The Curse Cult

In Lin Lei's era, all soldiers were taught to fight for their lord. They lived for their lord and fought for their lord's survival.

"Centurion Lin, Miss Alice is still waiting for you."

After seeing that Lin Lei had finished arranging his soldiers' defenses and setting traps in various places, Aier led him to meet Miss Alice.

This was the second order Alice had given Aier.

Lin Lei followed behind Aier at an unhurried pace, walking along the thick, smooth walls. Rows of iron statues and candles appeared before him.

Aier turned a corner and led Lin Lei, close on his heels, to a study. After feeling around on the bookshelf, Aier triggered a low scraping sound. The smooth floor beneath Lin Lei slowly slid away, revealing an opening large enough for an adult man to enter.

"Centurion Lin, the path ahead is rigged with traps. Watch where I step and don't stray."

Faced with Aier's stern warning, Lin Lei nodded instinctively. Even someone as powerful as Aier, who was at the Silver rank, took these precautions. If Lin Lei stepped in the wrong place, he could be in serious trouble.

Aier held up an oil lamp, dispelling the fog within three meters of them. Under its light, he walked very slowly. Lin Lei, following behind him, was even more cautious. A journey that should have taken less than five minutes ended up taking ten.

"We're here."

Aier extinguished the lamp he had been carrying and set it against the wall.

The pitch-black passage opened into a brilliantly lit space. To Lin Lei's surprise, it was a vast underground palace with a ceiling more than thirty zhang high. Magic lamps illuminated it as brightly as the palace aboveground.

If Lin Lei couldn't still see the dark passage behind him, he would have wondered whether he was really underground.

There were quite a few people in the underground palace. Judging by their appearance and bearing, they were all experts, at least as strong as Lin Lei.

Lin Lei wondered where Flower Territory had found so many powerful people, but with his meeting with Miss Alice coming up, he soon put the question out of his mind.

They entered the largest palace in the center, which bore the name Green Spirit Palace. With Aier guiding him, Lin Lei soon found Alice inside, hard at work.

The girl Lin Lei remembered as a beautiful, youthful woman with a somewhat forceful personality had vanished over the past month. In her place stood a dashing female general. Her luxurious, comfortable silks had been replaced by cold, hard armor.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and fatigue showed in her gaze. When she heard Aier and Lin Lei enter, she stopped speaking with a man in blue robes and turned to look at them.

"It's been a long time, Centurion Lin,"

Alice said with a smile.

"Seeing you here means you're willing to help defend Flower Territory."

"I wouldn't dare claim that. Being able to help protect Miss Alice is both my duty and my honor."

Lin Lei replied calmly.

"Haha, since you're willing to join us, Centurion Lin, I won't beat around the bush. I'll tell you plainly who our enemy is this time.

"Six months ago, one of a demon's minions slipped into Flower Territory by chance. My father was then fighting Dalaran, so he never noticed the malignant presence. That fellow was able to put down roots and grow stronger here.

"At first, they were only Warlocks from the Shadow Council, a group of evil cultists who traded their lives for power. But a month ago, corpse controllers from the Curse Cult arrived, making the situation even more complicated."

"Miss Alice, do you have a foolproof plan?"

Lin Lei had already anticipated what Alice would tell him. Though he was a little surprised that the Curse Cult of the Scourge Legion had arrived, it was still within reason.

As he remembered it, the Scourge Legion remained under the Burning Legion's control until after the Scourge Legion's second invasion failed. It was no surprise that the Burning Legion's Shadow Council and the Scourge Legion's Curse Cult would work together.

"No."

Alice shook her head and continued.

"Who can guarantee a foolproof plan? We can only fight to the death. We are human, so we must fight these evil creatures."

"If that's the case, then I, Lin Lei, won't fear risking my life. I'm willing to be the spear in Miss Alice's hand and slay these bloodthirsty, chaotic enemies."

Lin Lei gave Alice a knight's salute and made his vow. His voice was not loud, but it rang with conviction. Alice smiled and called to the maid beside her.

"Feiying, take this pouch to Centurion Lin."

As she spoke, she took a small black pouch from beside her. It was only the size of her palm. Lin Lei accepted it with a puzzled look and glanced at Alice.

"There are ten thousand gold coins inside. Consider them a reward for coming to help this time. I'll be counting on you to protect the inner court from here on."

