Book 4, Chapter 113: Old Soldier

The huge bird circled above them once before landing, though it went to the crowd across from Chen Chuan. One of the people immediately gave it something to eat and whispered to it.

The man in the old development squad uniform observed Chen Chuan a little longer, then shifted his gaze to his gear before motioning for the people behind him to stay. Then, he walked forward. Chen Chuan noticed that he only carried a long sword made of bone.

Chen Chuan clamped down gently on his dragon-nose horse to have it walk toward the man slowly.

Once they were thirty meters away from each other, the man removed his mask to reveal white hair and a face covered in wrinkles and bandages. He had a flesh-colored scar, along with wrinkles at the edges of the bandages. It seemed like he had been injured quite badly.

Even so, his eyes were sharp.

The man appeared to be around seventy years old, but Chen Chuan could sense that he wasn’t as old as he looked.

The man spoke up in the national language of the Great Shun Republic. “Sir, judging by your weapon and clothes, you’re from the Great Shun Republic’s military base. What’s your name?”

Chen Chuan got off his horse and held the reins as he stood still. “I am. My name is Chen Chuan. What’s your name?”

Hearing Chen Chuan use the national language back at him made nostalgia bloom on the man’s face. His expression turned warmer. “I’m Yang Yuncheng.”

Then, in the locals’ language, he said something to his group, and they immediately lowered their weapons.

Yang Yuncheng cast a glance at the dragon-nose horse’s hooves before saying, “It seems like you’ve traveled a long distance. This place isn’t safe. An insect swarm is coming this way, and it might rain, so we should leave this place. Would you like to come with us?”

“An insect swarm?” Chen Chuan nodded. Insect swarms roamed all over the merged space. They were present in a lot of Chen Bitong’s memories.

Whenever a swarm showed up, it filled up every nook and cranny and latched tight onto its targets. Without a proper way to deal with the insects, it was best to just avoid them.

That wasn’t the worst of it in this situation, though. Rain was much more dangerous. Both it and snow in the undeveloped area were mildly corrosive. Some creatures that usually only traveled in the sky would come down because of it. They were highly aggressive and parasitic, so fighting against them head-on wasn’t a good choice. It was much wiser to find a place to avoid the rain.

This meant that it wasn’t a good idea to continue his journey. Chen Chuan needed to find a shelter.

While he didn’t know Yang Yuncheng, based on their conversation just now, it was clear that the man was from the Great Shun Republic. He was also friendly, so Chen Chuan didn’t mind going with him. In any case, if anything happened, Chen Chuan would be able to handle it.

Upon hearing his agreement, Yang Yuncheng went back to talk to his group. They released the big bird again and sped off while seeming incredibly tense.

Chen Chuan got on his horse again and followed them. The group moved in an orderly way. They even had scouts, vanguards, and rear guards.

They were also dressed similarly. All of them wore custom-made masks and walked in uniform steps, which made it clear that they had gone through strict training. These people were obviously from some sort of military organization.

Some of the others had tattered clothes, while others were being carried on stretchers. These people didn’t seem to be from the same group as the ones in uniform, but someone they had rescued.

After rushing forward for more than an hour, Chen Chuan saw a temporary campsite ahead. Guards were stationed around it. When they saw the group, they immediately moved the barricades away.

They exchanged a few brief words before Yang Yuncheng ordered some people to light up the bonfires around the campsite. As fire crackled, smoke rose and covered the sky.

It was only at this moment that everyone relaxed a little.

After returning to the camp, their eyes shifted to the sky, as if they were waiting for something. Around ten minutes later, they heard loud, noisy buzzing from the distance. There was a huge, dark cloud there.

It was moving quickly. In just a few minutes, it reached the camp. At that moment, they could see thousands of black insects resembling flies.

Most of them avoided the smoke above the camp. Some stubbornly rushed through, but collapsed and were crushed by the people waiting underneath. They scooped the insects and threw them into the fire.

The insect swarm lasted for around an hour before thinning out.

Yang Yuncheng relaxed a bit and said, “Thank goodness there was no insect queen.”

Chen Chuan, meanwhile, kept his gaze trained in the direction from which the insects had come. After some careful thinking, he said, “I wouldn’t say that. It might be something even stronger than an insect queen.”

Based on Chen Bitong’s memories, the large insect swarms usually came from the undeveloped area, where tons of creatures could hunt insect queens. There were also plenty of powerful martial artists and armed combatants in that area.

