Nightmare Light

Chapter 296 Before the Grave
A few hundred meters away, nestled among the mountains, a silhouette of undulating hills stretches out. The weathered ruins still faintly reveal the shape of the city walls, while the collapsed beacon towers have lost their shape and blended into the mountains.

If you don't look closely, you really can't tell that it's an ancient city.

Lin Wang looked at the ancient city and remained silent for a few seconds.

Even the most fortified ancient cities will gradually disappear in the wind and sand.

War... Divine calamity... Cracks in the sky...

Will the civilization of this world suffer the same fate as this city?

"Boss, shall we go up the mountain?" Dog asked him.

Lin Wang took a breath: "Let's go up the mountain."

……

Standing at the foot of the mountain and looking at it, the ancient city on the mountain doesn't seem very large.

But when they got up the mountain, they discovered that this ancient city, located halfway up the mountain, had maintained its considerable size despite the many years of wind and sun exposure.

This is a city with certain military functions.

In the city, weathered rock walls form pathways, with firing ports and trap holes scattered throughout—the flaps above the traps are broken, and the barbs inside are rusted and weathered.

"This place is more like a military fortress than an ancient city," Tian Taozi muttered. "Shuofeng City, who was it built here to defend against?"

“History records say that Shuofeng City was originally built to defend against the Northern People… but I think this is a falsified history,” Dog Brother said. “Because in ancient times, the three races lived together—this city was probably built to defend against the Mist Spirits.”

Lin Wang interrupted their discussion: "Don't forget our main mission—to find the entrance to the Divine Blood Cult."

The two nodded in agreement.

They split into three groups: Lin Wang and Tian Taozi went one way, Gou Ge and his companions went another, and Cang Ze floated alone, in charge of the third group.

"It seems that a very fierce battle took place in this city back then."

Tian Taozi looked around at the surroundings and spoke.

She found several badly rusted arrowheads on the ground and saw some marks left by hacking on the wall.

Although hundreds of years have passed, the rocks are still solid and bear traces of the fierce battle that took place there.

What happened in this city back then?
"Boss! Come take a look!"

The two rushed towards the sound and saw Dog Brother and the mercenary standing at the entrance of a very tall building.

It was a "fortress barricade" with obvious military functions: sturdy beacon towers and street fighting capabilities, thick walls all around, and a small entrance and exit: when the enemy attacked from the entrance and exit, they would face the problem of not being able to deploy their battle lines.

Of course, these "street fighting barricades" usually have underground spaces to prevent them from being unable to escape when surrounded or attacked by the enemy.

"Boss, you need to take a look at this."

Dog pointed inside the barricades, his expression somewhat grave.

Lin Wang walked into the barricade. Sunlight shone through the observation hole into the barricade, condensing into several beams of light. In the light, Lin Wang saw several things.

Slightly further out is a small grave consisting of a pile of stones, a pile of heavily rusted metal—presumably a weapon—and several pieces of severely weathered bones.

“This is…” Although Tian Taozi is usually loud and boisterous, she became much more serious at this moment.

“This was a soldier back then,” Lin Wang said softly.

They walked a few steps toward the small grave.

Lin Wang squatted down and saw writing on the ground beside the grave—someone had carved these words on the stone.

My name is Lin Dahai.

I am the assault officer of the 32nd Company, 125th Battalion, Northern Legion.

My comrades and I were responsible for the rearguard action after the residents evacuated. When I carved these words on the stone slab, my comrades were already dead. I am this barricade, perhaps the last soldier in Shuofeng City.

With mist spirits surrounding me from all sides, I had no way to break through.

Fortunately, our efforts were not in vain.

The residents all evacuated Shuofeng City—

I will die, but humanity will live on.

Lin Dahai, a native of the North, died here in the 230th year of the imperial calendar, fighting against the Mist Spirits and protecting the citizens.

"He's also from the North? Boss, he's the same as you, with the same surname..." Dog Brother was taken aback and suddenly turned to look at Lin Wang.

"Lin is a very common surname among people in the North." Lin Wang shook his head. "That doesn't prove anything."

"Lin Wang! Over here!" Tian Taozi suddenly called out.

Where Tian Taozi was standing was a staircase leading directly underground. When the sheriff shouted, she had already run to the next floor.

Lin Wang and Dog Brother followed, and then, on the next level, they saw—more graves.

Fifteen skeletons were neatly arranged in a row, covered by mounds of earth and stones. Their clothes and weapons had weathered and rusted. Only some of the skeletons, protected by the power of the layman, had not completely decayed. In the passage of time, the wind and sand and the dim light, they awaited visitors to uncover their stories.

Lin Wang lit a ball of white fire, and with the help of the firelight, they could see, unsurprisingly, the inscriptions on the stone slabs beneath the bones.

The inscriptions on the first few corpses were different, but on the last few corpses, the inscriptions became the same—they were all carved by Lin Dahai.

Wu Jie, a member of the Zhu clan, is the flag officer of the 32nd Squadron.

Shan Zhanxiong, a native of the north, from the 32nd Company...

Han Kang, a member of the Candle Clan, 32nd Squadron...

Cui Baisui, a member of the Wu tribe, from the 32nd Squadron...

……

The fifteen soldiers of the 32nd Squadron lie here quietly; some are Candle Clan members, some are Northerners, and some are Mist Clan members.

“Three clans…” Dog Brother opened his mouth.

"Yes, the three clans, they originally had no hatred for each other."

Lin Wang remained silent, staring at the corpse on the ground, a scene seemingly appearing in his mind—

One day, hundreds of years ago, the mist spirits enveloped this place.

After many days of fierce fighting, one warrior after another fell. Finally, a tall northern warrior, holding a broken sword in one hand and dragging the body of his last comrade with the other, went to the basement and covered him with bricks.

After giving his comrade a simple funeral, the tall northerner returned to the top of the barricades.

He carved his story into the bricks and stones, then brandished his sword at the endless mist spirits until he was overwhelmed by them.

“This is a warrior,” Dog said.

“They are all warriors.” Lin Wang said, then suddenly took a step forward, conjuring a ball of ice on the ground to cover the characters.

Lin Wang lifted the ice, and thus he obtained rubbings of Lin Dahai's words.

He put away the rubbing, then picked up a small stone and placed it on Lin Dahai's grave.

"The younger generation will remember your stories."

"Human beings will also live on forever."

(End of this chapter)