Chapter 1184: Second Shadow in the Ruins

In the secluded valley at night, He Lingchuan’s voice echoed across the entire battlefield.

“Who made you suffer from hunger and cold!”“Who made you an enemy in everyone’s eyes, despised by all nations!”“And who forced you into a dead end, making your descendants wander the plains like wild dogs, with nowhere to settle!”

The Yao soldiers shot arrows at the source of the voice in the sky. However, the monster bird flew too high, out of range. General Zhongwu’s face was ashen. He found opportunities to personally draw his bow twice, but both attempts failed.

He indeed possessed extraordinary archery skills, but He Lingchuan had prepared beforehand; how could he let him succeed so easily?

“I’ll be waiting for you in the ruins of Barley Mountain!” The gigantic monster bird circled once more, flapped its wings, and indeed headed towards the ruins of the palace. “Before that, shouldn’t you settle accounts with the Yao army—”

The black-armored figure looked up, staring intently at him.

“—properly settle old scores?”

After saying this, He Lingchuan and the monster bird had already flown far away, only the lingering echo of his voice remaining.

After flying three miles, He Lingchuan pointed to a large, open area of hills ahead: “Descend!”

The bat demon puppet descended quickly, bringing both of them to concealment among the hills.

About ten seconds later, another owl flew over, circling twice but failing to spot He Lingchuan.

Below them, there was only a patch of rocks with two small trees.

Left with no choice, it flapped its wings and landed on the top of one of the small trees, turning its head to look around.

Just as it turned its head backward, something suddenly dropped from the base of a nearby branch, landing right at its feet.

Startled, the owl flapped its wings, and looked down to see a plump little bat slowly crawling up the tree trunk.

Bats were also part of its diet, and though it couldn’t identify the species, that didn’t deter its resolve to have a midnight snack.

But just as it reached out to snatch it, the bat suddenly grew larger…

Hidden in the shadow of the hill, He Lingchuan heard a series of crackling sounds from above: the flapping of wings and the screeching of a bird.

A few more seconds passed, and the bat gracefully arrived, landing beside He Lingchuan, with two feathers stuck to the corner of its mouth.

He Lingchuan removed the feathers for it. Dong Rui also said, “You were right. That Yu fellow is truly persistent; he even sent out a bird demon to spy on us.”

The bat demon puppet had just eaten a bird demon scout sent by the Yao people. He Lingchuan was the instigator who triggered the chaotic battle between the black-armored leader and the Yao army. Naturally, General Zhongwu was unwilling to let them escape, so he dispatched bird demons to follow closely.

He Lingchuan re-mounted the demon puppet and ascended into the sky, saying, “This Yu fellow is quite organized. He’s busy fighting a major battle, thinking about the Three-Tailed fox, and still keeping us in mind. He’s already figured out that we’ve separated from the Three-Tailed fox.”

Before leaving the battlefield, He Lingchuan had found the Eye Spider a prime viewing spot on a large tree.

From the feedback from the scene, General Zhongwu was clearly furious about this battle.

The Yao army’s elemental power was indeed excellent, giving them a significant advantage against the earth golems. However, this night’s battle was very unusual. The black-armored leader and the earth golems completely blocked the Yao army on the path. The mountain path was exceptionally narrow, preventing the Yao army from forming ranks. Even the soldiers in the rear were blocked by their comrades in the front, unable to charge forward, and could only watch in frustration.

Furthermore, what clear-headed general would willingly let their elite troops fight against mud and clay figures?

It was a thoroughly pointless battle, fighting lifeless puppets with flesh and blood.

So Dong Rui burst out laughing: “No matter how organized he is, didn’t you still trick him?”

He Lingchuan offered a fair assessment: “He was simply caught off guard by the sudden appearance of opponents like us. Besides, he knows nothing about us.”

In his view, General Zhongwu reacted quickly and performed much better on the battlefield than most ordinary generals. However, he could never have predicted that an unconventional opponent like He Lingchuan would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

If He Lingchuan had been in his shoes, he likely would have suffered the same loss.

“Since my bat has eaten all the spies, why don’t we just leave?” Dong Rui asked him, “Why are we really going to the Barley Mountain ruins?”

“After we descended earlier, we doubled back and watched the battle from behind a low hill. The black-armored figure could pinpoint our location without even looking, which means it has the ability to track us,” He Lingchuan explained clearly. “If we leave in a different direction now, the black-armored figure might realize we’re untrustworthy. What do you think, would it abandon the Yao army and come straight for us?”

Then his “snipe and clam” strategy would be ruined, wouldn’t it?

“Uh…” Dong Rui admitted his concerns were valid. “That fellow may not be clear-headed, but his actions are very forceful.”

“Given that it prioritized dealing with the Yao army, it’s remarkable that it hasn’t been completely controlled by the Roaring Armor yet.” They had learned from Fu Liushan that the more masters the cursed armor changed, the more powerful it became. In its later stages, seven or eight out of ten individuals who wore this cursed armor would become its slaves, ending up in madness and frenzy. “Let’s go to Barley Mountain. Didn’t you want to go there when you passed by last time?”

Dong Rui gave a dry laugh.

