Chapter 911
Mr. Zhang is here!
All around were the incessant sounds of chewing and heavy breathing. Without commands, the herd descended into utter chaos; several blue-backed wolves were tearing at each other over a piece of armored rhinoceros flesh, the clanging of their sharp teeth carrying far through the mist. Zheng Yi slid past a fiery lion that was munching on its meal; the flames from the beast's mane burned his sleeve, emitting a pungent, acrid smell, but he didn't even breathe; his heartbeat was as steady as a rock.
The deeper you go into the black pine forest, the more rugged the terrain becomes.
Zheng Yi stopped behind a withered poplar tree at the edge of the forest. A clearing had been forcibly cleared out of what was once a dense forest, and the mist seemed to be partially repelled by some force, vaguely revealing the outline of the camp inside.
That's not a monster's lair.
That was a human camp.
"Is it still not done? That demonic ape's life tablet is broken. That guy surnamed Zheng must have discovered something!" A sharp, sarcastic voice pierced the deathly silence of the forest.
Zheng Yi was as thin as a sheet of paper, clinging tightly to the shadow of the moss-covered tree trunk. He held his breath, his pores closed, minimizing his presence.
"What's the rush? The demonic ape is dead, but as long as the mother flag of the 'Ten Thousand Beasts Blood Spirit Array' is still there, those tens of thousands of beasts can still flatten Hongyun City." Another voice sounded much calmer, but it carried a sinister ruthlessness. "Huang Delong, when you asked me to cooperate, you didn't say that Zheng Yi was a tough guy who could kill a sixth-order demonic beast."
Zheng Yi's heart sank: Huang Delong?
The Huang family.
Before the establishment of Hongyun City, the Huang family had almost monopolized the trade of medicinal herbs and grains within a radius of several hundred miles. Since the establishment of Hongyun City, Zheng Yi has promoted the sale of grain at fair prices and established welfare homes. The Huang family's shops have declined day by day, and even their privately set up checkpoints, on which they depended for survival, were completely demolished by Iron One-Eyed and his men.
"Master Wu, my Huang family has mortgaged three gold mines to buy these Soul Control Crystals!" Huang Delong's voice became urgent, and he paced back and forth anxiously, his boots making a harsh cracking sound on the dry branches. "We originally thought this wave of beasts would turn that city into ruins, but who knew that Zheng would actually build some kind of Black Rock City Wall. If this drags on any longer, once the Qingyun Sect finds out, my Huang family will be completely finished!"
"Hmph, Qingyun Sect? They're busy dealing with the demonic chaos in the south right now, they don't have time to bother with this poor mountain village." Master Wu sneered. "These beasts are just leaderless now. Once I put on this 'Bloodthirsty Array Stone,' they'll go berserk and won't stop until they've smashed down the city walls. Then, the Hongyun City land deed you want, and that Zheng guy's head, will all be yours."
Zheng Yi moved silently to the side of the camp.
He saw clearly that in the center of the open space stood a pitch-black flagpole about ten feet tall. The flag looked as if it were made of countless layers of human skin sewn together, covered with twisted red patterns. Those patterns seemed to be alive, constantly writhing and sucking up the bloody aura in the air.
Around the flagpole sat six family guards dressed in yellow, each holding a spirit stone that emitted a faint glow, continuously injecting spiritual power into the formation.
Huang Delong was standing by the flagpole, his brocade robe looking comical and out of place in the muddy woods. He was clutching a stack of yellowed documents tightly in one hand, his knuckles white from the force.
"Hurry up! That purple-gold sword energy... I felt it in the forest just now." Huang Delong's voice trembled. "As long as Zheng Yi is dead, I'll build the biggest den of iniquity in the city's location. I'll make those lowly people kneel on the ground again, begging for my meager rice!"
A flash of extreme disgust crossed Zheng Yi's eyes.
He had initially assumed it was orchestrated by a rival sect or a powerful figure vying for control of the land's veins. He never imagined that this catastrophe, which had left tens of thousands of people hanging by a thread, was solely driven by the pathetic possessiveness and personal vendetta of a cunning merchant.
For a little commercial impact, you let tens of thousands of monsters slaughter the city?
"Master Wu, that mother flag... can it really stop that sword cultivator?" Huang Delong was still uneasy and reached out to touch the black flag.
"Don't touch it!" Master Wu shouted abruptly. "This Blood Spirit Array is connected to the souls of all the demonic beasts outside. They are currently in a state of equilibrium. If it is disturbed, you cannot bear the consequences. No matter how strong that Zheng fellow is, he is just a lone wolf. He can't get in. I have set up three layers around this array..."
