Xiao Ya's Gaze

The crowd dispersed, each person returning to their duties.

The sounds of heavy objects being moved, hushed discussions, and records being copied rang through Fujin Hall once more.

Lin Yi pretended to exercise, stretching his muscles as if getting used to his newly increased strength. At the same time, he swung an imaginary staff through a few moves, seemingly reviewing what he had gained and lost in the previous battle.

Nearly an hour passed. The sky outside began to darken, and the setting sun's afterglow painted the chaotic city a tragic orange-red.

Lin Yi felt it was about time. Just then, he saw Chen Yu trudging by with a sack of flour on his shoulder, so he stopped what he was doing.

"A Yu, wait."

Lin Yi called out to him. "Give me the flour. Come with me and give me a hand."

"Ah? Oh, sure!" Chen Yu froze for a moment, then instinctively lowered the sack from his shoulder and wiped away his sweat. "Brother Yi, what is it?"

"Help me put on the armor. I'm going to rescue the people nearby first."

Lin Yi balanced the sack of flour in one hand as he spoke, heading toward the small lounge nearby.

After they had finished recording the video, Ye Qingyu had carefully wiped down and cleaned the bloodstained Qitian Battle Armor. The claw marks were still hideous, but at least the blood and ash were gone, revealing its original dark metal sheen. It had been neatly placed in the corner of the lounge.

Lin Yi had also used a little of the water he'd saved to give himself a quick wipe-down.

As for his clothes, there was nothing to change into for now, so he would just have to make do.

Chen Yu immediately followed. The two worked together again, fastening the armor pieces onto Lin Yi one by one.

This time, though, their movements were clearly more practiced.

The cold titanium alloy armor covered his body once more, bringing with it a weighty sense of security and strength.

Lin Yi took the Black Iron Long Staff Chen Yu handed him and gave it a heft. It still felt just as familiar.

Finally, he clipped the portable Source Energy Detector over his right ear.

"Let's go."

Lin Yi nodded to Chen Yu, pushed open the lounge door, and strode toward the stairwell leading to the second floor.

The stairwell was now completely blocked with tables, chairs, dismantled decorative materials, and even several heavy safes. Only a gap about half a meter wide remained on the far right, with a sturdy rope ladder dangling from it, twisted together from hotel tablecloths and bedsheets.

"A Yu, go let my uncle know. Ask him to gather a few of the young guys, bring weapons and shields, and come help receive the people."

With that, he leaped straight down through the gap!

Thud!

Lin Yi landed steadily with his knees slightly bent, his movements clean and sharp. He barely made a sound.

After being enhanced by source energy, this height was nothing to him.

He stood up, gripped the staff, and swept his gaze like lightning across the wrecked First Floor Hall. Then he strode toward the entrance of Hongfu Tower.

The setting sun's rays slanted through the shattered doors and windows, stretching Lin Yi's shadow long.

He first carefully surveyed the street outside with his own eyes, then raised a hand and lightly touched the detector beside his ear.

"Beep..."

After a barely audible sound, a pale blue display once again covered his right eye's field of vision.

The data refreshed silently.

[Right, convenience store across the street: Life Source Energy readings*5 (green, intensity 1–3)]

[Nearby area: Abyssal Wolf energy readings*6 (red, intensity 7–10).]

[Left, about 120 meters away, stalled bus at the intersection: Life Source Energy readings*42 (green, intensity 1–4)]

[Area around the bus: Abyssal Wolf energy readings*8 (red, intensity 7–9)]

[In the distance, about 350 meters away, around the Miniature Abyss Beast Nest: Abyssal Wolf energy readings*43 (red, intensity 7–13)]

Lin Yi's brows furrowed slightly.

There were more Abyssal Wolves around the nest than when he had cleared them out earlier, and one had appeared with an intensity of 12. It looked like some of the lesser leader-class wolves had been called back.

The situation was a little tricky.

120 meters to the left of Hongfu Tower, at the intersection.

Inside the bus, the air was foul and stagnant.

The smell of sweat and blood, mixed with a faint odor of urine, was almost suffocating.

All the bus windows were shut tight. Scrawled across most of the glass in thick black marker were the words "SOS," "Help!" and "There are 42 of us here!" They looked like desperate cries, trying to pierce through this steel cage.

Schoolbags and luggage were piled up against the insides of both the bus's front and rear doors, haphazardly stacked to block them shut.

Forty students in eighth grade, all wearing matching summer-camp T-shirts, were huddled beneath the seats or in the aisle, trying to stay below the window line and hide themselves as much as possible. They didn't dare make a sound.

Every so often, someone would break into a stifled sob, only for a companion nearby—or the sobbing student themself—to quickly cover their mouth and force it back down.

Many still had tear tracks on their faces. Despair and grief hung over everyone like a tangible weight.

When disaster struck, many of the children had briefly received messages from the outside world on their phones—some were their families' last frantic instructions, others were friends' despairing farewells. Most were unanswered calls that would never connect again.

Some of them already knew for certain that their loved ones on the other end of the phone had vanished forever. That included their young female teacher, Teacher Li.

Teacher Li's eyes were terribly swollen and red. She had clearly been crying, but she still forced herself to stay composed, doing her best to soothe the children in a gentle voice, over and over. "Don't be afraid, children, don't be afraid... Someone will come rescue us. The authorities are sure to come... Stay quiet and conserve your strength..."

The other teacher, Teacher Zhang, was a man. He tensely peered through a crack in the bus window, staring fixedly at the terrifying figures prowling outside.

His face was full of despair. Even his hand gripping the fire axe had gone pale from squeezing it too hard.

Outside the bus were eight monsters covered in dark green scales.

Like the most patient hunters, they prowled nearby. From time to time, they scratched the bus, making a grating "screee" that set everyone's teeth on edge, or let out a low, threatening whine.

Each scrape and growl made everyone inside the bus feel their hearts stop for an instant.

"Teacher Li... Teacher Zhang..."

A pale-faced boy with glasses spoke in a trembling, tearful whisper. "Can we... can we hold out until the authorities get here? The video said the power and communications will be cut off soon... We have no food or water... So many people need rescuing. By the time they find us, we... we might already..."

He didn't finish, but everyone understood what he meant.

They might die of thirst or hunger, or the monsters outside might break through their last barrier.

A girl with a ponytail carefully and very slowly raised her head every few minutes to look through the gaps between the letters on the bus window toward the building diagonally behind them, the one called Hongfu Tower. Then, soon enough, she would duck back down in disappointment.

"Stop looking, Xiao Ya..." Her companion tugged at her sleeve, speaking in a low, despairing voice. "There are too many comments under that video... Hundreds of thousands... How could he possibly see them all? Maybe... maybe his phone ran out of battery and shut off..."