Volume 1, Chapter 29 – Encounter

【Mission complete. Congratulations, host, you have gained one Basic Draw chance.】

After bumping along on horseback for two days, Shi Lan finally heard the System’s notification. She thought it over and did not use this draw chance right away, instead storing it away for later, just in case.

The temporary storage period for the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd had long since expired, so Shi Lan could only wrap the long case in cloth and carry it on her back.

Fortunately, the horse she had bought at the inn counted as a decent steed. Even with an extra three hundred jin on its back, its speed only slowed a bit—it could still run.

Dusk was falling. Shi Lan looked around—no village ahead, no inn behind, only wild desolation as far as the eye could see.

After running hard for an entire day, the horse beneath her was already exhausted, panting heavily and in urgent need of rest.

Shi Lan swung down from the saddle, the long case on her back, and led the horse forward at a slow walk, searching for a place to stay the night.

At last, just as the sky was turning fully dark, Shi Lan found a somewhat dilapidated temple by the roadside.

For some reason, as they neared the temple, the horse suddenly became extremely uneasy, snorting nonstop.

Shi Lan finally managed to calm it down with difficulty, fed it some fodder and water, and tied it up. Only then did she walk into the ruined temple.

A thin layer of dust covered the floor, with several obvious traces of old campfires. Clearly, many travelers had stopped here before.

She lit a fire, stretched her limbs a bit, and then sat down, leaning against a wooden pillar.

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She had barely been seated a short while when dense hoofbeats and the sound of carriage wheels rolling reached her from outside the temple, followed by a burst of noisy chatter.

Gradually, it quieted down outside, and a string of footsteps approached the temple.

The first to step into the ruined temple was a big, burly middle-aged man, with a wide-backed saber in a cloth scabbard strapped across his back.

Seeing Shi Lan leaning slantwise against the pillar, the burly man froze for a moment. His gaze swept twice over the long case beside her, then he nodded and greeted her.

Behind the middle-aged man came a group of sturdy men in short, fitted outfits. From their bearing and movements to the aura on their bodies, it was obvious they were all martial artists.

At the center of this group of martial artists, they were guarding a young man and a young woman.

“What kind of dump is this?” The young woman lightly covered her nose and mouth, impatience flashing between her brows.

“We’re fleeing for our lives, not out on a pleasure tour. Just make do,” the young man beside her murmured, then began directing the martial artists to sweep the dust out of the temple.

After giving the ruined temple a rough cleaning and getting the campfire going, the martial artists left the main hall and started cooking outside, leaving only the young man and woman and the leading middle-aged man inside.

Shi Lan watched in silence the whole time, gnawing on the dry rations in her hand.

Before long, some martial artists outside brought in a large platter of roast meat and several bags of liquor, then withdrew again.

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Smelling the aroma of roast meat drifting through the air, Shi Lan glanced at the dry rations in her hand and couldn’t help missing the medicinal meals she used to have every day.

These past two days, she had been busy hurrying along the road and hadn’t had a single hot meal.

“Little brother, if you don’t mind, come eat with us.” The middle-aged man carried over a small plate of roast meat and a bag of liquor, walking up to her.

Shi Lan hesitated, then shook her head, putting away the dry rations in her hand as she replied, “Thank you, but I’ll pass.”

They had just met for the first time; it was better to be cautious.

The middle-aged man didn’t mind. He sat down by the fire in front of Shi Lan, eating roast meat as he struck up a conversation with her.

After a bit of chatting, Shi Lan learned that this group had come from Baiyang City, over a thousand li to the west of here. The middle-aged man’s name was Song He, and he was the head guard in the household of a wealthy merchant surnamed Lu in Baiyang City.

His purpose on this trip was to escort the merchant’s two children to the lands near the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect to seek shelter.

“What happened in Baiyang City?”

Shi Lan couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked. Every time Song He mentioned Baiyang City, he would vaguely say something major had happened, but never went into detail.

Song He took a heavy swig of liquor, then let out a long sigh. His eyes reddened slightly as he said, “I don’t know where so many demonic beasts came from, but they came pouring in from the west like they blotted out the sky. Everywhere they passed, corpses covered the ground. Baiyang City should already be an empty city by now.”

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Seeing the look on Song He’s face, Shi Lan didn’t ask further. She just felt secretly puzzled in her heart—just how many demonic beasts would it take to smash through city after city, to the point that so many martial artists couldn’t hold them off?

“You’d better change directions. It’d be best to turn back altogether. Go any farther and it’s crawling with demonic beasts—one misstep and you’ll lose your life!” When Song He heard that Shi Lan was traveling and even planned to keep heading west, he immediately tried to dissuade her.

Shi Lan nodded, thanked Song He for the warning, and after the two chatted a bit more, Song He rose and left the ruined temple. A moment later, he returned with two thick quilts and some fur blankets in his arms.

After he settled the young man and woman in, Song He began calling to the rest of the guards outside to make their own arrangements.

Shi Lan wrapped her arms around her knees, back against the wooden pillar, lowering her head and closing her eyes in a pretend sleep. She slept very lightly—with so many strangers around, she didn’t dare fall into a deep sleep.

In the dead of night, just as Shi Lan was half-dozing, she suddenly heard a shrill scream and the neighing of horses, jolting her awake in an instant.

“Demonic beasts!”

“Ironback Wolves!”

Right after that came a chorus of blades being drawn.

“Boom!”

Song He stomped once, blasting the temple door off its hinges as he charged out of the ruined temple. He bellowed, “Don’t panic! Fall back to me!”

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The wide saber on Song He’s back was already out of its sheath, its edge flashing coldly under the moonlight. He did not leave the temple to help the other guards fend off the demonic beasts, but instead stood at the temple entrance like a guardian deity. His most important task was to protect the two people inside.

The young man and woman had been jolted awake by the string of loud noises. They were huddled together, trembling slightly.

Listening to the occasional wolf howls and screams from outside, even Shi Lan couldn’t help feeling tense. She gripped the long case beside her more tightly.

Shi Feng stood atop the temple roof, a point of spiritual light gathering in his palm, ready to be unleashed. He paid no heed to the guards being torn apart under the fangs and claws of the Ironback Wolves, staring only at the ruined temple’s entrance.

“Clatter…”

The sound of earth and stone shifting echoed inside the temple, and Shi Lan’s expression changed slightly as she shifted her gaze to the crumbling stone statue.

In the faint firelight, the broken statue looked somewhat eerie.

The grinding of earth and stone grew louder, and as a series of stones tumbled down, a massive black shadow sprang out from behind the statue, lunging straight at the young man and woman huddled together!

Shi Lan’s expression changed. She instinctively stepped forward, power surging through her entire body. The long case in her hands swept up through the air with a sharp whoosh, and she lashed it viciously at that black shadow!

The black shadow was sent flying sideways in an instant, slamming into the wall and kicking up a cloud of dust.