Right now, Su Mo was leading the members of the Xiao Family through the streets, looking for a restaurant.
He was getting a little hungry.
However, they searched for a long time without finding a single one.
Instead, all they smelled was the thick stench of blood.
It was everywhere!
Moreover, there were very few pedestrians. The ones they did see were scattered and sparse, only staying in Celestial Demon City for a few minutes before leaving.
"What in the world is going on here?"
Su Mo asked, confused.
Qingyunzi stepped forward. "This isn’t working," he said. "Elder Su, you and the others rest here. I’ll go search elsewhere and see what I can find out."
"Hurry back!"
Su Mo agreed.
「About half an hour later, Qingyunzi returned.」
Su Mo asked, "Did you find a restaurant? It doesn’t have to be big. As long as it has fish and meat, can serve a dozen or so dishes, and fill our stomachs, it’ll do."
’There are so many of us; going to a big restaurant would be too conspicuous.’
’We’ll just make do with a roadside stall.’
’We need to keep a low profile!’
However, Qingyunzi shook his head helplessly. "My apologies, Elder Su. I couldn’t find a single restaurant. Everyone in this city... is dead."
"What?"
Su Mo was astonished.
’A city this large must have at least tens of thousands of residents. How could they all be dead?’
Qingyunzi said gravely, "I heard it was the work of an Evil Demon, who performed a blood sacrifice with everyone in the city. Not even the powerful Hong Family was spared. Their Patriarch, a Martial Monarch at the Great Perfection Realm, was killed."
"The Hong Family?"
An image of Hong Shuang surfaced in Su Mo’s mind.
’No wonder Hong Shuang attacked me so indiscriminately after sensing the Evil Demon’s aura on me.’
’So that’s why. Her entire family was wiped out.’
’Poor girl.’
Su Mo asked, "So is there nowhere at all to eat?"
Originally, they had planned to head back to Qingyang City right after destroying the Profound Celestial Sect, so they hadn’t packed many rations.
Who knew they would end up in Celestial Demon City instead?
If they didn’t find a place to eat soon, they might just starve to death.
"There is!"
Qingyunzi replied, "There’s a small town three hundred miles away. Aside from that one, dozens of other towns in the area have all been blood-sacrificed."
"Holy crap, are the Evil Demons really that cruel?"
Su Mo jumped in shock.
’They weren’t satisfied with sacrificing one city; they had to go and sacrifice dozens of small towns, too.’
’Just how many people had to die?’
Qingyunzi sighed. "Alas, if it weren’t for the steady stream of Martial Artists arriving these past few days, the Evil Demons wouldn’t be so cautious. That small town three hundred miles away would have probably been blood-sacrificed by now."
"Alright, then. We’ll head to the town three hundred miles away."
Su Mo sighed.
’He really wanted to kill the Evil Demons and bring justice to the people.’
’But where could he possibly find them?’
’He had to let it go for now.’
Xiao Lang spoke up, "Young Master, three hundred miles is a bit far, isn’t it? Are we just going to walk the whole way?"
"We’ll have Little Queque... ah, I forgot it’s not here."
Su Mo became troubled.
’If it were just me, I could use the True Dragon Supreme Body Technique and get there in a flash.’
’But now, I have the entire Xiao Family with me.’
’Aside from Xiao Zhan and a few of the Elders, most of the disciples are only in the Martial Master Realm. None of them can fly.’
’What to do?’
Su Mo asked, "Long Chuan, you and Qingyunzi, how many people can you carry at once?"
"Carry people?"
Long Chuan and Qingyunzi were stunned.
They had never carried anyone on their backs before.
Su Mo said, "What about Sword Control, then? How many people can the two of you take with you that way?"
"Apologies. Neither of us are Sword Dao Martial Artists, so we can’t use Sword Control," Long Chuan said, shaking his head. "If we carry them using conventional methods, we can take five people each at most."
Five?
Su Mo said disdainfully, "That’s pathetic!"
