Chapter 241: Terrifying Plot
When Chu Mu reached the Soul Pet Palace, the polite seller had already put the Bell Noise Concubine on the market. Ultimately, Chu Mu tragically had to buy back his Bell Noise Concubine before giving his remaining few hundred thousand gold coins to the seller.
This seller’s efficiency was very high, and he quickly connected Chu Mu to a buyer. Chu Mu only had to wait there for about an hour and those items were sold. What made Chu Mu a little bit disappointed was that these items were only sold for 28 million gold coins. It was slightly less than Chu Mu had anticipated
“I’m still missing 2 million gold coins. The Natural Wood Blood Crystal…” Chu Mu was somewhat helpless.
All of his remaining money still wasn’t enough to strengthen the Devil Tree Battle Soldier, let alone the Ghost King’s concentrated crystals.
After putting away the 28 million gold coins,Chu Mu returned to the market. At this time, Ye Qingzi had already bought all her necessary spirit items and medicinal ingredients from the auction hall.
“I’ve already bought the Natural Wood Blood Crystal you need. It was 29 million gold coins.” Ye Qingzi said to Chu Mu.
Chu Mu was still afraid he wouldn’t be able to pick up the Natural Wood Blood Crystal and this was considered a nice surprise. He gave his 28 million gold coins to Ye Qingzi as well as the Bell Noise Concubine.
After Ye Qingzi received Chu Mu’s 28 million gold coins, she paid Chu Mu 4 million, saying it was the price to buy the Bell Noise Concubine. Chu Mu presently was extremely lacking in money and didn’t decline.
“Do you still have to buy the sixth level concentrated ghost and rock crystal? I can’t help you with that. I only have a few million gold coins; aside from the medicine ingredients I bought over the past few days, I bought a few spirit items for my brother to strengthen his soul pets.” said Ye Qingzi.
Chu Mu bitterly laughed. Right now, a few ten million gold coins was already hard to meet his requirements. There was no need to mention buying soul equipment for his soul pets.
“Why don’t you take that mission. The gold shouldn’t be low and I’ll help you.” said Ye Qingzi.
“Sure, that’s the only way.” Chu Mu helplessly shook his head before ultimately taking the mission.
Since Ye Qingzi was still waiting for a bunch of spirit items, Chu Mu accompanied her until the second auction session finished. After buying all the detoxifying ingredients, they left the market.
When they left the market, it was already late at night. Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi rode on their respective Dream beasts towards the heart of the city’s Western Street.
“Why didn’t you pick a spirit medicine shop closer to the center plaza? Wouldn’t it be a bit more convenient to buy spirit medicines as well?” asked Chu Mu, confused.
“But…” Ye Qingzi hesitated a bit as if she couldn’t find a reasonable explanation.
Chu Mu wore a confused expression, but when he saw that Ye Qingzi didn’t reply, he didn’t continue asking.
The center plaza was quite the distance away from Western Street. By the time Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi walked onto Western Street, they could clearly feel that this place had turned quite deserted. Presumably those residents that had originally lived here were temporarily hiding somewhere else.
“Do you feel the the strange atmosphere?” Ye Qingzi asked Chu Mu in a soft voice.
“A little bit. It could be that those things are about to appear. We should be a bit careful.” said Chu Mu.
“Let’s not wantonly summon our soul pets for now. The more soul pets there are, the higher the chances of inciting their appetite.” said Ye Qingzi.
Chu Mu nodded his head and had the Night Thunder Dream Beast hide its aura while simultaneously releasing his soul remembrance to determine the surrounding situation.
The streets were empty and indistinctly there was a slightly strange fog enveloping the area. From time to time a few odd shouts would come from the depths of a courtyard, giving the dark and cold streets a somewhat terrifying atmosphere.
“That’s strange. Didn’t that aerial deputy captain say that he would increase the men today? Why have I yet to see even one city guard or aerial guard after walking for so long?” asked Ye Qingzi.
