Qin Yi didn't know how to comfort it because he had no idea about the matters of its time or what it was fighting for. He had asked Liu Su about it before, but Liu Su only replied, "You know too little about cultivation. Listening to this is like hearing someone else's story about traveling to the West; it doesn't mean anything."
Actually, Qin Yi knew there were many secrets involved, and Liu Su seemed unwilling for him to dig deeper, holding back some information. If she wanted to keep things to herself, that was fine; everyone has their own secrets.
"Stop right there!" At the city gate stood several wolfman guards, each pointing long spears at Qin Yi and Ye Ling. "What do you want?"
Qin Yi was somewhat surprised. This felt a bit like a human city, different from what he had imagined a monster city to be.
Ye Ling took out a feather left by the eagle before. "An uncle eagle asked me to find him."
The wolfmen widened their eyes and then their expressions turned very flattering. "Oh, so you're a guest of Eagle Commander! Let me show you the way..."
"I'll lead! I'll lead!"
"I saw this guest first!"
"You were still pointing a spear at her!"
The guards started arguing among themselves.
Qin Yi couldn't help but roll his eyes and pointed to the closest one. "Stop fighting. Just you take us there."
The wolfman turned and glared. "What do humans count as? How dare you order me around?"
Qin Yi was taken aback but didn't get angry. It made sense... this really was a monster city.
In the end, none of the wolfmen managed to lead them, and their captain ended up giving them a beating before personally taking the lead.
"This esteemed guest, when you meet Eagle Commander, please say a few good words for me. I’m called Er Gou," the captain said.
Ye Ling found it strange. "Aren't you a wolf? Why are you called Er Gou?"
"They say a cheap name is easy to keep," he replied.
"You guys have such human customs too?"
"Some human things do make sense... My second uncle is named Wolf Ao Tian, but he didn’t live past thirty."
While Ye Ling was chatting with the wolfman captain, Qin Yi followed quietly, looking around at this strange city.
The streets were very wide, and the houses were mostly made of stone, some even several stories high. The decorative style had a hint of foreign flavor, which might explain why Cheng Cheng's clothes had that kind of vibe.
Many of the houses were shops selling magical tools and materials, but there were no street vendors.
A broom was sweeping the ground by itself at one door, swaying back and forth, pushing trash to the next door.
Another broom jumped out and cursed, "Just like your owner, you cheap broom!"
The two brooms started hitting each other, and Ye Ling clapped and laughed. "This is fun! Brother, this monster city is so entertaining."
It really was fun; even the brooms were monsters. Were the houses monsters too?
Qin Yi asked, "Can anything here become a monster?"
"All living beings can become monsters. As for brooms and other lifeless things, they usually need to be enlightened to become monsters. It’s very rare for them to become monsters on their own," the wolfman captain explained. "My grandfather once said he built a nest, and when he woke up the next day, he opened his eyes to see the sky. The house had grown legs and run away; that was bad luck."
Qin Yi and Ye Ling couldn't help but laugh, and even Liu Su chuckled.
Just then, they saw a floating round ball come over, circling around Qin Yi several times. "Ying ying ying, human!"
Ye Ling thought it was cute and said, "Hello, little ball."
"Ying ying ying!"
"Don't bother the guest!" The wolfman captain punched it, sending it flying into the sky.
Ye Ling: "..."
"Monsters, spirits, and elves are essentially the same; they are just different species that have gained intelligence," the captain said. "My grandfather said that some creatures gather special energies due to their habits and can become spirits, much like vengeful spirits. But this kind of ball monster is still quite rare..."
Qin Yi thought to himself that he had seen many of them.
This interesting exotic flavor changed suddenly as they turned a corner.
In the distance, there was a line of wooden poles, and Qin Yi could clearly see a row of heads mounted on them. Blood dripped down the poles, staining half the street.
No, they weren't human heads; they were leopard heads.
"That is..." Ye Ling stammered, "Looks a bit familiar?"
