A siege by demonic beasts brought danger, but also opportunity. Under normal circumstances, cultivators who wanted to hunt demonic beasts had to venture deep into the forest. Going alone meant they could easily become a beast’s next meal. But if a party grew too large, it risked alerting the prey, and even a successful hunt would yield too few valuable materials and spirit stones for each member.
Now, as the siege began, the cultivators standing atop the city walls were stunned by the densely packed beasts in the distance. Many had never seen so many demonic beasts gathered together in their lives.
Their earlier heroic resolve to defend the city quickly gave way to hunger for spirit stones. Many cultivators began looking at the beasts differently: they no longer saw monsters, but glittering piles of spirit stones…
Whether they would live long enough to enjoy those riches was another matter. For the moment, however, the defenders’ morale had risen dramatically.
Once the fighting at the Fang residence was over, Xu Ziyan accompanied Patriarch Jiang to the western wall assigned to the Jiang family. The city’s defensive formation was already active, making Wuti City look virtually impregnable from the outside.
Back at the Fang residence, Bai Hua had repeatedly tried to approach Xu Ziyan, but Xu Zirong had skillfully blocked every attempt. Xu Ziyan wanted nothing to do with Bai Hua himself and simply pretended not to notice.
Grinding his teeth, Bai Hua had even quietly threatened to reveal Xu Zirong’s disgusting intentions to Xu Ziyan. Unexpectedly, Xu Zirong had merely given him a dazzling smile and replied, “Go ahead and tell him. See whether Brother believes you.”
Watching Xu Zirong stroll away, Bai Hua was so furious that he nearly ground his teeth to powder. Zirong had found his weakness by the simplest means imaginable. Compared with his own younger brother, how could Xu Ziyan believe the words of a person he barely knew?
For an instant, Bai Hua was tempted to announce the matter before everyone present. On second thought, he suppressed the impulse.
He possessed no evidence whatsoever. If he made unfounded accusations against the direct disciples of two Nascent Soul Dao Lords, even his own master might be unable to protect him.
Besides, everyone was concentrating on the impending beast siege. An accusation of incest between brothers would be shocking, but in the end it concerned only the two of them. The surrounding cultivators were unlikely to risk making new enemies at a time like this. With one wrong move, Bai Hua might drag himself down instead.
Though Xu Ziyan was not far away, Bai Hua never found an opportunity to speak with him. He could only watch as the Xu brothers accompanied Patriarch Jiang to defend the western wall, while he himself had to follow Patriarch Fang to the southern wall.
After leaving the Fang residence, Xu Ziyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Bai Hua’s relentless attempts to attach himself to him had been deeply uncomfortable, and Zirong’s attitude also seemed subtly different from before.
He had no idea that two other people were competing over him. His sole wish was to resolve the siege and then get as far from Bai Hua as possible. Others might see Bai Hua as a chance encounter with true love, but to Xu Ziyan he was a walking calamity, and especially a calamity for Zirong.
Besides, Bai Hua seemed to possess some bizarre charm technique. Xu Ziyan had not fallen under its influence, but he had noticed that the younger generations of the Fang and Jiang families were unusually enthusiastic about the man.
Recalling Bai Hua’s astonishing ‘charm’ in the novel made Xu Ziyan shudder. Someone else could have all that true love, thank you very much. He just wanted a gentle, considerate wife devoted to him alone. She did not have to be exceptionally beautiful, but loyalty was nonnegotiable. He truly could not handle someone as fickle as Bai Hua.
Xu Ziyan wanted to avoid Bai Hua at all costs, while Xu Zirong had long been plotting to kill him. When blocking Bai Hua’s attempts to approach his brother earlier, Zirong had secretly placed a blood louse on him. Yet, for some reason, just like last time, the louse vanished shortly after touching Bai Hua’s body.
Xu Zirong’s eyes darkened. He had thought the first disappearance a fluke, but now it seemed Bai Hua possessed something that countered blood lice.
Still, Xu Zirong was not especially worried. Blood lice were useful for tracking and reconnaissance, but terrible at both attack and defense. His original plan had been to use them to locate Bai Hua and kill him when he was alone. Evidently, that plan would have to change…
“There certainly are a lot of demonic beasts.” Standing on the city wall, Xu Ziyan gazed at the dark mass of beasts in the distance. It was his first time seeing such a spectacle, but he felt no excitement.
The greater the number of beasts, the more difficult the city would be to defend. On a battlefield this vast, anyone without strength vastly exceeding the ordinary would be crushed.
Talent meant little in a chaotic melee. Even a capable late Foundation Establishment cultivator like him would be trampled into mud if a hundred Foundation Establishment demonic beasts surrounded him.
