บท 297: Chapter 297: Unbelievably Unlucky!
By an incredible coincidence, a colossal meteor was hurtling directly towards Wu'an's army. It moved too fast, and the pressure it exerted was immense, paralyzing the entire army as if they were trapped in a nightmare.
"Hold the line——!" Wu'an shouted with all his might.
"Roar——!"
Under the enormous pressure, the entire army simultaneously raised their weapons skyward, summoning every ounce of strength they had. At this moment, there was no room for holding back. It was utterly exasperating: just as they were about to enter the city, a meteor from the heavens decided to crash down directly upon them. How could their luck be so atrocious?
With all their combined effort, they fought against the impending doom, but the meteor's speed was overwhelming. In a blink, it was upon them.
The meteor's impact created a shockwave so powerful that the air below seemed to layer upon itself like an immense shield crashing down.
"Boom——!"
It was as if a massive ball of fire descended, creating a gigantic crater at the very spot where the army stood. All thirty thousand soldiers perished beneath the meteor.
From afar, Zhongshan and his companions swallowed hard. This was beyond belief!
Could a meteor really strike with such devastating force?
At that moment, from the edge of the crater, a figure in a black robe staggered into view.
It was Wu'an. He had narrowly escaped at the last moment, reaching the edge and only being grazed by the meteor. Even so, he was severely injured.
Gazing at the deep crater, Wu'an wore an expression of utter disbelief, his eyes wide open in shock. How could such a thing happen? A meteor, a once-in-a-millennium event, and it just had to crash right here? Killing his remaining thirty thousand troops?
Why did it have to be like this? How would he face the prince? How could he explain this to the emperor? Reporting back that they had disturbed the dragon clan, lost seventy thousand soldiers to a flood was already absurd. Now, on the way back, a rare meteor had wiped out the rest of his men?
Clutching his deformed right arm, Wu'an's forehead bulged with veins. He raised his head and shouted to the heavens.
"Damn you, heavens——!"
His voice was filled with boundless resentment, directed at the sky.
But as soon as he finished shouting, Wu'an's eyes were filled with terror. Another gigantic fireball was hurtling towards him.
Another meteor was coming straight for him.
"Boom——"
Wu'an, once again pinned by the pressure, tried to resist and flee. But the meteor was coming too fast.
In an instant, Wu'an was struck back into the crater.
"Boom, boom——"
A series of explosions followed. Seven or eight smaller meteors rained down from the sky, crashing directly into the crater where Wu'an had fallen.
Too brutal!
Too unlucky!
Wu'an's misfortune was unimaginable!
Normally, a second meteor would never fall in the same spot as the first. Yet Wu'an faced ten meteors crashing into the exact same place.
Too eerie!
How could anyone be so unlucky? A once-in-a-millennium event, and here were ten, all in the same place. It felt like divine retribution, specifically targeting Wu'an.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Zhongshan and his nine companions stared at the scene in disbelief, as did the garrison in the distant city. It was beyond their comprehension—utterly bizarre.
It was just too strange!
On the city wall, the garrison commanders were too terrified to even come out and take a look. This was far too bizarre! Despite the clear, sunny sky, no one dared to take the risk.
Glancing at the sky, Zhongshan and his group were still in shock.
"A'da, Zhihuo, come with me to retrieve the meteorites," Zhongshan commanded, quickly flying off on his blade.
"Sir, it's dangerous!" someone called out immediately.
Dangerous? What danger could there be now? The celestial stones were lying right there; if they didn't retrieve them now, when would they? Were they worried that more meteors might fall? The odds of that happening were much slimmer than one might think.
Zhongshan had already used his mind's eye to scan for anomalies in the natural laws around him. There were none. What had just happened was an extraordinary coincidence. With ten meteorites having already fallen in one place, the probability of more landing there again was minuscule.
Zhongshan took off, followed reluctantly by Zhao Chuan and the others. A'da swiftly carried Zhongshan to the crater, with Zhihuo by his side. Only Nian Youyou hesitated, her eyes filled with uncertainty and fear, but she quickly followed suit.
In no time, they reached the crater.
Zhongshan wasted no time surveying the scene.
Collecting the meteorites was his priority. He worked swiftly!
In a flash, he had collected all ten meteorites. The crater was now a mass grave for Wu'an's thirty thousand soldiers, including Wu'an himself, who had been reduced to a bloody pulp.
The Sovereign Realm? What good was it? Under the wrath of the heavens, it crumbled just the same.
After Zhongshan had secured the enormous meteorites, A'da reached out for Wu'an's corpse.
But Wu'an's spirit was quick, and it immediately darted towards Zhongshan.
Zhihuo and Nian Youyou moved to intercept, but Zhongshan stopped them.
A Sovereign Realm spirit was an invaluable prize.
