L.O.R.D - Volume 2, Section 7: Secret of Rennes
L.O.R.D (New Version)
Movie t.i.tle: L.O.R.D (Legend of Ravaging Dynasties)
爵迹
Author: Guo Jingming
Published: 2016
Translation: [email protected]
Volume 2: Bewstowment of the Seal
Section 7: Secret of Rennes
Before she has the chance to respond with her soul powers, she only manages to see the ground beneath her feet exploding. Five sharp large claws attack at lightning speed. Like sharp blades that can extend limitlessly, it picks up her thin figure.
She shoots towards the cliff behind her as the strong attack pushes at her. With a large exploding sound, the rocks spray in all directions, dust engulfing the place.
—It is obvious that I felt it beforehand, but I cannot avoid the speed……
The heavens and earth return to silence.
The dust settles slowly. A deep hole formed at the steep surface of the mountain from the impact of Shen Yin’s body. At the mouth of the cave, Shen Yin’s silk-like dark locks hang from the hole. A large bundle ice vines as sharp as knives twist itself slowly from the gaps on the ground and fill the cave. They squeeze out from the mouth of the cave and climbs slowly towards the sky. After ascending for a few meters, it stops. It looks as if it is a live being, piercing through the cliff, shattering the rocks. Their sharp claws as sharp as crystals are exposed in the air. Between the icicles is Shen Yin’s hair, soaked in blood.
Qi Ling lies on the ground with a scattered vision; he looks at the inverted picture behind him, looking at Shen Yin being swallowed by the vines, looking at the cave finally being filled by countless icicles.
And at the same time, a few sharp thorns of ice rise from the ground around his body, with sluggish speed and an air of arrogance, they pierce through his skin bit by bit, like a sharp snake, it slides into his body, calmly and cruelly moving forth slowly in his body. Even more thorns of ice leap from the ground, tying him up around after round and then tightening their hold on him, on every blade of ice even more erupts. His ankles, thighs, hands, chest, abdomen…… the sharp blades of ice rip open his muscles and the ultimate coldness is like poison injected into his body. His pain becomes numb. Qi Ling feels his rapid loss of body temperature. The blood rushes to fill his entire chess, pressing down onto his heart before surging towards his throat. What gushes from his mouth is the sweet and metallic liquid.
The last scene Qi Ling sees before he loses consciousness is the large, hairy claw of the monster. Tainted with fresh blood, the moon reflecting off an eerie green color.
It raises its claws up high, the large sole of its paw blocks off the paleness of the moon. In the shadow; it lashes down at lightning speed.
[West of Aslan Empire - Port City of Rennes]
When Lianquan walks into the city of Rennes, it is noon.
The sky is a clear blue and looks like a flawless blue diamond. Not a speckle of impurity can be seen.
White seagulls perched between the wooden pillars of the port call out occasionally. At times, they dip into the ocean and when they resurface, small silver fish are being held in their beaks.
There are constantly cargo ships of various sizes sailing into the harbor. They stop in the bay and bobble slowly with the gentle waves. Rennes is located in a concaved part of the coast. The point of connection between the ocean is gentle but deep. The waves are never too high, making it the best port created by nature. The city of Rennes is situated along the coast in the Southwestern part of Aslan. At least half of the year is full of sunny days. In this season, most parts of Aslan has entered the beginning of winter but Rennes still seems to be enveloped in the warmth of spring.
Guishan Lianquan takes a deep breath. In the air is the peculiar smell of the sea typical of a port city. It is a mixture of all sorts of cargo. Spices, wine, delicacies……the salty air coupled with the heat of the sun gives people the happiness of lazy and untroubled times. Everyone who lives in a city like this, be it the fishermen who just came back from sea or the craftsmen in the blacksmiths’ shops are all joyous. On everyone’s faces are smiles as blooming as the sky. However, there is not much of a smile on Lianquan’s face. Since young, she rarely smiles, which means that everyone feels that she is overly serious and that her life is dull.
