Chapter 36 - Army of Spirit Beasts
Zhao knew that these slaves had never been to school, yet they finished his command so quickly, lining up in two neat rows. It wasn't worse than what Zhao did in school during his past life.
The slaves queue rate greatly exceeded Zhao's expectations, so he gave them a puzzled look. These slaves had been trained since childhood, standing to attention almost by instinct. When the slaves went to work and then came back, they had to stand in line so they could report the number of slaves. This method was to prevent someone from sneaking away.
But Zhao didn't know this, so when the slaves quickly lined up, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment. But then he recovered, and decided not to think too much about it. "Count!" he said.
The moment those words left his mouth, the slaves instinctively counted off, ending at thirty four. That was to say there were thirty four female slaves, and Lin, the only male slave.
Zhao nodded. "I had just received a message from the hill that a large number of undead spirit beasts have appeared out of the carrion swamp. They're probably coming to the castle, and since there may be a battle, you will have to stay here."
The female slaves couldn't help but reveal a look of fear. If a human army attacked them, they wouldn't be afraid. So long as they didn't resist, generally no one would kill a slave, because a slave could be sold for money. So most of the time, they would be safe.
But this time they were being attacked by undead spirit beasts. Money was no use to them. In their eyes, n.o.bility was no different than slaves. People were people with no hierarchy.
A few more slaves came in from outside, and among them was Daisy. Zhao counted them off, even Daisy, which ended in a total of fifty people. All the female slaves had returned.
Although Daisy and the female slaves had come back, Meg was still out there, probably at the front aiding Blockhead.
Zhao didn't leave the castle. He knew that he would just cause trouble for Meirin, so he might as well wait here.
But that doesn't mean he couldn't do anything. He turned to Daisy and said, "Daisy, from this point on you look after the slaves. Do not let them run around." Then he turned to the slaves. "I want to go get something. All of you listen to Daisy's words. Do not run."
The castle had an underground storage, which was where Green brought all of their supplies, and that was where Zhao went. He loaded all of the supplies into his s.p.a.ce so as to avoid them being ruined by the undead spirit beasts.
The underground storage was really great. Zhao was only there for a moment before he ran upstairs to where the study was. The most important thing were those books.
Green must have brought those books to cultivate the slaves, otherwise why would he bring so many books on magic and martial arts. Those books were very important, they were the key to Zhao's understanding of this world, and they could help train the Buda clan's personnel.
Once he reached the study, he put everything into his s.p.a.ce, including the chairs. The spatial barn didn't really have any limits, and wasn't yet straining with the amount of things he had stored inside.
Zhao had just finished gathering everything from the study when he heard a voice. It was Meirin. Zhao quickly ran downstairs. Meirin was back, and so was everyone else.
Seeing all the people in the castle, Zhao felt a little relieved. "Grandma Meirin, is everyone back?" he asked.
Meirin nodded. "Everyone's back. The castle gate is closed. But I don't know if that would stop the spirit beasts from coming. Master, you should go into your s.p.a.ce."
Zhao shook his head. "There is no need, Grandma Meirin. Let's go outside on the castle walls to get a good look. I have never seen undead spirit beasts before."
Meirin looked worried. "Master, that's too dangerous. What are you planning to do?"
"Nothing," Zhao said. "I just want to go see those undead spirit beasts, particularly their numbers. If there's only a small number of them, we could just repel them."
Meirin was surprised for a moment, but she didn't say anything. It was as Zhao said. She was confident in her abilities, so if there really were just a small number of undead spirit beasts, she could just fight them off.
Zhao waved for Daisy and Ann to come over. "You two, watch over the slaves. Don't let them run around." Having told them that, Zhao walked with Meirin to the castle walls, while Blockhead and Rockhead moved by his side, and Meg was behind him. There was no way to stop them from following him, Zhao was very clear on that. If they weren't following him, then there would be no way for them letting him go to the walls.
Meirin didn't think that the undead spirit beasts were very fast, but to their surprise, when they arrived at the walls, they found that those beasts had already reached the base of the hill.
At the forefront were a group of rat-like things. About one meter tall and three meters in length, with pale green hair and long tails.
Behind them was a large group of snakes!
There were countless snakes, large and small. Some of the snakes were green, some were red, and some were really colorful. The colorful snakes were the largest, reaching a meter thick. They couldn't be trifled with.
Those snakes were followed by a variety of insects. The insects were huge, even a spider was one to two meters wide. Of course, there were also smaller insects, but their every action was flexible and fast.
The insects too were colorful, showing that they were highly toxic. Zhao's heart couldn't help but sink. The number of snakes were more than enough, but there were even more insects than snakes.
By this time, at the forefront, the rats had already reached the castle. Apparently, they could swim as they immediately ran into the moat, instantly turning the water green.
Zhao made an ugly face. He finally understood why there was no fish in the moat. Those rats must have poisoned the river.
Meirin went to Zhao's side. "Master, we should go back. There are too many spirit beasts to deal with."
Zhao nodded and looked up the hill at the army of spirit beasts out there. There was even a crocodile-like spirit beast, brightly colored, and made up of bones.
There were many creatures, large and small, that were made out of nothing but moving bones, and more of them were slowly coming down the hill.
"Master, let's go." Meirin took Zhao away.
But then everything turned black for a moment. Puzzled, Zhao looked towards the sky and saw a lot of spirit beasts flying overhead. Some were flying insects, but others were large bird-shaped spirit beasts that were flying very high. It seemed like the castle wouldn't be able to protect them.
"Hurry, there's an army of flying spirit beasts coming. We have to get back inside the castle to protect the slaves, otherwise it'll be too late!" Zhao shouted.
Meirin saw them too. She immediately shouted, "Blockhead, quickly run back inside the castle and protect the slaves!"
Blockhead nodded. Suddenly, he was shrouded with a yellow light. Moving with a speed faster than before, he quickly ran to the castle. Rockhead picked up Zhao and quickly ran to the castle as well. Although he was fast, he was also stable, so Zhao wasn't jolted around a lot.
A blue light flashed around Meirin's body and she ran as well, her speed not any slower than Rockhead's. Not to mention Meg, also flas.h.i.+ng a blue light, was moving even faster than Rockhead.
Translator Notes: You know, I didn't realize it until now, but I think this is the first time I've read of an MC that is weaker than EVERYONE else.
Translator Notes #2: This chapter was edited from an MTL. Please leave a comment if you've spotted anything that looks wrong.