Chapter 66: Sudden Turmoil

At this moment, Qian Ye had already regained his mobility. He stepped out and summoned a guard, instructing them to take Li Kuanglan to choose a suitable place to stay. The young master Li, who was always particular about his living conditions, had decided to try being a mercenary for fun, and Qian Ye couldn’t let him live in subpar accommodations.

Hearing that Qian Ye was arranging a place for him, Li Kuanglan pointed downwards and said, “I will stay right below you.”

Qian Ye was taken aback, “This… isn’t it a bit inappropriate?”

Li Kuanglan replied, “No matter, as long as no one disturbs me.”

Qian Ye had never been particular about his living conditions, simply choosing a place to stay at random. After all, his important items were kept in Anduia’s mystical space, and he didn’t have much luggage.

This small building was originally occupied by a mercenary team captain, a modest dwelling. Anyway, Song Zining couldn’t bear it, so he built several serene and elegant courtyards for residence, which Ji Tianqing also strongly supported. Surprisingly, the normally fastidious Li Kuanglan, who was meticulous from head to toe, didn’t mind at all and was willing to be Qian Ye’s neighbor.

“Zining and the others are constructing new residences; they should be completed in half a month. You can move there then.”

Li Kuanglan said indifferently, “If you go, I’ll go too. If you don’t, I’d rather not live next to those two.”

Qian Ye, helpless, ceased his attempts to persuade him. Just as he was about to accompany Li Kuanglan to see the place, a jeep came speeding, screeching to a halt in front of the building, tires smoking and dust billowing, accompanied by a shrill squeal.

A blood-soaked mercenary jumped out of the vehicle, rushing into the building and shouting, “Captain, something terrible has happened! The Seventh Young Master has been ambushed and is now surrounded. Please hurry and save him!”

Only then did Qian Ye recognize the mercenary as one of Song Zining’s trusted men. Hearing his words, Qian Ye was even more shocked.

With Song Zining’s military prowess, could he still be ambushed and surrounded?

But now was not the time to delve into the reasons. Qian Ye grabbed the man by the collar and shouted, “Where is Zining now?”

“The Seventh Young Master… in the Deceased Hills.”

“Do you know who set up the ambush?”

“Well, it seems to be troops from the Tidal City.”

The Deceased Hills were not far from Nanzhuo City, less than two hundred kilometers away. If they rushed there at full speed, they might still make it in time. After asking for the exact location where Song Zining’s forces were surrounded, Qian Ye headed straight for the armory.

The messenger soldier couldn’t keep up with Qian Ye, shouting from behind, “Captain, should we prepare an airship?”

“Too slow.” Qian Ye said without looking back.

In a flash, he arrived at the armory, wordlessly picking up several boxes of primordial force grenades and placing them in Anduia’s mystical space before dashing out of the city.

Li Kuanglan followed closely behind Qian Ye, only reaching out to touch Qian Ye’s shoulder when they were out of the city. A powerful force instantly pinned Qian Ye to the ground. Despite his efforts, Qian Ye could not break free, his feet firmly planted on the earth.

“What are you doing?” Qian Ye’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“Going like this is nothing but suicide,” Li Kuanglan said bluntly.

Qian Ye had just awakened, and the refined blood provided by the Black Book was far from enough to restore him to his peak. He was still weak, which was why Li Kuanglan could easily pin him to the ground with one hand.

“If I go, there’s a chance. The more enemies there are, the faster I’ll recover,” Qian Ye said coldly. The assassination attempt on Song Zining was akin to touching his reverse scale. No matter who the enemy was, even if it was a human army, Qian Ye was prepared to use life force predation to recover his strength while inflicting damage on the enemy.

“Ride my airship. It won’t be much slower, and you’ll have some time to recover during the journey.” With that, Li Kuanglan pointed to the sky. A beam of azure light shot from his sleeve, ascending into the heavens before exploding into countless blue fragments, resembling twinkling stars.

Within minutes, an ordinary-looking airship appeared on the horizon. Its speed was extraordinary, with several long poles extending from its sides, leaving trails of blue light in the air. Each swing of the poles propelled the airship forward by hundreds of meters.

As the airship approached, Li Kuanglan did not wait for it to descend. Instead, he picked up Qian Ye and leaped onto the deck. The airship changed direction and accelerated, flying towards the Deceased Hills like the wind.

The Deceased Hills were a vast area of undulating terrain, with complex topography and underground caves, making it a perfect hideout for mercenaries and bandits. This region was also strategically important, located between several major cities. Many merchant caravans, seeking shortcuts, would risk crossing the Deceased Hills.

Day after day, this land had buried countless skeletons, hence the name Deceased Hills.

The airship’s speed was extremely fast, and soon they were over the Deceased Hills. Li Kuanglan instructed the captain to lower the altitude and search, and the captain complied immediately.

