Chapter 93: Thousand Lion Bridge

Outside, the atmosphere was taut with tension, though not yet in chaos.

Few pedestrians moved along the streets, and those who did were burdened with enormous bamboo baskets or heavy bundles, plainly out to stock up on supplies.

The mood affected everyone in the group, and their expressions grew grave. Jiang Feng walked at the front. After a moment’s thought, he said decisively, “We’ll go south first.”

The southern side of Tai Cang City was the gathering place of martial cultivators, and the Ninefold Void Pavilion had always stood firm in resisting the demon race. Naturally, there would be more news there.

Since arriving here, the others had been devoting themselves to cultivation and had rarely gone out. So of course, whatever Jiang Feng said, they would follow.

The four of them set off quickly toward the south. Just as they reached the Long River, they saw that the great bridge ahead had already been sealed off. Armored soldiers stood in neat ranks, patrolling to and fro, and the tension in the air grew even heavier.

Jiang Feng frowned and murmured, “Such thick demonic aura…”

He drew a long breath, then turned to the others and said in a low voice, “It looks like the situation is worsening. Before long, we may have to go to the battlefield and fight the demon race head-on. To know ourselves and know our enemy, we need to understand them better.”

He quickly recounted to them the knowledge he had gained from Wen Liangji, with special emphasis on the demon race’s senses.

“Many demons are extremely skilled at concealing themselves and striking from the shadows,” he said solemnly. “So it’s best to keep your spiritual perception open at all times, to grow familiar with demonic aura and be on guard against it.”

After a pause, he added, “Keeping your spiritual perception open for long periods also helps with spiritual cultivation.”

In truth, that was exactly what he himself was doing.

Ever since leaving the little courtyard, he had kept his spiritual vision open. Everyone around him was veiled in a thin layer of spiritual light.

Spiritual power gathered in his eyes and was continuously consumed, yet at the same time the heavenly seed and the spiritual root formed a subtle circulation with the spiritual energy in the air, replenishing him little by little.

He looked around, his gaze settling above the Long River.

A hundred meters or so from the bridge, there was not the slightest ripple of spiritual power there, as though a piece of the world had simply been hollowed out.

At that moment, the four of them had been standing there for a while, and a nearby squad of soldiers noticed them.

Two city defense soldiers strode over and barked, “Who are you people? Do not loiter here. Leave at once!”

Jiang Feng pointed south and said, “I made an appointment with the Pavilion Master of the Ninefold Void Pavilion, Master Wen, to meet him today. How am I supposed to cross the bridge now? Do I need to go through any formalities?”

The city defense soldier frowned. “The Pavilion Master of the Ninefold Void Pavilion, Master Wen? He’s busy right now. Where would he have time to see you?”

Jiang Feng insisted, “He told me I had to come today.”

The soldiers exchanged a glance. To them, Wen Liangji was a figure far beyond their reach. In principle, if this were truly his request, they should not obstruct it.

But the situation was special. Tai Cang City was under martial law, and no one was permitted to travel about freely. Besides, this youth did not look especially remarkable. How could they be sure what Jiang Feng said was true?

Seeing that their expressions had changed, Jiang Feng immediately said, “You can send two men with me to the Ninefold Void Pavilion. Once we’re there, you’ll know whether I’m telling the truth.”

The city defense soldiers hesitated slightly. At that moment, a voice came from behind them, asking in a deep tone, “Who is causing trouble here… hm? It’s you?”

Jiang Feng looked up and saw Hu, the academy official he had met not long ago, striding toward them. He was instantly delighted, and while bowing, he introduced him to the others. “This is Hu, an official of the Bright Heart Society.”

The Bright Heart Society... The others understood at once. For this man to appear here now, he was most likely here for the grand examination. In other words, he was very likely to be their future examiner.

Hu frowned and asked, “The entire area is under martial law these days. No one is allowed to move about at will. Go back at once. Don’t come out again.”

Jiang Feng persisted, “I have matters to discuss with Pavilion Master Wen at the Ninefold Void Pavilion.”

Hu immediately remembered the scene he had seen a few days earlier at the pavilion’s gate. Jiang Feng had been personally escorted out by Wen Liangji. Clearly, the two had some prior connection.

He said thoughtfully, “Pavilion Master Wen is not at the Ninefold Void Pavilion now. He has been invited to the provincial office…”

Before he could finish, cries of alarm rose from the bridge.

Everyone looked that way together. In the river’s center, about a hundred meters from the bridge, a massive black vortex had appeared. From within it, countless dark figures were flying out, dense as rain, swarming toward them!

Jiang Feng cried, “The demon den has opened!”

Hu’s face darkened. Hearing this, he gave Jiang Feng a deeper look. “You know quite a lot.”

That black vortex was indeed the demon den, and the creatures pouring out of it were naturally all kinds of demons. Their rank was not high, and most were not even humanoid, but there were so many of them that in an instant they came surging forward like a black cloud.

At a time like this, it was naturally impossible to let Jiang Feng and the others roam about freely. Hu snapped, “Follow me!”

