Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 381 - 34: Chang’an? (2)

Even though Ye Jiu felt it was shameful to be a deserter, he wasn't truly one of the Mysterious Armor Brave Cavalry, nor was he a citizen of the Great Tang Empire from over a thousand years ago... Besides, this battle was likely just a memory stored within the massacre... Ye Jiu didn't linger in place but instead slapped the horse's back, urging the warhorse to continue forward.

The life and death of the Mysterious Armor Brave Cavalry had nothing to do with him; he just wanted to find a way out of here. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The sounds of slaughter behind him gradually faded away as Ye Jiu climbed over another small hill, and an empty desolate city appeared in his view.

Looking down from the hill, the buildings in the city were extremely dilapidated, seemingly having been recently subjected to a slaughter and plunder. Large black stains, resembling blood, were scattered all over the streets, the flags on the city walls were askew, and the gate tower seemed to have been burned, with a large area of bricks and stones stained pitch-black by smoke.

"Did that group of phantoms just massacre this city?" Ye Jiu's eyelids twitched, "No, no, not massacred... Those tens of thousands of phantoms just now, they were the residents of the entire city!"

Ye Jiu, having played many highly realistic simulation war games, was quite knowledgeable about the scale and population of ancient cities. The resident population that this city could accommodate matched exactly with the numbers of those phantoms that filled the hills just now.

"So, all the residents of this entire city... turned into phantoms?"

Ye Jiu's heart moved, and he urged the warhorse to rush forward.

The plaque on the city gate tower was severely damaged, and from a distance, it was impossible to see what words were written on it.

In the Golden Age of Tang, there weren't many cities with populations exceeding a hundred thousand; Ye Jiu could name almost every city with a population of a hundred thousand. And these cities have generally become strategic points in various regions on the Xiazhou Continent in later generations, either as the capital of each province or state, or centers of political, cultural, and military importance comparable to a capital.

With the sound of hooves striking the frozen ground, Ye Jiu arrived at the foot of the city. Looking up, he barely made out two characters in regular script on the plaque...

"An... Yuan?!" Ye Jiu was suddenly shocked, "Is this An Yuan Gate?!"

In the Great Tang Empire, only one city had An Yuan Gate, and that was the capital of the Great Tang Empire: Chang'an!

Is this Chang'an City?

Impossible! Definitely impossible!

Simply based on the scale of the city, Ye Jiu could swear that the city in front of him was definitely not Chang'an City!

Cities with over a hundred thousand people, a population of a hundred thousand and one is considered one, and a population of nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine is also considered one.

But the population of Chang'an City was several times over a hundred thousand.

Based on various historical documents and modern archaeological research, the Chang'an City of the Great Tang Empire, with its 108 wards, could definitely accommodate a population exceeding millions!

The city in front of him could house over a hundred thousand people... but a million would be quite the squeeze, even if the streets were packed tight.

"This city certainly isn't Chang'an City... Besides, when has Chang'an City ever fallen under Emperor Zhen Guan's reign..." Ye Jiu frantically shook his head.

Yet vaguely, he sensed that some changes seemed to have taken place in the city before him.

He couldn't quite articulate what these changes were, at least not from up close—it was difficult to notice anything additional.

Ye Jiu had a bad premonition, pulling the horse's head around, he once again returned to that hill.

Looking back, he was astounded to find that the city's area had expanded more than tenfold compared to what he saw earlier!

The familiar layout of the imperial city, familiar nine vertical and nine horizontal grid lines, familiar 108 wards... if it isn't the eternal City of Chang'an, then what is?

"Oh my god..." Ye Jiu murmured, "This can't be real..."

...

...

On the other side.

Sun Hang stopped.

He decided he wouldn't run anymore.

Suddenly he felt running seemed meaningless.

The crazed lines and color blocks continued to surround him; no matter how far he ran, he couldn't shake them off.

They seemed only to want to chase Sun Hang, enjoying the fun of toying with prey—if they wished, they could pin Sun Hang beneath their claws at any moment.

"To hell with it, why should I run?"

Sun Hang put down the woman in his arms and then flipped a middle finger at the surroundings.

The next second, he swung his fist hard, slamming it fiercely toward the void in front of him.

A crisp sound like glass breaking echoed, even though Sun Hang had consciously blocked his hearing, this sound still pierced through the silence—forcefully ripping open Sun Hang's sealed senses and stuffing in all sorts of chaotic sounds.

Sun Hang saw those phantoms.

He saw a giant banyan tree, countless aerial roots hanging down from its branches and leaves.

He saw an oddly shaped creature constantly changing shape, sometimes becoming a fusion of real creatures, other times morphing into things so abstract that even myth and legend struggled to describe them. Occasionally, it even transformed into dissolving flesh, wriggling and flowing on the ground.

He saw a huge burning Fireball, like the sun—no, it was larger and hotter than the sun... Though far away, it felt close at hand. Everything around it was ablaze, then reborn from the ashes.

This burning and becoming ash repeated endlessly.

Like the mythical Phoenix.

But in this cycle of fire, besides the birds, there were also toads and slugs.

He saw a whale larger than an island swimming through the sky, opening its giant mouth to swallow a dazzling galaxy whole.

That's when Sun Hang realized he seemed to have been floating in midair all along, and he looked down at his feet.

He saw a land laid to waste.

A forest of modern reinforced concrete interwoven with primitive tribal buildings; tall metal towers sat next to straw huts, countless shadowy, humanoid figures roamed, sometimes crawling on all fours, sometimes standing yet hunchbacked, limping awkwardly.

Staring more intently, Sun Hang realized these shadows weren't humans at all.

They were the shadows representing various negative emotions seen behind humans.

Sun Hang's gaze was suddenly drawn to something. As he focused on that unknown thing, it began to slowly transform, eventually becoming three monkeys sitting on pillars, heads raised, facing Sun Hang.

"I knew it," Sun Hang wasn't too surprised.

When he lifted his senses restrictions, he knew the three monkeys were almost coming for him... But being able to see so many things before the monkeys kicked him out, Sun Hang felt he'd already "gotten his money's worth."

He had a feeling everything he saw hinted at something for him, but he wasn't in a rush to think about it... This vague hinting was the best; if Sun Hang directly guessed the answer, who knows, the three monkeys might forcibly erase his memories again.

Just like last time at Qiujiawan.

Sun Hang still couldn't recall what memories the three monkeys wiped away; he could only feel a blank space left in the memory for no reason... much like a missing tooth in a neat row, annoyingly so.

The visions before him gradually faded away, but no new blank was added in his memory; the strange things he just saw could still be recalled... though not very clearly, at least they weren't entirely forgotten.

Sun Hang made a silent decision in his heart, perhaps it was time to start keeping a diary.

"Who the hell writes a diary anyway," he couldn't help but mentally gripe.

"Sun Hang? Sun Hang!" Zhong Ling's voice gradually became clear, Sun Hang blinked hard and found he was still standing in place, holding the unconscious Wang Xiyi in his arms, while Zhong Ling stood anxiously before him.