Chapter 185 The Darkness Before Dawn (Part )

The moment before dawn is always darkest.

Zhang Shao really didn't like traveling in the dark late at night. Due to his poor visibility, he had tripped over hidden pits three times along the way. Although he had his trusted soldiers following him with torches, in this darkest moment, even the firelight could not illuminate things within two meters around him.

"The canyon is so damn dark at night!" Zhang Shao, who had been pampered since childhood, could no longer endure the harsh environment and cursed. At the same time, Zhang Shao did not forget to turn around and glare at the soldier holding the black sword on the other side.

If it weren't for the unfortunate little soldier named "Fei Yi" who suddenly broke into his military camp at night, he would probably still be in the warm tent, hugging those fresh magic recruits, drinking sweet wine and having fun. Why would he come here in the middle of the night to suffer this?
But despite this, Zhang Shao surprisingly did not get angry. Because, compared to the "energy crystal" he was about to get, he could still tolerate this grievance.
That’s right, it’s energy crystals, and two of them!

When Zhang Shao heard Fei Yi say "After destroying two enemy defense towers, we found two strange red crystals in the ruins", he even thought he had heard it wrong.

Perhaps to the soldiers in the legion, the energy crystal is just a stone shaped like a gem, but to Zhang Shao, the son of a hero who has been exposed to many secrets, its significance is priceless. No, it should be said that this kind of pure energy crystal forcibly extracted from the earth cannot be bought even with mountains of gold and silver!
Zhang Shao was ecstatic, even complacent.

In fact, he had already been chosen as a "candidate" among the heroes. As long as the time was right, he could easily get rid of this weak mortal body.
In this situation, how could he not be overjoyed when he had energy crystals delivered to his doorstep for free? After all, this energy crystal was too precious and rare. Who knew how long it would take to collect all 15 of them?
Zhang Shao once believed that he was born to be extraordinary, but this time, he was even more certain that he was the legendary son of destiny. Everything was done by God, and he could get two energy crystals without any effort. The most important thing was that he didn't have to hand in these two energy crystals because no one would know that he took them!
In order to have fun, Zhang Shao laughed unscrupulously: "Liu Chan who came back from Jixia is really a notorious idiot. He is really a hopeless case, ha!"

From Fei Yi, Zhang Shao learned about the ridiculous act of the peerless demon Lu Bu who abandoned the tower in the battle. He also learned that after Liu Chan broke through two defense towers in the upper lane, he neglected the energy crystal. In Zhang Shao's view, this was simply ridiculous!

"Uh, sir, please be careful with your words." A low voice came from the soldier holding a torch.

As Zhang Shao's confidant, Fan Qiang was used to hearing such treasonous words. However, at this moment, Fan Qiang still reminded Zhang Shao with his eyes that there were outsiders around.
(I guess no one remembers this supporting role, which belongs to the Centurion of the bottom lane legion. See Chapter 130 for details).

Zhang Shao naturally knew what Fan Qiang meant, but even so, his eyes were still full of disdain when he looked at Fei Yi.

The reason why Zhang Shao dared to despise Prince Liu Chan so unscrupulously was not entirely out of arrogance, but a big part of the reason was that Zhang Shao firmly believed that he didn't need to worry about anything in front of these trash.

Humph, what does it matter? These soldiers would never dare to make it public, because anyone who dared to disobey him would always die, just like the soldier named Wang Yao.
As if sensing Zhang Shao's provocative gaze, Fei Yi understood what he meant and bowed and whispered, "I didn't hear anything."

Zhang Shao smiled.

This is a soldier who "knows the times" and he likes him very much.

"You said before, which unit you belonged to?" Zhang Shao asked.

"The 13th main force of the Legion on the road, Corporal Fei Yi." Fei Yi replied respectfully.

"Very good." Zhang Shao nodded with satisfaction. "After we get the crystal, come to the bottom lane and follow me. I will ensure that you will have a lifetime of wealth and glory!"

Fei Yi was stunned for a moment, then said with great joy: "It is my honor to serve you, sir!"

"Lead the way." Zhang Shao raised his hand, very proud.

