Chapter 601: All effort is in vain

The matter was settled, and the sky had already become completely dark.

The moon hung in the sky, round and bright, illuminating the mountain silhouettes clearly.

Jin Wu and Xuanwu took Baize and Xiezhi to get acquainted with modern society.

So now only Su Qu and Yu Lin remain.

Su Qu picked up his phone:

"Want to have a meal? I heard they received a batch of Spirit Lamb Meat today."

Yu Lin glanced and nodded.

"Alright."

The two walked down the mountain path.

Moonlight made the stone road look pale, and the fields on either side rustled in the night wind.

Although it seemed they were not walking fast.

In the blink of an eye, they had already entered the city.

The eatery was in the east part of the city, its entrance bearing a red lantern, and the scent of meat broth drifted out.

There were already customers inside.

Most were Cultivators; only a few wealthy ones who didn't mind spending came to try the delicacy and replenish themselves.

After all, these spiritual foods, even ordinary people who eat them become stronger, healthier, and enjoy longer lives.

Aside from being pricey, there's no other problem!

The owner was a chubby middle‑aged man, wearing a white apron, tallying the accounts behind the counter.

Seeing someone enter, he looked up, his gaze sweeping over Yu Lin and Su Qu, and smiled:

"What would you two like to eat?"

Su Qu found a seat by the window and said, "I heard you got a batch of Spirit Lamb? I'll have a set."

"Alright," the owner replied, turning to the back kitchen.

Soon, steaming lamb soup was brought out, its broth milky white, floating with a few sprigs of cilantro and scallions.

Grilled lamb chops arrived as well, crisp on the outside, tender inside, sizzling with oil.

There was also a plate of cold marinated lamb offal, drizzled with chili oil and minced garlic, instantly appetizing.

Su Qu picked up a chop, put it in his mouth, chewed, and his eyes lit up.

"Not bad." He grabbed another piece and said vaguely, "…"

Yu Lin said nothing, just lowered his head to eat the noodles.

The noodles were hand‑made, chewy, the broth fresh, the lamb stewed to a melt‑in‑your‑mouth softness.

Su Qu ate more slowly, scrolling his phone while eating.

Short videos flickered by one after another; he watched them absentmindedly, occasionally chewing a piece of lamb offal.

Just as they were about to finish, he planned to order a few more plates of lamb.

Boom—!

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from outside.

The sound was so loud it rattled the window glass, and the soup bowls on the table jumped!

The street, usually bustling with traffic, was now in chaos!

Pedestrians screamed and fled in all directions, vehicles slammed on brakes, and horns blared intermittently.

"Robbery! Robbery!"

Someone shouted, the voice echoing from several blocks away, intermittent.

Another deafening crash sounded, closer than the previous one.

Su Qu looked that way; a flash of fire, then thick black smoke laced with dust and debris rose into the air, dazzling against the glow of the Neihong lights!

He pulled out his phone and opened the internal channel of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The news had already flooded the screens.

"City East Commercial Bank was attacked; at least six Cultivators, their strength unknown."

"Local squad has arrived and is engaged in firefight."

"Requesting support! Requesting support!"

One message after another popped up at lightning speed.

Su Qu scrolled through, roughly grasping the situation.

A group of Cultivators robbed the bank; they were not weak, and the Police Bureau couldn't stop them.

Members of the Civil Affairs Bureau, along with civilian Cultivators and Heavenly Authority Awakeners, also rushed over, but the opponents were clearly prepared, forcing them into a retreat!

"What do you say?"

…

City East Commercial Bank lay in ruins.

The bank's glass curtain wall lay shattered on the ground, a huge crater blasted at the entrance, and fragments of stone were scattered everywhere!

The mall opposite the street also suffered; its shop windows were all smashed, and the mannequin models inside lay crooked on the street, wearing the season's latest styles, exposing a plastic leg.

Several streetlights went out; the few remaining flickered, casting the whole street like a disaster‑movie set!

Police had sealed off the street but dared not get too close.

The opposing side had six people, standing at the bank entrance like six door gods.

Leading them was a bald man, shirtless, with a blue dragon tattoo winding from his neck down to his ankles.

He carried an iron rod in his hand, blood still dripping from it.

To his left stood a skinny tall man, wearing glasses, in a white shirt, looking refined, but his hand clenched a handful of Talisman Paper, the cinnabar on the paper still glowing.

On the right was a short plump woman, wearing a floral dress, with a pair of red slippers on her feet; she held nothing, just stood there, but the ground beneath her cracked, and hot steam rose from the fissures!

Further back were three people whose faces could not be seen, standing in the shadows, only their outlines visible.

"Anyone else?" the bald man hoisted the iron rod onto his shoulder and shouted across.

His voice was so loud it made the car alarms on the street buzz, "Just these few? Not enough to fight!"

Opposite, the Police Bureau and Civil Affairs Bureau personnel lay scattered all over the ground.

Some clutched their legs, some covered their stomachs, some were covered in blood, and were dragged away to the back.

There were a few still standing, but their complexion was also poor, their uniforms torn in several places, and the weapons in their hands were crooked.

