The world had always been full of fun. What was lacking was a pair of eyes to see the fun. Like this very decrepit evacuation ark. It was shrouded with the shadow of a slow and impending doom, yet when the old scholar hit the throttle, Hao Ren stopped caring about the fall of this place.
Well, it was because it was so shaky that Hao Ren could not even think…
He was worried earlier on how should he get Willy and the old scholar to the Furnace of the Ancestors before things takes a turn for the worse. But it seems like that worry was for nothing. Master Orrow could not only withstand the speed that a young showoff would go at, he could also withstand the accompanying jolts. Surely the people of the ark was somewhat unusual.
As an old man who had survived this god forsaken world for such a long time, the old scholar’s body was remarkably strong, and even at his age, he was still much stronger than usual. Hao Ren and the rest tumbled about in the carriage, as the ruined cities and ancient roads went by them. It did not take long for Hearthfire and its forboding presence to be totally out of sight.
The old man was happily speeding across the wasteland.
The vehicle had now left Hearthfire’s area of influence and the massive factory complex and a few other iconic buildings had now faded into little dots in the background. Before them was now a wide, empty wasteland. The dried and dirty roads were dusty, and clouds of dusts meters high were kicked up as the vehicle shot past As the dust settled behind the vehicle, shadows appeared amongst the ruined buildings on both sides of the road. These were the vagabonds living in the wasteland. They were not under any kingdom’s protection, nor did they swore fealty to any. These vagabonds wore clothings made out of torn leather and cloths as they snuck out of their lair before the chills set it. As they waved the spears and slings and screamed like barbarians at the Steelbeast, their hostility was apparent. Yet none of them actually dared to go face to face with the metallic ‘monster’.
Willy, the cowardly soldier was clearly worried, and yet he still loaded the crossbow carefully before opening the wooden panel on the side of the carriage. The young lad pointed the crossbow towards the vagabonds as he shouted a warning. The vagaonds with oiled faces and clothings no different than a barbarian shouted back, but they slowly retreated. Their simple spears and slings were no match for military crossbows, but they were probably more afraid of the metal beast that dashed past earlier.
Lily asked, almost shouting. “Why are these people so hostile?”
“They are vagabonds! There are not protected by the king!” Willy shouted back. “These people have no share of the factories or farms. Even the dogs in Hearthfire eats a better meal than them. We cityfolk are not welcomed in the wilds!”
Nangong Sanba gave a cynicle smile. “It almost like we’re given a parade welcome.”
At the same time Lily seemed to hear something. Turning towards the back of the carriage, she yelled. “There’s another vehicle chasing after us!”
Hao Ren turned back to have a look, but only saw a cloud of dust behind the carriage, and within the dust cloud was a silhouette that is closing in. While they could not tell who it was, they could hear the similarly deafening engine roar amongst the clouds. Willy immediately gripped his bow tightly, as he pulled out an explosive bag wrapped with bovine leather from a small box at the corner of the carriage.
A moment later, a vehicle was upon them. It was covered with leather and thick fabric, while the carriage was lined up with human femur that is tied to it with wire. Black smoke belched from the side of the engines as embers shot out from the motor, it almost looked like a hellish chariot that shot out straight fro mthe gates of hell. A middle aged man dressed similarly like Master Orrow sat before the engine as he used a weird looking control lever to control the engine and the direction of the vehicle. Dust and crushed pebbles kept falling out of his robes as his face was soot black. As he accelerated he yelled at Master Orrow. “You mongrels from Highspire! You and your contraption should have been swalloed by the monsters of Eordos ages ago! How dare you run ahead of me, you walking dead!”
“It’s the Eisenstadt!” Willy almost dropped the gunpowder satchel. “Their scholars have also come!”
Nagong Wuyue looked at the screaming scholar from Eisenstadt, before turning towards Master Orrow. “Their scholar seems much more energetic than ours.”
But she never thought that while Master Orrow was indeed old, his hearing is still perfect. After hearing what Wuyue had said, he angrily slapped the machine before him. A moment later Hao Ren feld something underneath him had made an audible ‘Click!’ from the engine.
Lily’s face almost turned green. “What’s he doing?”
Hao Ren saw the old scholar was busy fiddling with the levers and steering. Gritting his teeth, he hissed. “….He’s gonna drift!”
All along the dust ridden wasteland, two rickety art museum exhibits kicked up a storm of dust and dirt as they darted across the landscape. The deafening roar of the engines echoed throughout the empty wilds. Two scholars sat at the front of their vehicles, slamming the accelerator with all their might as they cursed each other. The elderly Master Orrow could not win a shouting match, so he focused on slamming the throttle with practiced ease. The old ‘tank’ had managed to overtake the Eisenstadt’s bone tank and leave it in the dust. At the same time, the Eisenstadt scholar hammered the horn repeatedly, like a enraged bull not giving up its chase.
Master Orrow shouted at Willy. “That bastard! He has a horn! If your father would have given me a little more authority, I could have installed a new horn for the Steelbeast!”
Hao Ren was already driven to a daze by the roar of the engines. He wanted to yell at the old scholar. “Just listen to noise this vehicle is making! The engine itself would have echoed through the entire street! A horn may not even be as loud as that rickety wheels! What good does installing one do? A musical accompaniment?!”
The insane, bizzare and outright freakish race continued for who knows how long. Hao Ren only remembered the latter part of the journey was like the world being smothered by dust and engine noise. But it seems like the temporary peace accord was real, and while the Eisenstadt soldiers continued leering at them, like their driver did, there were no contact made between the two. After a long and insane journey across the waitlist, the two vehicles had safely reached their destination. They had arrived at the end of this enclosed space. The Furnace of the Ancestors stood proudly before them.
A loud “KACHAK!” later, the Steelbeast stopped amidst the smoke and dust. The nails and wires rattled wildly. The rickety old vehicle stopped proudly by the roadside, as it showed off its glorious journey to the place. Not only was all its wheels still in place, even the carriage was in one piece.
The Eisenstadt bone tank too stopped beside the Steelbeast. Some of the bones on the carriage had already came off during the wild ride across the wasteland. A few soldiers grumbled as they noticed the missing bones and wondered how were they going to replace them.
Master Orrow swung his robes as he got off the chair. The moment he got off the vehicle, he immediately hunched at the speed one’s eye could catch before trudging slowly towards Willy. Coughing softly, he spoke. “Children, we’re here.”
“….”
It seems like the old man’s buff had just ran out, and it got dispelled the moment he got off the vehicle!
The Eisenstadt soldiers threw Willy and Master Orrow an angry stare, but with the peace accord in place, and this was the area closest to the Furnace of the Ancestors, even the ‘barbaric’ Eisenstadtians would not pick a fight here. So the Viking-like warriors clad in leather cuirass and axes only threw angry glances at their erstwhile competitor. Their focus however quickly shifted towards Hao Ren and his crew. Their odd clothing would have made them the center of attention anywhere they went.
Yet in this society where chaos was the order of the day, having just weird clothings alone would not be particulary harmful. At most you would attract greedy glances at your clean pair of clothes. If you have any self-defense capability, this was pretty much an afterthought.
“The last time I came here was for the ceremony of adulthood.” Willy hid away from the glances of the Eisenstadt soldiers before speaking to Hao Ren. “The royal city of the Kingdom of Highspire is just beside the furnance. It’s a majestic fortress and here on is royal territory. Those outsiders will not dare to do anything foolish.”
Hao Ren did not respond. His focus was fully on the Furnace of the Ancestors.
