The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu and Cai entered a private box on the second floor of the restaurant under the guidance of the restaurant’s waiter. The restaurant soon sent two waiters to deliver a few delectable snacks and fine wines to them.

Cai’s eyes brightened up, and he issued a cheerful squeal as he saw the food. Then, he charged forward, and started to gorge himself with quick chewing motion.

The corners of Shi Mu’s mouth exposed a hint of smile when he saw Cai’s behavior.

The fact was that they hadn’t enjoyed this kind of carefree time for so long. Therefore, Shi Mu also felt a spurt of relief gushing in his heart at the moment. He reached out with his hand for a wine cup, and took a sip.

The wine lingered on the tip of his tongue for a moment since it was very spicy and strongly fragrant. It was indeed a top-grade wine in the category of wild and strong alcoholic drinks.

The sound of footsteps spread from the stairs below at this moment. Then, a bunch of pedestrians walked up to the second floor. This group was composed of several people.

Shi Mu’s heart thumped a bit. He glanced outside through a narrow slit in the door, and his eyes couldn’t help but slightly congeal.

Some of the people in this group were humans who were clad in grey robes. They held magic sticks and swords in their hands. They were clearly the members of the Dark Moon Cult.

However, the clothes of a few people among these grey-robed people were clearly somewhat different. This style of dressing stemmed from the Eastern Dark Moon Cult.

The group of people sat down in a relatively larger box not far from Shi Mu’s. They pulled up the screen to cover up their room from any obstruction. Their voices were sealed off inside due to the screen. Only indistinct sounds could make their way out of that room.

“What happened, Shi Tou?” Cai was absorbed in gobbling up food with full enthusiasm. He raised his neck, and gave a contented burp. But then, he noticed the abrupt changes in Shi Mu’s facial expression. So, he asked.

Shi Mu made a hand gesture to shut him up. He then put down the wine cup, and closed his eyes. Then, he released the power of his totem, and moved his ears a bit. The reception of voices became louder as a result. And, the voices from that particular private box poured into his ears in a very distinct manner.

“Brother Li, this group of Brothers respects you very much.”

“Brother Ba is very polite. I should be the one to offer respect.”

“Brother Li has said this in a manner that made it seem as if he regards me as an outsider. We’ve been placed in different areas. But, we all belong to one sect. You and my comrades have been brought together by our Sect. After all, you all have been sent to the Peaceful Sun City as well. So, I expect that we brothers will take care of each other hereafter.”

“Okay! Then, I’ll trouble Brother Ba later.”

“Where do these words come from? Come, let’s drink! Tell us something about your adventures at the sea!”

Then, a clinking sound of glasses was heard as a toast was made.

Shi Mu’s eyebrows twitched upward as he heard these words.

It seemed that Liu An’s Eastern Dark Moon Cult had already gotten in touch with the Western Dark Moon Cult during this period of time.

Shi Mu wasn’t aware of the specific situation these days. But, he could tell from these people’s conversation that the Eastern Cult’s disciples had already integrated into the Western Cult. Also, they all had been distributed to various cities and branches.

He chuckled as he understood the step taken by the people of the Western Cult. It seemed that there were people who feared the Eastern Cult. So, such people had perhaps seized their power of unity by deliberately dispersing these disciples to various sub-altars.

But, Liu An was an arrogant man with high ambitions. He had put his heart and soul into staging a comeback someday. So, he must be waiting for an opportunity to launch a counterattack against the Eastern Continent. And, this meant that he might not be willing to stay inside the fence for a long time.

The Dark Moon Cult of the Western Continent was apparently going to be faced with some major fluctuations in the future.

“Shi Tou, what are you smiling at? Tell me what you just listened to. You’re not allowed to keep all the pleasure to yourself,” Cai mumbled to himself in a discontented manner.

“It’s not an important matter. They’re just a bunch of Dark Moon Cult’s disciples.” Shi Mu gave him a brief and simple recount of everything that he had just heard along with his own conjecture.

“Liu An is so treacherous. Shi Tou, you must be careful if you run into him someday!” Cai’s body was shaken up without a reason when he heard the name “Liu An”… In fact, it seemed as if he had heard about a frightful thing.

“He he, I don’t want to meet him either,” Shi Mu replied.

“The people of the Eastern Dark Moon Cult have also marked their presence in this Peaceful Sun city. And, it would perhaps be very troublesome for us if they recognized you. So, what are you planning to do now?” Cai asked.

