Chapter 72: Temporary Alliance

Translator: DragonBoatTrans

The three of them moved through a long promenade, heading towards the interior of the palace; all the while thinking about how the interior of the palace extended in all directions. On their way, they were able to observe those eye dazzling pavilions.

As they were passing through two bends, they three of them suddenly heard a sound emanating from the front!

The droning sounds of drumbeats!

The sounds of drums stirred, seemingly filled with killing intent! Anyone who came to hear the sounds would be unable to stop their hearts from pounding madly!

Chen Xiaolian and Miao Yan’s faces changed and they peered ahead. Suddenly, several figures appeared from the end of the corridor located far away. Those figures hastily ran madly towards them. Surprisingly, there were three figures!

The one in the lead has an average build. He ran in a frenzy, his hands holding onto something with a long shape. Behind him, two fellows followed closely. One of them was covered in blood while the other held a shield in his hand.

It appeared that the three of them were being chased by something. They ran miserably and caught sight of Chen Xiaolian, Miao Yan and Soo Soo who were situated across them. The one in the lead quickly screeched out in a loud voice. “Quickly help us! Otherwise, we will all die here! Quick!”

Chen Xiaolian was able to immediately recognize the person.

Surprisingly, he knew who this person was.

It was the sunglasses wearing Guild Leader Nangong.

Catching sight of Chen Xiaolian and Miao Yan, the three of them immediately ran over. Just as they were running past a bend, a spear flew forward from behind!

Seeing that the one lagging behind was about to be shot, the Guild Leader Nangong dutifully turned around. He roared out at the incoming spear and brandished the long item in his hand, deflecting it away. The spear was successfully parried and it was nailed onto the walls.

A careful look revealed that the spear was made of stone!

The strength behind it however, was very strong and the walls were pierced through!

“Run, Lun Tai!” Nangong dragged the blood-covered fellow to the front.

It was at that moment, Chen Xiaolian and Miao Yan was able to see what lied behind them…

Upon the wide corridor, a group of Qin terracotta soldiers came forward in a series of lines, their pace neat and fast! Walking on the ground, their stony soles released a rhythmic “cha cha” “cha cha” sounds!

The armours, weapons and equipment on these terracotta soldiers were all made of stone.

At the vanguard lied two rows of shield bearing soldiers, their stone shields raised before them. Behind them were spear bearers, followed by crossbow bearing terracotta warriors. There were also a few rows of sword wielding soldiers.

Chen noticed that there was one mounted rider who seemed to be a Qin general. Its face of stone revealed a pair of eyes, which fiercely swept over towards them.

“The one on the horse, could he be that Bai Qi you were talking about?”

Miao Yan was eagerly kneading her fists.

“No, that is the bannered head rider.”

“What head?” Miao Yan frowned.

“Bannered head rider. See how he does not wear any hat on his head; and how his hair is hanging loosely. That is why they are called bannered head rider,” Chen Xiaolian let out a bitter smile. “They are considered the Imperial Palace’s mounted defenders. Sometimes, they play the role of honour guards. However, it is said that the defenders of Qin’s Imperial palace are all handpicked elites.”

Miao Yan remained silent. She suddenly grabbed onto a nearby censer that was as tall as a person, directly picking it up! She then threw it forward!

The censer flew over the heads of Nangong and his men and struck onto the first two rows of Qin terracotta soldiers. Several of them were instantly reduced to pieces of rubble. Even their shields were smashed into smithereens.

Miao Yan’s hand movements however, were even faster. Seeing three other censers placed along the promenade, she brought it up and tossed it over as one would with artillery shells.

Those censers smashed down onto the vanguard rows of Qin terracotta soldiers, creating a messy wreck and disrupting their movements.

It was then that Nangong and the others finally arrived before them. Nangong’s face were soaked with sweat, his sunglasses had long since been displaced. He turned to both Chen Xiaolian and Miao Yan. “Thanks for your help!”

“Let us fight then!” Miao Yan sneered. However, Chen Xiaolian quickly held her back. “Fight what? Do you have a weapon? Do not forget, we cannot use metals here… our weapons are inside the system, we cannot take them out!”

Miao Yan’s face suddenly changed!

