758: Should we still run?

Dao Power surged, roars shook the heavens, and slaughter was everywhere.

The area outside the city had nearly fallen.

Every single area was like this.

Countless cultivators were charging and killing as if they had gone mad.

"What, what on earth is happening? How did everyone suddenly go crazy?"

The Squad wove through the gaps, everyone filled with terror.

Lin Yang's expression was cold and stern: "Now is not the time to investigate the cause; we must escape."

The chaotic battle was spreading too quickly.

All around was slaughter.

Those participating in the battle had blood-red eyes, as if possessed by demons, madly attacking those around them.

It didn't matter if they knew each other or not, nor did it matter if there was any enmity.

They seemed to have lost their reason, only blindly venting their power.

Lin Yang also noticed that besides those who had already gone mad, there were still some people who seemed to be clear-headed and were also fleeing quickly.

This discovery made him breathe a slight sigh of relief.

At least, they weren't the only ones unaffected.

Since there were others who were also unaffected, it meant there might still be a turning point.

"Should we return to the city first? The higher-ups are stationed there, perhaps it will be better." Li Rui asked.

Although he was the leader, at this moment, he deferred to Lin Yang's opinion.

Lin Yang barely considered it before saying: "The city is likely even more chaotic right now. We still don't know what this thing affecting people is, to what degree it can affect them, or what cultivation levels it can affect."

"While the higher-ups are indeed in the city, if any of them have also been affected, then the city is even more dangerous."

"Outside the city, we can at least still run for now. If all else fails, we'll just keep running away from Baichi City."

"The population density in the city is too high. Once it breaks out, going back is just seeking death."

Li Rui took a deep breath: "You're right. Let's run first. I'll try to contact people I know in the city to see what the situation is like."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yang said directly: "Leader, contact Lord Zhenge directly to see what his situation is."

"Alright." Li Rui immediately began transmitting the message.

But soon his expression turned ugly: "I can't reach Lord Zhenge. I also tried contacting others, and I can barely reach anyone. Only one member from another Squad answered; he said the city has already fallen. He even saw that some higher-ups were also affected and are participating in the chaotic battle. He told us not to go back."

With these words, everyone in the Squad grew grave.

That the higher-ups were also affected and drawn into the chaotic battle was not good news.

This meant that even those in the Nie Kong Realm could be affected.

"Keep running. We'll head towards other cities and try to leave this place." Lin Yang said in a deep voice.

Under normal circumstances, crossing between cities is quite dangerous.

But he currently possessed combat power comparable to the Nie Kong Realm, so he didn't fear much.

Besides, they had no choice but to run now.

Everyone fled with extreme caution.

Even when power surged towards them, they avoided it whenever possible, trying their best not to retaliate.

They were afraid that if they attacked too much, they would also be uncontrollably affected.

Thanks to Lin Yang's initial sharpness, the Squad reacted relatively quickly.

It didn't take long for them to initially move away from the most crowded area where their Squad had been.

But before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, Liu Ling's eyes suddenly began to turn red.

His breathing became heavy, and his Dao Power began to boil.

"Oh no, Liu Ling has also been affected." Cheng Fu exclaimed.

"Liu Ling! Liu Ling, calm down!" Li Rui tried to stabilize Liu Ling's emotions.

However, Liu Ling ignored him entirely, let out a sudden roar, and attacked.

"Liu Ling! Stop it right now!"

Li Rui's expression was extremely ugly, and he also attacked to try and stop Liu Ling, but it was to no avail.

Liu Ling had clearly lost his reason.

"Leader, forget about him; he's already lost control."

Watching his former teammate fall, Lin Yang didn't feel good, but he forced himself to stay calm and reminded Li Rui not to continue fighting with Liu Ling.

Surging Dao Power was very attractive to those who had already lost their reason or were about to.

They had originally chosen to hide in places with fewer people, staying away from the fighting crowds.

Now that Liu Ling had suddenly erupted, people with red eyes around them were already rushing over.

If they delayed any longer, they would be surrounded.

A trace of sorrow and reluctance flashed in Li Rui's eyes, but in the end, he slapped Liu Ling, sending him flying far away, towards those who had lost control and were surrounding them.

His cultivation was much higher than Liu Ling's, so he took the opportunity to escape quickly.

Liu Ling then began to fight with those who had come in a frenzy.

Soon, Liu Ling's figure was submerged by various surging Dao Powers.

"Sigh..."

Sensing Liu Ling's situation from afar, Li Rui couldn't help but sigh.

