Chapter 49: Unconsciousness

Just as Zhongdu City was under great pressure, chaos suddenly erupted behind the monster beasts. Xu Haoran looked intently and saw that behind the monster beasts, in the sky, hundreds of figures were flying on swords amid the swirling heavy snow. They continuously released spells from their hands, attacking the monster beasts’ formation. The monster beasts were caught off guard by the sudden attack, and their formation fell into disarray, with many dead and injured.

Although these hundreds of figures were insignificant compared to the nearly ten thousand monster beasts, their sudden appearance caught the monster beasts by surprise, causing them to panic.

The panic among the monster beasts spread quickly from the back to the front. The monster beasts at the front learned that reinforcements had arrived for Zhongdu City and became even more flustered in their alarm. Meanwhile, the disciples of the Xu Clan on the walls of Zhongdu City could not see the newcomers clearly through the strong wind and heavy snow, so they also believed that reinforcements from other cities had arrived.

In an instant, everyone’s spirits were lifted, and they shouted excitedly, “Reinforcements are here! Reinforcements are here!”

The cheers echoed throughout Zhongdu City, spreading from the east to the west, from the west to the south, and then to the north. Li Wanpeng, Xiao Rugui, and Wu Meng heard the cheers and perked up. They grabbed a nearby cheering disciple and asked excitedly and anxiously,

“Are the reinforcements here? Where are they?”

“I don’t know. The cheers came from over there.”

The disciple pointed toward the cheering crowd. But when they looked carefully around, they did not see any sign of the reinforcements. The sounds gradually quieted down, and only cheers from the direction of the Xu Clan in the east could be heard.

Li Wanpeng, Xiao Rugui, and Wu Meng looked toward the east, where the Xu Clan was defending, and thought to themselves,

“Could the Xu Clan be so lucky that the reinforcements came from the east? No, I need to go and see.”

After giving orders to their subordinates, they each soared into the sky from the west, south, and north, flying on swords toward the east.

East City.

Xu Haoran gazed intently behind the monster beasts. The cheers from the Xu Clan disciples had also stopped because they realized that the rescuers numbered only a few hundred people. They were struggling to advance toward Zhongdu City through the monster beast horde, like a small boat adrift in a vast sea.

Although these few hundred people were fast, they were still intercepted by flying demon beasts when they reached the middle of the monster beast horde. The ground-based monster beasts also calmed down and looked up, spitting spells at the few hundred people in the sky. People began falling from their swords, and in an instant, they were devoured by the monster beasts on the ground.

Xu Haoran, on the city wall, finally recognized who the few hundred people were. Tears streamed down his face as he shouted,

“Second Brother!”

He was about to leap out of the city on his sword but was grabbed by Xu Haoliang beside him, who cried out desperately,

“Elder Brother, you cannot go out! This is not the time for recklessness. You are the clan leader! Do you understand? You are the clan leader!”

Xu Haoran shook his arms, throwing Xu Haoliang off. He turned and kicked Xu Haoliang to the ground, his face turning pale with anger as he yelled,

“You still remember I am the clan leader! Look at the mess you’ve made!”

Xu Haoliang scrambled to his feet, his face also pale, and shouted hoarsely,

“I don’t care what you say about me, but the clan is in danger now. Since you are the clan leader, you must take responsibility for the clan! Acting with reckless bravery like this makes you unfit to be the clan leader!”

Three figures descended gracefully from the sky. Li Wanpeng, Xiao Rugui, and Wu Meng flew to Xu Haoran and asked loudly,

“Brother Haoran, where are the reinforcements?”

Xu Haoran angrily flicked his sleeve and said coldly, “There are no reinforcements. Those are the disciples of our Xu Clan who were stationed at Tongyou Valley. They must have discovered that Changri Valley, Luofeng Ridge, and the Imperial Highway had fallen, so they hurried back to rescue Zhongdu City.”

His words filled Li Wanpeng, Xiao Rugui, and Wu Meng with disappointment, but they showed no remorse. They glanced at each other without saying a word, then soared into the air on their swords and rushed back to the walls they were defending.

By this time, the monster beasts had recovered from their panic. Not only did they send a portion to surround Xu Haobo and the others, but the remaining monster beasts also surged toward the city walls like a tidal wave.

The Xu Clan disciples on the city walls now realized that the newcomers were not reinforcements but the clan disciples sent to guard Tongyou Valley. Their joy turned to sorrow, and they felt dizzy, almost fainting. Morale plummeted instantly. In less than fifteen minutes, a large number of monster beasts had scaled the walls, and over a hundred of Xu Haobo’s group, trapped among the monster beasts, had already died, leaving fewer than three hundred survivors.

As it seemed that not only would Xu Haobo and the others outside the city be surrounded and killed, but Zhongdu City would also fall and its people perish, suddenly, earth-shaking roars came from the depths of the Cangmang Mountain Range!

“Roar～～”

“…”

The roars soared into the sky and spread outward. Even though the overwhelming aura pressure was far from Zhongdu City, it forced all the monster beasts inside and outside the city to the ground. Even humans like Xu Haoran felt weak and on the verge of collapsing.

Those were the roars of high-level monster beasts from the depths of the Cangmang Mountain Range, and there was more than one. After the roars faded, the monster beasts seemed to understand something from the high-level beast cries. They stopped attacking the city and turned to run toward the Cangmang Mountain Range.

The monsters also ignored Xu Haobo and the others still in the air outside the city. All the monster beasts swarmed away from Zhongdu City. Even when they encountered Outer Hall Disciples like Xu Li running back on foot along the way, no monster beast paid them any attention. Instead, they hurried toward the Cangmang Mountain Range, as if afraid of being punished by the high-level monster beasts for returning late. In the chaos, more than a dozen Outer Hall Disciples died—not devoured by monster beasts, but knocked down and trampled by the rushing horde.

“Roar～～”

“…”

When these several high-level monster beasts roared in unison, the first to bear the brunt was Xu Ziyan, who was almost targeted by them. Xu Ziyan, in a trance-like state, suddenly felt her limbs go weak and lost consciousness. Her hand loosened, and the Beast Luring Talisman drifted away with the wind, while Xu Ziyan fell from the sky.

“Boom～～”

Water splashed everywhere as Xu Ziyan’s body happened to fall into a water pond. She sank gurgling toward the bottom.

Her presence was not noticed by the monster beasts, and even if one had seen her, none paid her any attention. All the monster beasts chased in the direction where the Beast Luring Talisman was drifting.

At the moment Xu Ziyan’s body fell into the water pond, a huge snake head suddenly emerged from it. The upper half of its body rose high from the water pond, with a pair of golden wings on its back. It turned its head to watch Xu Ziyan sinking into the water pond, its massive snake tongue flicking in and out…