Xie Lian couldn't help but stare in amazement. Pei Ming asked, "Is this even possible?"
Hua Cheng said, "Why not?"
Several people looked at him. Hua Cheng said, "Isn't calling a general just to send mortals up into the sky? He can just temporarily send all the people of Wuyong near the imperial city up into the sky, wait for the volcano to erupt, and then send them back down after the dust settles. Why not?"
Pei Ming said, "Don't make it sound so easy, Blood Rain Scholar. You know that selecting generals consumes mana. How many people does he need to select?"
To appoint generals was, in essence, to use one's own magical power to "nurture" the mortals one had appointed, to serve one's own purposes. Otherwise, if there were no restrictions, wouldn't the various priests be desperately trying to appoint and bring people from heaven? The emperor appointed the entire harem, the entire court, and the generals appointed their entire army.
Hua Chengdao: "Judging from the remains left behind, the entire Wuyong Kingdom had a population of approximately 100,000 people. There are only a few tens of thousands near the Imperial City."
Xie Lian whispered, “Although it’s strenuous,…if we try hard enough, it might not be impossible.”
Pei Ming said, "Even if there were tens of thousands of people, no priest would dare to order so many. If so, it's hard to say whether he's courageous or utterly foolish. This is unprecedented and will never be repeated."
Xie Lian stared at the bridge on the mural, his eyes fixed on it. The faces of the white-robed prince and the four guardian deities beneath the bridge grew increasingly eerie in his eyes. The more he looked, the more they resembled his own and the four imperial preceptors. He recalled the image of Mars guarding his heart. This story, like a recurring cycle, made him eager to know what would happen next, yet he felt as if he already had a vague idea.
He didn't dare look at the mural anymore, turned his head and asked, "Did you find water?"
Ban Yue dragged Pei Su and said, "That brother went to look for him."
She was talking about Yinyu. Xie Lian glanced at Pei Su, who had his eyes closed. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "I think we should go to the Copper Furnace next. General Pei should stay here."
Pei Su was still a human, after all, and faced many inconveniences. Furthermore, they didn't know what awaited them ahead. Pei Ming squatted down, looked at Pei Su, and said, "Okay, I agree. But please, Your Highness, don't tell him the reason in front of him. The child will understand. I'll just tell him about it."
Xie Lian said, “Don’t worry, General Pei. I’ll save myself the trouble. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have told him before he woke up.”
After all, Pei Su was once a young martial god with a bright future in the Heavenly Court. Now, if he was to be placed here because he couldn't keep up with the team, it would be hard not to feel good. However, if you do something wrong, you must accept the punishment. This is the feeling of exile, and he can only endure it.
The few of them stayed in the temple and discussed for a while. Xie Lian asked curiously, "Where's Yinyu? Why hasn't he come back in so long? Hasn't he found any water yet?"
Hua Cheng was gazing at the several undead butterflies perched on his fingertips. Those silver butterflies had been put to great use a moment ago, and now they had returned to him, where they were being stored to gather energy. He raised his head slightly and said, "It won't take that long."
Xie Lian felt wary and stood up, saying, "I'll go take a look. General Pei will watch here. Sanlang, will you come with me?"
It was natural for her to be with him. So, Xie Lian left Ruo Xie behind, letting it form a protective circle. The two of them left the temple and headed deeper into the underground city.
There were many houses and scattered objects along the way. Xie Lian picked up a jar that looked quite pleasing to the eye. Hua Cheng seemed to find it amusing and asked, "Why did you pick this up?"
Xie Lian said, “If you find some water later, you can bring some back to General Pei.” After all, he was used to collecting junk, so he couldn’t help but pat the jar in his hand and said, “Come to think of it, this is a thousand-year-old antique.”
Hua Cheng laughed heartily and said, "If you like this kind of thing, come back to my place. I have a few too, take a look and see if there's anything you like."
After an incense stick of time, the two of them could faintly hear the sound of flowing water. Not long after, Xie Lian said, "Here!"
There was indeed a hidden river below. Xie Lian placed the jar he had found in the water and began to scrub it vigorously. Millennia of dust and dirt had formed a thick crust that couldn't be washed off, but brushing off the surface dust would do the trick. He filled the jar with water, lowered his head, and was about to take a sip himself when Hua Cheng, who was observing his surroundings, turned around and said, "Don't drink it."
Xie Lian had already put his face close to the jar, and when he heard him stop, he asked in confusion, "What?"
At this moment, a voice suddenly said: "It's so hot."
There were only the two of them present, so where did this third voice come from? Xie Lian subconsciously looked towards the source of the voice, and it actually came from the jar in his hand!
He looked down sharply and saw a pair of tiny scarlet dots in the jar, lurking in the water and staring at him.
No matter how you look at it, it's a pair of eyes! Could there be someone hiding inside?!