Looking at Nongong and his men, she saw that their bodies were bereft of metal objects… the long item within Nangong’s hand was actually a Qin terracotta soldier’s stone spear that he had picked up from who knows where. As for the shield carried by the other fellow, it was also made of stone, likely taken from the Qin terracotta soldiers.

“Let us run!”

Chen Xiaolian held onto Soo Soo silently. Then, without turning his head, he ran!

His display of decisiveness towards running away was such that it momentarily stunned Miao Yan. Miao Yan’s face changed and she moved her leg, chasing after Chen Xiaolian.

Naturally, Nangong and the other two were not slow in their reactions. They too rapidly chased after them.

The movement speed of the pursuing Qin terracotta soldiers behind them was not that fast. Their movements remained neat and rhythmic. They simply strode onwards; however, it appeared as though they were anxious to get rid of them all.

Chen Xiaolian and the others ran with frenzy. In their haste, they did not even have the time to choose their path. They simply ran about through several corridors and the distance between them and the Qin terracotta soldiers gradually increased. The persistent sounds of footsteps too faded away.

They passed through an aisle onto an arch bridge, which connected two palace buildings. On both sides of this arch bridge with a hollow bottom were two tall walls. They ran up to the arch bridge and Miao Yan suddenly crouched down, whispering. “Get down! Don’t make any noise!”

The three people from Nangong’s side were all veteran Awakened ones. Their reactions were naturally fast and they immediately lied down onto the ground while holding their breath.

Chen Xiaolian too reacted quickly, crouching down while holding onto Soo Soo.

Moments later, the “cha cha” “cha cha” sounds of footsteps resounded from under the bridge!

Upon the pathway below the arch bridge, a large group of Qin terracotta soldiers marched through in a series of lines.

The number of terracotta soldiers here amount up to hundreds!

Additionally, the factor that struck fear into their hearts was that this group of terracotta soldiers numbering in the hundreds were all mounted soldiers!

Riding on horses, the row of teams passed through. All of the mounted soldiers displayed loosely hanging hair and wielded spears in their hands. The edge of the spears were seemingly close to stabbing into the bottom area of the arch bridge!

As for them who were sprawled onto the surface of the bridge, all they needed to do was to extend one hand to make contact with these terracotta soldiers’ spears.

They observed the huge groups of mounted soldiers marching through the bottom area of the bridge, the horses’ hooves giving off “cha cha” sounds while the lines remained orderly. The chilling air caused goose bumps to spread through their skin!

Everyone restrained from making any sounds. After watching the group of mounted soldiers move far away, Nangong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then glanced at his companion, the one who was covered in blood and has weak breath coming off him.

“Lun Tai, how are you doing? Can you hold on?” Nangong whispered.

Lun Tai shook his head.

“Why aren’t you using medicinal agents? Could it be that you people don’t even have Healing Beast Blood?” Miao Yan frowned.

Nangong forced out a smile and raised his hand towards Miao Yan. “Thank you for your aid earlier. If not for you throwing those items to disrupt the monsters, I fear that they would have caught up to me and my fellow brothers.”

Pausing, Nangong frowned. “This place does not allow the use of Healing Beast Blood. This palace interior is extremely terrifying. Once you get injured, not even the use of Healing Beast Blood will bring about any effect. I am guessing that there is some form of restriction.”

“There is such a restriction?” Miao Yan frowned. She abruptly extended her right index finger to make a shallow cut on her left palm. Observing blood flowing out from the wound, Miao Yan retrieved a Healing Beast Blood from the system and swallowed it in one gulp.

She stared at her palm. The wound remained unhealed, and there was no sign of it healing at all.

Miao Yan’s face sank!

However, Nangong and his two men and even Chen Xiaolian stared at Miao Yan with a perplexed expression!

This woman…

How extravagant!

Healing Type Beast Blood may not be very expensive, but it still required points to purchase from the Exchange System. For any Players or Awakened ones, points were no different from their lifeblood, something that they would be unwilling to waste in the slightest!

In order to make an experiment, this woman casually used a Healing Type Beast Blood!

Additionally, Nangong was able to clearly see that the one used by this woman was actually a ‘High Class Healing Type Beast Blood’!

The effect of using a High Class Healing Beast Blood was extremely good. Even grievous injuries could be recovered after using it! However, its price was far from cheap!

