Chapter 202: Ghosts
Trantor: Sparrow Trantions Editor: Sparrow Trantions
On the tnd, a small caravan was trotting along an arduous journey.
Based on what Yu Jian had said, the environment around the region here was harsh. asionally, there might be ice storms, and temperatures would drop drastically at night. Wild beasts native to the icy ins might even appear, and without the protection from the spiritual array, it would be a daunting task for them to even survive.
The vige would form the caravan on a regr basis and head towards Descending Star Country. Usingrge amounts of low-quality staples, they were able to trade for top quality salt, weapon, and necessities they need for their survival.
Of course, thergest caravan would be the one escorting the contribution to the spiritual array master in Descending Star Country for him to continue to maintain the array.
It was a pity that the most experienced and respectable person in the vige was Vige Head Shi. In reality, he was also rather inexperienced and could only boast about his travels and experiences in Descending Star Country when he was younger. To Fang Yuan, this was considered nothing worthy.
"Descending Star Country is just ahead. We will reach there after 8 nightfalls!"
Among the caravan, Yu Jian was extremely excited.
The caravan consisted of many people, and there were many full sacks on the cart. The animal pulling the cart along was a huge ck boar. It had a hump on its back and it was covered in blubber.
Based on what Yu Jian had said, the ’ck Peak Boar’ was extremelymon here. It was the most widely used ride and its thick blubber allowed it to withstand the cold. It could evenst a few days without food due to its fatty reserves. Furthermore, it ate anything that was given to him. Most importantly, it was a delicacy.
As he described, the young boy swallowed his saliva; his mind was filled with the fragrant taste of roasted meat.
Fang Yuan had a cart to himself. He was one of the few who did not have to walk on his feet. Looking at the ck Peak Boar, he was speechless.
To serve its whole life, and to end up at a delicacy, it was a selfless animal.
"Eh? This caravan is too quiet!"
The well-built guard who was leading the vigers was Li Hu. He was 7-feet tall and was a proud man. He draped a tiger’s hide around him and held a Hundred Casted Knife. After walking around, hemented.
The region around Descending Star Country was not a safe ce to be. As long as it was beyond theke which surrounded the city, anything could happen here and the soldiers of the city would not care.
Furthermore, the harsh environment produced many hardy beasts native to the region. These were the best type of animals for the caravan to hunt.
Previously, in the many times they had escorted the goods, even with the apany of vigers from other viges, there were always being ambushed, which caused them to lose their goods.
However, this journey was a peaceful one; there was not even an animal in sight.
’This is the power of a skilled martial artist!’
Li Hu looked at Fang Yuan and his eyes were filled with admiration.
’It’s a pity that I’m too old. There is no hope for me in learning martial arts. Also, this lord has not expressed his interest in any of the girls in our vige...’
He sighed inside. Suddenly, he saw Yu Jian walking forward to talk to Fang Yuan, and gave a hopeful look.
Perhaps, the entire vige’s hope wasid on this young boy.
...
"Beasts native to the icy ins? Compared to normal beasts, these beasts have a little spiritual property!"
As his magical will shook, Fang Yuan detected an icy snakeying in ambush nearby. Slowly, Fang Yuan gave off a hint of spiritual aura.
The snake had killed many animals on its way here and was filled with a murderous vibe.
However, just a little spiritual aura from Fang Yuan was able to strike fear in the snake, and it escaped.
Along the way, if not for Fang Yuan who was secretly helping them, this small caravan would have encountered dangers everywhere, and it would be a miracle if anyone here could survive.
"This region is indeed harsh!"
Fang Yuan grabbed a handful of ck rice and thought to himself.
This was the main produce of Rock Vige. It had an average taste and it felt like grains of sand; dry and tasteless. The only good thing about this rice was that it grew at an exceptional rate and was resistant to cold weather. This was enough for survival in this region.
Furthermore, there were only a few pieces ofnd near Rock Vige which could support the growth of this rice. It needed constant care and protection, or it would be eaten by wild animals, which would result in a reduced harvest.
In this caravan was almost half of the entire vige’s stock of ck rice.
"Everyone, stay alert!"
Li Hu eximed. "We are reaching Red Leaf Vige ahead. We have good rtions with their vige head, and we can request him to let us stay over in their vige for the night!"
"It was a peaceful journey this time. If we can make it to the city, we can surely trade for a lot of top quality salt, and over 13 pounds of scrap metal..."
Yu Jian followed the vige ountant along the way and slowly learned how to calcte. His eyes were filled with joy.
In the Descending Star Region, every child had to contribute their part to the vige. In the face of survival, everyone was equal and there were no priorities given.
"Red Leaf Vige?"
Fang Yuan sighed deeply and called for Yu Jian. "You have good rtions with their vige head?"
"That’s right... Red leaf Vige is close to Descending Star Vige. They have a huge t and fertilend nearby and their protective array is much stronger than that of Rock Vige..."
