Ban Ze examined the corpse on the ground, his expression grave.
"It's him."
Everyone beside him paled at those words.
"What do we do?" The young man's voice beside him carried a slight tremor.
"After him!" Ban Ze declared without hesitation. "We can't let him live!"
The others nodded, but they could not hide the fear in their eyes.
Chen Mu and his companions dared not linger anywhere, leaving Tiandongli District as fast as they could. The entire district had become a battlefield. The siege of Frostmoon Cold Isle had an unparalleled impact on Tiandongli District. Frostmoon Cold Isle's forces stationed throughout the district were rushing toward Thousand Lakes City to provide reinforcements, leaving far too many power vacuums in their wake. These areas became the sites of the fiercest struggles, where local factions slaughtered one another for control.
But even more factions adopted a wait-and-see attitude. The outcome of this battle would directly determine who controlled the two great Huahua Districts, Tiandongli District and Beilian District. Whoever won would gain both districts outright; whoever lost would be left with nothing.
No one along the way dared set their sights on Chen Mu's group, however. The force looked enormous, and the reputations of the Wood Character Camp and the Snow Silk Worm Card Adept Corps alone were enough to cow any petty villains.
Only after they left Tiandongli District did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
By then, their numbers had gradually dwindled. Many card adepts simply left the group. They belonged to the four hundred card adepts accompanying them, and were capable fighters with modest reputations who did not want to work under anyone else. Chen Mu never tried to persuade them to stay.
People kept leaving along the way, and morale was low. Even when they camped to