Before he could finish speaking...
A faint, extremely light sword sound suddenly rang in Master Wu's ears.
It didn't come from afar; it seemed to explode directly from the depths of his consciousness.
"Who?!" Master Wu's expression changed drastically. He turned around abruptly and his hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals.
However, it was too late.
Zheng Yi's figure was no longer concealed; he seemed like a war god stepping out of the void. The purple-gold longsword in his hand did not burst forth with dazzling light; instead, all its energy was contained to the extreme, and the air around the sword was distorted and collapsed due to the high compression.
"Manager Huang, I'm afraid your den of extravagance is beyond repair."
Zheng Yi's voice was as calm as ice.
He glided through the void, transforming into a streak of purple-gold lightning. Ignoring Master Wu's defensive spells, he went straight for the jet-black mother flag.
"Stop him! Stop him now!" Huang Delong was so frightened that he collapsed onto the muddy ground, scattering the stack of land deeds in his hand.
Although the six Huang family guards were shocked, they instinctively drew their weapons from their robes. However, they didn't even see Zheng Yi's movements. As Zheng Yi passed by them, his sword sheath trembled slightly, and six thin sword energies precisely shattered the spirit stones in their hands.
The spiritual energy instantly backfired, and all six of them coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.
"You surnamed Zheng! You're asking for death!" Master Wu roared, taking out a small bronze shield from his robes. The shield instantly grew larger, attempting to block the mother flag.
Zheng Yi did not draw his sword.
He simply extended his left hand, and in his palm, a small, almost adorable, golden fire lotus was slowly rotating.
"burst."
The fire lotus flew out of her hand and lightly bumped into the dark flagpole.
There was no dramatic explosion as expected.
The moment the golden flames touched the black flag, it was like a red-hot iron being pressed into snow. The red patterns formed from human skin and blood emitted a series of teeth-grinding screams, and then the originally orderly pulsating flow of blood-red energy instantly turned into a chaotic mess.
"No! Stop now!" Master Wu rushed over frantically, trying to stabilize the formation.
“It’s too late.” Zheng Yi held his sword in one hand, coldly watching the scene unfold.
With a crisp "crack," the massive black flag snapped cleanly at its base. In that instant, the power that had been repelling the mist completely collapsed.
At that moment, Zheng Yi keenly sensed that the chaotic panting of the demonic beasts in the black pine forest outside paused for a second. That silence was even more terrifying than the oppressive atmosphere before a storm.
Master Wu's face turned deathly pale. He stared intently at the broken flagpole, his lips trembling as he stammered, "You...you madman. You destroyed the mother flag...do you know what this means?"
"It means they are free." Zheng Yi sheathed his sword.
"No, it means that these tens of thousands of beasts will lose their last shred of reason at this moment!" Master Wu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, not even bothering to pick up the magical artifacts on the ground, and turned to run wildly to the other side of the forest. "Backlash... the backlash of the Blood Spirit Array is coming! They will tear apart every living thing they see!"
Huang Delong stood there, stunned. He frantically picked up the mud-covered land deeds, muttering, "Land deeds...my land deeds...Master Wu, why are you running? Kill him!"
Just then, the first roar came from the woods.
The sound was no longer a probing attack, nor a controlled charge, but a wild release filled with violence, pain, and endless hunger.
Zheng Yi stood at the edge of the open space, looking at the armored rhinoceroses that had been crouching around. The moment the mother flag broke, their eyes changed from murky blood red to unfathomable pitch black, and then burst into a frenzied green flame.
An armored rhinoceros crashed into the camp, its massive head knocking the tent in front of it flying, and its gaze instantly locked onto the Huang family guards standing there.
"what--!"
The screams instantly tore through the forest.
Without the cover of the formation, the camp looked like a piece of fatty meat placed in the center of a dining table in the eyes of the hungry and angry beasts.
"Help! Mr. Zheng, save me!" Huang Delong finally reacted. He looked at the giant beast that was panting heavily as it charged towards him, and scrambled towards Zheng Yi. "I'll give you all the money! Hongyun City is yours! It's all yours!"
Zheng Yi looked at him expressionlessly.
"This is someone you recruited. Manager Huang, you can stay here and slowly savor the wine you brewed yourself."
After Zheng Yi finished speaking, he transformed into a gray shadow once again and lightly leaped onto the top of a towering red pine tree.
