Chapter 290: The crucible of War 3

The city of Glow

/*unedited*/

In the wide and vast desert where the temperature is extreme and the weather unkind, a huge city stood majestic and proud. The population of the city reaching almost a million, just like in the big cities in the cultivation land, and the denizens living in the city varied in race and species.

The only reason why the number of people has increased in the city is because of the invasion of the demons which drove a lot of beast folks out of their homes in the north.

And since the city of glow in the city closest to the border between Beastia and cultivation land, it became a place where many refugees and soldiers gathered. But because of the large area of the city is can accommodate a huge number of people.

However, the population has already made the city congested and many of the impoverished citizens have gone begging in the streets. This and many underground organizations which suddenly pop out like mushroom began to terrorize the city at night. Cultivators, mortals, and beast-men have fallen in their hands and many have suffered.

Meanwhile at the top of an old building with an ancient design stood a middle-aged man with a combination of gray and black hair. His majestic and imposing aura is abstract to the bustling city below.

Then a shadow suddenly appears behind him, that shadow has two sharp and hairy ears and a long fluffy tail behind him.

"City lord, the guest from the front line has arrived. The humans are requesting the right of passage through our borders." The shadow said in a low growling voice.

"Umm… I know, go back. I will be following from behind."

After the shadow left, the middle-aged man heaves a heavy sigh.

"War is coming to our doorsteps and the borders are being torn down. Humans and beast-men are now working together to face this new enemy. I hope that we can co-exist with the humans as this place is getting thinner when it comes to natural Qi." he muttered as his figure suddenly flashed from the rooftop and then suddenly appear inside his room.

It was like an instantaneous movement from one place to another, but in truth, he can just move really fast within a distance of 500 meters. This is one of the traits of his race, the wind wolves.

As soon as he was seated inside his room, a knock from the door grabs his attention.

"Come in!" the man said calmly as his attention turn towards the parcel on his desk.

"City Lord, these are the guest from the human army." The escort introduced as he immediately turns around and left the room.

"Hmm… Isn't this General San and General Wu? Welcome! Welcome to the city of Glow." The man said with a smile as he stood up from this seat.

"Moon Fang… I mean City Lord, Moon Fang… We are here to comply with the orders from our empire and your emperor. In three days we will stay in this city and restock our provisions and will continue marching to the capital of Beastia. I hope that you will assist our men to obtain the necessary goods for our travel." General San said while cupping his hands.

General San is one of the front line generals from the kingdom of Wu. He has fought within the borders for almost all his life and has gained many military exploits and merits. He can be considered as one of the most prestigious heroes of the kingdom of Wu.

However, the background of General San is very humble. His name is Wufei San, and he is a war orphan and has grown near the borders. When he reached the age of eight, he was found to have great potential in cultivation. And from then on he was drafted to the military and literally grew up in the war zone.

With great potential and vast experience, Wufei San climbs the ranks of the military step by step without jumping in ranks. His humble story is widespread throughout the whole border army. And this gained him a lot of respect from the soldiers.

Then on the battlefield, he would always lead the battle in the front of his army among the soldiers. And this gained him the respect of his enemies.

And Moon Fang is one of those enemies he had before which in time become his friend through mutual respect in each other's strength and prowess.

When the City Lord heard the request he didn't hesitate and give out a lot of conditions. He only asked for a single request, and that is for the army to help eliminate the underground forces within the city which has cost him a lot of trouble until now.

"City Lord Fang, I know that this is a great problem of the city of Glow, but our forces are reserved for the battle in the front lines. We cannot spare a hand in this." General Wu suddenly answered after hearing the condition.

General Wu or Qian Ji Wu is the cousin of the king of Wu. He is the only best friend of Sun Wu since they were younger. He even has a closer relationship with the king than the king's siblings themselves. But no one can deny that Qian Ji Wu is truly one of the greatest generals of the Wu kingdom.

He is in command of the aerial forces of the kingdom. This aerial force is something that the kingdom of Wu takes feelings of pride.

