by Tony Tran
“General do you perhaps know if lord Shen Shi has ever visited the grand aqueducts?” Zhang asked trying to confirm his fears.
“I believe the young lord was present on the day that the aqueducts were connected to the cities. He even disappeared and caused a huge commotion. But luckily he was found safe and sound.” General Chanming replied.
“But there's nothing to worry about the young lord has not been infected by worms. No symptoms have appeared and he perfectly fine.” General Chanming added to reassure Zhang.
“If that is how it is then I feel much more assured.” Zhang replied.
“Ah yes, I've had my men arrange accommodations for the young lord of Aurora. If you would follow me, I'll show you the way.” The general said.
“Ah yes general if would like to ask if you would be interested in leaving the province with me and my army. If we combine forces I’m sure we can break through the hordes of undead. After we make it out we can request for reinforcements from the other provinces.” Zhang said to General Chanming.
“That would be wonderful, although I would like to stay in the safety of the prison, to be honest, we are running low on supplies. After the capital fell our supply lines were cut. If you can give me some time to talk to the young lord and make arrangements with my men we can begin preparations to leave this cursed land.”
Zhang and Chanming Hai chatted for a bit before arriving at the room that was arranged for Zhang and Yuying to stay in.
“Please rest and we will talk some more tomorrow. I'll have some men bring food to your room for you and your wife” General Chanming said with a smile on his face. He was truly glad that Zhang showed up because with his men alone there would be no way to make it out of the Black Wind Province. Even if he freed all of the prisoners the number of men under his command wouldn't stand a chance if they ran into the hordes of undead.
After bidding Zhang and Yuying a good rest of the day Chanming Hai left.
“Brother there is something wrong with that child.” Yuying said after closing the door to their room and making sure no one was outside.
“I feel the same way.” Zhang said as he took out his transmission bracelet and began sending Ling and Ai a message to tell them what has happened.
A short while later a knocking sound could be heard coming from the other side of the door to their room. After Yuying opened the door a young man dressed in a chef’s outfit walked in while holding a tray of food.
“Your lordship I’ve brought food for you and the madam.” The chef said.
“You may leave it there and please have a seat I would like to ask you a few questions.” Zhang said to the chef.
“If there's anything you wish to know please feel free to ask my lord.” The chef replied as he set down a tray consisting of rice, soup, and some simple side dishes.
“Out of curiosity, I wanted to know if anything out of the norm has been happening inside the prison.” Zhang asked.
After hearing Zhang's words, the chef nodded and leaned in closer.
“Yes my lord I've heard from some of the guards and the prisoners that late at night they see a small child walking around the prison. Each time the child is spotted a few people will disappear. Since the only child in the entire prison is the young lord, at first, many people suspected him but the young lord is with his guards all day and all night how could it possibly be him.” The chef said in a whisper.
“Hmmmm if that's true then we may have stumbled on a quick solution to our situation.” Zhang mumbled to himself.
“Okay, you may leave.” Yuying said as she handed the chef a few gold coins.
“Many thanks, madam. Many thanks!” The chef said as he stuffed the gold coins in his pockets and left the room.
Once the chef left Zhang and Yuying began eating the dishes that were brought to them.
Yuying would put food in Zhang’s bowl while he would put food in her bowl as the two went on with their meal.
To outsiders, these two lovebirds would look like a married couple from the way they act with each other. Men would be jealous of Zhang for having such a lovely wife while women would be jealous of Yuying for having such a caring husband.
“Say ahh.” Zhang said as he held up some a tender looking piece of meat with his chopsticks.
Yuying couldn’t help but giggle as she opened her petite mouth and indulged in his silliness.
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Murky dark clouds loomed in the sky and blocked out the luminous rays of the moon as the night progressed. A storm could be seen brewing above as the last soldiers of the Black Wind army stood guard in the lone prison in the center of the lake.
Tonight no stars shone down from above, no moon lite the night sky, only the flicker light emitting from countless torches provided light for the brave men guarding the prison. The cold night’s breeze howled as it brushed against the soldiers dressed in dark blue armor as they stood above the tall prison walls.
As the night grew colder an ominous thick fog drifted in from the forest over clear lake. Soon the thick fog blanketed the entire lake and drifted against the prison walls. The rolling fog created an eerie atmosphere for the men standing guard. As they gazed into the thick fog these men had let their imaginations run wild. All sorts of monsters and horrors could be shrouded behind the fog.
“Brother Zhang Liao you think that demon child will appear again tonight? This fog is spooking me out.” A young man that looked to be in his early twenties who was wearing dark blue armor said to another young man who also looked to be in his early twenties.
“Why are you scared? Is the great Leng Zai afraid?” The young man named Zhang Liao teased.
