nycdaug Chapter 44, 9. Empress You went to Zhou City.
Chapter 44, 9. Empress You went to Zhou City.
"What did you say?" Tang Shan's voice trembled slightly. He thought it was a joke. How could they all be dead? Gong Jian and Qian Dai were mid-level mages. Each of them could cast mid-level spells. And it was daytime. How could they possibly be dead?
It is absolutely impossible.
Su Ming's words made the military personnel frown as well. Their first reaction was the same as Tang Shan's: disbelief. Students in the ancient capital killed undead to earn credits every day, and they never saw anything happen to them.
"Go and see for yourselves, I'm going back to rest." Su Ming could tell at a glance that these people didn't believe him. If they didn't believe him, so be it. They'd understand once they saw it for themselves.
Tang Shan clearly didn't believe it. He walked out of the city wall followed by two military mages. He didn't see any trace of people on the edge of the area, but he could smell blood.
Following the scent, they arrived at a shocking scene: limbs and torsos lay scattered everywhere, and it was estimated that at least twenty or thirty people had died there.
Their bodies were not recovered; the undead only cared about killing and didn't care about disposing of the corpses. They had no interest in human bodies.
They hadn't been dead for long, but their severed limbs were already showing signs of turning black. It was estimated that it wouldn't be long before they merged with this land of the dead and walked the world anew as undead.
"Hey, send some people over here to collect the bodies, umm, about thirty bodies." One of the military mages notified the logistics department, and a special unit to collect the bodies would be here soon.
"That's really brutal. I wonder how many demons were involved to be able to do this," said one of the older military mages.
"The Ancient Capital Academy is about to be hit by a major earthquake. These people are all freshmen of the Ancient Capital Academy. Thirty of them have died at once. This is no small matter anywhere." The young military mage shook his head.
"It's strange, really. There's blood everywhere on the ground. Those undead should be wandering around, but they ignored it and went straight back to their lair. That's really unusual," the old mage said worriedly. He smelled something unusual, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Soon the team responsible for collecting the bodies arrived. They collected all the corpses on the ground and then notified the Ancient Capital Academy of this information. As for the students' bodies, they did not need to be sent back.
People who die in the Land of the Dead have a certain probability of becoming zombies even if they are not in the Land of the Dead. To prevent secondary damage, they will cremate these corpses and leave behind blood-marking items.
After all that commotion, only a few hours had passed, and of the thirty-odd people who had come here with excitement and anticipation, only three remained.
Tang Shan stayed on the city wall, Tang Chao went to the hospital to see about his injuries, and Su Ming walked along the road, looking somewhat downcast.
Humans are too weak. Many of the people at the Ancient Capital Academy were novice level three mages, but a single mistake led to their complete annihilation. The price was too high.
"I'll have to be more careful next time," Su Ming murmured. This incident served as a wake-up call for him. If he had been closer to the trapped people this time, he would definitely have been trapped as well, and it would have been hard to say whether he could have escaped then.
He was thankful that he was far enough away to avoid being trapped, otherwise he would have become one of the many undead.
It was still early, so Su Ming didn't go home or back to school. Instead, he went to the Hunter Alliance to see if any teams needed a "support" to earn some hunter points or make some money.
"A burden" is just someone to make up the numbers. Most hunter teams are fixed, but some accident may have caused the number of people to drop below seven. If there are fewer than seven people, they cannot accept commissions, so they look for someone in the Hunter Hall.
Usually, such people don't need to put in any effort; they're just there to make up the numbers. They'll be involved in fewer strata, but it's very safe for them.
The Hunter's Hall was as lively as ever. This job was too dangerous; everyone was risking their lives and could die at any moment. So, there were always a lot of people looking for extra members to fill out the teams.
"Hey bro, looking for a team? We have two elite hunters here, a truly rare hunter team. You don't even need to lift a finger, you can just lie there and collect the money and points." There are countless people like this in the Hunter's Hall; they ask everyone who comes in.
Hunter Points are recorded in the Hunter Profile after completing a quest. If you have enough Hunter Points, you can upgrade your title. Many quest employers do not like ordinary hunters and there is a threshold for accepting those quests.
Su Ming was still a novice hunter. He had previously inquired about the entry requirements for the city's monster hunting team. As expected of a big city, the ancient capital required someone who could cast mid-level magic to join the city's monster hunting team.
