Chapter 58: Out of Place?

But no one expected that the Dafeng Army, having transformed into undead, could actually employ such a tactic.

Clearly, they had calculated that no matter how powerful the Heavenly Thunder Formation was, it would eventually reach its limit. By using ordinary vengeful spirits to exhaust the power of the thunder, wouldn't these living people become mere fish on a chopping block once the formation failed?

The Sandstorm Season had only just begun; as undead, they had nearly infinite time.

The faces of the living grew grim; the undead could wait, but they could not. After enduring the impact of hundreds of vengeful spirits, the electrical light of the talisman formation was noticeably less active than before, proving that borrowing power from the heavens had its limits.

And the Dafeng Army was testing exactly how much of that limit remained.

As soon as this batch of vengeful spirits was exhausted, the Dafeng Army pushed out another thousand in one breath. In the current Panlong Desert, these were the one thing they had in abundance.

The living felt their vision go dark, unable to remain calm. A confidant whispered hoarsely, "Governor, we... we..."

If it happened again, would the formation be broken directly?

"Stay calm! The more panicked you are, the faster the formation breaks!" He Chunhua bellowed. "As long as the State Preceptor obtains the Dafanghu, our predicament will resolve itself!"

Amidst the chaos, someone muttered under their breath, "How much longer will it take?"

He Chunhua turned abruptly, slicing off half the man's ear with a single sword strike. "Do you wish to kill your comrades? Any further disruption of morale will be met with execution!"

The sight of blood actually caused everyone to steady themselves somewhat.

Another few hundred vengeful spirits, driven by the Dafeng Army, slammed into the Heavenly Thunder Formation, their souls dissipating into nothingness.

At this moment, He Chunhua also felt a wave of dizziness. He looked back at the staff within the formation; the color of the State Mandate held in the beast's mouth was fading, and the green light was weakening. This was the result of the continuous depletion of morale.

However, the blood in the Chijie pool only rippled slightly, showing no other movement.

The Dafeng Army itself suffered no losses, merely sending cannon fodder into the fray. If this continued, how much longer could their side hold out?

He Chunhua sighed inwardly; in the end, they had fallen into the State Preceptor's trap.

The heroic spirits of Panlong City had all been resisting invasions in their lifetimes and were particularly sensitive to the aura of foreign armies. Moreover, since he had used the State Mandate, these hundred or so living people were like bright lanterns in the dark night; it would be difficult for the Dafeng Army not to notice them.

Hmm? But speaking of auras...

He Chunhua remembered something, and his spirit suddenly surged.

***

The South Gate was right there; whether fast or slow, they would reach it sooner or later.

The southern city walls were becoming increasingly clear in their vision. After walking another two or three *li*, they would arrive at the South Gate.

The buildings south of the city were intact; Nian and Sun had not yet made their move.

Panlong City held a unique geographical position, with its defensive focus centered on the south. Therefore, during this period, the walls to the east and west were quite rudimentary and lacked military hardware, while the north had no gate at all.

The only position capable of rapidly launching large-scale fires into the city was the South Gate.

Coincidentally, the residential focus of Panlong City was also in the south, with over sixty percent of the city's dwellings concentrated there.

He Lingchuan looked at the South Gate, thinking that Nian and Sun likely felt that setting fires in the other three directions was not a priority, so they left the southern buildings untouched while waiting for the four of them to regroup.

Waiting to regroup?

He Lingchuan felt that something was wrong.

At this moment, the two were about to bypass a large mansion by a stream.

Once they passed through one more opera house, they would reach the main street and could then walk straight to the South Gate.

Mao Tao was already drenched in sweat; he crouched down to scoop up a handful of water to wash his face.

The water in the illusion could not be drunk, but the sensation was very real, making it effective for cooling down and calming the nerves.

"Let's go," he said, scrambling up and walking with large strides.

However, He Lingchuan grabbed him by the back of his collar. "Wait."

"What is it?"

Without a word, He Lingchuan leaped onto the outer wall of the mansion and climbed into the corner tower in a few quick bounds.

Within a radius of several *li*, this was the highest building, offering an unobstructed view.

Mao Tao didn't bother with such effort; he walked through the mansion's gate into the courtyard and climbed the stairs.

When he found He Lingchuan, the young master was staring blankly toward the south, muttering incessantly, "Out of place, completely out of place!"

Mao Tao hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? What's incorrect?"

He was becoming increasingly humble toward He Lingchuan, unlike at the beginning when he merely flattered the willful young master.

He hadn't even realized this change in himself.

He Lingchuan stared fixedly at the South Gate and pointed. "Do you see the totem?"

"Ah, I see it." The relief on the city wall was such a massive black dragon totem; it would be hard to ignore.

"The triple walls we saw in the desert wasteland—on the surface of the innermost enclosure wall, there was also this exact same black dragon totem. It's identical."

Mao Tao searched his memory and nodded. "Yes, I remember it too."

"Don't you think there's a problem?"

Mao Tao became even more bewildered. "What problem? Young Master, please be clear. Don't be like State Preceptor Sun."

He Lingchuan slowly turned to look at him. "The best play performed by the opera troupes in Blackwater City, and the one everyone loves most, is called *The Panlong Army-Breaker Formation*. You've heard it, right?" Everyone had! "It chants about the guardian divine beast of the Xiluo Kingdom."

Mao Tao recited: "And so it is said, the Golden Bull, the guardian beast of Xiluo, is invincible—"

Oh dear, why was he singing?

"The guardian beast of Xiluo is the Golden Bull, right?" He Lingchuan gestured toward the South Gate with his chin. "But on the city gate, it's a black dragon! Look, in front of the relief, there are offering tables and a three-legged bronze incense burner held by a phoenix. Such treatment is not something the mountains or forests could enjoy; Panlong City enshrines it as a guardian of the nation or the city!"

"But the wasteland city outside also enshrines a black dragon, so this—" A flash of inspiration struck Mao Tao's mind, and his eyes widened. "That's strange! This is Panlong City during peacetime. Even if they enshrine a guardian beast, it should be the Golden Bull!"

"Every country has its own established customs for enshrining divine beasts, and even border towns cannot violate them. Otherwise, it would be a grave offense, and discovery would lead to great trouble," He Lingchuan said. "Panlong City should originally have enshrined the Golden Bull like the rest of the country. Perhaps later, after years of war and isolation, they became increasingly disappointed with their motherland, and combined with their conversion to the Mitian God, they changed the relief to a black dragon."

"Logically, the Panlong City in this illusion shouldn't have such a flaw. But since the Dafanghu is a treasure of the Mitian God, things the owner does not recognize cannot appear here. Therefore, the loophole was preserved." He Lingchuan shook his head. "But it is simply too large, standing there in plain sight. Even if the living people who enter see it, they won't think much of it."

Ultimately, the Xiluo Kingdom had fallen over a hundred years ago. Modern people could only learn about it through records; they weren't as sensitive to it as they were to their own country.

Mao Tao exclaimed, "No wonder Tao Bo wrote in his notes that there was something here that was out of place with reality! Young Master, you have such keen eyes! We must report this to the State Preceptor immediately!"

He scrambled toward the window to jump down, only to feel his neck tighten as He Lingchuan grabbed his collar again. "What's the rush?"

"Aren't... aren't we reporting it?" Mao Tao was momentarily stunned.

(End of Chapter)