Atop the city wall.
The smell of blood spread through the air.
Every stretch they passed revealed severed limbs and dismembered corpses of the defenders, along with the bodies of monsters in the form of birds and beasts.
Some bodies, however, remained physically intact, though their minds were muddled and vacant.
These people had been invaded by evil entities, leaving them mentally deranged.
Those luckier ones might gradually recover as time passed.
Those with slightly worse luck might regain some awareness, but would inevitably remain foolish and dull-witted.
As for the most serious cases, their souls had already been scattered by the evil entities, their spirits devoured. Their bodies still retained signs of life, but they had become living corpses.
"..."
At that moment, Zhao Zhou and the others proceeded forward along the city wall.
Everyone moved swiftly, their expressions solemn.
The City Defense Army soldiers engaged in the aftermath, the personnel from the Outer City government office, medical officers, forensic investigators, and others all bowed in greeting.
But not one of the City Defense Army's higher-ups, including Zhao Zhou, responded. They hurried on.
The location of the sixtieth Willow Branch Night-Illuminating Lamp!
That half of the mutilated body was still on the city wall.
Grand Commander Zhao Zhou suddenly slowed his steps.
He seemed to have lost all strength, and his face gradually paled.
Then the aged Grand Commander slowly closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "It's him."
Although they had already initially determined that the half of the mutilated body was Zhao Jing, their hearts still sank upon hearing Grand Commander Zhao Zhou's confirmation.
It was not merely because Zhao Jing was the Grand Commander's adopted son.
It was also because Zhao Jing possessed Inner Strength Cultivation.
Among the City Defense Army, the highest cultivation anyone possessed was merely the Inner Strength realm.
A martial artist with Inner Strength Cultivation had also died atop the city wall, leaving everyone with complicated emotions.
"From here onward, is this the section of the city defense position handled by the Lin Jiang Department?"
Grand Commander Zhao Zhou slowly raised his head.
In an instant, everyone's expressions turned ugly.
Zhao Jing, possessing Inner Strength Cultivation and accompanied by twenty personal guards, had already died here.
Then how could the newly appointed Banner Bearer of Lin Jiang Ward possibly hold those three hundred and sixty paces?
Everyone already knew that this section of the city wall had fallen last night. Quite a few monsters had crossed over the battlements and stormed into Lin Jiang Ward, causing the squads responsible for clearing the city to suffer heavy casualties.
If not for the intervention of a mysterious expert, the entire Lin Jiang Ward might have been transformed into a living hell.
Zhao Zhou and the others exchanged glances, their expressions complicated.
In their hearts, they had basically concluded that the young Banner Bearer whom the Heavenly Supervision Department had pinned high hopes on had already died in the darkness of night.
If he had been lucky, perhaps the evil entities had killed him while leaving his corpse intact.
If he had been unlucky, most likely only a mutilated corpse remained.
He might even have been devoured completely by the monsters, without a single bone left behind—only bloodstains covering the ground.
Just as everyone was thinking this, they saw City Defense Army soldiers clearing their way from the other end of the city wall.
"What's the situation ahead?" Deputy Commander Zhou stepped forward and asked. "Have you seen that Banner Bearer?"
"We have not." The leading lieutenant bowed as he replied.
"Alas..."
Grand Commander Zhao Zhou let out a sorrowful sigh.
He looked at Zhao Jing in front of him.
Although Zhao Jing had been severed into two pieces, at least half his body remained.
That Impermanence Banner Bearer, it seemed, had not even been left with that much.
The various higher-ups of the City Defense Army all shared the same thought and felt a pang of regret.
But the three Deputy Commanders exchanged glances, feeling that the newly appointed Banner Bearer had been outrageously arrogant and conceited yesterday evening, even refusing the Grand Commander's life-saving item. Given this outcome today, it was hardly surprising.
Just then, footsteps suddenly came from behind them.
Everyone turned to look and saw a long-robed man hurrying over, panting for breath.
"I am Xie Jin, a clerk and record keeper of the Sky Gazing Tower in the Inner City. I was ordered to come here and verify the post-battle situation in the southern area of the Outer City."
