"Chuan'er." He Chunhua called his eldest son aside, turning his back to the others and lowering his voice. "In your view, how do we get out of this ghost city?"
"Hard to say yet," He Lingchuan replied truthfully. "We simply have too little information."
He Chunhua let out a heavy sigh. He studied his eldest son's features closely before pointing toward a small chamber ahead. "I'm going to shut myself inside and think of a way. You all stand guard outside. Don't let anyone in."
Panlong City's walls were exceptionally well-fortified. The gallery between the inner and outer walls not only contained passageways wide enough for two or three men to walk abreast, but also featured weapon rooms at set intervals to store arms and sundries. The room He Chunhua was heading toward was one of these.
Yet He Lingchuan followed him step for step. "What can one person come up with alone? Many minds make better counsel."
He subtly hooked two fingers behind his back, and Qiu Hu and his men quickly fell in behind him.
He Chunhua stopped in his tracks, his face darkening. "I told you to stand guard. That's an order!"
Zhao Qinghe immediately stepped between the two men. "Eldest Young Master, halt!"
"Why lock yourself away at a critical time like this, Old Man?" He Lingchuan said dismissively. "Time is precious. Pooling our wits is the only sensible move!"
In times like this, He Lingchuan could easily guess what He Chunhua wanted to do behind closed doors.
If he wasn't begging Nailuotian to point out a path, he was probably planning to secretly perform a summoning ritual for divine descent.
Strange phenomena abounded throughout the Panlong Ruins, beyond what mortal strength could resolve. He Chunhua most likely intended to rely on the power of a god.
He Lingchuan could under no circumstances allow him to contact Nailuotian, lest this "God of Fate" ruin his own plans.
He Chunhua pointed at He Lingchuan and barked, "Stop him." He then strode toward the secret chamber.
The surrounding soldiers moved in at once to block He Lingchuan.
However, the space was far too narrow for the Blackwater City troops to make use of their superior numbers. Qiu Hu struck first, knocking down two of He Chunhua's personal guards in the blink of an eye.
He Lingchuan darted like an elusive fish, slipping through a gap between the men with a sharp whoosh. Zhao Qinghe tried to intercept him, but Qiu Hu closed the distance, driving a fist straight toward his nose.
Zhao Qinghe was forced to tilt his head aside to dodge.
Flinging one soldier away, He Lingchuan scrambled along the upper edges of the corridor like a gecko. He Chunhua's vision blurred, and suddenly his son was blocking his path.
"Old Man," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "What's the rush?"
His eldest son could actually smile at a time like this? In He Chunhua's eyes, that expression carried nothing but ill intent.
Why go to such lengths to corner him? Was the dagger finally being drawn from the scroll? Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Monsters are glaring at us from outside, and we can't leave Panlong City. Aren't you anxious?"
"It seems Father already has a plan. Let's hear it so we can work it out together," He Lingchuan said softly. "Just like old times."
The words "old times" struck He Chunhua, stirring a tumult of mixed emotions.
Old times? What old times? In the old times, he had always made the decisions, and his eldest son had merely obeyed.
He Chunhua glanced left and right. The Blackwater City troops were held off by the Mount Rong men; Qiu Hu had forced Zhao Qinghe back and occupied the advantageous ground; and He Lingchuan stood closest of all to him.
He understood now. These people had planned this all along.
A wise man knew when not to pick an unwinnable fight. Composing himself at once, he barked at Zhao Qinghe and the others, "Sheathe your weapons! Now is the time to unite our minds and pull together. How can we draw blades on our own people?"
He Lingchuan clapped his hands and laughed. "Wise, Old Man. That's the spirit."
Every time he said "wise," He Chunhua felt he was mocking him.
Even so, both sides lowered their weapons, and the standoff diffused.
He Chunhua's expression softened at once. "Chuan'er, of the groups present, which do you think is the strongest?"
He Lingchuan thought for a moment and answered without hesitation, "Heavenly Palace."
Although He Chunhua had brought the largest number of men, under their current circumstances, Heavenly Palace likely possessed the greatest strength to fight off the monsters.
He Chunhua agreed with his assessment. "Perhaps we ought to join forces with Heavenly Palace?"
"Sooner or later, everyone in the city will realize that banding together is the only way to survive," He Lingchuan said, raising an eyebrow. "The surviving groups will all converge on the city gate eventually, whether it's Heavenly Palace or the people of Baling."
"Can holding our ground here really lead to a way out?"
"Why wouldn't it?" He Lingchuan looked up at the sky. "Once dawn breaks, won't the Panlong Ruins return to normal?"
After dawn? It was as if enlightenment had struck He Chunhua like water poured over his head.
Of course! Hadn't every recent shift in the Panlong Ruins taken place in the dead of night?
Since these monsters emerged from the red light, they were probably undead spirits as well.
If they could endure until morning, perhaps all of this would vanish like smoke.
Hope was such a precious thing. He had felt rather disheartened earlier; after all, what safety could three hundred men really offer against hundreds of monsters? But if they only had to hold out until dawn, there was still a chance!
Seeing his expression ease, He Lingchuan knew he had temporarily abandoned the thought of invoking his god.
Temporarily.
Commotion from a distant battlefield suddenly drew the attention of both father and son.
Some unknown group was fighting the monsters, and faint, gloomy lights appeared, drifting away in a particular direction.
Indeed, when the Blackwater City troops had used the high ground earlier to kill two of the beasts, He Lingchuan had also noticed dim specks of light rising from their corpses and floating away on their own. They were fainter than fireflies, casting a pale, eerie blue glow.
