“And… there!”
The pained grunt of a young girl resounded throughout the stillborn plains, soon followed by a dull thus of fabric slapping against the interior of a carriage.
Shaking her head and relaxing her sore muscles, particularly those around the shoulder blades, An Fei released an exhausted and satisfied sigh.
What was she doing?
Pilfering the enemy while they were down – though she liked to call it a simple matter as collecting her taxes.
Before her, was a carriage of tempered black steel fully loaded with supplies and stored water.
The quantity that the young girl had spread evenly against the walls of the carriage cabin far exceeded their requirements.
Even if she and Wang Qinian were to gorge themselves with every meal, the stored amount of consumable supplies was sufficient to provide for at least two months.
As she brushed the faint specks of dust from her palms, An Fei reveled at the amazing development the Shattered Star Continent’s ancient technology had experienced throughout its life.
Granted, each article of said technology was imparted with a mind-boggling and logic-defying cheat – ahem, function assisted by spiritual artifacts – but the young girl could care less.
To a certain degree, technology didn’t have to be based in logic as long as one could turn a blind eye to the unusual schematics and concepts.
“Still, to think that a simple terracotta jar with a height and radius of a meter could store more than seventy kilograms of bread, meat, and fish,” the young girl’s left eye twitched.
“Furthermore, by infusing a certain quantity of spiritual essence, the container can keep the stored consumables fresh for several weeks! Preservative companies would surely kill to get a hold of this, ah…”
Was it due to the implementation of an array?
The young girl remembered from Wei Xuan’s concise introduction to arrays and talismans back at the miniature lakeside pavilion at the Flowing Wind Residence.
An Fei leaned against the sturdy and menacing walls of the black steel carriage, her heart flickering with a tinge of uncomfortable homesickness.
“Talismans directly absorb the spiritual essence of the practitioner, while arrays draw upon the atmospheric spiritual qi. Nonetheless, though one emphasizes on speed and the other extensive manipulation of the world, the miracles one can produce through either are limitless… that included preserving food?”
…since Wei Xuan had indeed mentioned that other than becoming immortal, resurrecting the dead, or ascending into a godly figure, talismans and arrays could manifest miracles onto the earth…
An Fei reluctantly placed down her stamp of approval to the ‘atrocities’ present before her eyes.
Whether that was due to her upbringing in an empirical, scientific background or sheer jealousy over not having such a wonderful artefact while she was being chased amok on Earth, nobody was to know…
“Enough! Eighty kilograms each of Bread, water, and cubed slices of cured beef; some marinated, others pre-salted… Then there’s ten kilograms of tofu, and more than a lake’s worth of cleansed freshwater… any more, and the horses are going to drop to the ground, hm?”
An Fei directed a cursory glance towards the two neat rows of five horses each shackled to the carriage, nodding in approval at their pristine and relatively healthy condition.
Patting the large treasure chest filled with premium-quality hay ‘appropriated’ from one of the soldiers’ carriages, the young girl finally allowed for her heart to relax.
The Nascent Soul Realm servant Xie Bie was nowhere to be found, the soldiers, carriage drivers, and Wang Qinian were unconscious, and the adorable and cute short Young Master with the power to raze the entirety of the Shattered Star Continent had yet to finish his relaxing glide in the air.
All in all, it was time to leave.
“Xiao Hei, let’s head off!”
The young girl closed the door of the carriage, and a pair of thin arms pushed open the windows.
An Fei’s holler could be heard from the interior of the carriage, with the faint rustling of clothes synchronizing with the swaying of the breeze.
Caw!
The little raven rolled its eyes towards the unreasonable demand of the young girl, deeply wishing to take a bite of the appetizing skin that used to be present before its eyes each day.
However, it soon forced itself to resign itself to the dull and definitely unrewarding occupation of a carriage driver, pressuring the spiritual warhorses with its violent aura.
Neigh!
The carriage slowly began to move, the solid steel wheels digging deep into the earth as they pushed the massive behemoth of steel forward at a fast pace.
Relatively soon, however, the soft sound of a rope snapping tight slapped against the fringe of the ears.