Among the circle of Awakened ones, Nangong could be considered to be a lead figure. However, even he does not possess such deep pockets that he could casually produce and consume a High Class Healing Beast Blood!

This woman however, her face was one of indifference.

Chen Xiaolian did not think too much about that. Instead, he concentrated and pondered before whispering. “I understand. It is probably because this is the core area of the mausoleum. Qin Shi Huang is certainly here within Epang Palace… thus, it would be accurate to consider this place as a ‘death land’! Any life force and recovery energies will be suppressed here.”

Nangong glanced at Chen Xiaolian. “This little brother here, your deduction is quite interesting.”

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes. “You seem familiar. En, that is right! That day, the one playing with model aircrafts is you! That is not right! Could it be that you have been taken over by an arriving Player?”

Right after he uttered those words, Nangong’s face changed madly. His body jumped backwards several steps and his spear was pointed towards Chen Xiaolian.

“What are you doing?”

Miao Yan’s face turned grim and she grabbed onto the spear in Nangong’s hand. Nangong attempted to wrest it back. However, his face instantly turned different as Miao Yan seized the spear away!

“Do not misunderstand,” Seeing Nangong’s two subordinates jumping up with wary expressions, Chen Xiaolian quickly spoke out. “I am an Awakened. I am Guild Leader Qiu Yun’s man. I am with Meteor Rock Guild.”

After saying that, he pulled Soo Soo’s collar to reveal the Meteor Rock Guild’s protective suit.

Nangong’s face slowly eased and he put down his clenched fist. “So, that is what happened… it is a mistake on my part. I never thought you could hide your identity so well.”

Nangong then pointed at Miao Yan and spoke with a cautious tone. “And this is?”

Miao Yan gave a “heng” and gently snapped the spear in her hands, breaking it in half. She threw it down the ground and said coldly. “Just now, I saved your life. Now, you turn hostile just because you want to. I do not like you; there is no need for us to continue our talk.”

Nangong’s face turned into one of embarrassment and he rapidly said. “This humble one is Nangong. I am the Guild Leader of the Nangong Guild.”

As he spoke, his expression was one of embarrassment. However, his tone revealed a certain pride. It seemed that this Nangong Guild has quite the fame.

Hearing that, Miao Yan did not even bat an eyelid. She said coldly. “Heng, you are famous? I do not care about it.”

After saying that, Miao Yan turned to Chen Xiaolian. “These few fellows are nothing worthwhile. I do not feel like going together with them. You?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Naturally, I will be following you.”

A pleased look appeared on Miao Yan’s face. “At least you have a conscience.”

Seeing that Miao Yan and Chen Xiaolian were about to leave, Nangong’s face tensed up. He quickly called out. “Wait!”

“What?” Miao Yan narrowed her eyes.

“I mean you no harm,” Nangong restrained the fury in his heart and slowly said. “We are all here in this dangerous place. As the saying goes, a solitary tree cannot become a forest. I am aware that senior has a high level of strength. However, going together and looking out for each other is not a bad thing. Earlier on, what happened was only due to a misunderstanding. After all, we are all Awakened ones. Which one of us does not hate those Players to the extreme? It is simply a misunderstanding on my part; there is no need for senior to be so angry.”

Pausing, Nangong quickly continued. “We have entered this palace for quite some time. The things that we have encountered and observed along the way are quite considerable. How about we move together? We are willing to share the information we gathered. How about it?”

Those words caused Chen Xiaolian to halt. He turned to look at Miao Yan but she remained silent. Chen Xiaolian then asked. “Guild Leader Nangong, how long has it been since you entered this palace?”

“At least 2 hours,” Nangong smiled bitterly.

Two hours?

Chen Xiaolian’s heart tensed up.

Two hours. It seemed that this Nangong group had experienced quite a lot within this Epang Palace. They would surely know more regarding the circumstances of this place. Perhaps they might have useful information. That would be better compared to having him and Miao Yan stumble about.

Chen Xiaolian felt tempted and he looked at Miao Yan. Miao Yan then sighed. “Very well. I will follow your decision on this, Xiaolian.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “Guild Leader Nangong, let us make it clear beforehand. Moving together is all right with us and we can help protect each other. However, you must not hold back on any information. If you have any ill intent…”

“If you have ill intentions, I will kill all of you. It is not that hard,” Miao Yan suddenly spoke out in a cold voice.