Zhang Chen glanced at Chen Ping and took a sip of his drink. How could he not know Chen Ping’s difficulties?
Heading south for thousands of miles, not only were there beasts rampaging, but various human demon armies constantly pursued and blocked them, attempting to trap everyone in the Northern Land.
The so-called human demons, according to Zhang Chen’s understanding, should resemble the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and other steppe tribes from the past.
They use wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards as their totems and worship various Great Demons as Divine Spirits.
These human demons are not lacking in horses, and they also have the power of various fierce beasts to assist them, especially the wolf riders and tiger-leopard riders who use wolves, tigers, and leopards as mounts, causing significant damage to the three thousand iron riders of the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency. If not for Zhang Chen secretly helping several times, the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency might have already been completely slaughtered.
"I’ve decided to recruit able-bodied men among the refugees, train them day and night to resist the invasion of those beasts. The Northern Land lacks everything but living forces; refugees are everywhere, and those who can’t survive are numerous. As long as I provide a meal, they will be willing to risk their lives. Once I’ve trained tens of thousands of troops, it won’t be us being hunted by the beasts but us hunting them." Chen Ping’s eyes showed a cold ruthlessness, with a sinister flow of murderous intent in his gaze.
"I have three thousand armored warriors, each training ten men, that’s thirty thousand; training a hundred men, that’s three hundred thousand. Once formed into an army, no matter how many beasts there are, it won’t be enough for us to kill; they’ll only become our food. If the Demon King doesn’t show up, who could possibly stop us?" Chen Ping’s eyes were full of coldness.
"If we gather too many people, it will surely provoke the Great Demon King," Zhang Chen warned.
"To be worthy of the Great Demon King’s action, it must be at least one hundred thousand. As long as we keep the numbers below one hundred thousand, why would those Great Demon Kings bother with us?" Chen Ping casually poured Zhang Chen a full cup of wine. "Besides, if we don’t organize a large team, we might never be able to leave the Northern Land."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent, agreeing with Chen Ping, then raised his cup and drank it all. The two no longer discussed the situation in the Northern Land but began to banter about various things across Celestial South and other places.
In the end, as they became slightly intoxicated, Chen Ping suddenly sighed, "I haven’t been home for three years. I miss home! I wonder how my daughter is doing."
Surprised by this, Zhang Chen looked at Chen Ping, who was only seventeen or eighteen, yet already had a daughter?
"You have a daughter?" Zhang Chen asked in shock.
"I married when I was fifteen, and on the third day after my daughter was born, I received a big job order for which I had to personally escort it to the Northern Land. Who would have known that the moment I was about to return, such incidents occurred in the Northern Land?" Chen Ping cursed, "That damned Prince Pingbian, allowing the Demon Race to jump over the White Bone Great Wall; he’s utterly sinful! I originally planned to return via water, but who knew we’d encounter a Water Demon? Out of ten thousand porters, only three thousand remain."
Chen Ping’s voice was filled with sorrow at this point, carrying a hint of a sob, "Seven thousand people! Seven thousand families, how can I explain to them when I return? How can I face those widows and orphans?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent, recalling Prince Pingbian’s flood in the Northern Land, he had some undeniable responsibility in this. If not for his repeated ruin of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion’s grand plans, the Prince Pingbian’s Mansion would not have been forced to the brink.
But even if Zhang Chen was given the choice again, he would undoubtedly remain firm in his actions against Zhang Shicheng, preventing Zhang Shicheng’s Walking Flood Dragon and Dragon Transformation, as having a twelfth-tier and eleventh-tier opponent would be an extremely terrifying situation; Zhang Chen did not want to be hunted down, nor did he want his family’s old and young to be implicated.
"How is Prince Pingbian doing?" Zhang Chen asked.
Chen Ping, being from the Escort Agency, had friends all over and might know the martial world’s insider news.
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s question, Chen Ping gritted his teeth, "Prince Pingbian retreated all the way, abandoned Goulan County, and directly forsook half of his territory to establish a confrontation line between the north and south with the Demon Race. The experts of the Demon Race are stationed at the front line to counter the experts of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion, otherwise, we would not have a chance to survive! That dog thief Prince Pingbian chose not to resist the Demon Race and directly abandoned the elders and folks in the Northern Land, he’s a traitor to our Human Race. If given the chance, I will surely have him cut into a thousand pieces."
"Where are we now? Is this Prince Pingbian’s territory or the Demon Race’s?" Zhang Chen continued to ask.
"We are fortunate to be on the border between Prince Pingbian and the Demon Race’s territories. It is said that the people on the Demon Race’s land have already been confined by the human demons and become the food of the Demon Race. Human blood naturally nourishes beasts, and as long as those beasts consume human flesh, they will surely gain intelligence. It is said that regardless of the beast, as long as they have eaten ten humans, they will understand spirituality and gain wisdom," Chen Ping said through gritted teeth.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent again, unable to speak, merely raising his drink and gulping down a large bowl, his eyes slightly red, but he said nothing.