Lin Yang also sighed in his heart.

After all, they were teammates for many years, and seeing Liu Ling like this truly made people feel bad.

The Squad continued to run in silence.

After a long while, Li Rui pulled himself together and said: "Don't be too upset. Fortunately, only Liu Ling has had an incident in our Squad so far; that can be considered a stroke of luck in a bad situation."

Everyone was speechless.

Although Li Rui's words sounded unpleasant, they were indeed correct.

Right now, the other Prefecture Army Squads had fallen, with less than one in ten remaining.

Only their Squad could still be considered intact.

Suddenly, a voice came from the other side of the Squad.

"Fellows of the Prefecture Army, may we travel together?"

Lin Yang and the others turned their heads and saw five male cultivators approaching quite dishevelledly. One of them was calling out to them, trying to escape together.

Li Rui glanced at Lin Yang, then refused without hesitation: "Sorry, let's each find our own way to escape. There are too many people gathered together; it's too conspicuous and more dangerous."

There weren't many people who remained clear-headed now, and Li Rui instinctively didn't want to cause more trouble.

Besides, what he said was a fact.

Seeing Li Rui refuse, the other party wanted to say something more, but eventually gave up and headed in another direction.

Everyone didn't take this little episode to heart and continued to act according to their original plan.

Their original plan was to escape the Baichi City area.

Not long after, a few more waves of fleeing cultivators tried to join the group to act together.

But they were all refused by Li Rui one by one.

Lin Yang's eyes flickered, and he said: "Let's stop wearing our Prefecture Army uniforms while traveling. At this time, everyone has lost their backbone, and as soon as they see us, they can't help but want to lean on us."

Li Rui and the others paused slightly, then said: "That's right. Everyone, change back into regular clothes and put away your identification badges."

As everyone finished changing their clothes, the people coming to request to escape together stopped.

However, the situation remained grim.

Chaotic battles were everywhere.

Even though they had moved away from the most crowded places, slaughter was still everywhere around them.

And Lin Yang noticed that as they fled, many people who were initially able to maintain their reason also gradually lost control in the process, eventually becoming part of the chaotic battle.

Even within their own Squad, two more teammates had lost control.

The number of people decreased further.

"Damn it, what the hell is affecting these people?" Li Rui, changing his usual image, couldn't help but curse.

Everyone was silent.

Originally, everyone thought that as long as they weren't affected at the beginning, perhaps they wouldn't be affected later.

But it was obvious that as time passed, those who weren't affected in the first wave would eventually be affected too.

This made everyone's mood very heavy.

They didn't even know if continuing to run was meaningful; perhaps they would fall before they could even escape the Baichi City area.

Lin Yang didn't speak. After it became slightly safer, he began to contact Shi Jie, Xin Hao, and Li Liping.

He needed to know the situation in other places to preliminarily judge the scope of the influence.

Fortunately, all three could be reached; they hadn't lost contact or control.

First, Shi Jie said: "Brother Lin Yang, on our family's side, more than 80% of the people have lost control. We are currently hiding in a secret chamber, and we don't know how long we can hold out."

Xin Hao followed up: "It's about the same on my side."

Lin Yang's heart grew heavier, and he urged both of them to be careful.

Immediately after, he communicated with Li Liping.

Li Liping was at the Yuyu Sect, and the Yuyu Sect was not in the Baichi City area. Lin Yang prayed that the Yuyu Sect hadn't been affected.

But Li Liping's reply made his heart grow colder: "Brother Lin Yang, there are some people in the Yuyu Sect who have inexplicably gone mad, but the number is small, and they have basically been controlled for now."

"What? There are people going mad at the Yuyu Sect too?" Lin Yang exclaimed.

"Yes, I heard that Baichi City has completely lost control. Brother Lin Yang, you must be careful. As far as I know, the sect controlled a few of those disciples who lost control to try and investigate the cause, but they all failed. It seems this loss of control is irreversible." Li Liping urged.

"I understand. Thank you. Do you know the situation in other places?" Lin Yang pressed.

Li Liping immediately said: "You want to ask if this situation has occurred in other parts of the Jidong Prefecture, right?"

"Yes." Lin Yang nodded.

"Yes! Many places have people inexplicably losing control, but the situation is much better compared to Baichi City. It seems they have all been temporarily controlled, but I don't know what will happen subsequently."

Li Liping said quietly: "It's not even just Jidong Prefecture; it is said that people in other Prefectures have also lost control."

