Chapter 129: Raid in the Dark

Across the boundless black soil, nightfall added a touch of mystery to this desolate and vast Domain.

Yu Xiran and her group had already turned off their flashlights.

It was pitch-black; they couldn't see their own fingers stretched out in front of them. The darkness seemed to conceal some sort of aberration, lying in wait to devour anyone passing by.

"Snap—"

A resident of Sleepland snapped a dead branch beneath his foot, the break echoing as the only sound beneath the pitch-black night sky.

No one expected this single misstep to actually wake the man beside them—someone who seemed like he would never wake up.

"Are... are we there?"

Lying on a resident's back, Meng Qianqiu opened his eyes. He chuckled, looked at Yu Xiran beside him, and threw his arms around her.

"Xi... Xiran... let's... let's go to bed together..."

Yu Xiran smiled at the embrace and pulled him into her arms.

"Not yet, be good... go back to sleep..."

She reached out and gently patted his back.

Her voice seemed to have a calming effect. In just a few seconds, snores rose from Meng Qianqiu's drooping head.

Beside them, Yu Ling said softly, "We've reached Twenty-Second Village. Let's pay a visit to the ward chief here first."

"There are four li of road left. We're almost there. Stay alert; the next few li ahead are a little abnormal."

Yu Xiran nodded. For this trip to Solitude Ward, both Sleepland and Dandelion Manor had done their utmost to send escorts.

Dandelion Manor originally had four Second Tiers. With Yu Mu severely injured, two of the remaining three had come along.

Sleepland had also deployed two of their five Second Tiers.

Four Second Tiers, plus four First Tiers—this team could almost rival some Domains in Old Sin City.

Virtue Bridge, for example, reportedly had only three Second Tiers.

Furthermore, two of these four Second Tiers would remain in Solitude Ward to watch over her and Meng Qianqiu around the clock.

Only Solitude Ward would allow two Second Tiers from other Domains to station permanently within its borders.

After all, the First Ward Chief never believed anyone could stir up trouble on his turf.

However, she was still somewhat worried.

Because of the means that man had displayed at Sun-Swallowing Tower...

That was no ordinary opponent.

Thinking of this, she looked at Yu Ling. If anything truly went wrong, she could only rely on her.

"Everyone, on alert. Conduct Anomalous Energy Detection. After the detection is complete, turn on the flashlights," Yu Ling ordered in a low voice.

At times like this, she always acted as the most reliable helper by Yu Xiran's side.

Before passing through each Domain, they would conduct Anomalous Energy Detection to ensure there was no one on the ground other than the ward chief.

A woman from Sleepland wearing thin silk pajamas yawned and looked at Yu Xiran.

"Miss Yu, there shouldn't be any need for this... We haven't had any problems crossing so many Domains. Like I said before, visibility is greatly hindered at night on this black soil. With the flashlights off, if someone really set up an ambush, they could only rely on Anomalous Energy Detection."

"We would definitely sense it."

"Unless it's a Third Tier."

She was cracking a mild joke. For people like them, perennially sunk in dreams, this was the funniest joke she could muster.

But Yu Xiran did not smile.

"Do as Yu Ling says."

The woman curled her lip. There was nothing she could do; Yu Xiran was highly valued right now. Their superiors had specifically instructed them to obey Yu Xiran's arrangements in everything.

It was just tough on their young master, who slept restlessly during every Anomalous Energy Detection.

Along the way, she harbored her fair share of complaints about Yu Xiran.

Yu Xiran was too cautious, making it very tiring for those of them on the Sloth Pathway.

She had already said it: with the flashlights off, the enemy could only discover them using Anomalous Energy Detection...

"Bang!"

Right at that moment, a fierce blast of wind from a punch erupted out of thin air in the darkness. Accompanied by the twisted roars of dragons and tigers, it accurately pinpointed the group's location.

A gale abruptly surged!

Everyone's clothes were blown taut against their bodies. Terrifying weird energy surged toward them like a tsunami, aiming to execute a precise kill in the dark night.

The target was none other than the recently awakened Meng Qianqiu.

"Swish—"

Sleepland's two Second Tiers instantly stepped in front of Meng Qianqiu. One of them, a male Second Tier, closed his eyes and immediately began snoring like thunder.

