Chapter 34: Chipa Plateau

“This thing is actually invulnerable to blades and spears? I have a bag of melon seeds here, want some?”

“Give me a handful.” Even though the wind and sand were fierce.

“Its weight is almost as much as an elephant's. *Hiss*, if that backside sat on a person, it would truly squeeze the crap out of them! Father, does that unlucky bastard look like he was under Nian Songyu's command?”

“What is 'crap'?”

“Nothing. The State Preceptor is performing a ritual! He threw two massive fireballs into the enemy's mouths, and the toad let out a hiccup... Hmm, looks like it didn't work.”

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick later, the two purple-gold toads were thrown off the boat.

Compared to the majesty they displayed when they first jumped onto the ship, their bodies had shrunk to one-fifth of their original size, changing from bloated to skin and bones.

He Lingchuan remembered that State Preceptor Sun had made incisions on them and stuffed something inside; then, the two toads had lost weight at a visible speed, dehydrated, lost the ability to jump, and their eyes had become even more protruding.

Then, they died.

“Did you see clearly?” He looked like a man who had witnessed a total catastrophe.

He Chunhua shook his head. As a State Preceptor, he must possess extraordinary methods; it was likely these methods would be just as effective when used on humans.

During the remainder of the journey, the group encountered two more attacks by monsters that were unfazed by foul odors, but only State Preceptor Sun's boat was affected; the other two boats remained unscathed.

Others marveled at the Preceptor's luck and felt relieved that the monsters hadn't jumped onto their own boats, otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to resolve the situation so cleanly and swiftly.

However, Sun Fuping and the others frowned secretly.

Why did all three attacks target the Preceptor precisely? What did this signify—was he a prominent tree attracting the wind?

After rushing forward, the group finally approached their destination before nightfall.

The messenger on Nian Songyu's boat pointed into the distance and shouted to his companions on the two trailing boats, “Panlong City is straight ahead!”

In truth, he didn't need to remind them; everyone had already gathered at the bow to admire the most spectacular sight in the Panlong Desert—the Chipa Plateau.

This plateau had been thrust upward by an irresistible force countless years ago, creating a drop of at least forty zhang (130 meters) from the level ground beneath their feet!

A bottomless chasm, six zhang wide, separated the two.

It was like a dividing line between two continents: clear, distinct, and resolute.

As the walnut boat reached this point, the boatman's operations became extremely cautious, using salted meat to lure the Earth Dragons to travel westward along that natural chasm.

Falling in would mean the end.

After fifteen minutes of travel, the ancient city of Panlong finally began to grow in everyone's vision, its grey outer walls becoming more distinct.

This plateau was too vast; its vertical face was like the cross-section of a layer cake, standing at nearly a ninety-degree angle to the plains. The words "desolate" and "majestic" seemed born for this place.

At this moment, the sun began to set, casting mottled shadows upon the plateau's edge, making it look like a giant beast crouching in the desert, winding and silent.

This terrain was a classic example of being easy to defend and difficult to attack; it was no wonder Zhong Shengguang could hold out here year after year. Without such objective conditions, sentiment and passion would be nothing but empty talk.

Moving further ahead, the altitude of the plateau declined gradually, as if it were a long downward slope.

And Panlong City stood right at the mouth of that slope, firmly guarding the only passage from the south to the Chipa Plateau!

The boat slowed down, and a bridge could be seen spanning north and south across the entire chasm.

It was a natural stone bridge, connecting to the land beneath them to the south and to a small clearing in front of the south gate of Panlong City to the north.

To attack Panlong City, this was likely the only passage; even ten times the troops wouldn't be able to take it. Looking at this stone bridge, He Lingchuan felt indignant on behalf of the Xianyou and Baliing allied forces from over a hundred years ago.

Later history proved that ten times? Heh!

As the walnut boat reached this point, the journey came to a temporary halt. The boatman took down the salted meat from the mast and threw it to the Earth Dragons as payment.

After sprinting for two hours, these three Earth Dragons were so exhausted that smoke seemed to rise from their mouths. If they weren't naturally single-minded, possessed of brains smaller than pebbles, and driven by the constant scent of delicious meat, they would have quit long ago.

Now that the meat finally entered their mouths, the Earth Dragons didn't care about the many prey nearby; they simply turned and bolted.

The group jumped off the boat, and State Preceptor Sun came over to collect his magical treasure. After he recited a few incantations, the large boat transformed back into a small walnut.

Despite the wind and sand, the air here was incomparably fresher than on the boat; the soldiers, freed from the stench of salted meat, couldn't help but take deep breaths.

He Lingchuan tapped the ground with his toe. "Staying here, aren't you afraid of exotic beasts or monsters coming by?" Just like the sides of the Red Cliff Road.

Nian Songyu laughed. "It's all rock beneath here, with less than half a foot of sand and soil. At most, a few centipedes or sand snakes could hide here. Are you afraid?"

He Lingchuan kicked away a layer of sand and found that it was indeed hard rock underneath. It made sense; if the sides of the chasm weren't solid walls, the natural bridge would have collapsed long ago.

Nian Songyu suddenly asked, "What's going on?"

Hearing the voice, He Lingchuan turned around to see several of Zeng Feixiong's subordinates escorting two people over.

The two were struggling desperately; although one was short and the other thin, it took three strong men each to barely hold them down.

Most peculiar was that they were both wearing talismanic robes that resembled waistcoats—essentially two pieces of yellow silk wrapped around the front and back and tied tightly together to avoid the trouble of sleeves and collars. The vermilion runes on the silk rose and swirled slowly around the captives.

Undoubtedly, these were originally Zeng Feixiong's men. But the way they looked at the group was strange—both violent and greedy.

He Lingchuan, having been a hunter, felt that such a gaze belonged more to a coyote.

"They've been possessed by Three-Corpse Insects." Seeing them like this, Zeng Feixiong felt uneasy as well. "The State Preceptor tied two up for observation purposes."

The Three-Corpse Insects on the other boats had all been driven away, but Sun Fuping had kept two behind.

Now, he took the lead and stepped onto the bridge.

In truth, the bridge itself was quite wide, about fifteen zhang (over forty meters), but placed in the middle of the wilderness, above a chasm, and before Panlong City, it looked as thin as a toothpick.

The thousands of troops from the allied forces back then likely met their end right here, and countless times over.

He Lingchuan looked down and saw that the bridge surface was mottled with patches of color, clearly stained by many years of grime that had layered up over a century, varying in depth.

Walking on the bridge, it felt as if everyone could smell the pungent scent of blood.

This had been the front line of the great battle of the three armies; around this corner, countless battles for control had occurred back and forth.

The souls of the dead here were far more numerous than anywhere else.

Sun Fuping suddenly said, "This bridge appeared later; it is not natural."

Nian Songyu stepped on the ground and added, "The material is indeed different from the wilderness. This must have been built by the Baliing and Xianyou allied forces."

Zeng Feixiong, walking beside He Lingchuan, was greatly surprised upon hearing this. "The stone has no seams, it's a single piece. This was man-made? Besides, the sentries on Panlong City aren't blind; would they allow enemies to build a bridge right under their noses?"

(End of Chapter)