"Yes."

Alice ended her conversation with Lin Lei. With Aier's help, Lin Lei returned to his post with the pouch of coins.

After Aier left, Lin Lei opened the pouch. Sure enough, it held a hundred purple coins, gleaming in the light.

With Lin Lei's current strength, earning money was easy. His monthly salary for serving in the City Defense Department was already five hundred gold coins, not to mention all his other miscellaneous income.

Of course, Lin Lei's expenses were also high. The monster meat he ate each day, along with Red Fire's, took up a third of his income. Then there was the quality fodder Red Hare ate every day, as well as the materials needed to maintain his armor and weapons. After all that, Lin Lei hadn't managed to save many coins.

The ten thousand gold coins Alice had given him would still be a great help. Lin Lei's comprehension of the Yang Jian character card had now reached eighty percent, and actual combat had raised his strength to the second tier of the Silver rank.

After that, it became increasingly difficult to comprehend the Yang Jian character card. The medicinal ingredients required for the body-tempering recipes he obtained from the system grew more precious each time, and Lin Lei found himself in ever greater need of gold coins.

Lin Lei mused to himself, then used a thought to store the little black pouch in his inventory. With danger looming, the money could not serve any purpose just yet.

Meanwhile, Edward led his people to Crouching Dragon Ravine. Beyond this point stretched an uninhabited wilderness of dense forests, home to countless monsters, Ogres, Goblins, Kobolds, and other wild creatures. This was where Edward and his people would begin their sweep.

Edward climbed to the mountaintop, dismounted, and gazed down at the unfathomably deep forest below. He turned to the captain of his guards and said with a sigh,

"It's the annual hunting season again. I wonder if everything will go smoothly this time. According to the adventurers' reports, an Ogre tribe that was defeated farther in has moved here. This year will be harder than usual."

"With the lord here, they're just a bunch of savage creatures. They may be naturally strong, but their intelligence is low. How could they stand against us? You're worrying too much, my lord."

"Perhaps."

Edward sighed. What worried him now wasn't the hunt, but Flower Territory, a thousand li away. After that secret meeting, he had known his daughter was planning something audacious. Unable to bring himself to stop her, he could only allow her to go through with it.

Whoosh!

A dark energy orb shot toward Edward, radiating a powerful surge of energy.

"Protect the lord!"

The guards on watch spotted the orb, and three of them rushed forward, putting their bodies between Edward and the attack.

Boom!

The blast roared. The three guards didn't even have time to cry out before their bodies were torn apart. Severed limbs flew through the air as blood sprayed across the ground and splattered over those nearby.

In the woods some distance away, a figure in black cursed under his breath. "What a shame." Then he quickly changed position.

The sudden chain of events jolted Edward out of his distraction. Seeing the guards dead before him, he felt a surge of fear, then let out a furious roar.

"Who was that?"

Edward used his power to sense the energy left behind.

"It's necromantic energy! Guards, search the area! We must catch that disgusting necromancer rat!"

Edward raised his greatsword and was about to head into the forest below when countless dark figures began appearing around them.

"Skeletons! Undead!"

"What's going on? Are we surrounded?"

"What do we do? They're everywhere! We've been ambushed!"

Everyone began talking at once. Some of the more timid mercenaries trembled all over. Anyone would feel uneasy at the sight of creatures risen from the dead.

Edward stopped in his tracks, calmly watching the Undead that had suddenly appeared around them. As a lord, he could tell that something was seriously wrong.

First, a necromancer had attacked him with a spell. Then thousands upon thousands of Undead had appeared. All of it told him the same thing: this was a blatant ambush, an attack long in the making.

Reason told him that it would be best to sacrifice most of his forces and break through in the direction they had come from.

Edward looked at the soldiers beside him, waiting for his decision. Their bright eyes were filled with a longing to live. Remembering the soldiers who had just sacrificed their lives for him, he resolved to fight the Scourge Legion.

"Everyone, form a defensive formation! Look closely at those skeletons in front of you. These filthy Scourge mages have desecrated human corpses! We'll avenge the defiled dead, and the comrades who just perished!"

Edward shouted. His resolute voice and imposing figure snapped the soldiers out of their panic. As they watched the approaching Ghouls, skeletons, and zombies, their fear gave way to anger—their fury at the enemies who had desecrated the dead.