Chapter 54

Such a period of time passed, and the convoy arrived at the Ye Liu station, which was also a vast open area.

When choosing a location to set up a station, it was not just any place that would do. Next to the Ye Liu station was a source of living water, and the surrounding area had been cultivated into several fields by the station guards for their own sustenance.

Originally, the station also had a few horses, which were used for soldiers to change horses when delivering messages over long distances. However, the horses at the Ye Liu station seemed to have been killed as well, lying on the ground with their bodies covered in blood, as if their blood had been drained.

The Ye Liu station itself was a large, flat building with mud walls and a wooden roof. The entire station was only one story, with a total area of about 1,000 square meters, divided into different sections such as a kitchen, a bathhouse, and a dining hall.

The accommodation at the station was divided into large dormitories and small elegant rooms. However, even if the station were filled to capacity, it could not accommodate a large group of four or five thousand people; it could only house a few hundred at most.

Therefore, only Zhu Lingwu and a few of the large merchant groups' managers could stay at the station. Additionally, the elite troops among Zhu's more than 200 private soldiers and the bodyguards of the merchant groups could stay there.

As for the others, they could only set up simple tent camps around the Ye Liu station using their cargo wagons as walls. This was not a difficult task for the merchants.

Upon arriving at the Ye Liu station, Liu Ping immediately went to the fields behind the station to examine the bodies of the station master and the guards. Zhu Lingwu naturally insisted on going along to see for himself.

Liu Ping, helpless, did not try to stop him, as there was no real danger in just looking at the bodies, so he agreed.

Thus, Zhu Lingwu saw the bodies with his own eyes. This sight made him feel even more certain that it was the work of Meng Yishi. The dead bodies had no trace of souls left; their blood had been drained, and their souls had been taken away.

Looking at these bodies, Zhu Lingwu began to suspect that there might be necromancers in this world who consume souls and drain blood. This was something he had done in the past.

"It seems that the tricks Meng Yishi knows are quite similar to those of a necromancer. He must be some kind of qi practitioner who deals with ghosts. This is somewhat reassuring, as many ghostly tricks cannot escape my soul's perception," Zhu Lingwu thought to himself, analyzing the possible abilities of Meng Yishi through these bodies. This was the only way he could comfort himself.

The pressure Meng Yishi gave him was immense. If he were a cultivator who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, Zhu Lingwu would not even think of resisting.

With the abilities Zhu Lingwu currently possessed, facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be like an egg hitting a stone. Fortunately, Meng Yishi did not seem to be a cultivator; he was just a qi practitioner, and one who had been injured.

Otherwise, he would not have been so cautious in Tongshan County, afraid to reveal his strength. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could basically walk around in the secular world without any hindrance.

After seeing the bodies, Liu Ping ordered that they be buried in a suitable place. He then escorted Zhu Lingwu to a superior room within the Ye Liu station.

Although all the station guards at the Ye Liu station were dead, everything inside was still in order. People were assigned to manage everything, and hot water and steaming hot meals were quickly prepared and delivered to the room where Zhu Lingwu was staying.

This so-called superior room was just a mud house with a main room and side rooms. The walls were made of logs and painted, with some decorations.

Such rooms were originally prepared for passing officials. With Zhu Lingwu's status, he naturally could stay in one. Moreover, since Zhu Lingwu was in charge at the Ye Liu station, he could choose to stay wherever he wanted.

Strangely, although some strange things had happened at the Ye Liu station, nothing happened after Zhu Lingwu and his group settled in. Everything was quiet and smooth.

Since nothing happened, Liu Ping did not create any unnecessary trouble. He carefully arranged the accommodations within the Ye Liu station. For Zhu Lingwu's safety, Liu Ping stayed in the room next to his.

This way, if anything happened in Zhu Lingwu's room, Liu Ping could break through the wall and rush in immediately.

Of course, on the other side of Zhu Lingwu's room, Liu Ping also arranged for a few experts of the Sixth and Seventh Levels of the Martial Arts to be on standby, ready to protect Zhu Lingwu at any time.

Liu Ping also arranged for the other merchant managers to stay in their rooms, with many guards watching around them. This way, the bodyguards of the merchant managers could also support Liu Ping in protecting Zhu Lingwu if necessary.

With the layers of guards around the station, it was supposed to be very safe. If any monsters attacked, the station's restrictions could sound the alarm. Liu Ping had already checked this beforehand, and the station's talisman restrictions were intact.

The so-called station restrictions were actually the spirit positions worshipped on the altar in the main hall of the station. Of course, the ones worshipped here were the ancestors of the immortal sects behind the Chong'an Kingdom.

It was no wonder that the original station master and guards were all killed outside. The attacker must have been worried that the restrictions inside the Ye Liu station would affect him, so he deliberately lured them outside. It was unknown how he did it.

Thus, the Ye Liu station gradually became quiet. The merchants who had set up camp outside the station gradually fell asleep, with only some guards assigned to night duty still vigilantly watching the surroundings.

Zhu Lingwu also went to sleep on the bed in his room. After Chuyang, Xiayang, and Qiuyang prepared the bedding for Zhu Lingwu, they went to sleep in the side room outside.

After all, they had to work the next day, so they needed to rest well. The three young girls slept on a large dormitory bed and were already in a deep sleep.

However, although Zhu Lingwu had lain on the bed for a long time, he did not dare to fall into a deep sleep. He kept thinking about what Meng Yishi had said and wondered how Meng Yishi would come to see him.

How could he bypass the protective restrictions of the Ye Liu station and the guards around him to enter his room?

Unless he forced his way in!

Of course, Zhu Lingwu did not dare to be complacent. In the palm of his left hand, he secretly held a ball of electric arcs.

This was his greatest reliance, a ball of electric arcs compressed from the current absorbed from more than twenty jars of Baghdad batteries before he left Tongshan County.

Although the original electric arcs contained little electricity, after Zhu Lingwu's repeated compression, they had at least several thousand volts. An ordinary person would probably be stunned by one shock, but it was unknown how effective it would be against a qi practitioner like Meng Yishi...

Page AD starts

Page AD ends