As the third biggest metropolis in the Aslan Empire, Rennes has always had the role of the exporting city of the imperial capital. Countless vessels pa.s.s through this port, unloading, loading and setting sail again. As it is far from the borders of the four counties, war is rare. The climate and the geological structure are relatively stable so there are not much natural disasters. This allows Rennes to acc.u.mulate their continuously stable development to become a rich city on par with the imperial capital Gelanerte. At the same time, each year, the cold and warm ocean currents meet in the surrounding waters of Rennes, resulting in the abundance of seaweed and seafood to surge up the waters, attracting schools of fish. This large supply of fish is enough to last from autumn till the end of winter. Hence, the transportation industry and the finishing industry has always been the pillars of the economy of the city of Rennes.
The citizens live and work happily and are affluent.
Yet Rennes always had a secret.
This secret is only pa.s.sed around in the soulbending world. Most of the soul masters know of this.
It is the fact that this place is the entrance to the ‘Grave of the Souls’.
Lianquan is here for just that.
She has just entered the broad gates of the city before she is hearing commotion from outside the walls of the city. She turns and then frowns.
In the glaring sun, a white horse-drawn carriage is speeding towards her on the marble-paved street. The vendors on both sides of the road moves to avoid collision, everyone lowering their heads carefully to not draw attention to themselves, all of them thinking the same thing.
Should be an obnoxious aristocrat from the city.
Lianquan puts on her hood. With half of her face covered, she steps to the side of the road. Her eyes are hidden in the shadow casted by the hood, slightly guarded as she looks at the reckless group of carriages approach.
The horses pulling the carriages are all muscular. One look at their smooth and shining fur and one can tell that the horses are expensive and rare. At the bottom of each hoof are silver engraved with dense patterns. They click against the surface of the marble ground and emit loud and clear sounds. It is obvious that they are well taken care off all the time.
In the middle of the road, a slow-moving elderly woman is bending down to pick up her basket that she dropped due to surprise, and the army of vehicles is approaching her with rapid speed.
The on-lookers are not given time to a.s.sist and can only call out loudly to alert the elderly woman. She hears the commotion from the surroundings and just as she turns, still in the same position of bending down, in the next moment, with a loud crashing sound, the old lady’s body is like a dried leaf, flying off the ground weightlessly and then tossed aside lightly, she crashes on the city walls at the side of the street. Thick fresh blood seeps through her hair and congeals quickly under the hot sun.
Lianquan’s eyes flicker underneath her hood. She frowns as she looks at the motionless corpse of the old lady at the foot of the wall and at the rapidly distancing fleet of vehicles from over the veil — the vehicles did not pause or hesitate, to them, it is no different to crashing into a basket or chair.
The fleet of vehicles slows to a stop about two hundred meters ahead.
The leading carriage parks at the entrance of a palace constructed of grand white rock. The sides of the steps is already filled with armed guards and awaiting maids in order to welcome the fleet.
Lianquan moves slightly, her body shaking a few times under the glaring sun. In a few steps, she is standing quietly in front of the fleet of vehicles. If not for her cape still flapping in the wind, it seems as if she has always been awaiting at this position.
The person in the carriage lifts the heavy and luxurious curtain. He sees Lianquan standing in front of the horse when he is about to alight. This man glances at her coldly before moving his gaze away dismissively. He squeezes out two words from between his teeth coldly, “Get lost.”
Lianquan does not move, seeming like she did not see the muscular warrior holding a heavy chained hammer moving towards her from behind.
The man in the carriage laughs coldly and sits back down. The warrior behind Lianquan then lugs his weapon crafted from black metal at her. The muscles on his arms contract as the heavy spiked head of the black metal hammer swings towards the base of Lianquan’s neck with a deadly force.
The sound of bones shattering. The gruesome sound of metal spikes crashing into flesh.
Lianquan’s body flies out with a bang, dropping a few meters away. Her body slides a long distance on the rock ground, leaving a trail of blood behind her.