As dawn approached, the road gradually widened. The wheels ground against the imperial road, much steadier than the dirt path they had traversed during the night. Bo Er held the reins loosely while Dunn huddled to the side, the three of them chatting idly.
Heading east meant entering the imperial heartland. Bronze City sat on the far western edge of the empire; the further inland they traveled, the wider the roads became, and theoretically, the fewer eerie threats they should encounter.
A long train of vehicles followed behind them—over a dozen large carriages filled with people. Driven by the residents themselves, the carriages followed one after another. Most of the people, who had been dragged from their beds before dawn and hurried onto the wagons, were still in a daze.
Some leaned over the sideboards to gaze back at the city receding into the distance, while others whispered to their neighbors, asking where they were going and if it was safe. A child cried out twice before being silenced by an adult’s hand and pulled into a tight embrace. No one, however, dared to cause trouble.
Sitting in the lead carriage, Lu Yuan’s gaze drifted toward the west. The city had long since vanished from view, but half of his heart remained there. He wondered if Kraus, Margaret, and the “Hope” in C-District would be able to hold the line.
“Captain Lu,” Bo Er said, likely noticing Lu Yuan’s distraction. “Rest easy. The further inland we go, the more peaceful it gets. This road is flanked by settlements on both sides. Even if something does pop up, it’ll just be some low-level trash.”
He grinned and added, “The empire has regulations for these imperial roads. Nearby towns send patrols regularly, and the road is maintained. It’s much better than that wilderness trail we took to Gubo Town last time.”
Dunn chimed in from the side. “Back in Gubo Town... things in the forest were always wandering out.”
“That’s because that damn forest of yours was cursed,” Bo Er dismissed. “This road is lined with villages and towns. It’s different.”
Lu Yuan nodded in agreement but didn't entirely believe it. The “peace” Bo Er spoke of was built on ignorance. Bo Er didn't know the rank of the entity beneath the city, but Lu Yuan did. He started to speak, then swallowed his words.
After traveling a bit further, obstacles appeared across the road ahead. Several wooden stakes were linked by a rope, with two freight wagons parked by the roadside. Men in grey-white robes stood guard on either side—people from the Church.
Bo Er slowed the carriage and sat up straight, the lightness leaving his face. “At this hour, the Church is still out here manning checkpoints?” he whispered, his brow furrowing. “Just like the one we hit on the southern road last time.”
Lu Yuan didn't respond, but his heart chilled. With such chaos in the city, the Church hadn't recalled their people; instead, they were spreading their checkpoints even further. He and Bo Er had seen the southern one themselves, rumors of the northern one had spread long ago, and now even the eastern road was blocked. Every direction was covered. This was a net woven long ago, just waiting for something to leak out of the city. Lu Yuan suppressed these thoughts, his expression remaining neutral.
An older Church guard stepped around the wooden stakes and approached. He first glanced at the horses’ halters, then at the seal on the side of the carriage, before finally looking at the passengers.
Lu Yuan pulled out his Nightwatcher badge and handed it over. The guard scanned the patterns on the badge, then paused to look at Lu Yuan’s face. Black hair and black eyes—he was the only one like that among the Bronze City Nightwatchers, making him easy to identify. The guard’s hand moved away from the weapon at his waist, and his shoulders relaxed. “Alright, move along.” He gestured toward the back for the stakes to be moved.
The rope was untied, and the stakes were dragged aside. Before they left, the guard added one more thing, his voice cold, short, and carrying a peculiar cadence.
“The Angel warns that the road ahead is not peaceful. Exercise caution.”
He didn't look at the convoy again, simply waving them through.
During the delay, the convoy behind them had grown restless. Some parents clutched their children tighter in fear, while others were relieved to see it was the Church. Ordinary people placed their faith in the Church’s ways; an old woman leaned out of her carriage and made a prayer gesture toward the guard. The Church had only recently arrived in Bronze City, yet they had already established such a wide presence.
The carriages passed through the gap one by one. Lu Yuan looked back at the checkpoint. The Church members hadn't dispersed; they stood there watching the convoy disappear, their gazes heavy as if they were watching for something—or waiting for it. His sense of alarm sharpened.
An hour passed after the checkpoint without incident. Just as the thought that they might actually deliver everyone peacefully crossed Lu Yuan's mind, a line of grey-white text popped up in the corner of his vision for the first time.
【Environmental Perception: Low-level pollution source detected, low-level eerie...】
Lu Yuan froze, looking at the woods on either side of the road. Deep within the distant, dense forest, where ancient trees stood close together, hazy silhouettes drifted and flickered between the gaps. Their eyes were a ghastly white, and even from this distance, he could smell a nauseating stench.
【Target detected: Lost Ones】
【Spirits formed from travelers who died after becoming lost in the Forest Seed Wilderness. They carry intense regret and resentment. Perhaps the shouts heard in the wilderness aren't human after all...】
【Weakness: Fears any holy aura; fears those with strong willpower.】
Lost Ones? Lu Yuan felt a bit more confident after reading the description; clearly, these things weren't very powerful. The residents in the carriages hadn't noticed yet, still dozing off. But as the figures in the forest increased, the Nightwatchers began to tense up one by one. The atmosphere shifted abruptly, and the residents finally began to panic, craning their necks to look toward the woods, whispering questions about what was there.