These soldiers are like this. With a little favor, they can be loyal to you wholeheartedly. To a certain extent, this extremely ignorant nature is indeed very "cute" in the eyes of their superiors.

The three of them continued walking on the dark road, but not long after, Fan Qiang suddenly grabbed Zhang Shao with such great force that he almost dragged Zhang Shao to the ground.

"Asshole, what are you doing?!" Zhang Shao couldn't help but stagger and curse.

"Sir, please calm down." Fan Qiang pointed to the front with a timid look and said, "There seems to be something in front." Zhang Shao was slightly stunned and subconsciously looked towards the endless darkness in front of him. Sure enough, he saw a vague outline, blocking the center of the road silently like a ghost.

"Who is it?!" Zhang Shao shouted into the darkness. He seemed very imposing, but in fact, cold sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

Being in the only light in such a dead silent and dark canyon, Zhang Shao felt very insecure all the time. He even had a creepy illusion that he was about to be swallowed up by the infinite darkness. Then, suddenly there appeared such a thing, who he didn't know whether it was a human or a ghost, and he couldn't help feeling a little scared.

However, what frightened Zhang Shao even more was that in the darkness, "that thing" did not make any sound. It just stayed there, quietly, silently, and motionless.

Driven by fear, Zhang Shao instinctively began to think wildly: Could this be some unclean creature? Would it pounce on someone and bite him as soon as it got close?
The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. Zhang Shao immediately turned around and ordered, "Fan Qiang, go over and chop that thing up to see if it's a human or a ghost!"

"Me, me?" Fan Qiang's face turned pale immediately.

"Useless thing, do you still want me to go with you?" Zhang Shao glared.

"But." Fan Qiang looked at the pitch-black darkness ahead and swallowed hard.

Objectively speaking, the reason why Fan Qiang was able to become a centurion was because he was servile and flattering to Zhang Shao in his daily life, which led to his current status. In terms of courage and martial arts, he was actually not as good as an ordinary soldier.

At this time, Zhang Shao's imaginary picture of "that thing" was even more exaggerated than Zhang Shao's. In simple terms, it was: a green face with fangs, no eyeballs, covered with rotten flesh and worms, and liked to eat people alive.
Fan Qiang didn't want to go over there, but he didn't dare to disobey Zhang Shao's order. Just when he was in a dilemma, Fei Yi, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly came over, bowed and said, "Don't worry, sir, that's my comrade."

As soon as Zhang Shao finished speaking, Fan Qiang, who had just felt a false alarm, immediately cursed: "Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier! You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

What he got was a loud slap from Zhang Shao: "Shut up! You are such a loser, are you worthy of shouting here?"

Even so, Zhang Shao's tone was obviously somewhat dissatisfied, and he said to Fei Yi: "Is your comrade a mute? Why hasn't he said a word for a long time?"

"Young master, please calm down. My comrade-in-arms meant no harm. In fact, he also found the two rubies in the ruins of the defense tower." Fei Yi said.

"You mean, the gem is on him?!" When Zhang Shao heard about the energy crystal, all his anger disappeared and his expression became extremely excited.

"Yes, the journey is long. In order to prevent your precious body from being overtired, I took the initiative to ask him to come here and wait. I hope you will forgive me." Fei Yi said.

"Haha, great! I like subordinates like you who are sensible!" Zhang Shao was overjoyed, and then even walked into the darkness himself, towards the black shadow that he should have been afraid of.

There was indeed only one person blocking the middle of the road, but because it was too dark, the person's face could not be seen clearly. One could only roughly distinguish from the outline that he was a soldier wearing a cloak.

"Where's the thing? Come on, give it to me!" When he got closer, Zhang Shao couldn't wait to ask for it.

After a slight rustling sound, a brilliant red light suddenly bloomed in the darkness!
On the white palm with a little sword callus, two red diamond-shaped gems radiate mysterious and bright red light. In the darkness, they are like flowers blooming in hell, so charming and so eye-catching.
It is an indescribable beauty.

It is also the crystal of the earth that even heroes covet.
　It’s been a long time since I received 1888. Thanks to “Xingchen” for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)