“Mm. Defending this city is going to be difficult.” Jiang Tianxing’s expression was grave as he watched the distant beasts, his heart heavy.
“Big Brother, there’s no need to worry so much. What do these beasts know about besieging a city? They’ll just rush forward and die.” A pale, beardless middle-aged man spoke dismissively.
“Is that what you think?” Jiang Tianxing gave him a long, searching look.
Jiang Tianye’s brow twitched. “Does Big Brother think they have some other way of attacking a city?”
“Who can say? Without demon cultivators organizing them, do you think these beasts would act with such discipline?”
“Hmph. Demon cultivators!” Jiang Tianye snorted, making his contempt for them perfectly clear.
Jiang Tianxing sighed inwardly. His younger brother had been spoiled by their mother since childhood. When the various families had selected people to gain experience at the Far Western frontier years ago, their mother had shielded Jiang Tianye from the expedition. He had no idea how different intelligent demon cultivators were from the mindless beasts roaming the wilderness.
Jiang Tianxing did not want to believe his own brother was involved, but every clue he had uncovered pointed toward Jiang Tianye. Over the years his brother had secretly stirred up countless disputes to weaken his authority, and Jiang Tianxing had chosen to ignore them. But colluding with demon cultivators…
That was something no human cultivator could ever tolerate!
How heavy a burden those words, ‘putting righteousness above family,’ could be. Only a patriarch responsible for an entire clan’s rise or fall could truly appreciate it. Jiang Tianxing made a covert gesture. A stooped elder standing behind him flashed a sharp look and fixed his divine sense firmly on Jiang Tianye.
“By the way, has anyone seen Elder Qi over the last two days?” Jiang Tianye asked curiously, looking around.
Jiang Tianxing’s eyes darkened, but he gave no answer. Jiang Tianye paid it little mind. Elder Qi was notorious for his eccentric temper, and the sudden siege had thrown everything into turmoil. Who knew where the man had wandered off?
Every wall of Wuti City was surrounded by dense ranks of demonic beasts. Facing the western wall was a great gathering of beasts at Foundation Establishment. In the midst of their protection, a gigantic black rhinoceros raised its head high and surveyed the fortifications.
Perched atop the rhinoceros’s head was a small green bird. It tilted its head, studied the city for a while, and asked, “Attack now?”
The rhinoceros had a bad feeling. None of the beasts it had sent to assassinate people in the city had returned. It had never expected more than a handful to survive, but having not a single one return to report was troubling.
Worse, the cultivators in Wuti City had reacted far too quickly. The moment the infiltrators revealed the slightest trace of themselves, the city gates were closed and the defensive formation activated. That speed was far greater than anything the information from its inside man had led it to expect…
Unfortunately, the arrow was already on the string and could no longer be held back. Although Iron Rhino had misgivings, it remained confident in the beasts’ strength. With an inside man as well, it believed escape would be possible even if the attack on Wuti City failed.
For a demon cultivator who had gone to tremendous lengths to infiltrate human territory, survival alone would allow endless harassment of human cultivators, easing the pressure on the Far Western front as much as possible.
“Attack!” Iron Rhino hesitated no longer. It raised its head and let out a deep, rumbling bellow.
Tens of thousands of nearby demonic beasts lifted their heads and roared in reply. Then the vast horde charged straight toward Wuti City’s western gate!
“Here they come!” Jiang Tianxing called in a low voice. “Begin!”
A bare-chested man standing behind him lifted a drumstick as thick as a thigh and struck a huge drum taller than a man.
“Kill!”
“Slaughter those demonic beasts!”
The cultivators at the front of the city wall began launching ranged attacks. Brilliant spells streamed through the air and exploded amid the beast horde.
“Go!” A gray-robed Daoist flung out his hand, and several silver-armored guards leaped down from the wall with enormous sharp axes. They hacked their way through the beasts, their gleaming armor soon coated in blood.
A woman dressed in green produced a green branch and shook it lightly. Thick vines instantly spread across the ground outside the wall, ensnaring passing beasts. With help from other cultivators’ spells, the vines quickly destroyed more than a dozen beasts and cleared an open patch of ground.
Xu Ziyan and Xu Zirong did not join the fighting yet. Together with Jiang Tianxing, they occupied an archery tower on the wall and watched the battle below.
The front line was currently held by cultivators at the eighth and ninth levels of Qi Refining. Their attacks were respectable enough, but against so many demonic beasts, their achievements were pitifully small.
The gray-robed Daoist’s silver-armored guards were soon swallowed by the swarm. The green-clad woman’s vines were burned to ashes by a group of fire-element beasts. The enemy’s numbers seemed barely diminished, placing enormous pressure on the defenders.