“Ha are you saying you're not afraid? Just because you got promoted to be a captain you're going to act cocky with me? Every time that demon child appears someone goes missing. I definitely don’t want to be the one to go missing, the whole province is already overrun with undead, and to think I thought we would be safe if we stay in the prison.” Leng Zai said as he sighed.
“Yea to think we actually thought if we hid in this prison we would be safe. But then that damn demon had to appear. Zhang Liao said as he leaned on a part of the prison walls.
As the two young men chatted away a light trinkle of racing began to fall from the black clouds looming over the prison. Soon enough this light trinkle turned into a heavy storm, extinguishing many of the torches on top of the prison walls.
“Oh great… Just what we needed.” Zhang Liao said sarcastically with a sigh as he felt the rain hitting against his armor and running down his face.
“Leng Zai lets run in and get ourselves some raincoats before we get sick.” Zhang Liao said while heading for the guard post a short distance away.
“Yea let’s go.” Leng Zai replied.
After reaching the guard post and taking a raincoat that was hung on the wall Zhang Liao walked back outside.
“Hey Leng Zai are you going to stand in the rain without a raincoat? We don’t switch shifts for another two hours.” Zhang Liao yelled out to Leng Zai who oddly was standing at the same spot he had been before.
Despite Zhang Liao’s words Leng Zai did not budge and continued staring into the distance.
“Hey idiot say something…” Zhang Liao yelled as he went back inside to grab a second rain coat and then walk towards where Leng Zai was.
Once Zhang Liao walked to where Leng Zai was he noticed that Leng Zai’s entire body was shaking.
“Hey! Tell me what's wrong!” Zhang Liao yelled as he grabbed his friend’s shoulders and shook him.
Slowly Leng Zai’s hand rose up from his side and pointed into the distance. When Leng Zai looked to where Zhang Liao was pointing his finger. The rain had made the heavy fog dissipate and off in the distance on the edge of the lake thousands of silhouettes could be seen crowding the lake’s shores. Leng Zai had been so stricken with fear that he froze on the spot and did not know what to do.
“Idiot! Sound the alarm! Don’t just stand there!!” Zhang Liao yelled as he ran toward the guard post and struck a large gong. Moments later the sound of dozens of gongs being struck could be heard all around the prison. Soldiers, prisoners, and servants alike woke up and rain about trying to figure out what was happening.
“Everyone quickly!! To your stations!!! The entire lake has been surrounded!!!” Zhang Liao screamed.
As the soldiers ran up the wall, the silhouettes slowly entered the water. One by one they disappeared beneath the water’s surface. After each silhouette disappeared into the water another one would fill its spot.
“Alert the general!! Reinforce the gates!! Everyone quickly!!” Zhang Liao screamed while taking charge of the soldiers running about.
Moments later soldiers came running out of the prison carrying large wooden beams. These wooden beams were then placed behind the two large iron gates to help reinforce them.
“Archers!!! Where are the archers!!?? Get up here now!! Spearmen and shieldmen to the gates!” Zhang Liao yelled.
“Leng Zai get your act together!” Zhang Liao yelled as he slapped Leng Zai trying to bring him back to his senses.
“Ye-yes.” Leng Zai said as he finally woke up from his daze.
While the soldiers inside the prison were readying their defenses, beneath the water’s surface thousands of undead slowly inched closer and closer.
The storm continued pouring down countless droplets of water from above making it impossible to light any torches which allowed a veil of darkness to cover the entire prison.
On the outside the undead continued slowly creeping closer while in the inside anxiety and fear had spread like wildfire.
“Tell us what's happening outside!!
“Let me out of here!!!”
Countless cries from the prisoners echoed from cell to cell as they tried to guess what was happening outside.
“All of you shrimps shut up!!!” A young man dressed in prisoner’s clothing with a bell dangling by his side yelled.
“Ye-yes brother Gan Ning we are sorry.” Some of the other prisoners apologized.
“If we were out at sea I’d kick you all overboard! Now quiet down!” Gan Ning yelled as he slammed his hands into the iron cell bars.
“You heard the boss the next one to even make a squeak will get what's coming to them.” A menacing looking prisoner said.
A few soldiers left to guard the prisoners who were standing a bit away began conversing amongst themselves.
“That pirate sure knows how to take charge of things.” A chubby looking soldier said as he glanced over at Gan Ning.
“Well a lot of the other prisoners who were brought in here with him were originally part of his crew. So none of the other prisoners dare to stand up to them. Plus, haven’t you heard? He before he was sent here he robbed hundreds of ships and was only caught because he went inland to get away from Royal Navy of the Wu kingdom. Who would want to mess with someone like that.” Another soldier said.
While all of this was going on Zhang and Yuying could be seen sitting in their room.