Qin Yi shook his head. To him, all leopards looked the same. How could he recognize any of those heads?
The wolfman captain explained, "This family of leopards dared to collude with the Xiaoguo and were wiped out. They had many dogs at home, and they were all chopped up and sent to the butcher."
Ye Ling turned to look at Qin Yi, and Qin Yi narrowed his eyes.
The wolfman captain didn’t realize what they were thinking and continued boasting, "The great king sees far and wide, knowing the past and future. They tried to set up a base here without even looking in the mirror!"
Qin Yi suddenly asked, "Are there any families with the surname Cheng here? I mean humans."
"Cheng? Not sure," the wolfman captain replied with a smile. "Our White Country has over a million people; there are not many humans, maybe around a hundred thousand. How many can I know?"
Qin Yi didn’t say more.
The monster city was just too big. It took several hours to reach the eagle commander’s residence, and by the time they arrived, it was already dark. Ye Ling took out the feather and was about to call out when the eagle's voice came from inside, "Please, guests, enter the main hall."
With its cultivation level, it already knew everything happening outside clearly.
A guard led them into the residence.
The guard was surprised and secretly looked at Ye Ling. The eagle commander rarely hosted guests, and there were very few monsters in the entire city worthy of such attention. This Teng Snake... although its cultivation was quite good, it didn’t seem to warrant such importance from the eagle commander...
The guard could only conclude that the Teng Snake bloodline was very rare, and this might be the first one seen in hundreds of years, so the eagle commander valued it.
Upon entering the main hall, they saw an old man with white hair sitting in the main seat, sipping tea. He looked completely human, with a slightly hooked nose and sharp eyes, his white hair neatly combed back.
This was completely a human appearance, and he was even drinking tea.
Ye Ling bowed and said, "Uncle Eagle."
Qin Yi also cupped his fists in greeting. "Eagle Commander, I hope you are well."
The old man smiled slightly. "I am called Ying Li."
The siblings didn’t say anything more. Were they supposed to just call him Ying Li?
Ying Li looked at Ye Ling with a hint of kindness in his eyes. "Have you made your decision?"
Ye Ling said, "Uncle Eagle, can you not make me fight? I'm afraid of fighting..."
Ying Li seemed taken aback and couldn't help but chuckle. "A monster afraid of fighting is not unheard of; some plant monsters are quite peaceful. But as a fierce general like the Teng Snake..." He shook his head and smiled, as if finding it hard to believe. Then he turned to Qin Yi. "Is this human the one who taught you to be like this? But I see he’s holding a wolf tooth club; he looks quite fierce."
"Brother isn't fierce; he's the best," Ye Ling said.
Ying Li didn't comment but said, "We recruit you because we hope you can strengthen our fighting power. It’s impossible to avoid fighting. Of course, since the Teng Snake is rare, we value you; you don’t need to worry about being sent on suicidal missions."
Qin Yi felt a bit relieved. If that was the case, having Ye Ling stay here was indeed a good thing.
Ye Ling hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then Uncle Eagle, can you help us with something?"
"Mm?"
Qin Yi said, "We came to the Rift Valley to find a way to break a curse called the 'Shared Death Curse.'"
"That's a small matter; I’ll have someone put up a notice," Ying Li said, sipping his tea and looking sharply at Qin Yi. "But I must make it clear first: if this item isn’t found in the monster city, what will you do?"
"We are grateful for Eagle Commander’s willingness to help," Qin Yi sighed. "If it really can’t be found... Ye Ling will stay, and we ask Eagle Commander for guidance."
"You’re mistaken; it’s not me who will guide you." Seeing that Ye Ling was indeed willing to stay, Ying Li's sharp gaze softened, and he smiled. "The Teng Snake has a unique bloodline; of course, it will be our king who personally guides you."
Qin Yi tentatively asked, "Does your king know Ye Ling?"
"Of course not," Ying Li replied. "You two go wash up and change; soon you will accompany me into the palace to meet our king."
(End of Chapter)