The moment he met those eyes, the object suddenly rushed towards Xie Lian's face. With a splash of water, Xie Lian was quick-witted and flung the jar several feet away, crashing into the wall. With a clang, the thousand-year-old antique shattered into pieces, and the object hidden inside fell to the ground and instantly disappeared into the darkness. In his haste, Xie Lian couldn't see clearly, only seeing a large black mass. He asked, "What is that?"
Hua Cheng stopped him, and Xie Lian said gloomily, "There wasn't this thing in the jar before, was there?" And why did he say "it's so hot"? Shouldn't the water be cool in that place?
Hua Chengdao: "No, it swam in from the water on purpose. There are often groups of creatures swimming in this underground river, so I told my brother not to drink this water."
Xie Lian thought to himself, “Then let General Pei drink as much as he wants…” Suddenly, he felt a chill on his back and shouted, “Who is it?!”
Just at that moment, he heard someone coughing in the distance.
That was definitely not his illusion, and he immediately became fully alert. Soon, a wave of whispers spread like a tide. All around the two of them, pairs of red dots lit up, surrounding them in the center. Hua Cheng said, "Don't worry. It's not a human."
Xie Lian thought to himself, “It’s not just people who need to worry, okay…”
Listening carefully to the whispers, he could discern what the voices were saying:
“Cough cough cough…”
“It’s so hot…”
"It burned me to death..."
“Wuwuwu…”
"I'm suffocating... Is there anyone there..."
"I can't move, I can't move!"
These sounds were small, yet clear and painful, like tiny ants, constantly drilling into one's ears. Xie Lian was about to place his hand on her heart when he heard a shrill voice: "Your Highness, where is Your Highness?! Save me, save me!!!"
Hearing the last sentence, Xie Lian felt a chill run down his spine, and for a moment, he felt like the voice was calling him. Hua Cheng waved his hand, and hundreds of undead butterflies suddenly dispersed, swooping down towards those pairs of glowing, crimson eyes!
The silver butterfly's light illuminated the countless creatures whispering in the darkness. They were not humans, but mice!
Hua Cheng took him and said, "I told you, there are a lot of rats here. Let's go!"
Xie Lian said in astonishment as he walked, "Is that a mouse? It looks more like a cat to me..."
Indeed, each of those rats was larger than a kitten, their fur as black as steel needles, and their tiny red eyes gleamed fiercely in the darkness. Many of them clung to the wall, staring intently at them, their mouths emitting human language, a truly eerie sight. Silver Butterfly pounced and engaged them in a fierce battle. Red and silver light flashed wildly, making it difficult to see the battle, but the intensity and ferocity were clear. Xie Lian asked, "Could they have dragged Yinyu off somewhere?"
Hua Cheng said, "He's not that useless. He must have been held back by something else."
Xie Lian felt slightly relieved after hearing the first half of his sentence, but the second half brought him back to his senses. He asked, "One rat this big is fine, but why are there so many? What do they eat to grow so big?"
Hua Cheng said: "Simple. Of course they are dead. These are cadaver rats."
It turned out that when the city was covered by volcanic ash, people and large livestock such as cattle, horses, and sheep had nowhere to hide. However, the rats burrowed deep underground and survived by relying on the air deep in the caves and stored food.
After the dust settled, they emerged from their holes again and ran around the city, which had become a hell, looking for food. However, everything was destroyed, either buried by lava or covered by volcanic ash. They had eaten many things and could not find food for a long time.
Until one day, they smelled something rotten.
The stench of decay emanated from the petrified humanoids. Some of the bodies were encased in thin shells of volcanic ash, which had begun to rot, emitting a foul odor and leaking corpse fluid.
So, the hungry mice circled around the fossil statue, bit a small hole in the surface of the statue, crawled in through the hole, and ate the corpse inside.
The most humble things are often the easiest to survive. The bodies of the dead were encased in fossils, along with their fear, anger, unwillingness, and other strong emotions. The mice ate their bodies, consuming these emotions as well, and began to speak, saying what they wanted to say but couldn't say at the moment of death.
Xie Lian suddenly realized, “So that’s why they said those things. I was wondering why they said that…”
Unexpectedly, Hua Cheng suddenly asked, "What did you say?"
Xie Lian was stunned and asked, “What did I say?”
Hua Cheng stared at him and asked, "What did they say? What did you hear?"
Xie Lian asked curiously, “Sanlang, didn’t you hear that? It was just something like, ‘It’s so hot,’ ‘I’m suffocating,’ ‘I can’t move,’ ‘Save me,’ ”
However, before Hua Cheng could respond, he realized what was happening.
wrong!
Those corpse-eating rats were repeating the mumblings of the Wuyong people before they died, which was naturally in the Wuyong language.
Then why can he also understand Wuyong language? !
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