Chapter Ten: The Silent Sewers

You can’t expect fresh and pleasant air in the sewers, not even in winter.
For Neo, his nose was more of a burden in such places—it wasn’t just about stench; there was a real risk of passing out at any moment.
More unbearable than the pungent odor was the narrowness of the sewers. Who the hell designed them? One couldn’t even stand upright—walking forward was extremely uncomfortable.
Here, there were only two zones: the shallow sludge area and the deep sludge area. Areas up to mid-calf were considered shallow, while those up to the thighs required strenuous wading. Cold sludge, cold sewage—what else? Well, cold air and frost-covered walls.
There were places with ice formations, usually near the drainage grates leading to the surface. Relatively speaking, Neo preferred such places; he could straighten his back and relieve the oppressive feeling of being buried under tons of soil at any moment.
Leaning against the wall covered in ice curtains, his armored pack kept him from the cold, but it didn’t warm him. His clothes were dirty and wet, and the biting cold seeped up his legs, making him shiver repeatedly.
Although it was night, it was still much brighter outside than in the sewers. Of course, the open space above was what Neo longed for most at this moment.
Wolves were free as the wind; the wilderness and forests were their home. Growing up in human society hadn’t erased their memories of their homeland; on the contrary, it made Neo crave even more the freedom of running through the mountains and forests.
“I’ve never betrayed…” It sounded like a confession as well as a vow, filled with weight in Neo’s low murmurs.
People called him ungrateful, a wolf pup that couldn’t be tamed, and eventually labeled him a traitor.
Was it only by endlessly satisfying others’ utilitarian demands, without complaint, until dying in battle or in a leaky shack, that one could be considered loyal? Did one have to sacrifice one’s life to show gratitude?
The searing pain from the burn on the bottom of his left foot, soaked in sewage, made Neo grit his teeth—almost like a sneer. “Creating value is important, but compared to being forced to submit completely, it’s negligible! The authority of nobles, the authority of those in power… Hah! But I’m a wolf, not a dog!”
Sometimes, at the right moment, one would understand certain things through some kind of realization. Neo finally figured out why he had been convicted of a capital crime and given the label of “rebel.”
He touched the cut on his right side near his waist. The blood had already clotted, but it still hurt badly with any movement. His innate ability as a “wolf bloodline” allowed him to recover quickly from injuries, but it required mental and physical energy. At this moment, Neo preferred to endure the pain rather than use it.
While resting, he thought carefully. He had originally planned to spend the coldest midnight by the fire, but now that plan was ruined. If the enemies were just Evil Fire puppets, he might have considered going back. But with the dark forces being numerous and the commotion in the commercial district having caused too much attention, Neo felt there was no need to take such a risk.

As for the sewage channel, it wasn’t part of the plan from the start. Seeing those damaged iron grates only reinforced Neo’s belief that he shouldn’t stay here for long. Such a “secret passage” was far too obvious; the dark forces surely wouldn’t overlook it. Neo was even convinced that deadly traps were set within this sewage channel.
“If it were me, I’d place them in the middle to front section of the sewage channel—nothing too elaborate. Just extinguish fires, cause suffocation; whoever dares enter will die.”
The so-called middle to front section referred to the area relative to the sewage outlet leading outside the city. When Solth City was under magical lockdown, aside from brute force, the only option was to dig tunnels, which was clearly less efficient than using the sewage channel.
Both sides could easily imagine that the struggle would be fierce, but overall, the defenders had the upper hand. Even so, it couldn’t just be a matter of setting traps here; the dark forces had most likely deployed highly targeted magical beasts.
Considering all this, Neo didn’t go too deep into the sewage channel after re-entering it. He remained cautious and alert at all times, fearing encounters with magical beasts set up by the dark forces or falling into traps.
Gurgle…
A deep, throaty sound, like that of some wild beast.
Sounds in the sewage channel could travel far, seeming to come from all directions, causing fear and leaving one at a loss as to what to do.
Followed by a series of strange noises—unclear whether they were “slaps” or “whooshes”—as if coming from jumping or moving through mud. They were rapid, but their source couldn’t be determined.
After about a minute, the strange noises suddenly stopped. Then, from deep within the sewage channel, a dark shadow drifted like a ghost. It only became clearer as it approached the leaking grate, illuminated by light—it was a demonized Floating Beast.
Low to the ground like a dog, sturdy like a lion, with a shark’s head and crocodile’s tail, covered in shiny needle-like fur, the Floating Beast was said to date back to the Age of Gods and Demons. It could tear apart demonic lions and fierce tigers. Though times had changed and no creature was as ferocious as in ancient times, the Floating Beast remained a nightmare. It preferred remote waters and had no habit of migrating, so it wasn’t as well-known as wolves, tigers, or leopards.
The Floating Beast was already fierce, and after being demonized, its nature became even more brutal and bloodthirsty. Coupled with the cunning of aquatic carnivorous beasts, this explained the ghostly approach.
Suddenly, two glowing blue sapphires appeared in the darkness—those were the eyes of the demonized Floating Beast. Its dark vision was enhanced, reaching 120 yards. But even more remarkable was its sense of smell, allowing it to easily detect the scent of creatures from 500 yards away. The earlier “throat growls” were due to it detecting Neo’s presence.
The sewage channel was silent, with only the sound of wind passing through the leaking grate. The structure of this section was simple—one end led to where the demonized Floating Beast came from, and the other led into a dark, endless path. It was empty, with not even a ripple in the water.

