The group of old foxes present had eyes darting about, each with their own thoughts.
Gou Dingding, standing behind the City Lord, stared at Chu Tian with a furrowed brow.
A flickering light shone in her eyes.
Chu Tian walked to a position level with the City Lord, his thoughts much like those of the others.
He didn't know what this old fellow's intentions were.
Seemingly no ill will, even when Chu Tian had deliberately provoked him earlier.
He hadn't reacted at all...
And that young lady behind him, why was she staring at me?
She looked quite pure.
Practically a dream girl for any otaku.
Hmm... that space pouch on her waist looked rather pretty.
"I am Wei Du. As for my identity, you should already know. May I know the name of this young friend?"
The City Lord looked down at the city, and seeing Chu Tian standing beside him, he first introduced himself and then asked.
Chu Tian withdrew his divine sense, resting his hands on the edge, and looked down as well.
This city tower was a hundred meters taller than the city wall.
He could see that the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers had begun climbing the city walls.
Rows of city guards were already in position on the walls.
Those who had been watching the spectacle on the walls earlier had been driven away.
Outside the city walls, a ring of roaring flames tens of meters wide encircled the city.
That was the first line of defense below the city.
Before the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers could climb the city walls, they had to first charge through the giant flames.
This immediately reduced the number of monsters climbing the city walls.
The pressure on the city guards dropped sharply.
However, the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers were characterized by their fearless charge.
The city-protecting flames, in Chu Tian's eyes, wouldn't last much longer.
The city defense equipment continued to fire upon the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers still in the distance.
Their range was sufficient, but the flaw of the giant city defenses also became apparent.
That was their close-combat capability; once monsters got too close, effective damage could not be dealt.
This reminded Chu Tian of ancient siege warfare on Blue Star.
The most important thing for defenders was the supply of consumables.
Whether it was arrows, giant crossbow bolts, or boulders, they were all consumables.
Once they ran out, the defenders could only rely on the height of the city walls for a slight advantage.
Wan Shou City was facing not humans.
But monsters that treated city walls as nothing.
The thousand-meter-high vertical walls were like flat ground, showing no ability to slow their speed.
At this moment, the old City Lord was asking Chu Tian what to do about the situation below.
Chu Tian rolled his eyes directly, thinking to himself: Ask me what to do? How would I know what trump cards Wan Shou City has?
If this continued, they would inevitably have to fight these monsters on the city walls.
Each city wall had three hundred thousand city guards.
Facing the endless horde of monsters, they would likely be exhausted to death.
"Report... Among the refugees at the South Gate, there are brothers from the Zhongdu Guard. They have brought back... the corpse of Priest Gou Bi... Gou!"
Suddenly, a messenger ran over, shouting loudly.
His eyes were filled with panic.
"Hmm? The Zhongdu Guard has all returned?" the old City Lord was stunned.
The messenger quickly replied, "No, only a few brothers have returned with the corpse of Priest Gou."
Wei Du was taken aback and nodded, "Have them come over!"
Upon hearing this news, Chu Tian visibly flinched.
Priest Gou was likely the one he had killed.
As for the Zhongdu Guard, they were probably the troop of ten thousand he had sensed when he left.
However, why had only a few of them returned? Had they all perished in the mouths of the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers?
This old fellow seemed to care a lot about the Zhongdu Guard.
He hadn't inquired about Priest Gou's matter earlier, but instead asked if the Zhongdu Guard had all returned.
However, what was that young lady's deal? Upon hearing of Priest Gou's death, why did she look at him?
Her gaze seemed to suggest she knew he was the one who killed Priest Gou Bi.
Who was this young lady?
Chu Tian wondered.
The old fellows standing behind exchanged glances.
They had seen too many shocking things this day.
For their entire lives, they had remained unperturbed in Wan Shou City.
Today, it was all made up for at once.
"Report..."
Several blood-soaked figures ascended from below the city tower.
Chu Tian recognized their attire, confirming they were the ones he had sensed with his divine sense when he left the fiery cave.
Unlike the city defense army and the city guards, these individuals were clad in full plate armor, not leather.
However, the armor of these few was tattered everywhere and covered in scars.
"Greetings, City Lord..."
The figures clasped their fists and bent their knees to bow.
Wei Du waved his hand, interrupting their posture, preventing them from kneeling.
"Where is your commander?" he asked his first question.
"Reporting to the City Lord, the commander has likely taken his men to investigate the murderer of Priest Gou," one of them replied.
Wei Du's expression showed a hint of inquiry after hearing this, "Likely?"
"Yes... on our journey, we encountered the deceased Priest Gou. None of the men he took with him survived, including his four maids, a total of 235 bodies."
"We, thirty men, were ordered by the commander to carry Priest Gou's corpse and rush back towards our city day and night."
"However, we unexpectedly encountered Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers on the road. Only... eight of us made it back..."
The man's face darkened as he spoke.
