Who Lives, Who Dies

A professional assassin must never be hesitant when making a move. If an assassin goes into action with uncertainty, even with a 100% chance of success, they will inevitably fail.

Qingyan recalled the words from "The Peerless Assassin's Tale" and decided to abandon this mission and find another opportunity in the future.

"Done. This guy can transform into human form, so he must hold a high position among the Demon Race and definitely knows a lot of secrets. Now, let's hand him over to the professionals for interrogation."

Si Ming sent out a communication signal, then asked Qingyan for confirmation, "Before I arrived, was this place attacked by any dragon-shaped Demon Beast? One was golden, and the other was green."

He didn't ask Hongdou, because it would be pointless.

Qingyan truthfully replied, "No, if the Demon Beast you mentioned really appeared, it would definitely attract everyone's attention. Before you arrived, only this groundhog led its minions in a surprise attack."

"That's strange. The bloodstains clearly point this way. Have I fallen for another trap? Did they deliberately leave bloodstains to mislead me?"

Si Ming immediately considered this possibility and couldn't help but feel depressed. As a human, to be outsmarted by a monster was truly unpleasant.

"These two Demon Beasts are so big, it won't be easy for them to hide. Someone must have noticed their movements. We need to find someone and ask them..."

Just as he was pondering this, he saw Pan De stride over hurriedly, his brows furrowed. Before anyone could ask, he blurted out, "The defenses have been breached! Nearly 100,000 Demon Beast are attacking the city!"

Chapter 151 Who Lives and Who Dies

"One Sword's cold light illuminates the Nine Continents!"

Clad in Profound Armor, Yan Jinghong flew in mid-air, channeling his powerful True Qi into his sword. With a mighty One Sword, he slashed down from the sky, unleashing a hundred-zhang-long, wide Sword Qi that pierced into the demonic tide. It was as if it were splitting mountains and parting seas, carving a bloody path through the demonic tide. Even a slight graze from the Sword Qi resulted in immediate body ripping apart, with limbs and remains flying everywhere.

However, in less than half a minute, the gap created by the Sword Qi was filled by other Demon Beast, making it look like the wound had healed.

Upon seeing this, Yan Jinghong frowned. The casualties caused by this move were even less than those caused by "Ten Thousand Swords Ten Thousand Swords Heavenly Dipper". Although it looked imposing, the number of Demon Beast that died under the Sword Qi energy was less than three hundred. In comparison, "Ten Thousand Swords Heavenly Dipper", which consumes less True Qi, can kill at least five hundred Demon Beast each time. After all, they wouldn't be stupid enough to gather together.

"There's no time..."

Yan Jinghong's breathing was somewhat disordered. Continuously unleashing his ultimate moves had greatly depleted his internal Cultivation Body, leaving him with less than 30% of his True Essence.

He had been chasing them all the way from the beach, and nearly ten thousand Demon Beast had died by his sword. If it were a human army, they would probably have collapsed long ago. But these fearless Demon Beast were still running, showing no signs of panic.

A lone Demon Beast may retain its instincts as a living being, and understand fear and cowardice, but when Demon Beast gather together, they are left with only madness. This is a piece of intelligence that humans have summarized based on years of experience.

If he had two or three days, Yan Jinghong could have easily wiped out all 100,000 Demon Beast using guerrilla tactics. But right now, time was the biggest problem. Not to mention two days, at the speed at which the Demon Beast were moving, they would have entered the most densely populated urban area in another twenty minutes.

"If we can hold them off for just one more hour, until the Spirit Transformation experts from other regions arrive, we can wipe them out in one fell swoop."

To resist the invasion of the demon tide, Spirit Transformation experts are often scattered to guard various places. After all, the number of Spirit Transformation experts is less than the total number of first- and second-tier cities, and it is impossible to even match them one by one.

Because Tange City had just been attacked by a demon tide, based on past experience, there would be at least a two-year safe period. This conventional thinking meant that even Spirit Transformation stage experts hadn't paid much attention to the vicinity of Tange City. Now that it had been suddenly attacked, even if they rushed over at top speed, it would still take them quite a while.

"Is there no other way...?"

Yan Jinghong was not a weak person. A weak person could not have persisted for ten years, day after day, in trying to clear his brother's name when everyone thought he had fallen into demonic possession. The Yan Jinghong who could not bear the pain had already been eliminated ten years ago.

But being able to endure pain doesn't mean he can ignore it. The thought of the consequences of tens of thousands of Demon Beast rushing into the city fills him with excruciating pain.

At this moment, the communicator carried by Heaven-Soaring Armor emitted a soft beep. After Yan Jinghong answered it, he heard the doctor's question coming from the other end. He quickly explained the problem he was facing in concise language.

