The unrest in Chang'an had already subsided. As the morning sun spilled over the palace walls and the vermilion gates swung open, a cavalry unit of several dozen riders galloped out, racing across the devastated streets and straight toward the city gates.
Once their horses crossed the shattered ruins of the city wall, they saw the enormous corpse of the Willow Tree sprawled across the earth. A young man lightly swung the Broken Sword in his hand, bursting the dense clusters of pustules on the trunk. Numerous unconscious figures flowed out from within.
"How are things?" Huo Qubing, covered in wounds, sat atop a boulder and asked.
"Not bad. Chloe made the right call in killing this tree first. If we'd delayed any longer, they would have been drained dry." Lin Qiye examined their bodies. "All the people who were switched out are here. Judging by their numbers, the army of thirty thousand hasn't suffered any losses either."
Hearing this, Huo Qubing's expression relaxed, and he let out a long breath.
Lin Qiye's gaze swept over the unconscious people one by one—Zhan Yuwu, Yan Zhong, Gongyang Wan, Wu Quan... Perhaps because he had been separated from that liquid, Wu Quan lay on the ground with his eyelashes trembling lightly. A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes.
"This is..." Wu Quan stared blankly at the blue sky overhead for a long time before slowly sitting up. When he saw the large number of unconscious people around him and Cthulhu's corpse beside him, he froze in place.
"Brother Qi Ye, what happened?"
Seeing Wu Quan's bewildered face, Lin Qiye smiled helplessly. Just as he was about to say something, a voice came from behind him:
"Hiss... How did I get here?"
Gongyang Wan shook her head as she sat up from