prynovel Chapter 181 The remaining secrets of ancient times
Chapter 181 The remaining secrets of ancient times
Inside the military tent, Zhang He sat on the low stool assigned to him when he was brought in, his hands tied to his knees with ropes. At first, he insisted that he only wanted to inspect the grain supply route outside the pass, and that the powder on his clothes was from fighting the fire. But when Chu Fan found several secret letters from the evil race and a small box of soul-controlling Gu worm eggs in a hidden compartment in his bed, and laid them out on the table, his shoulders slowly slumped, his eyes glazed over, and he curled up on the stool with his head bowed.
His account was disorganized, but details gradually came together under repeated questioning. Six months ago, after being captured upon leaving the pass, he didn't escape but was instead controlled by the evil race using a soul-controlling Gu. The Gu was planted on the back of his neck, barely visible to the naked eye, and would cause a slight fever when it took effect. For the past six months, he had been receiving intelligence at fixed intervals, including the departure time of the supply convoy, its route, the changing of guard posts, and the layout of the defensive array nodes. On the eve of the beast tide's siege, he received orders to coordinate the attack and relayed the weak points of the defensive array. As for the fire in the supply depot, he lit it during the changing of guards, covering only a small patch of kindling with dry grass. Once the flames spread from the inside to an unextinguishable level, he withdrew from the warehouse, locked the door from the outside, and pretended nothing had happened.
"They promised me that once they breached Tianlang Pass, they would make me the city lord." He barely raised his chin as he spoke, his gaze fixed on the ground in front of his knees. "I can't go back now."
Lin Chen stood in front of him, his gaze never leaving his face: "Why is the evil race keeping an eye on Tianlang Pass? This is just an ordinary pass; it's not worth them investing so many troops here."
Zhang He was silent for a moment, his neck twisting slightly. When he spoke again, his voice was two decibels lower than before. "They weren't originally after the pass. Their target is an ancient ruin deep within the Meteorite Mountains. Tianlang Pass is the only way into the mountains; they attacked it to clear the passage. The ruin contains... the Star Martial Origin. The high-ranking members of the Evil Clan said that as long as they obtain that, they can completely open the extraterrestrial passage, allowing their army to cross over from there. Also—they said that the Star Martial Core is in the hands of the Human Race; as long as they find the holder, they can sense the entrance to the ruin. The ancient martial arts didn't decline on their own; they were destroyed by the Evil Clan and their traitors. The First Martial Emperor was the last guardian."
The air inside the tent seemed to freeze; even the crackling of the charcoal fire in the iron basin sounded jarring. Han Polu's knuckles tightened around his sword hilt as he stared at the secret letters on the table for a long time without speaking.
Lin Chen's fingertips tapped on the edge of the table. The blood-written letter from the Qin family traitor in the secret realm, the ancient jade tablet unearthed from the Black Wind Valley's secret chamber, and Zhang He's account of the Star Martial Origin—three things, separated by different regions and points in time, seemed to be slowly strung together by a thread. The Star Martial Core within his body was trembling slightly, and the jade tablet he brought back from Black Wind Valley was currently pressed against his inner pocket, emitting a faint resonance through the fabric. The words spoken by the remnant soul of the First Martial Emperor before dissipating in the secret realm resurfaced in his ears; those fragmented words, when pieced together, pointed to the same outline.
"Take him away and keep him under strict guard." His voice was calmer than usual, as if all his emotions had been suppressed into a deeper container the moment he heard those words.
After Zhang He was dragged away, Han Polu remained silent for a moment before speaking, his voice deeper than before: "There is indeed a forbidden area deep within the Meteorite Mountains, shrouded in evil mist year-round, and no one can enter. My garrison discovered traces of evil race activity near the foot of the mountain, but they lost track of them at the edge of the mist." He looked up at Lin Chen, his scrutinizing gaze even more intense than before. "Lin Chen, are you the Star Martial Core holder they're looking for?"
Lin Chen did not evade the question: "I do indeed possess a Star Martial Core within me. It seems the Evil Clan's target was never Tianlang Pass, but rather the ruins within the Meteorite Mountains. Launching the beast tide was merely a means to tie down our forces, while secretly sending people into the mountains."
Han Polu suddenly stood up, the chair leg scraping the ground with a screeching sound: "I will immediately report to the alliance and request reinforcements. Once the main force of the evil race enters the mountains, the terrain inside is complex, and our manpower alone is simply not enough."
"It's too late." Lin Chen didn't look up, his gaze fixed on the blank area on the map of the Meteorite Mountains where no specific terrain was marked. "Since they've already made their move, they must have sent people into the mountains long ago. By the time reinforcements arrive, it will be too late. I'll lead a commando team into the mountains to stop them."
"No." Han Polu's voice left no room for negotiation. "The mountains are not only infested with evil races, but also with a large number of high-level ferocious beasts, and the terrain is complex. You have only recently broken through to the Fusion Realm, and it would be too risky for you to venture into the mountains rashly."
"We have to go, no matter the risk." Lin Chen picked up the Star Sword from the table and placed it across his lap. "The Star Martial Core is on me; only I can sense the location of the ruins. If the evil race gets there first, the consequences won't just be the loss of a single pass."
Before the argument could be resolved, the tent flap was suddenly flung open from the outside, and the guard practically stumbled in, his voice broken and choked as if he had been choked by the wind: "General—Commander—the western pass—has been breached—the Blood Bone Demon, the Void Breaking Realm commander of the Evil Clan, has personally led his men—to the direction of the Meteorite Mountains—they say—they want to use Commander Lin's head as a sacrifice—"
The air inside the tent seemed to freeze. Lin Chen and Han Polu exchanged a glance, both seeing the same judgment in each other's eyes. Outside, the falling twilight stretched along the direction of the Meteorite Mountains, the mountain range spreading out to both sides at the edge of the sky, its outline blurred, as if gently pressed down by something, making it lower and quieter than the surrounding horizon. In the distance, a flock of mountain birds flew diagonally across a gap in the ridge in the twilight, without a sound.