Chapter 69: City of Ruins
Wroom!
The engine of Jiang He’s car purred.
Jiang He was relaying his commands through thought.
[Unmanned steering engaged. Destination: Ningdong Mines.]The sports car bounded away, leaving the village rapidly.
“So, I’m not actually losing sleep out of boredom. Instead, I’m just too worried about getting blindsided and killed by the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General, which kept me awake!”
“Those two really deserve to die!”
Leaning on his seat, a ferocious glint flickered over Jiang He’s eyes.
The Sky Demon Cult had simply lost all reason.
They would actually use such a poisonous tactic to crush my will?!
Meanwhile, the car drove on rapidly, and it was just an hour’s drive between Jinyintan Village and Ningdong Mines.Before it was abandoned, the mines were famous throughout the country and the first town founded in the Western Xia province. It was rich with natural resources beneath its ground, and reserves of coal that had been discovered amounted over a hundred billion tons, and more than 200 coal factories, processing factories, powerplants, and energy plants were built there.
Even if it was just a town, it was no less prosperous compared to district cities or even metropolitan areas.
Be that as it may, the high-rise buildings and towers were now devoid of human activity. Signs of Feral devastation were everywhere, and late at night, the town appeared dilapidated and still.
Nonetheless, Jiang He’s sports car now broke the silence of the night.
Screech!
The red supercar curved in a perfect drift, stopping at a square.
Jiang He opened the door and got off.
Recently, he had made a habit of eating one carrot before and after meals, which was why his night vision had strengthened considerably. As he looked out, he found booths that were not moved in time, as well as vehicles that could not be driven off in time.
Even as he walked along the street, there were bones and corpses scattered by the pavement.
On both sides of the streets, some of the shutters of the shops were closed, while others were wide open.
Jiang He entered a supermarket. The inside was full of dust, with many of the racks fallen over and the merchandise strewn all over. Most were past their expiry dates, though some with longer shelf lives were still useable.
After all…
It was less than two years since the mines had been attacked by Ferals.
Opposite the supermarket was a Chow Tai Fook jewelry store.
“Eh?”
Although the shop should be closed, Jiang He could see that someone had pried the doors open.
Still, from the signs of damage on the door, it had not been long since it was torn down.
Due to the emergency evacuations following the Feral rampage, the town must have been in utter panic. Everyone would only care about fleeing for their lives, and at such moments, they would hardly care for possessions.
‘Now that is a wildland—a no man’s land, law and order are nonexistent. It’s inevitable some greedy person would come to these parts to make a sweep.’ Jiang He thought.
He then found two corpses in the jewelry shop.
Unlike the dried bones outside, the corpses had not started to rot yet. They had probably died just a few days ago.
One of them was punched on the temple that killed him instantly, what with half his head punched in.
The other corpse was sprawled over the floor, a dagger that stabbed into his heart sticking out over his back.
“These two were ambushed, and were no prepared before they died.”
“And the one who killed them must have been their companion.”
Considering that this was a jewelry shop, the reason for it need not be said.
Leaving the shop and walking around the city, he found some of the towers crumbling into ruins. Ferals prowled the streets, and there were signs of bombardment here and there.
“Oh, right…”
“Duan Tianhe had pinpointed that the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General must have been hiding at the Ningdong Mines, but where specifically?”
Jiang He suddenly remembered that very solemn question.
This area was so vast that the hiding spots around the city alone was inestimable, not to mention that there were many factories and coal mines of varied sizes. How was he supposed to look?
“Throw a few pea bombs and make some noise to draw them?”
“Shout ‘I am Jiang He’ to summon both the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General here to kill me?”
“Or just carpet bomb all of Ningdong Mines? No, that’s unrealistic.”
That was when Jiang He suddenly got an idea.
He took out an orange bottle gourd from his System Backpack.
[Second Brother]
[All-seeing, all-hearing, adept at strategizing.]
[Usage: Blow to use.]
[Warm reminder: Remember to charge before use. Put it under the sun to charge.]
Holding the bottle gourd, Jiang He blew on it.
Bang!
An orange haze popped out of the bottle, landing on the ground and turning into a small child around seven-years-old, sporting a braid and an orange dudou. He was sucking on his thumb and smiling brightly at Jiang He.
“Gramps!”
“…”
Jiang He suddenly had the impulse of kicking Dumbo.
Anyway, were these seven brothers not septuplets?
All of them looked the same, even their obsession with sucking on their thumbs. It would be very hard to differentiate them next to each other, if not for their different colors.
The only thing that pleased Jiang He, however, was that Second Brother’s wide eyes had clarity, unlike the dumb looks that kids have.
“Second Brother, how far could your all-seeing eyes and your all-hearing ears reach?”
Second Brother tilted his head and thought about it, before saying, “Gramps, I could see an ant and hear a gust of wind from two hundred miles away. However, I sensed that my abilities could still improve!”
“Just two hundred miles?” Jiang He muttered.
Were all-seeing and all-seeing merely exaggerations?
Still, 200 miles was far enough.
Picking up Second Brother with one hand and using the Second Practice of the Blind Princess’s Eight Practices, he moved like a phantom, arriving atop an eighteen floored tower in a flash.
It was the tallest building at Ningdong Mines.
Tapping Second Brother on the back of his head, Jiang He exclaimed exasperatedly, “Hurry up and look. Why are you blanking out for?”
“Help me take a look and see if there’s anyone strong nearby.”
Standing on the edge of the building as his lips twitched, Second Brother mumbled, putting his index and middle fingers together and holding them over his eyes—
Whoosh!
Two solid orange radiance shot out of Second Brother’s eyes over a dozen meters away…
Still, after searching in a circle, he found nothing.
Second Brother then lay down on the floor and listened attentively.
He listened for an entire minute before cursing through clenched teeth, “Gramps, southeast, fifty miles away. Two baddies are discussing about killing you. How despicable!”
Indignant, Second Brother was asking to fight. “Gramps, let my brothers out. We’ll help you take care of those two baddies!”
***
In the abandoned mines.
The Tranquil Heavenly General had to wait three whole days, but he eventually received the information he wanted half an hour ago.
Jiang He’s photo was displayed on his phone screen.
On the next page are documents sent in image formats.
“Jiang He.”
“Male, twenty-five, born on the twenty-eighth of February, nineteen ninety-four, or tenth of February, the year of the dog on the lunar calendar… his parents died when he was young…”
The chunk of data even recorded circumstances of the part-time jobs Jiang He had taken up during his university days, but there was nothing about his martial arts training.
Resisting the impulse of smashing the phone, the Tranquil Heavenly General cursed, “Useless, all of them. Three days, and what I get is a pile of rubbish information?”
Beside him, however, the Earth Demon Heavenly General was all-smiles. “Not quite. Doesn’t it show his address?”
