The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu came to the cave’s mouth after a moment. Then, they looked around outside the cave.

The cave was halfway up the mountain. So, it could be seen at a glance that many black dots were flying in the air in groups of two or three as far as the eye could see. It seemed that they were unceasingly surging close to the mountain. Moreover, they were incredibly large in number.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu then directed their gazes below, and saw that many people were walking all over the mountain.

It was obvious from their dressing style that they were the barbarians of the Wing Crane Tribe. It appeared as if these people had laid out an inescapable trap everywhere.

“So many people are advancing this way. I think that Mo Yun Yang has dispatched the entire military force of the Cloud Wing City in order to track us down,” Shi Mu said.

Shi Mu had spoken in a gentle and unhurried manner. In fact, there wasn’t the slightest hint of panic or fear on his face. Zhong Xiu had been in a flustered state. But, she became calm and relieved in her heart when she looked at Shi Mu’s facial expression.

“Big Brother Shi, they will find this place soon. What should we do now?” It seemed that Zhong Xiu had turned into the timid and helpless young girl that she used to be before.

Shi Mu pondered a moment, and then his eyes lit up… It seemed that he had thought of a way.

“Follow me.” Shi Mu drew Zhong Xiu, and started to walk down the cave’s mouth. They soon arrived in a forest situated in the vicinity of a cliff.

“We’ll hide here for the time being. We’ll return to Cloud Wing City after these people leave,” Shi Mu said.

“Hide here…” Zhong Xiu’s face revealed a dumbfounded look.

This place could be seen at a glance. How could they hide here?

Shi Mu smiled, and pulled Zhong Xiu forward to hide in the forest. He then waved his hand, and took out a damaged green cloak. Then, he draped it over their bodies to cover them. It was the same cloak that he had found in the basement of his residence when he had been in the Peaceful Sun City.

The cloak was slightly damaged. But, it was still enough to cover these two people if they remained motionless.

A green light flashed on the surface of the cloak. Then, the cloak slowly assimilated with the surrounding environment in such a manner that nobody could make out any difference.

“Shi Tou, you’re also the kind of a person who favors one more than another? You are biased. You’ve left me alone outside. You’ve forgotten your brother now that you have a woman!” Cai grumbled in a resentful manner.

The tips of Shi Mu’s brows twitched upward. He then lifted a corner of the cloak, and swept a glance over the Wing Crane Tribesmen in the distance. Then, he considered for a bit, and lifted the cloak a bit more.

The fact was that Shi Mu had wanted to make Cai stay outside to observe the movements of the Wing Crane Tribe. However, the overwhelming number of the Wing Crane Tribe’s people could pose a threat to Cai’s safety.

“Come in,” Shi Mu said.

Cai quickly swooped down, and drilled into the cloak.

Shi Mu put down the cloak. The green cloak smothered the presence of two persons and one bird. In fact, even their spiritual aura was covered up by it.

A little time passed. Then, a burst of wings-flapping sounds was heard… It seemed as if someone was approaching. Thereupon, a team comprising of dozens of barbarians of the Wing Crane Tribe finally arrived here to look for them.

Zhong Xiu’s breathing immediately stopped, and her heart started to pound faster.

Cai became even more nervous. He had been hiding in Shi Mu’s sleeves. But, he still couldn’t endure the pressure… His entire body had started to tremble.

A person of the Wing Crane Tribe was continuously hovering in the air over Shi Mu’s hiding place; he had long green wings. He was sweeping his eagle-like sharp eyes over the surrounding area below.

Each wing of this person was enveloped in a layer of green radiance. Also, the spiritual aura he was exuding was ample enough to figure that he had ascended to the realm of Earth-rank.

His gaze swept past Shi Mu’s hiding place at this moment without showing the slightest stop.

He swept his spirit sense everywhere. However, it skimmed over the green cloak without stopping for even a second.

“General Tu, I’ve found a cave here. And, I can see some traces inside that clearly prove that some people had been present here!” a voice spread from a nearby cave at this moment.

The expression in the green-winged barbarian’s eyes changed, and he flew over to the cave.