A person who seemed to be the squad leader stood at the front, gritting his teeth, holding up a shield in front.

The shield was a magical artifact, capable of blocking bullets and ordinary spell attacks.

But when the bald man swung his rod just now, the shield cracked, his hand went numb, and he didn't know how many more blows it could block!

"Back off!" someone behind shouted, "Reinforcements arriving immediately!"

The bald man laughed, showing a mouth full of yellow teeth.

"Reinforcements? I'll take down as many as they send, a bunch of trash." He turned his head to look at the skinny tall man with glasses beside him, "Lao Liu, how much longer?"

The skinny tall man adjusted his glasses and said, "Three minutes, the teleportation array has already been set up."

The bald man nodded with satisfaction, "Then it's not urgent, let's keep playing."

As soon as his words finished, a burst of fire shot from the street corner straight at his face.

The bald man sidestepped, the fire streak brushed his ear and flew past, exploding against the wall behind him; debris splattered, blasting a huge hole in the advertisement board at the bank entrance!

A middle‑aged man in a Dao robe rushed out from the street corner, fingers forming a sword technique, with three or four civilian Cultivators following behind him.

"Don't be reckless!"

"Fire Method!"

The Dao‑robed middle‑aged man pointed his sword technique, and three more flames erupted, faster and fiercer than before!

This time the bald man didn't dodge, raising the iron rod and sweeping it forward.

The flames struck the iron rod, exploding, yet the rod remained unmoved, and the flames dissipated!

The bald man flicked his wrist, glanced at the new scorch marks on the iron rod, and frowned.

"Interesting," he said, walking toward the Dao‑robed middle‑aged man; his steps were not quick, but each footfall was solid, the asphalt cracking beneath him as if it could not bear his weight!

The Dao‑robed middle‑aged man's complexion changed.

He stepped back one pace, formed a hand seal, and a golden barrier lit up in front of him, dense with swirling Rune.

The bald man approached the barrier, raised the iron rod, and struck down.

Crack!

The barrier shattered like glass, fragments floating in the air, turning into Light Dots and vanishing before they hit the ground.

The Dao‑robed middle‑aged man was jolted back several steps, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

The civilian Cultivators behind him could barely stay upright; some were thrown backward in a tumble!

The bald man slung the iron rod over his shoulder and looked at them:

"Who else?!"

No one answered.

Under the overpass at the street corner, a Heavenly Authority Awakener quietly raised a hand.

His Authority was wind, able to control airflow and create Wind Blades.

He gathered a dozen or so Wind Blades, silently cutting toward the bald man!

The Wind Blades moved at extreme speed, almost invisible to the naked eye, flashing only a few glimmers under the streetlamp.

But the bald man seemed to have eyes on his back; with a reverse swing of his rod, the Wind Blades dispersed, not even grazing his cloak.

The Awakener hadn't reacted before a massive force hurled him, slamming him against a concrete column of the overpass, sliding down, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood, not knowing whether he was dead or alive!

The bald man looked around, grinned, "Is that all?"

From inside the bank came a low rumbling sound.

The skinny tall man with glasses glanced back, then turned to the bald man:

"One more minute."

The bald man nodded, took the iron rod off his shoulder, and planted it on the ground:

"Fine, one last minute of play."

He walked toward the opposing team members, the iron rod dragging a deep groove in the ground, the asphalt being furrowed to reveal the soil beneath.

A car alarm on the street still blared; he kicked it, denting the hood with a large pit!

"Kill a few first, so they won't later slay our brothers!"

…

In the restaurant, Yu Lin drank the last mouthful of noodles, picked up the napkin on the table, and wiped his mouth.

He looked out the window; the sky to the east of the city was reddened by firelight, thick smoke swirling in the glow of the Neihong, occasional explosions and screams reaching his ears.

He withdrew his gaze, looking across.

Su Qu was gnawing on a lamb chop, his mouth full of grease:

"Brother Su," Yu Lin began, "Do you strike, or shall I?"

Su Qu chewed the lamb chop, gesturing vaguely:

"Things you can settle with a raised hand, I will…"

His words got stuck.

His gaze swept over Yu Lin's shoulder and fell outside the window.

「Holy shit, just toss away great luck? ！」

A truck flew from the street corner, not driven over, but thrown over.

The bald man's iron rod was planted in the ground, he held the truck with both hands, as if lifting a brick, and then he hurled it this way!

The truck tumbled in midair, its headlights still flashing, the Horn still blaring, emitting a piercing honk!

Pedestrians on the street screamed and fled in all directions, some tripped, some knocked over the roadside trash cans.

Just as it was about to smash over,

Everything came to a halt.

The truck hung in midair, less than three feet from the window.

The whole street fell silent, as if someone had hit the pause button.

Yu Lin tossed the tissue into the trash can and nodded, saying:

「Then I'll handle it. 」

「All right! How do you plan to make a move? 」

「Do you know that action is inaction? 」

「What? 」

「It means doing it amounts to doing nothing, then. 」

Yu Lin's gaze fell ahead, and he spoke softly:

「Then let things return to their origin. 」

His words fell.

The world began to reverse.