As the carriage sped along the official road, fine dust kicked up and swirled in the wind.
Mu Ci, through the carriage window, caught glimpses of the wreckage of a caravan passing by on the roadside—a scene identical to the rumors the driver had heard.
Mu Ci frowned slightly and immediately activated her domain to investigate. Even after so much time had passed, she still found traces of decaying flesh and bone, as well as tooth marks and claw marks on the broken wooden planks of the carriage.
A Google search on TWKAN
confirmed through these fragmented pieces of evidence that a human merchant caravan had indeed been hunting spirit beasts along this road.
It wasn't the work of some bandits or robbers using the guise of spirit beasts.
And judging from the extent of the damage, it couldn't have been just a few beasts; the attackers were at least a group of dozens, even hundreds, of medium to large-sized spirit beasts.
Generally, regardless of the faction, most merchant caravans would hire several high-level spirit masters as guards to prevent attacks by spirit beasts during transport.
The ability to prevent anyone from escaping is beyond the capabilities of ordinary soul beasts; it's highly likely that a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast is in charge.
Only ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts possess intelligence comparable to humans. Mu Ci simply couldn't understand why a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast would be interested in this human caravan.
Just as Mu Ci was gazing out the window, lost in thought, a cool, white hand, with a gentle touch, began massaging his temples.
At the same time, Shui Bing'er's gentle voice came from behind him.
"Brother Mu Ci, what's wrong? You've been looking out the window since just now. Is something the matter?"
Mu Ci enjoyed the soft, soothing massage from the slender, white fingers, leaning back against Shui Bing'er.
Inhaling the faint fragrance, Mu Ci slowly closed his eyes and began to tell Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er about the events that had occurred on the road.
After hearing that several merchant caravans had already disappeared along the official road, the two women's beautiful brows furrowed slightly. Shui Bing'er asked softly,
"Brother Mu Ci, shouldn't the local city lord or the bishop of the Martial Soul Hall report this to the city lord of the main city and the Martial Soul Hall?"
"But why has a month passed and no one has come to deal with this matter?"
Shui Yue'er chimed in after Shui Bing'er finished speaking.
"Yes, brother-in-law, even though the northern part of the empire is sparsely populated, shouldn't it be no problem for the main city to send a few Soul Emperors and Soul Kings to patrol and investigate?"
Mu Ci, hearing the two women's puzzled words, had similar questions in his mind.
"Perhaps the local city lord and bishop have already sent someone to deliver the message. Let's wait until we reach Tianhan City and see."
"If we happen to run into them, I can help deal with it as well."
Hearing this, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er both nodded. This kind of matter was indeed a trivial matter for Mu Ci, requiring no effort at all.
Although it was said that there were soul beast tribes along this road, the carriage hadn't encountered any yet.
Soon, the speeding carriage arrived at the gates of Tianhan City.
Seeing the soldiers guarding the gates with long spears, the driver slowly slowed down.
Seeing the soldier approaching to collect payment, the driver skillfully took out a silver soul coin and placed it in the soldier's hand.
Then, the driver casually asked the soldier collecting money,
"Sir, I wonder if the soul beast problem has been resolved yet?"
Hearing this, the soldier weighed the silver soul coin in his hand, glanced sideways at the bowing and scraping driver, and snorted.
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask. This is none of your business."
However, after the soldier finished speaking, he subconsciously glanced at the patterns on the carriage and at Mu Ci's gaze coming from behind the window, and his imposing manner instantly diminished.
As a gate guard, he had seen many merchant caravans coming and going and knew which forces he shouldn't mess with.
Among them, the insignia of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Medicine King School were displayed. On the first day of entering the gatekeeping team, the captain would come and inform them that any convoys from these two major forces should be allowed to pass immediately.
If anyone dared to offend them, even if they had the city lord backing them, they would still be finished. They also had to be wary of convoys from other major forces, such as the large Soul Master families behind the Great Soul Arena, as well as convoys from some small and medium-sized sects.
The moment the soldier recognized the carriage's pattern, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his temple, and he hurriedly bowed to Mu Ci behind the carriage window.
Due to the Soul Beast issue, not many convoys had come recently, leading to some complacency, and he hadn't recognized it immediately.
Fortunately, it was the Medicine King School, not one of the other domineering Soul Master families.
After bowing, the soldier immediately leaned down and whispered a reminder in the driver's ear.
"Since you've asked this question, you must know something about it, so I won't go into details.
Tell your superiors behind you that it's best not to wander around this area during this time."
"Those soul beasts come and go without a trace. Once they appear, there are no survivors. Two villages of about a hundred people each have already been massacred by them, with no one alive." "
A few days ago, the city lord and the bishop requested support from the main city, but for some reason, no one has come yet." "
In short, be careful during this time."
After saying this, the soldier immediately waved to his comrade not far away, signaling him to let them pass. As the carriage moved forward again, Mu Ci saw the situation in Tianhan City through the window.
Pedestrians all looked like they were in a hurry, and there were no vendors or shops operating on either side of the road.
Mu Ci thought to himself as he looked at this scene: It seems that this soul beast disaster has had a serious impact, not only on the outside of the city but also on the residents inside.
Tianhan City is not large to begin with, and soon the carriage arrived at the entrance of the most luxurious hotel in the city.
Mu Ci looked at Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er, who were already prepared, and said softly,
"Let's rest for the night and get some rest. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll be spending the rest of the day in the wild."
Hearing Mu Ci's words, the two girls nodded obediently.
They weren't unfamiliar with soul hunting; they had obtained their first and second soul rings in the Soul Beast Forest with their parents' help.
However, they were now heading to the extremely dangerous northern forbidden zone of the Douluo Continent, so Mu Ci's reminder was for their own good.
After getting off the carriage, Mu Ci went straight to the driver and stuffed several gold soul coins into his hand.
Seeing a flash of gold, the driver immediately became somewhat flustered and hurriedly tried to return them.
"Sir, this is too much, and the Merchant Guild will also pay me. Please take these back quickly."
However, Mu Ci's power was not something a mere coachman could shake. He spoke with an unquestionable tone,
"Alright, take it. There's danger outside Tianhan City. Although we haven't encountered it this time, we can't be careless."
"Stay in the city for the next few days. Wait until the Spirit Hall and the Empire resolve the issue before you go back. This way, you can be on the safe side." Unable to refuse, the coachman accepted the gift with profuse thanks.
Afterwards, Mu Ci, Shui Bing'er, and Shui Yue'er checked into the hotel.