Green Mountain City

Green Mountain City

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the side room abruptly changed.

Luo You'er held half a crab she had just picked up, unable to eat it or put it down, looking utterly at a loss.

"You... are you crazy?" Luo Qingqing finally forced out after a long while. He had not merely been discussing strategy on paper—he had already put it into action! But what exactly did he stand to gain from doing this?

Targeting the Luo Family? There was hardly any point. Organizing everyone's evacuation was not their duty, and if it fell apart halfway through, it would not be the Luo Family's fault. On the contrary, it could bring them closer to the other examinees. The one in the worst position was Xia Fan alone—if the examinees intending to flee learned that he was the one who had sealed off this route, they would probably want to tear him limb from limb!

It would have been one thing if he had kept it to himself, yet he actually dared admit it openly. That alone had placed him against every examinee present.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Xia Fan said in the same calm tone. "Too many choices only scatter a group's strength. If we want every examinee to face the Great Desolation Evil Night head-on, this is the most effective way."

"You're making it sound far too simple!" Luo Qingqing stamped her foot. "A crowd only has strength when it acts as one; everyone harboring their own thoughts is nothing but a heap of loose sand! We have the Source of Spirit Fire, so naturally we'll fight with everything we have for that night. But what about those examinees without Spirit Fire? Why should they listen to you?"

"Because I can make every one of them pass the examination."

"Even so, that still isn't enough—what did you say?" Luo Qingqing froze abruptly.

"I said I can make everyone who stays pass the examination," he repeated. "Spirit Fire comes from corpses, and the Great Desolation Evil Night also stirs up corpses. Whether it's a small Mei or a large Demon, they gather vast amounts of dead matter around them. As long as we kill enough Evil Spirits, won't the ground be covered in Sources of Spirit Fire? On the other hand, if you keep hiding in the well tunnels and focus solely on preserving yourselves, you'll never achieve that."

There was... another way to think about it?

Luo Qingqing felt her common sense being overturned. What was wrong with doing everything possible to protect oneself during the Great Desolation Evil Night? Yet this man before her treated the Great Desolation Evil Night as a shortcut to snatching Spirit Fire!

In theory, what he said was indeed possible. With tens of thousands of corpses piled together and left to settle for a century, it made perfect sense that large numbers of Sources of Spirit Fire might exist nearby. But that was only a theoretical possibility—if they could not even survive, what use was Spirit Fire strewn across the ground? What was more, they not only had to survive, but also crush large numbers of Evil Spirits head-on. That truly sounded like a wild fantasy.

"Since you know so much about the Great Desolation Evil Night, then you should understand why the well tunnels are the great families' first choice!" Luo Qingqing refuted loudly. "All we need is to hold the choke points at either end, and the Evil Spirits' numerical advantage can be reduced to a minimum. If things truly go wrong, we can seal the entrance and wait for rescue from the Bureau of Military Affairs the next day. But resisting them outside? You don't even know which direction they'll come from! Once someone breaks in the darkness, it will quickly trigger a chain reaction. When people start shoving and trampling one another, do you think you'll still be able to handle it?"

Xia Fan could not help but think more highly of this Luo Family genius. The fact that she could say such things proved that she not only possessed broad knowledge, but also practical experience. She knew full well that a shared goal did not mean one could immediately pull together a force that obeyed every command and advanced or retreated in perfect order. Besides, the Great Desolation Evil Night was a night battle. Fear and chaos were always the greatest enemies.

"I can't, which is why we should do everything possible to prevent that situation from arising."

"And how can you guarantee that?"

Xia Fan raised one finger. "The purpose of the Scholar Examination is ultimately to select qualified Sorcery Art practitioners. What the Bureau of Military Affairs wants to see is certainly not a one-sided massacre. Qingshan Town is no longer the Qingshan Array of a hundred years ago. Since the Bureau of Military Affairs chose this place as an examination ground, it must have taken that into consideration. In other words, if the Dry Well waterways beneath the town can serve as the preferred defensive position, then the intensity of the Great Desolation Evil Night should fluctuate around that level. You can think of it as the 'standard answer.'"

Luo Qingqing pondered his words several times before she finally understood what he meant. She truly could not figure out why his wording was always so strange, as if he deliberately forced certain characters together. At the same time, she realized that perhaps his thoughts were not so simple after all—his seemingly absurd remarks appeared to be the result of meticulous consideration.

She could not help asking, "And then?"

Xia Fan raised a second finger. "We only need to raise the standard of our new defensive line above the standard answer, and we can withstand this Great Desolation Evil Night. From what I understand, aside from narrow strategic passages, cities and fortresses with high walls are quite effective against Evil Spirits. They can also hold far more people than underground well tunnels, without the danger of suffocation or collapse. As long as we gather everyone inside a city, we can both make use of our numerical advantage and greatly reduce the risk of a rout."

"But where is there a city in this town—" Luo Qingqing stopped halfway through. From Xia Fan's eyes, she could tell that he was not joking.

"If there isn't one, then we'll build one."

