Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The giant white hand caught air, its palm hitting the ground. Rocks jabbed out of the earth irregularly while the ground cracked and split. Its five fingers twitched slightly.
With a splitting noise, a crack appeared on the back of the hand, giving way to a jet-black eyeball. Why is our food gone?
Everyone’s expressions changed.
“Where’s the sacrifice?”
“This is bad. The sacrifice is gone.”
“I beg Your Grace’s forgiveness.” Everyone prayed for the forgiveness of the one behind the black fog.
The giant white hand wiped itself on the floor carelessly. Dust flew, but the uneven ground was smoothed out with a single brush. Only cracks remained in the now-smooth floor. With two fingers, the hand gestured to the crowd at the side.
A pale, beardless young man with a hint of blue on his ears crouched on the ground. He narrowed his eyes and inspected his surroundings. Suddenly, he saw two giant fingers come down like columns, then an angry voice rang out. “Don’t take my father!”
“Qiu Chou!!”
Moo— The enormous, long-haired, black bulls with curved horns from the send-off parade puffed out two wisps of white smoke from their nostrils. This mist congealed into a translucent knife that slashed down with a rumble, cutting the two fingers. The person the fingers had picked up also fell onto the ground.
Having lost two fingers, the giant hand was furious. It waved around madly in the air, the three remaining fingers tearing down the walls.
“Fang Yan, what did you do?!” The tribe elder was appalled. “Do you know what crime you’ve committed?”
The boy named Fang Yan struggled to push himself off the ground, but his legs were numb from kneeling for too long. “You’re frightened of this trash?” Fang Yan mocked. “I think you’ve been kneeling for so long that you think everything’s above you. How pathetic.”
Gao Peng couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. This guy had guts. A dozen or so people trembled behind Gao Peng. They stood in a group, secretly eying Gao Peng from behind. He was their savior, but they didn’t know the fate that awaited them.
Gao Peng turned to glance at these people and asked, “Where are you from?”
They hadn’t expected that question from Gao Peng, so they hesitated for quite a while, looking at each other. Finally, one person said softly, “Your Grace, I’m from the Huo Tang Tribe.”
“What the hell are you saying?!” The person next to them tugged his arm, their voice full of anxiety. These Mutated Tribe people were rotten! Who knew if this was a scheme to deceive them and find out their tribe’s location, then capture them all in one move. It wasn’t like that had never happened before.
The Huo Tang Tribe… Gao Peng fell deep into thought. He was certain that the Huo Tang Tribe didn’t exist in the list of ancient tribes. If he wasn’t lying, then the people from the Huo Tang Tribe aren’t on our side. They’re natives of Jiutian Shidi, too. They had a common ancestor with the ancient tribes and Earth Star.
Looking at these people’s conditions, it seemed like their circumstances weren’t good. They might not even have the freedom to do as they will… In a stringent world like this, it was impossible to move a single step without power. One couldn’t even make it out of the streets.
On the other side, Fang Yan’s familiar, Qiu Chou, struck the white hand nonstop. The hand looked fierce, but fell back under Qiu Chou’s attacks. Soon, the hand withdrew itself.
“Wah—” A baby’s cry came from behind the black mist. The area enveloped by the black mist suddenly increased as lightning struck within the fog. Everyone around knelt down, praying for Hades’ forgiveness.
The tribe elder suddenly became confident after he saw Hades and loudly yelled at Fang Yan, “Fang Yan, you’ve disappointed us. The one who came out today was Hades’ beloved son, not the great Hades himself. Now, you’ve angered him. How are you going to beg for his forgiveness? You’re putting everyone else in danger!”
A large black and red door slowly appeared within the mist. On the door were two massive eyeballs. They rolled downwards, bloodshot with wrath and hostility. “How dare you hurt His Grace’s only son! You’ll pay for it with your life!”
Then the enormous door opened. From the pitch-black gap came a vast amount of black mist. The black mist covered the sky, and a dark wind roared. The entire Rock City was like hell.
A large hand reached out from the door. The hand was extremely big, wearing a red robe. Evil spirits, demons, ghost soldiers, and hell judges were embroidered on the robe’s sleeves. The hand’s fingers were blue, its nails black as ink.
Gao Peng was puzzled. Why was this Hades’ aura so faint? It was a Saint-tier specter. He had thought it would at least be a God, but this guy’s aura was only at the peak of the Saint tier. However, glancing at everyone else in the city, they had even weaker auras, not even Saint-tier. What a bunch of wimps.
The hand that stuck out of the door first inspected its surroundings cautiously. Then, after finding it had no formidable opponents, it gave a sigh of relief.
Rumble! The realm spread out from its palm, turning the area around the crossroads into a living hell. All of the houses and pots disappeared, leaving only a barren field. Only some Skeletal Hand Trees were growing here and there.
“I’m Hades of Rock City. How dare you offend God’s envoy? You ought to be—” The voice halted abruptly, and the realm shattered. Shrill cries came from behind the black and red door.
“I’m sorry, spare me, ahh…” The voice was very familiar; it was Hades’s voice. Everyone looked at one another, unsure of what to do. A while later, the giant door shattered. A silhouette that floated in the air dove into the sky and disappeared in the horizon, leaving behind only the battered door.
Gao Peng took a deep breath, then turned and walked out of the room. “Let’s go, we’re leaving the city.”
Bai Hai Xuan came in bringing a bunch of new clothes, head covers, and bamboo hats to distribute. Gao Peng said, “Follow me if you want to leave the city.”
Half an hour later, a group of people left Rock City. They stood on a hill against a cool wind, looking at the dark mountains in the distance. Someone’s eyes reddened as they said, “Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you, boss.”
They all knelt down. Whether sincere or not, at least at this moment, they showed their good intentions.
“What do you plan to do? You have no familiars, and your identities are problematic. Even if the people from the city don’t come after you, you won’t make it out of this forest,” Gao Peng said coldly. It was harsh, but it was the truth.
They looked at Gao Peng. They weren’t smart, but they weren’t stupid either. If Gao Peng was saying this, he had to have a solution.
“Take me to your tribe.” Gao Peng smiled. “I’ll protect you.”
The crowd buzzed. Gao Peng saw that they weren’t convinced and nodded. “If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it earlier. I have no malicious intentions towards your tribe.”
“Take him there,” someone suddenly said.
The others stirred, turning around to look at the person who had spoken. It was a dark-skinned elder with white hair. He was old but in good spirits and seemed to be of high standing. Everyone else gave their tacit approval.
