Chapter 963: Ghost Town Ruins
Turin Kingdom, the Cloud City.
The sunset glow in the sky was soft and beautiful, showing the world its appearance today.
A man and a woman were walking hand in hand on the street of Cloud City intimately. The man and woman were very ordinary in appearance and temperament, and they seemed inconspicuous in the crowd. No one could have imagined that the unremarkable man was the Dragon Bright Empire’s Third Prince ‘Arthur’, who was now famous all over the world.
Chen Rui’s [Camouflage] could turn him into anyone’s appearance, and even Pseudo-G.o.d couldn’t see the clue, Zola’s transformation technique was equally brilliant. Even if an a.s.sa.s.sin walked by face to face at this time, they would not know that the 2 were a.s.sa.s.sination targets.
Paglio and Dodo had already pa.s.sed the Garden City to the Clear Mirror City of Loya Empire with the ‘Bride Escort Team’. The team will reach Starlight Empire through the teleportation portal of the Clear Mirror City before they went directly to the Blue Glory Empire from Starlight Empire. This was the fastest ground route.
Chen Rui took Ms. Fairy Dragon to act solo. His first destination was not the Blue Glory Empire, but the Jade Forest Sea. So this time he chose the fastest route to the Jade Forest Sea, from the Evening Shadow City of the Yang Shao Empire to the Turin Kingdom, the White Ride Kingdom, and so on, and then to the Jade Forest Sea by water.
After dealing with the hobbit and the elf tribe, Chen Rui would enter the Blue Glory Empire through the Jade Forest Sea. Anyway, after Paglio and the others reached the Blue Glory Empire, they would slow down and wait for the real protagonist, ‘Arthur’, to come before they go on to the Blue Glory Capital for the wedding together.
Chen Rui and Zola crossed the border of the Evening Shadow City all the way, and it took 2 days to reach the Cloud City of the Turin Kingdom. It was already late, and it was still far from the border of the White Ride Kingdom, the Silver Shuttle City, so the two decided to temporarily stay in Cloud City for 1 night.
The Turin Kingdom was a small country. Although Cloud City had a nice name, it was far less prosperous than those cities in the Yang Shao Empire, and even less than the Dragon Bright Empire. It could only be regarded as a barren small town. The only commendable thing was the handicrafts here, which were quite exquisite.
“Zola, do you like this earring?”
“En.”
“This necklace suits you very well.”
“En.”
“This skirt…”
“En.”
“Zola?”
“En?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I like them all.” (I like them very much) Although the answer was very simple, Ms. Fairy Dragon’s heart was as sweet as honey. As long as Chen Rui chose it, it would be affirmed without exception.
Chen Rui looked at Zola’s grinning expression. All of a sudden, he felt a connection. She liked not only these gifts, but also this kind of life and this kind of feeling.
He liked it too.
Love couldn’t be stormy seas and life-and-death excitement all the time, but it consisted of more ordinary and mutual warmth.
He had gone through life-and-death situations several times, and he was exhausted. Finally, he ended the war in the Demon Realm, and released the magic game against the Abyss in the 2 worlds. It was not for any great ambition, but just to protect his cherished people and happiness.
To this end, he would look directly at the unknown dangers ahead and continue to move forward.
“Boss.” Zola’s eyes lit up and picked up an item, “I want this.”
“Wrap it together.” Chen Rui spoke up.
Zola shook her head, “I’ll pay for this one. I bought it for Duoduo.”
Chen Rui looked at the delicate little toy. His heart was warm when he thought of the cute little phoenix daughter who left saliva marks on his face every day. He couldn’t help holding Zola’s hand tightly.
“Thinking of Duoduo?” Zola’s tacit understanding with Chen Rui was getting deeper and deeper, “And Athena and the others?”
Chen Rui nodded, and Zola leaned lightly on his shoulder, “Bring Athena and the others out next time.”
“En.” Chen Rui knew it was actually difficult. Shea, Catherine, and Athena all held important positions. It was almost impossible to leave their posts for a long time, especially the 2 Royal Majesty Empresses. Maybe one day, they would be able to completely unload their important tasks, then they could really relax.
“Guests, these are the items you picked.” The owner of the boutique was a smiling old man, looking at the couple with a smile, “Sir, yours is 4 black crystal coins and 12 white crystal coins. The little toy that Madam bought is 3 purple crystal coins and 7 white crystal coins. I’ll remove the fractions; that will be a total of 4 black crystal coins and 3 purple crystal coins, thank you.”
Chen Rui and Zola paid the money, and the boss kindly added, “You 2 should be from out of town. It’s getting dark now, so hurry up and find a hotel to check in. Don’t go out at night. I’ll also close the shop soon.”
Chen Rui was taken aback and asked, “Is there a curfew at night? Even if it is a curfew, it’s still early.”
“It’s not a curfew… There’s a bit of a situation during this time, even the guards don’t dare to come out easily at night.”
Zola carefully discovered the abnormality of the street outside. It was quite lively when entering Cloud City before. After visiting a few stores, the pedestrians had actually become very few. Most of them seemed to be in a hurry as if they wanted to hurry back. 2/3 of the shop was also closed.
Chen Rui asked curiously, “What’s going on here?”