Chu Mu had felt that things had been weird until now. However, he couldn’t say where he thought things were off. Ye Qingzi’s words made him finally and abruptly realize that he couldn’t even see the silhouettes of guards on Western Street.
A series of murder cases had occurred on this street and the city guards had to treat this with significance. However, after walking for so long, Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi hadn’t even seen one city guard. This really was too odd.
“Qingzi, how long have those things been in the vicinity for?” asked Chu Mu.
“Almost a week now. In truth, I feel that they’ve been in the city for a long time already, but were in hibernation before and have only just recently come out.” responded Ye Qingzi.
“Then how sure are you that it won’t attack ordinary people?” Chu Mu continued to ask.
“At least 90 percent sure. Those things need soul cores and soul crystals to preserve their life force. Moreover, only the flesh of powerful soul pets can satisfy their hunger. There’s no benefit for them to massacre ordinary civilians; instead, it could end up exposing their tracks. Thus, I concluded that they weren’t savages that were like wild beasts. Rather, they are predators that are specialized at targeting soul pets.” said Ye Qingzi.
Ye Qingzi’s words caused Chu Mu to creased his eyebrows and his heart began to uneasily pulse.
“Ah~~~~~~”
A shout suddenly rang out and frighteningly reverberated in this terrifying atmosphere street!
Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi were both stunned
“That way. We’d better quickly go over!” Chu Mu took the lead as he urged his Night Thunder Dream Beast towards the sound of the voice.
Ye Qingzi quickly caught up to Chu Mu. Through attentive observance, she found that Chu Mu was extremely anxious. This caused Ye Qingzi to feel exceptionally puzzled. Even if an innocent person was being killed, with Chu Mu’s character, he shouldn’t be so disturbed and restless.
Chu Mu found it very hard to maintain his cool now. Upon linking the current situation, he guessed that an extremely terrifying possibility had occurred.
“What is it?” Ye Qingzi watched Chu Mu’s expression as she asked a question.
“Let’s go over first before we talk.” Chu Mu didn’t have time to answer Ye Qingzi and had the Night Thunder Dream Beast use Chasing Wind Pursuing Moon causing it to unceasingly increase its speed.
The Night Thunder Dream Beast ran underneath the cold and dismal moonlight. Its speed grew faster and faster before ultimately its figure couldn’t even be seen. The only thing that gave evidence of it running past was the chaotic wind it swept up in the street.
It was also the place from yesterday and quickly the Night Thunder Dream Beast reached Old Tong Alleyway.
Ye Qingzi continued to follow Chu Mu and after she turned the corner, she suddenly discovered that he had stopped at a narrow intersection. His entire being was covered by a layer of shadow and he emitted a terrifying killing intent.
Ye Qingzi urged her Purple Robe Dream Beast to stop beside Chu Mu. Just as she was about to question Chu Mu, she abruptly discovered that aside from the street she had run on to get here, the other three streets were unexpectedly flowing with fresh blood!!
The moonlight pierced through the night fog, manifesting in a hazy light. It spilled over the channel blood slowly flowing underground, causing the blood to seem even more striking and terrifying.
Upon surveying with her eyes, there were several soul pet corpses in every direction. These corpses had been bitten so that the only thing that remained were dense white bones and a few limbs that were hard to swallow. From the bloody raw flesh and the seeping body fluids, it hadn’t been long since these soul pets had died.
There were a total of fourteen corpses and practically lying beside every corpse was a clothed soul pet trainer. Moreover, these soul pet trainers happened to be Li City city guards!!
Such a savage scene had appeared inside the city. Some uneasiness arose in Ye Qingzi’s heart as she looked at the grave Chu Mu with eyes carrying a bit of panic.
Chu Mu didn’t speak. He had the Night Thunder Dream Beast continue down the straight street.
After jumping over several corpses, Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi quickly arrived at another block.