“I don’t have to do anything as far as the Eastern Dark Moon Cult is concerned. What could they do to me even if they recognized me?” Shi Mu lifted the wine cup, and drained it in one gulp.

The cold and clear wine entered his throat, and rendered him a feeling that shook up his mind and spirit.

“That’s true. There is probably no Palace Lord other than Liu An that is capable enough of retaining you,” Cai said.

“Well, I’ve eaten a lot, and my stomach is full. So, let’s go,” Shi Mu stood up, and walked outside the private box. Cai also followed him.

Shi Mu then left the restaurant, and walked straight in the direction of the city’s gate.

“You’ve already decided where you want to go?” Cai said.

“Hmm, we’re heading to the west,” Shi Mu nodded.

The fact was that Shi Mu had no interest in the dispute between the various races of the Western Continent. Instead, he only wanted to enhance his strength on his way to the Rising to the Heaven Mountain Peak.

At this moment…

Bang!

Suddenly, a loud sound of explosion spread from outside the city’s gate. This sound was muffled, yet very loud… so much so that the ground was somewhat shaken by the impact of this explosion. In fact, the tiles of the nearby houses also revealed a fit of tremor.

The people on the street stopped their work, and looked toward the source of the sound one after another.

“What happened?”

“What’s going on?”

Shi Mu’s complexion changed, and he rushed in the direction of the city’s gate. He even sent Cai to find out the cause of this chaos.

A dot of golden light appeared before his eyes after a moment, and quickly enlarged. And, the situation at the city’s wall appeared in his mind.

Barbarian soldiers were stationed at the lookout posts on the city’s walls on all sides. They looked alert and ready to meet any contingency. They were closing the huge city gates on both east and west sides of the city at the moment.

Furthermore, a large number of all kinds of demon beasts were gradually appearing in all the horizons outside the city. And, they were advancing straight toward the Peaceful Sun City in a majestic manner.

A wave of numerous demon wolves, demon foxes, and all kinds of snake-class demon beasts were approaching the city. In fact, there were thousands of them.

There were several incredibly large demon beasts in front of many small-sized demon beasts. They were running towards the Peaceful Sun City. And, their footsteps were issuing terrific rumbling sounds and vibrations.

The complexions of the barbarian soldiers on the city’s walls started to change as the demon beasts approached from all directions. It seemed as if they had almost frozen to the spot in shock.

“Why are there so many demon beasts?”

“This… this is the beasts’ tide… we have been besieged!”

“Quickly notify the Senior Lord of the City!”

A figure stood alone on the corner of a tall building near the city’s wall. It was Shi Mu; he had just rushed over here.

His complexion also profoundly changed when he saw the situation outside the city.

Then, the vigorous sound of a bugle horn spread from the city. And, many silhouettes flew out of the city, and landed on the surrounding city walls. There were dozens of them.

Moreover, a burst of droning sound was heard at the same time.

The four corners of the Peaceful Sun City lit up with four groups of bright lights. Then, they began to spread at an astonishing speed, and turned into a massive hemisphere-shaped light curtain. It was similar to a large inverted bowl. It enveloped the entire city inside it.

The flustered people in the city calmed down when they saw the protective shield around the city.

Two persons’ silhouettes soared from the city at this moment. They were emitting waves of overwhelming spiritual pressure. They stood side-by-side in the air.

The person that stood on the left side was a majestic-looking middle-aged man. He had a tall stature, and was dressed in a yellow robe with golden belt. In addition, there was a purplish-golden crown on his head, and he had grizzled hair on his temples. However, his hands were pure-white like a jade. He looked indescribably calm at the moment. His overall disposition made the people feel an air of boundless strength around him.

The other person was a young woman in a grey-dress. She was blessed with a perfect and exquisite figure. A smile hung at the corners of her mouth at the moment. In addition, she carried a smear of unique charm in the gap between her eyebrows.

The expression in Shi Mu’s eyes changed, and revealed a hint of astonishment.

He had never seen the golden-crowned middle-aged man before. However, this grey-skirted young woman was one of the Palace Lords of the Eastern Dark Moon Cult. Her name was Pang Yu.

Shi Mu was indeed in a surprised state. But, it wasn’t due to her sudden appearance here. It was because Pang Yu’s temperament seemed to have undergone a tremendous change here. She didn’t seem to be the same icy-cold beauty she used to be.

