FYN Chapter 61 Flying Corpses
Chapter 61 Flying Corpses
Chapter 61 Flying Corpses
In Nora, rare magical materials are primarily traded through barter, with the core trading market relying on various intermediaries.
Simply informing the intermediary of your needs is equivalent to placing an order in the market.
However, even though Nan'an holds the chief elder's "credit card," there is currently no goods to sell in the entire market, and no middleman can facilitate a transaction for him.
Ten days before everyone arrived at Shuangmian, Shuangmian suddenly posted a large order for materials and items that could suppress or inhibit magic.
The middleman responsible for separating the two parties in the transaction bluntly stated that he wanted as many as possible.
No one knows the exact number of transactions; there are only vague rumors circulating in the shadows that the buyers are incredibly wealthy and always manage to offer rare and valuable items that the sellers cannot refuse to complete the exchange.
After the initial wave of spot buyers made their purchases with great excitement, the entire market fell into a strange stagnation.
Those who still had some stock, whether they were merchants, collectors, or certain long-established families, all tacitly chose to wait and see, waiting for the price to be pushed to a dizzying high by this frenzied buying spree.
Nan'an couldn't understand this trading strategy.
If the demand is truly enormous, why not adopt a more discreet approach of purchasing in smaller quantities and more frequently in batches?
By flaunting their wealth and publicly displaying such massive demand, they are practically sending a "come and rip me off" signal to all potential sellers.
Despite not having a large demand, he unfortunately became a direct victim of this mysterious buyer.
No matter which shop it was, they would just shrug and say they didn't have it.
The shopkeepers even dared to guarantee that even those merchants with powerful backgrounds who could open shops in the inner city of Shuangmian would be told they had no goods to sell.
Fortunately, apart from materials for suppressing and banishing magic, there are no other strange people disrupting the market for other needs.
"Dragon belly scales, active sap secreted by adult earth-splitting mud worms, concentrated extract of moss from decaying stone over ten years old—" Clara counted on her fingers, recounting the items Nan'an had just purchased, full of curiosity, "The combination of these materials—it doesn't seem like any of the currently popular styles. Could it be ancient forging techniques from the Gray Star era?"
"Sigh." Nan An sighed, "Only the Demon-Suppressing Powder is missing—oh well, let's leave it at that."
"Huh?" Coralina was stunned. "You only bought this little bit—this is a rare opportunity, shouldn't you try to make more money?"
"I plan to ask the chief elder to get me some anti-magic dust, but if it costs too much, I'm afraid I won't be able to bring it up."
Nan'an glanced at Suiyue, who was holding a bucket of popcorn in her right hand and licking mashed potatoes like ice cream in her left.
They're easy to raise; they don't care about any other needs, except when passing by street food stalls, when they'll lick their lips and ask for this or that.
Sensing Clara's gaze fixed on Suiyue, Nan'an said expressionlessly, "Buy some gifts for your family, consider it my treat."
"Really?"
"If you ask again, it's fake," Nan'an urged. "Hurry up, we haven't even been to the black market yet."
"Hey, wait for me!"
Clara mischievously slipped between the two of them, leading the way and turning into a relatively quiet side street, stopping in front of a workshop with an ornate sign and a wide storefront.
A scorching heat, mixed with the smell of metal, hit me.
The burly trolls, shirtless, busied themselves before the roaring forge. The rhythmic hammering sounds were somewhat dampened by the soundproofing array, but not completely eliminated—the hammering sounds were also part of the skill display and a key to boosting purchasing desire.
The shop was doing very well. They stood on the metal stand displaying the finished weapons for a long time before someone came to inquire about their needs.
Before Corella could speak, a voice suddenly came from the waiting area.
"Claire of the Tica family?"
Nan'an turned to look and saw four or five well-dressed young men with delicate embroidery on their cuffs and collars stand up and walk over.
"Oh? Look who this is?" The blond youth at the head of the group said with undisguised sarcasm, "Miss Tica, still toiling away for the family so late in this sweaty place? Truly admirable pragmatism."
