Chapter 35: High Walls and Deep Ravines

“I told you, was it man-made?” Sun Fuping snorted. “Seamless, sturdy, built during wartime, and having endured the trampling of thousands of men and siege engines—only divine powers could achieve such a feat.”

This bridge was formed by divine powers? The crowd looked down at the path, deeply shaken.

“There are many types of earth-element divine arts; this might be a variation of the Mountain-Moving Technique, and it was likely cast by at least fifty practitioners working in unison.” Sun Fuping kicked the bridge surface, which emitted a metallic ring. “Hmm, the cost was not small.”

The quality was also excellent, remaining undamaged after a century.

Situ Han asked in a low voice, “Didn't they say divine powers are ineffective during wartime?”

Before anyone else could speak, He Lingchuan hissed at him, “You only have half the story! Divine powers are only weakly effective against armies, but no one said they couldn't be used *during* a war. What's wrong with using them to pave roads and build bridges?”

He rubbed his chin and continued, “Looking at it this way, this bridge in front of the South Gate of Panlong City has likely been destroyed and rebuilt countless times, hasn't it? The reason this one remains intact is probably because the Allied Forces achieved final victory?”

“That should be it,” Sun Fuping agreed. “Panlong City normally needs this bridge to connect to the south, but when a great war comes, they would certainly cut it first to block the enemy.”

Nian Songyu kicked a watermelon-sized stone at his feet into the deep ravine. It took a long while before the group heard the echo of the heavy object hitting the bottom.

“It's very deep; we probably wouldn't survive a fall,” he said, peering down from the edge of the bridge. “This was originally a moat, wasn't it? I see signs of excavation on the bottom; it seems it was deepened.”

Panlong City was already situated upon a natural chasm, and they had further refined the moat in front of the gates, making the water deeper and more turbulent. This increased the difficulty for any enemy attempting to scale the Chìpà Plateau.

At the very least, an army could not ascend.

Over those thirty-two years, Panlong City had certainly put significant effort into its city defenses.

A slight commotion broke out behind them.

Ever since they stepped onto the bridge, the possessed puppets had been struggling more violently, desperately trying to run backward and even attempting to bite people; one guard's left hand was bleeding profusely.

The consequence of such behavior was even stronger suppression. In the end, they had to be practically carried across the bridge.

The group finally arrived beneath the main southern gate of the ancient city of Panlong.

In truth, the outer walls of this legendary city were not as magnificent as He Lingchuan had imagined. They were only five *zhang* high, shaped like a cylindrical barrel, and the surface was far from smooth, covered in patches of different colored bricks—clearly repaired countless times.

The wasteland was too dry for moss to grow at the base of the walls, but like the bridge, they were covered in stains that a century of wind and sand had failed to wash away.

Those were the scars of war.

Many small holes were arranged along the wall, slightly larger than a pomelo, too small for a person to crawl through. He Lingchuan knew at a glance that there were soldier barracks and passages inside the walls; these small holes served for ventilation, observation, and for launching arrows or spears to impale enemies attempting to scale the walls.

However, these were standard features of a fortification, and the outer walls of Panlong City looked plain and unremarkable.

But as they looked higher up, the crowd discovered its ferocious side—

The battlements were studded with black wooden stakes of varying lengths, arranged in a jagged, interlocking pattern, pointing in all directions.

Zeng Feixiong let out a low cry: “Fir wood, Crocodile-Tooth Stakes!”

He had also been involved in the defense of Blackwater City. As a major frontier stronghold serving as the vanguard of the Kingdom of Yuan against the west, that city naturally possessed a vast array of defensive works. However, the tactic of using Crocodile-Tooth Stakes at city gates had been extinct for nearly a century; this was his first time seeing them.

Siege warfare often required scaling ladders to deliver ground troops to the enemy's ramparts. But with the Crocodile-Tooth Stakes in the way, the tips of the ladders could only rest upon the stakes, and soldiers would have to climb over the stakes themselves before jumping onto the battlements.

Needless to say, these "crocodile teeth" were rounded, and they would be coated in oil before battle to ensure they were incredibly slippery, making it impossible for anyone to stand. If that wasn't enough, the defenders would throw torches up to roast the flesh of the attackers.

Fir wood, used to make the long stakes, was fire-resistant, but humans were not.

To describe this wall as being "armed to the teeth" seemed quite accurate.

Situ Han's eyes widened, and he muttered, "It... it really is like that!"

“Let's go in,” Sun Fuping said, being the first to withdraw his gaze as he led the group through the outer wall.

Of the outermost fir wood gates, one stood half-open while the other lay broken on the ground, clearly having endured violent treatment in the past. The marks of knives, axes, and fire were vividly apparent.

That even fir wood, harder than steel, could be so heavily scarred was an eye-opening experience for He Lingchuan.

But after passing through the gates, he still let out a shocked "Oh!"

Behind the outer wall, there was only a space of two hundred *zhang*, and then...

A second high wall!

He Chunhua could not help but remark, "This is the first time I've seen a barbican this high."

The second wall was five *zhang* higher than the outer wall! Furthermore, it featured a complete set of the same defensive works found on the outer wall.

He Lingchuan even spotted several catapults mounted on the gate.

Sun Fuping shook his head. "Who said this is a barbican?"

As the group passed through the second gate and looked closely, they were rendered speechless.

They saw a third wall!

This wall was another five *zhang* higher than the second, bringing the total height to fifteen *zhang* (over forty meters)!

Three gates, three walls—Panlong City was indeed armed to the teeth.

“Now *this* is a barbican!” Situ Han gasped. “The enemies who fought their way here must have been miserable.” After the grueling struggle of crossing the chasm and breaking through two sets of walls, an invader would have torn through the prey's tough skin, expecting to feast on tender meat, only to chip a tooth on the next bite—there was another thick layer of scales underneath.

To face yet another high wall after fighting through two others would drain almost all of one's momentum; no one would feel good about it.

He Lingchuan thought the people who built this city were quite malicious.

However, he also noticed scorch marks around the air holes of the third wall, proving that the Allied Forces had indeed fought their way up to this point.

The brutality of that battle went without saying.

Crossing the three gates, the group finally entered the interior of Panlong City.

What met their eyes was a massive plaza, or perhaps a flat expanse, capable of holding at least two thousand people. With a party of only two hundred, the space felt incredibly vast.

Turning around, they saw a massive relief of a long serpent embedded in the barbican wall.

The sculpture resembled a snake or a python, with lifelike scales, but it had horns on its head, whiskers under its jaw, and bulging eyes with a protruding snout.

He Lingchuan recognized it; this was the origin of the city's name: Panlong (Coiled Dragon).

However, this was not a true dragon, but a *jiao* (flood dragon).

Below the Black Jiao totem was a long stone offering table for residents to present tributes. The adjacent offering towers and incense burners stood nearly a *zhang* high and were very grand, though they were, of course, devoid of incense now.

At the end of the plaza was a large pool, though it was currently bone-dry. Despite being over a hundred years old, it remained largely intact, missing only a few sections. Situ Han tapped the edge of the pool. "What was this pool used for?"

Sun Fuping replied, "In the ancient cities of the Panlong Wasteland, there is a tradition of drinking water to swear an oath before troops are deployed."