Chapter 474 - 407: Strange Ancient Town
Chapter 474: Chapter 407: Strange Ancient Town
After the Golden Crow swiftly carried Flora Bloom and Lex Cross through the flickering, pale-yellow barrier, Earth Element energy emerged from the ground to replenish its consumed power.
The barrier returned to its original state, just as if nothing had ever happened.
The ancient town looked just as it had in pre-apocalyptic news reports. It was an old town where even the small paths paved with bluestone slabs exuded a quaint, antique charm.
The central path was paved straight ahead with bluestone slabs, its end disappearing deep into the town, invisible from their current position.
Meanwhile, other paths branched out from crossroads, extending outwards like spider legs toward rows of irregularly arranged but extremely ancient buildings.
The Golden Crow saw the four old peach trees at the town’s entrance and excitedly rushed toward them, its flapping wings stirring up a fierce gust of wind.
Flora Bloom was about to follow for a closer look, but Lex Cross held her back. "Don’t worry. Those four peach trees aren’t evolved lifeforms. They’re part of an Array, controlled by someone. The Golden Crow is in no danger."
Only then did Flora Bloom nod. After another glance in the Golden Crow’s direction, she relaxed and let Lex Cross lead her by the hand down a path toward the first row of ancient buildings.
The two of them were like tourists in the apocalypse, strolling along one stone path after another and exploring every nook and cranny.
Yet, aside from the fragrance of peach blossoms that filled the air, the entire ancient town was as silent as a ghost town. They hadn’t seen a single soul.
"This town isn’t very big, is it? How can there not be a single person in sight in a paradise like this?"
Flora Bloom, with her formidable spiritual power, couldn’t sense any Life Force other than that of the peach trees.
"There are people. They’re all inside their houses and haven’t come out!"
"Huh?" She stopped in surprise. "Impossible! With my spiritual power, I wouldn’t miss a single living ant! If there were people here, I’d definitely be able to sense them!"
Lex Cross pulled Flora Bloom close as black energy began to surge from his body, gathering around them and slowly concealing their presence.
"Why are we hiding? And didn’t you say you were bringing me here for a tour? Why are you being so mysterious!"
"Flora, do you trust me?"
Flora Bloom gave Lex Cross a strange look. The dead-serious expression on his face left her a bit stunned.
"Of course I trust you, but can you at least tell me what you’re planning to do first?"
Lex Cross gave a wicked smile, which looked exceptionally bewitching on this ancient, windswept path.
"Take a guess."
’Flora Bloom inwardly mocked herself for caving so pathetically every time she looked at Lex Cross’s face. How strange! Whether in her past life or this one, she had never been the type to swoon over a handsome face. Why did she always end up giving in to this guy?’
’After spending half a year with him, she’d thought she had finally grown comfortable enough to act naturally around him. When he occasionally let loose with a stream of flirty nonsense, she would just banter back, and it was all in good fun.’
They had set out early in the morning, and it was still only mid-morning. The sun now hung in the lightening eastern sky, its rays piercing through and illuminating the entire peach forest.
If one were to look down from a distance, they would see the direct sunlight partially blocked by the peach forest, with the remaining light scattering into the ancient town.
From the outside, the scene looked ethereal, but inside the ancient town, there were overlapping layers of light and shadow.
The interplay of light and shadow easily created the illusion of warped space and time.
This was also why the two of them thought they had explored the entire town, when in reality—under the influence of the overlapping shadows and distorted sense of spacetime—they had been unconsciously pacing back and forth along the same small path.
Lex Cross looked at the sky, then at the surrounding buildings. "What a clever illusion, combining the layout of the buildings with celestial phenomena."
Flora Bloom also sensed that something was wrong now.
When they entered, the central path had been paved with bluestone slabs. And yet, after wandering among the ancient buildings for so long and seemingly covering the entire area, they realized the ground beneath their feet had been cobblestone the whole time.
"Are we trapped in an illusion? Is that why we’re lost?" Flora Bloom scanned her surroundings warily, extending her spiritual power to its absolute limit, but she found nothing. "I can’t find any flaws."
Just then, the acrid smell of burning peach wood drifted over. It was coming from the entrance they had just passed through.
Flora Bloom’s expression changed. ’Damn it,’ she cursed inwardly. ’That darn Golden Crow is making trouble for me again.’
Lex Cross, however, just smiled. He patted Flora Bloom’s head and said, "Sometimes, your Golden Crow is smarter than its master."
"Doesn’t it always claim to be the leader of the Golden Crow clan, the Golden Crow Ancestor, and all that? If that’s true, it would be thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of years older than me!
"At that age, if it wasn’t at least a little bit smart, what use would I have for it?"
The Golden Crow’s True Sun Fire was no ordinary flame. Anything it scorched would be burned to absolute ash if the fire wasn’t retracted.
Strangely, after they smelled the burning wood, the path that had been cobblestone no matter which way they turned suddenly became paved with bluestone slabs.
In the blink of an eye, they reappeared at the town’s entrance, where the Golden Crow was huddled.
They saw the four old peach trees, their trunks as thick as elephant legs, scorched jet-black by the Golden Crow’s True Sun Fire.
Flora Bloom finally understood.
The Golden Crow had noticed something was wrong from the start and had done this to warn them.
What one sees can be deceiving, but the sense of smell doesn’t lie. And these four peach trees stood at the entrance, the very linchpin of the illusion.
The peach blossoms on them were also larger than the flowers in the surrounding forest.
Flora Bloom also noticed something else: every tree in the surrounding forest was laden with fruit, covered in tempting pink peaches nearly the size of two fists.
Yet these four peach trees, despite clearly being older and healthier than those in the forest, didn’t bear a single fruit.
It was truly strange.
Fortunately, the Golden Crow had listened to her and hadn’t actually intended to destroy the peach forest, especially not these four old trees.
If the Golden Crow had been determined to destroy them, the True Sun Fire would have incinerated them completely. No matter what secrets the trees held, they would have long since been reduced to ash.
They wouldn’t just be scorched black with withered blossoms. In reality, their core hadn’t been harmed at all; they had merely wilted from the heat emanating from the True Sun Fire.
Just then, the sound of a large group of people approaching echoed from the town’s streets, growing louder and closer.
They both turned to look. Lex Cross showed little reaction, but Flora Bloom’s shock was plain to see.
Led by an old man who had to be over a hundred, a group of about a hundred people followed close behind, advancing menacingly on the two humans and one bird.
An old woman, also appearing to be around a hundred, rushed forward from behind the old man. She was dressed in the coarse hemp clothes of a farmer and seemed unaffected by the deep winter cold, her face contorted in grief.
She was about to grab Flora Bloom and demand an explanation, but Lex Cross stepped in her way, and she ended up digging her hands into his arms instead.
"What have you done?! You wretched people! How dare you burn our town’s guardian Divine Trees! Heaven will strike you down for this!"
Lex Cross stood motionless in front of Flora Bloom, letting the old woman’s wrinkled hands dig forcefully into his arms.
Flora Bloom frowned, her gaze fixed on the red marks forming on Lex Cross’s arms from the woman’s grip. ’She’s over a hundred, yet she’s this strong.’
That wasn’t even the most abnormal part.
Every single person from the ancient town was emaciated, looking as if a gust of wind could blow them away.
They had no superpowers, were over a hundred years old, and were nothing but skin and bones. Yet they were strong enough to leave red marks on a High-level Superpower User like Lex Cross?
’This is completely unnatural!’