Xia Fan spoke each word slowly and clearly.

Early the next morning, all the examinees gathered once again at the small square in front of the inn.

The news that the Release Platform and Wooden Kite had caught fire the previous night had already spread. Many had barely slept all night. If the Luo Family had not stepped forward to soothe everyone's emotions and say that they had another plan in reserve, they probably would have scattered in a single burst, each searching for their own way out of town.

After all, this was already the sixth day of the Scholar Examination. If they did not leave soon, they might be trapped here. Once the Yin Surge arrived on the seventh day, they would truly have no choice but to leave their fate to heaven.

For that very reason, the atmosphere in the square was rather oppressive. Everyone waited patiently for the Luo Family to announce its backup plan. As for this Scholar Examination, most had already placed their hopes on three years later.

Yet to everyone's surprise, the person standing behind the long table was neither Luo Qingqing nor Luo Fengqing, but an unfamiliar young man.

"Who is that?"

"He isn't wearing a blue robe. He's not from the Luo Family."

"I remember that guy... isn't he the bastard who fled with his tail between his legs before Fei Nian?"

"Hey, what are you doing up there!"

Only Wei Wushuang stared with his mouth wide open in astonishment—he recognized the man on the platform as Xia Fan, his fellow townsman from Fenghua County! But he could not understand at all why Xia Fan had appeared on such an occasion.

Facing the restless crowd, Xia Fan drew a deep breath and took out a Xun-Character Wind-Calling Talisman—though he preferred to call it an Amplification Talisman.

Luo Qingqing had handed it to him just a few minutes earlier.

"There are six in total. Once their effects are released, they'll gradually weaken. Keep the beginning as brief as possible and use them sparingly."

"There's actually no need for me to say it. You already know my entire plan."

"What, stage fright? If it fails, I don't want the Luo Family to bear the stigma. Besides... this 'order' was your proposal. You should be the one to tell everyone about it."

Those brief exchanges seemed to linger beside his ears.

Was it really because she didn't want to take the blame? Using the Luo Family's influence to put forward this plan had already created a connection between them. If something went wrong, it was impossible for the Luo Family to remain completely unaffected. He could only say... she did not want to claim this plan as her own, especially within the context of the Scholar Examination.

It seemed he would owe her a favor.

Xia Fan smiled helplessly and tossed the Talisman into the air.

The Amplification Talisman swiftly turned into a gust of clear wind and spread outward.

"Everyone, listen up!" His first words rolled over the town like thunderclaps under the Sorcery Art's effect. "This Scholar Examination is far from the point where we need to flee! The Great Desolation Evil Night is indeed terrifying, but only to those who are unprepared! As long as everyone casts aside past grievances and stands united, not only can every one of you safely make it through the final night, you can also earn the qualification to pass the examination!"

"You heard me correctly. Everyone who remains will pass this examination and become an official Sorcery Art practitioner!"

The scene instantly erupted into an uproar.

"What did you say!?"

Xia Fan did not explain immediately. Instead, he waited until everyone's doubts and shock had poured forth before tossing out a second Amplification Talisman. "In fact, making everyone pass is not impossible. We only need to grasp the key to the Evil Night." He then explained the details of the Great Desolation Evil Night. "We need a city to stop the Evil Spirits, and when the night has passed, the ground will be littered with Sources of Spirit Fire!"

"A city? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"That sounds reasonable, but where would we find a city here?"

Everyone clamored at once.

"Of course there is one. It is right beside you and me!" Xia Fan's unquestionable tone overwhelmed their arguments. "That's right. I'm talking about the inn, the teahouse, and the blue-brick houses around them, where all of you have lived for the past several days!"

"The grid layout is a natural defensive formation, and its minimum two-story height is enough to block a Mei's attack! It's just that these 'city walls' are incomplete. We need to work together to finish building them!"

"You have two days to transform it—whether with Sorcery Arts or with your own two hands! Tear down the houses on the outer ring of the grid, seal the gaps in the inner ring, and connect every building in the center of town into one unified, continuous whole! This will be our city. This will be our defensive line against the Evil Spirits!"

Wei Wushuang listened in stunned disbelief.

Build an encampment in Qingshan Town in a day and a half? At first glance, it seemed like utter nonsense. But when he calmed down and looked around, he found that the idea actually made some sense. The houses at the center of the "well opening" were not only sturdy, but pressed close together. Sealing the gaps between them would not be difficult. Once the roofs were removed and planks laid across them, these brick houses would become natural city walls—people could pass over the top, while enemies could be kept out below.

"And that isn't all!" Xia Fan activated another Amplification Talisman and continued, "If we want to withstand the Evil Night head-on, everyone must contribute their strength! We need to gather medicinal materials and place them in the hands of those skilled in Sorcery Arts. We need to arrange reserves to replace examinees injured in battle. We even need to form a hunting team to gather food in Green Mountain for everyone's needs over these next two days!"

"From this moment onward, everyone here is no longer in a competitive relationship, but teammates working together! United, we can do anything!"