Chapter 894: The City of Wraiths (1/2)
GDK 894: The City of Wraiths
Han Shuo rushed towards the Death Dominion at his maximum speed. After entering the Skybreak Realm, it seemed as though his body no longer felt any effects of Elysium’s gravity. He could travel more than a million miles per day. He was flying faster than what an average being could even imagine.
That godhunter of Han Hao’s took almost four months to reach the Fringe from the Death Dominion. But Han Shuo, by pushing himself to his limit, took just seven days to reach the Death Dominion.
After seven days of marathoning at his top speed, Han Shuo had exhausted plenty of his energy. He decided to enter the nearest city - the City of Wraiths. Other than to rest and recharge some of the energy consumed, he wanted to find out the House of Han’s current situation.
Han Shuo knew that the House of Han had traveled hundreds of thousands of miles from Fort Lasberg to seek refuge in the Death Dominion. The Ronson Canyon bordered the Death Dominion. If the House of Han escaped from the godhunters of the Ronson Canyon, they should be somewhere in the territory of the Death Dominion.
Han Shuo did not know if his family clan members managed to escape from Ronson Canyon but he held some hope. He knew that the first thing he had to do was to find out if they had stepped into the Death Dominion.
Han Shuo took half a day to pass through the outer villages and towns. He was standing before the City of Wraiths’ city gate by nightfall.
As one of the six main cities of the Death Dominion, the City of Wraiths had its own distinguishing architectural style and characteristics. The most notable feature was the wraiths that filled the city.
The City Lord of the City of Wraiths, Talbot, was a master at controlling wraiths. His hobby was to collect the souls of every living being and imprisoning them inside energy towers. He would twist those souls using a mysterious energy or seal them in the city wall directly. Although those wraiths were weak, they could monitor every corner of the city for him.
Talbot the City Lord would very quickly be informed by his wraiths if there were any disturbances in his city. He would also be instantly notified if enemies tried to invade the city, allowing him to respond to the threats very quickly.
Han Shuo couldn’t help but bunch his brows disdainfully after sensing those weak lifeforms poorly concealed in the city wall and energy towers of the City of Wraiths.
The wraiths may have seemed to be parallels of Han Shuo’s demon generals. However, Han Shuo knew that even the strongest of these wraiths were nothing compared to his weakest demon general. They were just ‘eyes’ that Talbot placed in every corner of the City which could be easily detected by anyone.
The offensive capability of a wraith was so minute that it couldn’t even threaten a basegod. Even if Han Shuo were to stand still and allow thousands upon thousands of wraiths to swarm at him, he still wouldn’t sustain the slightest injury.
Those wraiths had near non-existent offensive capabilities, immobile as they were sealed inside walls, and most certainly could not continually evolve stronger. No matter the aspect, this life form was light years inferior to Han Shuo’s demon generals. That was why Han Shuo scorned after sensing the life form attached to the walls.
In every city, there were merchants who traded not goods but information. The City of Wraiths was no exception. Where there were consumers, there would be sellers.
*** In the western region of the City of Wraiths.
Many non-local gods stayed in this area. There were all kinds of goods for sale. And naturally, information was up for sale as well.
An Information Brokerage Firm was a store that collected and sold information. With enough black crystal coins, one could obtain nearly any information that one desired. Even if they did not have the information that one sought, one would need only pay a reasonable amount of black crystal coins as deposit and the firm would send their investigators to obtain the information desired.
Information Brokerage Firms were typically quiet and empty on usual days. But if something major happened in any of the Dominions, these Firms would be crowded with customers. Many of the major family clans who did not have reliable intelligence networks in other Dominions would patronize such a Firm.
Han Shuo entered one of the Information Brokerage Firms. Immediately, he saw an old woman with drooping eye bags sitting in a dark corner. Her eyes were closed but she was not asleep. With just one glance, Han Shuo determined that she was a mid-stage lowgod of death.
Han Shuo surveyed the Brokerage Firm with his consciousness and discovered that no one was on the premises other than the old woman. After calming his mind, Han Shuo made a beeline for the old woman. He tossed out a sack containing ten thousand black crystal coins on the wooden table before her. A loud clinking noise broke the silence.
“I want to know about the City of Shadows’ House of Han. If you have information about their wellbeing, this bag of black crystal coins is yours,” said Han Shuo. He was feeling somewhat nervous to find out the truth, afraid that they had all been killed in the Ronson Canyon.
The sharp sound of crystal coins bumping against each other instantly roused the old woman who was resting in her seat. She opened her eerie green eyes like a hungry beast that scented its feast. Without saying a word, she placed a hand on the sack of black crystal coins, grasping, feeling it with her greedy hand.
She nodded, as though having confirmed that the black crystal coins were not counterfeits. Then, she started sizing up Han Shuo with squinted eyes.
The light in her eerie green eyes glowed brighter and brighter. She had a strange expression on her wrinkled face. She seemed puzzled, but at the same time, unperplexed. After staring at Han Shuo for a long, long while, she took a light breath and in a slow, deep voice, asked, “Why would you be interested in the House of Han? Hehe… there are quite a lot who are interested in them recently…”
Han Shuo was a little stunned. He replied in an annoyed manner, “Cut the crap. I gave you my money, now give me my information.” Normally, an Information Broker would ask nothing about the buyer’s identity and origins. It was taboo. In her line of work, the old woman’s actions could be deemed unprofessional.
“Do you know how many variations there are in the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation?” the old woman suddenly asked as she looked at Han Shuo.
Han Shuo’s face instantly jolted and his eyes opened wide. His right hand moved forward, clutched at the old woman’s neck, and raised her to the air in one fell swoop. Han Shuo’s face went dark and chilling as he shouted, “WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?”
Simultaneously, the wide-open doors and all the windows shut themselves in a loud ‘bam!’ A bizarre, obstructive energy instantly filled the Information Brokerage Firm, preventing those outside from knowing what was happening inside the building.
The old woman’s face quickly turned purple. She tried kicking and punching Han Shuo to free herself but that only made things worse for her as the Omen Invincible Body automatically rebutted. Soon, she had no strength left. Her green eyes started rolling up and it seemed as though she would die at any moment.
Han Shuo then flung the old woman away. She was pressed against the wall by an invisible energy. Although she could breathe heavily, she could not move.
“Speak! How do you know about the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation?!” asked Han Shuo who was standing five meters from the old woman. With one thought, a Demonic Blade glistening with chilling lights shot out from his right index finger. Han Shuo could not appear more threatening.
The old woman heavily gasped and coughed for a while before she could speak. Looking at the murderous Han Shuo and knowing just how helpless she was, the old woman couldn’t help herself but shrieked in panic, “I have no idea what the Eight Torment Formations is! Someone came to our agency and gave us a large amount of black crystal coins and asked us to relay some words!”