Chapter 373: Wraith Jialuo (3.5k)
Catherine’s words caused Su Jiu to pause slightly again, but she didn’t directly reveal her stance. Instead, she smiled, waved her hand, and said to the former, “I don’t have any other ideas, just want to try my luck in the Cans region controlled by Yela. It is rumored that there are good things in that area that can improve the inscription of inner cores.”
“Alright, then you can come with us on the car.”
Hearing Su Jiu’s words, Catherine reconfirmed Su Jiu’s actual level and the need for materials to inscribe inner cores. Furthermore, choosing to carve [Dust Thunder] and not more advanced alchemical products, the other party’s level wouldn’t exceed that of a High-Rank Battle General.
Thinking this, she tossed two cans of meat from her pocket, glanced at the motorcycle beside Su Jiu, and instructed, “This is your dinner. You can leave your motorcycle, follow us into the car. We are already approaching the Cans region. Monsters often roam around at night, and it’s dangerous to be outside where spirit-type monsters can sense your ‘human scent’.”
After speaking, Catherine turned and left directly, waved to the staff members, and then walked straight onto the vehicle.
“If we follow her, we should avoid getting lost.”
Taking the cans thrown by Catherine, Su Jiu gave one to Bairnis, patted her head, and followed. Looking at the gracefully moving figure, Su Jiu always felt like she had seen her somewhere before.
The background slowly began to change from desert to some bushes, with black shadows flashing by occasionally, stirring up the dust. The pale yellow light inside the jeep illuminated the spacious interior, diminishing the surrounding silence and chill.
Su Jiu and the others sat around a square table. Excluding the two in the front seats, there were five people, so it wasn’t crowded. Catherine hummed an obscure tune, accompanied by two others playing small instruments. On the table, there was a bucket of ice and special vodka, serving as some special drinks.
After getting slightly acquainted with everyone, Su Jiu leaned against Bairnis, half-closed her eyes, and listened to the music. In this atmosphere, she felt a strange peace and began to fiddle with [Dust Thunder] again. Her speed was so fast that the three people playing instruments stopped their work and stared with wide eyes.
“Are you really an ordinary alchemist? Ten minutes for a [Dust Thunder], and the quality doesn’t seem low. This is already comparable to some High-Rank Alchemists—Want to try this specialty from the Bear of the Snow? It’s said to be mixed with Flame Grass powder and Hundred Drunken Tea.”
As Su Jiu was making [Dust Thunder], a pleasant voice suddenly sounded. She turned her head, then looked up at Catherine, who was busy adding ice to the drinks, and smiled casually, nodding, “It’s just practice makes perfect. I must try the vodka from that Russian fellow!”
After speaking, she picked up the glass and took a couple of sips. The fiery sensation immediately rose from her throat, causing her face to flush with an alluring redness.
Glancing enviously at Su Jiu’s alluring appearance, Bairnis also reached for the cup to take a drink, but Su Jiu pinched her cheek and gently reminded her, “Little child, no drinking.”
Pouting her small face, Bairnis patted Su Jiu’s thigh, glanced at the reddish liquor, and whispered coquettishly, “Miss…”
“No…”
Su Jiu lightly raised her head, turned her face away, took another sip, and said softly.
“Haha, I didn’t expect Miss Su Jiu from the Dragon Country to dare to drink such strong liquor. When I went to your country before, everyone was so refined!”
Watching the mistress and servant bickering, a Middle-aged Musician holding an instrument laughed loudly and said to Bairnis quite seriously, “However, this thing cannot be drunk by children without cultivation.”
Bairnis’s mouth twitched. You might not believe it, but I’m several times older than you…
Seeing her reaction, the uncle smiled, then sighed as if he had thought of something. He leaned against the car body behind him, looked out the window, his eyes a little hazy, “Alas… the send-off wine is finished. After we pass through this forest full of spirit-type monsters, we’ll soon arrive at Yela’s Army Camp. I don’t know if we’ll be able to come out.”
Su Jiu had also told them her name and where she was from. After hearing that Su Jiu was from the Dragon Country, their vigilance seemed to lessen, and they spoke more frankly.
“Brother, why do you say that?” Hearing the Middle-aged Musician’s words, Su Jiu was startled, then put down her cup and asked in confusion.
“Have you heard of the band ‘Eno’?”
The Middle-aged Musician turned to look at Su Jiu, saw her still looking blank, then his thick eyebrows relaxed helplessly. After exchanging a glance with his companions, he chuckled and said, “Since you haven’t heard of us, forget it. We’re not a famous big band.”
“Bands active in the Erus region, I seem to recall…” After thinking for a long time, Su Jiu suddenly turned to look at Catherine, who was drinking heartily, and after a moment of silence, suddenly spoke, “Catherine Winick? The band that was very popular on Weibo some time ago. The report said you risked your lives to visit the civilians in Erus, why are you planning to perform at Yela’s main camp now?”
The Middle-aged Musician didn’t answer. A touch of sadness appeared on his thick eyebrows, and the others just sighed helplessly, the atmosphere suddenly becoming heavy.
Suddenly, with a “thump!”, the wine glass was slammed heavily onto the table. Catherine exhaled a breath of alcohol and muttered to herself, “The residents we comforted are all dead, one after another. They all died under the bombing of planes. We people were also driven from the east to here…”
She paused, then clenched her fist tightly, and finally sighed, “We know it’s foolish to perform at Yela’s Army Camp and do anti-war propaganda, but everyone here has no ties. If we can make some soldiers with a conscience wake up, and thus avoid the complete slaughter of some civilians, it would be good.”
