Chapter 670: Chapter 399: Attempting to Attack Humans_2
When the two wolves left the castle, night had already settled in the sky and they began to trot along the city’s streets. A thick scent of blood lingered in the air, but they couldn’t follow the scent with beasts everywhere. Some blood came from human soldiers, some from careless beasts, and some scents came from civilians resisting the beasts.
As they crossed the city, Miss Sun and Yan Xiaobao couldn’t help but frown because they noticed there wasn’t any fighting. The city currently showed no signs of battle, yet strangely, there were no beasts celebrating their victory. Yan Xiaobao felt a tremor in his heart, wondering if he had made a wrong decision by letting the Saints Team go fight the Crusaders, but he dared not express his concerns. Instead, they continued through the city streets, turning randomly here and there. They both silently felt that something was utterly wrong. Nearly 200,000 experts should be inside the city, but not a single live beast or human could be heard.
"Do you think they are all dead?" Miss Sun trembled as she spoke, but Yan Xiaobao shook his head vigorously. "No," he assured her, "although the Crusaders are powerful, they are not that strong." He promised her. The scent of blood suddenly intensified, mixing with the scent of death. As they got closer, they finally found the army they had been looking for.
In front of them, Yan Xiaobao saw a large group of soldiers. None of them moved, but as they looked closely, both the Great Marshall and Lady Sun could see that they were breathing. Most of them were injured, some more severely than others. On the other side were beasts with more severe injuries and other beasts with an affinity for Wood.
Although these beasts were injured, they all seemed alert. Everyone who could stand stood, their bodies tense, eyes constantly searching the surroundings for any movement. In the beasts’ eyes, there was no fear. Caution was the best word to describe their current mindset.
Passing through the many soldiers, Yan Xiaobao and Miss Sun reached the innermost part of the street. Here, they found an injured Wan Qiao. Her arm had been severed, and a part of her chest had been grazed by whatever had cut her arm. In front of her was a black cloak, black ashes on the ground. Several therapists were treating Wan Qiao, her face full of anxiety as she slowly but surely closed her wounds with the help of the experts around her.
When the Single-Horned Jasmine Hawk looked up, she saw Yan Xiaobao and Miss Sun approaching, and her annoyed expression turned into a smile as she gently stopped the therapists treating her. She stood up and walked toward the two other cultivators.
"We did well here," she said with a smile. "Though there were only a hundred Crusaders, they were indeed a formidable enemy," she continued. "I managed to take out one of the Crusader’s Saint Fighters, and once he died, the others retreated. Before we pursued them, I prioritized healing my own wounds."
Wan Qiao was staring wide-eyed at Yan Xiaobao, her face showing a trace of a tentative smile. It was clear she was waiting for his praise, and her face lit up with a smile. "You did well," he said with a smile, his words causing the hawk to become smug. Her face showed a hint of a smile, clearly having forgotten all about the half-healed wounds on her arm and chest.
"Tell me what happened here," Yan Xiaobao said happily, as Miss Sun and he looked around. The houses were damaged, and roads were shattered. There were holes in the walls, and the huge stone blocks that made the walls and roads had been completely destroyed.
"We found the Crusaders," Wan Qiao began, sitting back on the ground, allowing the therapists to resume treating her while she explained what had happened. "We discovered the Crusaders in an alley full of beasts; even Mr. Pan was there." As she spoke, Wan Qiao’s voice trembled. Despite being the strongest beast in the Divine Domain, she had lost one of her best friends. Remembering seeing him lying on the ground, his head on the ground, was the hardest part for her. Wan Qiao cleared her throat, quickly wiped her eyes, and continued, "The Crusader was lying there as if Mr. Pan had killed him, his cloak as if greatly twisted by his corpse, but listening to Zhu Zhu’s voice, I knew it wasn’t as simple as it appeared. Although I knew, it still shocked me how fast they could launch an attack as soon as I approached. I even got injured. As soon as they attacked, many lower-ranked Crusaders appeared from the shadows and began attacking the lower-ranked beasts. Although many were injured, we didn’t lose that many beasts. We even managed to kill some Crusaders."
"When you die, you would never guess how they look!" Wan Qiao continued enthusiastically as she pointed at the cloak in front of her. "Here’s one. But if you lift the cloak, you’ll find only ashes. But if you lift the cloaks of some other Crusaders, you’ll find them underneath." As she spoke, Wan Qiao stood up again, turning to some other cloaks lying on the ground. While some cloaks were just cloaks, others seemed to contain something inside. Lifting the first cloak, Yan Xiaobao discovered ashes fell out and there was nothing inside. Frowning, Yan Xiaobao moved to one of the other cloaks. One seemed to have something inside, and as he approached, the odor of rotting flesh emerged. He slowly lifted the cloak, finding only a half-descomposed corpse inside. In another cloak was a complete skeleton. About ten Crusaders were killed, all in various stages of decomposition. Some were ash, some were skeletons, but others were just rotting flesh.
"I know, right?" Wan Qiao asked from behind, "It doesn’t make any sense. They were clearly dead, yet somehow they were once human. Very human. This is a blackened bone hand that makes me very upset. After being defeated, by the way, he turned into black ashes there. But how they moved around in different stages of decomposition, without scent, without collapsing, is beyond me. I really don’t understand at all." She continued, and Yan Xiaobao had to agree. He knew these Crusaders must be dead, yet they still obeyed orders. It was as if they were an Undead Army. It must be a Necromancer’s ability, but Yan Xiaobao had never heard Deng Wu mention anything about controlling bodies, and if he could do it, then it would be completely different.
"I’d better take note of this," Yan Xiaobao murmured as he looked at the numerous Crusaders. Suddenly, he frowned when he saw the skeleton. There were four little holes on the forehead, tiny, looking like they were made with an unbelievably sharp needle. Looking at all the Crusaders without ashes, he discovered everyone, regardless of who they were, had four small pin-like wounds on their foreheads.
"How strange," Yan Xiaobao remarked with a bitter face. Clearly, it had some significance, but as for its meaning, Yan Xiaobao didn’t know. Yan Xiaobao sighed deeply and let it go. He watched the beasts tending to their wounds or assisting others in preparing for a large-scale hunt. Some were continuously stacking the wounded. Although the battle had just ended, there was no sense of calm and relaxation. The tension in the air made everyone very vigilant and worried about when the Crusaders would attack again. Although they were previously on alert, they were still surprised when many lower-ranked Crusaders appeared from the shadows, even though now everyone anticipated any possible attack. The fact that the Crusaders escaped was both a fortunate thing and an unfortunate thing.
"Now that we are aware of their tactics, it’s good," Yan Xiaobao murmured, "it’s a good thing we have time to see the injured. But they have the chance to ambush again, and we don’t know where they are hiding." The war was still ongoing, and Yan Xiaobao was the one who had to take control. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide. "Emperor!" he shouted as he ran back to the Royal Castle. Behind him followed all the other beasts able to move as they rushed through the city. Wan Qiao was at Yan Xiaobao’s side and to the right of Miss Sun. The eyes of the two Saints were filled with fury, while the rushing Yan Xiaobao sighed deeply.
"Now it’s your turn," he said to Lan Feng, allowing the two, bird and human, to switch places. The moment Lan Feng took over his body, both Wan Qiao and Miss Sun felt a tremor. Watching the man stand beside them, Wan Qiao quietly asked, "Is that you, young man?" When she saw Yan Xiaobao nod, she breathed a sigh of relief. Though Yan Xiaobao was powerful and capable of using Lan Feng’s power, Phoenix was more experienced.
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