Volume 4, Chapter 73 – Shepherding

At the same time, the scene shifted to a towering city set within a barren valley.

Its walls stood thirty to forty meters high, and both the gate towers and the space below them were guarded by fully armed Dao soldiers. Their builds were all powerfully robust. At a glance, it was obvious they were eating nourishing meat day after day. Only that kind of diet could sustain such vigor at a time like this.

A closer look, however, revealed something more. Among those patrolling guards, especially among the “head” figures who moved about and issued orders, there were occasionally a few pale-skinned men with deep-set eyes. Their clothing and accents were both unusual, so obscure and awkward that they sounded almost jarring. And in the way they looked at everyone, there was always a faint trace of wariness.

As for Alos, he did not care whether those Dao soldiers noticed anything off about him, because he had already gathered enough information to know that this little world did not have long left to live.

When the day of destruction arrived, this grand city and these Dao soldiers alike would be overturned and wiped out by the great calamity. If he had time to waste picking fights with people who were doomed anyway, he might as well spend the effort confirming whether the essence core was hidden deep within the imperial palace.

“Who exactly was that man?”

After Alos left, several Dao soldier captains on duty gathered together and began whispering about him.

“He looked like some immortal master from outside, but his appearance was a little strange. And he said he came from ‘the Court.’ What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“How should I know? I think you’re tired of living, talking so casually about immortal masters from the Upper Realm. From now on, keep your eyes open. Whatever they want, give it to them. Whatever they ask, answer it. Understood?”

It made no difference.

Wrapped in his cloak, Alos walked through the streets in a rather relaxed mood, occasionally twitching his nose and breathing in the stench of rot and the sweetness of blood drifting through the air.

He did not care about these people’s obsequiousness. No one on this street dared refuse him. Whoever he pointed at would obediently come over and become his blood meal. Even so, before actually making a move, he still did not want to cause too much of a commotion.

With that in mind, he circled the surrounding area carefully and confirmed that he had likely shaken off any spies sent by other factions. Only then did he return to a room in an inn built along the street, close the door behind him, and casually say inward, “The intelligence was right. The Yiin angels have rendered a great service this time.”

“Alos?”

A pretty face with flaming red hair poked out from inside. It belonged to a foreign girl with large, bright eyes and bold features, and she looked at him with excitement.

“Then do we have a chance too? Before the Eastern Demon Court notices what we’re doing?”

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“In theory, yes.” Alos nodded. “If we can swallow this place, even just half the resources here would be a massive replenishment for the council. It would be enough to sustain several years of operations.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” The girl clenched her fist and swung it twice through the air. “I can’t beat the Eastern Demon Court’s conquest-generals, but do you think I’d be afraid of the other small fry?”

“Let’s stop waiting, Alos. Hurry up and go. You must have some guess where the essence core is, right? We go straight there, start fighting, grab whatever we can, and take it with us. Wouldn’t that settle everything here?”

“We can’t act rashly.” Alos frowned. “How many times have I told you this? Our actions are not decided by the enemy’s strength or numbers. They are decided by the entire environment we are in.”

Of course Alos was not afraid of those Venerables who only dared occupy shattered planes. In his eyes, those people were no different from them, and had likely suffered far fewer hardships and blows along the way. Naturally, they were not as hardened.

But what was the point of killing them?

They were in a void plane that was on the verge of collapse. Before it broke apart, the Eastern Demon Court would not be able to reach this place in time to investigate what happened here. But after it was destroyed, they would absolutely send conquest-generals to examine the traces.

That step was inevitable. The Eastern Demon Court was extremely cautious about such matters. Alos did not know whether they were guarding against people like them, or guarding against something else entirely. Because of that, he had always understood one thing clearly. What determined whether they could conceal their tracks was never “how many people should we kill” or “should we silence every witness.” It was “how do we make this look unrelated to us,” and “how do we erase the traces that prove the two of us ever came here once this world is destroyed.”

“You did say that, but I thought you were joking.” The girl widened her eyes in surprise, as if she found the idea hard to accept.

What kind of joke was this? Someone could trace backward through the void turbulence after a small world had already been destroyed, and uncover what had happened while it still existed?

How was that even possible? What kind of accursed power was that?

“If not, then why do people like Tielmons and Yamo not dare to openly challenge the Demon Court?” Alos curled his lip. “Because they’re far too powerful. What you’ve seen of them so far is only the part of the iceberg above the water.”

“Then what should we do?” The girl frowned. “Do you have a way to erase the traces?”

“I’m not sure.” Alos rested a hand against his chin. “But I can try.”

