Arnette Gardens
Everything was brown, the dull colour of dirt dominated the parched landscape like a dreary coat of paint.
A golden sun ruled the clear blue sky, floating like a scorching ball of fire overhead, an optical illusion plus the intense heat gave most the impression that it hovered closer to the ground than usual.
Not a single structure or person was visible for miles in this arid environment, the serenading wind whistled out a gentle tune, sending a single ball of tumble weed rolling around in circles.
All of a sudden the peace was disturbed, a loud crack echoed out, blinding puffs of dust suddenly plumed into the sky, scattering in a wide pattern like the downwash of a landing helicopter.
The fabric of space trembled, ripples streaked through the air like gentle waves rolling across a body of water.
A spatial rift appeared from nowhere with a boom, ripping space apart and hovering above the ground.
Five pairs of feet simultaneously thudded onto the hard earth. The rift, looking like a doorway to the dark side, slowly faded away, leaving thick dust swirling around the group.
After a few seconds the wind carried away the stifling dust. The dreary landscape became clearer to five pairs of eyes.
Cracks snaked across the dry ground for miles, some so wide an ankle could slip into the gap.
"Welcome to the barren lands."
Hartley spoke like a gracious host leading a tour for tourists, cheekily grinning.
Zhi Ruo groaned, the last time she had insisted on following Hartley to this place, now she was anything but enthusiastic.
Everyone flashed pensive glances up and down the strange empty land.
Kang covered his brow with a cupped hand, surveying the endless swathes of land before him, the sun showered down its bright light and sweltering heat mercilessly onto everything like an oven.
Commander Genk immediately had his giant sword in his hands, its silver blade glinting and gleaming with rays of sunlight, he cracked his neck from side to side, his black robe fluttering as if preparing for imminent battle.
His large frame emanated brute strength, cords of muscles flexed and bulged around his shoulders with his every movement as he fidgeted warily back and forth, he was definitely a bit jumpy.
"Why did we come here in such small numbers?"
He asked seriously with an alert expression, his sight panning in every direction, he had heard stories of the beast-men in the barren lands, how many experts had disappeared in this place?
Filleted and eaten raw by those savages.
No matter what direction he looked, the commander only saw a dreary dystopia, the only thing moving was the storms of dust clouds whipped up by the wind, springing to life regularly across the scene, whistling in one's ear and obscuring vision.
Literally nothing grew from the ground, this place with its scant vegetation couldn't be named anything but barren. Only those cannibals could possibly survive here the commander thought to himself.
"We're hoping to see the leaders of the beast-men." Hartley answered casually.
There was a collective intake of breath.
"What Madness! Where's our army?"
The commander barked with wide eyes, obviously spooked.
Everyone's head swivelled to stare at him.
Looking at everyone, he gathered himself, clearing his throat with a sheepish and embarrassed expression.
"I, I mean, why feed ourselves to those beasts, they can't be trusted, they should be eradicated if anything."
"Many men have tried that approach commander, none have succeeded."
Hartley answered, smiled, then turned to the nervous Qin Li who had yet to speak.
He was currently the weakest and most vulnerable in the group, with a cultivation at only the sixth layer in the xiantian realm.
"What do you think?" Hartley asked.
Qin Li eyed Hartley seriously, shrugged and responded with three words.
"I trust you."
Every head swung back to the commander.
He awkwardly put his sword away, "of course I trust him, wouldn't be here if I didn't." He muttered under his breath, still acting as alert as a deer at the water's edge.
He certainly wasn't going to let his guard down, those savages won't take a single bite of his flesh he pledged internally.
With that settled, the white robed Kang smiled, moved forward and asked "which way?"
This was the closest he could bring them from the western hills, now for their main destination.
...
"Get that moved!" A hulking beast-man shouted at a worker, dark fur covered his entire body and he had a head like a jaguar.
He stood on a ridge overlooking the network of passages below, choreographing the hundreds of workers busily clearing the wreckage.
Lines of beast-men moved rocks in tandem, stacking them over to the side of the plateau, to be moved again later on.
The work continued for hours without complaint under the sun.
"Pass the water to those off the first shift, gather group two and begin the excavation of tunnel four."
It was a very organized operation, designed to efficiently harness the strength of every worker.
The jaguar head beast-man in charge couldn't help being resentful for being handed this assignment.
Even though those humans hadn't killed anyone, they had left a massive clean up job. It was a time consuming endeavour.
He was now having to sacrifice his cultivation time to oversee this monotonous operation.
Even till this day, work continued to clear the underground passageways under the sacred ground.
...
It was the middle of a blisteringly hot day, something that didn't usually occur in the barren lands happened out of the blue.
Snaps and crackles buzzed loudly through the air like a thunderstorm. This was a very strange phenomenon because the weather was consistently constant, it was always sunny.
Several frightened beast-men retreated from the area in sudden haste, shouting and pointing towards the suspicious event.
The earth shook slightly, causing a grouping of boulders to run loose, rumbling along to collide with other stationary boulders, dust billowed up, then a jet black rift split the space vertically, sending the choking dust particles scattering away.
Wriggling dark lines formed an unstable doorway, five people emerged from a spatial rift for the second time that day.
They stood on the sandy earth in the middle of the destroyed plateau.
There was sudden silence, you could almost hear crickets chirping.
Gasps were then audible as many beast-men recognised two of the strangers, a young black hair man and a red hair woman, their appearance here triggered a massive desperate retreat.
