booktalesy Chapter 122 Burial City of Dragons
Chapter 122 Burial City of Dragons
Chapter 122 Burial City of Dragons (4K)
Sha Fanzi's slick smile vanished.
He glanced at the Crimson Python and Iron Sand behind him. The two big guys were tending to their own injuries, one rubbing his wrist and the other swinging his arm, neither paying attention to him.
"Let's go inside and talk."
Sha Fanzi gestured with his chin towards the inn. Xu Hao didn't move.
"Let's talk about it here."
Sha Fanzi licked his lips.
Having been a desert businessman for twelve years, his greatest skill is reading people and situations.
The man in front of me had four words written all over his face: Don't waste your time.
"Okay." He sat down on a rock by the spring and casually plucked a dry blade of grass, putting it in his mouth.
"Commander Wu's message only mentioned three things. First, a major upheaval has occurred in the Northern Frontier. Second, someone is attempting to break a seal called a 'Dragon-Suppressing Nail.' Third, there's one within Shuozhou, and I'm instructed to keep a close watch on it. He didn't specify what it is or what it contains."
"So you've set your sights on this stone tablet beneath the spring?"
"I didn't target it, I just stumbled upon it." Sha Fanzi spat out the dry grass. "I've been running goods in the Red Sand Region for twelve years. Three years ago, I passed through Jingquan Town to replenish the water supply and touched this stele for the first time. At the time, I felt something was wrong—how could there be an ancient inscription stele at the bottom of a spring in a desolate little oasis? But I couldn't understand it, and I couldn't sense any energy fluctuations, so I didn't investigate further."
He held up one finger.
"Until Commander Wu's letter arrived. The letter mentioned the words 'Dragon-Suppressing Nails' and included a description of six nails scattered across the vast land, connected by sealing nodes, which are mostly hidden where the earth's veins intersect."
97
He pointed his finger at the spring water at his feet.
"The spring in Jingquan Town is not a natural water source. It is located at the intersection of two black iron ore veins, with the ore veins pressing down on the water veins, forcing the water to rise from underground. There are no more than ten such intersections of ore veins in the Crimson Sand Domain."
Xu Hao glanced at him. Twelve years of desert business hadn't been for nothing; this man knew the ley lines of the Red Sand Region like the back of his hand.
"The stone tablet is a sealing node, not the nail itself," Xu Hao explained. "The node is like a net, and the nail is like an anchor. Destroying the node won't directly loosen the seal, but it will reveal the exact location of the nail."
Sha Fanzi's eyelid twitched.
How do you know so much?
"Because I personally plucked one and then personally replaced it."
The spring was quiet for three breaths.
The red python stopped rubbing its wrist.
Iron Sand was still swinging his arms, but his ears were clearly perked up.
He didn't even notice the withered grass from the sand-turning plant falling to the ground.
"You... pulled it out?"
"The main nail in Yanzhou, the northern frontier. After it was pulled out, the dragon underneath almost woke up."
Sha Fanzi's face turned noticeably ashen in the moonlight. He had spent twelve years in the Crimson Sands and had seen all sorts of haggling and debt collection, but the phrase "the dragon almost woke up" was clearly beyond his everyday experience.
"Dragon? What dragon?"
"Peak of the Shattered Realm. Suppressed by the Martial Ancestor himself. You don't need to know too much." Xu Hao squatted down and drew three dots on the sand. "You only need to know one thing: if this secondary nail in Shuozhou is pulled out, along with the two that were pulled out before, this dragon will immediately awaken. Then all living things within a thousand miles will become its appetizer."
Sha Fanzi swallowed hard.
"You just said that someone was testing the seal from 800 miles away." He finally cut to the chase, "Who is it?"
Xu Hao raised the question that concerned him most.
"Bone Maiden, a bone sorceress from the Barbarian Bone-Eating Clan. But she herself is coming from Yanzhou, and it will take her at least seven days. The group that made their move before her was another group. I suspect it's the Wusheng Cult."
