6kv Chapter 12 Demonic Disaster
Chapter 12 Demonic Disaster
Lu Qun was one of his few friends in this world. Practicing martial arts was usually tedious, so Lu Qun would always encourage him and Zhou Xiaoliang at the martial arts school, and they had a deep friendship as classmates.
Therefore, Chen Luo was immediately worried when he thought that Lu Qun might be in trouble.
"I hope he's alright." Instead of going to the martial arts school as usual, he headed straight for the south of the city where Lu Qun was located.
Passing by a shop selling mountain produce, I sold my full basket of game for 280 coins. Combined with yesterday's earnings, it was enough to pay my taxes. With the basket empty, my journey became much easier.
Nearly an hour later, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Chengnan County.
As soon as Chen Luo stepped onto the land at the foot of Nanshan Mountain and glanced in the direction of Lu Qun's house, his heart sank.
Everywhere you look, there is a scene of utter devastation.
Along both sides of the country road, there were more than a dozen houses that had either collapsed into ruins or had gaps in the walls, with broken walls and rubble everywhere.
A long line of disaster victims waited in front of the makeshift shed set up by the county government office to scoop relief porridge, and a faint smell of blood filled the air.
The destruction caused by the Huan beast was greater than he had imagined.
That's almost equivalent to a small-scale beast tide.
Chen Luo frowned and walked quickly along the bumpy country road. As he got closer, his mood worsened.
Lu Qun's house has collapsed.
The beams were charred black, and one earthen wall had completely collapsed, revealing broken bricks and tiles.
On the ground, you could even see mottled bloodstains.
Chen Luo took a deep breath, having already prepared for the worst, and then slowly walked around to the front door of the house.
"Hey, Alo's here too."
Zhou Xiaoliang squatted casually in front of the threshold stone, munching on dried sweet potatoes while nudging the roadside with his elbow and winking, "See? I told you A Luo would definitely come too, right?"
He didn't live in the south of the city, and it seems he came here because he was worried about Lu Qun, and he even arrived faster than Chen Luo.
Hearing the sound, Lu Qun looked up and saw Chen Luo. He quickly waved and said, "Come on, there's a big sack of dried sweet potatoes here. They all got damp last night. They'll go to waste if we don't eat them soon."
"..." Chen Luo looked at the two of them expressionlessly, hesitating to speak.
I rushed over in a hurry, my mind filled with the faded memories of my good brother's voice and smile. But when I arrived, I found the two of them sitting there like nothing had happened, chewing on dried sweet potatoes.
"Come and eat, A Luo, what are you thinking about?" Lu Qun called out again.
"It's nothing."
Chen Luo rolled her eyes at him, squatted down beside them, and casually picked up a piece of dried sweet potato and chewed it. "What's going on? Wasn't there a demonic disaster?"
He didn't say the second half of the sentence, "How come you're still alive chewing on dried sweet potatoes?"
"Don't even mention it." Lu Qun's smile vanished instantly, replaced by lingering fear. "Last night, a ferocious demon cat appeared out of nowhere and killed many people. Luckily, my dad was quick-witted and didn't squeeze into the crowd. He took advantage of the chaos and ran away to a less crowded area, which saved us from disaster."
As he spoke, he said thankfully, "By the way, it's a good thing you didn't come to my house last night, A-Luo, otherwise I really don't want to think what would have happened."
"Was that demonic cat very strong? How come the casualties were so heavy?" Chen Luo frowned.
"It's very strong. It looks only a little bigger than a regular house cat, but it can smash a wall with one paw."
Lu Qun chewed on a sweet potato chip, pointed to the collapsed mud wall of his house, and said in a slightly softer voice, "Uncle Liu from next door took advantage of the chaos to hide in my house, but that cat demon targeted them. I saw from a distance that the beast swung its claw down and smashed this wall like it was made of paper. Uncle Liu and his family also..."
It turned out the bloodstains belonged to someone else; Chen Luo remained silent.
At the same time, this also answered a question that had been on his mind.
He didn't understand at first, thinking that the Huan Beast shouldn't be that strong, since he had killed it with just one level of force and a kitchen knife.
It is now clear that there is a difference in strength between the two Huan beasts.