Moreover, the spiritual pressure that this woman was sending forth at the moment seemed somewhat stronger than before. In fact, her attainment made Shi Mu’s heart throb for a moment.

“Is it possible that this woman has had a fortuitous encounter here in such a short span of time? Or, is it the strong spiritual aura of this place that has allowed her to break through the bottleneck of her cultivation art?” Shi Mu conjectured in his heart.

“Transmit an order. All guards must protect the city walls from all four sides. Also, turn on all machineries for the protection of the city,” the golden-crowned middle-aged man said.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it spread all over the city nonetheless.

The guards that were in the city rushed forth to the city walls in succession. Then, they started their actions. Soon, huge wooden pillars emerged on the city walls. A crossbow was put-up on top of each wooden pillar. Stone-chariots and other such things also appeared on the city’s walls. Each one of them was engraved with totem magic characters of the Barbarian race. In fact, they seemed to be some sort of magic tools which had been made to receive and support magic spells.

The tide of demon beasts had assembled a thousand feet away from the city’s wall by the time these arrangements were set in order. But, they didn’t attack the city immediately. Instead, they crouched in their places in a silent manner.

These demon beasts were incredibly huge in number… so much so that the imposing spiritual aura that they were exuding was dreadful enough to make the people in the city tremble with fear.

The golden-crowned middle-aged man and the grey-skirted young woman revealed an anxious expression on their faces when they saw the demon beasts outside the city.

The two people exchanged a glance. Then, the golden-crowned middle-aged man flicked his hand, and shot out a streak of green light. It touched the light curtain around the wall, and a small crack split open in the light curtain.

The two passed through that gap, and flew outside the city.

“I’m You Can, the Lord of the Peaceful Sun City. And, she is Pang Yu — the Altar Lord of the Dark Moon Cult’s sub-altar for this city. I wonder why my noble friends suddenly mounted a large-scale invasion on our Peaceful Sun City. Did we do anything wrong? Could it be that you want to trigger a war between the Demon Race and the Barbarian Race?” the golden-crowned middle-aged man’s voice spread everywhere like a surging tidal wave.

The small and weak demon beasts exposed fearful looks on their faces since their cultivations were weak. In fact, they even stepped a few steps back.

Then, a mass of black smoke flew from the crowd of the demon beasts. It floated and arrived in front of the golden-crowned middle-aged man and the grey-skirted woman.

A black-cloaked man’s silhouette came into appearance with a flash of black light.

The stature of this person was similar to that of a human being, but he had a long and black snake’s tail behind his body. Moreover, the skin of his entire body was covered with uneven black scales. His pupils looked fiery-red in color… like a pair of deep-red flames. Also, the fine vertical lines in his pupils were emanating an ice-cold glint.

There was a golden ring on his finger. The ring was embedded with a white gemstone. It looked no better than any ordinary ring, but the number ’67’ was engraved on top of the gemstone.

The golden-crowned middle-aged man and the grey-skirted woman’s facial expression simultaneously changed as their eyes fell on that golden ring.

“Is Your Excellency possibly the Chief of the Python Demon Race…? Is my noble friend — Ao Kui — Dragon General Kui?” the golden-crowned middle-aged man asked after a momentary hesitation.

“That’s right, I’m Ao Kui!” the black-cloaked man replied. But, his voice sounded very cold and austere.

“Noble Friend Ao Kui, you’ve suddenly led a large number of demon beats to this place. May I know the reason behind this abrupt step?” the golden-crowned middle-aged man asked.

“To apprehend the murderer!” the black-cloaked man responded.

The golden-crowned middle-aged man heard this, and cast a glance at Pang Yu who stood beside him. He was apparently astounded to hear these words.

“The murderer?” the golden-crowned middle-aged man asked.

“Humph, a fellow brother of my race was killed in the Swamp of Snakes a few days ago. Even his soul was taken away by that person. And, I’ve found out after a thorough investigation that the murderer has taken shelter in this city,” the man in the cloak stated with a cold snort.

His words had barely faded when Shi Mu’s complexion changed; he stood on top of a certain high-rise building in the city at the moment. Cai was also shocked to hear these words. He cast a fleeting glance at Shi Mu, and his body shook in a somewhat restless manner.

The two had immediately recalled that Earth-ranked Red-ringed Demon Python that Shi Mu had recently killed in the Swamp of Snakes.