novelraw Chapter 611 - 610 - Empty Warehouses
Chapter 611 - 610 - Empty Warehouses
The daytime of Celestia was far more friendly but Lind noticed the oddity of how some of the visitors staying in the tavern were talking to the blank faced Soul Realms as if they were responding.
Lind and Lili made similar moves at his direction as they relaxed in the city. The entire time Lind felt like something was carefully pressing down from above but just light enough most would miss it.
It was not there previously so it likely had to do with his near capture last night.
LIli had been to the city before and guided him. She was no longer dressed as a Soulmancer but her battle aura was reflexive to the point even the bland faced Soul Realms parted the way for her.
Lind was noting all the reactions but unlike the Soulless there was clear signs of life in each person. They simply did not respond the way they should.
"Their minds are either suppressed or being diffused." He whispered the culmination of his observations. He also felt better about the war plan.
Invading Orwellia Empire would have been suicide. The army aside, there was clearly something much more serious going on beneath the surface of it all.
Lili was more and more realizing she had been swindled when coming to the lower lands of Orwellia. The Minor Heavens, as they were named, were likely similar but she had met far more official people that came to Requera Empire on occasion.
It seemed unlikely they would risk so much in a foreign land.
They suddenly found the crowd thinning but a few wagons were moving at last also as cargo was moved around the city.
They left the bustle of the markets behind and came to the warehouses. Unlike many cities, these were all located in front of the towering black wall of stone cutting off the rest of the city.
No one stopped them but they both felt oppressed as they advanced.
Lind finally noticed the feeling of being watched vanished and he found it odd. Why would it suddenly stop?
Lili took him to the warehouses where the wagons moved and saw grain as well as meat moving in and out of different ones.
Lind almost missed a crucial detail but once he did his eyes narrowed coldly.
"Where is the food being processed?" His question seemed stupid as Lili was about to answer but then froze. She slowly turned back and realized that for every wagon moving into a warehouse with raw materials, another was leaving with processed goods.
Even if some things had to be stored waiting for caravans, it would not be 100% one way and out!
They both moved to the side and made it as if they were learning or looking for a particular shipment. Lind noticed no cultivation resources at all in any wagons aside from when they first lined up outside the gates.
Where had those wagons gone?
They were not in the stables nor were they that far ahead of theirs. Yet, he could not recall seeing the drivers of those caravans either.
"Follow my lead and make no noise no matter what." Lind spoke before moving slowly back the way they came. He was waiting to be sure and a moment came to test his theory.
A wagon loaded with what looked like wolf carcasses was moving towards them and he made no move to step aside. As soon as the wagon was nearly within arm length, the feeling of being watched returned a thousand fold.
Lind jumped aside and apologized as Lili did the same. The feeling vanished but it confirmed Lind had been wrong. They were not looking for him, they were looking at the wagons.
It meant the wagons were a weak point!
He then acted quickly and made a turn down a deadend before sighing and making a point to consult an artifact that would display the map of the area. He had purchased it at one of the stalls and was now quickly orienting where he was.
Cultivators were not usually able to get lost most of the time, but in a brand new place and given the oppressive air, Celestia was not a normal place.
"We need to go this way!" He pointed in a random direction and Lili made no comment as she followed him. They made several more wrong turns before Lind began to act flustered.
"Forget it! We are sending up a flare!" Lind then produced exactly what he said. That was definitely not an item from the market and Lili actually wanted to stop him but then smoke bloomed and a bright star shot into the sky!
The response was immediate.
Sky Realms seemed to bloom from the street as if they had always been there! They quickly cut off all routes and closed in on the smoke screen.
WInd instantly cleared it but the angry faces of the men broke into worry as there was no one there!
"FIND THEM!" Auras swept up and down the alleys and wagons but there was nothing. The 2 cultivators had vanished!
The entire day was spent looking over and over for them but nothing was found. No disturbance in Qi and no barrier breached. Where did they go?
"Did–did they blow themselves up?" The question was asked by a fairly young looking Sky Realm but the older ones nearly took his head at such stupidity. Anything that could kill 2 Heaven Realm cultivators would have leveled the street!
While chaos ensued below, Lind was above with Lili in his arms. They watched as the Sky Realms tore their hair out trying to find them.
"H–" Lili had been about to ask many things but Lind looked coldly at her and she recalled his order.
They very slowly flew parallel to the wagons but never above them until they came to the warehouse once more.
The day was ending but neither spoke as Lind slowly entered and then stayed in midair among rafters. He made sure to touch nothing but the inside was rather mundane.
Piles of carcases in preservation arrays with fruits and vegetables safely stowed away in crates lined the room. Storage treasures were not bad for individuals but the level of a city was very different.
Lind's ring was perhaps the few such items that could hold a caravan worth of items.
Further, storage treasures could hold nasty surprises so moving things in a wagon openly was much more common.
Still, night fell and both felt a change at the same time.
The floor at the back cracked open and a golden tinge was exposed as World Realms finally appeared! They quickly stored things in rings, pouches, or anything they had to take below. It was all empty in a few breaths!
Lind was careful as he moved over the opening to see a stairwell leading down.
He also narrowed his eyes as he noticed an increase in Fiend Qi.
He carefully flew down at the very back of the opening and got down just in time for the surface to close.
The instant the door closed, the golden light vanished but Lind transformed his eyes and could see easily.
Lili was unable to use her Qi to help her eyes so could only trust in Lind but the more he peeled back Orwellia, the more questions she had.
Eventually, a pale blue light covered the floor only a few finger lengths above it. If they had not been floating, they would have been caught! The silent world was worse than the bland faced one above.
Down the dark path they finally entered a massive room. It was full of the sound of refining, alchemy, and normal professions. The smell of meat and leather working was rather pungent as well.
The almost normal scene of processing was refreshing but like their Soul Realm counterparts above, the World Realms were just as blank faced.
"We can talk." Lili almost jumped out of her skin when Lind whispered to her.
"What is going on? Why are the World Realms like this? The Soul Realms live on the surface, the Sky Realms are enforcers, but the World Realms are below?" Lind nodded at her but then actually looked a little relieved at his conclusion.
"Economics. Soul Realms are little better than mortals so running a city is well within their area and they have the numbers. World Realms need far less resources day to day and are much more efficient so they take care of the production." Lind then looked around and frowned.
"Sky Realms still take a lot of resources to make and ascending is not easy but that is not the really important question. What are 'they' for?" He pointed to a man standing by the World Realms and Lili nearly screamed.
She had never seen them in reality but there were still recordings in jade slips left from when they were in the empires. Ash gray skin, white hair, and disturbing eyes. The slightly pointed ears also gave them away.
A Fiend! A living Fiend! Lind was right, the Fiends were still among them!