Desperate Straits

The family blended into the growing crowd on the street, hurrying toward the South Pier outside the city.

The further they went, the more wrong the atmosphere felt.

Terrified discussions could be heard along the way.

"Old Wang's son went out to relieve himself last night and never came back. They found him behind the woodpile this morning, nothing left but skin and bones..."

"Old Zhang the night watchman is gone too, died the same way. All the blood and essence in his body was sucked dry!"

"They say it's a vicious plague that spreads with the wind!"

Panic spread like a contagion.

On the road, Chen Mo even saw several corpses hastily covered with straw mats being carried away by police; the hands protruding from the edges of the mats were withered like chicken claws.

His heart sank bit by bit. The Moon-Worship Cult had already made their move!

This was no plague!

Upon reaching the pier, he found it already packed with a sea of people, a chaotic mess of crying, cursing, and shoving.

The ferries that usually shuttled back and forth like shuttles were mostly anchored in the middle of the river, not daring to approach.

The embankment along the river had been sealed off by rows of soldiers in black military uniforms, holding repeating muskets.

A tall flag rose behind the soldiers, bearing the emblem of the United Government: crossed sickles and wheat ears.

"By order of the United Government! A vicious plague has broken out in the three counties of Linhe. To prevent its spread, a total lockdown is in effect starting now!"

"No one is permitted to leave! Return to your homes and wait for inspection and relocation!"

A man who looked like an officer stood on high ground, shouting repeatedly through a tin megaphone.

The crowd erupted; some begged, some cursed, and others even tried to charge the blockade.

They were met with warning shots fired into the air and the batons in the hands of the police.

Not even a sliver of a way out?

"Let's go. Since the waterway is blocked, let's see if we can leave from somewhere else!"

Chen Mo frowned as he watched the scene, never expecting that the people of the United Government would actually cooperate with the blockade.

He certainly didn't believe there was no conspiracy behind this.

Just as the family squeezed a few steps against the terrified crowd, the noisy roar behind them suddenly died down.

A warning sign flashed in Chen Mo's heart, and he stopped abruptly and turned around.

The crowd had silently parted to form a path.

A man wearing a dark cyan Zhongshan suit stood with his hands behind his back five paces away, watching them quietly.

The man was none other than the inspector from the Bureau of Strange Suppression, Yue Changkong.

The feeling he gave Chen Mo now was different from last night.

After breaking through his Yin Aperture, the Yue Changkong he saw now felt like an entirely different entity.

He was a walking blast furnace!

The scorching, suffocating blood energy seemed ready to burst out of his body.

He could even feel the muffled sound of blood flowing within the man like churning subterranean magma.

The Taiyin Qi he had condensed in his Dantian felt like a candle in the wind before this scorching aura.

The gap was simply too vast.

Fortunately, Yue Changkong's gaze lingered on Chen Mo for only a brief moment before shifting away; instead, it was Yue Shan behind him who walked over.

Just as they brushed past each other, Yue Shan's lips moved slightly.

"Don't waste your effort. Every road in and out of the city is locked down tight."

"These men are the Black Sickle Troops of the United Government. There are at least three brigades outside the city—thirty thousand guns—turning the three counties of Linhe into an iron bucket."

"They aren't going to reason with you."

His words were like a basin of ice water, chilling Chen Mo's desperate hope of finding another way out to the bone.

Three brigades, over thirty thousand men, well-equipped.

This wasn't a standard plague quarantine; it was a military siege!

The United Government had actually mobilized such a massive regular army to facilitate the Moon-Worship Cult's operation!

Chen Mo's heart sank to the bottom of the abyss, his fingertips turning cold.

It wasn't that they weren't giving them a way out; they had laid a dragnet long ago, intending to turn these three counties of Linhe into a massive slaughterhouse.

After speaking, Yue Shan didn't look at him again, quickening his pace to catch up with Yue Changkong's group.

Yue Changkong had already reached the officer and exchanged a few words in a low voice.

The officer immediately straightened his back and saluted respectfully, and the tone of the shouting from the tin megaphone changed, becoming even colder.

"Anyone who attempts to charge the checkpoint or flee will be shot on the spot! Everyone return home immediately; no wandering about!"

"Bang! Bang!"

A few more warning shots fired into the sky suppressed the last remnants of the crowd's unrest.

The Black Sickle Troops, thirty thousand rifles strong.

Chen Mo slowly unclenched his fists; his palms were already slick with cold sweat.

Force his way through?

With his cultivation level having only just broken through the Yin Aperture, facing a well-equipped, organized military force was no different from throwing an egg against a rock.

Individual martial prowess was utterly fragile in the face of organized violence.

"Mo'er, what do we do now?"

Chen Dachuan had also heard Yue Shan's words, his face etched with panic.

By now, not even a fly could likely escape Linhe County.

Chen Mo did not answer immediately.

He forced himself to calm down, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic pier and the stern blockade in the distance, then skimming over the direction in which Yue Changkong and his party had departed, before finally landing on the ground beneath his feet.

"Forcing our way out is a dead end."

"Going home is just waiting to be slaughtered."

"It seems there is only one way left."

"If all else fails, we can only risk crossing the turbulent Blackwater Shore under the cover of night."

"Wait here for me; I'll be right back."

Chen Mo touched the Anomaly Suppression Bureau token in his pocket, gave the others a quick instruction, and turned to move against the thinning crowd, chasing in the direction Yue Changkong's group had gone.

Now he could only gamble—gamble on the weight of this token, and gamble on whether the other party was willing to listen to reason at this moment.

"Inspector Yue!"

Chen Mo raised his voice when he was a few paces away from Yue Changkong and his men, keeping enough distance to avoid triggering an overreaction from the guards, yet ensuring he could be heard.

Yue Changkong did not stop, as if he hadn't heard.

However, the two attendants in black uniforms beside him turned immediately, hands resting on the hilts of their sidearms, their eyes locked onto Chen Mo.

Yue Shan also stopped and turned back. Seeing it was Chen Mo, he frowned slightly, curious as to what he wanted.

Chen Mo took a deep breath. Under the cold, piercing gazes of the group, he pulled the bronze token with the character "Anomaly" engraved in the center from his robes and held it out with both hands.

"Chen Mo, reserve walker for the Jinmen Anomaly Suppression Bureau." He kept his voice as steady as possible, reciting the identity Chen Dachuan had told him. "I am preparing to head to Jin City for the official assessment. Could Inspector Yue grant me a convenience and allow my family to leave the city?"

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

All the pressure converged upon Yue Changkong's broad, upright back.

The few seconds of silence felt as long as several hours.

Finally, Yue Changkong turned around slowly. His gaze fell first on the token in Chen Mo's hand, lingering for about two breaths, before finally rising to settle on his face.

Chen Mo felt that terrifying, scorching aura envelop him once more, heavier than before.

The Taiyin energy within his dantian circulated spontaneously, bringing a trace of coolness.

Yet, it still felt like standing on the edge of a furnace; even breathing became difficult.

"A reserve walker from Jinmen?"