Su Ming's plan for coming here was to join a team, so he didn't rush to refuse. He asked, "What kind of commission did you take on?"
"The employer needs three undead crystals that are at least three hundred years old." The man grinned and pointed to five people gathered not far away. "That's our team. The captain and vice-captain are both mid-level mages and elite hunters. We're going to the northern buffer zone to hunt undead. You can just cheer us on from the sidelines. It'll be a breeze."
"Okay..." Su Ming was about to agree when he caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of his eye and stopped abruptly.
This looks familiar. Who is it?
There were many hunters ahead, blocking the road completely. Su Ming sensed that someone he knew was also blocked there. Suddenly, the space around him fluctuated, and a corner of the magnificent Star Palace appeared. A flash of white light appeared, and without any warning, this person had already walked several hundred meters.
"Holy crap, a high-level mage."
"Wow, that's cool. It's just high-level spatial magic, instantaneous teleportation."
The high-level spatial mage caused an instant ripple around him, and Su Ming remembered.
A high-level spatial system user, I met that person two years ago when I was studying in the ancient capital.
I heard he's a freak, named...
"Mu Qiannian, that guy is really dedicated. I doubt anyone in the entire ancient capital can compare to him. I'm not envious at all of him having such a high level of cultivation," the person who recruited Su Ming into the team remarked.
Mu Qiannian is that name; he is a member of the Mu clan in the capital.
He was already a high-level mage two years ago, and I wonder what level he's reached now.
Su Ming watched with some excitement. A high-level mage, able to teleport instantly—if he had that skill, those freshmen wouldn't have died.
"Stop looking, bro, do you want to go?"
"Oh, okay, I'll go tonight, right?" Why not go and gain experience? He doesn't have to lift a finger anyway.
"OK, let's go register." He took Su Ming and his teammates to meet up, then went to the front desk to register. Once registered, that was it.
The commission has been received; it will be ready tonight.
Su Ming learned that their team was missing a scout, a wind mage, who had been injured while covering them and had not survived.
Their commission was three 300-year-old undead crystals. Only undead generals of the Great War level possessed such crystals, so the reward was very generous, but Su Ming could only receive one-fifteenth of them.
Thinking that I was just there to make up the numbers anyway, I figured it wouldn't matter if I got less; it was like getting something for free, so I wouldn't lose out.
It's still early, so they need to prepare some medicine. The toxins contained in the corpse's body are terrifying; without medicine, even a minor injury can cause serious problems.
When it comes to one's own life, one will naturally not be careless.
After confirming the time and place of their meeting with Su Ming, they went to make preparations. There were many places to buy medicine in the ancient capital; you could run into a bunch of them just by walking a few steps.
Su Ming didn't buy them; the medicines were a bit expensive, and he didn't have the money.
Moreover, Su Ming wasn't planning to fight the Corpse General; he could just bully the lesser undead and get some low-grade undead crystals.
Just because you can't afford it now doesn't mean you won't be able to afford it in the future; just because you don't need it now doesn't mean you won't need it in the future.
He'll definitely have to fight the Corpse Generals a lot in the future, and getting injured is inevitable. He can go and find out about the effects and prices of the medicines here beforehand.
There are shops specializing in these medicines within the Hunter's Alliance, and the prices are fixed and no bargaining is accepted. Outside the Hunter's Alliance, there is a street that specializes in selling medicines, but most of them are carpets, and the quality of the products varies greatly. People who are not familiar with the business can easily be ripped off.
Su Ming just looks, he doesn't buy. No matter what price you quote, he'll nod. There's no way he'll be ripped off.
This industry in the ancient capital is very mature. When facing the undead, the most scarce resource is medicine, and medicine is what is used the most.
……
Zhou Cheng, bored after leaving Jiuyou, wandered around. There wasn't much to see in the ancient capital. He saw Zhou Cheng in Su Ming's memory and learned about the old man, Grandpa Liu, so he decided to come and take a look.
She is a ghost, invisible to most creatures. As long as she doesn't reveal herself, even a mage of Zhoucheng's strength would never be able to find her in his entire life.
After walking all the way to the city center, Jiuyou was about to go to the old town to take a look, but a series of disgusting auras made her frown and couldn't help but fly over to check.