CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 59: THE STRANGE CLOUDS APPEAR

Unbeknownst to them, Yun Sheng and Yun Canghai had already entered the central region of Great Zhou City. The central part of Great Zhou’s territory is the vast and barren Gravel Plain.

In this area, there were fewer lush plants like those in Banana Leaf Village; it was windy, rainfall was scarce, and the weather was very dry. On windy days, the sand and stones pelted against the canopy of the carriage with a creaking noise.

One day, Yun Canghai pulled the reins to stop the horses, halting them, and looked up at the sky with furrowed brows, silent.

Yun Sheng noticed that the carriage had stopped and lifted the curtain.

For some reason, the sunlight in this region seemed quite dim and listless. Looking up at the sky, it was overcast and murky, reminiscent of the haze-filled northern city from Yun Sheng’s previous life, making it difficult to discern the color of the sky.

"Father?" Yun Sheng keenly noticed that Yun Canghai’s expression was very solemn.

Ahead on the wasteland, there appeared a line of people moving like a centipede.

"Father, who are those people?" Yun Sheng’s eyesight was exceptionally good; she spotted the true nature of the "centipede" even before Yun Canghai did. It was a group of refugees consisting of the old, weak, women, and children, all of them emaciated and dressed in tattered clothes.

"Refugees," Yun Canghai also saw what the group looked like.

Having traveled to the central part of Great Zhou in his early years, Yun Canghai remembered that this place was not as desolate as it now appeared. Why had such a large group of refugees suddenly emerged?

The group of refugees had now reached the front of the carriage.

"Sister, do you have water?" A child about four or five years old came over, tugging pitifully at the carriage’s canvas, his lips cracked like old tree bark.

The supplies of water and dry food that Yun Family father and daughter carried with them were not ample; if they were to rashly bring them out, it would only incite looting.

Among the few men in the group, some with a fierce glint in their eyes rushed out like rabid dogs, intent on snatching Yun Sheng and the others’ luggage.

Almost instantly, a Fire Wall rose from the ground, its indomitable flames shooting out fiercely.

The men who meant to commit violence were frightened; they were all panicked and bewildered—it was a Mage, a Mage.

"Mage, my lord!" Those men knelt to the ground with a few thuds, "Noble Mage, please save us!"

Yun Canghai held his Magic Wand concealed under his clothes, and wore a look of vigilance. He was no saint or philanthropist; to him, his daughter’s safety was more important than anything else.

Yun Canghai’s Fire Wall was ferocious and burning hot, instantly raising the temperature around them significantly.

Seeing Yun Canghai remain unmoved, the men got up disappointedly, dragging the begging child, helping up the dying elders, and slowly moved ahead.

To the indifference of passersby, they had long grown accustomed to it. Along the way, they had already pleaded with countless travelers, but the faces of those travelers would change dramatically upon hearing a certain name.

"Wait a moment," Yun Canghai suddenly spoke up, his eye catching the family crest embroidered on the luggage of an elder at the front of the line—a crest shaped like a lucky cloud.

The villagers still had some concerns about Yun Canghai.

Yun Canghai retracted the Fire Wall.

At this moment, at the end of the line, a frail child could no longer endure the exhaustion of the journey and fainted, no matter how his relatives beside him shouted, he did not respond.

Seeing this, Yun Sheng quickly stepped forward, "Father, he has heatstroke. If he doesn’t get treatment immediately, he will die," said Yun Sheng, ordering a few men to move the child onto the carriage.

In every direction for several miles, there was nothing but wasteland, with the carriage serving as the sole shade temporarily.

Yun Sheng quickly untied a sachet of water for the child, sprinkled some salt into it, and fed the child a few sips.

Heatstroke could be either minor or severe, and without timely treatment, it could be fatal, especially for frail children and the elderly.

Yun Sheng then took out a Bone Needle and pricked the child’s forehead, extracting some Black Blood, which made the child’s complexion look a bit better.

While Yun Sheng was treating the child, Yun Canghai had started a conversation with an elder in the queue.

"Old man, if I’m not mistaken, this land belongs to the Martial Saint General Mansion, and you should be subordinates of the General Mansion. Deserting one’s assigned land is a capital offense. Why have you left your lands without reason?" On the Wuji Continent, both meritorious officials and the Huang Family were rewarded with lands after establishing military achievements.

The bestowed lands became fiefs, and the people who lived there generation after generation were considered subordinates, essentially the private property of the lord. Without the lord’s command, they could not leave of their own will, nor could they relocate their families.

"Honorable Magic Mage, it’s not that we are unafraid of death, but we have homes we cannot return to. Our village originally had over two thousand people, but since that strange cloud came to our village, only the few you see now remain," said the village chief, who was the one conversing with Yun Canghai.

He sighed and told Yun Canghai that he indeed was a commoner under the Martial Saint General Mansion. Their village had been living peacefully until about half a month ago when a red cloud floated above the village.

The villagers didn’t mind at first, thinking it was just an oddly colored cloud, but as days passed, strange things started happening in the village ever since the appearance of that cloud.

"First, the livestock in the village began dying one by one. Then, the well water dried up, and finally, the crops planted in the village also perished. The scariest part is, the cloud in the sky just kept growing, and now, our entire village is shrouded by it. Every so often, the cloud would whip up a strange wind and suck in dozens of villagers," When the villagers realized something was wrong, more than half of the village’s population had already been sucked into the strange cloud.

A strange cloud that can pull people in?

Yun Canghai wore a solemn expression, "Such a thing has happened? Have you not reported to the General Mansion?"

Since the fief was akin to the lord’s personal property, any incident occurring within had to be reported to the lord first.

The lord would send capable members of their family to inspect the situation.

"We did send someone, ten days ago, to deliver the message, but the villager who went has not yet returned. With the number of villagers dwindling by the day, I had no choice but to brave the potential capital offense and relocate the villagers to a nearby village," the village chief said, with tears streaming down his face, unable to contain his sobs.

"Sheng’er, you stay here and be with the villagers, I’ll go ahead and take a look," Yun Canghai instructed Yun Sheng to stay put.

He left the carriage for Yun Sheng and went ahead to the village in front.

Martial Saint General Mansion? Yun Sheng couldn’t help but glance at the villagers.

Yun Sheng realized that these people might well be the Yun Family’s subordinates; no wonder her father would act out of character and get involved in this matter.

A strange cloud that can suck in people? Is it a monster or an unidentified Demon Beast?

What kind of monster could it be? She worried about her father and wanted to follow to see for herself.

In her ears, there came the sound of horses neighing, and the cry of a woman in distress.

Turned around, everyone saw a moon-white carriage charging like lightning, pulled by two exceptionally beautiful Gallian Steeds with high necks and dense coats, spotlessly white from head to hoof without a single stray hair.

Two identical twin children, garbed in luxurious Magic Robes, were at the reins; their delicate features were exquisite, evidently of noble birth.

A pregnant villager, frightened, fell in front of the carriage.