Commander Genk and Qin Li were seeing beast-men for the first time, having heard how blood thirsty and aggressive the beast-man race was, they were shocked to see the people who looked like a cross between humans and animals, scrambling away from the scene so desperately.
Hartley's impact was profound on their psyche, some beast-men had seen, but most had heard of Hartley slapping a gold tier spell-weaver unconscious with a single move.
This was the exact reason Hartley had asked Kang to accompany him this time.
Kang was powerful and could transport multiple people instantly, Hartley didn't expect to wander around freely this time.
He suspected there was a high chance of encountering experts in the upper echelons of the beast-man race.
The workers retreated frantically, making a beeline for the buildings of the village just out of sight.
The people in the village seemed to be milling about, unaffected by the sweltering heat and dusty conditions, then chaos hit.
Commander Genk and Qin Li already had their weapons drawn.
Hartley looked back with a serious expression.
"We will defend ourselves if assaulted but none is allowed to kill any beast-men, this situation is already hard enough without blood on our hands."
After all workers disappeared into the village, a crowd rushed headlong towards Hartley's group.
Hartley caught sight of a familiar face in a crowd coming his way.
Golden fur covered him and his head was that of a lion, he stood three meters tall grasping a stone spear.
It was Drago, one of the first beast-men Hartley ever met.
He came to sudden stop twenty meters away, squinted and scowled for a while then stood straight-backed. "Why are you filthy humans back, and you've brought more with you this time. I give it to you, you are the bravest and most powerful human I've seen, but don't feel too safe just yet."
Hartley smiled at Drago. "We come in peace, we bring with us no hostilities, we only seek negotiations with your leader."
"Humans can never be trusted! You are all nothing but butchers!" The jaguar head beast-man shouted at Hartley with disdain. His absolute disgust evident.
This incensed commander Genk to no end. "You who have eaten the flesh of humans for centuries have the gall to be so shameless! I challenge you..."
"Stop Commander!" Hartley stopped him from issuing any challenges.
The riled up beast-men erupted with shouts of derision from their side, hurling insults at the small but formidable group, none daring to rush forward though.
"We are not butchers and you know that not to be true!" Zhi Ruo pointed and shouted at Drago, her voice cutting through the chaos.
All beast-men looked to Drago, anticipating his reply.
Drago had none, him standing there was proof otherwise, he only scowled at Zhi Ruo.
The beast-men erupted into noisy banter once more.
"Silence!" A new voice cracked through the air like thunder.
Everything went silent except for the wind.
A beast-man who barely reached two meters in height made his appearance, he walked slowly with a walking stick made from a curly wooden branch.
Everyone in his path made way respectfully.
He was surrounded by an entourage of tall scaled beast-men, each looking like a Rhino, horns grew from their foreheads and their formidable black scales locked together like suits of full plate armour.
Kang squinted his eyes into slits, carefully gauging the strength of the beast-man with the walking stick.
"The human oppressors are always finding ways to twist the narrative," the short beast-man spoke, he resembled a breed of dog, his black fur going grey and showing his age.
Look around you, even in this place lacking in the most basic resources, we've been besieged time and again by human crusaders, slaughtering our people with reckless abandonment.
Yet upon their return to their own societies, they've spread word of our blood thirst and viciousness.
What have you seen today, Have you seen blood thirsty people craving for human flesh or have you seen workers and warriors like in any other society?"
Without waiting for a response from the commander he turned to Hartley asking.
"Are you the chosen one, why can you open the gate?"
He smiled, looked at Kang then waved his walking stick like a wand.
The world around them blinked away like background art, Kang waved his hand, a protective bubble surrounded his own group.
Seconds later everyone was in a place lush with vegetation.
Brightly decorated with fresh green and yellow growth, sporting dozens of varieties of low-growing wildflowers. Butterflies landed on flowers and small animals ran about freely.
...
"Who are you?" Kang warily asked, his protective bubble still surrounded the group.
This old beast-man had his undivided attention now, he was a powerhouse rivalling Kang himself in space control.
The old beast-man's doberman-like features curved into a smile.
He looked at Hartley, "I thought you wanted to talk."
"Release your shied," Hartley instructed Kang.
Kang was hesitant. "I can only protect one person without the bubble, the rest will die if he attacks."
Hartley knew exactly what Kang meant, He would protect Hartley, who was like his son, in the event of an attack, everyone else would be sacrificed.
Zhi Ruo held onto Hartley's sleeve nervously. Hartley turned using the back of his hand to sweep aside a few locks of her crimson hair, smiling at her like an assurance, she nodded.
"Release your shield," Hartley stated again.
The bubble disappeared, the natural fresh air filled their lungs and the ambient sounds of birds and animals returned to their ears.
Everyone was still on guard, Qin Li had his new double blade axe made from white iron gripped tightly in both hands.
The commanders skin was glowing brown, his great sword drawing glints of sunlight, he circled slowly to position himself at the beast-man's back.
The old beast-man paid them no mind, bending down to feed an animal with a few seeds in his hand.
The rabbit-like creature scurried off under some bushes as soon as it acquired the seeds. He chuckled, straightening his posture.
"Where are we," was the first question that left Hartley's mouth.
The old beast-man chuckled again, "This is Arnette Gardens, a place your kind now call the barren lands," he spread his arms wide as he turned to face the group.
"It all used to look like this."