“Hu hu hu hu~~~~~~”
A chilly wind blew at them from the depths of the street. A stench full of blood entered their nose and the shadowy shroud of death hung lowly in the air of this district.
The environment was a bit frighteningly silent. The pale white moonlight cast over the corpses of those who had suddenly perished in this alley. It painted a horrendous and ruthless scene that made one sick.
Even more soul pet corpses had appeared in front of Chu Mu. They were all the soul pets of these city guards, and those city guards that were supposed to be patrolling this area. They had already lost their lives at some unknown time in this district...
“Why is it like this…” looking at the corpses on both sides, Ye Qingzi’s face turned a bit paler.
This was a human residential city. Yet, something that made one feel more terrified than those sinister caves, mountains and forests had appeared here. What exactly had transformed this residential district into such a frightening appearance?!!
“Let’s go back, they’ve probably all died…” Chu Mu walk backwards because he knew that if he did so, there was a chance he would end up like those city guards chaotically sprawled over the street- he would be killed and the flesh of his soul pets would all be eaten.
“What exactly happened?” Ye Qingzi who had always been calm was slightly flustered.
“This is a plot. Those predators deliberately laid a trap.” steadily said Chu Mu.
Originally Chu Mu had only guess this, but upon seeing the dozen or so guard corpses and the remains of several tens of soul pets in this district, it was enough to verify his guess.
“Plot? This was done by humans?” Ye Qingzi still didn’t understand.
Chu Mu shook his head and said: “For now I don’t know if this was done by humans…”
Looking back at the alleyway unceasingly flowing with blood, Chu Mu had the Night Thunder Dream Beast slightly increase its speed while simultaneously having Ye Qingzi follow even closer to him.
“Didn’t you say that there was no reason for those predators to attack civilians?”
“Yes, at least that’s what I thought.”
“They know that the moment they die, a large amount of city guards will appear in that area. Yesterday when they killed over thirty civilians, they had that intention…” said Chu Mu.
Chu Mu’s points made Ye Qingzi abruptly understand. Her expression was extremely shocked. All of this was truly too terrifying!!
This was because these things had intentionally lured the city guards before turning their summoned soul pets into food!!!
“If we had been able to realize this yesterday, they wouldn’t have died…” Chu Mu’s face revealed a rather bitter and pained expression.
Chapter 242: A Case With Boundless Danger
A savage creature with intelligence!
It was so terrifying that it could target city guards. It was able to use the lives of ordinary civilians to set a trap and make the soul pets of the city guards that protected the safety of this city into food.
Such a frightening species existed in this bright and flourishing city, inhabiting the small alleys that people frequently walked to and fro in. While taking a walk at night or even deep in the slumber of dreams, there was a chance that they could pass right by you. Whether they took your life or not was all predicated on their dreadful scheme...
Chu Mu’s heart was heavy. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen death before, but the intelligence of these creatures made the hairs on Chu Mu’s back stand up. It was like the catastrophic-like desolate hibernation from back then had arrived...
Ye Qingzi wanted to say something, but upon thinking about the devastating things that had just happened, an ineffable emotion surged up in her heart, and she could only silently follow beside Chu Mu.
……
On the second day, the news was buried by the city government.
Last night, a total of 100 city guards and 10 aerial guards, as well as the three hundred civilians that had acted as bait, all lost their lives in the city. This could be said to be Li City’s most unprecedented shocking murder case!
However, this terrifying news was resolutely suppressed by Li City’s government with its most immediate force. Ultimately, it manifested into a rumor that a group of underground faction soul pet trainers had started a fight in the city center’s Western Street, causing several deaths and wounds.
……
“Three days, in three days you’ll solve this problem for me. If you haven’t found the murderers in three days and moreover cleanly wiped them out, I’ll throw you onto the center Western Street for a night!” The city general in charge of Li City’s safety angrily smacked the table giving a military order to the city officials.
Center district official Li Gu was terrified as well. Since Center Street’s resident area wasn’t officially a Li City district, there hadn’t been enough focus put on that area. Even if something happened there, the district official would suppress the news before dealing with it privately.
