Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 842: Chapter 638: After Much Wandering, It’s Santarin Again

As a confidant of the family head, An Ran knew a little about some matters: This incident exposed a significant loophole in the An Family. If luck permits and this loophole can be filled, it would merely be a minor oversight, just a small matter to be ridiculed.

But if it can’t be filled, not only will all anticipated benefits be lost, but it might also lead to a loss of the family’s Fate.

And Fate is the very foundation of the An Family’s survival, while the ancestors who can directly connect to the Heavenly Court are the basis for the existence of a noble clan.

Without their existence, merely relying on a sorcerer, it wouldn’t be a noble clan, but rather like the Bai Family, relying solely on one person’s strength to survive. Such a family could never exist for tens of thousands of years.

When the person dies, it’s like a lamp going out; even if he ascends to the Heavenly Court, it has nothing to do with the mortal realm.

Hill observed the droopy-eyed Fatty An, whose eyes slightly moved, assessing that his level of tension was not low at all.

The An Family seemed particularly concerned about trade with the Ferun Great Land and were eager to establish a foothold there. Did the Shulong Empire have something crucial that could only be purchased from Ferun Great Land?

So critical that if its sale were prohibited, it might even affect the entire empire.

Agleya City is right next to Deepwater City, making such actions very easy. The An Family, having identified Hill’s identity, would thus be so cautious around him.

So their aim should be to achieve great deeds, or even more, to integrate into the national fate of the Shulong Empire.

The carriage came to a gentle stop.

An Ran suddenly stood up, his movements unusually agile for someone usually so slow.

At least, he definitely wasn’t the type to get stuck in the middle of a box due to clumsiness.

Hill curled his lips into a sneer. This fatty truly exemplified the stereotype of an Eastern merchant, pretending to be foolish was indeed his forte.

But Hill could also sense An Ran’s deep distrust of the guards watching over the Lin Family, which was quite normal. In a noble clan, there are always ambitious people, and naturally, some just drift along.

If the An Family fails to keep even those already captured, their reputation would be thoroughly damaged.

Hill actually didn’t care about such small matters.

Though he didn’t know what An Ran was considering, he could sense that An Ran was very worried about losing him as a trade partner, fearful that he might abandon cooperation with the An Family due to this incident.

Perhaps in An Ran’s mind, Hill attaches great importance to overseas trade, which is why he personally came to Shulong to seek out partners.

But Hill just suffered a misfortune, not... he offended a particular petty-minded Goddess and got caught in a temporal vortex.

Earning money was never his objective.

He had to visit the Lin Family, which had nothing to do with anything An Ran contemplated; he just needed to remember these individuals’ essences.

This is what’s etched in the Law’s scent, which, when broken down, is what the Shulong People often mention as causation.

As long as Hill remembered, the next time someone related to them appeared before him, he could immediately recognize them, and naturally, by then, he’d be able to find the real culprit using him as a scapegoat.

He thought about it, leaving An Ran a few more minutes, before leisurely stepping out of the carriage.

Hill looked at the towering walls before him and couldn’t help but feel a little bewildered, is this a homestead?

Before Hill was not a manor like the one he lived in, but a very distinct stronghold, whose outer wall, if placed on the Ferun Great Land, could be considered somewhat like an average city’s defensive wall, over five meters high, and at each corner of the wall stood high guard towers.

However, the places where there should have been guards were now desolate.

It seemed the An Family had quietly taken control of this fortress.

And apparently, it occurred without any fierce battle, otherwise, Hill wouldn’t have been unable to sense any trace of bloodiness, the Lin Family seemed to have capitulated without any resistance.

Hill estimated it was the result of the An Family sorcerers’ actions, and the level of the sorcerers at play was not low, and there were definitely plenty in number, it appeared the clan leader of the An Family intended to use the Lin Family’s lives to regain his lost face and wealth.

As for the Lin Family, they must be an ordinary family without the ancestral power’s blessing, unable to defend against the sorcerers’ mysterious means.

Not every family has the ability to worship their ancestors, especially commoners or humble families, who may not even know if they’ve had any sages among their ancestors.

Hill controlled the urge to look back. He could be sure he was still in Benevolence City, but inside the fortress ahead, there was indeed a scent of crops, and clearly not in small acreage.

If no sorcerers were involved, relying solely on martial artists and knights, the Lin Family would be completely self-sufficient and not worry about running out of supplies.

Here in Shulong, it seems every sizable family has this kind of style, no wonder this city is so large, it took such a long time even with Hill’s fast-moving carriage.

Is this the family-centric Shulong?

Hill thought that only now did he truly see the real Shulong Empire.

An Ran quickly returned to Hill’s side, bringing along a knight clad in full armor.

His armor was exquisite in design, entirely composed of intricately interlocked mountain-patterned metal scales. Hill controlled his urge to scrutinize closely; he truly hadn’t expected to see one of the thirteen armors, the Mountain Patterned Armor, in another world.