Lu Yuan grabbed the communication inscription array next to his seat and barked an order. His voice carried through the runic patterns to every Nightwatcher carriage.
“All units, listen up. Increase speed. Keep the line tight and do not stop for anything. Watch every direction and report any movement immediately.”
He didn't intend to open fire. Those figures were far off in the woods and showed no sign of charging the convoy; there was no need to provoke them. The real danger was noise. If they made a racket, every drifting entity in this forest would be drawn to them. Better to just push through quietly.
Once they cleared the forest of Lost Ones, the convoy resumed its normal pace, and no further incidents occurred for a while. However, the grey-white text didn't stop. Low-level pollution and low-level eerie entities were everywhere, popping up one after another. Since passing the forest, the notifications had been constant. Lu Yuan couldn't tell which ones to take seriously, and since they were all non-threatening, he simply let them flicker in his peripheral vision and focused on the road ahead.
The convoy moved steadily eastward along the imperial road, over a dozen civilian carriages forming a long, swaying line.
Suddenly, a dull thud and a crunch echoed from the middle of the convoy.
Lu Yuan spun around. A civilian carriage had collapsed halfway into the ground, as if something beneath had physically dragged it down. The carriage was tilted, half-buried in the roadbed. A mass of greyish-yellow, mold-like mycelium crawled out of the sinkhole and onto the wooden floorboards, wrapping around it in coils.
The two horses pulling the wagon hadn't fallen in. Their hooves beat against the road as they whinnied and strained to pull forward, but the carriage was locked in the grip of whatever was below and wouldn't budge. The people inside were stunned for a moment, unable to react. Then, a woman’s scream pierced the air, followed by a cacophony of panicked cries.
In the surrounding carriages, people poked their heads out. “What happened?” “Should we stop?”
Lu Yuan saw the situation clearly, and his heart sank. The lead carriage had passed safely, but the civilian carriage immediately following it had collapsed. There was something underground. It had let them pass, choosing instead to target the defenseless residents.
He patted Bo Er’s shoulder. “You guys go ahead.”
Bo Er grunted in response, and he and Dunn vaulted out of the carriage, sprinting toward the sinkhole.
Lu Yuan grabbed the communication inscription array and spoke into it, his voice reaching every civilian carriage. “Everyone, stay calm! We are handling it. No one is to get out of their carriage. I repeat, do not get out of the carriages!”
The crying subsided slightly. Lu Yuan jumped off the lead carriage and rushed toward the collapse. By the time he arrived, several other Nightwatchers had already surrounded the sinkhole.
The mycelium was still climbing the carriage, the greyish-yellow filaments layering on top of one another, making a faint scratching sound as they gnawed at the wood. Fortunately, several inscriptions were carved into the carriage. Those patterns still glowed with a faint light; the mycelium bypassed the inscribed areas, unable to bite through for the time being.
Emerging from the sinkhole along with the clumps of mycelium were several entities that barely maintained a humanoid shape. They were brownish-yellow and soft, with pus seeping from beneath their flesh. As they crawled upward, they reached out toward the people in the carriage, crying out in garbled voices, “Help me... pull me up...”
Some residents panicked and tried to climb out the windows, only to be pushed back by the Nightwatchers outside. “Don't move! Stay inside!”
Lu Yuan stood his ground, his eyes scanning the writhing greyish-yellow substance at the edge of the sinkhole. Grey-white text appeared.
【Target detected: Sinking Ones】
【A specialized fungus that sinks into the ground and transforms its victims into puppets. It appears to possess a strong infection capability.】
【Weakness: Fire.】
The weakness was clear. Lu Yuan drew the revolver “Flame” from his waist and flicked the cylinder, chambering a copper-cased incendiary round.
He aimed at the mass of mycelium at the edge of the sinkhole and pulled the trigger. Bang. The incendiary round exploded, a tongue of fire sweeping across the ground. The greyish-yellow filaments curled and burned into charred ash. He fired three shots in rapid succession, hitting different spots. The fungus spreading across the ground shriveled and retreated, emitting trails of blue smoke.
At that moment, a young man in the carriage lost his nerve and tumbled out of a window. “Don't come down!” The Nightwatchers’ warning came too late; the man had already landed near the edge of the sinkhole.
Dunn, standing at the outermost edge of the collapse, was the closest and managed to grab the man’s arm.
But the filaments beneath the carriage sensed the change. They couldn't bite through the inscribed carriage, but they had found two pieces of fresh meat dropping down from above. The greyish-yellow threads suddenly released their grip on the bottom of the carriage and surged toward Dunn and the resident’s feet, coiling around their calves to drag them underground.
Lu Yuan wasn't about to let that happen. The revolver spun again. Three shots rang out in quick succession. The incendiary rounds exploded against the ground, the fire chasing the filaments. The mycelium curled violently in the heat, carbonizing and releasing its grip on their legs. The remaining residue retreated beneath the sinkhole, never daring to show its face again.
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