Chapter 655: The Newcomers

The sky was a perfect void, dotted with countless blood-red stars.

Xu Yuan realized that since just a moment ago, these creatures had been staring at him, their endless crimson eyes filled with mad hunger.

Even though he was cloaked by the intentional shadow mist and his soul-hiding robe, their gaze still followed him like a shadow.

This didn’t make sense.

Aside from the full operation of the city’s defensive array, even a sage couldn’t detect him—let alone these lowly creatures.

Now that Li Junwu had reclaimed all city defense permissions and the defensive spells were nullified, the only plausible reason for them to sense his presence was…

He halted in a quiet, narrow alley, lifting his eyes to the endless tide of insects.

It seemed the little demon that had devoured the Thousand Thorns Ghost Willow could also sense his location, and with far greater clarity than he himself could.

A thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Yuan tugged at the sleeve of his soul-hiding robe, murmuring under his breath:

"Damn. If I’d known this, I’d have given that soul-hiding robe to Li Junwu instead."

"If you'd like, I can take you back right now."

A teasing voice from the depths of the void suddenly echoed in Xue Yuan's mind. Without a second thought, he immediately shed the Avoidance Robe and tossed it toward the empty space beside him:

"Then, thank you."

".."

Tian Ye stepped into view, his golden eyes flickering with an odd light in the pitch-black alley:

"Are you serious? The saint on the other side could breach the city at any moment, and once the sky curtain breaks, with their speed, they'd arrive at your side in an instant."

Xue Yuan smiled nonchalantly:

"At the moment, I still need your two-thousand-year-old destined savior."

Tian Ye seemed to sense something in his smile, her crimson lips curling slightly:

"Are you doubting me?"

Xu Yuan shrugged his shoulders, speaking noncommittally:

"Wouldn't you consider me your last resort? Yet in your words, it's become distrust. And if you truly distrusted me, how could I have brought you along with me at this very moment?"

Tian Ye seemed to have firmly settled upon her own conjecture, yet no anger flickered in her eyes. Instead, she displayed a curious interest, circling Xu Yuan once before snatching the Avoidance Robe from his hands, and chuckled lightly:

"Is it because the Master of the Surveillance Pavilion didn't strike me? Well, if you'd like, I'll assist you with that."

With those words,

she gave Xu Yuan a significant glance, then one more toward the sky choked with insect swarms, her form gradually dissolving into the shadows of the narrow alley.

As Tian Ye vanished into the darkness, Xu Yuan turned calmly, leaping into the air, his silhouette blazing like a black flame, racing swiftly toward the western city wall.

The districts behind him burned in rapid retreat, countless frenzied figures swaying in the flames and shadows, releasing their darkest desires.

Yet unexpectedly, en route, Xu Yuan spotted a number of militia suppressing the chaos—organized, structured forces.

Even without formal command, the noble families and merchant guilds within the city had begun, spontaneously, to quell the rabble inciting disorder.

Driven to the brink, they finally grasped the meaning of the saying: "There is no intact nest beneath a collapsing henhouse."

Originally, their plan had been to surrender and flee, believing that the Saint's siege did not necessarily mean a massacre. They thought the internal power struggles among the high-ranking officials of the Western Town had nothing to do with them. Switching masters wouldn't compromise their status. But now, the situation had changed entirely. The swarms beyond the sky—those creeping, crawling things—clearly showed no intention of accepting surrender.

Thus, now they needed order. They needed unity, joining forces with the Western Town Army to resist the monstrous tide from outside, if they were to survive.

Under the coordination of several noble families and martial guilds, the riots within the city were already being suppressed at a pace visible to the naked eye.

With every district they passed through, Xu Yuan's astonishment grew stronger.

The actions of these noble houses and martial guilds seemed not merely to suppress lawless outbursts—they had sealed off numerous vital roads, entered the now-deserted barracks of the Western Town Army, and, with that as their center, established a network of defensive rings, each anchored at the estates of various noble families. Everything appeared meticulously organized.

It was obvious these noble houses had already begun preparing for the coming swarm.

The speed at which these factions had been unified into such a cohesive structure left Xu Yuan with a subtle sense of awe.

What most stunned him, however, was that these noble families and martial guild members did not merely consider their own safety—they actively evacuated civilians from within the city, relocating them into these newly constructed defensive zones.

This action left Xu Yuan utterly bewildered.

Now the western garrison has gathered its forces within the prefectural hall—how could these noble houses even care for the common people?

In such a moment of life and death, how could the leader persuade these great clans to concern themselves with the fate of ordinary folk?

Thinking thus, Xu Yuan's thoughts suddenly stilled. He sighed, shaking his head.

He realized that over time, he had grown ever more cold-hearted. Yet, thankfully, there still remained others who upheld these fundamental lines.

His eyes flickered twice, suppressing the strange emotions rising within him, a complex smile curling at the corner of his lips.

If this war does not end in defeat, he would surely go and meet that leading figure in person.

As he thought it through, the form of Xu Yuan halted abruptly in the air, sensing the ground below.

His destination had been reached.

Below lay a vast market, resembling a grand square, its prosperity born from its location near the western city wall. Trade caravans arriving from the west typically paused here, exchanging goods—stolen or purchased from the desert—and slaves with local merchants.

Yet, in this ruined city, the market was strangely silent, littered with chaos, its scattered goods and spilled blood testaments to the panic of those who had fled.

Coming to rest on the ground, he walked alone through streets that resembled a haunted market, his footsteps echoing in the stillness. Distantly, the western city wall rose like a mountain into the darkness.

Reaching the heart of the market, Xu Yuan paused, scanning the surroundings with a sharp, calculating gaze.

This market lay far from the residential districts of the city—should a conflict arise, it would likely cause little unnecessary harm.

As he thought this, he strolled casually up to a fruit vendor, plucked a particularly appealing fruit from the display, and bit into it gently.

"Crack. Squeak."

The flesh met his teeth, and within two bites, Xu Yuan recoiled, spitting it out with distaste.

He’d been tricked—this fruit smelled of durian.

Frowning slightly, just as he reached for another fruit beside it, a pale, snow-white hand emerged from the empty stall, seizing the fruit before him.

His brow arched slightly.

Unconsciously, his eye twitched.

He met a pair of human eyes.

But in those eyes lay a dense array of pupils, like the compound eyes of insects.

The visitor had a pale complexion, and with a faint smile directed at Xu Yuan outside the vendor's stall, he tossed a fruit to Xu Yuan and whispered:

"Zhou brother—now, or perhaps Xu brother—I am truly curious: if you left the prefectural office and came alone to Huanglong Market, it must not have been merely to eat this Huangxiang fruit."