Dragon's Soul Chapter 108: Evolution

Also I forgot to clarify but the one who took over Ran Kaitou's kingdom was the Siwang empire and not the Sai Empire. There was a typo sorry :D

As flickering torch light glimmered in the dark, a wall of blood red eyes stared at Zhang and his men. Hundreds of blood red eyes glowed in the dark while emitting killing intent that suffocated the air.

"Prepare to engage!" Zhang roared as he lifted his halberd up and gripped it with both hands.

­ "Okay let's go." Zhang said as he looked back at the hundred men that had followed him thus far.

The group broke into formation with the hundred men in the center and the newly named Wraith Spiders surrounding them. While Zhang and Silky led the group in the very front.

Once more the group continued onward into the darkness but now it was not they who would be afraid but those who happen upon their path because now Zhang had unleashed his horde of spiders and to make things worse for whoever or whatever shows up, the spiders had undergone a transformation and have become stronger.

As they walked through the sea of dust, every single black and white pearl was collected and presented to Zhang. He did not know what these pearls are called but he could tell that they possessed an uncanny ability that could prove useful to him later on. If anything he could fed these to the next horde of spiders or beasts that come under control. Or maybe he could give them to Yuying and if they are lucky, an army of Jiangshi might be spawned. Nonetheless there was no harm and only good could come from collecting the pearls.

An hour or so later the group was still making its way through the same corridor. Occasionally as the group would run a few humanlike monsters like the boy they had encountered before, but they've yet to run into anything like the wall of flesh or the hundred defective Jiangshi that were chained to the entrance of the corridor.

"My lord, do you think perhaps there is some kind of hidden passageway behind the walls or something? We've been walking for quite sometime now and there have yet to be any turns or other corridors." One of Zhang's men said, breaking the silence that had been instilled for a while now.

"No, I've been scanning the walls with my essence are we walk pass them and so far all that lay behind these walls are solid rock or dirt." Zhang said as he continued walking forward. Thus none of his men asked anymore questions and simply followed behind him.

Roughly after another half an hour of walking, flickering flames could be seen in the distance.  

"Everyone stay on guard." Zhang said as his men drew their weapons and the spiders became more vigilant. Soon the corridor opened up into a large well lit room. The walls of the room were lined with large jars that had talismans wrapped around them, while the floors had dozens of barred pits in them, then there was cloth draped cages that were situated all around the chamber. Lastly there was a mid-sized set of iron gates at the far end of the chamber.

"Spread out and yell if anything of interest pops up." Zhang ordered. His men and the spiders then fanned out across the room. Besides the jars, pits and cages there was also an assortment of furniture and shelves of books that could offer clues to what was being done in this chamber. Perhaps even an answer to the weird creatures that they have been encountering thus far.

Although Zhang had an idea of what had happened, he could never be sure because there were many coincidences in life and just as many unexplainable mysteries.

While the books on the bookshelves were being examined, a loud scream broke out and echoed through the chamber.

"Help me! Something's caught me leg! Help!"

Looking in the direction where the scream originated from, one of Zhang's men could be seen being pulled into a cage that was covered by a white curtain. Dozens of men rushed over to help him but were not able to pull the man free from whatever was pulling him from the other side.

Seeing this Zhang made his way over to the cage and with a sweep of his hand, pulled off the white cloth that was covering the cage. Once the cloth was pulled off, a wall of iron bars with strange inscriptions etched into them was revealed along with group of ten shirtless men inside the cage. One man in partially was pulling on the leg of Zhang's subordinate.

"Let go or lose your arms." Zhang said as he unsheathed his sword. From the things he's seen so far down here, he did not know if these people were still human or if they were human to begin with.

Understanding Zhang's words, the men released his grip and sent a team of Zhang's men who were trying to pull their comrades free, tumbling onto the ground. From this along one could tell how strong the man in the cage was.

"Fr-free, u-us…" The man said, in a voice that belonged to someone who probably hasn't spoken for a long time.

"How do I know if you will attack us or not once I free you? So first you must answer a few questions for me." Zhang said.

Chapter end