Volume 8: Chapter 17 – Arranging a rescue
I frowned as I said, “That’s something I found strange, unless……” Thinking about it, my expression suddenly changed.
Zhan Hu loudly exclaimed, “They’re already being controlled by the monster race?!”
Dong Ri, who was at Zhan Hu’s side, covered his mouth and said, “Boss, are you lest that no one knows about it?”
I wasn’t in the mood to care about that. With a resolute gaze, I said, “We must immediately head to the Demon race. If the Demon Emperor is being controlled, the entire world will be in danger. Monster King….Monster King, you’re really scheming. When the human race and the allied forces of the Demon and Beast races are severely injured, it’ll be time for you to resurrect into the world. Do you think invading the world is that easy? I definitely won’t let your schemes come true. Let’s go.” ‘Mu Zi, I’m coming for you.’
After two hours, we appeared near the Heavenly Falling Mountain.
When we looked up from the bottom of the mountain, the mountain was tall and erect, reaching to the sky and its midpoint was covered with white clouds, making it impossible to see its peak. It was no wonder that the Heavenly Falling Mountain was the natural defence for the Ström Fortress. It really was a perfect moat for the fortress.
Jian Shan’s expression changed as he said, “There’s a large group of men and horses heading this way. Quickly hide!” I listened with rapt attention. As expected, a loud horse’s hoof sounded in the distance. The twelve of us hastily hid within the thicket in the surroundings.
In an extremely short moment, a grand contingent appeared. Ah! It was unexpectedly one of the Earth Dragon corps from Xiuda. The leader was surprisingly Big Brother Shan Yun. Zhan Hu couldn’t bear not to get out from hiding and shouted, “Second brother!”
As soon as he showed himself, he was instantly surrounded by 10 massive Earth dragons. Big Brother Zhan Hu was too reckless. This was a battlefield. I stopped Dong Ri who was able to charge out from hiding, and indicated to him to wait and see how it would turn out. Zhan Hu loudly shouted, “Second brother, it’s me! I’m Zhan Hu.”
Shan Yun rode over on his Earth Dragon. When he saw Zhan Hu, he excitedly replied, “Third brother, why are you here?”
Zhan Hu smiled awkwardly and replied, “I’m on a special mission. Why are you patrolling here?”
Shan Yun jumped down from his Earth dragon and pulled on Zhan Hu’s hand. “Let’s go and have a chat by the side.” He turned his Earth Dragon around and told the soldiers who were at the side, “Order to the entire force, we’ll be resting here.”
Shan Yun pulled Zhan Hu to the side and slightly reproached him. “Brother, why did you leave after only leaving a message? Father was terribly enraged.”
Zhan Hu smiled embarrassedly. “Second brother, you should know that I’m used to a free lifestyle. If you really wanted me to join the military, I really wouldn’t be able to bear the restrictions. You should also know Father’s temper. He’s very stubborn and won’t listen to other’s opinion. I didn’t dare tell him that, so I just ran away.”
Shan Yun asked, “What’s your motive for coming here? Are you here to assist Xiuda’s forces?”
Zhan Hu shook his head. “We’re heading to the Demon race for business. It might have an impact on the entire situation.”
Shan Yun startled, “You’re going to the Demon race? Don’t you want to live anymore? You said we. Who are the rest?”
“Big brother Shan Yun, there’s me.” As I said that, I stood beside Zhan Hu.
Shan Yun looked was in shock as he saw me. He suddenly grabbed the handle of his sword. “Zhan Gong, aren’t you wanted by the Kingdom of Aixia? Zhan Hu, it can’t be that you’re heading to the Demon race with him, right? You’re jumping into a pit of fire. He is already allied with the demon race. Aixia has already announced the cancellation of Zhang Gong Wei’s status and privileges from the Kingdom of Aixia.”
I bitterly smiled. “It seems that you’ve misunderstood me.”
Zhan Hu said, “Second brother, if you said that someone else had betrayed humanity, I’d have believed you. But if you say that it was Zhang Gong, that’s impossible. The truth is like this…..” He summarized what I had told him about my experiences.
Shan Yun released his hand from the handle of his sword. He replied relieved, “So it’s like that. You’re heading to the Demon race to stop the Monster King.”
I nodded. “That’s correct. This matter is classified. I have to ask Big brother Shan Yun to help keep this a secret.”
Shan Yun replied, “I know the severity of this matter. Do you need my help? The commander in chief of the Xiuda forces is my father. I can help smuggle you into the fortress where you can teleport to the Demon race.”
I shook my head. “I won’t need your help with that. If we’re discovered, and His Majesty were to accuse us of being spies for the enemy, it’ll be bad. We’ve got some plans to get there. However, there’s something else that I need Big brother Shan Yun’s help with.”
Shan Yun replied, “Just tell me anything, as long as it’s within my capabilities.”
I replied, “You should know the risk of heading to the Demon race. I don’t know when we’ll be returning as well. Currently, there shouldn’t be many changes in the military campaign. I hope that when we return, Big brother Shan Yun can support us.”
Shan Yun nodded. He took out a delicate bamboo pipe. “No problem. The main defense forces of Xiuda are on the Eastern side. This flair is my special signal. You can take this, and when you return, you just have to fire it. I’ll immediately bring my troops to assist you.”
I took the bamboo pipe and smiled. “That’s awesome. Our safety is more assured now. Thank you, Big brother Shan Yun.”
Shan Yun replied smilingly, “You don’t need to thank me. You just have to take good care of my reckless Third brother.”
I chuckled and replied, “I still need Big brother Zhan Hu to take care of me. We are pressed for time, so we won’t bother you any further.”
Shan Yun replied, “Alright. I wish you all the best. You must be careful. If you think the matter is impossible to accomplish, with your skills, you should be able to escape.”
Zhan Hu said, “Second brother, please help me send my regards to father, and tell him that I’m fine. After coming back, I’ll definitely go and see that old man.”
Shan Yun replied, “I temporarily won’t be able to tell father that I’ve met up with you. If I haven’t brought you back, he might punish me by martial law. You just have to return safely. I have got to go. Order, continue to patrol.”
As Zhan Hu watched Shan Yun’s departing figure as he led the Earth Dragon corps away, his eyes moistened. I embraced his thick and broad shoulders and said, “After coming back, you’ll see them again.”
Zhan Hu rubbed his eyes before he replied, “Let’s go.”
We carefully entered the Heavenly Falling Mountain and found an unmanned flat stretch of ground.
I looked at the terrain in my surroundings before saying, “Let’s teleport from here.”
Since I had the Sukrad’s staff, I was prepared to send all of us in one go, but there would still be a definite risk factor to it. For our safety, I had set up 6 invisible defence arrays, encircling the entire open space. With this way, even if there were people that flew above us, they wouldn’t be able to detect us. Even if we were seen, it wouldn’t be easy for them to break through the unified forces of the 6 arrays. The reason for that was that for each of the arrays, I had used a blue magic crystal as its source of power, which would be able to support this magic array for half a year’s time.