Shockingly, his body mutated with every snore. Muscles bulged beneath his sleeves and pant legs, directly tearing his clothes apart. Veins popped across his skin as dark weird energy surged within. Facing the oncoming blast, the seemingly asleep man swung his arms, coated them in tidal weird energy, and threw a punch forward.

"Boom!"

Under the night sky, a thunderous boom erupted from their collision, echoing far and wide. Beside them, the bodies of several First Tiers trembled violently from the aftershocks of the weird energy. Before they could steady themselves, a second blast arrived.

This time, the target was aimed straight at Yu Xiran.

A Second Tier from Dandelion Manor flashed forward, stepping in front of the shocked Yu Xiran. Tentacles sprouted from his lower abdomen, dancing wildly in the air to envelop the blast.

After a muffled groan, he stumbled back a few steps and looked at Sleepland's two Second Tiers.

"A Second Tier, and from an unseen Pathway. In terms of offense, I might not be stronger than him."

His intention was to ask Sleepland to spare one Second Tier to pursue the enemy with him, but the awake woman from Sleepland smiled bitterly and said, "Although our abilities can strengthen our bodies, they only have an automatic counterattack effect. Active pursuit... we haven't reached that level yet."

Before they could finish their conversation, two more blasts rushed at them from the opposite side!

They hastily moved to block in front of Meng Qianqiu and Yu Xiran, but unexpectedly... in the next instant, a nearby First Tier shuddered violently under the blast, his eyes bulging wide as he spat a mouthful of blood.

In almost a split second, blood flowed uncontrollably from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Protect Yu Ling!" Yu Xiran shouted upon seeing this.

Having regained her calm, her immediate priority was to spare a Second Tier to protect Yu Ling.

But none of the Second Tiers moved—not until the blasts arrived again and killed two more First Tiers. Under Yu Xiran's forceful demands, the other Second Tier from Dandelion Manor finally left Yu Xiran's side to stand in front of Yu Ling.

Within the next half-minute, the opponent's fists assailed them like a fierce storm, forcing the survivors back step by step.

The Second Tiers felt extremely stifled. They were confident that in a one-on-one fight, they wouldn't fear this opponent at all.

But right now, the enemy was in the dark while they were exposed. Coupled with the need to protect three weaklings, they couldn't utilize their true strength at all.

"Leave our current position first. Split into two groups and don't make a sound," Yu Xiran ordered, her eyes flashing.

She had figured out how they had exposed their position.

It was the most primitive method possible.

It was sound.

The snap of that wooden branch, followed by the group talking.

It had allowed the enemy to discover their location.

However...

In such an empty expanse, it was almost impossible to distinguish direction from a breaking branch or low whispers. Just how good was this enemy's hearing...

Besides, who would use a wooden branch—a primitive trap that wouldn't even be written about in books?

...

"They ran off separately..." Old Master Liu whispered, looking proudly at Chen Nian beside him.

"I told you this method works well. We all do this back where I'm from."

Chen Nian pursed his lips, surprisingly choosing not to bicker with Old Liu this time.

Simply because, at this moment, Old Master Liu's entire body was covered in dark meridians, including his face. Streams of weird energy were being extracted from his bleeding black-and-white eyes and channeled into his arms. This was exactly why he could blast out punch after punch just now.

The old guy was truly going all out this time.

"I didn't expect you to push yourself this hard," Chen Nian said in a low voice.

The old man chuckled and stood up.

The pajama sleeves on his arms had long since blown apart. At this moment, streams of weird energy fell from the air like liquid gold into his pitch-black eye, eventually gathering on his right arm to form a massive weird energy vortex. It looked like a giant dark moon, threatening to replace the bright moon and descend into this boundless night sky.

Then, he laughed softly and chanted:

"Ask the heroes of the realm, in their endless fray, Who among them does not yearn for lordly sway?

Even if our whitened bones are buried in the sand, With golden seals upon our waists, our glory shall withstand!"

As his words fell, he gave a hearty laugh:

"Which side?"

"The right side."

A faint red light flickered in Chen Nian's right eye.

Old Master Liu swung his massive arm, and that dark moon flew straight toward the right.

"How was my impromptu poem?"

Having thrown his punch, the old man collapsed onto the ground, looking up at Chen Nian with a chuckle.