Sudden Underwater City

To the south of the city, a towering wall of muddy water fifteen zhang high came roaring in with an ear-splitting thunderous crash. Before that surging wave rising from the earth, Cold Mountain County's walls seemed as thin as paper.

Officials and commoners alike were scared out of their wits by the horrifying sight. After a brief stunned silence, terrified screams suddenly erupted. The instinct to survive drove everyone to flee in panic, only for them to realize that they were already turtles trapped in a jar, with nowhere to retreat and nowhere to run!

The wall of water closed in within moments, about to crash down upon them and swallow the entire city.

At that critical moment, with a thousand pounds hanging by a single thread.

County Magistrate Fang Xun's cold shout rang across the entire city like thunder.

Before his words had faded, a dazzling golden light shot into the sky from the county yamen. It transformed into an enormous dome-shaped barrier, covering the entire city upside down in the blink of an eye!

The next instant, the monstrous floodwaters crashed violently into the golden formation.

Amid a deafening boom as though heaven had collapsed and earth had split apart, the golden formation trembled violently, seeming ready to break apart at any moment. Fortunately, though it shook, the formation did not collapse. Its light merely dimmed sharply until it was nearly transparent.

After enduring the first impact, the force of the rushing water had weakened. Yet it did not stop. Instead, it continued surging toward the low-lying ground along the terrain. At that moment, Cold Mountain County was like a lone rock standing firm amid raging waves.

Having survived such a terrifying calamity, the people of Cold Mountain County erupted into cheers.

County Magistrate Fang Xun stood with his hands behind his back, silently gazing at the floodwaters beyond the city.

Yet his heart was nowhere near as calm as he appeared.

"How could such a great flood have erupted so suddenly?"

He secretly felt both alarmed and bewildered.

Not long afterward, inside the county yamen's study.

County Assistant Yu Shang and County Lieutenant Cheng Yishu hurried over, their expressions grave.

The three gathered together and stared at a map of the terrain surrounding Cold Mountain.

"Cold Mountain County is surrounded by mountains and lies in a low basin valley. Not far from here, there are several perilous peaks blanketed in snow all year round." Yu Shang, the county assistant who looked like an old scholar, stroked his beard and gave his judgment at an unhurried pace. "But that was how things used to be. Since the beginning of this year, the weather has been unbearably hot, abnormal to the extreme. In this old man's opinion, perhaps such weather caused the glaciers to melt, eventually triggering this mountain flood."

Fang Xun frowned slightly. "No matter how hot the weather is, the ice condensed atop those mountains is ten-thousand-year mysterious ice. How could it melt just because it was hot, and so swiftly at that?"

Just as he was filled with confusion, he suddenly noticed Cheng Yishu's flickering expression. It seemed Cheng Yishu had something difficult to say. Fang Xun's face darkened. "Yishu, if you have something to say, speak plainly."

Cheng Yishu swallowed and said in a low voice, "Sir, since April this year, the weather has grown hotter by the day. The formation in our county yamen has been running, so we can still enjoy some coolness. But outside the yamen..."

"Because of that, some men in the Black-Armored Army set their sights on the ice atop the surrounding snowy mountains. They went up the mountains to chisel out ice blocks. Aside from using them to cool themselves, they sold the excess ice to the townspeople at high prices. This flood... may have been caused by that..."

Before Cheng Yishu could finish, Fang Xun's face had already turned livid, ugly to the extreme.

"A pack of bastards!"

He slammed his palm onto the desk, then took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his fury, making himself calm down.

"Let this be the last time." He coldly spat out the words. "Fortunately, the Bright Light Formation protected us today, or this would have become a disaster that drowned us all! When you return, keep your subordinates under tight control. Do not let them commit such foolish acts again!"

"Furthermore..." Fang Xun abruptly changed the subject. "We do not know when this mountain flood will recede. Once calamity strikes, people's hearts will surely descend into chaos. Take the Black-Armored Army and maintain order in the city at once. Guard against unrest!"

Cheng Yishu had believed catastrophe was about to descend upon him. He never imagined Fang Xun would raise his hand high only to set it down lightly. Feeling as though he had received a great pardon, he repeatedly accepted the order and hurried away.

"Elder Yu." Fang Xun turned to Yu Shang. "Trouble yourself with taking stock of the city's grain, fodder, and material reserves. Calculate how long we can hold out."

Once the two colleagues had departed, the vast study returned to dead silence.

Only then did Chief Constable Wu Kuang slip inside as silently as a ghost.

Lowering his voice, he said, "Sir, this matter of the Black-Armored Army secretly chiseling ice from the mountains was something this subordinate noticed long ago. I also reported it to you before. It was just that..."

The anger on Fang Xun's face had long vanished, replaced by his usual deep composure. "Leaving aside the fact that they were only gathering ice privately on a small scale, even if I ordered the entire army to go harvest ice day and night, it still would not be enough to cause such a monstrous disaster."

Wu Kuang nodded in understanding. "What you say is absolutely right, sir. In this subordinate's view..."

"It should have been that boy's handiwork in the shadows!"

Fang Xun lowered his eyelids, concealing the killing intent in his eyes, and cursed in a low voice, "Witchfire melted the ice and released the waters to drown the city. What a vicious little beast!"

The "little beast" he hated to the bone was naturally the surviving remnant of the Xiang Kingdom, Xiong Jin's own nephew.

Ever since Fang Xun had conceived the idea of capturing him and using him to trade for a splendid future, he had secretly ordered Wu Kuang to search everywhere. Some days ago, they had indeed found a few traces.

Wu Kuang personally led a team to carry out a secret arrest, but that boy had been as crafty as a loach. Though he clearly possessed only Mortal Embryo Realm cultivation, his combat strength was truly astonishing.

Not only had he escaped that battle, several constables had been killed or wounded as well.

"If he melted ten-thousand-year ice, it must have consumed a tremendous amount of his strength. Right now should be when he is at his weakest!"

Fang Xun's gaze turned icy as he issued the order grimly, "Take men and search again. The moment you find any trace of him, report to me immediately."

"This time, I will go personally!"

Wu Kuang's expression turned solemn. He clasped his fists, accepted the order, and departed.

Meanwhile, the people of Cold Mountain County, who had survived the disaster and were immersed in relief, did not remain happy for long.

They soon discovered in shock and terror that although the raging flood had not drowned the county seat, it showed no sign of receding either.

The muddy torrent from upstream seemed endless, and the waterline at the edge of the formation beyond the city kept rising higher and higher.

That afternoon, the murky water had completely submerged the towering city walls.

Looking up, they saw that the entire Cold Mountain County had become an underwater city without sight of the sky!

Monstrous floodwaters hung high above their heads, liable to come crashing down at any moment.

This undoubtedly placed enormous psychological pressure on everyone within the city.

They had already been physically and mentally exhausted by the scorching heat of the past several dozen days. Now disaster loomed over them, with no sign of safety in sight anytime soon.

A subtle and eerie atmosphere began to quietly envelop Cold Mountain County.

Inside his own small courtyard, Li Shun listened to the nearly hysterical argument coming from next door, and his expression turned somewhat grim.

"I thought that digging deep tunnels would let us avoid disaster at a crucial moment. Who would have thought that even a place like Cold Mountain County could suffer a flood falling from the sky?"