The soldiers did not dare to delay. They immediately took the dragon beast’s droppings to the Star Mage Regiment. Xi Wei, suppressing his anger, wandered around the rooms in the camp, hoping to find some useful clues.
After some searching.
He only found a badge.
On the badge, a muscular human with his upper body bare was piercing a spear into the head of an orc.
The scene was lifelike.
Filled with blood and violence.
It also promoted human might.
This badge might be an item left behind by those assailants, representing their identity and background.
Xi Wei put away the badge, walked out of the camp, and approached six strangely shaped “trees.”
From afar, they did indeed look like withered trees.
But upon closer inspection.
One could vaguely see that the vine-covered trunks resembled female bodies.
Xi Wei frowned, drew his dagger from his waist, and then lightly slashed at the trunk. With a “cui” sound, the cut vines oozed a foul-smelling red liquid, revealing what was hidden beneath the trunk.
It was the corpse of a demi-human girl.
The small patch of skin exposed to Xi Wei’s sight had already been completely penetrated by the tree’s roots, so densely that it seemed the entire tree had grown from the girl’s corpse as soil.
Or rather, the word “seemed” should be removed.
[Parasitic Tree (Siren’s Temptation Demon Vine)]
[A very rare plant that requires a specific virgin to serve as a seedbed to root and sprout. The fruit it produces is called the Siren’s Temptation Fruit.]
[The Siren’s Temptation Fruit is beautiful in appearance and produces an extremely strong hallucinogenic effect after consumption. If the juice of the Siren’s Temptation Fruit is injected into the human body, it will drive the person by desire, cause memory loss, and turn them into a slave of lust.]
[Siren’s Temptation Fruit only grows on the North Continent, the specific reason for its formation is unknown…]
“So, you were captured and made into the seedbed for this parasitic tree?”
Xi Wei murmured to himself.
The girl before him had a withered face, her eye sockets and mouth already filled with the parasitic tree’s roots.
Her horrifying appearance seemed to tell Xi Wei of her despair and pain.
“I will avenge you. I will find those people.”
“Rest in peace.”
Xi Wei stood before the parasitic tree, one hand clenched into a fist over his chest, his expression solemn. His accompanying knights did the same.
Under the dim sky, the sunlight was somewhat weak.
A gust of cold, eerie wind blew past.
The withered vines on the parasitic tree swayed gently in the wind, and a few leaves fluttered down. Those blood-red leaves looked so shocking against the green grass.
The vegetation bowed low in the north wind.
The King and knights stood with their heads bowed before the strange trees, their bright red cloaks fluttering in the wind.
The scene was both bizarre and solemn.
“Dig a pit, carry the corpses into the pit and burn them. Burn these six trees as well.”
Xi Wei sighed and turned away from the hellish campsite.
…
“Master, what happened up ahead?”
Loli looked at the smoke rising from the forest not far away, her expression somewhat confused. At the same time, she sensed that Xi Wei’s mood seemed to be not very good.
“It’s nothing. A human merchant caravan was attacked by monsters, leaving a lot of corpses there. It was a bit unpleasant to look at.”
“So I ordered my soldiers to burn the corpses. We’ll set off again later.”
Xi Wei forced a smile.
He would not tell Loli and Ruo Yi about the brutal scenes he had witnessed.
“Oh, oh…”
Although Loli still had some doubts, since Xi Wei was unwilling to say more, she wouldn’t press the issue.
If there was something Xi Wei didn’t want her to know, it must mean it wouldn’t be good for her to know.
Loli wouldn’t ask further.
It was better not to know. As long as she could be by Xi Wei’s side, she could turn a blind eye to everything else.
After calming down the emotions of the girls, Xi Wei found an excuse to leave their sight and then went to the Star Mage Regiment’s team.
“How is it now?”
“Can you locate the direction of that dragon beast?”
Xi Wei knew that tracking spell arrays had limitations.
the tracking medium must be fresh.