Looking down from the treetops, the entire Black Pine Forest had transformed into a boiling killing field. The unrestrained beasts had descended into a frenzied, indiscriminate attack. The armored rhinoceros, which had been advancing towards the city wall, was now furiously using its horn to launch the blue-backed wolf beside it into the air.
The Huang family's camp had been completely overwhelmed by the beast horde.
Huang Delong's wails were quickly drowned out by the continuous roars of the demonic beasts. Zheng Yi saw that the so-called Immortal Master Wu hadn't run far before he was shoved into the mud by several rock eagles swooping down from above.
"He deserved it."
Zheng Yi stood on the treetop, the wind making the fur of his fox fur tremble.
He looked towards Hongyun City. Because of the collapse of the mother flag, the black torrent that had been pressing towards the city gate began to disintegrate due to infighting. Although some scattered demonic beasts were still impacting the city walls due to inertia, the organized and rhythmic destructive pressure was rapidly dissipating.
"Tianyou, Sanhuai, the rest is up to you."
Zheng Yi took a deep breath. He didn't return to the city immediately, but instead sat cross-legged on a treetop. He was waiting.
Once the rage caused by the collapse of the formation has been completely released...
In the woods, the air was thick with the smell of blood.
Huang Delong's land deeds, scattered in the mud, were trampled into a crack in the ground by a passing Flame Lion, and then crushed into mud by the horde of monsters that followed.
At this moment, on the Hongyun City Wall.
Guo Tianyou, who was lying on the edge of the stack, rubbed his eyes and said, "Sir, look! Those beasts are fighting!"
Zhao Sanhuai was also stunned. He saw that the armored rhinoceros, which was originally lining up to crash into the wall, suddenly turned its head and pierced through the earth dragon following behind it with one of its horns.
"The Mother Flag is destroyed." Master Kulian, sensing the disappearance of the evil energy in the air, slapped his thigh, tears streaming down his face. "Master succeeded! That was the commotion caused by the collapse of the Mother Flag!"
"Brothers! Open the city gates and shove them in the ass!" Iron One-Eye struggled to his feet from who-knows-where, his body wrapped in bandages, a stick in his hand, laughing wildly as he shouted, "Take advantage of their chaos and kill them!"
"kill--!"
For the first time, the battle cries from Hongyun City drowned out the roars of the demonic beasts.
The rising sun finally pierced through the gloom of the past few days, its pale golden rays pouring unhindered onto the black rock walls outside Hongyun City. The wind was no longer as cold as a knife, but instead carried a nauseatingly strong stench of blood, burnt smells, and the acrid, sour odor of ruptured monster entrails.
The water in the moat was no longer recognizable as its original color; a viscous, dark red liquid flowed slowly through the gaps in the barbed wire. Several mangled armored rhinoceros carcasses were stuck in the middle of the river like small islands, and large patches of solidified fat and charred fur floated on the surface. Flocks of carrion crows circled in the sky, emitting hoarse cries, but because of the lingering chill of death on the city walls, they circled for a long time without daring to actually land.
Zheng Yi's boots made a sticky, squelching sound as they stepped into the muddy mixture of blood and bits of flesh. He pushed open the heavy iron side door and entered the city.
"Sir! Sir is back!"
Zhao Sanhuai, who had been dozing against the city gate, was suddenly jolted awake. He had been clutching a dulled machete tightly in his hand, but the moment he saw Zheng Yi in his grey fox fur coat, his hand trembled, and the machete clattered to the bluestone slab. He limped along, stumbling and crawling towards Zheng Yi, his eyes instantly reddening.
"Why are you crying? I'm back safe and sound, aren't I?" Zheng Yi patted Zhao Sanhuai's shoulder, the bloodstains on his fingers leaving dark red marks on Zhao Sanhuai's coarse cloth clothes. "The Huang family outside is all dead, and the beast tide has receded. How's the situation in the city?"
"Good! All good!" Zhao Sanhuai wiped the soot and tears from his face and pointed to the top of the city wall. "It's just that everyone is exhausted. In the middle of last night, those beasts suddenly went crazy and started biting each other. We watched the show from the top of the wall all night. Boss Tie didn't die, but he broke eight bones. He was just yelling that he wanted to be carried up to the top of the wall to watch him being skinned alive!"
Following the direction Zhao Sanhuai pointed, Guo Tianyou was standing on a cart loaded with stones, waving a ledger stained with bloody handprints. His voice was completely hoarse, and the sounds he made were like two rusty pieces of iron rubbing together. (End of Chapter)