Chapter 557 (1/2)

Chapter 557: 557

Wei Dong, though his face was so swollen the others were forcibly reminded of a pig’s head, was still trying to ingratiate himself with his captor, looking much the worse for wear .

“Stop playing docile . There’s really a tribe of cannibals inhabiting this island?” Yuwen Jin inquired of him .

“Yes, there is . We’re surprised as well . n.o.body knows where they originally come from . Beyond that forest of grotesque rocks were quite some bushes and a long sweep of plains . There’s fresh water there, and their tribe is right on the side . Those cannibals were eating human flesh when we arrived . We were terribly repelled . They even made an attempt to catch us . There were not many of them, but they got a lot of b.a.l.l.s . Our king was angered and we flattened that tribe and drove them away . They fled along the coast,” recounted Wei Dong .

All the others were rendered speechless . It seemed that the cannibals they had encountered on the coast had been the very batch chased away by those from the Fangcun Kingdom .

“And the band of pirates?” asked Yuwen Jin .

“Oh, those guys . They encamped right at the city gates through which we entered the city later . I saw a lot of chests in their camp . Those houses … You’ve searched those houses, I suppose? They moved the chests containing gold out of the city into their camp and kept a close eye on them,” replied Wei Dong .

“They didn’t go crazy?” inquired Yuwen Jin .

Wei Dong shook his head . “No, not a single one of them, but they were all covered in blood and seemed to have killed a lot of people . They were very vigilant too . Our guide, the one from that mini-state near the South Ocean, tried to communicate with them and make some inquiries, but they immediately drew their weapons and came at us . We had no choice but to fight . Most of them were killed, but the surviving ones fled into the city and disappeared without a trace . ”

Ling Zhang and the others were rendered speechless once again . He kept having this feeling that the batch of demented pirates they had killed at the city gates had been forced into the city by those people from the Fangcun Kingdom .

“What’s the problem with you people? Why do you have to chase away everybody you run into? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused the others by doing that?! Do you?!” demanded Yuwen Jin .

Wei Dong huddled on the ground in fear, perplexed . “W–Well, some of them wanted to eat us, and the others tried to kill us . We had to fight back . ”

He did have a point, and Yuwen Jin did not know how to contradict him .

Yuwen Jin quietly mobilized his internal energy to help suppress his rage . It was a few moments before he continued, “And those freaks?”

This time Wei Dong shook his head . “We don’t know anything about them either . They came out of nowhere . Last night we were caught unprepared and lost a lot of men, so tonight we were more vigilant and decided not to spend the night in the city, and we didn’t make a fire . And then they just … ahem … They just came to your camp . You guys are really bada.s.s . You killed them all . ”

However, Ling Zhang and the others were not very happy to hear this . It turned out that even these lunatics had come here to attack because those people from the Fangcun Kingdom had failed to wipe them out last night .

Yuwen Jin scowled at Wei Dong . It was a long moment before he huffed, “You Fangcun people are so f.u.c.king useless!”

Wei Dong was baffled as to why Yuwen Jin was insulting him and his country .

“Did you meet anybody suspicious apart from those lunatics on your way to this area?” Ling Zhang inquired of him .

Wei Dong shook his head . “No . Just those freaks . ”

Ling Zhang and the others, ” … ”

This meant that they had killed all the other living people on this island except for those from the Fangcun Kingdom .

Right now they and those Fangcun men were the only ones left in this stone city .

Yuwen Jin shook his head . “It would seem we specially came here to take care of problems for the Fangcun Kingdom . ”

Wei Dong did not dare speak, but he had got a shrewd idea of what had happened .

“One last question . How did you navigate your way out of the fog bank?” Ling Zhang asked him .

After hearing this, Wei Dong appeared rather awkward and replied, “It was our astrologist who guided us out of it . ”

“Bulls.h.i.+t . Are you telling us that your astrologist could see stars in that dense fog? Stop with the lying!” Yuwen Jin reprimanded him .

Wei Dong flinched . “How am I supposed to know whether he could see stars or not? All I know is he led us to this island . Our astrologist is one of the most respected men in the Fangcun Kingdom . Even our king holds him in high esteem . Our astrologist has lived a very long time . He helped steer our country through many crises . He’s the lucky star of the Fangcun Kingdom . ”

The others lapsed into silence .

“Have any of you heard about such a person in the Fangcun Kingdom before?” Yuwen Jin asked Yuwen Tong and the others in a muted voice .

Yuwen Tong exchanged a glance with Ling Zhang who then said, “I have, but I’ve never heard of any psychic … ahem … any particular deeds he did . I thought he was just like those stargazers working in the Imperial Observatory, whose work is to observe stars when necessary to provide useful information about the best time to sow the seed or to hold a sacrificial ceremony . ”

Yuwen Jin, ” … ”

He twisted his head around and thundered at Wei Dong, “You hear that?! That’s what a stargazer normally does!”

Wei Dong said, “You’re talking about your stargazers, not our astrologist . Our astrologist is quite bada.s.s . ”

Yuwen Jin, however, was unconvinced . He inexplicably felt that he was on the losing side . “Humph . Who knows whether you’re telling the truth or not?”

Wei Dong a.s.serted, “Of course I am . You’ll know when you meet him . ”

Yuwen Jin glared at him . This guy dared to talk back?

“Enough,” said Yuwen Tong . “Release him . ”

On hearing this, Wei Dong smiled, “Thank you, Your Majesty . You’re just as wise as they say you are . ”

Yuwen Jin, glowering at him, reluctantly untied the rope for him .

“Go back and tell your king to come here to meet me early tomorrow morning,” instructed Yuwen Tong .

Wei Dong said, “Yes, of course, Your Majesty . I promise I’ll deliver the message . ”

The moment Wei Dong left, Yuwen Jin said, “Why did you let him go, cousin? What if he plays tricks on us?”

“He won’t dare,” said Yuwen Tong .

Ling Zhang also said, “He may flee, but the Fangcun Kingdom can’t . ”

Yuwen Jin caught on . “Well, that’s true . ”

Then he added, “I wonder who that astrologist of theirs is . ”

Ji Yanlai said, “We’ll find out when we see him tomorrow . ”

It was not the astrologist that worried Ling Zhang and the others, for they were confident that Ji Yanlai could handle that person .

What concerned them was the key information contained in Wei Dong’s words –

It had been after being chased into the city by those Fangcun soldiers that those pirates had gone crazy .

“They probably touched something,” said Ji Yanlai, gazing at the city in the dark . “If you guys trust me, follow my lead tomorrow, lest you touch anything bewitched unawares . ”

Yuwen Tong said, “Of course we trust you, Clan Leader . Thank you in advance . We’ll be relying on you tomorrow . ”