Chapter 840: Each Escapes on Their Own

You might as well give it a shot. Stay; there might be an opportunity.

He watched the battle from the temple and had to admire the Heavenly Palace team's formidable strength. Even when facing an almost ten-to-one siege, they could still quickly and effectively eliminate their opponents. He sighed, wishing his own elite forces had such capabilities.

Amidst the chaos, something unusual happened again. A fierce battle raged by the pool, and no one managed to get a chance to enter it. Unexpectedly, something emerged from the red light instead. It was a giant white claw, its palm larger than a millstone. It suddenly reached out from the red light, snatched a Heavenly Palace attendant, and dragged him inside! The cultivators fighting with their backs to the pool had no idea they were under attack from behind. The Blackwater City army in the temple, however, saw it clearly. He Chunhua was startled: “What is that thing?”

Immediately after, another creature burst from the red light and charged directly at the Baling people. This time, people finally got a clear look at its full appearance: It was a monster covered in white fur, about five meters tall. Its body resembled a gorilla, capable of standing or crawling, but it had a short-snouted pig's face with two tusks protruding from its cheeks. The Baling person it targeted was startled but also very alert, leaping away in the nick of time. But the monster sprayed a cloud of white mist at him. Caught off guard, the Baling person was covered in the mist. Immediately afterward, he turned into frozen meat, like something from a cold storage unit, his clothes stiff with ice. The monster immediately pounced on him and began to eat him with smacking sounds, as if gnawing on an ice pop.

Other people's divine powers, spears, and lances struck the monster, making it stumble a few steps and roar loudly. Dark red blood spurted from its wounds. It bleeds, so it can be killed, everyone thought with relief.

What kind of place was inside that pool? However, other monsters immediately sprang from the red light. They varied in shape and size, but most had white fur, sometimes with spots. It was unclear if they had been summoned by the first monster. When the second monster emerged, everyone collectively attacked it as well. This creature resembled a giant flying squirrel, but its long tail was covered in sharp spikes. When enraged, it could instantly shoot hundreds of tail spikes at people! It was a widespread, indiscriminate attack, like a sudden storm. Several teams, caught off guard, had multiple members injured. Moreover, once these spikes pierced flesh, they immediately caused a spreading frost effect. The injured person's muscles and blood would quickly freeze, and if not treated promptly, they would turn into an ice person within half an hour.

While these spikes weren't as powerful as the Ice Talismans He Lingchuan carried — which were made from frost pellets and could even freeze the glazed golden shield of the Xu Mountain formation's eye — their sheer numbers were astonishing. Some injured individuals were struck by more than one spike. Not only were the teams by the pool quickly dodging, but even the Blackwater City army, who had been watching from the temple, scrambled for cover. Two ice spikes had landed right in a crack in the stone near He Chunhua, instantly forming a layer of frost.

Then came the third, the fourth... When the tenth monster leaped out of the red light, the open space near the pool was filled. Even the formations set up by the Heavenly Palace team were shattered from the inside out. The humans' expressions turned grim. How many monsters would emerge from the red light? The pool did not hesitate to give them the answer through reality: Endless!

He Chunhua and Zhang Lianhai gave the order almost simultaneously: “Retreat!” The primary conflict had changed, and so had their opponents. There was no longer a need to stubbornly fight against the human teams. As soon as they began to withdraw, the pressure immediately shifted to the other teams. Seeing the unfavorable situation, the other factions also retreated incrementally. But by then, thirty or forty monsters had emerged from the pool. They seemed to hold deep grudges against the humans, relentlessly pursuing them. Everyone knew that during a monster surge, the key was simply to run faster than your companions. Consequently, the formations of several teams couldn't hold for long and disintegrated under the monsters' assault.

Monsters continued to pour out of the pool like a fountain, already numbering over a hundred, presenting an endless stream. The combined strength of those teams was no more than three hundred individuals, giving them no advantage against the monsters. If they had united from the start, perhaps they could have fought steadily and retreated calmly. However, the Heavenly Palace and Blackwater City armies had fled prematurely, leaving the remaining forces willing but unable to act, forced to fend for themselves. People were constantly caught and surrounded by monsters, their loud cries turning into screams, their wails fading into silence. Blood splattered everywhere on the ancient rock walls, both human and monster.

He Chunhua's retreat was decisive, and because the Blackwater City army was already far away, the monsters' attention was drawn to the other teams, so they didn't pursue them there for a time. He urgently commanded: “To the South Gate!” The nearest city gate was to the south. With other teams acting as bait, they should seize the opportunity to leave Panlong City. No one dared to object. The entire army sprinted south.

He Lingchuan looked back several times and saw golden lights flickering near the temple, likely the Lantern Spirits unleashing their power. The Heavenly Palace's Lantern Spirits were skilled at fighting multiple enemies simultaneously and could freely switch between solid and ethereal forms, perfectly suited to dealing with those large creatures. Thus, the Heavenly Palace's retreat appeared much more orderly. However, the more monsters they killed, the more relentlessly the creatures from the pool pursued them, as if they had lost their minds and knew no fear. Fear is one of the deepest instincts of living beings. Since the Lantern Spirits were so powerful, the monsters should have turned to target easier prey. Why were they instead provoked into anger, charging forward relentlessly? Roars reverberated across the sky. The pool continued to spew monsters like a fountain, but seven or eight out of ten charged towards the Heavenly Palace Lantern Spirits, while fewer pursued the other factions.