A few people of the Wing Crane Tribe were in proximity to the cave. They also gathered there, and walked into the cave.

They walked out after some time.

“Judging from the traces inside… it appears that these people have left this cave only recently. In fact, they might have seen us, and hurried away. Pursue them at once!” the green-winged barbarian shouted at top of his voice.

The surrounding barbarians of the Wing Crane Tribe complied, and flew away separately with a loud sound. They either flew or rushed on foot in the front direction.

“Senior Commander Tu, can these people possibly be those two people we are looking for?” a black-winged barbarian asked; he hadn’t taken off with the others barbarians.

“It doesn’t matter whether they are those two people or not… we can’t let any clues slip by since we’ve received an order from our City Lord,” the green-winged barbarian said in a low voice.

“Yes,” the black-winged barbarian man complied.

Then, the two men simultaneously spread their wings, and flew in the front direction.

A quarter of an hour later…

A cluster of green leaves swayed somewhere in the middle of the forest. Then, it split open to either side, and revealed Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu’s figures.

Zhong Xiu looked at the green cloak in Shi Mu’s hands in astonishment, and asked in a whispering voice, “Big Brother Shi, where did you get this cloak from? Can it block the exploration of the spirit sense as well?”

“I had found this in an underground cavern…” Shi Mu didn’t conceal anything. He simply narrated the course of events that had happened while obtaining this cloak.

“It seems from your description that there ought to be a great background behind this person,” Zhong Xiu said after a momentary consideration.

“I also think so. But, it’s a pity that this cloak is somewhat damaged, and can’t be used while moving,” Shi Mu nodded and said.

“It doesn’t matter. I know many tool-refining experts in the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce. I’ll later ask one of them to take a look at it to see if they can fix it,” Zhong Xiu said.

Shi Mu’s face beamed with happiness, and he nodded. Then, he looked in the direction of the Cloud Wing City.

“Let’s go. We will proceed to the Cloud Wing City now,” he said. Then, he pulled Zhong Xiu, and walked in the front direction.

“Those people have left. So, don’t pretend to be dead now. Get up, and explore the road,” Shi Mu’s brows twitched. He then waved his hand, and threw Cai out of his sleeve.

Cai staggered in the air for a moment. Then, he spread his wings, and stabilized his body. After that, he ran his gaze a few times over the surrounding area, and heaved a sigh of great relief.

Then, the two people and one parrot walked toward the Cloud Wing City.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu changed their clothes on the way. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the Cloud Wing City.

It was early in the morning. The Cloud Wing City’s main gate was wide open, and many people had already started to enter the city.

There was hardly anyone at the gate to interrogate the people. They perhaps hadn’t expected that Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu would return to the city. These two people sneaked into the crowd, and entered the city in no time.

“Big Brother Shi, let’s go to the inn first!” Zhong Xiu was concerned about the matter of the fleet of carriages. So, she walked toward the inn.

Shi Mu nodded, and followed her closely. However, his attentive gaze continued to sweep over the surroundings from time to time.

Cai was already flying in the air, and was keeping a close watch over each and every movement around.

They arrived in front of the inn after a while.

The front gate of the inn was wide open, and it felt extremely quiet inside. In fact, there wasn’t the slightest sound in the inn.

Shi Mu’s brows snapped into a frown since he had already seen inside through Cai’s field of vision. So, he had noticed that there was no ambush around.

Zhong Xiu walked in with quick steps, and her complexion changed.

The entire inn had long disappeared… In fact, it seemed as if it had never existed. The same was true for those Floating Cloud Carriages. The remains of some burnt ashes could be seen on the ground. But, there weren’t any dead bodies.

“These people’s actions are pretty fast. They needed only a span of one night to clear up all traces from this place; and that also so cleanly and skillfully. It’s apparent that they’ve already moved those carriages to a different place. Let’s go to the City Lord’s official mansion. That Mo Yun Yang ought to know something,” Shi Mu said.

Zhong Xiu took a deep breath, and nodded.

Shi Mu cast a glance at the ashes in the courtyard, and a trace of astonishment flashed through his eyes. He didn’t know why Leng Yue Tong’s image had emerged in his mind.