Sha Fanzi's expression changed. It wasn't surprise, but a bitter "I knew it" feeling.
"Three months ago," he stood up and began pacing back and forth, "in the west-central part of the Crimson Sands, there was an abandoned city. The locals called it Dragon Burial City. Though called a city, it was actually an ancient ruin, hundreds of times older than the Great Heng Dynasty."
He drew a rough map in the sand.
"The area within a fifty-mile radius of Burial Dragon City is the most densely populated region of Xuan Iron ore veins. The concentration of Qi interference field is three times that of other places. If a master of the Tongqiao Realm enters, their combat power will be reduced to less than 60%."
"What happened three months ago?"
"A group of outsiders entered Burial Dragon City." Sha Fanzi lowered his voice. "More than twenty people. The leader was a monk, bald, tall and thin, wearing a gray robe. My men followed him from a distance once, but didn't dare to get close. Because this monk didn't have any aura or blood flow."
"No?"
"Clean and tidy, just like an ordinary person. But an ordinary person couldn't possibly lead more than twenty people across the Red Sand Domain's desert to Burial Dragon City." Sha Fanzi rubbed his fingers together. "Either their cultivation level is so high that even I can't tell, or it's not a legitimate method at all."
The Wusheng Cult. A rebellious force that preaches "Heaven is dead, let us pacify Heaven and eliminate evil." Its core members are skilled in sorcery.
Sorcery does not affect the flow of qi and blood, nor does it follow the meridians. Indeed, it is almost transparent to normal perception.
"They haven't come out of Dragon City since they were buried there?"
"I've been out a few times. Each time I went out, I went to the nearest oasis city-state to buy supplies—water, food, and a lot of live animals. Cattle, sheep, camels, and once I even hired a local hunter to catch sand scorpions."
Living things.
Raw materials for blood sacrifice.
"I only received Commander Wu's message after that. Once we met, I understood. What these people were doing in Burial Dragon City is inextricably linked to the Dragon-Suppressing Nails you mentioned. These past two days, I've been examining the stone tablets in Well Spring Town, trying to figure out how the sealing nodes work, to see if I can cut off their access from the outside."
"It can't be broken." Xu Hao stood up. "Nodes are just connecting threads; destroying a node doesn't affect the nail itself. To protect this nail, we have to go to Burial Dragon City."
Sha Fanzi stood up and looked at him. "Are you planning to go in?"
"Otherwise, why would I come all this way to see the scenery?"
Sha Fanzi stared at his right arm guard and the half-dried bloodstains, opened his mouth twice, and swallowed back the words, "Going in in this half-crippled state is just suicide."
Talking about risks with this kind of person is a waste of breath.
“I know the terrain of Burial Dragon City well.” Sha Fanzi made a decision. “I’ll go in with you. Red Python and Iron Sand will go around the perimeter and keep an eye on the oasis city-state’s supply lines. Cutting off these monks’ food and living supplies will at least slow them down, even if we can’t remove the nail.”
Xu Hao glanced at him.
"Set off."
"Now?" Sha Fanzi looked at the sky. "It's not even dawn yet—"
"It's hard to say whether the nail will still be there by daybreak."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Six-Nail Dragon-Suppressing Diagram in his sea of consciousness trembled violently.
Towards Shuozhou.
The flashing frequency of the secondary nail suddenly decreased from once every five breaths to once every four breaths.
It's no longer a test.
Some people have figured out the ropes and started to get serious.
Xu Hao turned and left, his feet crushing the pebbles beside the spring.
"How much time do we have left?" Sha Fanzi caught up.
Xu Hao did not answer.
he does not know.
But the light of the secondary nail in the six-nail diagram is gradually dimming.
"Pack your things, and meet here in 15 minutes."
97
The group did not take the official road.
There are no official roads in the Red Sand Region.
Only the map in Sha Fanzi's mind.
