Fortunately for me, Chi Yan and He Shan Jie agreed to participate, and so they showed up in the imperial capital a couple of days later. I was glad that they were willing to help out. The enemy this time sounded like it would be a tough one, so any help would be appreciated.
"I heard you were hunting a powerful spirit beast," Chi Yan said when he first showed up. He was grinning as I suspected he would. The red-haired guy always loved a challenge. "Allow me to join in. I'll burn the critter into a crisp."
"We shouldn't underestimate the strength of this spirit beast, senior Chi Yan," He Shan Jie reminded him somberly, his palms pressed together as if in prayer. "It's powerful enough to slay entire squads of Innate Realm cultivators. There is no Saint Realm cultivator within our ranks, so it might be difficult for us to defeat it."
"Don't be such a downer," Chi Yan snapped. He jerked his head toward me. "We have Hei Ye here. He's already at the peak of Innate Realm and close to Saint Realm. We'll be fine."
"I agree with He Shan Jie, though," I said, scratching my head uncomfortably. "It's better to be careful and respect the opponent than to underestimate it and pay for it with our lives."
"Whatever you say, man." Chi Yan sighed. Hong Yao Yao quickly changed the subject jumping in and waving toward the heavenly carriage.
"Let's not waste any time arguing and go to West Gate City now."
"Yes, instructor Hong." Lan Bei Er nodded, already pulling the luggage. I hastily helped her, carrying the heaviest ones. We didn't really need them because I stored the most important possessions in my spatial pouch, but it didn't hurt to look the part. Besides, clothing and stuff belonged to trunks and bags. Didn't want to clog up the pouches with too many unnecessary things.
"I know you will already understand this, but be careful, brother Hei." Huang Qian Jin was there to send us off, accompanied as always by Hui Ying. I nodded and waved.
"I hope I'll be able to bring back good news."
"I know you will."
Then we took off, the heavenly carriage soaring high into the sky.
Unfortunately, given the distance between West Gate City and the imperial capital, the journey took us another few days. It kind of sucked, but that was ancient times for you, I suppose. It was a pity, but the Kirin couldn't fly as fast as aircrafts.
They were better than horses, though. Horses would take us weeks to move from city to city. So shortening the travel time to mere days was actually considered pretty good already.
Eventually, we reached West Gate City. As usual, we had to set the heavenly carriage down right outside the gates and wait for the sentries to inspect our documents and stuff before they allowed us in. Security and all that. While we waited, I noticed the huge gouges on the walls.
Clearly the fortress and a shimmering barrier from a formation that protected West Gate City had suffered quite a bit of damage. Most likely from the spirit beast they were complaining about. Looking at the immense cracks, colossal craters and huge holes in the wall, the barrier flickering as if it was under a lot of pressure, I could understand why Innate Realm cultivators were unable to defeat the spirit beast.
I narrowed my eyes when I noticed scorches on the walls. Black smudges of soot that hadn't been scrubbed away yet, radiating from several of the charred craters and blackened stone. The spirit beast must be a fire type then…but why didn't anyone report that? Why couldn't they tell?
Or perhaps the spirit techniques just had the effect of burning, but it didn't look like a fire attack?
"You may enter now," the sentry told us, and we complied. The moment we stepped into West Gate City proper, I saw that the civilians were looking pretty haggard and disturbed. Though the streets remained bustling and people moved up and down the roads, they were looking around fearfully, as if expecting another attack. Their complexions were pale and they seemed a little worn out mentally, even if it wasn't so physically visible.
The constant attack from the spirit beast must be taking a toll on them.
"How long ago was the last attack?" I asked the sentry before we could get too far away. He turned to me, a haunted expression on his face.
"A couple of days ago."
"How frequently does the spirit beast show up?"
"At the city? Not too often." The sentry sighed bitterly and glanced at the walls. "Thanks to the barriers and protective formations, the spirit beast realizes that it's futile to attack the city directly, so it doesn't really come all too often. That's why trade and visits are still possible, if risky. The issue is the convoys. You came by air, so you don't have to worry about it, but the spirit beast raids the landbound convoys pretty often. As a result, trade has dropped. Also, it's becoming increasingly difficult to receive supplies."
"I can help with that," I said, already drawing up plans in my mind to expand the Golden Eagle Delivery Express. I would have to see if there was a nest of Golden Eagles here, along with a village conveniently situated to take advantage of it. From what I heard from Shan Huo and Shan Mei, their mountain village wasn't unique. There were many like theirs spread across Huang Kingdom.
Ripe for exploitation…ahem, I mean expansion.
First things first, though…
"So the spirit beast will not be showing up in the city for a while now?"
"No, so you don't have to worry, sir." The sentry forced a grin to assure us. "You'll be perfectly safe inside the city as long as you remain behind the walls."
That was what the people used to believe until the Attack of the Titans and the fall of Wall Maria. Whoops, wrong story.
"Okay, thank you." I didn't see the point of telling him that we were here to hunt the spirit beast that had been plaguing West Gate City. He probably wouldn't believe me anyway, or would advise me against what he saw was an act of folly. I didn't have time or the desire to persuade him otherwise. I would find more info inside the city anyway.