He had an intuition that this mysterious woman ought to have some means to protect her life.

Shi Mu shook his head, and cast these thoughts off his mind. He then turned around, and walked toward the City Lords’ official mansion.

They arrived in front of the City Lord’s office after some time.

He saw that the entrance door was tightly closed here. Also, the prevailing atmosphere felt somewhat different than how it had been before.

The two people exchanged a look once. It seemed as if they had seen a surprised look in each other’s eyes.

The two then climbed over the wall, and jumped into the official mansion. Their facial expressions immediately changed. They felt the faint presence of the Dead Spirit World’s aura in the surrounding air.

“I don’t know what happened inside. Miss Xiu, I’ll walk in the front, and you follow me,” Shi Mu said in a faint voice.

Zhong Xiu nodded.

Shi Mu took a deep breath once. Then, he turned his hand, and drew the black blade that he carried on his back. He held it in his hand, and walked forward.

Shi Mu saw through Cai’s field of vision that the entire official mansion of the City Lord was shrouded in a thin layer of grey mist at this moment. And, there was no other movement or sound apart from this.

The fact was that there was surprisingly not a trace of any person in such a big official mansion. It seemed as if it was a dead city.

Shi Mu took a step, and walked inside at a slow pace.

He was quite familiar with the surroundings here since he had already explored this road twice last night. He continued to walk inward by following the route that was saved in his memory.

But then, Shi Mu’s facial expression abruptly changed as he turned at a crossroad. He grabbed, and drew Zhong Xiu closer. Then, he pointed his feet on the ground, and floated backwards at a fast pace.

Meanwhile, the ground where they just stood issued a ‘Puff’ sound. Then, a few greenish-black palms stretched out, and pounced towards their feet to grab them. But, they naturally ended up empty-handed.

Shi Mu’s facial expression changed as he saw that a corpse had drilled out of the ground before him. After that, around a dozen more corpses emerged before his eyes in the blink of an eye.

“Zombies!” Shi Mu’s complexion slightly changed. Also, a kind of unknown premonition bubbled-up in his heart.

These zombies still wore the official uniform of the Cloud Wing City’s office. Some of them even looked somewhat familiar to him. The fact was that these all were the attendants of the City Lord’s office whom Shi Mu had seen last night.

“These zombies are the people of the City Lord’s office. How did they turn into zombies?” Zhong Xiu’s beautiful eyes revealed a flabbergasted look as she exclaimed.

“It appears that this matter has some relation with the Dark Moon Cult,” Shi Mu pondered for a moment, and then said.

The eyes of these zombies emitted a green radiance. They then issued a low-pitched roar, and swooped toward Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu.

Shi Mu let out a cold snort as he saw this scene. A golden sword light darted out the next moment, and circled around these zombies once at a terrific speed. Then, it flew back to Shi Mu’s side.

The dozen or more zombies’ movement stiffened at once. Then, their heads tilted to one side, and fell to the ground one by one.

Plop!

The headless bodies of these zombies swayed for a moment. Then, they collapsed to the ground.

“Let’s go!” Shi Mu said in a faint voice, and moved forward. Zhong Xiu also took a step, and went behind him.

It appeared as if everyone in the City Lord’s office had turned into zombies. The two people continued to walk forward. They continued to encounter several zombies or human skeletons on the way at regular intervals.

Considering Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu’s present strength… these low-ranked Dead Spirit creatures naturally didn’t stand any chance against them. Therefore, they got easily killed by these two.

However, the surrounding atmosphere filled their hearts with a rather depressing feeling. Simultaneously, the ominous premonition in Shi Mu’s heart started to grow increasingly stronger with each passing second.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu eventually reached into the depths of the official mansion after some time.

They stopped in front of a large and magnificent palace building. This was the best building in the entire official mansion. So, it should be the place where Mo Yun Yang used to deal with the affairs of the city.

However, this building was also sending forth a strong aura of the Dead Spirit Word at the moment. And, the degree of intensity of this aura was much higher than that in any other place. The two stood at the entrance. They could clearly feel the steady flow of this aura spreading from inside.