Qingyunzi explained awkwardly, "Elder Su, before we joined the Xiao Alliance, we were both used to traveling alone. We don’t have any experience with this sort of thing."
"Young Master, I have an idea!"
Xiao Dong suddenly stepped forward and said.
Su Mo asked curiously, "What idea?"
Xiao Dong said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "There are plenty of houses over there, right? We can take some of the main beams, have Master Long Chuan and Master Qingyunzi carry them, and lay some wooden planks in between. We’ll have a simple flying ship."
"Let’s do it!"
Su Mo’s eyes lit up, and he immediately ordered his men to start dismantling the houses.
’Everyone here is dead anyway.’
’No one’s using them!’
Soon, they had assembled the makeshift flying ship.
Su Mo led the Xiao Family disciples onto the makeshift craft, then turned to Xiao Zhan. "Father-in-law, you and the other Elders can fly on your own."
"Alright!"
Xiao Zhan agreed.
"Liftoff!"
At Su Mo’s command, Long Chuan and Qingyunzi immediately hoisted the makeshift flying ship and took to the air.
Xiao Zhan and the other Elders flew alongside as an escort.
Along the way, Long Chuan couldn’t shake the feeling that people were staring. He asked awkwardly, "Elder Su, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Why, is it not?"
Su Mo retorted.
Long Chuan said, "But this is just too embarrassing!"
Everyone else either flew on their own or soared through the sky on their Demon Beast mounts.
They were the only ones with a human-powered flying ship.
It would be a miracle if it wasn’t embarrassing!
Qingyunzi added, "I feel like people are laughing at us."
Su Mo said coldly, "You two just keep flying. If anyone laughs at you, I’ll swat them dead and make sure they can never laugh again."
"Alright!"
The two of them resumed their roles as the engines, continuing to carry the makeshift flying ship forward.
At first, it was fine.
People just watched from a distance, curious about their strange method of flight.
But soon enough, people started mocking them.
"What the fuck? What’s with those guys? Are they actually carrying a ship with manpower?"
"Hahaha, I’m pissing myself laughing."
"First time I’ve ever seen such a bizarre way to fly. Who the hell thought of this? A real fucking genius, hahaha."
"Quit laughing. Didn’t you see the two guys carrying it are Martial Monarchs?"
Upon seeing that two Martial Monarchs were carrying the ship, most people shut up. But some were just asking for trouble.
One of them, a bald young man, sneered, "So what if they’re Martial Monarchs? I’m a genius from the Western Profound Domain, and I’ve got a Martial King Powerhouse backing me up. Like hell I’m scared of them. They don’t want me to laugh? I’m going to laugh! Hahaha!"
The bald youth roared with unrestrained laughter.
Even the flying mount beneath his feet let out a series of mocking caws. "GAK! GAK! GAK!"
Xiao Lang said, "Young Master, that bald guy is mocking us."
"Ignore him."
Su Mo said lazily, having already tossed the promise he’d just made to Qingyunzi and Long Chuan to the back of his mind.
Xiao Lang pressed, "But he’s got a big bald bird under his feet."
"A big bald bird?"
Su Mo’s interest was instantly piqued. He turned to look at the bald youth and, sure enough, saw him standing on a large, bald bird. Its wings were covered in black feathers that looked as hard as rock.
"A Black Rock Vulture!"
Su Mo’s eyes lit up. He immediately ordered Long Chuan and Qingyunzi to halt, and he strode toward the bald youth.
’Holy crap, are these guys really targeting me?’ the bald youth thought with a sneer. ’Heh, you here to offer up your lives?’
The bald youth’s face was a mask of contempt.
Although he was only at the Grand Martial Artist Realm, his Black Rock Vulture Demon Pet was a Tier Five Demon Beast.
In terms of combat power, it was no weaker than two experts at the Late Stage Martial Monarch Realm.
That was why he dared to be so arrogant.
But Su Mo couldn’t care less about that. He walked right up to the bald youth and yelled, "Hey, you two bald freaks! You were the ones laughing the loudest, weren’t you? Now get your asses down here!"