339: extremely suspicious

Qin Shilei had no choice but to put away the pair of life-sharing jade pendants and continued on his way.

He flew another thousand kilometers, enduring the biting cold wind.

“Master, there are people and insects fighting below.”

Qin Shilei was absorbing crystals with his eyes closed when Little Qiang's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

“Then let's go down and take a look.”

“Understood, Master.”

Little Qiang swooped down quickly, coming to a stop about one or two hundred meters above the ground.

“Master, it's not humans, but zombies and insects fighting.”

“Let them fight among themselves; we don't need to bother. Let's search the vicinity to see if we can find the location of the Space Rift.”

Qin Shilei glanced below, then had Little Qiang search the area where the insects appeared.

In less than an hour, he found the Space Rift in a vegetable field.

It was a Space Rift about five meters in diameter.

Passing through the Space Rift, on the other side was an Insect Valley.

A Gold Beetle was leading hundreds of thousands of beetles, preparing to pass through the Space Rift.

Qin Shilei summoned Glutton, and it easily controlled its kin.

After a series of instructions, Qin Shilei returned to Blue Star through the Space Rift.

He pondered for a moment, then said, “Little Qiang, let's go to Dujiang City and take a look.”

With that, he jumped off Little Qiang's back and rapidly flew towards Dujiang City.

Qin Shilei had no idea that the scene of zombies and insects fighting he had just witnessed was only a very small part of this area.

If he hadn't cut off the source of the insects, it might have somewhat slowed the southward advance of the zombie army.

At this moment, the zombie army was advancing like a broken bamboo, forcing the insects to retreat step by step. It was believed that it wouldn't be long before they completely annihilated the insects in Wuqin County and then marched south to Dujiang City.

Qin Shilei flew over a hundred kilometers and found groups of Evolutionaries appearing underground, coordinating closely to hunt insects.

After flying another few dozen kilometers, a tall city appeared before his eyes.

The Golden Winged Thunder Roc's thirty to forty-meter wide body quickly attracted the attention of the survivors in Dujiang City.

Before long, a team of Chasing Wind Eagles carrying Evolutionaries flew out of Dujiang City.

“Whoosh!”

Upon seeing the Chasing Wind Eagles, the Golden Winged Thunder Roc raised its head and let out a cry, as if to display its kingly status.

As this clear eagle cry rang out, the Chasing Wind Eagles immediately became timid and dared not approach Qin Shilei's side again.

A young man in black armor kicked the Chasing Wind Eagle beneath him and muttered, “Useless coward, someone else's pet cries out and you don't even dare to get close?”

After scolding his pet, he looked up and shouted loudly, “Who goes there? What is your purpose in Dujiang City?”

Qin Shilei replied indifferently, “I am Qin Shilei. I went to a nearby Space Rift. I came over to take a look.”

Qi Pengju's expression changed slightly, and he spoke again, “So it is City Lord Qin, what an honor to have you visit; our Dujiang City is truly blessed by your presence.

I am Qi Pengju, the City Lord of Dujiang City. Please come to the City Lord's Mansion for a discussion.”

With that, he turned and led the way.

Before long, everyone arrived at the City Lord's Mansion in the city center.

After some pleasantries, Qi Pengju said apologetically, “City Lord Qin, I have urgent matters to attend to and must excuse myself for now. I will have Gongsun Xi accompany you to tour our Dujiang City.

I will host a banquet at noon to properly entertain City Lord Qin.”

With that, he summoned a beautiful young woman of superior looks to lead Qin Shilei out of the City Lord's Mansion.

After Qin Shilei had walked away, Qi Pengju and several of his subordinates immediately began to discuss.

“City Lord, this Qin is probably up to no good coming to our Dujiang City.”

“Junhai City and Beian City have both been taken by him; this time, he's probably set his sights on our Dujiang City.”

“Relying on his high cultivation, he goes around snatching others' hard-earned achievements; such a person is the most detestable.”

“Our Dujiang City must be united and force this person to leave.”

Meanwhile, Gongsun Xi, who had received instructions from Qi Pengju, deliberately led Qin Shilei through the city's refugee slums.

She said with a troubled expression, “Our Dujiang City is extremely short on resources; almost half of the eight hundred thousand survivors live hand to mouth.

Our City Lord worries himself sick every day for everyone's stomachs.”

The implication of her words was that Dujiang City was resource-poor, and even if it were taken, it would only be a huge burden, so Qin should not covet it.

Qin Shilei, who had no intention of occupying Dujiang City, did not understand her meaning and thought she was feigning poverty to buy food from him.

So he said, “If your City Lord is interested, I can sell you some grain at an 80% discount.”

“Ah!” Gongsun Xi was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, “I will thank Mr. Qin on behalf of our City Lord first.”

She then began to talk about the complex various forces within the city.

Things like the Eight Great Gangs and Four Major Alliances were all unruly and defiant individuals.

In a word, Dujiang City was a mess, and even if Qin took it, even with great effort, it would be difficult to make this force serve him.

As Gongsun Xi spoke, she led Qin Shilei to the city wall on the south side of Dujiang City.

Pointing to the boundless sea, she said, “Our Dujiang City is close to the sea, and even with tall city walls for protection, it is full of dangers.

Last time, a Golden Realm Tiger Shark almost rushed into our Dujiang City.”

“Golden Tiger Shark?” Qin Shilei's eyes lit up, and he asked, “Is it still nearby now? I suddenly want to taste tiger shark meat.”

“.......”

Damn it, she forgot that this Qin was the number one person on Blue Star; a mere tiger shark couldn't scare him.

Gongsun Xi had no choice but to fabricate, “Golden Tiger Sharks are unpredictable; who knows where it has swum off to now. We truly fear it will appear again someday and rush into the city, slaughtering all of Dujiang City.

Now, we only hope our City Lord can advance to the Golden Realm soon; that way, he can guard Dujiang City and no longer fear the Golden Tiger Shark.

However, in doing so, the City Lord would also be confined here, unable to travel around or seek opportunities for further advancement.”

Qin Shilei said truthfully, “Even if your City Lord advances to the Golden Realm, he might still find it difficult to deal with the Golden Tiger Shark in the sea. In fact, your choice to build a city here was not a very good one.”

“......” Gongsun Xi secretly cursed, “I said this not to belittle our City Lord, but to tell you that even if you take Dujiang City, you will be greatly burdened by this city and ultimately gain nothing.

Do you understand or not?”

Qin Shilei sighed, “For a city by the sea like this, if there isn't a top-tier peerless master guarding it, once sea beasts attack, it could be instantly destroyed with all its people perishing.”

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Xi thought he was expressing a sentiment of 'who else but me can be the City Lord of this city'.

Anger surged in her heart, and she coldly asked, “Does Qin mean that without you, our Dujiang City will be destroyed and its people will perish?”