Chapter 1043: Chapter 711: The Eerie Statue (Part 2)
Only upon getting closer did they realize that the village was already in ruins, as if it had suffered an attack. Some houses had collapsed, while others had large holes, and one even seemed like it had been stomped by a giant foot, with footprints still discernible.
The houses in the remnants of Rushou were also covered with powerful Formations, yet they were still destroyed like this, leaving one to imagine how fierce the battle must have been ten thousand years ago.
"The singing is over there."
Banji pointed to a towering black iron building.
This black iron building was taller and more magnificent than the surrounding houses, resembling a mansion. Although the walls were also smashed, its distinctiveness was still recognizable.
The group immediately headed towards this mansion. The city wall was about four or five meters high, but it was no obstacle for them. They leaped up and stood steadily on the wall, then looked inside the city wall.
But soon, everyone was slightly stunned!
Right in the center of the courtyard stood a person!
It was a man with a tall and majestic stature, a resolute face, clad in golden armor, holding a giant axe. Standing there, he seemed like an insurmountable mountain, intimidating any intruders.
Neither Ye Qiniang nor Xing Meng, and even Xiang Beifei and the Diviner were taken aback!
Because this man was the very same who appeared on the broken bridge earlier, pursuing Lan Keju!
"Is he real?" Ye Qiniang exclaimed in astonishment.
Lan Keju asked in confusion, "You’ve seen this person?"
Everyone looked at each other. Among this group, only four knew this man in golden armor; Banji, Lan Keju, and Xifeng hadn’t seen him.
Ye Qiniang gazed at this motionless figure in uncertainty for a long time before saying, "We just saw him chasing you earlier—in other words, he’s the one who killed you."
"Killed me?"
Lan Keju seemed not to quite believe Ye Qiniang’s words. Though disguised as having late Immortality strength, he was in fact a master of the Inquiry Dao Realm, with definite self-preservation capabilities.
"Are you sure? This guy isn’t human at all," Lan Keju said.
Indeed, the figure in golden armor ahead was not a real person, more like a statue cast from black iron, exuding no aura, nor did it pose any threat, purely resembling a dead object.
However, the one seen on the broken bridge earlier carried an immensely terrifying aura and murderous intent, a formidable killing intent even Ye Qiniang dared not underestimate.
"There are statues over there as well," the Diviner pointed out.
Sure enough, in many corners of the courtyard, there were statues of men clad in golden armor. All these statues were of the same man, but strangely enough, no two statues had the same pose.
The statue on the left sat in the ruins with a trace of sorrow on its face. Ten meters away from this statue stood another one, the man standing with hands clasped behind his back, gazing skyward, his eyes filled with resolve.
On the other side, a man held his helmet in hand, head lowered as if in meditation.
Striding forward with furious roars, fists clenched in anger...
Every conceivable pose!
Without exception, they were all statues of the same man, as if someone’s life trajectory carved into these statues, placed at intervals.
This scene was exceedingly eerie.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Lan Keju, be careful," Ye Qiniang warned.
"I am aware, I won’t be reckless, rest assured," Lan Keju replied in a deep voice.
Although he didn’t believe what Ye Qiniang saw would happen to him, since the remnants of Rushou were a peculiar place, he maintained heightened vigilance.
Having cultivated to the Inquiry Dao Realm, how could one be careless in this place?
"Follow me closely, don’t touch these statues recklessly," Ye Qiniang instructed.
"Alright," Lan Keju nodded slightly.
The song in the courtyard grew increasingly mournful and clearer, seemingly emanating from somewhere in this yard.
Everyone came here to explore opportunities, so naturally, they needed to investigate this place. They couldn’t give up just because the statues were bizarre. They cautiously circumvented the statues and proceeded forward.
Moments later, another statue appeared in their view.
This statue was once again of the man in golden armor, but this time he was seated on the ground, holding a frail woman in his arms.
This woman was not a statue; she was a real, living person!
"A living person?" Ye Qiniang frowned.
"No, not a living person," Xiang Beifei replied.
He didn’t see the Dao embryo in her, definitely not a living person.
The statue of the man held the woman tightly, his face sorrowful, as if he were crying, with his mouth slightly open, as if calling to the girl in his arms.
The girl’s face was pale, and there was a blood-red hole in her chest, as if something had just pierced through her, causing severe injury.
But she was still singing with effort, as if she sang only for the man to hear.
"My heart longs for my love, my love has gone to war, I await my love’s return, come to bring me into the chamber..."
She stretched out her hand, touching the face of the statue holding her tightly, tears slipping from the corner of her eyes.
Everyone was infected by that atmosphere of sorrow, no need for words to be spoken, just by the song, they seemed to understand the unfolding story.
She was a passionate girl, whose beloved donned armor to protect his homeland and fought on the battlefield at the edge of the cliff. The girl waited, year after year, but her love never returned, instead, the iron hooves of the enemy trampled the fortress.
The girl was powerless to fight back, she wept, she trembled in fear amidst the chaos of war until an enemy soldier found her and violated her.
But she had always guarded herself for her love, unwilling to give herself to anyone else. She resisted, preferring death to submission...
Boom!
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, startling everyone. The song became increasingly urgent, no longer mournful, but filled with anger and resentment.
Xiang Beifei and others watched the girl warily, though there was not enough threatening aura about her to harm them, for some reason, they felt a shiver down their spines!
The girl slowly stood up from the embrace of the statue, still crying, her eyes red from tears.
"Why is there war? Why can’t we coexist peacefully? I don’t like war, I don’t like it! Don’t like——"
The girl screamed sharply.
Crack!
Suddenly, red lightning struck down from the sky, but it did not hit Xiang Beifei and them, instead, it struck each of the statues!
Buzz!
All the statues seemed to tremble slightly, and then began to move with cracking sounds!
Then waves of terrifying killing intent surged out from each statue like a storm, engulfing the entire courtyard.
Crash!
All the statues started to move, picking up the axes in their hands, coldly staring at this group, surrounding everyone.
Xing Meng realized something, turning his head and shouted: "Lan Keju, did you touch anything?"
"I didn’t touch anything!" Lan Keju replied irritably.
He was very cautious, not likely to touch things randomly!
Yet as soon as he spoke, the ground began to shake, forming cracks that seemed to turn the black iron roads into giant black bridges as if they were melting.
"Watch out!"
Ye Qiniang and others were suddenly pushed apart by these black bridges, trying to smash them, but found they couldn’t be resisted; in the blink of an eye, everyone was scattered!
Xiang Beifei stepped on the black bridge in the air, flying up, trying to get closer to the others, but he saw a shadow below.
Bang!
In the chaos, no one noticed Lan Keju was hit by a terrifying force, smashed onto the broken bridge, and at some point, an arm had already been severed!
"Ye Qiniang, what the hell is going on? What on earth is this damned thing?"
Lan Keju looked terrified at the approaching golden-armored man, just in that chaos, he didn’t even have time to resist before his arm was cut off!
At this moment, Ye Qiniang, Xing Meng and the Diviner stood shocked, watching this scene!
This scene was so eerily familiar!
Just less than half an hour ago, four of them had seen this!
"Lan Keju, watch out!"
Ye Qiniang shouted angrily and rushed towards Lan Keju.
But the golden-armored man transformed into a fierce golden light, wielding a long axe, and slashed down towards Lan Keju!
Pfft!
Lan Keju’s Spiritual Power defense, originally surging, was like paper and was smashed by the axe, unable to withstand the terrifying and powerful axe, splitting Lan Keju directly in two from head to toe!
Even his Dao embryo was shattered directly!