Zhang Lianhai inwardly cursed the misfortune. Wouldn't this mean their side was inadvertently drawing the monsters' attacks away from all the other teams? Though the Lantern Spirits were formidable, their energy consumption was also high. He had no choice but to gather his subordinates and retreat to the five-story stone tower behind them. The tower, about forty meters high, was largely intact. Its body was built almost entirely from solid rock and rammed earth, making it extremely sturdy. Most importantly, the doors on each level were very small, highly unfavorable for the giant monsters. Indeed, after they retreated into the stone tower, the monsters' attacks lessened. The Heavenly Palace team quickly set up formations on the spot. Once the monsters' line of sight was obstructed and their aggression subsided, they turned to find other teams.

By this time, He Chunhua's team had reached the South Gate Plaza, with only four or five monsters relentlessly pursuing them from behind. The team only deployed a few slowing spells; no one was willing to turn and engage them in combat. If they stopped midway, the monster horde would likely catch up quickly. He Chunhua led the charge, but when he finally saw the South Gate, his vision dimmed: The city gate was closed!

Panlong City's South Gate had three layers, and from their perspective, even the innermost barbican gate was shut! No matter how refined He Chunhua usually was, he immediately swore: “Which son of a bitch did this?!” The Blackwater City army rushed to the gate. Dozens of people went to open it, but even after the bolts were removed, the gate wouldn't budge from the inside. It was as if something was blocking the gate tightly from the outside.

“Send a few more!” No matter how many more people pushed, it was useless. The gate didn't move an inch, standing rooted as if it had grown there. Someone even drew a knife and hacked at this inner gate, but it didn't leave even a mark. It was well-known that Panlong City's South Gate had withstood countless wars. Even this third gate was far more robust than anyone could imagine. Sweat beaded on He Chunhua's nose: “What is going on?!” If they couldn't get out, they would be trapped like turtles in a jar, soon to be brutally massacred by the monsters!

Qiu Hu pointed to the gate tower: “Take the high ground, hold the danger, and then plan for later!” The monsters were closing in. If they didn't find a good hiding place soon, there would be no future for any of them. Qiu Hu had a good idea. In this critical moment, He Chunhua said without hesitation: “To the gate tower! Move sandbags to block the stairways!” The third gate tower of the South Gate was astonishingly high, with three passages for ascent and descent. The Blackwater City army only needed to defend these passages. Furthermore, there were hidden layers within the city wall where people could hide. Monsters that were too large couldn't enter these hidden layers. By climbing onto the city wall, the Blackwater City army occupied a position that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Of course, there were drawbacks: they were essentially trapped here by the monsters, unable to go anywhere. However, considering that monsters were continuously pouring out of the red light, and every team within the city would face a similar fate, the Blackwater City army's situation was comparatively better. There were even many military supplies on and around the city wall, such as largely intact sandbags and discarded crocodile-tooth spears, which could be easily moved to build fortifications to block the passages.

He Chunhua quickly ascended the city wall, hurrying along the wall-top passage towards the outermost gate of the gate tower, with He Lingchuan and others following closely. When they had entered the city, they had clearly seen the outermost hemlock wood gate: one half-open, the other lying on the ground, maintaining the appearance of having been breached years ago. But now, looking down, they saw that this gate was also tightly and perfectly sealed! “Wasn't it broken? How could it be closed?” He Chunhua gritted his teeth: “What exactly is going on?!” Broken gates reforming—was this truly within human capability? Could it be an illusion array? But the army still possessed primordial power; how could an ordinary illusion array deceive their eyes?

Thick fog drifted below the city gate, blanketing the middle section of the entrance. Their vision was obstructed by the swirling mist, preventing them from seeing the ground below or the moat. Panlong Desert was not what it once was; it had recently experienced several heavy rainstorms, making fog at night seem quite reasonable. However, when Zhao Qinghe casually picked up a pebble and threw it down, he heard no sound of it landing even after a long wait. He Chunhua frowned and ordered two spellcasters to cast a Cleansing Wind Spell. A short, strong gust of wind immediately swept through below the city gate. Logically, mist should be easily dispersed by strong winds. However, the thick fog below the gate remained unaffected by the wind, behaving as if it had a will of its own. “This was certainly not right.”

A trusted aide then threw a broken spear down. This object was much larger, but it also fell silently. Even if it fell into water, one would expect to hear a splash, wouldn't they? The outer wall of Panlong City's South Gate was only about sixteen meters high, not particularly tall. Logically, everyone could climb down from here and escape the city. He Chunhua immediately pointed to a personal guard: “Climb down!” The man hooked one end of a grappling rope onto the battlements and agilely climbed down the outer wall. He Lingchuan found him unfamiliar, guessing that He Chunhua had recruited this skilled individual from somewhere during his absence. The personal guard's figure was quickly enveloped by the thick fog, disappearing from their sight. After a few more breaths, the rope stopped moving. Zhao Qinghe tugged the rope, his voice tightening: “It's empty!”