Chapter Eighty-Seven: Reinforcements from Source City

The eerie creature he controlled was the eye that had been fixed on Feng Tianlin. It could share its vision, and through it he had been watching everything from above.

They realized this man was probably terrified senseless. One of them stepped forward, seized his shoulder, and gave him a shake. "Calm down and tell us exactly what happened."

The speaker was the chief of the Source City Strange Creature Investigation Bureau. His words helped the controller of spirits steady himself somewhat.

He quickly adjusted his breathing before going on. "There are eerie creatures everywhere outside, slaughtering recklessly. Everywhere I look, it is a scene of utter carnage!

The Dao Alliance sent people out to resist them, but they ran into a doll. That doll was terrifyingly powerful, killing those Daoists in an instant.

At the very least it is Class B. No, Class A!"

"What?" The chief's face changed drastically at those words, and he immediately took out his phone to make a call.

"Hello, I am the chief of the Source City Strange Creature Investigation Bureau. I need to revise our assessment of the threat. At least one Class S eerie creature has come into our city, along with several hundred eerie creatures of every rank. Yes, all right, we will hold out!"

He deliberately exaggerated the danger, hoping those above would pay greater heed to this crisis.

"A doll? I feel like I've heard of that somewhere," one spirit controller said, stroking his chin in thought.

"Now that you mention it, I think I've heard of it too." His words struck a chord with several others, who seemed to have some impression of that doll.

Then another voice rang out.

"Wasn't it that doll from Sky Pit City?"

"Yes, yes, that's the one!"

With that reminder, they all recalled the doll that had been wildly talked about not long ago, said to be the eerie creature behind the takeover of Sky Pit City.

When they looked toward the voice, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

A doll was standing there, holding a blood-red eye, staring at each of them with a ferocious expression, as though looking upon a pack of prey.

Run. Run now!

That was everyone’s first thought. This doll's terror had exceeded all their imagination; staying here meant certain death!

Watching them scatter in all directions, Feng Tianlin did not move from the spot. He only murmured, "Ice Age."

The cold spread hundreds of times faster than they could run. In just an instant, everyone was frozen in place.

Feng Tianlin casually crushed the eye in his arms, then tilted his head and looked at them. "Welcome to the carnival of terror!"

Before long, only a pile of shattered ice remained. At that moment, the chief's phone rang.

Feng Tianlin walked over, picked it up, and answered.

"Hello, the reinforcements are on their way to Source City and will be there soon. How are things on your end?"

Feng Tianlin curved his lips and, using the mimic's ability to imitate the chief's voice, said, "Our situation is fairly stable. May I ask how strong the reinforcements are?"

"Rest assured. We have dispatched more than fifty teams made up of spirit controllers and martial artists, and one early-origin realm expert is leading them."

"Good. In that case, tell them to hurry. I'm almost at my limit here."

"Weren't you just saying things were fairly stable? How are you suddenly at your limit? Hello? Hello? Say something!"

Feng Tianlin tossed the phone to the ground and crushed it underfoot.

"Another wave of big fish. With them, I may well break through to Class A."

At that moment, a heavily armed transport aircraft was carrying dozens of people. They were battle operatives urgently sent from headquarters to reinforce Source City.

"What exactly is going on in Source City? Why did the eerie creatures suddenly erupt like this? And there are Class S ones too."

"I'm not sure. Maybe they're underlings of the Poison Empress from the Evil King, or of the eerie creature from Sky Pit City and Spirit City."

"I just can't understand how a Class S eerie creature and so many others managed to reach Source City so smoothly."

"Who knows? Let's wipe them out first."

"Anyway, with that person here, nothing will be a problem."

As they talked, everyone's gaze turned to a man in a white training uniform.

He sat cross-legged on the floor, left hand resting on his leg, right hand gripping a Tang blade so tightly his knuckles had gone white. His breathing was even, his eyes closed, and a faint yet formidable aura emanated from his body.

He was a second-rank early-origin realm martial artist, and the strongest person on the aircraft. Everyone believed that with him in command, no serious problem could arise.

At last the aircraft arrived over Source City and descended slowly into the city. The devastation beneath them made everyone draw a cold breath.

Blood had gathered into rivers. Buildings were shattered and ruined. Every step felt as if one might tread on a human body.

And yet not a single eerie creature could be seen.

"Where are the eerie creatures?"

"No idea. The energy here is too mixed. I can't make it out."

"..."

They truly could not understand where those eerie creatures had gone.

By all rights, the city had indeed been ravaged by them. Since none were visible now, there were only two possibilities.

Either all of the eerie creatures had fled, or they were all lying in ambush, waiting to launch a surprise attack.

At the thought of the second possibility, all of them flinched. The eerie creatures now possessed intelligence; such a thing was not impossible.

Just then, the martial artist slashed at the air before him, and a doll appeared in everyone's sight.

The doll looked at them with excitement, practically drooling.

The battle operatives, however, were somewhat dismissive. Just a Class B eerie creature. What could it do to them?

But the moment they prepared to deal with it, everything around them changed.

The scenery was washed over as though by blood water, turning crimson in every direction. An invisible pressure abruptly lowered their strength, and with these strange phenomena came a mass of dark, dense eerie creatures.

"What... what is going on here?"

Even with their professional training, they were thoroughly frightened. They did not understand anything about eerie domains; all they could feel was that they had walked into the lair of eerie creatures.

Every single one of those eerie creatures was grinning at them, that expression carrying the same feeling as a game played with a swarm of ants.

Now there were only two roads before them: flee or fight.

But this city had become a paradise for eerie creatures. Where could they possibly run?

And if they fought, how was that any different from throwing their lives away?

No one spoke. There was not even a glance exchanged. Yet each of them made their own choice.

Some would flee. Others would fight.

A moment later, as the first eerie creature charged toward the crowd, countless others surged after it. They were like the fearless warriors of an ancient battlefield, each one frenzied beyond reason.

On the human side, the majority chose to fight, though a small number chose to run.

Those who chose to fight roared as they charged toward the eerie creatures, while those who chose to flee sprinted away in different directions.

The ones who chose battle did not die especially quickly. Instead, they were surrounded on all sides by the eerie creatures, forced to endure boundless fear.

As for those who fled, they fared no better. After crashing against invisible walls, they all realized they could not escape this place. But by then it was too late. They were all loaded onto the train as cowardly humans who could manufacture terror and emotional value.

On the other side of the eerie domain, the martial artist looked coldly upon it all. He could not go to help, because a doll was standing before him, smiling at him.