Although Wu'an hesitated momentarily, he ultimately resolved to seize Zhongshan's body.
In a blink, he entered Zhongshan's body.
Zhongshan wasted no time. He gestured for the others to carry him away, and he sat cross-legged on a cloud.
With one previous experience under his belt, he handled this situation with even greater ease the second time around.
The Eight Extremes Celestial Tail opened its mouth, and Wu'an, feeling a surge of frustration, was swallowed whole!
In just half the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Zhongshan opened his eyes as if nothing had happened.
The others stared at him in disbelief, while Zhongshan himself was a bit frustrated. Swallowing a Sovereign Realm spirit had no effect? Why was he still at the seventh stage of the Golden Core Realm? Although he was now at the peak of the seventh stage, he was still in the seventh stage.
"You're okay again?" Nian Youyou asked, her eyes wide with bewilderment.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Zhongshan replied, raising an eyebrow.
Everyone felt a cold sweat break out on their foreheads.
That was a Sovereign Realm spirit! You, you dealt with it in just half the time it takes to burn an incense stick? Are you sure you weren't possessed?
"General, are you sure you're alright?" Zhao Chuan asked uncertainly, glancing at Zhongshan.
"Quit wasting time and get back to where we were," Zhongshan snapped.
"Yes, sir!" Zhao Chuan responded immediately.
"Where are we going?" A'da asked, puzzled.
"Back to where the dragons were imprisoned, where we were before. Quickly!" Zhongshan ordered.
"Yes, sir!" A'da replied.
In the city, even after Zhongshan and his group had vanished into the vast clouds, the garrison commanders atop the city walls remained in a state of shock, swallowing nervously. Who were those people who dared to venture out so fearlessly?
General Wu'an was truly dead?
How were they supposed to report this to their superiors? What would they tell the Emperor? That he was killed by a meteorite? And what happened to the meteorites? Would they admit that due to their fear, someone else had come and taken them away?
The commanders on the city walls were feeling a massive headache. Yet, no one dared to leave the city; they would have to wait for the city lord to arrive before taking any action.
Zhongshan led his group swiftly back to the place where the dragons had been imprisoned, as he wanted to verify something, something so bizarre that even he found it hard to believe.
By midday, Zhongshan and his group had returned to the previous location. The ground was littered with corpses of the seventy thousand soldiers who had perished in the flood caused by the dragons.
The battlefield was a scene of utter devastation, with skeletons scattered all over the place.
Standing on a mountain peak, Zhongshan quickly scanned the surroundings, his gaze finally settling on a muddy valley. He led the group swiftly toward the muddy area.
The mud was covered with numerous footprints.
"Don't step on them," Zhongshan warned the group.
The others looked at Zhongshan in confusion as he continued to analyze the footprints.
"Someone has been here?" Zhao Chuan frowned, noticing the footprints in the mud, indicating recent activity.
The footprints were chaotic and varied in depth.
After studying them for a while, Zhongshan's eyes narrowed. He had previously noted that this was where the body of Xiao Qiushui lay.
Xiao Qiushui's body was missing. The footprints, seemingly belonging to ten people, pointed towards the northwest based on their depth and direction.
"That way! Quickly!" Zhongshan instructed A'da.
"Yes!" A'da responded immediately, carrying Zhongshan on a cloud as they headed rapidly in the indicated direction.
Although the others were puzzled, they refrained from asking questions.
By evening, they arrived at a small town where Zhongshan had stationed a scout.
Zhongshan immediately questioned the scout: "Since yesterday, who has come this way? Has anything unusual happened?"
"Reporting, General. Around noon, ten people dressed in red carried a coffin past here and engaged in a battle at the mouth of that valley. I only dared to check after the fight and found a body, which had been dismembered," the scout reported.
"Take me to see it!" Zhongshan ordered.
"Yes!" the scout replied promptly.
Zhongshan frowned deeply. Red-clad people? Carrying Xiao Qiushui? Were they sent by Xiao Wang? No, he had to see the body to be sure. If it was as he suspected, it would be too strange for words.
Quickly, the scout led them to the valley, where half a mountain had been sheared off, the area was in complete disarray, clearly the site of a fierce battle, with blood splattered everywhere.
Soon, they found the dismembered body.
The corpse's weapons and storage bracelet had been taken by those who had investigated earlier. Only the dismembered body remained.
The body had been cut into many pieces, even the head had been severed and taken away.
"Xie Yan! It's Xie Yan!" A'da suddenly exclaimed.
Xie Yan, a notorious figure, had been killed? By those ten people in red? Zhongshan recognized the clothing fragments from the body and was already counting the pieces of the dismembered body when A'da shouted.
There were exactly ninety-nine pieces. Including the head that had been taken away, there were a total of one hundred pieces. Not one piece more, not one piece less.
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