Yu Jian’s eyes were filled with envy. "Our vige head had once saved the life of the vige head of Red Leaf Vige, whichid the foundation for their rtionship!"
After these few days, Fang Yuan had a rough understanding of the happenings in this region.
In the Descending Star Region, thend nearer to Descending Star City would be more fertile, and the viges who could upy thesends were stronger.
Yu Jian’s vige was only at the fringe of the region and was considered the poorer viges. On the other hand, Red Leaf Vige was considered average. However, there were still in a simr situation whereby they were still taken advantage of by Descending Star City.
Red Leaf Vige had gotten its name from the red maple leaf that it produces. This maple leaf was valuable as it was an ingredient to many medical concoctions. Since there was a demand for this leaf in Descending Star City, the vigers would harvest some leaves while they hunt, which helped them be slightly wealthier.
Although they only stayed here for a while, Yu Jian was already full of admiration for Red Leaf Vige.
"Lord, look over there! That’s the Red Leaf Forest!"
After walking for a distance, Yu Jian pointed to a red forest not far from them and eximed with envy.
As Fang Yuan looked over, his expression was weird.
"Wait a moment!"
Li Hu’s face started to appear serious as well. "We’ll stop here temporarily. Follow me, and we’ll check it out!"
"What happened?"
Yu Jian let out a curious look on his face.
"I’m afraid Red Leaf Vige has run into some trouble..."
Fang Yuan shook his head. "Look... There’s no one attending to the surrounding farms and this Red Leaf Forest... Don’t you think it’s too peaceful?
"You’re right!"
Yu Jian nodded his head and was stunned. "What... what about the vigers? Where have they gone to?"
"Let’s take a look for ourselves and we’ll know the answer!"
Fang Yuan walked up and looked at Li Hu. "Let’s go!"
"Alright!"
Li Hu nodded his head and was excited.
Although it was mysterious and felt ominous, the fact that this mysterious and highly skilled lord was willing to go with him reassured him.
He called for to other vigers, both of which were martial artists who had obtained inner force, and ordered them to follow Fang Yuan as they walked towards Red Leaf Vige.
"Lord, wait for me!"
Yu Jian clenched his teeth and followed them as well.
...
"This is..."
As they approached Red Leaf Vige, Li Hu gave an unpleasant look.
Red Leaf Vige was originally filled with energy and life, but now, all they could see was blood! There were huge patches of blood everywhere! A rotting stench filled the air and Yu Jian immediately became pale and turned over; he did not dare to look at the mess.
"Human blood?"
Lu Hu bent over and smeared some blood on his finger. There was fear in his voice.
This scene was too horrendous.
"Furthermore... This would mean that there are a lot of people who died. Where are their corpses? Where did their corpses go?"
Quickly, he arrived at the boundary of the vige.
The stone walls were covered in moss and there were a few spiritual inscriptions glowing; it was obvious that it had been here for over a year. There was nothing wrong with the protective array.
However, there was no one behind the vige!
"I’m Li Hu from Rock Vige! Is the vige head here?"
Looking at the vige which was partially covered with a thinyer of fog, Li Hu clenched his teeth and eximed forcefully, but there was no response.
Seeing this, he remained silent. Clenching his teeth, he turned around and left.
"Let’s go, don’t look back!"
He instructed Yu Jian and the other two vigers as he headed back to where they came from. "Let’s continue our journey without any more breaks!"
As he returned to the caravan, Li Hu quickly chased the ck Peak Boar as though it was a crazy dog and they journeyed on.
"What happened?"
Fang Yuan only caught a glimpse of the vige and was unsure of many things. The most crucial thing was that there were no signs or clues of murder.
Li Hu’s face stoned. After a long while, he finally spoke, and his voice was hoarse. "Death without a corpse, and coupled with the fact that the protective array is still intact, I’m afraid that they have encountered ghosts!"
"Ghosts?!"
Fang Yuan was astonished.
Even though his cultivation had already reached an extreme level, and that he had seen many things before, it was the first time he had heard of the existence of ghosts.
"Lord, you’re unaware?"
Li Hu was utterly shocked. "The ce which youe from! Are there are no ghosts? That’s not possible... Almost every year, there would be a vige that would experience such a thing..."
"I’ve heard of it before but I’m not too sure about it. Tell me more..."
Fang Yuan rubbed his nose and his eyes were filled with curiosity.
"Oh!"
Li Hu was confused and did not bother to press Fang Yuan any further. Instead, he obediently exined it to Fang Yuan. "Ghosts leave no trace as theye and go, and they do not have a physical body. There is a type of... curse!"
"We don’t know where ites from, or where it wants to go. We only know that every time it appears, many people would disappear and it would leave behind many weird things..."
"No matter how strong the martial artists were, or even spiritual array masters, everyone was defenceless against it. However, the weird thing is that it had never happened to Descending Star City before. That is the only ce we can take shelter..."