A Breakthrough
The City Guard were, after all, people personally selected by Liu Duanyue. Even if Li Jie disappointed him, the rest of them were still very capable.
Before dawn, the City Guard had already almost completely pacified Moonless City.
It was only because those monsters, the undead, were causing such havoc in the city that many people's houses were destroyed. Their rescue of people from the ruins took some time; otherwise, they could have completed the mission much faster.
"There was no trace of any monsters in the city, and even the remains inside and outside the city were completely cleaned up. We suspect that those monsters had some clues on them, which is why the people of the Sun-Chasing Hall dared not leave them behind." The leader of the City Guard explained his findings from the previous night to Liu Duanyue.
The team leader, Zhou Xuan, was an extremely intelligent young man. It was precisely because Liu Duanyue knew that he was capable and clever that she entrusted him with the City Guard duties. However, she never expected that such a clever person would also fall into the trap of the Sun-Chasing Hall.
Yes, they are now quite certain that it was all the work of the Sun-Chasing Hall.
"There's one more thing..." Zhou Xuan, head bowed, her expression somewhat dejected, "Last night, while we were searching for the monster, we specifically went to Li Jie's residence. We eventually found a corpse in Li Jie's house, and after confirmation, it was indeed Li Jie. He had been dead for quite some time when we discovered him..."
Upon hearing this, Liu Duanyue closed his eyes. It turned out that it wasn't Li Jie who betrayed him, but rather that the person in question was never Li Jie from the beginning.
"Have those people from the Sun-Chasing Hall really become so good at creating fakes that they're indistinguishable from the real thing?" Liu Duanyue sighed.
Zhou Xuan didn't answer, but continued his report, "Last night, a total of three thousand people in the city were attacked by monsters, of whom nearly six hundred died, all of them ordinary people. Many other cultivators were also injured. Fortunately, after the monster incident became public, the second young master of the Yin Mountain Sect led his disciples to rescue people, which reduced the number of casualties considerably." Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to face the city lord.
This was the most devastating calamity Moonless City had ever suffered since Zhou Xuan became City Guard. If he hadn't believed the lies and taken the City Guard away, so many people wouldn't have died tonight.
He clenched his fists and knelt before Liu Duanyue: "I have failed in my duties. I didn't even notice that my colleague had been replaced, and I was deceived by the other party, which led me to commit a grave mistake. I beg the city lord to punish me!"
"Of course you should be punished, but the situation in the city is unclear right now. Those bastards Sun-Chasing Hall the Liu Duanyue instructed.
He called the man closer and whispered a few words in his ear. In the ever-changing gaze of the Zhou Xuan, a plan was quietly born.
"Do as I say. Whether this city can survive depends on your success!" Liu Duanyue waved his hand, dismissing the men.
Sang Ying and the others, who had witnessed this scene from behind the screen, sighed deeply after they Zhou Xuan. They hadn't expected things to escalate so much; they had originally only intended to resolve the matter discreetly.
I never expected that the people from the Sun-Chasing Hall would be so crazy, planning to drag the entire city, and even the entire Hidden Nether Realm, into hell.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Can your body handle so many people?" Sang Ying turned her head to look at Jiang Zhuoxue, her eyes full of worry.
Jiang Zhuoxue's heart softened instantly. He carefully took Sang Ying's hand and whispered, "Don't worry, after surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, I'm no longer the weak and pitiful being I once was. I know you want to save Moonless City. I didn't have the ability to help you before, but I'm glad I can be of help now."
These were Jiang Zhuoxue's true feelings. Whenever he thought of the suffering Sang Ying had endured, his heart ached even more. He was extremely happy to be able to help her now.
Upon hearing this, Sang Ying patted the back of his hand and said, "Don't push yourself too hard. Stop if you feel uncomfortable. I've already absorbed a lot of heavenly lightning. At worst, I can just use the heavenly lightning I've accumulated over the years to strike them all down!"
Sang Ying only discovered this by accident; her Ice Spirit Root could actually store heavenly lightning. Now, her Dantian has been fully repaired, and the Qi Vortex between her brows is operating steadily.
In order to safely pass the Spirit Transformation Lightning Tribulation, she had even opened up two Qi Vortex in her palms in advance to accumulate spiritual Spiritual Qi. Unexpectedly, these were not used at all during the tribulation, and instead, the heavenly lightning drilled into those two Qi Vortex.
Outsiders only see the electric snakes coiled around her sword, but they don't know that she also contains heavenly lightning within her body.
This is one of her trump cards, which she won't reveal for now. But it could be used against the Sun-Chasing Hall.
Jiang Zhuoxue rejected this suggestion. "Heavenly lightning isn't so easy to obtain. Even geniuses with Lightning Spirit Root would likely have to pay a near-death price to absorb it. One in a hundred with Lightning Spirit Root would be blessed by the Heavenly Dao. The fact that you can obtain such benefits with your Ice Spirit Root body is clearly a contingency plan left for you by the Heavenly Dao. It's better to reveal such a powerful contingency plan later."
What Jiang Zhuoxue didn't say was that he guessed that as Sang Ying's cultivation level increased, her Spirit Root would probably undergo some mutations.
After all, in Duan Hanyi's prophecy, Sang Ying was the only savior in this catastrophe that was enough to overturn the Cultivation World!
Before this, Jiang Zhuoxue did not want Sang Ying's special nature to be exposed.
Having finished discussing this topic, Liu Duanyue, who was outside the screen, also entered. He first recounted Zhou Xuan's words to everyone before saying, "What secrets do these monsters hold? If we don't find them, I'm afraid no one in the city will be able to subdue them in the future. It's just a pity that the monsters have all disappeared."
As soon as Liu Duanyue finished speaking, Wuming, who was leaning against the window with his arms crossed, raised an eyebrow. "I remember, a monster also broke into the cell back then. I chained it up..."
Everyone's eyes lit up instantly, and without saying a word, they rushed towards the prison cell.
When they arrived, screams erupted from the cells. Sang Ying and Jiang Zhuoxue quickened their pace. When they rushed in, they saw that most of the people who had been locked up had escaped in the chaos. One of them, who hadn't managed to escape, was now being terrified by the roaring monster tied to the pillar.
Sang Ying and the others quickly stepped forward and subdued the monster, but the man had already fainted from fright.
Left with no other choice, the group could only take care of the other person as well, waiting for him to wake up before making further plans. As for this one monster they had overlooked, he was the key to uncovering the conspiracy of the Sun-Chasing Hall!
A note from the author:
I was lazy today, only two chapters (embarrassed, covering face).
I'll update three chapters tomorrow, see you then!