Central district official Li Gu originally thought that it was the evil work of fugitives as well. If he dispatched a few city guards to patrol then it would be fine; yet, he didn’t expect for this matter to be so terrifying that it would become a shocking massacre in the district.
Standing beside central district official Li Gu was aerial guard deputy Dong Qing. He hadn’t slept the entire night and looked very miserable.
Last night, Dong Qing had changed shifts with another deputy and returned earlier to rest. Thus, he wasn’t among the ten aerial guards. Therefore, while he was fortunate to have escaped the calamity, he also lost a few comrades. This sorrowful haze that arose from after hearing the news last night had shrouded over him. It made him sink into a state where he was on the verge of exploding.
Once the city general left, the district official Li Gu bade him farewell before returning not much later. His face was gloomy as he sat back down at his spot.
This hall was currently full of all the city and aerial guard deputy ranked and above members. These people were all silent, not even saying a sentence.
Li Gu’s sigh gradually rang out. It was a while before he said: “Li City is currently in a extremely alert state. This matter is truly exceptionally serious. However, we really can’t dispatch too many people; even now, I don’t know what it was that committed such a terrible act. Moreover, I don’t even know how many of these things there are. Therefore, we have to employ the help of some mercenaries.”
“Zhang Shi, go and put up a bounty with a base reward of a few million. Find a few capable mercenaries to help us. The other captains lead your team; every ten people will form a team and will patrol in the city center’s Western Street…” said city district official Li Gu.
“Yes!” all the captain seriously gave a salute.
“Wait.” just at this moment, Chu Mu who had remained silent spoke.
It was Chu Mu who gave the information to Dong Qing, and this was the reason why this matter was restricted before it could spread. Further, during the city official meeting, Chu Mu had listened off to the side.
Li Gu suspiciously looked at Chu Mu and confusedly asked: “Who are you?”
“This person is the soul pet trainer that gave me the information.” explained Dong Qing.
Li Gu glanced at Dong Qing. To Li Gu, the only good thing about this massacre was that Dong Qing hadn’t been among the dead, otherwise this matter would have been even more serious.
“Take back the order you gave just now. Right now we don’t even know the enemy’s numbers and method of hiding; rashly dispatching small teams to search Western Street isn’t very appropriate.” said Chu Mu solemnly.
“We happen to be the glorious city guards of an entire district; don’t tell me we would still be afraid?” said the district deputy official.
The city general had only given them three days to resolve this matter. Yet right now they didn’t even have a trail. These city officials were carrying immense pressure as well, and if they didn’t use a sweeping method to search, what other solution was there?
“Those things used the lives of ordinary civilians to lure the city guards before making their soul pets into food. This means that their intelligence is extremely high. If we are to dispatch a large group of members to search Western Street, there are three outcomes. The first is that we find a trail and find their next target. Then, we’d engage in a large fight with these soul pets. If this is the outcome, we’d still have to consider exactly how many of these savage creatures live on Western Street. Moreover, we don’t know if your people can eliminate them. If they can, then this matter will be over, if they can’t, then we will just be raising an even more terrifying group of executioners and the situation would worsen.” said Chu Mu.
When Chu Mu gave this explanation, everyone’s eyes fell on him.
“The probability of the first is rather low because, since these soul pets were able to live for so many days, they definitely have some special method of concealment. Moreover, I fought with those things on the street and was chased nearly half a block. With my soul remembrance, I was still unable to understand their method of concealment. If everyone here has all reached the spirit master level, then we’d be able to use the sweeping method to search.”
“You’re a spirit master?” everyone was shocked.
“Yes.” said Chu Mu as he nodded his head.
A twenty year old spirit master was rare in the soul pet world. Previously, everyone had thought that this young man who wasn’t a city guard member and had suddenly run here to spread his words was a bit too strange. However, when Chu Mu indicated his strength, everyone grew serious after being shocked.