He continued, "We have not failed our mission. Priest Gou's corpse has been safely brought back to the city and has already been sent to the residence of Elder Priest Gou!"
"Foolish..." Old City Lord Wei Du, after hearing his report, suddenly became enraged.
It was unclear who this "foolish" was directed at.
However, Chu Tian guessed it was directed at these thirty men.
For the sake of a corpse, twenty-two people were lost.
If they weren't foolish, who was?
Chu Tian sensed that the aura emanating from these eight individuals was all at the Earth Soul level.
He hadn't known how to discern people's levels by their aura before.
Once he understood, he recalled that within their group of over ten thousand, not even twenty thousand people, almost all of them were in the Earth Soul realm.
And there were quite a few in the Heaven Soul realm.
The leader, his aura was similar to these old fellows present, even slightly stronger.
He should be a Reincarnation realm expert.
Twenty-two Earth Soul realm experts gathered together.
If they were smart enough to choose to break out in reverse,
They should have been able to get out of the cloud-covered area quickly.
But they chose to push forward... to return to Wan Shou City, thousands of miles away.
Such foolish loyalty.
It was hard to judge right from wrong!
"You may withdraw and rest!"
The eight individuals clasped their fists in salute to the City Lord and retreated from the city tower.
Wei Du watched them leave, his thoughts unknown.
Chu Tian saw him lightly tap an insignia he held in his hand.
In his divine sense, a light barrier flickered and enveloped the three of them.
Instantly, their senses were cleared; the shouting outside and the vibrations of the giant crossbow mechanisms all disappeared.
Chu Tian's eyes moved, "An soundproof barrier?"
What was this old man up to?
Did he want to have a private talk with me?
"Dingding... When Wei Jin left, did Dongdong secretly follow?"
The old City Lord turned to look at Gou Dingding, who looked exceptionally pure.
"Uh..." She trembled.
She quickly bowed and said, "Yes... yes..."
"Ai..." Wei Du shook his head, his expression turning unpleasant.
Chu Tian saw the woman named Dingding's body tremble, her expression tense as she knelt down.
"City Lord... uh... Master! Dongdong and the third young master are truly sincere, and... Dingding's body is very clean, she hasn't been..."
Wei Du waved his hand, interrupting her words, and simultaneously used a gentle force to lift her.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this! Thank you for taking care of Dongdong all these years!"
The City Lord spoke words that were puzzling, and even Dingding was filled with questions.
She shook her head and said, "Master, you seem to know Dongdong very well... When I met her on the street at the age of eight, she remembered nothing."
"She only remembered her name was Dongdong and she was also eight years old, which matched my name, so I brought her back..."
Wei Du shook his head, glanced at Chu Tian, and said to Dingding, "Let's not discuss this matter for now. You'll know in the future."
Dingding stopped speaking and, following Wei Du's gaze, also looked at Chu Tian.
"Dingding, do you wish to offer thanks or seek revenge?"
Wei Du's words carried a deep meaning, his gaze moving back and forth between Chu Tian and Dingding.
"I say... what do you guys mean?"
Chu Tian felt his scalp go numb under their stares, as if being scanned by an X-ray, his internal organs laid bare.
"Little friend, do you know what her surname is?"
Chu Tian rolled his eyes and said, "How would I know? I'm not a fortune teller."
"My surname is Gou..." Dingding interjected.
"Gou? Uh..." Chu Tian was startled, instantly thinking of something unpleasant.
"Miss Gou, hello. My surname is Chu... my name is Tian!"
Chu Tian sweated inwardly, "Am I running into enemies here?"
Was that Priest Gou her relative?
"You killed Gou Bi!"
Dingding stated it as a fact.
"Don't know him, never seen him... I say, Miss Dingding, don't wrongly accuse a good person!"
Chu Tian's face was unblushing, his breath even, as he adamantly claimed to have never seen or known him.
"This one, you recognize, right..." As she said this, she patted her waist.
Her extraordinary space pouch flashed, and an animal's head poked out from within.
Chu Tian looked at it and felt it was very familiar.
Chichichi...
The animal clearly saw Chu Tian and let out a roar at him, its mouth opening like a gaping abyss.
The next second, it was about to leap out, but Dingding slapped it back.
Aow aow...
Dingding's slap was very heavy.
The giant mole quickly closed its massive mouth.
"Seeing an enemy and wanting revenge? Forget about Gou Bi.
This is my benefactor. It seems... I need to add a new contract. If you dare to harbor killing intent towards him, I will let you..."
She didn't just say it; she drew in the air, and a miniature contract rune appeared.
"I will let you... suffer the pain of ten thousand ants gnawing at your bones!"
Ding... a magic array formed in the void.
Then, under the terrified gaze of the giant mole, she pinched its paw, made a cut, and squeezed out a drop of liquid.
Sheng...
The contract rune array flickered and then burrowed into the giant mole's body.