His gaze shifted, looking at Suiyue, and then at Nan'an.
"Are these two your new followers? I heard you only have male followers, how come you have two men now? Oh, my apologies."
He finally saw Suiyue's upper body, which was covered by the popcorn bucket.
The slow-witted Suiyue paused, then whispered to Nan'an, "Is he... mocking us?"
Nan'an corrected: "It wasn't 'we,' it was mocking you."
Clara scoffed, "Loren, I have more men who want to seduce than men who want to sleep with you. Every lip I've licked is something you can only dream of. If I gave you your family background, the line of men who wanted to seduce me could stretch from this workshop to the Shuangmian River Bridge. You can't force me to." (Note: In the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, "smoothing" means picking up girls. Don't get the wrong idea.)
That's just right.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that after spending time together and getting to know each other, Coralina has become a bit more reserved, which surprised Nan'an.
"It's alright, as long as you admit your family background isn't good. I'm curious when your family's fiefdom will be taken back. When you're sleeping on the streets, I'm looking forward to seeing which young lady will take you in."
The two sides clearly harbored resentment for a long time and were well aware of each other's vulnerabilities, so they could easily utter hurtful words that were precise and malicious.
Seeing that Corella was still choosing a sword, Loren chuckled.
"With your brother's abilities, does he really need a sword? Can he tell if his fiancée is here for the fiefdom? The sword you buy now might just end up being given to his fiancée."
"Click, click"
1~
"Click, click"
~,”
Seeing Suiyue stuffing popcorn into her mouth as if seeking revenge, her face flushed red, Loren and his group were somewhat taken aback.
Before they could react, the popcorn bucket was shoved over Loren's head.
The syrup stuck to the cardboard "whoosh" onto his hair and cheeks, and because it broke apart, it was smeared directly onto Loren's shoulders, giving him a sweet smell.
The workshop fell silent for a moment, followed by a series of suppressed gasps and muffled laughter.
Those customers who were originally waiting for their orders or just browsing started leaning out from the shelves or rest areas, looking over with great interest.
When a verbal argument escalates into direct physical contact, it's far more interesting than a simple war of words.
Let's fight! Let's beat the hell up!
Having lost face in front of everyone, Loren was furious, glaring at Suiyue with bloodshot eyes.
"Which family are you from?"
Nan'an was certain that if Suiyue was still wearing the same tacky outfit she wore when she arrived at Shuangmian, Loren had already made his move.
He pulled Suiyue to his side: "From the moment we started, you've been delaying our trip. If we left you in the wild, I would have already ripped your head off and used it as a football, understand?"
"Are you threatening me?" Loren laughed angrily.
Nan An casually pulled out a scroll from his waist, unfurled it at an angle only Loren could see, and said in a low voice.
"We two are Elu."
The rage and bloodlust on Lorenz's face vanished instantly upon seeing Ivira's portrait, and his fingertips trembled slightly.
"So, do we, the Elu, need to reasonably suspect you of possibly covering for the Living Eclipse and stalling for time?"
Loren's lips moved a few times, as if he wanted to say something to save face, but when his gaze met Nan'an's eyes, he said, "I'm sorry."
He nervously uttered a sentence, not even bothering to wait, and pushed through the crowd to leave. After leaving the workshop, he sprinted away, causing the onlookers, who had been craning their necks to watch, to burst into laughter, completely bewildered.
Seeing that no fight had broken out, the bored crowd began to disperse, discussing Nan'an with curiosity about what he had shown to a nobleman of such high status that made him seem as if he had seen a ghost.
This little incident led to the workshop assigning a troll craftsman who was on rotation to serve Corella.
"Buzz!!!"
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz!!!"
Nan'an's mind suddenly buzzed, much like a mosquito that appeared in the room shortly after falling asleep on a summer night, searching everywhere without success.
Pretending to rest, Nan'an found a corner to lean against.
The swarm of flies sealed within the amber now surged like a blood mist.
Sensing their owner's presence, these creatures, lacking much intelligence, collectively swooped down, repeating the motion over and over.
This is the second time; it flashed by just as I crossed the bridge.