“Judging from what's happening outside you were right brother.” Yuying said as she sat beside Zhang while resting her head against his shoulder.
“Of course if the queen Goliath Heart Burrower is here then it wouldn’t want the soldiers to leave. So far it’s been allowing the soldiers to gather in one place so it can feed on them but now that they are trying to leave of course it would stop them.” Zhang said as his hand went around Yuying’s waist.
“Then shouldn’t we go and kill it? If we do, there's a chance the rest of the worms would die too.” Yuying said as she stroked her silky crimson hair with her delicate looking hand fingers.
“Although we have a hunch who is the queen heart burrower is currently residing in we can’t act yet. What if we kill him and the hordes of undead outside don’t stop? Or what if we end up killing an innocent little boy? Then we would have to face Chanming Hai and the thousands of soldiers under his command for killing their lord.” Zhang said while enjoying the warmth of Yuying’s embrace.
“Guess all we could do it wait.” Yuying said with a sigh.
“Lu Xun, Sun Ce, Ling and Ai should have gotten my message and are preparing to a route here with the help of the spiders.”
Despite the situation outside the two lovebirds soon fell into a world of their own and continued enjoying each other’s company instead of going outside to watch as the undead slowly marched toward the prison.
Chapter 66: Demon Child
As the rain continued pounding on the stone bricks that were used to build the prison, thousands of undead began emerging from beneath the water’s surface. Soon they swarmed around the walls of the fortress.
“Captain! What are we going to do!” A soldier yelled out to Zhang Liao who was looking down from atop the walls.
“I don't know. We have to wait for the general’s commands. But for now have the men reinforce the gates. That's the only thing we have to worry about right now.” Zhang Liao said.
The prison walls were built especially high and extremely sturdy which meant there was no way the undead could break through them. This meant the only way they could possibly get in was if the fortress gates unhinged and toppled over.
“Toss the illuminating crystals over the walls!!” Zhang Liao commanded. Soon after dozens of soldiers came running out of the prison while hugging arm full of faintly glowing crystals.
Once these soldiers carrying the illuminating crystals reached the top of the walls the other soldiers began gathering around them and taking the crystals. Faint trails of essence then could be seen traveling from the tips of their fingers into the crystals. Moments later the faintly glowing crystals became extremely bright.
“Sadly after we use these can only be used once.” Leng Zai said as he tossed the crystal over the wall.
Once the crystals landed below they shine brightly and illuminated the ground below.
As the light shone down below the sight of thousands of rotting corpses with missing limbs could be seen making their way toward the Black Wind Prison.
Soon loud banging could be heard coming from the two iron gates.
Bang! bang! bang! The deafening sound continued on almost endlessly without a moment's rest. Each time the undead struck the gates the hearts of each and every soldier present clenched. The constant barrage against the iron gates echoed throughout the prison served to remind everyone of the monsters on the other side of the walls.
Suddenly an erratic laughter echoed atop of the walls. One of the soldiers began laughing uncontrollably as he watched the undead swarm below.
“Ahahaha we are all going to die. We’re all going back to rot in here ahahaha.” The soldier with long unkempt hair laughed as he drew his sword and put it against his neck.
“If we are all going to die I might as well die on my own terms.” He said as raindrops fell splashed on his blade as they fell from the sky. The raindrops pitter-pattered against the cold hard surface of the man’s sword as he continued laughing.
Slowly the blade moved and left a trail of fresh blood. However, before he could take his own life a large fist came smashing into his head knocking him out cold.
“Leng Zai carry him inside and lock him inside a cell before he hurts himself and others!!” Zhang Liao yelled after knocking out the man.
“Ye-yes brother Liao.” Leng Zai said as he and another soldier picked the man up and brought him inside the prison.
After Leng Zai disappeared into the prison, all eyes were once more focused onto the undead below. By now tens of thousands of not hundreds of thousands of undead had gathered.
The rain continued pouring and thunder began ringing while lightning streaked across the sky.
As if the heavens were helping the soldiers the Lightning snaked down and coiled around the undead turning some of them into char.
Suddenly a scream sounded out from atop of the walls.
“What now…” Zhang Liao cursed as he looked toward where the screaming was coming from.
Off in the distance a soldier could be seen being lifted into the air with his feet dangling just inches from the ground.
“The demon child! The demon child is here!!!” A few others yelled out.
A silhouette of a small child with bright Crimson eyes with abnormally long arms could be seen lifting up the screaming soldier. But due to the lack of light no one was able to make out any features on the small silhouette. This was because they had tossed all of the illuminating crystals over the walls and only kept a few to illuminate the tops of the walls.
“Unhand him!!” A few brave souls yelled as they charged with swords drawn.