Dark King

Faintly, Dudian once again touched old man's corpse. Even though there was fear in his heart, he was not as nervous as he had been previously. He fumbled the robe. He found two objects in the wrinkly robe.

He took out the first object and lifted towards the sky to identify it under the star light.

It was a small sickle used to ignite fire.

Dudian's heart was pleasantly surprised. He tried hard to use the friction from fire sickle to ignite a small torch. Soon a small fire lit up the darkness. He clearly saw the old man's fractured arm from the elbow. The ribs of his chest were blown apart and the rest was charred.

Dudian's heart beat fast. He confirmed that old man's chest didn't undulate anymore so he felt much more relieved. There were papers scattered on the ground while pieces of the cloth worn by old man were missing because of the explosion.

As the fire became bigger, Dudian could see the appearance of the chamber after the explosion. All kinds of equipment were knocked to ground and damaged. Some of the things were buried under the sand which had flowed in from the outside. He looked at the crossbow which had its drawstring snapped. Obviously, it could not be used anymore.

Dudian's mind was in distress. He was preparing fire to completely burn down the underground chamber. Suddenly he saw spotted few books on the other side of the chamber. He went closer to the book shelf and the first book that caught his attention was named 'Alchemy of Life'.

In addition to 'Alchemy of Life', there were several alchemy books. There was a small manual with no name imprinted on it. He took it up and opened it.

"Alchemy Notes?" Dudian was surprised. He checked the content of the manual. It was actually the old man's alchemy diary.

"Giant wall calendar. Year 287. The Black Snow Season."

"Today's experiment is progressing smoothly. Sure enough to create life I have to use humans as experimental materials. The problem is how to find the perfect material..."

Dudian rolled the pages, there were some records of the experimental process and other events. He didn't look in depth, instead he hid it under his cloth. As for the 'Alchemy of Life' and the other books, he simply skimmed through. Although the books had impressive sounding titles but they all give the feeling of primary level biology books.

He did not take these books as they were too thick. It would be hard to hide and they would be easily exposed. From the old man's actions he knew that alchemy in this world didn't have a good reputation. Or else he would not hide in this desert to secretly do experiments.

Dudian ripped the books, threw them on the flames, and fed the fire. He threw the rest of the books on the body of the old man. Later on, he found the oiler, which fell to the ground, and poured the oil unto the old man's corpse. The first thought in his mind was to destroy everything.

As the fire spread, Dudian ascended the wooden staircase he had previously rolled down from. He climbed out and peered back into the hole. From the gap he could vaguely see the reflection of fire. He had a hint of melancholy for a moment. He sighed, turned and ran along the route towards their camp.

He came back to see the fire pit still burning but couldn't find Mason and the other two.

Dudian refused to sit down and rest, dragged his exhausted body around the ground looking up. Soon he saw traces of traction, and immediately followed the sand marks. In a distant he saw a shadow moving.

As he got the closer he saw Zach dragging Mason and Sham.

"Wasn't he affected?" Dudian was confused. Then he thought back. Zach had always been a cautious character. Most probably he played possum (pretended to be dead) the same way as Dudian had also done.

Dudian's heart warmed as he saw Zach struggling to drag Sham and Mason. He tied Alchemy Notes onto his leg with a belt and went after the Zach.

"Who?!" Zach jumped in fear as heard the sounds. He released Sham and Mason and nervously bent over to grab sand.

"It's me," said Dudian.

Zach heard Dudian's voice. He was surprised, "You come back? Are you alright? What happened to that monster?"

Hearing this, Dudian understood that Zach had secretly watched him and the old man while they fought. Moreover he had seen the mutation: "I'm lucky to run away. We should leave quickly." He grabbed Mason's arm and saw him still breathing. He was relieved to know that the green fog was not a lethal toxin.

Zach's face turned white because of fear. He could not help but look behind Dudian as if the monster was gazing at them from the darkness. He shivered and grabbed the Sham and said in hurry, "Run... Let's not get caught again!"

Dudian dragged Sham while trailing in the back. The water was sufficient in that place. Although the old man was dead, but there was no guarantee that there won't be other alchemists who would come to visit the watering hole. When they find the next water source, at least he would be more experienced.

...

...

Half an hour later.

Above the old man's secret chamber, few shadows appeared. The shorter one pulled out a small oil lamp and lit the fire. He looked through the gap down to the chamber. He saw burning fire inside the messy room.

"He has been killed." One of the shadows said, a graceful figure seemed to see what had happened. Her voice was full of chill as she continued: "The corpse is ruined. The den is burnt. It seemed that they didn't want use to leave any clues."

"These beasts and their vicious methods. They are really the apostles of the devil." Another burly figure gloomily said.

"The alchemists have long sold their souls to the devil," he said, "to attain the power of the devil at all costs. Killing each other is nothing for them. But they should not fight with each other for no reason. I think there was something very important that made them fought each other. It would been better if we had arrived earlier."

"Look there! What kind of force was released in here could instantly destroy it?" The previous graceful figure was pointing inside the burnt chamber, and the collapsed gap, and added on, "It seems these alchemists have terrible devil power. "