The Sky Gazing Tower's magic mirror had been modeled after the divine mirror of Phoenix Perch Prefecture City. It observed the divine radiance, monsters, anomalous qi, and so forth in this world, but it could not clearly see every scene.
Therefore, whenever an incident occurred, verification was necessary, followed by registration, cataloging, and storage in the archives.
Grand Commander Zhao Zhou let out a sigh and waved his hand.
The others then successively reported last night's battle situation and casualties.
"From this point onward, for more than a thousand consecutive paces, the positions of over thirty Willow Branch Night-Illuminating Lamps have all fallen."
"Wait..."
Hearing this, Xie Jin could not help but freeze. He asked, "This is the location of the sixtieth Willow Branch Night-Illuminating Lamp?"
"Precisely."
"Starting ahead, is this the defensive section handled by the Lin Jiang Department?"
"That's right."
"But according to the Sky Gazing Tower's observations last night, the twelve Willow Branch Night-Illuminating Lamps within the Lin Jiang Department's defensive range were all safe and sound, with no gaps."
"What?"
Everyone was stunned, surprise appearing on every face.
Xie Jin flipped open his records and said with a frown, "However, on both sides of the area under the Lin Jiang Department's jurisdiction, the city defenses extending outward had more than twenty consecutive points fall."
As his voice faded, he noticed that the atmosphere had turned extremely strange. He looked around and asked, "What is it?"
"That Banner Bearer of the Lin Jiang Department held this three-hundred-and-sixty-pace defensive range?"
The City Defense Army's senior figures present finally reacted. Every one of them revealed a look of shock and disbelief.
"Not only that! When we defended the city, we merely faced the darkness ahead. But after both sides had fallen completely, he also had to face the monsters attacking from both sides..."
Just then, the lieutenant named Meng Lu spoke with a grave expression.
He was a martial artist in the Marrow Cleansing realm, already at the peak of the second great gate of Martial Arts.
Yet he knew that, faced with such an awful situation, he absolutely could not have held the line.
Threatened from three sides, there was nothing to do but abandon the defense and flee for one's life—or die.
"And furthermore..."
After pausing, Meng Lu continued with a frown, "This half of Zhao Jing's body was clearly not torn apart by claws. It was severed by a sharp weapon. One strike—clean and decisive!"
"He did not die at the hands of the monsters?"
Xie Jin, who had come from the Inner City's Sky Gazing Tower, could not help but ask in astonishment, "He was killed by someone?"
The atmosphere in the scene instantly plunged to its lowest point.
At that very moment, a thought surfaced in everyone's minds.
Had the Banner Bearer of the Lin Jiang Department killed Zhao Jing, who had come to provide reinforcements?
Zhao Jing possessed Inner Strength Cultivation, yet had been severed in two by a single stroke. Just how powerful was his opponent?
However, based on the news from earlier, this person was most likely in the Blood Refinement realm, or at most the Marrow Cleansing realm—within the second gate of Martial Arts.
In an instant, a layer of gloom settled over everyone's hearts.
Just then, Deputy Commander Zhou, whose temperament was relatively fierce, suddenly roared, "I'll send men to surround the Lin Jiang Department, take his head, and make him pay with his life for Zhao Jing!"
He immediately drew his blade, turned around, and strode away.
But at that moment, an aged voice rang out.
"Stop!"
Grand Commander Zhao Zhou shouted, "The matter has not yet been investigated clearly. What are you trying to do? This matter..."
He drew a deep breath and said, "I'll trouble Clerk Xie to report this to the Inner City!"
After his voice fell, he added solemnly, "Seal the city gates. No one may enter or leave today!"
Meanwhile
At the tall building where the Outer Southern Department was located.
"Clerk Yang Wang of the Lin Jiang Department has sent someone to deliver Impermanence's handwritten battle report."
"Hmm? At this time, shouldn't he be handing over his duties to the Grand Commander of the Outer Southern City defenses?"
Commander Han was somewhat astonished. He accepted the battle report, opened it, and his expression changed slightly.
Within moments, his expression shifted unpredictably.
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