Hill felt a brief moment of disorientation, but then thought it quite normal. Given the refining abilities of this world, creating something intricately uniform was no longer a challenging task for craftsmen. The mountain patterned armor actually saved more materials than other armors, and it was comfortable and breathable. Most importantly, it allowed for more fluid and agile movements, making it more suitable for the Shulong people who preferred skill over brute force.

”Mr. Polanio, please allow me to introduce you to Light Chariot Inspector An Pengfei,” An Ran said with a smile. ”Pengfei is the strongest knight of our An Family. Usually, he is with the military, but this time he happened to return home for a family visit.

With him here, the defense is absolutely foolproof.”

”I truly apologize, Mr. Polanio, for the inconvenience caused by the An Family’s oversight during your pleasant journey,” An Pengfei said steadily. ”I hope that the An Family can make amends for this mistake in the future.”

Hill nodded: ”I just hope we can get to know each other better. Some matters can only be solved with time.”

In the Shulong Empire, whether in civil or military ranks, there was a nine-tier system, probably because the founding of the Shulong Empire unified nine kingdoms. This ranged from the lowest, nine, to the highest, one, symbolizing the empire’s unity and its divine fate.

As for An Yanfei’s position as the government official on Reception Island, it had been introduced over there, and Hill remembered, it was of the sixth rank.

The lightning pattern on his robe had six stripes, but they were silver, while on An Pengfei’s armor, there were four golden stripes.

A fourth-rank military officer?

Indeed, it was a position worthy of pride for the An Family, but what did that have to do with Hill?

No matter what they planned to do, Hill just wanted to find his enemies.

He said no more but watched as An Ran lifted his chin: ”Has that Lin Yi been caught?”

”No...” An Ran replied somewhat weakly.

”Lin Jiezhi didn’t return home. I had people investigate thoroughly, and when the incident happened, he ran away directly, without notifying his family, and even though Prefect Bai closed the city gates, it was probably too late.

However, no one knows if he’d want to witness the drama he orchestrated himself, so now the whole city is searching for him.

The Lin Family members, except a few who weren’t home originally, have all been captured. The Bai Family tried to take them away for interrogation, but I stopped them,” An Pengfei stood aside and replied.

He wasn’t upset by Hill’s neglect.

As the head son of the An Family, An Pengfei had not joined the An Family Forces’ strongest navy but became a Charging Knight in the Black Cavalry, facing countless exclusions.

Not only did he endure it, but he also eventually became a fourth-rank general, so he wasn’t someone who couldn’t take a little grievance due to youthful exuberance.

Furthermore, the identity and capability of this Archmage were enough for him to scorn anyone, An Pengfei didn’t consider a level 28 knight like himself as worthy of special attention.

He was merely here to get acquainted, and incidentally, wanted to see what methods Ferun Great Land’s mages used to track their enemies.

An Pengfei wasn’t as simple-minded as An Ran thought. This person must personally come to the Lin Family for a look, surely possessing some special magic to find people.

What if... it could present him with some opportunity?

”Preliminary interrogation results suggest that the Lin Family appears to be sent by the Earth Dragon Kingdom,” An Pengfei cautiously chose his words.

”Appears?” Hill indeed picked up on it.

”The people from Earth Dragon over there... aren’t capable of such endurance,” An Pengfei led the way. As long as it was official business, the Archmage would still respond to him, which was enough.

An Ran lagged behind, lingering beside Hill’s knight attendant, trying to exchange a few words.

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to him.

Hill contemplated the word An Pengfei used: endurance.

The Wo people?

Although they call themselves the Wo Empire, their living conditions have always been harsh, with frequent typhoons and earthquakes, and many active volcanoes.

As Hill knew, the Wo Empire had only just concluded a large-scale era of war, and the entire country was still filled with a political atmosphere of conspiracies, intrigues, and counter-intrigues.

Moreover, the nearby Little Sakura Empire was eyeing them covetously.

Hill didn’t quite understand; if the Wo Empire conquered Little Sakura Empire, setting sights on the Shulong Empire might align with their way of thinking. But now, without even defeating their long-time hostile neighbor, they were already plotting on the mainland?

”Although Haidong Province looks prosperous, that is by the sea,” An Pengfei said indifferently. ”It’s not the same with the southern border alongside the Earth Dragon Kingdom, where corpses are scattered, and white bones lie everywhere.

Although it’s currently a ceasefire, no one knows when the fighting might resume; my Black Cavalry is prepared for this war.

The Shulong Empire used to be the hegemon of the Kalartu Continent, but over these past centuries, all focus was drawn by the Earth Dragon Kingdom.

The other neighbors gained quite the breather.

Like the Wo Empire, in the olden days, how could their criminal gang Sin Hall have possibly established contact with Ferun Great Land’s Santalin Meeting.”

Hill gave a polite smile: allies of Santarin? It seems a bit easier to understand if they’re coming to trouble him!