Chapter 61: Ice Tide
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
"What you said is right but also wrong."
General Qin smiled, "There's no way to research the origins of Great Ruins. However, when we founded Eternal Peace Empire back then, we received an oracle. In the oracle, it stated that Great Ruins was a land abandoned by gods and wanted the people abandoned by gods to remain in Great Ruins and never come out. If any abandoned people came out, they were to be killed no matter what. From what I heard, other than Eternal Peace Empire, many other countries had also received similar oracles. However, there are not only aboriginals of Great Ruins living here, there are also vicious people who had no place left to go hiding inside Great Ruins. From what I see, these people are even more dangerous than the abandoned people!"
Seventh young master asked curiously, "I saw merchants entering Great Ruins at the border station, why does Eternal Peace Empire have to do business with the abandoned people of Great Ruins?"
"Young Master may not know this, but even though Great Ruins might be barren, their natural resources are plentiful. There are countless rare materials, precious treasure and valuable beast skins that can be exchanged with worthless items like seasonings. Why would we be against it?"
General Qin continued, "With the mutual exchange of assistance with Great Ruins at the border station, I don't even know how much we earned over these years. Using this money to supplement military use, it allows our Eternal Peace Empire to have a well-trained and powerful army that far surpasses other countries."
Seventh young master asked again, "What if there are abandoned people who try to sneak through the border, wouldn't that be bad?"
"Along with the oracle back then, there were also a few treasures. They were called Inspection Mirrors and were hanged on top of the mountain passes leading to Eternal Peace Empire. As long as they are abandoned people of the Great Ruins, they would be shone upon by the Inspection Mirrors. Imperial Preceptor guessed that the abandoned people might have a different lineage from us but he couldn't find anything different even after checking through their bodies."
General Qin smiled, "Every year the few mountain passes would capture many of the devil people who are trying to escape to our Eternal Peace Empire. Some of them were executed on the spot while others were brought to mine ores. It would be considered lucky for them to survive one to two years."
The ship gradually sailed away. On the cliff, Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration, "That person was very powerful. His eyesight was extremely strong, it's no wonder he could become a general at such a young age! He's trying to draft the topographic map of Surging River, could it be that the Eternal Peace Empire is moving their army into the Great Ruins?"
He was slightly puzzled. The Great Ruins was clearly a barren land filled with danger everywhere. Even after the sun sets, there would be the invasion of the darkness. He didn't think that it was a good idea for Eternal Peace Empire to move their army into the Great Ruins.
If the army of the Eternal Peace Empire that comes was too small, it wouldn't be enough to stuff the gap between the strange beasts' teeth. If it was too big, where would they hide when night falls?
It was because there was simply too much danger in the Great Ruins, which was why no one was able to rule the Great Ruins.
Not even Eternal Peace Empire.
If Eternal Peace Empire was to invade, they would take a hard fall!
Suddenly, Qin Mu remembered something and immediately requested, "Big fella, go back to Doom Suppression Palace immediately and destroy the map of the Great Ruins!"
Devil ape rose and grabbed onto dragon elephant. With a roar, it jumped onto dragon elephant and sprinted away.
"Since the Eternal Peace Empire is starting to draw the topographic map of Surging River, it would help them even more if they were to find the map in the Doom Suppression Palace." Qin Mu had an unsettled expression as he thought to himself.
It may be a pity to destroy the map but he had already memorized the Great Ruins' map deep in his mind and would never forget it.
Not long later, the river water suddenly became faintly red. Qin Mu was stumped as he looked upstream only to see the water becoming even redder!
"Young master, there are corpses in the river!" Hu Ling'er cried out in astonishment.
Qin Mu also saw the bodies but he didn't say anything. Looking upstream, more and more bodies floated down. There were huge fish and river beasts under the water as they churned up the water while taking the chance to eat these corpses, creating quite a commotion in the process.
Opening his Heaven's Eyes, Qin Mu saw the faces that were floating up and down in the water which made his body tremble. These corpses were the very same visitors that had hurried past Jade Cloud Valley just now!
With the churning river, the blood red became even more intense. Even the floating ice was dyed red.
This wasn't what a hundred corpses could do!
Surging River was very wide, with a width of three miles. With the rapid currents, the blood of a hundred people wouldn't be able to dye the river red.
Qin Mu's expression froze as he saw the tide of corpses that flowed down from upstream!
It's not just a tide of corpses, it was thousands of corpses being mixed with pieces of floating ice which formed an ice tide of corpses!
These people were the strong practitioners who were waiting to ambush the general. There was a huge amount of them, separated into batches, heading upstream and setting up a formation to ambush him. Yet they were all killed by the general!
To form an ice tide of corpses meant that these people had all died at the same time!
They had all died at the same time under the hands of the general or the strong practitioners on the ship!
Qin Mu composed himself. It was still the first time he had seen such a gruesome sight. It was even much gruesome than the massacre of the village he had seen when he followed Granny Si to deliver a baby when he was young!