The demonized floating beast continued to move forward slowly. When it approached the entrance of the drainage channel, it paused briefly before shooting out abruptly, landing right below the entrance. With its gaping maw, it stared upward.

There was still nothing there—a rectangular opening no more than 1.5 meters long and 1 meter wide, completely empty. Light from the surface seeped through the slits in the drainage barrier. Even without the demonized floating beast, a normal person, once accustomed to the darkness of the sewage tunnels, could easily tell if any creatures were hiding there. Moreover, if there were larger creatures, they would block the light from the surface. In such darkness, light was the most sensitive indicator—hiding in such a place would be foolish.

A target that had been clearly visible for over ten seconds suddenly disappeared like that. The demonized floating beast stayed for a while before turning and striding away through the mud.

More than ten seconds passed, and the area around the drainage channel remained silent and empty.

Another ten seconds later, the demonized floating beast returned, like a ghost. Its gleaming eyes opened again as it scanned the surroundings carefully. It even sniffed, but finding nothing, it finally left in frustration.

Three full minutes later, near the front, directly below the entrance, the muddy water rippled, and gradually a human figure emerged. Then, Neo slowly sat up.

To facilitate sedimentation and cleaning, each drainage barrier was set below the bottom of the sewage tunnels. Neo hid there, relying on the sounds made by the demonized floating beast. He guessed that the beast, accustomed to moving freely through the muddy terrain like a raft, rarely paid attention to the muddy layer beneath and would not dive down unnecessarily.

Although the fierce beast had gone far away, Neo didn’t dare stay any longer. Who knew how many monsters those devils had unleashed in this sewage system? This wasn’t meant for him at all. It was better to let the Videnis wolves stationed in the southern suburbs of Solis City deal with them.

Feeling his way along the cold, indented edges of the entrance, Neo silently climbed up. The entrance was only about 3 meters high, so he reached the top quickly.

Earing out for any sounds, Neo gently pushed one end of the drainage barrier.

The barrier was made of black iron—a luxury elsewhere, but Solis was rich in it. Over 1.5 meters long and 1 meter wide, with a thickness of 10 centimeters, it was quite heavy. Due to the ice at the edges, Neo’s injured feet, and the difficulty of finding a foothold from below, it was extremely hard to open it silently. After trying twice, he still couldn’t move it.

Taking a brief breath, he stepped on it again, hung his backpack in front of him, and pushed upward with all his strength.

Bang! A muffled sound as the ice at the edge of the barrier trembled.

Bang! Another muffled sound—still not enough to open it.

Ugh…

A sharp yet deep sound, like that of a whale in the sea, came from deep within the sewage tunnels. It was the demonized floating beast. Having realized that Neo wasn’t relying on sound but using strength, it naturally had to breathe heavily. It recognized the scent from before and was extremely sensitive to it. It was now furious.

Neo also grew anxious. If he couldn’t get out now, there would be no way out at all.

Bang! Bang! Gong!

The water-permeable barrier was pushed aside, and the sound of metal clashing as it flipped over echoed far across the quiet streets at night. Neo leaped up, then dug and kicked his way forward, quickly rolling to the side. Whoosh! A poison water arrow shot straight into the sky with a massive spray of water, just like the main jet of the magic fountain in Central Plaza of Phoenix City, its force only fading at a height of over 60 meters. Neo got up and started running, not worried that the corrupted floating beast would chase after him, but rather afraid that the poison water from the arrow might splash on him. In Neo’s memory, any magical beast capable of firing poison water arrows had extremely potent toxins—few were instantly lethal, but many were stubborn and hard to cure. He was already covered in wounds and certainly not in a position to take any more damage. After running hundreds of meters in one go, the angry roars of the corrupted floating beast had faded into the distance. Neo jumped onto the roof of another building. He wasn’t a resident of Sol’s City and wasn’t familiar with the streets here, but that didn’t matter—the burning commercial district served as the best landmark. From a higher vantage point, everything was clear. As Neo had expected, after all this chaos, he had ended up back at the edge of the West District. The third hidden location he had planned for—someone’s wealthy residence in the East District—was now right across from him. Choosing that place now was clearly inappropriate; he could only find shelter nearby. Not for anything else, but because of the severe tearing pain in his body and his raging hunger. The exertion from this ordeal had been enormous, and he urgently needed energy from food and time to rest.