Lin Yang was even more shocked: "The situation is this serious? Is the affected area this wide?"

"Yes, now our sect elders are all acting as if they are facing a great enemy, preparing to temporarily close the sect." Li Liping revealed another heavy piece of news.

"Even the Yuyu Sect is closing the sect?" Lin Yang's shock was beyond measure.

"Yes, because it's unclear if this loss of control will spread to others, we can only close the sect to protect ourselves." Li Liping said.

Lin Yang was silent for a moment: "Do you know the situation with the Jidong Prefecture Army? We have somewhat lost contact with the higher-ups of the Jidong Prefecture Army; no news or orders have been passed down, and we can't reach other Prefecture Army units."

"Sorry, Brother Lin Yang, I don't know about the situation with the Jidong Prefecture Army. Everyone is overwhelmed right now, and I don't have any acquaintances in the Jidong Prefecture Army." Li Liping apologized.

"It's fine. Then we'll just have to be more careful ourselves." Lin Yang sighed.

Li Liping paused, clearly lowering his voice, and said with some hesitation: "Brother Lin Yang, there is one thing you need to pay attention to. The first batch of disciples in our Yuyu Sect who lost control all shared a common characteristic: they all went to that Ancient Ruins in Baichi City."

"The elders currently don't want this news to spread because there isn't sufficient evidence. Furthermore, not all disciples who went to the Ancient Ruins lost control, so we can't draw a conclusion yet. After all, too many people have been to that Ancient Ruins. If it spreads, I fear it will cause panic."

Saying this, he sighed softly: "Brother Lin Yang, you have always been stationed in Baichi City, and you have also been stationed at the Ancient Ruins, so... you must be more careful. Do not let external things affect your emotions."

Lin Yang's heart suddenly turned cold: "You mean, basically everyone who has been to the Ancient Ruins has lost control?"

"Almost, but there are currently a few individual exceptions. However, those few who haven't lost control are also being strictly watched. Brother, you... take care in everything." Li Liping's tone was grave and concerned, but it was clear he didn't know how to say more to Lin Yang.

Because Lin Yang had been stationed at the Ancient Ruins.

This news would clearly increase the pressure on Lin Yang.

Lin Yang was not too flustered; perhaps subconsciously, he had already prepared himself mentally. He just thanked Li Liping: "Thank you. This news is very useful. I will pay extra attention and try to keep my emotions stable, and I will also be vigilant against any abnormal changes in my body."

"Hmm, Brother Lin Yang, I don't know what to say either. I can only wish you all the best here." Li Liping said softly.

"You too. Before it is clear whether the loss of control will continue to spread, don't make contact with those disciples. It's best if you also hide." Lin Yang reminded him.

"Alright, I understand. If there are any new developments with those disciples later, I will tell you immediately." Li Liping replied.

"Alright."

After saying this, Lin Yang ended the transmission.

His mood was even worse.

The news Li Liping revealed did indeed make him worried.

Eight or nine out of ten disciples who had been to the Ancient Ruins had lost control.

This problem was very serious.

You have to know, he and the rest of the entire Squad had gone to the Ancient Ruins immediately and had also been stationed there for a period of time.

If it was indeed because of this reason, then they were likely unable to escape the fate of losing control.

"Lin Yang, why does your expression look so bad? Is there some worse news?" Li Rui had been paying attention to Lin Yang and asked hurriedly upon seeing this.

Lin Yang forced a smile: "There really isn't any good news. The only good news is that currently, only Baichi City has completely fallen; in other places, only some people have lost control, which is still controllable."

Saying this, he informed everyone that this loss of control might be related to having been to the Ancient Ruins.

In an instant, everyone in the Squad fell silent.

A sense of despair appeared on everyone's face.

Li Rui was silent for a long time, then smiled bitterly and said: "So, that means we are all doomed. Haha, this is also quite good. Dying together with everyone is not bad either."

He wanted to adjust the atmosphere.

But no one could respond to these words.

"Don't give up either. After all, not everyone who has been to that Ancient Ruins has had an incident. The higher-ups already know about the situation here, and perhaps there is a solution. We must still persist."

Lin Yang didn't want everyone to be too pessimistic, so he started to comfort them.

"Then should we continue to run?"

Cheng Fu spoke gloomily: "According to what your friend said, people are still losing control far away in other Prefectures, so it seems we don't need to run anymore, right? If we are bound to lose control, it's the same wherever we run to."

With these words, everyone's mood inevitably grew heavier.

(End of chapter)