“May I have the honor of hearing the full plan?”

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“It’s simple. I once heard Yamo say that reading the void turbulence is a very tedious matter. The more incidents of Loss of Order that happened in the past, and the stronger the interference, the harder it becomes to trace anything back. So all we have to do is trigger as much Loss of Order as possible.”

“If it’s only Loss of Order…” The girl thought while pressing a finger to her lips. “Then all I have to do is fully release the Shepherd.”

“Not enough.” Alos shook his head. “How much can your method really affect? This sort of thing can’t be done by human effort alone. We have to borrow force from elsewhere. We have to borrow force from the void.”

“You don’t mean to draw the Void Tribulation down here?” The red-haired girl’s expression changed, and her face took on a clear look of Are you trying to die?

Lightning, wind, and earthfire were nothing in front of a true Void Tribulation.

It was a terrifying kind of interference and influence. It had no fixed form, could not be described, and could not be understood. The only thing the girl knew was this: anyone without the qualification to sit in the temple would be contaminated the instant they encountered a true Void Tribulation.

Instantly.

There was no power to resist it, no method to guard against it. Even after being contaminated, one might not realize it at all. Whether one died or transformed into some hideous, revolting thing, one would still think oneself perfectly normal.

“I’m not tired of living yet.” Alos shook his head. “Of course I’m not talking about true Void Tribulation. I plan to destroy what little atmosphere remains, so that the turbulent winds can blow in directly.”

“That’s still dangerous…” the girl murmured.

Turbulent winds.

Leaving aside the intense contamination they carried by nature, they could also blow in certain filthy things. Most of those were lingering soul fragments left behind by sentient beings unwilling to accept death after dying in the void.

Those accumulated masses of thought were terrifying. She had suffered at their hands before, and had no desire to go through that again.

“That’s the plan.” Alos settled the matter without further discussion.

“I’ll go destroy the atmosphere. You go release the Shepherd.”

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“We split up. Once the number and intensity of the Loss of Order events are high enough, we regroup at the location of the essence core.”

The two of them plotted here in secret.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of that city, in a desolate fodder field, atop a hillside, there sat a figure dressed in coarse hemp clothing, holding a short whip in its hand.

A closer look revealed that the figure was made of straw.

It had no features at all on its face, yet its bodily structure had been woven with lifelike precision. Even its five fingers were fully formed, which was why it could curl them around the tool in its hand.

With faint rises and falls in its body, the scarecrow seemed to be breathing beneath the blood-red sky.

It was alive.

It possessed thoughts and a will of its own.

Not far from the scarecrow wandered a large flock of sheep. Most of them lay quietly on the hillside and gnawed at the grass. A very few, however, looked acutely restless. They twisted and convulsed in place, searched for obstacles to rub against, or simply scraped themselves against the ground, as if some part of their bodies itched unbearably.

“Amitabha…”

Along with the Buddhist invocation, the dark-skinned monk who had crossed paths with Bai Xiang once before pushed his little cart up the slope. When he saw the scene, he could not help frowning, and an expression of pity appeared on his face.

It was as if what he saw was not a flock of sheep, but the suffering living beings of this world.

“Benefactor, after committing such slaughter, have you considered how you will live with yourself in the future?”

He pressed his palms together and bowed slightly toward the scarecrow.

The scarecrow also lifted its head a little, as if listening to his words.

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After a long while, the dark-skinned monk shook his head again.

“I will only advise you this much.”

“As for your future, you must still decide it for yourself.”

With that, he took out a jade-inlaid wooden token from his robe and casually held it out to the scarecrow.

“When you have thought it through, bring this thing and come find me again.”

The scarecrow raised a stiff arm and took the token.

The monk immediately smiled, then pushed his cart away again into the distance.

After a while, a rustling sound suddenly came from nearby. The scarecrow turned its head toward the edge of the pasture and glimpsed a demonized man dressed like a refugee, crouched behind a wooden post. As he stared at it in terror, he was dragging a lamb along with him.

The scarecrow rose to its feet. Then, with a casual motion, it lifted a sheepskin from beneath its seat, crossed the distance in a single step, and threw the sheepskin over the man’s head.

“Wait, don’t, no…!!”

The demonized man let out a terrible scream, but before he could finish, the sheepskin had already attached itself to him. He rolled on the ground once, and when he came up again, he had turned into a sheep. Nothing of his original human form remained.

Without paying any mind to the fact that one more maddened sheep had been added to the flock, the scarecrow slowly sat back down.

Its head drooped slightly, as if it were studying the token in its hand.