The beast in the south of the city can smash a wall with one claw; it must be more ferocious than the one he encountered.
He patted Lu Qun on the shoulder, "Don't think too much about it, it's good that you're alright."
"Exactly," Zhou Xiaoliang chimed in with a laugh. "Before I came here, all I could think about were your voices and smiles. I was almost in tears, but look at you, all lively and energetic."
"Do you want me dead or alive, you brat?" Lu Qun spat without even looking up.
"Of course I want you to live." Zhou Xiaoliang chuckled, then asked curiously, "By the way, I heard that the cat demon was killed by a martial arts master from Qingyun Martial Arts School. Did you see it?"
"How could I not have seen it!"
Before Lu Qun could speak, a middle-aged man carrying a sack and whose clothes were covered in mud walked over.
It was Lu Qun's father. Chen Luo and Zhou Xiaoliang quickly stood up to greet him, "Uncle Lu."
"Good, good, good." Uncle Lu nodded and smiled at the two of them, then patted Lu Qun on the head. "See, the ones who rush to your aid in times of crisis are the true brothers!"
"Understood," Lu Qun said.
Uncle Lu then turned to the topic of the martial arts master, his eyes filled with admiration. "I saw that martial arts master from afar. As expected of someone from Qingyun Martial Arts School, that cat demon was incredibly fierce, but that martial arts master was even fiercer! I didn't even see how he made his move, but after four or five punches, the cat demon's head was blown apart!"
Everyone who heard this was filled with longing.
That cat demon could smash a wall with a single claw, yet it was killed by a martial arts master with four or five punches. What power it possessed!
"If only I could have joined the Qingyun Martial Arts School, Liu's little sister wouldn't have died," Lu Qun suddenly said.
Chen Luo noticed that his voice trembled slightly when he said this, and when he looked over, he realized that his eyes had reddened at some point, and he was only able to keep from crying out loud by chewing large mouthfuls of dried sweet potato.
Not knowing who the Liu family's little sister was, Chen Luo could only silently pat her on the back.
"Who lives and who dies is fate." Uncle Lu sighed. "Forget about Qingyun Martial Arts School, you're lucky to even get into the Mountain Guard."
As he spoke, he looked at Chen Luo with concern, "Little Chen, you usually make a living by hunting, so you have to be careful when you go up the mountain these days. I heard that the foothills of several mountains in the southwest and north are not peaceful, wild animals are restless, and many of the mountain guards have been injured. You must be careful."
"I understand." Chen Luo nodded; Liu Zhengshan had reminded him of this before.
Afterwards, he and Zhou Xiaoliang helped the Lu family clean up the burned bricks, tiles, and wooden beams, working until evening.
The house will take time to repair, and it is hard to guarantee that the monsters will not attack again. Lu Qun's family and several other disaster victims will temporarily live in the temporary shacks set up by the county government for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, several acres of land behind their house were not damaged, so they didn't lose their investment.
Furthermore, the Qingshan County government is very experienced in disaster relief, and most of the tax revenue they collect is used for this purpose, so Chen Luo and his group don't need to worry about it afterward.
It was already dark when we left.
It was definitely too late for the evening practice at Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy, so Chen Luo didn't head towards the academy. After saying goodbye to Zhou Xiaoliang at the fork in the road, he went straight home along the country path.
He was still quite heavy-hearted.
Regardless of what exactly happened with that beast, he was deeply worried about his current situation.
Imagine if I had encountered the Huan beast from Nanshan that night, would I have survived by sheer luck?
And if I hadn't gone to register last night, but instead accepted Lu Qun's invitation, would I have already been killed by the demon?
Chen Luo felt that luck played a huge part in the fact that he was still alive.
But instead of feeling fortunate, he felt uneasy.
It's impossible for me to be so lucky as to brush past death every time.
The feeling of not being able to control one's own destiny is truly unbearable.
Chen Luo thought of the martial arts instructor from the martial arts school that Uncle Lu had mentioned, and he had the same thought as Lu Qun.
--strength.
His gaze gradually sharpened.
In this chaotic world of demons and monsters, only those with sufficient power can firmly grasp their own destiny.