In the Neutral Zone, flying an airship too close to the ground was dangerous, as many hunters viewed them as easy prey. However, this airship, from the captain to the crew, exuded a pride and subtle killing intent, showing no fear of the dangers of the Neutral Zone.

The airship descended almost vertically, switching to level flight at around a hundred meters above the ground. At this distance, even the most ordinary mercenary with the worst primordial force gun could attack the airship.

Qian Ye frowned, wanting to increase the altitude. At five hundred meters or higher, it would be difficult for anyone to hit them. But Li Kuanglan waved him off, and Qian Ye said no more, standing at the bow, scanning the expansive hills for signs of Song Zining.

As the airship flew over a hill, several hunters suddenly rushed out from behind, grinning as they threw two primordial force grenades at the airship. The grenades, like cannonballs, hurtled straight toward the airship’s bottom, threatening to cause serious damage.

Suddenly, an old man appeared beside the airship, waving his hands lightly. The two primordial force grenades froze in mid-air and then disintegrated into countless fragments. The entire process was silent, and the hunters below had no idea how the old man had achieved it.

On the airship’s side, a bearded man kicked open a ballista, firing a bolt of lightning that pierced through three hunters, nailing them to the ground.

The bearded man grinned nastily, satisfied with his work, and flipped them the middle finger.

During the search, the airship encountered several more attacks. But whether the attackers were human or dark race, none succeeded. No matter how cunning the attackers, they could not escape the relentless pursuit of the airship’s ballista. The airship had become a grim reaper patrolling at low altitude, and anyone daring to approach faced certain death.

Qian Ye suddenly pointed to the front and shouted, “Fly in that direction!”

The captain did not immediately turn, waiting for Li Kuanglan’s nod before changing course, heading in the direction Qian Ye indicated.

Qian Ye turned to look at the captain, his eyes cold. For some reason, seeing Qian Ye’s emotionless eyes, the captain felt a chill as if doused with ice water and involuntarily shivered.

The airship accelerated, speeding along. As they passed over a valley, Qian Ye suddenly jumped off the ship. Li Kuanglan followed, and the airship sped far ahead before turning back.

Below, there were clear signs of a battle, with more than a dozen corpses lying scattered. Most of the corpses had been stripped of their armor and equipment, but one still wore boots. The boots were the standard issue of Nanzhuo City’s city guards.

The Darkfire Mercenaries, formed from various mercenary groups, had little time to customize and distribute uniform equipment. In contrast, Nanzhuo City’s city guards, as Jiri’s loyal troops, were well-equipped and had ample uniforms. This time, Song Zining had gathered both the Darkfire Mercenaries and the city guards for the mission, so finding the city guards meant finding the Darkfire Mercenaries.

Qian Ye crouched down, flipping over a corpse to examine the wounds carefully. Li Kuanglan stood behind him, frowning slightly. The smell of the corpses made Li Kuanglan uncomfortable, but he remained standing, not moving away.

Qian Ye suddenly looked up, fixing his gaze on a distant cave. A group of soldiers emerged, laughing and carrying various pieces of equipment, including several pieces of Nanzhuo City’s city guard armor.

Qian Ye vanished in a blur, appearing before the group of soldiers in an instant. Before they could react, the vortex of the sea’s power crushed them!

Amidst thuds, all the soldiers were flattened to the ground, with a few bones cracking under the pressure.

One officer, quite valiant, drew a deep breath, struggling to raise his upper body, and was about to shout a warning. But Qian Ye gave him no chance, kicking him fiercely in the face!

The officer’s face twisted grotesquely, spewing a mouthful of blood mixed with several teeth, his eyes rolling back, and he fainted.

Another soldier, intending to shout a warning, saw the officer’s fate and, glancing at Qian Ye’s cold gaze, immediately cowered on the ground, too terrified to move.

“Watch them, I’ll check inside.”

Li Kuanglan nodded, saying, “Remember to leave a few alive.”

“I will.” Qian Ye disappeared into the cave.

In an instant, a muffled roar echoed from the depths of the cave, followed by a burst of blood gushing from the entrance.

Li Kuanglan frowned, his feet radiating icy blue light, instantly covering the fallen soldiers in a layer of blue frost. These soldiers, with their mediocre strength, could not withstand his cold energy and were frozen stiff as stone.

After dealing with the hindrance, Li Kuanglan’s figure flickered, and he rushed into the cave.

Deep within the cave, Qian Ye stood still in the center of the hall, with dozens of thin blood lines retracting into his body. Inside the cave lay dozens of soldiers, all lifeless, except for one officer leaning against the wall, clutching his abdomen, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper.

On the walls, several bodies hung, mostly cold corpses. Each was covered in blood and bruises, indicating brutal treatment. Judging from the uniform styles, several were from Nanzhuo City’s city guards.