Insect swarms might be a pain in the butt, but only to individuals and small groups. If a huge number of martial artists gathered together with certain equipment and special tools, the insect swarms would not be that challenging to them.

Yang Yuncheng seemed to have remembered something, because his expression sank a bit. Just then, it started raining, and a strange smell wafted into their noses. When the raindrops hit the ground, they could see something rolling off the water before either sinking into the ground or crawling over to people.

Some people started burning plant leaves to chase them away, but most went back into their tents to hide.

Yang Yuncheng invited Chen Chuan into a tent for shelter. Once they sat down, he handed Chen Chuan a water container.

Chen Chuan took it and had a sip. According to Chen Bitong, this was a local custom. If the owner of a tent handed you water and you drank it, it showed that you trusted the owner, and you were then a guest of the hub.

When Yang Yuncheng saw Chen Chuan readily drink the water, approval appeared in his eyes. Then, in a voice tinged with hope, he asked, “Mr. Chen, since you’re from the Great Shun Republic, have you received a telegram from an old frequency?”

“I know nothing about it. Before I left, the intelligence division did not mention it to me,” Chen Chuan answered while meeting his eyes.

Yang Yuncheng did not seem to have been too hopeful, so after falling silent for a while, he said, “That makes sense. It’s an old signal, so it’s likely that no one pays attention to it anymore.”

“Were you part of the development squad?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Yes. A long time ago. I think it has been twenty-five years,” Yang Yuncheng answered honestly. “I’m not a deserter, though. Twenty-five years ago, I ventured deep into this region with a few squadmates, and we found an artifact. Unfortunately for us, an elite squad from the former royal family also was there. We fought and killed them, but we were heavily injured. Only another squadmate and I could continue.

“Just then, a huge python attacked us. I told the squadmate to retreat while protecting the others, whereas I would stay behind as a rear guard. In the end, I wasted too much stamina and failed to dodge in time, so the python swallowed me.

“I refused to admit defeat, though. After being swallowed, I continued doing my best to kill it. I was thinking about dying together with the python, but the python ended up rolling into a local hub and died there. The locals got me out after cutting up the python.

“They used herbs to treat my wounds. My entire body had almost melted, so I only recovered after around a year.”

He sighed. “I thought that even if my squadmates managed to make it back, they must have thought that I died. Since I lacked equipment and squadmates to help me, I couldn’t go back.

“Later on, I sent several telegrams back, but did not receive any replies. Since I have no family waiting for me back home and these locals saved me, I’ve decided to stay with them.”

He grabbed a container smelling strongly of chemicals, opened it, and sprayed it at the tent’s entrance.

Skittering could be heard, and the insects that had crawled into the tent curled up. There were quite a number of them. Then, smoke rose from their bodies.

Yang Yuncheng wiped his mouth after taking a sip of water and said, “Around three months ago, I saw soft light practically connecting the ground and the sky coming out of the forest, which meant that another artifact had appeared, and it was pretty high class too.

“Whenever a Class Three artifact shows up, the former royal family, the Great Shun Republic, and the companies fight for it. The local hubs here are too close to it, so I’ve been going around to convince them to leave, but they don’t listen.”

Chen Chuan knew that when an artifact appeared, it came with colorful light and clouds. This phenomenon could be seen from afar, and the class of the artifact could be determined based on the light alone.

This was the reason why all the parties had discovered the appearance of the artifact at the same time.

“The Great Shun Republic’s campsite isn’t here. The attacks on the local hubs should have come from the Union,” Chen Chuan told him.

Yang Yuncheng’s expression turned stern. “I saw their emblem, and I also saw a team from the Linacrox Union. Right now, they’ve wiped out practically all the local hubs near the mountains, streams, and valleys. We’ve come here several times to rescue those who fled and bring them back with us.

“This isn’t an easy task, though. I noticed a martial artist from the Union chasing after us; he seems to want to find our campsite. I didn’t want him to get what he wanted, so I fought him twice, but he was too strong.”

As he spoke, he unbuttoned his overcoat to reveal a frightening stab wound on his scar-ridden and wrinkle-covered chest. Chen Chuan could see the shirt at the back through the hole.

“In the past, this man could have been a member of the development squad, perhaps even a captain,” he said grimly and trained his remaining eye on Chen Chuan. “Mr. Chen, since you came here alone, I’m sure that you’re strong. As an old soldier of the Great Shun Republic, I’d like to ask for your help in stopping this man. I promise to reward you handsomely for it.”

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