Chapter 48: Arrangements
Kingdom of Peru, Highland City.
After Su Xiao signed the armistice treaty with the King of Peru, the Stag Cavalry Regiment withdrew below the city walls. The war that had persisted for years between the two nations was about to subside.
Su Xiao did not immediately order a retreat. He was waiting for Beini and Amu. After arriving near Highland City, Beini had already posted a message in the team channel.
According to Beini's account, Su Xiao learned that the two of them had swum in the sea for many days before reaching the coast of Peru.
Beini and Amu traveled together. After wandering around within Peru, they arrived near Highland City.
Beini suggested that it sneak close to Highland City while Amu waited in the nearby area. Bored, Amu began pretending to be a tree in a small forest and had been squatting there ever since.
Su Xiao waited for over ten minutes. Beini arrived first. This cat-like being carried a small backpack, its contents unknown.
"Meow."
Beini sat on the ground clutching the small backpack, then pulled out a broken stone tablet from inside with its paw.
"What is this?"
Su Xiao took the broken stone tablet Beini handed over. The front of the tablet had strange carvings, while the back was uneven and rough.
"Meow~"
Beini began narrating the origin of this stone tablet. According to its investigation, the tablet came from the Ancient Civilization Continent. Crossing the sea from Peru's border, if the direction was correct, it would take three to five days to reach that Ancient Civilization Continent.
Beini's original plan was to have Amu go with it, but Amu remained silent as always. In truth, Beini was also hesitant. It didn't want to cross the sea recently, but its curiosity about the Ancient Civilization Continent was driving it crazy.
"So, you're planning to explore the Ancient Civilization Continent and search for the 'Primordial Mask'?"
"Meow!"
Beini grabbed a piece of the broken stone tablet with one claw, indicating it had a high probability of finding the Primordial Mask.
Whether the Primordial Mask actually existed was still unknown. According to Beini's investigation, the Primordial Mask's ability was very powerful. As long as one wore it and paid a certain price, they could temporarily disguise themselves as anyone.
"Should I have Baha take you?"
"Meow."
Beini shook its head, meaning it planned to go alone. It still needed to collect the final piece of the broken stone tablet in Highland City.
Beini was lying. It had stayed in Highland City before mainly because it was worried about Amu encountering an accident, but it was too embarrassed to say so directly. Comparing comprehensive combat power, Amu > Baha > Beini, with Bubu Wang not included in the ranking.
Amu's combat power was indeed strong, but it wasn't as clever as Beini. Within Peru's territory, the two of them together were the safest combination.
Soon, Beini disappeared from Su Xiao's sight, presumably heading straight for the Ancient Civilization Continent.
Not long after Beini left, Amu arrived. Seeing Amu, Baha flew up and landed on Amu's shoulder. One was a tank, the other responsible for assassination; together, they could handle all kinds of unexpected situations.
Su Xiao ordered the entire army to assemble, with the rear becoming the vanguard, and return the same way.
The black dragon soared into the sky. Below, 270,000 beast cavalry galloped, marching grandly out of the Kingdom of Peru.
Sitting cross-legged on the black dragon's back, Su Xiao began contemplating his subsequent plans. First, he needed to wait for Feishi to enter this world in the next few days.
There shouldn't be any problems in Shadu. The risk of Su Xiao choosing to sign the armistice treaty with the King of Peru was considerable.
First of all, he was only the Grand Commander. According to the ranking of the Flame Sand Kingdom, the Sand Emperor was at the very top, followed by the High Priest (Wunuo) and the Minister of Governance (Kaluosi).
Below the High Priest was the Grand Commander, and below the Minister of Governance Kaluosi were kingdom officials of equal rank to the Grand Commander.
The entire power system formed a pyramid. Su Xiao was on the third level. By normal reasoning, only the Sand Emperor could sign an armistice treaty; neither the High Priest nor the Minister of Governance had the authority.
Su Xiao's previous actions constituted a serious overstepping of authority. If Shadu investigated, it would be normal to remove him from his position as Grand Commander.
Earlier, the King of Peru's words were quite thought-provoking. Only with Su Xiao present would the armistice treaty be valid.
