Chapter 100: Siege

Bai Lang stretched, his joints cracking all over, and the bandages and splints on his body burst apart. Bai Lang moved his body a little, "It's healed so fast; if I fix it with Internal Force, it actually hardly affects movement." But for fighting, it still seems a bit problematic. "I can't use great force, and I have no weapons on hand, so I guess I really can only be a MT......"

This thought only turned in Bai Lang's mind; he pushed open the door and was quite pleased to see that everyone else was also there— their recovery was better than his, and the one who had almost fully regained combat strength was Mu Ronghua; this guy had even taken off his bandages, leaving only faint traces on his body, which would probably disappear completely in a few days. Qin Lianer was unharmed, which is fine, and Ma Rulong and Murong Jiu Xiu also seemed much improved; it looks like a stable rest has been of great benefit to them.

Everyone had a decent rest, so they felt confident about surviving ten days— the situation they encountered on the first day dispelled the unknown obstacle, and the second day's rest allowed everyone to recover to a better state.

"If only we could continue to pass peacefully like this..." Qin Lianer said. The others agreed with her, but no one spoke up, knowing there's no such good thing in the world— especially this so-called "Adventure Hall" that nobody has figured out yet; anyway, it's probably called that? Going out to scout? That plan was also abandoned, and for now it's better to stay still than to act.

Anyway, giving a bit more time would give everyone more time to recover, especially Murong Jiu Xiu and Ma Rulong; if they recovered for another twelve two-hour periods, they could even exert some effect in battle. And if Bai Lang could recover for another twelve two-hour periods, his Internal Force of the Golden Bell Shield would probably return to normal, and even his bones would not break again under the Golden Bell Shield's Internal Force.

"We knew there was no such good thing!" several said in unison, because they had already seen the demonic aura rising to the sky outside the city, rapidly approaching. When the aura drew near, the city finally heard the bell: "Close the gate!" This sound could be heard even in the inn, which is over two hundred steps from the gate. The wailing outside grew louder, yet the gate was still being pulled shut with creaks— those who didn't make it in could only leave their lives to heaven.

This city has an outer city, a walled enclosure, and an inner city; the outer city has a moat and a raised drawbridge gate, and the outer city also has a gate— turning ninety degrees leads to the gate of the walled enclosure, which even has two layers, truly a formidable fortress. The walls are three zhang high and two zhang thick; to Bai Lang it seems a place where even the Tartars would bleed dry...... but Ma Rulong's comment was only, "This city would be hard to defend!"

"Exactly! The yin creatures have produced snakes tens of meters long and gorillas taller than two people, not to mention things like minotaurs taller than houses— if the monsters are comparable, these walls and gates are practically useless." Bai Lang was awakened by Ma Rulong's words, realizing he couldn't judge daily life here by his own experience. "There are no talisman formations on the walls; they really can't stop the demonic creatures." This was Mu Ronghua's words, and Murong Jiu Xiu nodded, "It seems there aren't any masters here either."

"These monsters also have a problem; it seems they treat this place as a hunting ground and won't breach the city to slaughter thousands at once......" Even Qin Lianer gave her opinion. "They're really cunning." Bai Lang muttered, "I want to go see for myself— are you coming?"

"Let's go together......" Ma Rulong said, "Hiding in the inn definitely won't work— who knows what tricks they'll pull to make us fight." Ma Rulong said, and so everyone went out; the attendant, unable to be dissuaded, hastily shut the door, barred it with planks, and everyone in the street fled home. A few went upstream toward the wall, but not many; Bai Lang saw they were mostly soldiers and people who looked like martial artists.

On the wall, a 'thump' sound could be heard— 'Bed crossbow?' Mu Ronghua said, 'Using a bed crossbow against demonic creatures? Reliable?' Bai Lang asked, 'Probably reliable, otherwise they wouldn't be using it. Looking at this situation, demonic assaults on the city have happened many times before; if it were useless, the bed crossbow would likely have been abandoned long ago.' Ma Rulong moved his stance, appearing just as usual.

Getting onto the wall was also simple, with no soldiers guarding the stairs to stop people— pity the defenders on top couldn't even fill the wall, let alone guard the stairs. These people could fire the bed crossbow and hold the gate; just holding it was already good. Upon reaching the wall, there were indeed over a hundred people, not enough to fill one side, and all long-range attacks relied on four bed crossbows firing spear-like bolts to fight the demonic creatures.

"Is this the monster?" Bai Lang saw many strangely shaped creatures charging the wall— though not as many as a swarm, there were at least several hundred. "Actually, most of them are just beasts that have gained demonic aura." Mu Ronghua observed after looking them over. These beasts didn't charge headlong; they stopped a couple hundred steps out, like an army. Two creatures that looked like a cross between a wild boar and a wolf were shot down by bolts near the moat.

"Pig head, pig teeth, wolf claws...... I've never seen anything like this." Bai Lang muttered, but these bolts seemed to have some trick— at least to Bai Lang, the bed crossbow and the bolts had a faint spiritual glow.

The attackers were indeed flying demonic beasts; with an annoying buzzing, a meteor flashing with golden light traced a fierce curve and shot over. Bai Lang's dynamic vision was excellent, and with the boost from his internal energy he instantly saw the nature of that glow. "Damn, that's a huge wasp? The Chinese giant hornet is said to have the largest wasp subspecies, but it's only finger-length; this wasp emitting demonic aura is already as big as a six- or seven-year-old child!"

The original giant hornets are carnivorous, and this hornet the size of a child is likely the same; Bai Lang saw their terrifying mouthparts and a stinger like a dagger on the tail, with spikes like nails on all six legs. They couldn't be shot down by the bed crossbow— there was no way to hit them. So as these dozen or so giant hornets closed in, the soldiers quickly crouched behind their shields, and there was no counterattack at all.

And those who seemed to be martial artists each displayed their skills—from poison smoke to hidden weapons—just to keep those hornets from getting close. "Are they really that formidable?" Bai Lang was eager to give it a try.