8mi Ch. 524
Ch. 524
Lu Xiaoliu lowered his head—a long sword had pierced straight through his chest."Xiaoliu!"
With a furious roar, Xiao Mochi gripped the Collection of Heavenly Questions, and several streaks of golden light transformed into feathered arrows that shot toward the attacker!
That person yanked the sword out and kept retreating, destroying each golden arrow one after another.
Lu Xiaoliu turned around, flicking his sleeve—an ink-black dragon surged forward, pouncing at the one who had ambushed him.
A slash of sword qi swept through the air. The ink dragon was cleaved in two, and countless ink-feathers rained down from the sky.
Inside the town, more and more of the people dissolved into black mist, then were sucked into the formation.
Although the formation was not yet fully completed, the Lord of Black Hawk City knew he couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.
These four Nascent Soul cultivators were truly extraordinary. As expected of those the headmaster of White Deer Academy had taken a liking to—each of them possessed astonishing strength!
But the more so, the more delighted he was.
Four such fine cultivators—only then could they be refined into four high-quality pills.
If they were merely ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, he would have worried whether the resulting pills' efficacy would be strong enough.
Lu Xiaoliu quickly used spiritual energy to stop the bleeding. His gaze fixed on the figure ahead.
Staring at the woman before him, his emotions sank heavily. An indescribable loneliness flickered through his eyes.
This person was none other than the steward's daughter who had been delivering supplies to Xiao Mochi and the others all this time—the very woman Lu Xiaoliu had fallen for.
"You're from Rouge Sect?"
Lu Xiaoliu pressed his hand to his chest. Even though he already knew the answer, he still wanted to hear it from her lips.
"Indeed." The woman nodded. "And I'll tell you something else while I'm at it—the one responsible for altering the formation and making all of you waste your spiritual energy for days… was me."
Lu Xiaoliu: "…"
"Everything is over. The few of you should just become pills already. Don't worry—it won't hurt."
The woman, named Mo Keke, formed seals and began to chant an incantation.
In an instant, Black Hawk City shook violently. Buildings collapsed one after another, as if the entire city were caving in.
From within the city came the cries and desperate pleas of the people.
"ROOOAR!"
A massive shadow emerged from within the formation.
The shadow reached out and grabbed.
Like eating beans, it tossed one person after another into its mouth, chewing without pause.
The more mortal citizens it devoured, the larger its body grew.
The people fled in terror—but where could they run?
Houses crumbled and fell onto them. One living life after another was coldly buried under the ruins, crushed alive.
Those who couldn't dodge in time—no, anyone the shadow so much as set its sights on—were swallowed whole.
A mother clutched her child tightly. An old man closed his eyes, simply waiting for death. Men fought with all their might to escape. Women stood pale-faced in place, wondering if this was all some nightmare.
Black Hawk City had turned into hell on earth!
And the culprit who had turned it into a living inferno was the very City Lord they had always trusted.
They had believed the City Lord would live and die alongside them. But in truth, the noble and respected figure in their hearts regarded them as nothing more than chickens and ducks.
So long as it benefited him, these "chickens and ducks" could be slaughtered at will.
"At a time like this, you'd better not get distracted~ Otherwise, you'll die even faster."
As Xiao Mochi and the other four stared at the catastrophe unfolding in Black Hawk City, the voice of Gu Yun, Sect Master of Rouge Sect, drifted into their ears.
They turned their heads—several red silk ribbons lashed out like ropes, rushing to bind them.
Xiao Mochi and the others each cast techniques, tearing the ribbons apart.
Once again, the four stood back-to-back.
Sweat beaded on their foreheads. They steadied their minds and gathered their qi, their expressions grim.
The light of the Collection of Heavenly Questions in Xiao Mochi's hand steadily dimmed.
Lu Xiaoliu's long robe was already in tatters.
As for the writing brush and inkstone in Wang Shenghan's hands—needless to say, the wolf-hair brush had split, leaving the bristles sparse and ragged, while the inkstone had cracked down its surface.
Nan Wenmo's painting scroll had become a muddled mess, its original form unrecognizable—nothing but a smear of ink spilled across the paper.
For the four of them, there was no strength left to spare.
Compared to them, though the Black Hawk City Lord and the Rouge Sect Master had also suffered heavy injuries, they still retained most of their combat strength. Killing these four would not be a problem.
If the four had been at their peak, they would have been confident they could take down the City Lord and the Rouge Sect Master.
Even if the enemy had the advantage of being in Black Hawk City, even with the formation's reinforcement.
But these past days… they had expended far too much spiritual energy.
It was only fortunate they had discovered the enemy's true purpose in time—otherwise, in a few more days, even if they had broken the formation, it would have meant nothing. Their spiritual energy would have run dry.
"Four esteemed ones, don't struggle anymore. I can let you die a little more easily."
The Black Hawk City Lord—now transformed into a towering shadow—stepped forward and spoke to them.
"Mochi," Wang Shenghan said in a low voice. "In a moment, I'll use a technique to open a path for you. You all leave—immediately!"
"No!" Xiao Mochi refused harshly. "How could we abandon you?! And what about the citizens of the whole city?!"
Xiao Mochi absolutely could not do such a thing.
"As long as the green mountains remain, there will be firewood to burn. If you don't even have your lives, how can you talk about saving the citizens of this city?
Rather than all of us dying here, I'd rather be the only one who dies!"
Wang Shenghan stared at Xiao Mochi with utmost seriousness.
"This mission outside the academy—the headmaster ordered that you follow my lead. That is an order!"
"Shenghan!"
"Go!"
Wang Shenghan shoved Xiao Mochi hard on the shoulder.
From within his robe, he took out a white jade feather.
He formed seals and chanted. The feather shattered instantly, scattering into countless flecks of jade-white light that drifted across the sky.
"BOOM!"
From the position where the formation had originally been, a violent explosion rang out.
"What's going on?"
Enemy and ally alike were stunned.
Before Xiao Mochi could make sense of it, the jade-white powder gathered into the form of a massive eagle.
The eagle seized Xiao Mochi and the others, carrying them far into the distance.
"Trying to run?!"
The City Lord of Black Hawk City snorted coldly, stretching out a massive hand toward them.
The eagle burst through the giant shadowy hand, smashed through the city's formation barrier, and flew out beyond the city walls.
"Good that you've gone. Gone, and you won't have to witness any of this."
Wang Shenghan coughed up several mouthfuls of blood and swept his hand.
Within Black Hawk City, some of the citizens who had already scattered into black mist suddenly exploded into jade-colored powder.
It was as if the City Lord of Black Hawk City were competing with Wang Shenghan to kill people—seeing who could slaughter more.
"I never thought a scholar from White Deer Academy… could be this ruthless as well."
Fang Ran stared at Wang Shenghan coldly.