Chapter 269: Commander-in-Chief

When Jiang Qing's voice rang out, the many clamorous noises before the stone tower suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and the faces of many students became exceptionally colorful.

Suspicion, shock, terror.

Many emotions shifted, but the crowd that had originally gathered together dispersed slightly, and the gazes they cast toward other teams also held a hint of wariness.

Although they did not know if the Great Calamity Jiang Qing spoke of was truly real, but... maintaining a bit of caution was, after all, for the best.

After all, they had not exactly never experienced the horrors within the Dark Cave.

Any kind of inconceivable thing could possibly occur.

"Senior Sister Jiang, you are alarmist!" After the silence lasted for a while, Song Qiuyu could not help but say.

Jiang Qing did not pay her any mind; her gaze swept across the field, and the next instant, the corners of her lips lifted slightly, and a stunningly beautiful smile bloomed upon that exquisite face.

That kind of smile had quite an astonishing lethality.

A look of amazement appeared in many people's eyes, and then, as if their hearts had been infected, they could not help but follow suit and reveal a smile as well.

However, they quickly reacted and hurriedly suppressed the smiles at the corners of their mouths; after all, it was a bit embarrassing.

But...

Not everyone was able to pull back the corners of their mouths.

Within the crowd, there were a very small number of figures whose smiles grew wider and wider at this moment, eventually even tearing their muscles, and fresh blood flowed down from the corners of their mouths.

The smiles on their faces became extremely eerie.

Swish!

The students around these people immediately noticed, and they looked at these companions who were revealing terrifying smiles with fearful eyes, and for a moment, screams erupted from their mouths.

And amidst these screams, those students revealing the eerie smiles suddenly had their resonant power erupt, and they lunged directly at the surrounding students, launching a fearless, death-defying offensive.

The entire field instantly became a scene of chaos.

"Do not panic, everyone attack together and suppress them!" Seeing this, Li Luo hurriedly shouted.

It had to be said that the quality of the students at the Astral Sage College was quite good; after a brief moment of panic, many people sobered up, hurriedly suppressed the panic in their hearts, and the next moment, many resonant power offensives erupted, quickly submerging those students who were revealing the eerie smiles.

A moment later, these students were beaten into serious injuries, lying on the ground unable to move.

However, even though this disturbance was quelled, looks of terror appeared on everyone's faces; clearly, they had never thought before that among their companions, there would actually be people who had already been polluted.

Li Luo jumped down from the steps and walked in front of Song Qiuyu.

At this time, the latter's eyes were also somewhat terrified; she covered her mouth and did not even dare to speak.

"Take your hand away and give me a smile," Li Luo said, pointing at her.

Song Qiuyu glared in anger; this bastard actually dared to flirt with her so brazenly.

"If you don't dare to smile, I will suspect that you might also be polluted, and then I will have no choice but to take action against you." Li Luo drew the twin blades at his waist, eager to try, looking as if he really wanted to slash directly at her.

Song Qiuyu wanted to cast a look of help toward the four directions, but the other students were also looking over with wariness; at this critical moment, they did not think Li Luo was intentionally flirting with someone.

Thus, she could only move her hand away and reveal a forced smile, then gritted her teeth: "Is this okay?"

"According to our detection, a smile seems to be able to induce the seeds of evil thoughts within the body. Your suspicion is relatively high because you have been questioning us, so I hope you maintain this smile for half an hour," Li Luo warned with a grave expression.

Song Qiuyu's smile stiffened. Maintain this smile for half an hour?

She stared at Li Luo with eyes spitting fire; she suspected that Li Luo was intentionally messing with her.

However, Li Luo no longer paid her any mind, but instead looked toward the many teams before the stone tower and said: "Now you believe it, right? An ordinary evil thought illusion would not cause such deep pollution."

The other teams' faces turned pale, and for a time, some were filled with panic.

"Now is not the time for panic. As long as we hold the stronghold and rely on the stronghold's own defenses, it is not impossible to hold out. As long as we can delay for some time, the college will definitely find a way to provide us with support after receiving the news," Tian Tian also said loudly at this time.

Everyone nodded, their expressions easing slightly.

"Senior Sister Jiang, tell us what to do now; we will all listen to you!" A student spoke up at this time.

