Free Web NovelChapter 281: Confinement [1]
’There is something wrong with Brother Lucas. The surrounding aura was somewhat mysterious, and the soothing feeling around him was different as well. However, he wasn’t still spilling some aura that could tell me that he was a dangerous person.’ Brian thought as he had an assessment of Lucas’s aura. ’I should not tell anyone that I know him.’
"Who are you?"
A grin appeared on his face as he looked at them from above.
"You are not asking why are these shadow monsters not attacking me? I guess you already had a hint of it. I am the one who created these shadows, and you can call me Lucas. However, that’s all I will tell you. I don’t really like talking much."
Then, Lucas swayed his hands, and immediately, the array formation they built with their talisman disappeared. This caused great confusion and surprise to them. And as the only thing that protected them disappeared, their fears of the shadow monster came back.
"Don’t worry. They won’t attack you." He said, then swayed his hands again for another barrier to appear that surrounded them.
"What is your purpose? Why did you create such monsters and capture us? What do you want?"
"Nothing much. I just want the insurance to be safe. Anyway, I will have my goodbye, and also, have a good sleep."
"W-Wait, what...?"
They became drowsy. Just before Alfred could muster the remaining strength he had to question Lucas more, his eyes closed, and he fell into unconsciousness.
Brian had no other choice as well. He just watched Lucas from above and waited until he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Even though he was deeply confused about what was happening, he couldn’t find any chance to inquire about it.
Furthermore, Jake slowly appeared outside the barrier, which gave him an idea that this might be a plot that the two of them created.
’I was fooled...’
***
The city was about to be defeated. However, the remaining force still continued to protect themselves with the grand array formation around the Wubao family’s siheyuan. And when they were still inside, hoping that the energy would be enough, the force they left outside was already defeated.
Corpses were everywhere, and both sides suffered injuries and damage. However, only Lucas’s legion received minimal damage. Because of their plan, they were able to cause chaos and confusion among the members of White Lead, which led to their half-victory.
"Wah... Look at these stupid bastards. How could they remain arrogant while keeping their tails inside this array formation? What a bunch of fuckers." As she observed the people inside with grins on their faces, Insal snarled.
"Don’t worry about it too much. Master is near; he is arriving. Let us just wait until he arrives, okay?" Manigi said calmly to Insal and immediately went to organize the war’s aftermath.
He searched the area for helpful things and freed some slaves. He then described what they were doing and what their objectives were. Slaves finally followed them after seeing how honest they were, as well as the other ordinary folks who assisted them in winning the fight.
Dashter then just sat around a corner. He was taking his time to rest and regain his energy while cultivating as well. Even though it was dangerous to cultivate in such a public place, it was different for Dashter since the Qi he was cultivating wasn’t harmful if left unattended.
"What do you think will happen now? I didn’t really listen well to Master’s plan. Can you explain it to me, Manigi?" Insal asked, just after they settled on the things they needed to organize.
Manigi just sat down beside her and looked at the starry night. He smiled, but later on, it disappeared as he recalled something.
"I don’t really know. Master sent us to inspect different places and see the maps without really conversing with people. Then we have to search some more, and then return to him. But I think I have an idea of what he wanted to do. Since he can’t really tell our secrets to people he gets interested in, he was trying to check someone he could also trust and has the same intensity against the Northern continent’s emperor."
"That was an unnecessarily long explanation. But, it was helpful." Insal said.
"But, let us just keep in mind that we already have Quanzhi Province. It was already too late for them to recover it, even with the number of people they sent. It is just that the whole province was already behind Brother Ji An’s back. And by now, I think they are facing such a problematic war."
"What do you mean, problematic war?" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
There was something that Insal couldn’t understand, and it was people’s relationships. Even though she was able to converse with other people, it didn’t mean that she could understand what was going on in their minds.
"It is problematic since they don’t really know who they were against. If they just attack indiscriminately, the fear of offending and creating a grudge against another family would appear. Since they didn’t know that Quanzhi Province was already behind Ji An, they would be unnecessarily careful."
"Right... that is possible. I think I can understand what you wanted to say, Manigi."
"Yup." Manigi nodded, then proceeded with the flow he had in mind. "They might think of contacting trustworthy assets of the Northern Continent, but Ji An has already got their necks. Being loyal to the continent would be useless at this point. He became too powerful with the advice Master left and also with Senior Brother Gabriel’s assistance. They both have darkness affinity, right?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
It was making sense now to Insal, and as he gave it a thought, it looked like Lucas was just playing with them. While the emperor was distracted by the wars against other continents, he was slowly taking a large chunk inside.
Corrupting people inside was Lucas’s plan. He was converting their minds to his way of thinking without saying much. At this point, Insal could see that the flow was becoming clear to him.
"Master has arrived." Dashter suddenly said, which took others’ attention. They gazed above, and saw a silhouette in front of the moon, approaching them.
The slaves and normal citizens pointed at him.
"Big Brother Lucas!"
"Master Lucas!"
"Our savior!"
Everyone’s attention, even the people inside the array formation, was gathered on him as his aura reached them as well. They were silent for a moment, staring at him as he gracefully landed.
"Who is he? Is he perhaps the leader of this rebellion?"
Del suddenly stood up from his seat and checked who had arrived. Every other strong cultivator inside also stood up and checked who had arrived. And as Lucas was carelessly leaking his cultivation base, they didn’t know how to react to seeing how Lucas was more powerful than them.
"Why would a cultivator like him have some interest in the Wu region, which was the 3rd lowest region in the province?" Del mumbled as his knee started to tremble from the fear that Lucas had injected into him. Everyone else was also injected with the fear that Lucas was intending to spread.
"An Emperor Spirit Realm cultivator... How does a person like him have some interest in our land? Why would he cause rebellion?"
From afar, Lucas, who was greeting his subordinates and disciples, heard the cries of the people inside. He just smiled and floated to approach them. And as he was in front of them, the shadows that were around him, giving him the attire and look of some monster, just filled their eyes.
Their lips became numb and their heart rate increased. Just confusion and different questions appeared in their minds. Furthermore, the officials that were left have just lost their minds. They were really right that this was impossible in the first place.
"I can see that all of you are worried. However, I want you to be calm since I won’t be killing you." Lucas announced in a static tone. He sounded as if he didn’t have any emotions in his words.
They all lowered their heads and escaped to meet his gaze.
"As long as you don’t disobey me. Or just follow what I say. I will let you live." He added, then swayed his hands at the grand formation, and out of nowhere, the array that was keeping them safe suddenly disappeared.
They gasped, and their chests tightened. They shouted and cried for their lives as they ran away from him.
"I haven’t done anything yet. But why are you too scared of me?" Lucas already knew the answer, but he was just fooling around with them to see who among them were the arrogant or at least confident ones.
Then he swayed his hands more and bars made of shadow appeared. They surrounded them, locked inside as if a cell had just been created for all of them. And as Lucas had just finished with the huge prison cell he created, he opened a portal inside, which was a path to the place where the other expedition teams were.
"A mystical art... but what kind?" Del asked himself and just looked at the portal. However, the calmness he had was detected by Lucas.