“Since you’ve come to Cloud City, you haven’t even heard of this? This is a famous ghost town!” The boss looked around and said carefully, “Every night, the area around Cloud City is shrouded in a mysterious power which is terrifying and can absorb the soul as well as vitality of human beings. Even if you walk outside, your power will be devoured. It is said that some kind of terrifying spirit is at work. People who go out will be sucked out of their flesh and soul. There are also legends that it is a curse. The darkness behind the light of the curse… This situation has existed for many, many years, but I don’t know the exact time. There have been many daring adventurers who deliberately went out at night to check it out. They had turned into a pool of dead bones when they were discovered the next day. After such incidents happened in a row, no one dared to try again. Even the church members advised everyone not to go out at night. The Glorious Knights of Light have come to investigate several times, but they found nothing. You’re here at the wrong time. Every year, this week is the time when the strange curse is the strongest. You should find a hotel to stay or it will be dangerous if you are late.”
“A curse that has plagued the city for many years?” After leaving the store, Ms. Fairy Dragon’s eyes flickered a bit. Chen Rui could see that the boss’ kind reminder not only did not make Zola vigilant, but sparked her interest.
To the scientist Ms. Fairy Dragon, the resentment was just an undead with stronger spirit power, and curse was just another form of magic and elemental attack. Such a rare research object, how could she miss it?
As for resentful souls and curse, Chen Rui did not take it to heart. He had the Super System and many abilities while Zola had the [6 Elements Kingdom], so their strength had already reached the peak stage of the Kingdom level. Even if there was a resentful soul or curse, there was nothing to be afraid of.
“Let’s find a place to rest first and have a drink,” Chen Rui’s words made Zola stunned for a while, then the guy kissed the back of her hand, “Then when it gets dark, let’s go see the so-called resentful soul, Madam Valley Master?”
The last t.i.tle reminded Zola of the time when Chen Rui first entered the Rainbow Valley as an ‘a.s.sistant’. Her eyes were gentle, and she made a soft “oh“, leaning her body closer to him.
Late at night.
Not a single pedestrian could be seen in Cloud City, and even the guards guarding the city gate were nestled in the castle and dared not come out. In fact, no one dared to enter or leave the city or make trouble in the whole ‘ghost town’ at night… except for the 2 new ‘tourists’ who came to the city.
“It’s really a strong resentment breath which was similar to undead. No wonder it is considered a resentful soul.” Zola carefully sensed the strong dark element power in the city, “However, it doesn’t feel like a pure undead breath.”
Chen Rui added, “This kind of breath has a certain erosive effect on the soul, and it is easy to cause some illusion, but it does not cause much substantial damage. This should be the reason that it is considered a ‘curse’.”
Zola nodded and closed her eyes as she activated her sensing power with all her strength, “It’s a very strong and strange power, and it also interferes a lot with sensing power, but the dazzling direction of the dark elements tells me that the source should be outside the city.”
“Then let’s solve the mystery.”
The 2 of them didn’t need to s.h.i.+ft; they just kept a certain speed and flew hand in hand. With Zola’s senses, they approached the source of the different power step by step. There were ruins scattered in the woods.
The location of this ruin was obviously the outskirts of Cloud City, which was quite far away, but the strange force it emitted actually enveloped the entire city.
Chen Rui frowned, “The scale of this ruin is very large. It looks like some kind of old, dilapidated ruin with a lifeless vibe. I can’t feel the breath of any living creatures at all. There is a special kind of power breath, as if…”
“It’s ancient runes! The breath is still quite hidden… I think I’ve found a hub.” Zola answered and waved her hand. A huge broken column buried in the rock slowly stood up. Zola’s movements were very careful. Under the moonlight, Chen Rui faintly saw a special circular symbol on the broken column.
After the broken column stood up, Chen Rui’s spirit power clearly sensed the surrounding changed as if a certain switch was turned on. Of course, not everyone had a sensing power like Zola and him, especially the comprehension of ancient runes. It was even more impossible to immediately find this hub in the rubble.
“This is a game of finding patterns in arrangements.” Despite the change in appearance, the light in Ms. Fairy Dragon’s purple eyes were familiar to Chen Rui. It was as if a child had found some interesting toy, “I know. It’s just like your big 9-square grid (Sudoku) game last time. We have to calculate the appropriate numbers and open them one by one. Let me see…”
This kind of problem-solving thinking was a kind of enjoyment for Zola. Chen Rui did not disturb her. Hehe just looked at the surrounding situation. The forest was very large, but it could not completely cover the scope of the ruins. Chen Rui had been to the ruins of Trevante in the Breeze Shadow Empire in the Fallen Angel Empire, but it was far less compared to the size of the ruins here.
“35 meters to the west, this… then 12 meters to the north…” Zola quickly calculated the order and location of the pivots. While waving his hands, objects were erected.
These ‘hubs’ had strict sequence requirements and appeared to be very complicated, but Chen Rui and Zola were both proficient in ancient runes. With the grand master level of the magic circle, this level of difficulty was not difficult for them.
Chen Rui noticed that there were traces of movement around these hubs. It seems that Zola is not the first person to turn on the hub. The circular symbol can be seen in several places in the ruins, like a cloud…the Cloud City?
The sound of rumbling sounded, interrupting Chen Rui’s thoughts. It turned out that Zola had successfully activated all the hubs, and the erected objects began to glow. They connected to each other, interweaving into a bizarre figure, and the light disappeared in an instant. The landscape below began to change rapidly.
A surge of intense spirit power surged out, mixed with resentment that eroded the soul. It was vast, just like the batch of resentful souls that Chen Rui encountered at the bottom of the Demon Realm’s Dead Sea.
The scene below gradually became clear. It was originally a s.h.i.+elding power of s.p.a.ce, but now Zola had deactivated it. They could see an avenue leading to a place similar to a plaza in front. The plaza faintly glowed.
“Swoos.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+ Swoosh…” Countless cold lights flew toward Zola in the air, and the speed was extremely fast. A black figure flashed below – Someone was here!