"That's right, Senior Sister Jiang, you are the leader of our Three-Star Hall. According to the rules within the college, at a critical moment, you are qualified to become the commander-in-chief of this stronghold, and everyone will follow your mobilization."

"..."

More and more voices echoed in agreement; after all, Jiang Qing had extremely high prestige within the Astral Sage College, and now that this matter had occurred, she was the most trustworthy.

Jiang Qing did not have much interest in the so-called commander-in-chief, but she also understood that in order to deal with that Great Calamity-level Other, she had to integrate these forces.

Thus, she exchanged a glance with Li Luo, stepped forward, and said: "Place these polluted students around the stone tower; the purification halo here will help them eliminate the pollution within their bodies."

She paused and said: "Additionally, from now on, set up a mirror at the stronghold gate. All students entering the stronghold must maintain a smile in front of the mirror for one minute."

This requirement made many people want to laugh, because as soon as they thought of a crowd of people lining up in front of a mirror waiting to reveal a smile, they felt it was exceptionally comical and amusing.

However, they ultimately did not laugh, because those classmates nearby whose corners of their mouths were torn into eerie smiles made them shudder.

"What Li Luo said earlier was not wrong; a smile could become an induction point, causing the evil thought seeds hidden in the body to erupt. However, according to my speculation, this should be limited to some people who have not been polluted too deeply, but regardless, finding even a few is better than none," Jiang Qing said.

Everyone nodded; these people who had been planted with evil thought seeds would indeed be a hidden danger, and no one wanted to have to constantly guard against their companions at their side while dealing with that Great Calamity-level Other with all their might.

Although revealing a smile at a mirror could not find everyone who had been polluted, for every one they could find, there would be one less hidden danger.

Jiang Qing then made some further deployments, and only then did she announce for everyone to disperse and begin preparing the many defenses.

Watching the crowd that was dispersing one after another, Jiang Qing and Li Luo both breathed a sigh of relief.

They had done everything they could; now they could only hope that that Great Calamity-level Other would wander in the outer regions for a bit longer, as that would give them more time to make preparations and wait for support.

Because, given the habits of Others, if it were to launch an attack on the stronghold, it would certainly sweep many Others along with it, and at that time...

It would truly be a siege of ten thousand demons.

As Jiang Qing became the commander-in-chief of the stronghold, the atmosphere within the stronghold also changed; it no longer had the leisure of before, but became as if war were about to arrive.

At the stronghold gate, teams were constantly returning, and during this time, some conflicts naturally erupted, but when students really had their internal evil thought seeds triggered when revealing a smile in front of the mirror, no one ever questioned this rule again.

Time gradually passed, and more and more teams returned to the stronghold.

Li Luo and Jiang Qing were standing on a high tower, their gazes looking out toward the distant horizon; originally, with the purification over the past half-month or so, the black mist between heaven and earth had dissipated quite a bit.

But at this moment, as they looked into the distance, they felt an unsettling aura as if it were gradually approaching.

"Sister Qing'e..."

Li Luo suddenly asked: "Why is it that this time, a Great Calamity-level Other would suddenly happen to pass through layers of defenses and arrive here?"

Jiang Qing's expression shifted: "Do you have any suspicions?"

Li Luo was stunned and laughed: "It's just a simple feeling..."

He looked into the distance and said: "Great Calamity-level, that is equivalent to the strongest Heaven-Star General tier, right? Even the Seven Star Pillars might not be able to block it."

"Scared?" Jiang Qing smoothed back the black hair blown up by the wind, tilted her head, winked at him, and then stretched out a slender little hand to stroke Li Luo's head.

"Don't worry, I will protect you."

Li Luo sighed: "When will I be able to stroke your head and say such a thing?"

A hint of a smile appeared in Jiang Qing's eyes.

"Keep it up, I'll be waiting."

After saying this, she took the map from her bosom and looked at it carefully, but not long after looking, Li Luo suddenly noticed that her expression had changed somewhat.

"What's going on?" he asked, concentrating.

Jiang Qing sighed softly, handed the map over, and her slender jade finger pointed to a place on the outer perimeter.

"This Level 2 purification tower that was activated earlier..."

"Has been polluted again."

Li Luo silently stared at the small tower icon that was still in a bright state in his memory; at this moment, it had already dimmed once again.