Behind the menacing silhouette of the black steel carriage, was a rather dingy carriage of much smaller size and inferior quality in its composition and invested materials.
Inside, Wang Qinian slumbered in a pleasant(?) coma amongst a shroud of containers filled with food and water, a hefty blanket nearly smothering the aged frame.
…there was a social concept in the Shattered Star Continent known as propriety.
Unmarried men and women shouldn’t intermingle in a room devoid of supervision.
Hence, the elderly shopkeeper had been cast aside in the sole survivor of the carriages they had purchased at Dong Lin City, but with more than a sufficient supply of food, water, and comfort to persist.
However, the young girl sitting in the black steel carriage would not be aware of two truths for quite a long time, at least not until she was shamed in public for her lack of knowledge.
The first was that the subordinates of Ming Xia, Xie Bie included, were not as incapacitated as An Fei had expected.
Even the carriage drivers who had been intimidated and suppressed by Wang Qinian had recovered their minds by the time the Young Master had been introduced to a surprise trip into the blue skies.
They remained silent in their defeated positions, yet their eyes and ears carefully memorized each of An Fei’s gleeful movements as she greedily plundered their far too abundant resources.
The reason was simple – they did not wish to lose their lives as punishment.
The Young Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Ming Xia, transformed into the devil incarnate when angered beyond his tolerance; they were often the witnesses to cruel torments conducted onto the delicate youth’s enemies.
However, if they feigned unconsciousness during the entire ordeal, it would then be unreasonable for the Young Master to inflict punishment – for he hadn’t done much better in the regard of preventing the young girl from accessing their resources.
The court official was not the only profession that required one to utterly cast aside all remnants of dignity to survive; high-ranking bodyguards were prone to such tendencies as well, and at a greater rate than the former.
Being faithful in one’s loyalty was important, but surviving was paramount!
The second truth was that in actuality, instead of ten fully invigorated spiritual warhorses, An Fei had really only required at most two to pull the black steel carriage and Wang Qinian’s dingy wooden box filled to the brim with gold. The horses were unable to tire themselves out over such light masses on the scale of gold.
Aristocrats – Ming Xia included – merely enjoyed the severe intimidation they imposed onto the commonfolk when they entered a city, for ten warhorses of exceptional breed pulling a single carriage was indeed an awe-inspiring appearance.
Although, soldiers and officials were not the only ones who knew to readily sacrifice their dignity. ‘
Even warhorses endowed with spiritual essence wished to prolong their lifespan for a few more days…
–
“Xiao Hei, let’s rest for tonight…”
An Fei whispered to the little raven through the carriage window, glancing towards the darkening sky with a faintly bored gaze.
The remnant vestiges of the sun waved its daily farewell to the young girl, swiftly vanishing beyond the horizon at a brisker pace than usual.
Caw!
The black steel carriage slowed to a gentle halt; the dingy wooden carriage continued on with its lingering momentum, though ultimately forced to come to a stop through a light collision.
After confirming that the slumbering shopkeeper had not been harmed in any form in his cushion of cotton blankets and comfortable pillows, the little raven hopped into the black steel carriage through the windowsill… only to realize that An Fei had vanished.
Caw!
The wonderful paradise of shamelessly observing an undressing beauty with impunity had been shattered at that moment, causing the little raven’s heart to unknowingly release a few tears…
Alas, the victim of such prolonged peeping was sorely unaware of her plight over the past few weeks.
Staring at the all-too-familiar scene of the crystalline throne room of the Sanctum, An Fei couldn’t help but narrow her eyes.
The longer she stared at the object, the more the fear exacerbated in her heart. She fought hard to gulp down a mouthful of dry air, her heart threatening to leap from the base of her throat to challenge the Dragon Gate.
The mysterious mental haze had vanished for the iron plate atop the gate that guarded the first corridor.
The engravings on the black metal surface were deeply etched with the vicissitudes of time, accompanied with a dense resentment and sorrow.
Three words emboldened themselves into the young girl’s mind.
Gate of Death.