“This person is Chu Chen, and he is a wandering soul pet trainer. This is his friend, a soul teacher, Ye Qingzi. They had a bit of a realization towards those savage creatures that attacked our comrades. Everyone listen to their analysis before we plan a strategy.” Dong Qing himself was surprised towards Chu Mu’s level. However, he quickly and intentionally introduced Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi.
“Yesterday when I encountered them, they were able to turn invisible. I believe that this terrifying technique will make you guys suffer defeat. At the moment, the invisibility ability cannot be seen through even with my spirit master remembrance. I managed to sense them because of my dark type demonic Night Thunder Dream Beast, so I’m not too supportive of you guys going to search…” Chu Mu continued to say.
“Dark thunder dual attribute Dream Beast!”
When Chu Mu said the name of his soul pet, a few small gasps were heard. Everyone present was a deputy and above level soul pet trainer. They knew that the perceptive abilities of a Dream Beast were among the best among demons. If only a Night Thunder Dream Beast was able to see through them, then their sweeping method of searching really wouldn't be of any use.
“Just now I said there were three scenarios. The second scenario is that they have intelligence, and if you begin a large scale operation and cannot be beaten, they’ll definitely rely on their hiding abilities to hibernate for a while, waiting for you to loosen your guard before launching an attack…”
“The third scenario is that their strength is stronger than yours. Then the outcome is something you guys should understand…”
After Chu Mu finished speaking, everyone felt a wave of cold air, especially when Chu Mu mentioned the third outcome!
“There’s nothing… nothing to be afraid of. We have at least 500 people and over a thousand soul pets….” the deputy city official’s confidence wavered.
Every captain was silent. When they thought of the 100 city guards that were killed without even managing to let out a signal further coupled with Chu Mu saying that these soul pets possessed an invisibility ability, they suddenly felt that the probability of this was actually very large.
“I’m not saying the entire army will be annihilated, but you’ll definitely pay a price more painful than last night. I suggest that you gather an even larger amount, or have Li City’s city lord dispatch an elite team. These things rely on eating the flesh, soul core, and soul crystal of powerful things to raise their strength. If you dispatch too many troops before fundamentally understanding them, there’s a definite chance you’ll be sending food to them. This matter isn’t something manpower can resolve…” said Chu Mu.
“Then what do we do? The city general clearly indicated that he didn’t have enough people to invest here…” city official Li Gu displayed an unsightly face and his gaze specially fell on Dong Qing.
“It’s true we can’t muster members.” Dong Qing gave a definite answer.
Chu Mu looked at Dong Qing and felt that it was strange. Why was it that when such a tragic event occurred, Li City was still stingy with their members. Didn’t Li City’s city lord and that city general attach importance to the lives of over a hundred people?
Dong Qing saw Chu Mu’s confusion and bitterly laughed, saying: “It’s not convenient to divulge this case. In short, we can only rely on the members of this district now to resolve this matter. Brother Chu, since you were able to see through a bit into this matter, what should we do? The city general allocated 50 million gold coins for us to use. We can give a reward of at least 10 million; since you understand these things, I really hope that you can take this mission because we really don’t have even the slightest trail…”
Chu Mu hesitated a while. Before, Chu Mu really would have planned on taking the mission. After all, he still needed a large amount of gold to strengthen his soul pets. However, right now, it seemed that this matter wasn’t anything simple. Whether or not he had the ability to take the mission was the big question.
“Then I’ll give it a shot. However, if the danger factor is extremely high, I hope that you can have an expert come and resolve it…” Chu Mu ultimately agreed to take the mission.
“Then I’m truly too thankful. I salute you on behalf of all my perished comrades!” Dong Qing gave Chu Mu an extremely serious salute.
Despite being a case with boundless danger, it was still accepted. All the captains held Chu Mu with exceptional respect and when Chu Mu gave a salute, all the captains gave a simple gesture of respect.