Chapter 44

“Has Hanbing City really fallen? Are they this weak?” Nage Lisi asked curiously, her voice projected onto the small Huangtong Dragon’s body as they headed toward the underground new city.

Fei Lin didn’t know what kind of creature this small Huangtong Dragon was, but since it was the Watcher’s mount, its origins must be significant, so he replied cautiously:

“Too sudden, too professional—they used siege methods we’ve never seen. Once, the Demon Valley attacked Hanbing City, using giant symbiotic demon beasts to hurl rocks, but the rocks couldn’t reach far, and they were shot down by city defense crossbows after just a few throws. Yet these enemies went from appearing to breaking the gate in under fifteen minutes—there wasn’t even time to block the gate with sandbags.”

There was nothing more to say—no defense, no matter how strong, could function without people to operate it. If the defenders couldn’t react in time, any strategy was pointless.

Mostly, they were just incompetent. If they’d been battle-hardened, how could there have been open space near the gate for such an assault?

Dealing with this kind of teleportation was easy: just pile up debris to make the ground uneven. Anything teleported in would be disrupted—whether it collided with debris or merged with it, the result was fatal.

But Hanbing City hadn’t faced a proper siege in over a thousand years; expecting them to have experience was unrealistic.

“So what’s the situation now?” Nage Lisi asked.

“Thanks to the underground caverns and the Wind of Rest, most people escaped. Our underground city is temporarily sheltering them, but there are too many, and we’re running low on food,” Fei Lin said anxiously.

Hanbing City was a human-dominated settlement, with a population far larger than Wuxiao City—fifty to sixty thousand people.

Only a hundred members of the Holy Blade Army were teleported in. Breaking the gate was easy; controlling the city was not. Hanbing City was half-subterranean, built against a cliff face, with a labyrinth of natural caverns and specially dug tunnels leading to every farming zone—the Holy Blade Army could never seal them all.

In fact, the Holy Blade Army immediately realized this problem after breaching the gate. Many heard the red-robed Holy Knight’s curse: “I hope Leonard’s ancestors rot! You send us thirty men into terrain like this? I’d rather control your ancestors’ graves!”

“Didn’t you say over a hundred? Why did he say thirty?” Nage Lisi immediately spotted the issue.

“They seem split into two factions. The heavy-armored shield-bearers, priests, and holy knights are one group; the other seventy soldiers are the other. When the red-robed Holy Knight cursed, the soldiers started shouting back—almost turned into infighting.”

Nage Lisi fell silent for a moment, then sighed: “Even like this, they broke the city. These enemies are too professional. Avoid direct confrontation—use the terrain.”

Fei Lin nodded: “Your wisdom, my lord. That’s exactly what I thought too—we’ll use the underground caverns and the Wind of Rest to outmaneuver them. The only thing I fear now is they burn our farmlands. Then we won’t even need to fight—if they have food, every living soul here will tie their own hands and surrender.”

An Ge, flying ahead, suddenly stopped. His hollow eye sockets turned toward Fei Lin.

Fei Lin instantly felt danger—he quickly waved his hands: “Not me, not me—I’m afraid they’ll burn them!”

An Ge turned his head away.

The new district of the underground city was a vast subterranean space, far separated from the main city, with its own independent entrance, connected to the main city by caverns—effectively another underground city.

In the past, a few reclusive residents had moved here, very few—perhaps only a dozen or so households, like remote mountain villages.

All the refugees from Hanbing City were relocated here by Fei Lin—over ten thousand people. In the coming days, even more refugees would arrive; the total might reach six times the population of Wuxiao City.

Wuxiao City had only five thousand living people total, and its crops were calculated for that number—and even that wasn’t enough. They still had to buy grain from An Ge to make up the shortfall. Now, with over ten thousand, possibly thirty thousand, flooding in, Fei Lin’s last reserves would be gone in days.

People had been trickling in since yesterday, so Fei Lin had already fed them several meals. With no other option, he’d thought of borrowing grain from An Ge—maybe not even borrowing; these starving refugees would gladly trade their faith for An Ge’s salvation.

Seeing An Ge’s arrival, Lisa hurried over: “Come here, come here, children, come over—Bone Uncle’s here to check on you. My lord, could you please heal them? I can’t handle it anymore.”

Many injured children, some supporting themselves, others carried by parents or relatives, slowly approached, eyeing An Ge with fear.

Unlike Wuxiao Underground City, Hanbing City was human-dominated. Occasional orcs, goblins, and gnomes might be seen, but skeletons were rare. For unfamiliar things, most people instinctively feared them. If it weren’t for the kind Aunt Lisa calling them over, these children would never have come near.

An Ge tilted his head, looking at the children before him, hesitating. He didn’t know healing magic. The only healing ability he had was Lisa’s Purifying Beauty Spell—because Lisa borrowed his power, whatever she used, he learned.

Fine, I’ll use this one—even if it’s not very effective.

An Ge opened his palm toward the surrounding children. One by one, bright spheres of light burst from his hands and landed on the children.

Purifying Beauty was Lisa’s modified version of a divine spell, with dual effects: purification and skin beautification. If it could beautify skin, healing minor wounds was just a side effect.

Moreover, An Ge’s Purification Spell had been upgraded. When casting this modified Purifying Beauty Spell, it gained enhanced power—the palm-sized holy light now expanded to the size of a washbasin.

The children gathered nearby would never forget this moment: a skeleton, hand glowing, passed over them, and every trace of blood, grime, and wound vanished visibly—as if the light itself purified away filth and pain.

The children’s eyes shimmered with awe and reverence. In that moment, An Ge’s terrifying form no longer seemed frightening—it radiated mystery.

From each child glowing with reverence, soul flames surged forth and streamed toward An Ge.

The soul flames were too numerous; An Ge didn’t care—he channeled them into his leather bracelet. He faintly sensed the bracelet growing warm, but his hands couldn’t perceive temperature—he could only sense it through his soul, and if he wasn’t paying attention, he’d miss it entirely.

Holy light continued to flash. Others nearby were drawn to the scene. After healing the children, An Ge began moving grain—he waved his hand, and sack after sack of grain appeared before him.

Each sack weighed twenty jin. At one jin per person, ten thousand people needed ten thousand jin. How many sacks was that?

An Ge couldn’t calculate it. He looked up to ask Nage Lisi—and froze in shock. Overwhelmingly, nearly everyone had offered one or two soul flames, like a flood bursting forth, surging toward him. Every face glowed with excitement—they had food.

They had food. In the midst of shattered homes and displacement, having food was the only faith these people had left.

An Ge was overwhelmed by the torrent of soul flames. He dared not receive them himself—he channeled them directly into the leather bracelet. The bracelet glowed, its runes lighting up one after another.