"Don't step on this black pebble beach on the left. The content of black iron is too high; if you go in, your internal energy will be cut in half." Sha Fanzi walked ahead, his steps quick and light, like a lizard leaping on hot sand. "Follow my footprints; the error will not exceed half a step."
Xu Hao didn't waste any words and followed.
The Red Sand Domain under the moonlight is another world.
The ridges of the red sand dunes were cut into two pieces, silvery white and inky black, by the moonlight, while the distant Gobi Desert resembled a spread-out iron plate, radiating the residual heat accumulated during the day.
They walked thirty li (approximately 15 kilometers).
The sensation in my feet has changed.
It's not that the sand has hardened; it's that the underground mineral veins have become denser.
What started as two or three sparse lines near Jingquan Town has become a network of seven or eight intertwined lines.
The veins of black iron and red gold crisscrossed three zhang deep beneath his feet, each exuding a dry, metallic aura.
The protective energy was indeed being suppressed.
The rate at which the protective film on the skin is consumed is 40% faster than in Minnesota.
However, the reaction of "The Secret of Suppressing Prisons and Ten Thousand Bones" was completely the opposite.
The technique was running wildly.
It wasn't something Xu Hao initiated.
The technique activates automatically the moment the soles of the feet touch the area with high mineral content.
The breathing rate switched uncontrollably to the rhythm unique to the Prison Suppression Technique—sinking, heavy, and slow, like walking underwater.
The frequency of bone tremors increased from three times per breath to five times per breath.
Each tremor dragged the metallic elements seeping from the mineral vein beneath their feet into their very bones.
pain.
It wasn't the sharp pain of shattered bones, but a throbbing, aching sensation that spread from the inside out.
It's like someone repeatedly sanding the inside of a bone with sandpaper.
With each grinding, the bone becomes firmer.
Sha Fanzi took a few steps and looked back at him.
"You're sweating."
nonsense.
Xu Hao's coarse cloth shirt was soaked through, and a water stain appeared on his chest as well.
The sweat was an off-color, grayish, and had a faint rusty smell.
These are impurities that are refined from the bones and excreted through sweat.
"Don't stop. Keep going." Xu Hao wiped his face.
Sha Fanzi opened his mouth, then swallowed back the words, "Are you poisoned?"
His twelve years of desert survival experience told him that if someone at the Tongqiao Realm says they are fine, they are most likely truly fine.
If there's something wrong, asking won't help.
The two continued on their journey.
Fifty li.
The density of the ore veins has doubled.
The gravel on the ground began to gleam with a dark silver luster, and a cold, metallic smell filled the air.
Xu Hao slowed down.
It's not a matter of physical strength; it's that the skeletal modifications have entered a more complex phase.
The Prison Suppression Technique has changed from "polishing" to "infusion".
The essence of the black iron in the vein is filtered and purified by the cultivation technique, flowing upwards along the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot, and into the tibia and femur.
spine.
Each time a section was filled, the bones emitted a faint humming sound, the pitch rising half a level higher than before.
The density is changing.
The leap from "hardness of stone" to "hardness of metal".
The reaction was most severe at the junction of the broken bones in the right arm.
The newly formed callus greedily absorbed the essence of the black iron, and its fusion speed was three times faster than that of other parts.
His fingers twitched in pain, but with each twitch, the force he felt when clenching his fist increased.
"How much longer do we have to walk from here?" Xu Hao asked, diverting his attention.
"Eight hundred li, roughly four hundred li in a straight line. But we can't cross it in a straight line." Sha Fanzi pulled out a crumpled sheepskin map and gestured by the moonlight. "There are three restricted mining areas and two sandstorm zones in between. The detour adds up to six hundred li. At our pace, we should be able to reach the outskirts of Burial Dragon City before nightfall tomorrow."
"Tell me again about the situation in the city."
Sha Fanzi carefully put the map away.
