Incredible Sect Simulator
Chapter 67: Hu Lu Trade Route Attacked

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Hu Lu Trade Route Attacked

As soon as they stepped into the desert’s border, what came into view was an endless stretch of yellow sand, scorching and unbearably dry.

Fortunately, this wasn’t considered a wasteland. Cultivators, with physical conditions far superior to ordinary people, could endure such harsh environments.

Within a huge shrubbery at the eastern desert border, several inns were operating, and their prices weren’t high.

The three of them chose a nearby inn named Hu Lu to stay.

The business at Hu Lu Inn wasn’t too good, very quiet, hadn’t had any customers for several days until Song Minghui and the others arrived, bringing some life to it.

At first, they were not very accustomed to the place since none had lived in a desert before.

They first prepared water and food supplies, got familiar with the environment, and then started to inquire about the trade route with the innkeeper.

Due to the scarcity of guests, only a traveling Loose Cultivator and an Ascetic Monk had visited in these past days, leaving the innkeeper quite at leisure, allowing some idle chats with Song Minghui and the others.

The trade routes weren’t a secret here; a little inquiry got them the answers.

At the eastern border of Yanhuang Desert, there’s a town called East Sand Town, representing this eastern desert area.

Although called a town, it has fewer than five hundred residents, and its size is negligible. Just a few inns coined this name to attract caravan customers conveniently.

In East Sand Town, there’s only one trade route connecting further into the desert, bearing the same name as the inn, Hu Lu.

Talking about the Hu Lu trade route, the innkeeper mentioned some recent happenings on the route, mostly after-meal chatters about its origins and development.

Among them was also the mention of sandstorm beasts attacking trade caravans.

Once they learned that sandstorm beasts indeed appeared and attacked a caravan, Song Minghui and the others knew they had come to the right place.

"Dare I ask, innkeeper, when did these sandstorm beast attacks happen?"

Zhang Nianchuan asked.

The innkeeper, with a flowing beard and spoke impeccable Central Plains dialect, smiled kindly and replied.

"That was more than a month ago. The situation was quite severe, about twenty to thirty members in that caravan, I heard they were from Qi Kingdom, all unfortunately perished at the mouths of the sandstorm beasts."

As he mentioned this, the innkeeper hesitated for a moment before unable to resist asking,

"You three seem distinguished, looking like you’ve traveled from afar, unlike ordinary Loose Cultivators. Could it be that you are descendants of a family or Sect passing through for Experience?"

"I advise you to avoid venturing deep into Yanhuang Desert. The sandstorms and sandstorm beasts within are perilous and not suitable for sightseeing, very dull indeed."

"I am a disciple from Cyan Mountain Sect in Lushan County, Zhang Nianchuan."

"This is my fellow Senior Sister Song, and these two are Senior Brother Lin and Senior Brother Chu."

Zhang Nianchuan introduced simply.

"Cyan Mountain Sect..."

The innkeeper murmured, hearing the Sect for the first time, but didn’t press for more questions.

The conversation didn’t linger on the topic of Cyan Mountain Sect either.

As the discussion went deeper about the sandstorm beasts, the four decided to take initiative, setting out on the Hu Lu trade route to search for these sandstorm beasts.

They waited in the inn for over ten days until a caravan named Datong Trade Team arrived. Zhang Nianchuan and the others, citing unfamiliarity with the route, requested to travel together with the caravan.

The caravan leader was a young Cultivator named Zhang Sihong, at Third-Layer Qi Cultivation. Upon learning that Song Minghui and the others were Sect members with cultivation reaching around Fifth-Layer, he agreed readily, feeling comfortable interacting with them during casual talks.

Recently, hearing from the innkeeper about sandstorm beast attacks on the Hu Lu Trade Route also put the caravan members on high alert, fearing another attack by sandstorm beasts.

With the company of four Sect Cultivators, should they truly encounter sandstorm beast attacks, it would provide some respite. f(r)eew(e)bnovel.(c)o(m)

Granted permission by the caravan, Song Minghui and the others set off with them.

Before departure, Senior Sister Song expressed concern and couldn’t help but remind Lin Han and the others.

"We came here to subdue demons to complete a Sect mission, but as disciples of Cyan Mountain Sect, we must refrain from bullying or dishonoring the caravan’s people, to preserve the Sect’s reputation."

Zhang Nianchuan nodded, "Senior Sister Song is right. I’ll be careful."

Lin Han gave an awkward smile, "No, no, Senior Sister can rest assured."

Chu Qin remained silent, just nodding.

Thus, after just one night, everyone ate breakfast at the inn and set off early.

The Datong Trade Team was transporting a batch of textiles from Guangde County to Longjiang County on the western border of Chu Kingdom.

Longjiang County is on the frontier, bordering Qi Kingdom, with an underdeveloped textile industry, requiring annual imports of textiles from all over Chu Kingdom to fill the market gap.

Guangde County’s textiles are renowned nationwide, which drew Datong Commerce Association into the market.

Merchants are always driven by profits.

"You three are from Cyan Mountain Sect, so we are fellow countrymen."

"I was born in Lushan County, a local of Guangde County. I’ve long heard of the Cyan Mountain Sect’s great reputation..."

Zhang Sihong was quite talkative, adept at omitting the decline of Cyan Mountain Sect, his chatter barely taking a break along the way.

Chu Qin and Lin Han spoke little, mostly in a question-answer manner, luckily Zhang Nianchuan and Song Minghui had a bit of talkative nature, engaging naturally in conversation with Zhang Sihong.

After two days of travel, their relationship grew warmer. Zhang Sihong also shared some interesting stories the caravan experienced, narrating the local culture and business journey.

Along the way, Song Minghui and the others witnessed various wondrous sights in the desert.

Such as small-scale sandstorms, quicksand, and circles of gravel.

The vast desert, with its lone smoke rising straight, and the setting sun round by the long river.

In the beginning, these desert landscapes appeared quite fascinating to the four.

For a few peaceful days, until they traversed a third of the Hu Lu Trade Route, an incident arose in front of the caravan one day.

"Not good, it’s sandstorm beasts!"

The attack came unexpectedly, the member walking at the forefront of the caravan exclaimed in shock upon recognizing the sandstorm beasts.

With his shout, the mortals in the caravan panicked at once.

After more than a year, Datong Trade Team faced another sudden sandstorm beast attack.

There were more than ten sandstorm beasts, their size equivalent to that of a massive bull, resembling lizards in appearance, a type of reptile.

There was no higher-grade Sandstorm Beast King among them, their intelligence was exceedingly low, with overall combat abilities ranging between Third and Fourth-Layer Qi Cultivation.

Being attacked, the caravan was thrown into chaos, and naturally, Song Minghui and the others wouldn’t stand by idly.

The attackers happened to be their target, the sandstorm beasts, and if not strike now, when? free.webn\ove(l)(.)c(o)m

"Attack!"

Zhang Nianchuan took the lead, wielding the Cyan Bamboo Sword to slash into the air, unleashing a brilliant concentrated cyan sword aura, heading towards the nearest charging sandstorm beast.