<h4>Chapter 1122 – Capture ves</h4>
Trantor: Aran
Zhen Wanting brought Ye Qingyu around the entire vige and through her, he learned that this vige was named Bitter Hill Vige and it was one of the hundreds of ck-haired Dark Ones'' viges that dotted the Luoshen Ridge. It fell under the control of Central City and the vigers were almost all ck-haired Dark Ones.
He was shocked at the poverty and backwardness of this vige.
Most of the vigers lived in thatched houses or primitive mud houses and their living conditions were considered rtively good if they could build their house in a stone cave, since it meant that they didn''t need to worry about their roofs leaking when it rained and when they closed their doors at night, they didn''t need to worry about dark beasts or serpents sneaking into their houses.
The amount of food they had was also incredibly scarce.
Most of thend throughout the Dark Realm was made up of sand and gravel, so it was not possible to grow crops on thend. The only area that had better conditions was the area that had been protected by an ancient wise Martial Emperor and crops could be grown on thosend but thesends were already upied by the Guardians and Luoshen Ridge was part of thosends. This also exined why so many ck-haired Dark Ones lived around the fringes of Central City – nothing could be grown at all past the five hundred kilometer boundary of the city and for the ck-haired Dark Ones who had such poor constitution and physical strength, entering that area was as good as courting death.
The Guardians'' camp at Luoshen Ridge was a small stronghold and it could barely be considered to be the top ten armies throughout the Earth Nation. The Dark Realm was made up of hundreds of nations that were simr to Earth Nation, so it was obvious where Luoshen Ridge ranked.
However, those ck-haired Dark Ones treated the Luoshen Ridge as though it was some kind of paradise and there were many legends and rumors that swirled around the vige describing Central City as a paradise that did notck food or water. Unfortunately, most of the vigers would never have the chance to enter Central City for the rest of their lives.
The Dark Ones received protection from and permission to live around the fringes of Central City because they were as hardworking as oxen and have always been nting crops around the area. Nheless, even during the years when there was a bumper crop, many Dark Ones still died from starvation since ny-nine percent of the crops they grew had to be handed over to Central City and were for the Guardians'' usage.
Those Dark Ones who lived here had never been able to eat till they were full – this was considered a luxury to them.
Their greatest hope was to be able to wake up the next morning knowing that they were alive, that the sun still shone in the sky, and that their family members were also still alive.
Survival was their greatest challenge each and every minute.
When night fell, the entire vige waspletely dark.
An atmosphere of desperation and despair hung over the entire vige.
"Why don''t they light theirmps?" Ye Qingyu asked.
He had alreadypletely mastered thenguage of the Dark Ones and he did not find it a difficultnguage to master since there were some simrities between thisnguage, the mainnguages of the Vast Thousand Domains and the words used during the Fiendgod Age.
"Everyone turns in early once night has fallen because they need to rest and recuperate…" Zhen Wanting said with her head bowed, "Moreover, we haven''t got anything that we could use to light a fire."
"There''s no kerosene?" Ye Qingyu asked.
Zhen Wanting shook her head and said, "I''ve only heard of this word through the legends that the adults have told us but I''ve never seen this product. No one can afford to use kerosene in the Bitter Hill Vige and this is something that only the old noblemen at Central City can afford to use."
"What about firewood or dry twigs? Wouldn''t you be able to use those?" he asked.
Zhen Wanting replied, "Of course not. Those are our food; we can''t possibly burn them."
What?
He was astonished.
Firewood and dry twigs were considered to be food? How could anyone eat those things?
The little girl continued, "Most people would be satisfied if they could build a house with straw and most of the nts could be grounded into powder even if they were withered, so that if we feel extremely hungry, we could mix this powder with water and consume them…"
Ye Qingyu was even more astonished after her exnation.
He suddenly felt like the questions that he had been asking were as foolish as an emperor who didn''t understand the hardships of the world asking a starving roadside beggar why he wasn''t eating meat.
As he walked around the vige, he saw the new graves that had been created along the borders of the vige.
He saw a thin young man sobbing in the night because his mother had starved to death, a family of four squeezed into a dark stone cave trying to share thest of their rations, a despairing young mother trying to softly coax her dead child who had died because of theck of milk and food, as though her child was still alive, and a father who was so wrecked with guilt that he kept pulling at his own hair…
He waspletely stunned by the scenes that he had witnessed.
The Human Race didn''t even live in such poor conditions at the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain and their poor conditions at the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain had been caused by the decline of the domain. Before the domain had declined, they were still considered to be rather well-off. However, the Dark Realm had existed for an unknown period of time, but those Dark Ones had always led such lives for generations.
The Guardians were far too harsh to these Dark Ones.
As he walked around the vige, he observed that the ck-haired Dark Ones were rather simr to the Human Race. Other than the fact that their constitutions were weak, their meridians were far too narrow and their dantian too small that it was impossible to cultivate martial arts, their feelings, temperament and way of living were very simr to how the Human Race lived in the Vast Thousand Domains, so it was hard to believe that these ck-haired Dark Ones were native to the Dark Realm.
The heavens truly cherished all living creatures.
No matter how harsh the conditions were, it could still produce life.
