Chapter 21: The Desolate Plain.

Yao Jun and Little Gray flew over the plain, they had not spotted any Demonic beasts in the sky or on the ground, but Yao Jun still didn't dare let Little Gray fly at full speed. The plain beneath them was a dry yellow in color, all vegetation that didn't belong to the few scattered forest seemed to have completely withered.

The few forests that were scattered around the plain were all of the same type as the forest located in the valley between the two mountains. Short and thick trees with blackish bark and needle like leaves. Yao Jun could see that some of the scattered forests were covered in a strange white thread, but whenever Yao Jun looked at those forests, he would feel an uneasy feeling, so he did not dare investigate further.

The small town was located quite far from the two mountains, coupled with Yao Jun's slow pace, it was already late in the afternoon when he finally arrived at the outside of the town. The town was even smaller than Yao Jun had originally thought, consisting of only around 30 houses.

The houses were all made out of a mixture of wood and a type of gray mud that made the wood stick to each other. The roofs were made out of wood and covered with the yellow grass that covered the entire plain. The entire town was surrounded by a large wooden fence that towered above even the houses, seemingly acting like a wall around the entire town.

The entrance was a simple spiked gate that could be lowered and raised with a rope mechanism that was located inside the town. Next to the entrance hung a plank of wood with the words ZhiZhu Town engraved.

The town seemed to be completely abandoned. The gate was broken and bent inwards, the fence surrounding the town had been broken and even corroded at the top. The doors to all the houses were completely shattered, some houses even had large holes in the walls.

Some places the ground had irregular round holes, the earth around these holes had turned a bony and powdery white. Dried bloodstains were spread throughout the entire town, signifying that the town had not been abandoned, but destroyed.

Yao Jun slowly wandered through the town, Little Gray following right next to him. His eyebrows were knit together as he swept his gaze around the town, taking in all the sights. There were bloodstains all around the town, but he could not find a single body anywhere.

The bloodstains had dried up long ago, turning a dull brown, so this obviously happened a long time ago. But even if it happened many years ago, there should at least be some bone remnants or decayed bodies, but where was neither. Not only where there no bodies or bones lying around, all the houses were devoid of even the smallest piece of food.

If it were bandits that swept through the town, Yao Jun would be able to understand why there was no food in any of the houses. But if it were bandits who did it, it would not explain why there were no bones or bodies. If it were Demonic beasts that swept through the town, Yao Jun would be able to understand why where were no bones or bodies, as most Demonic beasts often brought their food with them back to their nests.

But if it were Demonic beasts who did it, it would not explain why all the houses had been ransacked and all the food taken. Only the food was taken from the houses, none of the simple jewelry or other items that would hold some value were taken. Even the town's graveyard had been dug up, all the bodies removed from their graves.

Wandering through the town, all Yao Jun felt was a sense of desolation, a dreary loneliness that seemed to seep into his very bones. He quickly finished checking out the rest of the town before climbing onto Little Gray's back and flying out off the town.

Little Gray slowly brought Yao Jun out off the town and into the sky before it gave a few low chirps, even it felt a dreary sense of sadness and loneliness from that town.

“it's fine Little Gray, we won't go to any places like that anymore, and besides, it's already too late for either me or Little Thunder to leave you, we are already connected for life.”

Yao Jun sat down on Little Gray's back and stroked his head as he comforted it. He was connected with Little Gray and Little Thunder through the Garden of Eden, so he could easily understand what they wanted to say, even if they only chirped or roared silently. Yao Jun looked around the plain thinking about what direction to head towards.

Yao Jun had spent some time wandering through the town, so the sun had begun sinking beneath the horizon, slowly darkening the entire plain. In this darkness, Yao Jun managed to spot a small source of light in the distance, it seemed to be a campfire.

Yao Jun nudged Little Gray, and they quickly headed in that direction. They flew faster this time, so it only took them a little more than ten minutes to arrive close enough to the light source to properly see it. Yao Jun was rather surprised upon seeing the light source clearly.

The light source was indeed a campfire, but it was who was sitting by the campfire that surprised Yao Jun. By the campfire sat a lone girl that looked like she was no older than maybe 15 or 16. She had waist long silky black hair, light blue eyes, and healthy skin.

Her face had an elegant and graceful feel to it, the only word Yao Jun could use to describe her was: Beautiful. She had a slim figure with enticing curves, clad in a tight fitting, sleeveless, black robe that seemed to be made out of a strange type of leather.

Just meeting someone on this desolate plain was not enough to surprise Yao Jun, but the girl had several special features that Yao Jun had never seen before. On her back she had two folded wings that were covered in black feathers. There were black scales growing on her arm and around her face, and there was even a black lizard tail growing out from just above her rump, going all the way down to the ground.

Yao Jun didn't have to spend a lot of time thinking to realize that this girl must be from the Demon Race. Demon Race people mostly looked just like normal people, but some could inherit some of the marks of their ancestors. This girl had obviously inherited the likeness of her ancestors, most likely a lizard and bird type ancestor. Yao Jun was also slightly surprised that the scales growing on her body didn't detract from her beauty, but rather gave her a heroic charm.

Yao Jun didn't go forward immediately, he instead kept his distance for a little while, carefully examining the girl ahead of him as well as the area around her. The girl had a cultivation level that was slightly lower than Yao Jun, and there didn't seem to be anyone else lurking nearby. Once Yao Jun was certain that this girl did not pose a large threat to him, he started moving closer.

“Who's there!?”

The girl seemed to have noticed that someone was closing in on her as she quickly pulled a sword out of her interspatial ring and shouted towards Yao Jun. She shouted loudly, but it seemed like she wasn't used to shouting at others as her voice was still very soft and pleasant.

Yao Jun could see that her cultivation was nothing special, about the same as his own, so he had nothing to fear if they ended up fighting. Yao Jun made Little Gray slowly lower his altitude, landing not far from the bonfire.