It must not be older than a week.
The corpses had been dead for about three to four days. Xi Wei was anxious to know if the dragon beast’s droppings were still within the tracking period.
“Your Majesty, we have traced the direction of the dragon beast. Just continue heading northwest and report the latest direction to you at any time.”
Xing Yi knelt on one knee and handed a magic compass to Xi Wei with both hands.
After that, the direction they tracked would be directly fed back to Xi Wei through this magic compass.
“Very good.”
Xi Wei clenched the compass.
The northwest direction happened to be the direction of the Karari Empire, which saved him some trouble.
“Perhaps there is a connection between this matter and the Karari Empire?”
“Don’t disappoint me, King of Karari…”
Xi Wei’s eyes glinted coldly as he gazed at the black smoke rising straight into the forest.
…
…
Three days later.
Karari Royal Capital.
“Your Majesty, the King of Winter has led his army to the outer walls of the city.”
A minister with a plump figure knelt before the King of Karari and reported respectfully.
“Lord Aomute, how many troops did the King of Winter bring?”
The King of Karari sat on the throne, his eyes half-closed, appearing groggy, as if he had just woken up.
This was a normal reaction after consuming Parasitic Tree Fruit; he looked listless.
After all, experiencing bliss was a very mentally draining matter.
“Uh… Your Majesty, please forgive my ignorance, but I can’t estimate how many troops the King of Winter brought. However, it looks like a vast sea, stretching as far as the eye can see…”
“That many?!”
The King of Karari’s eyes widened slightly.
Even his hunched and aged body sat up straight.
He leaned forward slightly.
As if to discern whether the minister before him was lying.
However, Aomute looked foolish.
He was clearly an idiot who couldn’t lie.
“It’s endless as far as the eye can see from the city walls. This time, the King of Winter should have brought more than fifty thousand troops. What a grand gesture…”
“Is this truly the army that a newly established country should possess?”
The King of Karari murmured to himself.
He decided to personally greet the King of Winter.
This would not only show courtesy but also allow him to probe the King of Winter’s strength.
To see the true strength of the King of Winter’s army.
If it was indeed as Minister Aomute said, then he could not treat the King of Winter as an equal as planned.
Conversely.
He would have to lower his own posture significantly.
“Go, prepare another Parasitic Tree Fruit. We may need to establish a good diplomatic relationship with this young king.”
“Your Majesty, I believe no king can resist the temptation of two Parasitic Tree Fruits~”
“Hahaha, I think so too, Lord Aomute.”
…
“This Karari Royal Capital is quite… peculiar?”
Xi Wei couldn’t help but shake his head as he looked at the city walls, which exuded an air of nouveau riche.
The city walls were adorned with all sorts of diamond-studded and gold-plated cannons, and there were over a dozen pure gold statues of the King, naked, clothed, and striking various poses. Moreover, two teams of knights patrolled near each statue.
It was utterly absurd.
The crucial point was that those gold and diamond-encrusted cannons were not Magic Cannons, but ordinary artillery.
If you said the King of Karari had no money, he built such magnificent city walls, with gold bricks used on the top of the highest towers. If you said he had money, he couldn’t even afford the most basic Magic Cannon.
“The compass pointed here as well. It seems that dragon beast is inside the royal city of Karari.”
“Tsk tsk…”
“Your Majesty, shall we…”
Gudbad made a throat-slitting gesture, his eyes fierce.
The city walls before them were full of loopholes.
They could be breached in less than half an hour.
But Xi Wei shook his head.
“Don’t alert the enemy. Rats should be caught all at once. Letting even one escape would be incredibly disgusting.”
He turned his head, took the badge from his pocket, and put it into Gudbad’s hand. He sternly ordered,
“After I go in, immediately send scouts into the city and arrest everyone related to this badge. Their specific identities, where they live, what they’ve done – list it all out, one by one.”
Bai Yao
Keke
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