"Zanglongcheng is not a single city, but a cluster of ruins. The main body is a circular building ruin, about two miles in diameter, which the locals call 'Dragon Bone Platform.' The place where the monk and his men camped was in the center of the Dragon Bone Platform."
"What about the outer perimeter?"
"There are a dozen or so collapsed stone towers scattered around. The towers are connected by passageways, most of which are now buried in sand. But my men had observed them from a distance before—these monks were clearing the passageways."
Clean the passageway.
Search for underground structures.
The Dragon-Suppressing Nail is most likely located under the Dragon Bone Platform.
How many roads lead into the city?
"There are two main routes, the east gate and the north gate. As for the hidden route—" Sha Fanzi paused, "I know one. It's an entrance to a tunnel that was discovered three years ago during mining exploration, located under a sand dune in the southwest of the city. It leads to the interior of a stone tower on the outskirts of the ruins."
"Does the other party know this road?"
"If I had known, I would have dug it up long ago."
One hundred li.
The dark silver sheen of the ground stretched out in patches.
Stepping on it, the gravel wasn't gravel at all, it was slag. With each step, white marks were left on the soles of my shoes.
The suppression of the protective energy intensified.
The efficiency of Qi and blood circulation in one cycle is less than 60% of the normal level.
However, the changes within Xu Hao's body went to the other extreme.
The tempering progress of the Prison Suppression Technique takes off directly in areas with dense mineral veins.
Walking a hundred miles is equivalent to three days of secluded body training in ordinary conditions.
As his bone density increased, it approached a qualitative change from a quantitative one. He could feel a new structure emerging inside his bones, with fine, spiderweb-like metallic patterns embedded between the bone tissue, raising the efficiency of power transmission to a level he had never experienced before.
The broken bones in his right arm have completely healed.
Not only is the healed bone harder than before the injury.
He tried clenching his fist, and his knuckles cracked, producing a crisp sound, no longer the dull thud from the previous friction of broken bones.
The forearm muscles beneath the arm guard were taut, and the skin had a faint, bluish-green sheen.
Sha Fanzi glanced at his right hand and noticeably quickened his pace by half a beat.
"You recovered so quickly."
"The road is good," Xu Hao said.
Sha Fanzi pondered the sentence over and over in his mind three times, but couldn't quite grasp its meaning.
What does it mean to have a good road?
Are the roads in the Red Sand Domain so good that they can help people set bones?
But he quickly stopped thinking about it.
A wisp of smoke rose from behind the sand dunes ahead.
The two stopped at the same time.
Sha Fanzi's nose twitched twice. "Camel dung fire. Quite a few people, the smoke indicates a camp of at least ten people."
Xu Hao closed his eyes to sense.
The location of the camel dung fire is about two miles ahead, on the leeward side of a tall sand dune.
The fluctuations of qi and blood in the thirteen living people were uneven.
The strongest one is at the peak of the Yi Jin Realm, while the weakest ones are only at the Mo Pi Realm.
"Go around it?" Sha Fanzi asked in a low voice.
Xu Hao thought for a moment.
Deep within his consciousness, the light of the Shuozhou deputy nail on the Six Nails Suppressing Dragon Diagram dimmed slightly.
The flashing frequency has been reduced from once every four breaths to once every two and a half breaths.
"We can't afford to go around this, and there's no need to."
His hand rested on the hilt of the Sea Devouring Blade.
Behind the sand dunes, the blue smoke from the camel dung fire was scattered by the night wind.
Someone is chanting scriptures in a low voice.
The tone was somber, carrying a chilling tremor that made one's scalp tingle.
It is not a Buddhist scripture.
It is a mantra of the Wusheng sect.
Sha Fanzi's face darkened: "These bald monks have put up their outposts on the outer perimeter."
"It's not an outpost." Xu Hao looked at the wisp of smoke. On the other side of the dune, there was a faint sound of metal clanging, as if someone was moving something heavy.
"It's a transport team."