Chapter 887: 80. Storm Corner
Prissy Caravan.
A lengthy caravan piled up outside Storm Corner Bay.
There was still some time before the evening tide, and people gathered around the caravan, marveling at Storm Corner.
“Don’t hope for his return.” Bastus, leaning against a cargo box, gave a cold snort, “Though I admire his foolishness.”
“Lu… he won’t die!” Puxiu argued loudly.
“No one can escape death, even the gods will have their day of being devoured.” Bastus, uninterested in quarreling with the little one, gazed towards the distant Spine of the World Mountains on the horizon.
“But you brought us along because you believe he can return.” Katerina said with arms crossed and a sneer.
Bastus, who appeared hot-tempered and unapproachable, remained silent.
After a while, a knight on the outskirts of the caravan ran over to tell Bastus that they found something approaching.
“It must be Mr. Lu Li returning!”
Puxiu eagerly rushed over.
Katerina followed quickly, worry hidden deep in her eyes. Hopefully, it was really Lu Li returning… or he would have a diminished chance of survival if stranded in the wilderness for even a day.
“Lu Li?”
Bastus murmured the name Puxiu accidentally leaked, frowning.
The approaching shadow caused panic within the caravan.
The image in the telescope spread, revealing that approaching them was a giant, tree-like creature.
Bastus and his knights maintained order, shouting, “This is a safe zone, the strange dare not set foot here,” averting chaos within the caravan.
Just in case, several large wagons in the Prissy Caravan unveiled their covers, revealing crossbows and an air of eerie vigilance against the approaching Tree People.
As it drew nearer, almost close enough to see its outline, a subordinate observing through a telescope hurriedly ran over to report in alarm: a person stood in the eerie Tree People’s hand.
…
“Stop.”
Lu Li stood in the Guardian’s palm.
The tree-like stubborn Guardian disregarded Lu Li’s words, continuing to lift him forward.
Not stopping until reaching the caravan, seeing the alarm on people’s faces and Bastus standing surrounded by knights in front of crossbows, the Guardian halted its heavy footsteps, placing Lu Li down gently.
“Welcome, home, as a guest.”
A thunderous low voice rumbled around.
On the ground, Lu Li turned back to look at him, “I will.”
The Guardian rose, turning to walk into the ascending dust.
“We should’ve kept it.” The leader in the hood said. “Then no one would dare bully us again.”
“Even now, they don’t.”
Retracting his gaze, Lu Li looked towards the amassed caravan and a hyena bounding over with its tongue lolling.
“Mr. Lu Li!”
It circled around Lu Li’s feet, wriggling its hindquarters, its tail almost wagging like a steamboat’s propeller.
It behaved more like a domestic dog than a transformed hyena or person.
Katerina walked over after, with a mixture of wonder and perplexity, “Is that an eerie being? And it actually helped you…”
“It’s Mr. Lu Li of course!”
Puxiu had unwavering faith in Lu Li.
Of course, he was a bit worried when Lu Li hadn’t returned all day.
“Has the trouble been resolved?” Katerina relaxed significantly.
“It won’t bother us again.”
Lu Li replied, lifting his gaze over Katerina’s shoulder.
Bastus ordered the knights and servants to step back, approaching them alone, his expression dark.
“Who exactly are you?”
“Lu Li.”
“The famed Exorcist?”
“Yes.”
“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything.” Bastus chose to ignore it. He was merely the head of this caravan, not meant to know too many secrets, nor could he bear the cost of those secrets, “I retract my previous offer to recruit you.”
He was a bit relieved: when he let Katerina and the hyena named Puxiu follow him, they didn’t use forceful methods.
“Wait.” Lu Li stopped Bastus, who was about to leave, “Have you seen the escaped… slave?”
“Slave? That piece of meat… he didn’t return.” Bastus, who initially seemed reckless, timely retracted his offensive words.
A severely blood-deprived slave, with a scent of blood all over, would find it difficult to survive the wilderness, or perhaps he wasn’t foolish enough to return to the caravan and become a slave again.
Hopefully, it was the latter.
Returning, Bastus told his subordinates that Lu Li was a guest of a noble, warning them not to disturb him and to remain friendly.
In fact, Bastus’ warning was unnecessary, as none who witnessed Lu Li being escorted back by a giant strange creature dared to provoke him.
Amid discreet glances, Lu Li returned to the caravan.
“Where is Carolina?”
“She has already left…” Puxiu’s high tail drooped down. “We tried to stop her but failed.”
“What happened?” Lu Li frowned.
Puxiu informed Lu Li of the subsequent events.
“I tried to convince myself that Vena Ice-Free Port was our dream, I should take her dream there, but I couldn’t leave Beru all alone here…”
Leaving words of gratitude for their help, in her last moment of clarity, this blind old woman walked into the wilderness alone.
An unfortunate ending.
Lu Li walked to the edge of the bay, gazing at the dozens of towering stone pillars standing in the bay: nearly straight, a hundred meters high, the narrow tops were crowded with structures.
Some bridges connected the central pillars, but most of the edge pillars did not enjoy such privilege.
These pillars were Storm Corner, with residents living atop them.
The erstwhile Storm Corner evidently wasn’t like this, but after the disaster… the old city of Storm Corner sank, leaving only dozens of stone pillars.
Lu Li looked at the bay’s bottom, seeing only white waves crashing against jagged rocks.
“How do the residents leave up there?” Lu Li asked.
Without ropes or stairways, how did these nearly isolated pillars connect to the outside world?
Puxiu informed Lu Li that after nightfall, the tide would fill the bay, allowing them to sail up to Midnight City.
Tide rising a hundred meters?
Lu Li gazed at the distant coastline, unable to comprehend. But considering the Prissy Caravan and several other caravans all awaited before the bay, with some ships stationed outside the bay, this seemed the only possibility.
“Why do the residents here not leave?”
Storm Corner didn’t seem a safe place at all.
“Divinity.” Puxiu’s voice instinctively lowered when mentioning this word, “The divinity protects here.”
Thus the Prissy Caravan and others lingered here, waiting for the night.
As time passed, by five in the afternoon, the Mist of Strangeness arose from the sea but was blocked by the Stormhorn God.
Night fully shrouded the Barren Lands.
Caravans lit oil lamps and Fluorite lamps, casting arc-shaped glows along the bay’s edge.
On Storm Corner’s stone pillars also lit starry points of light, increasingly brighter towards the center.
Gradually, Lu Li heard the distant sound of waves become distinct.
“Everyone step back!” A knight on horseback shouted while passing by.
Apart from passengers marveling and eager to glimpse what lurked in the dark, seasoned caravan workers began unloading cargo, having experienced countless times.”
In the lingering wait under the oil lamp, a damp chill surged forth.
The tide rose.