Hearing Catherine’s words, Bairnis, with great tacit understanding, took out her phone to record. This was what Su Jiu had instructed earlier: to record all meaningful sights and experiences.
Unlike Bairnis, Su Jiu fell silent. She couldn’t do such a righteous act, but she didn’t deny that in this era, there were not a few people like Lin Yusheng who had faith.
She respected these people. One day, the night of war would give way to dawn because of them. They sought neither fame nor profit, only faith.
Su Jiu studied history in her past life. She knew that they would eventually be nameless, unlike the famous generals with great military achievements or the Big Shots at the negotiating table who would be recorded in history.
Catherine waved her hand, breaking Su Jiu’s train of thought, and said with a smile, “Don’t be so serious. I know an officer from Yela, and he’s also the one who made the arrangements for us.”
Su Jiu nodded and continued with the alchemical items in her hands. She could feel that once she fully mastered [Dust Thunder], she could try its advanced version, the big bomb—[Dream Flower]. One [Dream Flower] was enough to destroy everything within hundreds of meters, and its power was enough to cause damage to a Battle King.
[Dream Flower] was something only Alchemy Masters could touch, and it was also the highest-level blueprint from that B-11. Its crafting materials were exceptionally precious, using an Intermediate Magic Crystal as a carrier, supplemented by various High-Rank Battle General materials. However, Su Jiu, being financially well-off, didn’t seem to care much.
If she could really mass-produce this [Dream Flower]… Su Jiu’s mind flashed with the large number of dog tags in the Yela military base earlier, and her eyes slightly sank.
“We’re about to enter the Death Forest. Everyone be careful. Those weird spirit-type monsters inside can be very troublesome,” the Bald Uncle’s voice came from the front of the car, sounding very serious. The speed of the car also began to slow down.
Hearing the Bald Uncle’s warning, everyone put down their wine glasses, summoned their beast spirits as instructed, and their expressions became tense.
Looking at the rapidly intensifying atmosphere, Su Jiu was also a little stunned. After a moment, she sat up straight and asked, “Miss Catherine, what exactly is this Death Forest?”
Upon hearing this, Catherine gave a wry smile and looked at the black shadows occasionally flashing by outside the window, saying with some worry, “Death Forest wasn’t originally called Death Forest. I don’t know what heinous deeds the Yela army did here, but it’s become filled with many vengeful spirit monsters of the spirit type, with very heavy resentment.”
“There’s even a red wraith that invades Yela’s base every day. It’s said that the wraith was formed after a Battle King of Erus was executed, and its strength was inexplicably increased to the level of a High-Rank Battle King. Moreover, it only targets Yela officers and Raven people. If it encounters a stronger opponent, it dissipates on its own—Yela calls it Jialuo.”
“Inexplicably…”
Hearing this, Su Jiu fell into thought. Could this thing be related to that mysterious feather?
However, a High-Rank Battle King was indeed terrifying, but the Yela army had not moved away from their occupied areas, which further proved the existence of the feather.
“This might also be the main reason why Yela allowed us to perform at the base.” Catherine suddenly let out a sneer, then a holy light appeared on her fingertips. She looked at Su Jiu and said, “Sacred-attribute skills can be spread through singing. I often use that skill to comfort refugees, so I was probably discovered?”
“Sacred-attribute singing skill?!” Su Jiu showed a look of surprise. In these years, she had only focused on killing and had forgotten that many hidden interesting skills had different uses.
Undead types feared holy light; she had understood that when she was doing the [Sword God’s Contract]. However, a skill similar to deliverance was rare.
“Yes, it’s a Battle General level skill given by a great figure in the industry. It’s not difficult to learn and has some healing and deliverance effects,” Catherine said softly.
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu pondered for a moment, then took out two Intermediate Magic Crystals from her pocket and pushed them across the table. She looked up slightly and said quite seriously, “Can you teach me this skill? This is the payment.”
“Intermediate Magic Crystals? This skill is not valuable at all…” Catherine was stunned by Su Jiu’s generosity, then shook her head and chuckled, “However, sacred-attribute bloodline users generally cannot become alchemists. You don’t have the sacred attribute, so learning it would be in vain.”
“Miss Catherine, to be honest, my true identity is actually a member of the International Red Cross, and our goals are similar, which is to help refugees.”
Hearing this, Su Jiu smiled slightly, took out a booklet from her trouser pocket, and a holy light flashed from her fingertips. It was even more solid and brighter than Catherine’s, but the center of the holy light had a bloody hue, making it quite eerie.
“A sacred-attribute alchemist?”
Everyone’s gaze fell upon them, and they exchanged glances, all of them able to see each other’s astonishment.
“She’s really a member of the Red Cross!”
Soon, Catherine came back to her senses. After checking Su Jiu’s identification and confirming her identity, a look of respect appeared in her eyes. She then took out a black beast-skin book from her storage bag and handed it to Su Jiu along with the magic crystals, “Miss Su Jiu, this is the skill book for [Rest]. It is said that when practiced to perfection, it can grant a very peculiar sub-skill.”
“Thank you.”
Su Jiu thanked her but did not take the magic crystals. Instead, she picked up the book [Rest] and was about to start reading when the car suddenly stopped. She could only hear the hurried and trembling voice of the uncle in front shouting:
“Red… red swordsman, Jialuo… is in front of us!”
