Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1590. Doushi

The yaoguai had spent a week in the forest digesting the last meal. Today, it crawled from shrubbery to hunt for another delicious meal of human flesh. The gaunt deer with jagged, thorn-covered briars growing directly out of its spine and forehead instead of regular antlers looked at the empty street.

Its eyes glowed with an unnatural, sickly green light. It could wait; humans were bound to travel this path. It slowly sank back into the surrounding greenery, lurking, waiting for its victim, ignorant of its impending future.

It stayed there for hours until it heard the rattling of wheels. Triumphantly, it jumped in the middle of the road, ready to tear and shred the flimsy carriage apart, only to unlock a universal experience already deeply ingrained into its relatives from Urth.

The yaoguai froze at the sight of a murder carriage covered in blood and torn flesh, barreling down the road at incredible speed. All confidence left its mind; the only thought left was to flee, but it was frozen in shock.

No horses to scare, no coach driver to stop it. It was too late to dodge.

WHOMPH!

The impact came before it could even fully realize what was happening. The carriage tore through the monstrous body like it was jello. As parts of the beastʼs body exploded in all directions, its blood and brain matter joined the other stains on the luxuriously carved carriage.

The Bramble-Back Fawn, as the creature was called, became another coat of paint on Minas Marʼs carriage. Another little shake on their path to Doushi.

“Shit, again. We should really stop and clean the carriage before we reach Doushi,” the blacksmith commented on the added layer of dirt. Abeja had returned to Legion, unable to deal with the speed of the carriage. They had no choice but to drop the illusion at this speed.

“We have been going like this for a day; shouldnʼt we be there soon?” Fin asked. She was fed up with this shaky, bumpy ride. At this point, she wished she had argued harder for flying to Doushi. On the other hand, nobody could have expected their scenic tour to turn into such a disaster, with all the little tourist attractions they wanted to visit being leveled before they arrived.

“According to , we should be close to where it is supposed to be,” Mina answered, checking her own -skill and comparing it with the paper map they had acquired when collecting info on the province.

The carriage stopped soon after. Seth used to clean off the flies and remnants of roadkill they had collected over the past day. Abeja also returned to the coach box, as they decided to continue at “normal” speed.

As they got closer to Doushi, there would also be more traffic. It would be a shame to blow their cover and draw attention at this point. Then they would have ditched flying here for nothing. As such, they traveled for another half a day at normal carriage until the trade hub finally came into view.

Their road joined with the main road to Doushi, and they were among a great line of carriages going to and from the big city. Despite carriages and wagons blocking the view left and right, it was not hard to spot the massive city.

It was surrounded by walls that reached at least 30m at their lowest point and looked thick enough for a carriage to drive on top of them. It was a massive fortification, and the city gate was no less grand.

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The gate was maybe half the height of the walls, still 15 meters high, lacquered red as blood and covered in golden studs. It was currently closed. Only a smaller door inside the left wing was open, allowing a steady flow of carriages and travelers in two lanes.

Above the city wall, they could see the translucent shield of a formation, stopping cultivators from flying inside without permission. Even immortals had to use the gates. But the shield was not the only thing in the sky.

Hovering above the city were massive flying ships and floating islands, not dissimilar to Delta before the Guardian Tree grew. The flying ship reminded them of the invasion on little Gamma, when the Southern Sect Alliance attacked.

There were a little less than during the invasion, but it put into perspective that even though the Alliance was a big power, they were just a small part of everything there was in the province. Although these hundreds of vessels probably belonged to just as many factions, the sheer numbers were impressive.

Although Daoshi couldnʼt compare to the verticality of the glass and concrete canyons of Urth, there were many exotic structures, towers, and pagodas peaking over the city wall, giving it a kind of skyline, although slightly blurred by the shield covering the city.

It was a sight they could hardly get enough of. The trio kept talking about the various designs of flying ships in the sky. Awed by the sight, they barely felt the time they spent in line, as their carriage drew closer to the city gate.

When they were closer to the gate, they also found that the fortifications were not the only thing a step above what they saw in Konan. All the guards at the gate were around lv.60, which correlated to the middle stages of the Foundation Establishment realm.

That didnʼt seem high in their eyes, but compared to the average of Konan, any of them would have been a powerhouse that could have founded their own family clan and reigned over part of the city. Here, they were city guards.

“This will take ages...” Abeja voiced everyoneʼs thoughts. The line was long and densely packed. The carts and people ahead were thoroughly checked before being allowed entry to the city. It would take hours before they would even come in the vicinity of the gate.

“How about a picnic?” Mina suddenly asked. “Letʼs get out of the stuffy carriage and take a walk around,” she suggested. They all welcomed this idea, except Abeja, who had to stay back as the coachman.

“Great idea, letʼs get out of here,” Fin was the first to simply open the carriage door and jump outside, her cultivator robes blowing in the wind. The other two rolled their eyes; even though they had stayed in Konan for a while, Fin still resisted acting more “cultivated”.

While Fin already walked onto the meadow beside the road, Seth got out and gentlemanly helped Mina to leave the carriage. Holding hands, they followed Fin on the small walk. The meadows surrounding the road showed signs of camping. Maybe there were times when getting in took so long people had to spend the night out here?

“Letʼs hope we donʼt have to stay another night in the carriage...” Seth commented at the sight.

“Oh, I wouldnʼt mind, as long as we arenʼt driving...” the cat girl said seductively, hugging his arm tightly. The bumpy ride had been somewhat of a mood killer, so they didnʼt do it for a couple of days.

“Hmm, I will come back to that if we really have to stay out here,” the blacksmith played along.

“I bet you will,” Mina chuckled.

“Hey look, they are even selling street food along the line,” Fin called out to them, pointing at a man pushing a cart loaded with an assortment of candied fruits, sweets, and snacks. The vendor was loudly advertising his products.

”Candied Spirit-Plums! Cultivated in the morning mist of Mount Quai! One bite cleanses the mundane palate, two bites smooth your Qi flow, three bites and youʼll break through your bottleneck! Eat like an Immortal for just three copper coins!” he cried out, waking along the line.

”Sweet Jade-Honey Hawthorns! As sweet as your first love, as red as a bridal robe! Young masters, buy a stick for your beautiful wives! A husband who buys sweet hawthorns is a husband who commands a peaceful household!” he exclaimed when he spotted the trio gallivanting beside the line.

“Right, right, letʼs get some for a peaceful household,” Fin said teasingly, grabbing his other arm.

~I heard everything, you horn dogs. Donʼt think you can leave me out.-