The Three Realms Thief Chapter 67

There was originally no such term as “Yin Ren” (Shadow People).

In reality.

The choice of tactical strategy is an honest matter.

You can’t call ambushing from a bush a “cowardly” fighting style.

Nor can you call hitting someone with a blunt instrument “dishonorable.”

If Duke Xiang of Song had attacked when the enemy was halfway across the river, the outcome of the Battle of Hongshui might have been different.

But if we follow that line of thought, he wasn’t averse to being an assassin.

But he couldn’t limit himself to being an assassin.

Xu Yuan looked into the void.

Several lines of faint, small characters had already appeared there: “Your cultivation level has increased.”

“Given that you have reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, your pendant ‘Emblem of the Ultimate Truth’ will provide 4 agility points.”

4 agility points!

As expected, it’s essential to wear good equipment, buddy!

Xu Yuan felt a certain rhythm suddenly appear in his running.

This rhythm was natural, stemming from a strong physical instinct, and its high agility allowed him to strike at any time and adjust direction while running at high speed.

He constantly lifted his feet and stepped, as if swimming in the gaps of the wind, riding the natural rhythm with every movement.

Just as he was running with enthusiasm—

“We’re almost there!”

The little boy’s voice was filled with trepidation and excitement.

To cross the city wall, escape this city, and achieve a feat no one before him had accomplished.

This would prove everything!

“Should we go to the city wall?” Xu Yuan asked abruptly.

“What do you mean?” the little boy said.

“If the enemy wants to destroy the city, the city wall must be the key defense point. With our strength, can we really break through this defense line?” Xu Yuan said.

This was a very realistic problem.

Qi Refining was just the initial stage among cultivators.

If monsters besieged the city—

There was no way to confront them head-on.

“You’re right, but if we stay here, there’s only a dead end,” the little boy said.

“We hide ourselves well and move slowly. That way, even if the city wall is heavily guarded, we can still scout the situation first.”

Xu Yuan said patiently.

“Okay, let’s do as you say,” the little boy nodded in agreement.

The two slowed their pace, even deliberately entering the residential areas by the roadside, walking along the shadows of the houses, observing their surroundings as they went.

This might have been a longer route.

But the two were always under the cover of houses and building walls, which made it relatively much safer.

On and on they went.

Finally.

They chose a civilian house.

The two carefully crawled through a window into the house, then quickly inspected the place.

Everything was normal.

There were still bottled water and cold fresh food in the refrigerator.

A handgun and several loaded magazines were hidden under the bed in the bedroom.

The two were a bit tired by then, so they simply sat in the living room and gulped down bottled water from the refrigerator.

“Can you use a gun?”

Xu Yuan asked.

The handgun, already loaded with a magazine, was placed on the coffee table by him.

“We residents of Border Town have to learn these since childhood—but I don’t like guns,” the little boy said.

“Why?” Xu Yuan asked.

“Guns represent violence, and they remind me how cruel this world is,” the little boy said.

“You’re mistaken,” Xu Yuan said.

“Oh?”

“You must first know how cruel this world is.”

Xu Yuan pushed the gun toward the other party.

“No.”

The little boy jutted his chin out, not even looking at the handgun.

Xu Yuan shook his head, stood up, walked to the window, and looked toward the other side.

The other side of this civilian house was adjacent to the road.

Across the road was a city wall that was about five meters high.

Just one step away!

“Didn’t see any monsters,” Xu Yuan suddenly said.

“Yeah, that’s too strange.”

The little boy understood what he meant and muttered.

It was also her first time here, her first time seeing the situation on the city wall.

A besieged city.

In that incident ten years ago, it was indeed completely destroyed.

Hundreds of thousands of people died.

But the streets near the city wall were unusually clean.

There were no monsters on the city wall either!

If there were no monsters, wouldn’t people have already escaped?

How could they have died?

How could the city have been destroyed?

Couldn’t figure it out.

Their gazes met.

“Let’s go take a look.”

They said in unison.

A few minutes later.

Xu Yuan carried the little boy and ascended the city wall opposite the street.

Both were stunned in place.

There were indeed no monsters outside the city.

But the city was already an isolated one.

Looking out, all was dark void.

Clusters of ghastly green flames shot up from the abyss.

There was nothing in the void.

Only this border town stood in the boundless darkness.

What immense divine power this was.

“Impossible—”

The little boy muttered in a daze.

—This was no ordinary siege at all!

Who could have imagined such a situation?