Back then, his soul was frightened out of his body and was caught back by Granny Si. Now, despite being a martial arts practitioner, his soul still wavered upon seeing such a sight.
Too cruel.
If a small general of Eternal Peace Empire could be so strong and ruthless, how great would the impact be on these savage lands if the armored cavalry of Eternal Peace Empire entered the Great Ruins?
Qin Mu shook his head and chased away his uneasiness. He then turned to Hu Ling'er and warned, "Don't go out to drink these few days, tell your sisters to behave themselves as well and don't go out."
Hu Ling'er immediately nodded her head.
She may be a demon but the sight in front of her eyes had frightened her.
"Ling'er, go back first to find your sisters, I shall go down to have a look in case these thousands of corpses pile up and form a dam!"
Finishing what he wanted to say, Qin Mu leaped down and sprinted on the walls of the cliff until he reached the surface of the river. He then stepped on the river and left.
These corpses piled up with the floating ice and every place they passed, more floating ice were swept along as they continued to surge downstream. Qin Mu quickly caught up to the ice tide of corpses only to see it growing bigger. As the ice collided with one another to create a grinding sound, the corpses were squashed into broken pieces as they floated on the ice.
Sprinting three miles downstream, the floating ice had already piled up into a terrifying ice mountain on the river with corpses hanging off of it.
The ice tide and the ice mountain became heavier and taller as it slowly flowed forward. Even the river water flowing downstream was being blocked up, causing the surface of the river behind to rise.
Qin Mu frowned. The river was still flowing in a straight path but when it reaches the oasis where Woman Wu was, there will be a turn in Surging River. If the floating ice can't pass through there, it would become stuck and turn into a dammed lake. The river water and the floating ice would accumulate over time, stacking up to be three hundred yards in height!
When the ice tide and ice mountain can no longer withstand the pressure, it would shatter and collapse. The huge flood would sweep away and swallow everything in its path. No matter if it was a human or a beast, they would all be swept away by the flood!
There were many villages in the Great Ruins that were constructed at the riverbank to allow easy traveling. If the flood was to burst forth, he had no idea how many villages would be destroyed from the disastrous outcome!
"Granny Si and the rest are still downstream dredging the river. They probably still don't know that a dammed lake is about to form here. There's only Village Chief left in the village and it is inconvenient for him to move so who can help me solve the issue with the ice tide?"
Qin Mu pondered over strenuously. The ice tide had flowed past the Disabled Elderly Village while giving off grinding sounds as the ice chunks collided with one another. With his power, there was no way he could solve the ice tide.
At the village entrance, Village Chief was unperturbed until he suddenly saw Qin Mu and the ice tide flowed by in front of the village with his eyes wide opened. He then shook his head and smiled, "This punk, causing trouble again…"
Because of the blockade caused by the ice tide, the river level had almost spread to his legs. At this moment, vital qi flowed out from where Village Chief had broken his leg and transformed into two legs. He then stepped up into the sky and sat down, looking at Qin Mu.
These legs were formed by vital qi and looked no different from real legs. If his vital qi was dispersed, his legs will vanish as well.
"That's right, I can find Woman Wu!"
On the river, Qin Mu's eyes lit up and immediately hastened his footsteps. With a few strides on the river surface, he leaped onto an ice mountain and with a burst of force, he leaped forward and left the ice tide behind him.
Sprinting forward with flying speed, he finally reached the oasis in the heart of the river in just a short while. The oasis was like a lonely island and on the island was a temple which was restraining an old monster called Woman Wu.
Qin Mu reached the oasis in just a few steps and rushed straight into the rundown temple.
Inside the temple, a little girl with three braids was swaying its legs in utter boredom as it waited for its preys to send themselves to the door. Seeing Qin Mu rushing in, its eyes turned red with fury from meeting its foe. The little girl immediately leaped down from the Buddha's hand and hid behind the Buddha statue, staring intensely at Qin Mu with hatred.
"Woman Wu, I mean no harm!"
Qin Mu quickly explained, "The ice tide is almost here, I need your help to shatter the ice tide!"
The little girl came out from behind the Buddha statue and jumped onto the hand of the Buddha again without much interest, "Not interested. The ice tide happens every year and with the protection of the Buddha statue here, the ice tide won't flood this place."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered and said, "I can cut off your chains and set you free!"
Woman Wu's eye lit up before becoming dull again as it shook its head, "If it were the elders in your village, they could cut off the chains but you can't."
Qin Mu's vital qi surged out and swept up the Junior Protector Sword from his back and gave a chop down!
Clank—!
A huge sound resonated out and one of the chains wrapped around the great Buddha had a deep crack. What was weird was the crack in the chain was actually healing automatically.
Without further explanation, he roused his vital qi and chopped down with another swing!
Clank, clank, clank. A series of crisp sound rang out and a chain was soon cut off by Qin Mu!
Woman Wu was stunned. Astonishment and delight rose up in its heart. However, the copper Buddha suddenly opened his eyes and shouted with his thunder like voice, "Evil creature, how dare you spoil my religious practice and spoil my merit?"