Now, with his head throbbing from the buzzing noise, Nanan noticed something was wrong and went to find Corella, who had just chosen her sword.
What lies beneath this workshop?
"Below? The workshop doesn't have a basement; directly below it is an underground waterway, where some black market merchants operate."
At this moment, Coralina was in a great mood. Nan'an had made Loren suffer a loss in silence, and the news would most likely spread like wildfire when she returned.
It would be excellent if outsiders could mistakenly believe that the Tika family had some connection with Erlu.
Thinking of this, she simply suggested, "Let's go check out the black market in the underground waterway first. I was going to take you outside the market first—hey, why are you grabbing my hand? Why are you in such a hurry?"
As the capital of Solize, the Twin Crowns boasts an excellent underground sewage system in both its core area and the surrounding areas, which are equivalent to the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth ring roads. The overall scale is almost like recreating a series of hidden, inverted cities.
The underground water system in the core area is guarded by dedicated personnel and is subject to regular inspections and cleaning.
In the surrounding settlements and towns, underground waterways also serve a certain function of carrying population.
The vast, dense, and intricate underground waterways are like a maze. The design took into account the need to hide when the black fog descended, and the redundant construction has now become a place of refuge for many people.
The entrance is not hard to find; in fact, the underground waterway was never hidden at all.
Coralla led the two around to the back alley of the workshop, where they lifted a movable panel to reveal a vertical ladder and a sewage outlet.
Surprisingly, they didn't smell the pungent stench that should be present in the sewage ditch; the air was just a little stuffy.
Clara breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Suiyue finish the last bite of her snack.
"Looks like we're in luck today; the people here just did a cleaning."
Nan'an asked curiously, "Was it done by black market dealers?"
"Maintaining your business environment requires this kind of investment."
The main waterway was very wide, with a centrally recessed channel beneath everyone's feet. The purified water was crystal clear and appeared light green under the light of the inexpensive fluorescent crystals embedded in the walls on both sides of the passage, which emitted a stable, faint glow.
On both sides of the channel are stone platforms that allow people to walk, wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side.
Just as Corella had said, the air was damp and cool, but there was absolutely no foul odor.
Instead, at intervals, one can see faded traces of magic circles on the walls or vaults, or small cloth bags containing dried herbs hanging on them.
It is these spontaneously maintained, simple magical or herbal methods that sustain the most basic "habitable" conditions of this underground space.
In the corners where the population explodes and administrative power has little reach, order is being filled in another form.
Coralla led them to a passage beside the canal, which extended downwards for about ten meters, and then the view opened up ahead.
Ahead of the waterway, light and voices could be faintly seen, and shadowy figures moved about at the boundary between light and shadow.
Nan'an even heard melodious piano music and the rhythmic chanting of scriptures.
"Buzz, buzz~~"
Nan'an examined the card, while the fly fog continued to swarm down.
"Can it go down any further?"
Clara was puzzled: "It's possible, but most of the valuable black market transactions are concentrated on this level. The deeper waterways are either abandoned branch lines or used as temporary warehouses. Usually, merchants on this level can contact people below. Unless there is a specific need, there is no need to go deeper."
"
Nan'an understood the unspoken meaning: "You seem to have—been to a deeper place?"
"My advisor had a map of the underground water system that should have been sealed away long ago. It happened to be in this area, and I secretly made a copy for research when he wasn't looking."
Once they were more familiar with each other, Coralina revealed her little secret without any reservations.
She realized it too: "Senior, you're not here to buy anything at the black market—what are you looking for?"
Nan'an couldn't explain the agitation of the fly fog; it all stemmed from intuition.
Seeing that Nan'an didn't answer immediately, Coralina patted her cheeks: "Come with me."
down.
Continue down.
In the winding and complex waterways, Corella was like a tapeworm, memorizing every route. She could always find the emergency passages left by the underground waterway designers in places where Nan'an Suiyue thought there was no way to go.
Suiyue couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Sorry, I previously doubted whether you could even rank in the top five of the Tearsfire Potions School—with this memory, you're only in the top five?"