In the face of such mighty power, the entire city was destined for destruction.

There was absolutely no hope.

If the entire city was in this situation, then Lu Chenzhou’s strategy was correct after all.

Lu Chenzhou abandoned everyone, providing enough energy for that special cross-realm teleportation array, and then escaped with a few people.

—

To escape with one or two people would be considered good.

So, that means.

He had already lost.

—This battle was lost from the very beginning!

Lu Chenzhou was right!

Lu Yiyi slumped down, covering her face, letting tears stream through her fingers.

“It seems we can’t escape.”

Xu Yuan’s voice came.

At his feet, the little boy hugged his knees against the city wall, huddled into a ball, crying incessantly, as if overcome with grief.

Outside the city wall.

Boundless darkness devoured everything, like the embodiment of despair.

Xu Yuan sighed, squatted down, and said softly, “I’m sorry, I might have to go back on my word. I can’t take you out of this environment.”

“It’s not your fault,” the little boy said amidst sobs, muffled.

“But the whole thing isn’t over,” Xu Yuan said.

The little boy shook her head.

What if it wasn’t over?

“We failed,” she said dejectedly, “but it’s okay, I was mentally prepared. Just let me be quiet for a while.”

“But—” Xu Yuan began.

But what?

The little boy thought silently.

But you, too, are unwilling to accept it?

But we tried our best to get here?

But what?

A warm hand reached out and gently stroked her head.

“But we are still alive.”

Xu Yuan said.

The little boy looked up at the boundless darkness outside the city wall and said in a daze, “We can’t escape, we really failed.”

Xu Yuan, however, smiled.

In the boundless darkness, his voice carried far: “We don’t live to fail, we live for something else, don’t we?”

The mist in the little boy’s eyes gradually faded, and she asked softly, “What do you want to say?”

Xu Yuan squatted beside her, clenched his fist, and said, “Look, we can still breathe, we still have hands and feet, we can still move.”

“And no one has declared that we must die now.”

“So what?” the little boy asked.

Xu Yuan pointed downward and said, “If the entire land has disappeared, why can this city still stand here?”

“The darkness outside might be failure, or something else, but we are still alive and well.”

“We’re going down now to see what’s really going on.”

The little boy was stunned.

Indeed.

The entire city couldn’t just float in mid-air.

Was this a magical art, a formation, or an illusion?

We don’t even know this much yet.

Why not take action?

Why give up?

Even obtaining a single piece of information would be extremely valuable for the entire history of humanity.

“Shall we go?” Xu Yuan asked.

“Okay!” the little boy agreed.

No sooner said than done.

Xu Yuan carefully climbed over the city wall and slowly descended from the outer side of the wall.

This process was extremely dangerous.

Qi Refining stage cultivators could not fly, and if they missed their footing, they would immediately fall into the endless abyss.

The little boy also became focused, wrapping her arms around Xu Yuan’s neck and clamping her feet around his waist to stabilize herself.

The two slowly climbed down.

Seven or eight minutes later.

They finally reached the bottom of the city wall.

“It’s dirt.”

Xu Yuan said.

He reached into the mud, grabbed a handful, and spread it open.

Mud, gravel, and a few small stones.

That was all at the base of the city wall.

Was that all?

“Yes, there are subways and tunnels under the city, so it’s normal to have dirt,” the little boy said, disheartened.

There was nothing remarkable about this.

“We’re still far from done, we still have to keep climbing down to see what’s there,” Xu Yuan insisted.

“Below the dirt is still dirt,” the little boy couldn’t help but say.

“Did you see it?” Xu Yuan asked.

The little boy opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.

“You see—we still don’t know what’s at the bottom of this ‘mountain’.”

Xu Yuan said.

“You mean, we’re currently on top of a mountain, and we have to keep climbing down until we reach the foot of the mountain?”

“Yes.”

The little boy looked at the expression on his face and suddenly said, “If we can keep climbing down, we might even consider it a successful escape.”

“Huh? I hadn’t thought of that, maybe it’s true!” Xu Yuan said happily.

The little boy stared at him, watching the faint light illuminate his face, revealing those eyes that shone brightly in the darkness.

She lowered her head, gripped his clothes tightly with both hands, and buried her face in his chest.

“Take me.”

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzzing, gently spreading in the gloom: “Xu Yuan, will you take me to the end of that underground place, please?”

“Okay.”

He answered immediately, his voice gentle and calm, like an eternal fire burning in the darkness.