"Hmm… I guess it's all helpless." The City Lord said with a dejected tone.

Hearing his words the two generals look at each other with a helpless expression.

"City Lord, how about we try to put up a mercenary request for this thing. Maybe we can find some group to handle those hooligans."

"We already tried that, and it didn't work. Those mercenary forces got to wipe out instead."

"Well, for now, that's all I can think of. I will also put this up to the soldiers but please don't get your hopes up."

After exchanges some more words, the two generals left the office.

"City Lord… I… I have some news." A shadow suddenly appears beside Moon Fang.

"What is it?"

"I… I noticed an odd vehicle coming from outside of the city from the southern direction… and the scent of one of those people seems familiar to me."

"What kind of scent?"

"Its… it's a demon's scent."

…

Meanwhile, Shin Jiao and the demon queen along with their new small companion got off from the hoverbike.

Agnes got off from behind Shin Jiao as she could not take the torture of the sand splashing to her face. Shin Jiao didn't bother to put some windshields to the sidecar as it would take him more time. And so with grumbling and murmuring, she relented and sits behind Shin Jiao.

Shin Jiao could not deny to himself that he deliberately did this for the fun of it. It's not every day that you can have a demon queen as a passenger right?

Plus her haughty yet submissive reaction didn't make the travel that boring.

"I am not doing this again! I know that you can make these things. I want my own ride!" she demanded.

Shin Jiao shook his head and didn't say anything.

"Hey… did you hear me?" she shouted.

Upon seeing no response from Shin Jiao as if she is being treated like air, her temper immediately erupted.

The mana in the air suddenly became chaotic which immediately caught Shin Jiao's expression.

"This brainless woman really…" Shin Jiao curse in his mind.

"Do you want to be exposed?" Shin Jiao immediately scolded.

"You… you… you are bullying me!" she said with an aggrieve expression as tears suddenly well up from her eyes.

However, Shin Jiao didn't buy her drama.

This is because he has noticed that although Agnes is human, she can cast magic that can affect his mind. Luckily for him, his absolute sense is truly strong or else he would have fallen from her enticing.

But still, he could not deny the fact that if he can give her a vehicle of her own he would not be inconvenienced by her constant nagging.

"Alright, alright come down. Tomorrow I'll make you a hoverbike. But you have to provide your own spirit stone. Mine is almost used up. I still need to find a way to earn some money in this city before we can travel." Shin Jiao said.

"What? But I saw you take some of those stones from the bandits before."

"Do you think those mere small-time bandits have a lot of spirit stones?"

As the two banters with each other, they didn't notice that a figure suddenly appears in front of them.

"Umm… ma… master… master." Jinyu Ji called in panic upon seeing the huge wolf-like creature with a man's body walking towards them.

Shin Jiao stopped bickering with Agnes and turned his attention towards the beast-man.

Seeing the tension in their eyes, the wolfman stopped not too far from their group.

"Hello, traveler. May I know your purpose in coming to our city?" the wolfman asked.

But Shin Jiao can see the vigilance in the beast man's eyes and in his stance. From the way he held the sword in his hand, Shin Jiao knows that the beast-man is nervous.

He can understand the situation that because of the demon invasion the beast clan is weary of travelers.

"We just wanted to stop for the night and then continue traveling due north." Shin Jiao said with a smile.

"North? Are you going to join the frontline?" the wolfman asked in surprise.

But before Shin Jiao could say anything, Agnes suddenly grumbled.

"What do you mean for only the night? We need to prepare ourselves to invade the demon stronghold. Two days is not enough!" shouted Agnes.

Shin Jiao was dumbfounded at her words because there is another person in their midst and she is talking about their plan in public. But he can still, he can understand her in any case.

From the start of their journey, Agnes has been grumbling while they were traveling, Shin Jiao think that she was just stressed out from being pushed out of her comfort zone and her throne, then facing a lot of problems on the way.

This might have broken her patience and her resolve resulting in too much mental stress for her.