From the wall, he could clearly see that every single one of these motes of light was heading in the same direction.
Dead beasts, floating lights...
What was the meaning of this?
***
Having slain several beasts in quick succession, the Heavenly Palace contingent likewise noticed the gloomy lights drifting away from the carcasses.
This sight gave them serious pause. Zhang Lianhai pointed toward the light, and a clone of the lamp spirit broke off to follow, flying alongside it.
He needed to determine where these lights were ultimately headed.
More than a hundred breaths later, the lamp spirit fluttered back and hovered near Zhang Lianhai's neck. A look of surprise quickly crossed his face.
The lights rising from the corpses of the slain beasts were all heading to a single place.
Not the temple, not Zhong Shengguang's former residence or tomb, but General Red's cenotaph!
Countless motes of light sank into the cenotaph and vanished, as if a black hole lay buried beneath it.
Without hesitating long, Zhang Lianhai made the call. "Move out. We're going to General Red's cenotaph."
Whether those lights were drawn there or forcefully guided was unclear, but the key to breaking this predicament seemed to lie in that very place.
The guards cried out in alarm, "My lord? That's too dangerous!"
They were currently sheltered atop a relatively safe stone tower, attracting little notice from the beasts. Wouldn't it be better to stay hidden here and let the other factions feed the monsters first? Crossing the entire city of Panlong to reach General Red's cenotaph meant braving who knew how many horrors along the way.
"Staying hidden here is just sitting around waiting to die. Once those monsters devour everyone else, they'll find their way here sooner or later," Zhang Lianhai said calmly. "If we want to escape with our lives and fulfill the mission Heavenly Palace entrusted to us, we must uncover the secrets of this city. Do you still remember the oath you swore before leaving Heavenly Palace?"
The guards snapped to attention, chanting in unison, "Through fire and water, we shall die ten thousand deaths for Heavenly Palace without regret!"
"Let's go."
Seizing a moment when the beasts beneath the tower had wandered off, they slipped quietly into the streets, advancing beneath the cover of building shadows.
Zhang Lianhai and the young attendant were shielded in the center, flanked tightly by the other guards.
The journey went surprisingly smoothly.
Most of the monsters seemed to have been drawn toward the northwest corner, where deafening roars echoed through the air. The few stray beasts that stumbled into their path were swiftly and silently dispatched by the Heavenly Palace guards before they could utter a cry.
Zhang Lianhai deduced that a large concentration of humans had gathered in the northwest—either the Blackwater City troops or the Andongese.
A smaller group would have been devoured in no time; they could never have held out for so long.
Meanwhile, numerous motes of light drifted eastward over their heads, showing that the monsters were also being slaughtered in steady numbers.
The battle over there had to be gruesome beyond measure.
The Heavenly Palace contingent grew all the more cautious, casting aside every shred of their former arrogance. If entangled by those creatures, their fate would be no better than that of the army in the northwest.
Zhang Lianhai did not even dare deploy his lamp spirit again. Useful as the creature was, its bright glow was far too conspicuous and would surely draw the beasts' attention.
A scout he had sent ahead returned with good news:
"The red pillar of light in the temple's pool-well is no longer producing monsters."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the report. The beasts were formidable in combat and massive in build; if they continued to gush forth endlessly, who could possibly withstand them?
It seemed their numbers were not infinite after all. Thank goodness for that.
The young attendant murmured, "By that count, about seven or eight hundred beasts must have emerged from the red light?"
No sooner had he spoken than he sneezed, rubbing his arms involuntarily. "So cold!"
The desert was known for extreme temperature swings, but what season was it? Zhang Lianhai suddenly sensed something amiss.
Ever since the monsters had appeared, the temperature in Panlong City seemed to have been dropping steadily.
Just as the young attendant finished speaking, snow began to flutter down from the sky.
At first it fell in sparse flakes, melting as soon as it touched skin. But before the group could advance even forty or fifty zhang, chilly winds howled through the city, and the flurries turned into heavy, goose-feather snow!
Gale-force winds whipped the snowflakes straight into their faces.
Blinded by the blizzard, someone walked headfirst into a pillar by the street.
"Move! Hurry!" Zhang Lianhai could no longer afford caution and hastily summoned the lamp spirit. The moment it appeared, the howling wind died within ten zhang of it, and the path ahead cleared considerably.
Yet Zhang Lianhai's expression did not ease in the slightest. Whenever things turned abnormal, trouble was sure to follow. This bizarre blizzard boded nothing good.
Sure enough, the scout who had been guiding their way from the rooftops suddenly vanished.
The young attendant was the first to notice. "Wait, where did he go?"
Looking around, the scout was nowhere to be found in the ranks.
A chill ran down everyone's spine. That man was diligent and never slacked off; how could he vanish without a trace?
After they advanced another dozen-odd zhang, a guard in the rear called out loudly, "My lord, Xu Xi is gone too!"
Xu Xi was the man Zhang Lianhai had designated to cover the rear. Daring and highly skilled, he was the sort fit to hold the line against wolves. His cultivation was far from weak; how could he have disappeared without making a sound?
Zhang Lianhai halted abruptly and gestured toward the lamp spirit. The little creature split into two, casting its glow over both the front and rear of the group. He then ordered, "Pair up and look out for each other. Call out if anything happens!"
The men formed pairs, watching each other's backs.
They moved another dozen-odd zhang in this manner when the lantern light behind them suddenly flickered. The group whipped their heads around, only to see the airborne lamp spirit lunge abruptly toward a guard's... back!
The guard spun around instantly, but there was nothing there.
Chapter 828