He could imagine how desperate those living in the Demon Race’s territory must be now!
The only good news is that the Demon Race will not completely consume the Human Race in the Northern Land; they need to confine and nurture them, so they can continue consuming them. This is the only good news.
Zhang Chen drank an entire jar of wine, his body filled with the smell of alcohol, becoming slightly drunken as he stumbled back to the mule cart, feeling inexplicably uneasy.
Do you say he has no responsibility?
He knew in his heart that he bore a large part of the responsibility. If you were to say he was responsible, he had no choice but to act this way, as he had no other options. He didn’t want to die, so when Zhang Shicheng attempted the Walking Flood Dragon transformation, he had to stop it.
Zhang Chen, drunk and hazy, fell asleep on the donkey cart. Just as he was in a deep sleep, a peculiar wind suddenly swept in from the distance, turning the sky and earth dark, as if a nuclear explosion was approaching the direction of the large convoy.
In that storm, three figures were battling a gigantic black skull. The skull wielded a black banner, facing the two figures without showing any weakness, making the sky and earth dark. Seeing that peculiar wind and the figures within it, Chen Ping’s expression turned horrified: "It’s a battle between Ninth-Tier experts, that’s Gu Mingyue from the Yellow Heaven Dao, and I don’t know what terrifying evil entity they’re contending with. Everyone, hide quickly!"
But before Chen Ping could finish his words, the overwhelming black wind had already descended, instantly enveloping the entire escort agency group. Countless escort masters, goods, and horses were swept into the sky, with numerous refugees behind them being blown into the clouds like fallen leaves.
Only Zhang Chen’s carriage seemed to sense the storm approaching, as the Wind Stabilizing Pill automatically emitted a light that covered a radius of twenty meters. All the strange wind that encountered the power of the Wind Stabilizing Pill immediately calmed down, turning into a gentle breeze.
The footsteps inside the carriage stopped, and the people inside could not see the scene outside through the wind and sand. At this moment, the entire world was dim, and even the roars outside were scattered by the wind and sand.
At this time, Zhang Chen, still in a drunken haze, woke up to find the carriage empty, with no sign of his younger brother, younger sister, and others. The air outside was frighteningly quiet.
Shock surged in Zhang Chen’s heart. How could there be such a dead silent atmosphere when the escort agency’s large group was gathered?
He quickly lifted the curtain and was stunned by what he saw. All he saw was yellow sand, not a trace of green. A layer of yellow sand piled on the ground, making it seem as if they had arrived in a desert.
In front of the carriage, his younger brother, younger sister, step-mother, and others stood before the yellow sand with worried faces, their eyes silently gazing at the sand, filled with anxiety.
"Where are the people from the escort agency?" Zhang Chen asked.
"You’re finally awake! Something big has happened!" Chengyu turned to look at Zhang Chen, "An hour ago, there was a gale here that turned the sky and earth dark. When it calmed down and we got off the carriage, everyone from the escort agency was gone, as well as the refugees."
Zhang Chen was utterly shocked upon hearing this. He hurriedly jumped off the carriage, carefully sensing the surrounding environment, and his expression changed: "The yellow sand on the ground must be about a meter thick. What kind of wind could blow the sand so thickly and even blow away all the big trees?"
Zhang Chen scanned the distance, where there was no trace of any big trees. All he could see was a barren yellow landscape, turning into endless sand.
As for why the carriage hadn’t been blown away, it was due to the Wind Stabilizing Pill.
Zhang Chen was a bit dumbfounded. Why had everything changed so drastically during his sleep? Everything looked different.
The yellow sand was meters thick, and the escort agency’s people must have been blown away. The refugees must have been swept away too.
"What are we going to do now?" Mrs. Zhang was at a loss.
"Are we missing anything?" Zhang Chen inquired.
Mrs. Zhang gave a bitter smile: "The gold, silver, jewels you had collected and that stone sculpture (Han Suzhen) were on another donkey cart, and now they’ve vanished."
The sculpture was so large and heavy that it couldn’t have been placed on the small carriage where people sat.
Zhang Chen was completely shocked. Those gold and silver jewels could be forgotten, but his master’s sculpture couldn’t be lost. If his master’s sculpture got blown away, how would he explain to Chen Sanliang in the future? That old man might fight him.
Quickly jumping down from the carriage, Zhang Chen asked anxiously, "Where was the donkey cart parked before?"
He could only hope that the stone sculpture was heavy enough not to be blown away by the wind.
Mrs. Zhang knew the gravity of the matter and hurriedly pointed behind the donkey cart, saying, "There was a porter driving the donkey cart earlier. When the gale came, we couldn’t take care of it. After the wind subsided, we checked, and everything was gone."
Zhang Chen quickly rushed to where the donkey cart had been parked. Upon approaching, he used the Authority of Earth to sense, and the next moment he breathed a sigh of relief—the yellow sand wriggled, pushing out a stone sculpture, but all the gold and silver jewels had been entirely consumed.