He was just curious. If the Roaring Armor were truly put into his hands, he wouldn’t want to wear it.

That thing destroys the mind; he’d better not put himself to the test.

“Oh?” He quickly changed the subject. “It looks like there’s a red light flickering in the ruins again.”

Earlier, when the black-armored figure appeared, a towering red light had shot up from the ruins, creating a huge commotion. But this time, the red light in the ruins was faint and unremarkable, barely visible even when looking down from above.

Using He Lingchuan’s metaphor from another world, it was like a lit cigarette butt in the dark of night.

“Let’s go take a look.” There have been so many unexpected events tonight.

Dong Rui, too, was already nearing the ruins, having intended to meet up there.

The bat demon puppet circled twice above the Barley Mountain ruins, giving He Lingchuan the opportunity to examine the former imperial palace of the Glimmering Gold Empire in detail.

Centuries had passed, and the treasury was naturally empty. However, on the open ground surrounding it were thirty-six altars, circular on the outside and square on the inside, each nearly a *zhang* high. From his vantage point, He Lingchuan took out his Shadow-Penetrating Lamp from his pocket, using it as a searchlight. He then discovered a series of bright red runes inscribed on the tops of the stone altars.

Very few pigments could remain unfaded for a millennium when exposed to air. These runes were no exception.

So, had someone repainted them? When He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had come previously, they had encountered the black-armored warrior and had no chance to notice these runes.

With thirty-six altars, merely climbing up and down to repaint the red marks would be a physically demanding task.

Below, tree shadows still flickered. He Lingchuan suddenly said again, “Something’s moving down there!”

Dong Rui grimaced: “Again? Could there be a second set of Roaring Armor in the world?”

Ghost Ape also tensed its muscles, entering a state of readiness.

The last time He Lingchuan said that, the bat demon puppet was immediately attacked by the black-armored figure.

However, He Lingchuan promptly patted the bat demon puppet’s head, telling it to circle down: “It’s fine, descend.”

“What is it?” In terms of eyesight, he was indeed not as good as He Lingchuan.

“It’s a person, a living one,” He Lingchuan said with a frown. “You know them too.”

A stranger suddenly appearing here disrupted his original plan.

The current bat demon puppet, in its complete form, had a wingspan of nearly five *zhang*. Whether taking off or landing, it stirred up dust and stones, creating a considerable commotion.

It landed in front of the Barley Mountain treasury. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui could now clearly see that the source of the red light was some of the runes on the stone altars. However, the altars were quite high off the ground; from level ground, one couldn’t see the runes themselves, only the hazy red glow.

The place was empty, with not a single soul in sight. The night wind whistled through the treetops.

He Lingchuan jumped to the ground and called out, “Come out, I’ve already seen you from the sky.”

A person emerged from behind the stone altar, their face full of anger: “Did you two cause all this here?”

Though the sky was dark, He Lingchuan recognized the familiar face.

It was Fu Liushan.

A few nights ago, during a rainy night, they had lodged at a small town’s tavern. This fellow had drunk with them all night.

The next day, both parties had gone their separate ways, but Fu Liushan had been heading towards Mirthful Mountain.

Dong Rui blinked. “We only rushed over after seeing the red light. We want to know what happened here too.”

Fu Liushan looked at him, then at He Lingchuan. His brows remained tightly furrowed, but a strange look appeared in his eyes: “Hmm, your voices sound so familiar?”

From the moment they entered White Head Ridge to assist the fox demon, He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had worn masks the entire time. Fu Liushan couldn’t see their true faces, but he recognized their voices.

“Uh, He?” He first pointed at He Lingchuan, then at Dong Rui, “Wei?”

He was spot on.

After leaving Beijia, Dong Rui had been using the alias Wei Yishan.

At this point, it was meaningless to insist, “It’s not me, you’re mistaken.” He Lingchuan and Dong Rui exchanged glances, not removing their masks: “It’s us.”

Fu Liushan’s eyes flickered. “I knew you two weren’t simple. You never seemed like mere passing merchants. Heh, are you also coveting what’s here?”

Even after recognizing He and Dong, his gaze remained filled with wariness.

Meeting again in the wild mountains, especially in such a place, both sides harbored their own intentions. Had they not previously shared drinks at the same table, they would have already come to blows.

Dong Rui caught the unspoken meaning in his words. “Why aren’t you asking if we took the Roaring Armor?”

Fu Liushan let out a scoffing laugh. “Took it? Hahaha, it’s not that easy! That Roaring Armor already has a master.”

“That’s true,” Dong Rui said, glancing at He Lingchuan. “As soon as we arrived, that thing tried to kill us and chased us all the way.”

He Lingchuan suddenly interjected: “We were escorting a friend past Barley Mountain when suddenly a massive red light erupted here, so we came to investigate. The black-armored figure, along with a group of earth golems, confronted us and immediately started chasing us. Do you know anything about those earth golems?”

“A few years ago, two armies battled in Mirthful Mountain, suffering casualties on both sides. Perhaps some hatred and resentment clung to the remnant armor, which the Roaring Armor then bound and exploited,” Fu Liushan said with a frown. “And then? What were you two doing just now?”