tincture, and brought it to his nose.
fishy.
cold.
There is also a very faint metallic taste.
Like the rusty smell left by black chains soaking in water for a long time.
Huang Chen stood up, tightened the black wind cloak, and his figure slid silently down the rock wall.
From the ravine behind her, Xin He called out in a low voice, "Benefactor Huang!"
Huang Chen didn't turn around, he just raised his hand and waved. His feet had already stepped over the gravel, and he followed the faint water vein trail, heading west into the deeper darkness of the night.
The wind swept across the wasteland, stirring up fine, snow-like ice shards.
A narrow, long rift valley lay silently across the night ahead, with the sound of water coming from its bottom.