Clara sighed, "Potion making isn't something you can excel at just by rote memorization. I studied the application of potions, which emphasizes innovation—I really can't compete with others in that respect."
As they ventured deeper, Nan'an suspected that they had reached an area 100 meters below the surface of Chuizhen.
The fly mists no longer performed the Stuka's screeching dive; their current agitation resembled insects trapped in a glass dome, frantically and chaotically crashing against the card's internal barriers, faintly conveying—
eager?
Looking around at the enormous man-made structure that was a spectacle, Nan'an followed the faint "desire" provided by the fly mist and walked to a rock wall covered with water seepage marks and dark moss.
It looked unremarkable, and Corella swept it over with her magic without sensing anything unusual.
"You should trust the wisdom of the indigenous people."
Nan'an pointed to the ground.
Because the deep waterways are uninhabited year-round and have no need for cleaning, they have become a paradise for lichens, mosses, and mushrooms.
Around the stone wall, fungal carpets spread, mosses covered the ground, and lichens grew in abundance. As if guided by something, they all gathered around the stone wall.
"Step back." Nan An rubbed his knuckles. "Elemental Drive—Earth!"
Using the power of the earth, a powerful fist slammed into the stone wall.
With tremendous force, the wall was easily smashed, and dust and gravel rained down everywhere. When the three regained their vision, a mixture of medicinal smell, faint sweet and fishy smell, and an unpleasant stench of decay hit them.
Nan'an squeezed into the gap first, followed closely by Suiyue and Koreira.
Behind the crevice was a not-too-large cave, which had obviously undergone rough reinforcement later.
There was no light source inside the cave, but the walls and floor shimmered with a dim, uneven, eerie green phosphorescence.
Under the cold light, the scene in the center of the cave made even Nan'an, who was used to all kinds of sights, slightly narrow his pupils.
A mountain of corpses.
They were piled up haphazardly in the center of the cave, forming a creepy little hill.
Most of the corpses were dressed in various ways, ranging from tattered civilian clothes to tattered adventurer leather armor.
None of the corpses were decayed; their skin had an unnatural grayish-white or waxy-yellow hue and was as stiff as stone, as if time had been forcibly frozen over them.
Many of the corpses bore clear, gruesome wounds or twisted, deformed limbs.
What made Nan'an even more concerned was the unusual condition exhibited by a significant number of the corpses.
The skin's surface was covered with eerie, dark purple lines that pulsated slightly, like those of a living creature.
The extremities of their limbs have been transformed into inhuman claws, hooves, or whiskers, and fine, crystalline black mycelia grow from their eye sockets, mouth, and nose.
This is one of the abnormal phenomena resulting from the distortion of the power of gods and demons fused together by the Living Erosion.
"The aura of gods and demons—there are rotting corpses here." Having seen countless corpses, Coralina's brain went blank for a few seconds before recovering. "My God, how can there be—so many?"
She casually released a ball of light, which allowed the three of them to clearly see the marks on the skin of a living, eroded corpse on the pile of bodies.
"It's the mark of the Tears of Fire," Coralina emphasized. "The academy marks the bodies as a priority upon receiving them, to facilitate future exchanges and verification with other academies—wait, could these be the missing bodies?"
"Who could pull off something this big?"
Nan'an didn't think the scale of the stolen corpses from Lei Huo could be this large. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he quickly pulled Sui Yue back, who wanted to go forward to check.
Just as Suiyue was about to say something, she heard Cora exclaim in surprise.
The mountain of corpses appeared to be grasped by an invisible giant hand, suspended vertically, and hovered in mid-air.
"It's a god or demon—such a powerful aura is surging!" Nan'an concluded. "There's no way a corpse remnant could possess such strong activity—go get it!"
He casually released a mist of flies, attempting to verify the origin of this divine and demonic power.
The flies had just clung to the corpse and were gnawing at it.
"Swoosh!"
A muffled thud was followed by a burst of white light that filled the tranquil space.
The mountain of corpses suspended in mid-air had vanished without a trace.
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