"The Bitter Hill Vige is located at the edge of Central City, so we are the poorest vige. I heard that there is a magical electricmp that can be found in therger viges closer to the city and thismp doesn''t require kerosene or fuel, and it only relies on an electric wire to give off light. This was something the wise men have invented…"
Electric light?
Electric wire?
Did it rely on the power of electricity?
"The wise men you mentioned earlier, are they martial arts experts?" he asked curiously.
The little girl shook her head and said, "I heard from the adults that the wise men of our race are intellectuals who have a true understanding of the secrets of the universe and they have dug out many secrets from the underground that have the power to change the world. However, they are not martial artists and do not have the ability to fly like the Guardians of Central City."
He became even more curious after hearing her words.
Those men had dug out secrets from the underground?
ording to Eleven, the Earth Nation was a broken shard of a once known as Earth that had since been destroyed. Did this mean that those wise men of the Dark Ones had discovered some ancient relics of civilization and thus, mastered some techniques that once belonged to that civilization?
If I have the chance, I should pay a visit to those wise men, he thought to himself.
A crimson ze was suddenly reflected on Zhen Wanting''s face and surprise filled her thin and pale face as she stared at the distance ahead.
He followed the direction of her gaze and saw that there were suddenly several balls of me that skyrocketed into the air. This was exceptionally eye-catching sight in the dark night sky and the surrounding mountainous areas were instantly lit up beautifully.
"Ah, a fire must have broken out at the vige ten-kilometers ahead. How could… there be such a big fire…" Zhen Wanting knew that something was wrong. This wasn''t the first time a vige had caught fire, but it was impossible for the fire to be so big.
Ye Qingyu stood on a mountain rock and released his divine sense.
Killing intent shed across his face.
The vigers of Bitter Hill Vige were all awakened by the bright mes in the distance and they ran over to take a closer look. Some were screaming as though they wanted to send others to put out the fire…
Then, a ck airship flew toward the vige.
"This airship belongs to the Guardians of Central City."
"The Guardians have arrived."
"Are they here to put out the fire?"
"Wait, that''s not right. They came from the direction of the vige ten kilometers away, and the fire had started there…"
The vigers chattered anxiously amongst themselves.
Eleven, who was in the stone hall, had also noticed that something was amiss and rushed over to Ye Qingyu at the first instance.
The airship quickly made its descent.
Several dozen figures d in silver armor transformed into rays of flowing light andnded at the vige. "Where is the vige chief?" the leader yelled.
Chen Sheng, the vige chief, walked out from their midst with a smile as everyone else stared at the soldiers in confusion and fear. He bowed respectfully and said, "Sir… I am the vige chief. May I know what you are here for?"
"Gather all the vigers. Our Lord is carrying out an investigation," the soldier issued an order contemptuously.
Chen Sheng quickly nodded and said, "Yes yes yes, I''ll see to it right away. Could you let me know what your Lord is investigating? I saw that a fire has broken out at the vige ten kilometers away and since you havee from that direction, could you let us know what happened…"
Before he could finish his sentence—
Bam!
The leader of these soldiers immediately kicked Chen Sheng so hard that he somersaulted in the air and when hended, his face was swollen and bruised. Then, he scoffed coldly, "You''ll know soon enough what my Lord is investigating, so how dare you as a lowly peasant, try to question his intentions? If you continue to ask any more questions, I''ll behead you."
Chen Sheng quickly shut his mouth and a feeling of dread crept over him. He could only beat the broken drum in the middle of the vige to summon all the vigers.
"These are the soldiers from the military camp at Central City," Eleven whispered into Ye Qingyu''s ear.
He nodded.
He wanted to use this opportunity to see for himself what these so-called Guardians were like. From what he had gathered thus far, these soldiers all looked mean and vicious and did not look like good people. They treated the ck-haired Dark Ones like they were beasts and it was clear that they had gotten used to pushing the Dark Ones around.
Soon, over a thousand vigers had gathered at the vige square and they were all trembling in fear, the terror on their faces clear.
The ck airship finallynded.
This huge ck ship looked like a bloodthirsty beast of the night and struck fear into the hearts of the helpless vigers who huddled together in terror.
Zhen Wanting had also hidden herself behind Ye Qingyu.
However, these soldiers would not be able to detect both Ye Qingyu and Eleven''s presence.
Adder was lowered down from the deck of the airship.
They could vaguely make out the figures of many ck-haired Dark Ones on the ship who were all strung together with metal chains in cages. They cried and wailed loudly as they struggled, like wild beasts in despair…
"Oh no, these fellows are here to capture ves…" Eleven immediately understood what was going on.
"Capture ves?" Ye Qingyu turned to look at Eleven.
Eleven hurriedly exined, "Several noblemen in the camp of the Guardians often secretly capture these foreign Dark Ones and sell them as ves. Although this is illegal in the eyes of thew, there is no actual way of prohibiting it because there is a huge profit to be made from these transactions and it is essentially a business that doesn''t require any capital… These soldiers must be acting on the orders of the noblemen at Central City and after burning down the nearby vige earlier, they havee to capture the Dark Ones who live in Bitter Hill Vige. No one will be spared from their rampage and after tonight, Bitter Hill Vige will no longer exist. The healthy young men will be sold as ves while the old and the young will all be killed to be used as fodder for their war pets in the military camp!"