"Found out what you needed?" Hong Yao Yao asked, amused, when I rejoined the group. I nodded slowly and thoughtfully.
"Yeah…it's pointless to wait in the city for an attack. The spirit beast doesn't really attack the city too often. We'll have more luck going along the paths that convoys take and waiting to ambush the spirit beast there."
"Why even bother with all the waiting and ambushing?" Chi Yan scoffed, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. Currently his Black Ruler was sealed and took the form of a normal sword. Don't ask me why that was the name of his treasure weapon. Maybe he wanted to rip off Xiao Yan and Battle through the Heavens. "I say we go straight to the spirit beast's lair and slay it there."
"I think brother Hei's idea to ask around for information is to ensure that we don't accidentally miss the spirit beast by venturing into its lair while it's out hunting other people," He Shan Jie said. I nodded gratefully.
"Yeah, best to know its behavior patterns and everything."
"If that happens, then we'll just wait in its lair for it to return home and ambush it then!" Chi Yan argued. The guy certainly had a simplistic way of looking at things, but I had to admit that his plan was effective.
"I guess we should do that…but the whole point of slaying the spirit beast is to prevent it from attacking people and the convoys in the first place."
"So you want to play hero, eh?"
"…you can say that."
"I agree with my husband, though." Lan Bei Er raised a hand. "We should do our best to minimize casualties. That's why his majesty the Emperor sent us here in the first place. To protect the people. It's our duty to ensure their safety. We can't sacrifice them as bait or leave them to be attacked by the spirit beast, even if it is advantageous for us to sneak into its lair and set up an ambush there."
"Well, if you put it that way…" Chi Yan relented. He shrugged. "I certainly don't want to hear complaints from the Emperor and his court when we return home…about us not doing our duty or allowing unnecessary casualties."
"In any event, we'll just follow the routes and take it along back to its lair if it doesn't show up on the road."
"Sounds like a plan. As long we can fight the spirit beast, I don't care how we do it!"
Chi Yan punched his palm eagerly, having no objections to my suggestion. He Shan Jie did have a question, though.
"Do we know where the spirit beast's lair is, though? Is it really from Mount Sunset?"
"Yes," Hong Yao Yao affirmed. Everyone turned to look at her, and she offered an enigmatic smile. "And that's not all. The spirit beast's lair on Mount Sunset is a ruin…meaning that there are treasures and valuable stuff inside."
"Oh…?"
So that was why Hong Yao Yao wanted to come along. I should have expected as much from the calculative girl.
"With that said, I propose that we take a rest for today and set out for Mount Sunset tomorrow morning." She glanced in my direction. "Using the main trade route that the convoys frequent, of course. Then we will conquer the ruin as well as slay the spirit beast within."
"You mean the spirit beast is the guardian of the ruin?" Lan Bei Er asked. Hong Yao Yao nodded.
"That's right."
That was mighty convenient, but if we coud get an extra reward out of it, I had no complaints. Of course, we had to actually conquer the ruin and slay the spirit beast first. No point counting chickens before they hatched.
So we moved toward an inn. The street stalls were pretty desolate, with the vendors seeming disinterested and disillusioned. A lot of their wares were lacking or empty. The sentry was telling the truth when he said that trade had suffered considerably.
The inn itself was largely empty. Thanks to the spirit beast, people rarely visited West Gate City these days, and so many of the rooms were left unoccupied. In fact, the innkeeper couple were very surprised when we walked into their inn, our entourage – including the chauffeur and miscellaneous staff – in tow.
"You're the first guests we have in a while," the husband said, looking awestruck. His wife nudged him.
"Quick! Prepare the rooms!" She then smiled at us. "Would you like to dine here too?"
"Sure," Chi Yan said before anyone else could say a word. He shrugged when we stared at him. "What? I'm hungry."
"It's nothing," I assured him. Hong Yao Yao giggled, He Shan Jie smiled in amusement and Lan Bei Er maintained a friendly expression.
"I'm sure we all could use a meal too," my wife interjected diplomatically.
"We'll get everything right away," the innkeeper wife said, bowing her head. "But I must apologize in advance. We can only provide a modest fare." She hesitated and hung her head. "With the situation being what it is, we have received only a limited supply of meat and vegetables…"
"That's all right," I assured her. "We understand."
"The most important thing is that we have a place to sleep in tonight," Hong Yao Yao said. She charmed the innkeeper couple with a smile, causing the wife to stab her husband in the ribs with an elbow. "Just do your best. We'll be fine."
"Thank you for your understanding."
I paid them a handsome sum for the accommodation, more than the standard price. Hong Yao Yao couldn't help but dig at me while we settled down around a wooden table to wait for our meal. Already the servants had provided some tea for us to savor. Taking a sip, Hong Yao Yao giggled as she looked at me.
"Pretty generous, aren't you?"
"These people are struggling to make a living," I explained somberly. "Especially during a crisis like this. I want to do whatever I can to help them."
"Hmph." Chi Yan snorted and folded his arms. "You're just spoiling them."
"No," Lan Bei Er said and put her cup down on the table, smiling. "That's what's so great about my husband."