Logically, the King of Peru should very much hope for Su Xiao to be removed, as Su Xiao had dealt a heavy blow to the Kingdom of Peru.
The King of Peru didn't do this, which meant he knew something. Someone in Shadu wanted to use Su Xiao to take revenge on the King of Peru. The King of Peru deduced this and also wanted to use Su Xiao to restrain that person in Shadu.
Under the impetus of the armistice treaty, a balance was achieved among Su Xiao, Shadu, and the King of Peru. That person in Shadu would be in a very difficult position.
This was also the result Su Xiao wanted to see. Shadu couldn't be in chaos yet, otherwise he would be very passive, having to both wait for Feishi to arrive and constantly guard against Shadu.
Su Xiao didn't kill Laidon Redbeard, handed him over to the King of Peru, and gave up the gains from killing the Mousheng God. If Shadu didn't make any moves at all, it might fall completely silent, which wasn't the result Su Xiao wanted to see.
The army marched swiftly. Without the interception of the dwarf troops, Su Xiao arrived at the great forest near the Hammerfall Mountains before nightfall.
There were no setbacks along the way. After traversing the great forest, the Hammerfall Mountains appeared ahead.
...
Two days later, Central Battlefield, a barren plain.
This was one of the three great wonders of the Central Battlefield: the Resting Place. It was said that the first Sand Emperor formed an alliance with a deity here. Strangely enough, after forming the alliance with the first Sand Emperor, this neutral deity rarely appeared, unlike the Mousheng God, who established a divine cult in Peru.
The deity of the Flame Sand was depicted as female, though there were also rumors of it being male, symbolizing death, sand, rebirth, etc. No one knew the specifics. The citizens of Flame Sand only knew of this deity's existence. It was more of a spiritual sustenance than a real god.
The Resting Place was vast, located at the westernmost edge of the Central Battlefield. Further west was the Frozen Land, which was perpetually frozen and uninhabitable.
Looking out, the Resting Place wasn't desolate. A tree resembling a willow grew here, dozens of meters tall. At night, the hanging branches of this tree emitted a faint glow, and with fireflies dancing around, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful.
This tree at the Resting Place was also called the Soul Tree. Both the citizens of Flame Sand and Peru believed that after death, their souls would drift here, transforming into a leaf of the Soul Tree to rest in peace.
Not only the commoners believed this, but the soldiers of both nations also believed it, which was why this area had never been touched by war.
Even more astonishing was that neither the Sand Emperor nor the King of Peru would send troops here, almost confirming the folk legend.
A gentle breeze blew, causing the hanging branches to sway. Su Xiao sat under the Soul Tree. Many wooden plaques were tied to the trunk, inscribed with prayers.
The surrounding wasteland was unsuitable for ambushing soldiers, but Su Xiao had countermeasures. This wasn't a battlefield of his choosing. According to the Violator Amisha, this was where she had arrived in this world.
The same went for Saw Poison and Magician. If there were other teleportation points, these three wouldn't all have arrived in this world at the same place.
The problem was most likely with the Soul Tree. Su Xiao sensed that this thing wasn't entirely a plant; it was very much like a symbiotic entity. As for whether the souls of the dead drifted into the tree, that was completely impossible.
Without a specialized ability, once a soul lost the protection of its physical body, it would dissipate within a short time. How could it drift here?
The Soul Tree wasn't an ordinary plant. Su Xiao felt it had some divine characteristics, most likely the symbiotic entity of some deity.
The Violators used this unique supernatural plant of the world as a coordinate to enter this world. This perfectly explained why the initial teleportation points for Amisha, Saw Poison, and Magician were here.
If there were no other changes, Feishi's landing point would most likely also be here. Constructing a temporary spatial coordinate within a world was something neither Hunters nor Violators could do, not even at the Seventh Rank. The resources consumed were too terrifying. If there was a 'reference object' to use as a coordinate for teleportation, it would be much simpler.
Su Xiao took a large wooden box from his storage space. Inside were various miscellaneous items he had obtained in the Kingdom of Peru. He planned to use these things to set up traps in the surrounding area.
A prepared arrangement by an Alchemist was a terrifying thing for an enemy.