Chapter 36: Chapter 26 Land of Dead Silence_1
“To be honest, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Driving the carriage along a desolate, isolated path, the Elf Scout’s tone was filled with helplessness. Currently, they were moving through a barren wilderness. Everywhere they looked, there seemed to be no trace of life. The forest in the distance had long since wilted, and where once there had been farmland, now there remained only dreary, barren soil.
This was the Land of Dead Silence.
Long ago, it was the fiefdom of a noble. At that time, the Earl was facing a crisis of succession. He had only one daughter and no sons, and his brother had a covetous eye on his title and land. Then, a handsome young man approached the Earl, claiming that he was a noble from a distant kingdom, hoping to marry the Earl’s daughter.
Perhaps adhering to the principle of “better an ally than a servant at home,” the old Earl agreed to the young man’s request. As a result, the man married the Earl’s daughter, and smoothly inherited the title of Earl. The old Earl passed away soon thereafter.
However, truth be told, the young man was not a noble, but a vampire. After that, the other members of the Earl’s family either “accidently” died or disappeared, or became the vampire’s minions. Soon, the vampire seized control of the land and became a formidable and horrifying figure.
At the time, the empire was in civil unrest. It was simply a replay of current history, the emperor died, and everyone vied to become the next emperor. Three princes decided to declare themselves kings, thus history didn’t change much.
Seizing this opportunity, the vampire finally bared his fangs. On a dark and windy night, he killed all the people in his territory and turned them all into his undead minions, forming an undead army, and launched an attack on the empire.
Faced with the onslaught of the vampire legion, the infighting empire had finally temporarily set aside their differences to face the common enemy. After all, they merely wanted to become emperor, not the slave of a vampire. Under the premise of a united front, the empire began to resist the vampire’s assault.
That vampire was indeed powerful, with the help of a magical ring, he was immune to any harm. Whether he was beheaded or had his heart exploded, the vampire could revive himself and counterattack in a short time—it seemed he had mastered the art of resurrection despite losing all blood.
Thus, the vampire army made a relentless advance, until they reached the gates of the Imperial City.
However, life often has a way of surprising us. Just as the vampire was about to seize the royal city, his magical ring mysteriously disappeared. Loss of his means of resurrection greatly frustrated the vampire, so he ordered another attack on the royal city. However, this time, he wasn’t successful and was utterly defeated by the empire, done for.
With the principal commander killed, the vampire army immediately collapsed and disintegrated. The empire that had seized the opportunity to counterattack crushed them utterly. After this war, the civil unrest in the empire also came to an end, and the prince who had contributed the most and was most powerful in the vampire war was elected as the next emperor.
To end the war within the empire, a vampire from a far-off land voluntarily delivered his head as a gift, truly a display of self-sacrifice.
After that, this territory became cursed as the Land of Dead Silence. Initially, there were daring nobles foolish enough to attempt to claim this land. But after several nobles met grisly ends here, the rest respectfully kept their distance.
Ever since, this place has been a domain of death. It’s said that the undead turned by the vampire still roam this land, savagely killing anyone who dares to invade their territory.
Hmm… judging from the scene before us, it’s not seeming like a baseless rumor.
It should be noted that undead beings and vampires are actually different races. Even in Soul Cards, undead and vampires are separate. The resentful spirits and ghosts that Duanmu Huai had summoned previously were all undead, while vampires were categorized as undead creatures. Simply put, vampires appear more like a “life form that does not die naturally,” since they need to drink blood to maintain and enhance themselves which is an act of survival.
Therefore, when encountering the Filthy God, vampires aren’t resistant to all poisons like the undead. They only have a higher resistance. Conversely, when dealing with the undead, the followers of the Filthy God are somewhat helpless—viruses and diseases cannot infect bones and ghosts.
In the same way, because of their hatred for life, the undead consistently and ferociously attack any living being that dares to step into their territory.
Indeed, even though the followers of Filthy God are bloated, their skin covered in pus-filled pustules, their bodies emitting a rotten smell that induces vomit, and parasites wriggling inside them like mice swimming delightfully in cheese, they are still considered “alive” and “living entities.”
This was why Duanmu Huai chose this route.
If the Corrupted Believers planned to continue relying on their human sea tactics to hunt them, they would have to risk entering this territory and battle the undead here. After all, they are not proficient in stealthy infiltrations, and without sufficient numbers, they wouldn’t pose a threat to Duanmu Huai and his companions.