At the same time, a rider charged out from the bridge. On the galloping horse, a man shouted at the top of his lungs, “The city defense army is moving! Teams A and B, advance to the left bank! Teams C and D, advance to the right bank! Teams E and F, form ranks on the bridge!”

Orders followed one after another without pause, spreading like flowing water. The city defense army immediately sprang into action, rows upon rows of troops marching in unison toward their designated positions.

They carried steel spears and long lances, their expressions intensely stern. The sound of their footsteps and the scrape of armor against armor was enough to set the blood on fire.

The others were all youths, hearts full of vigor. Seeing such a scene, they were swiftly stirred. In a low voice, Ping Luan-shan said, “I wonder whether we’ll ever get a chance to go to the battlefield…”

Jiang Feng sharply cut him off. “Don’t talk nonsense! If we don’t get that chance, that’s the best outcome!”

They were all young men who had just come of age, here to take part in the grand examination. Only if the situation became truly dire would they be sent onto the battlefield. No one, of course, wanted matters to come to that.

Hearing their conversation, Hu turned back and looked them over with approval.

Ping Luan-shan was impetuous, Jiang Feng was calm, but what mattered most was that these were young men with courage.

He asked, “Are you afraid of death?”

The youths exchanged glances and said in unison, “Yes.”

That unexpected answer made Hu laugh despite himself. “If you’re afraid, why are you still here?”

Teng Zhi spoke briefly, but with absolute conviction: “Afraid of dying, but not afraid to die.”

The others all nodded.

To fear and to dread may sound like the same thing, but their meanings are utterly different.

Hu quickly understood, and burst into hearty laughter. “Good, good! Afraid of dying, but not afraid to die! Well said!”

By then, the first wave of demons had already reached the vicinity of the stone bridge. They let out shrill, uncanny cries and rushed toward the people on the bridge.

Hu shouted, “Release!”

The stone bridge had countless piers, and each one was carved with a small lion—some fierce, some simple and honest, each in a different pose. This stone bridge, called the Bridge of a Thousand Lions, was one of Tai Cang City’s famous sights.

Now, on the Bridge of a Thousand Lions, every stone lion had come to life.

They began moving atop the piers and gave a unified roar. Then a golden shadow flew out from the gray-white stone, taking on the exact shape of a stone lion as it pounced toward the demon race!

Ping Luan-shan looked up and cried out, “A precious artifact!”

Hu stroked his beard and laughed. “Exactly. The county-level precious artifact, the Bridge of a Thousand Lions! Let these fellows see what it can do!”

The first demons to emerge from the demon den were relatively weak, their only advantage being numbers. But the Bridge of a Thousand Lions was true to its name; the lions upon it numbered more than a thousand. As the two sides collided, the lions opened their great mouths and tore the demons to pieces!

For a time, not a single demon was able to break into the range of the Bridge of a Thousand Lions.

On the other side, the city defense army had also begun to act. They drew bows and loosed volley after volley of arrows across the Long River. The demons fell one after another beneath the rain of arrows, and even the few that managed to reach the bank were cut down directly by close-combat weapons.

“They’re handling it pretty easily...” Ping Luan-shan murmured.

Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes and looked ahead, remembering what Hua Su had said not long ago: “This is Tai Cang City. It’s the first time a demon den has appeared in such a large city, and it’s collided head-on with the city defense. Think about it: if a demon den like this appeared in one of the small villages or market towns where you and I used to live…”

At that thought, Ping Luan-shan’s face changed.

Jiang Feng fixed his gaze on the location of the demon den, while another thought remained unspoken in his heart.

That fox-demon, Huang Gui, had hidden in Tai Cang’s back streets for a full seven years without ever being discovered. Had all that painstaking scheming merely been to open a demon den of this level?

Impossible.

Before his thoughts could fully settle, he suddenly looked down at the Long River and cried, “Something big is coming!”

His voice was loud, quickly carrying in all directions. Only then did people notice that a huge shadow was creeping slowly toward them in the river channel.

Its color was only slightly darker than the water, and the rippling waves obscured its movement. More importantly, compared to its massive body, the demonic aura it emitted was extremely faint.

That either meant the thing was a hopeless weakling who did not match its appearance, or it was an extremely formidable beast.

This demon creature was about twenty meters long and five meters wide. By the time Jiang Feng noticed it, it was already not far from the Bridge of a Thousand Lions. Then, as though answering his cry, the gigantic monster sprang up and crashed viciously into the bridge!

With such a massive creature, even without demonic aura, a direct collision with the Bridge of a Thousand Lions could not help but damage this crucial precious artifact.

The others reflexively assumed attacking stances at the same time, but many around them moved faster.

Hu rolled up his sleeves and somehow produced a giant writing brush from nowhere. Its tip was half-coated in ink as he pointed it toward the air.

With a slight exertion of power, the ink turned pure gold. He tapped the brush in the air, and spiritual power rapidly spread outward. In the blink of an eye, a huge golden dragon appeared in midair and, just before the monster could slam into the Bridge of a Thousand Lions, whipped its tail and knocked it down!