"Nearly 100,000 Demon Beast!" The professor gasped. "The army has set up a temporary defensive line around the city, but as you know, we just withstood a demonic tide attack a few days ago. The main force has withdrawn, leaving less than 2,000 people. With that number and a defensive line set up in half an hour, there's no way they can stop the onslaught of 100,000 Demon Beast. Tsk, the timing is too clever. It's almost as if they deliberately exploited our habitual thinking. Did the Demon Race take all of this into account?"

"They did take advantage of our complacency, but the instigator was not the Demon Race..."

Yan Jinghong recalled the information his elder brother had given him, as well as the scene he had witnessed in the sealed land, and deduced that it must have been the work of the Human Race. After all, very few people knew about the seal, and the Demon Race was even less likely to have the ability to break the seal. If they could do it, they wouldn't have needed to wait until today.

"The real culprit can be investigated later; is there really no solution right now?"

As Yan Jinghong inquired, he urged his Heaven-Soaring Armor to glide near the ground, making it easier for him to slash the Demon Beast with his sword—he was seizing every minute and second to eliminate the Demon Beast, even if he couldn't stop them, he wanted to kill as many as possible.

At that moment, the sound of conversation came from the other end of the communicator; it seemed that the Doctor was discussing something with a girl.

After a short while, the professor stammered, "I have a way."

Even without being face-to-face, Yan Jinghong keenly sensed the doctor's hesitation and quickly urged, "If you have a solution, speak up quickly. Even if the conditions are harsh and difficult to achieve, having hope is better than doing nothing."

"It's not difficult to implement; the method is simple, it's just... it's just..." The doctor hesitated, then continued, "Sigh, never mind, forget I said anything."

"Doctor Pang Gang!" Yan Jinghong shouted anxiously, "I don't know what you're hesitating about, but the situation has deteriorated to this point. What could be worse than this? Even if there's only one straw to grasp, you must hold on tight. If you have a solution, tell me quickly. I'll make my own judgment on whether it works or not, and I'll take full responsibility."

"Sigh, I was worried about your personality of wanting to shoulder all the responsibility, which is why I didn't want to tell you. You'll definitely regret it after hearing this method. It's better to have never known anything at all."

"Doctor, the lesson I learned ten years ago teaches me that it's better to do something and then regret it than to regret doing nothing. If you have any ideas, please tell me as soon as possible. I don't want to experience the same pain again."

"... Alright, but you have to remember one thing: nobody wants you to take this approach. If you hesitate even slightly, forget what I said immediately."

After repeated reminders, the doctor explained, "We all know that a single Demon Beast has its own thoughts, but a group of Demon Beast is often driven mad by their will, undisturbed by external forces, like robots given commands. But this madness has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that they are not afraid of death, but the disadvantage is that they cannot detect subtle misdirections. We cannot change their actions, but we can guide their direction of movement by slightly deviating their angle."

Yan Jinghong frowned and said, "It's no use. I've tried it before. At first, I might be able to force them to deviate from their direction, but after they get around me, they will adjust their angle and return to their original trajectory. They are like intelligent puppets with a set destination, they will find their own way."

"This is because they are still far from their destination, so they can clearly grasp the target and correct their course. However, if they are guided when they are very close to their destination, they will not have time to correct their course."

Yan Jinghong asked in confusion, "If they're too close, even the slightest shift in angle won't be enough to keep them away from the city, and Demon Beast won't go to places where there are no people."

At a distance, even a slight deviation in angle can lead to completely wrong conclusions. But at close range, unless there's a sharp 90-degree turn, how could a city be so vast, and Demon Beast not blind, possibly not see it?

Furthermore, Demon Beast are fond of eating humans. They can smell the scent of humans from hundreds of meters away. In densely populated places like cities, the scent of humans can be detected even from tens of thousands of meters away. It would be impossible to lure them into the deep mountains and forests.

"The method I'm proposing isn't to completely shun the Demon Beast from the city, but rather to sacrifice a pawn to save the king, using a small target to confuse them and buy time. Once the Spirit Transformation experts from other places arrive, the problem can be solved."

"What do you mean by 'small goal'?"

The doctor fell silent, and just as Yan Jinghong was about to urge him on, he finally spoke, "In the northwest of the city, there is a villa residential area, which is the area with the lowest population density."

Yan Jinghong was stunned for a moment and almost got pounced on by the Demon Beast. He couldn't care less about continuing the killing, so he drove his Heaven-Soaring Armor into the sky, then focused his True Qi into his eyes and looked at the edge of the city in the distance. Sure enough, he saw that villa area.