88: Chapter 88 Dark Clouds Loom Over the City... Crimson = Life?

"Quick! Go and call all the top healing Pioneers of the guild over!"

"Bring all the inventory of vital healing potions over as well!"

"Quick!"

"..."

Huangshan Base City!

Inside the City Lord's Mansion, it was a scene of utter chaos and panic.

Lan Yujing's eyes were bloodshot, and her mind still lingered on that terrifying scene in front of the evacuation point.

If it were not for the corpse of Jiang Xingdong being teleported out of the secret realm together with them, Lan Yujing would have definitely collapsed by this moment.

Yet even so,

her nerves at this moment were like the faint, dying breath of Jiang Xingdong on the hospital bed,

feeling as though they could snap at any second.

In Huangshan Base City, various Pioneers teams and chambers of commerce could finally no longer sit still.

Everyone anxiously rushed to the City Lord's Mansion at the very first moment. When they saw the heavily injured and unconscious Jiang Xingdong, exactly as their subordinates had reported, everyone's heart instantly turned ice-cold.

President Sha Lie of the Shazhou Chamber of Commerce let out an angry roar.

"What is going on?! Why is it like this? Team Leader Lan, after coming out of the secret realm, even the heaviest injuries would be completely healed under the power of the rules. How could the Lord City Lord suffer such a terrifying injury?!"

"Could it be that Lord City Lord was ambushed outside the secret realm?!"

Pairs of eyes instantly fell squarely upon Lan Yujing.

"Nonsense! How could our team leader possibly attack the City Lord?! Lord City Lord was ambushed inside the secret realm!"

Lan Yujing's deputy team leader was instantly furious.

However,

President Sha Lie let out a cold sneer upon hearing this.

"What a joke! How could injuries inside a secret realm be brought out to the outside world?! Besides... when did I ever say that Lord City Lord's injury was caused by your team leader's ambush?!"

"You!"

"Enough!"

Just as the atmosphere at the scene was tense and ready to explode, a cold voice abruptly came from behind the crowd.

Lan Yujing's pupils shrank: "President Song!"

The person who arrived was none other than President Song Ming, who had stayed behind to cover the rear.

Lan Yujing never expected that President Song Ming could still be alive. Behind him, Jiang Long, the team leader of the Crossing River Dragon Team, also had an ashen complexion at this moment, acting like a puppet as he mechanically followed behind.

He had actually evacuated from the secret realm as well.

"Lord City Lord's injuries were indeed caused inside the secret realm. The reason he remains heavily wounded even after returning is because... Lord City Lord died in the secret realm!"

As soon as President Song Ming said these words,

an uproar instantly broke out at the scene.

Quite a few people immediately retorted with things like "Impossible." Once a person is dead, they are dead; how could they still be teleported out of the secret realm alive?

President Song Ming shook his head, and an already shattered bronze statue appeared in his hand.

"This is Lord City Lord's origin core object. The shattering of the origin core object is what traded for the Core Condensation Realm City Lord to return from the secret realm alive..."

In an instant,

some people who were unaware of the particularities of Core Condensation Realm powerhouses wore blank expressions.

Meanwhile, those who knew the crux of the matter and what the shattering of an origin core object meant for a powerful Core Condensation Realm Pioneer had their pupils shrink instantly.

After seeing the object in President Song Ming's hand, a trace of excitement flashed deep within President Sha Lie's eyes.

Jiang Xingdong that old thing's origin core had actually shattered!

Doesn't that mean... even if this old thing wakes up, his strength will drop from the Core Condensation Realm back down to the Energy Gathering Realm?!

President Sha Lie forcefully suppressed the excitement in his heart—an excitement that would surely invite suspicion and encirclement from those around if even a trace of it were exposed. He took a deep breath, and pain and grief quickly flowed within his eyes.

"Wuwuwu, Lord City Lord! Without you, what shall we do? What shall our Huangshan Base City do?!"

...

It was chaotic!

Huangshan Base City was truly in chaos.

When Chu Hong and Song Jiaojiao and the others returned to the base city and came to the City Lord's Mansion, wanting to report to the City Lord about what happened in the secret realm today,

they heard the news that City Lord Jiang Xingdong was heavily injured and unconscious.

Chu Hong's pupils constricted: "Wait, when coming out of the secret realm, won't all injuries be healed? Could it be that top-secret secret realms don't work that way?"

As soon as he had this question, he immediately shook his head.

That wasn't right. In the memories inherited from his predecessor, the common knowledge taught in school didn't mention this point at all.

"Dad!" Song Jiaojiao's voice pulled Chu Hong back to his senses from his shock.

Afterwards, he saw an exhausted-looking...

President Song Ming, who had been wearing brand-new azure magical battle armor and a cape when they met at the Pioneers Guild this morning, now carrying a set of already dilapidated equipment,

walking out from the City Lord's Mansion.

Hearing his daughter's voice caused President Song Ming's tense and extremely weary nerves to instantly soften.

"Dad, what happened to you? What on earth happened in the secret realm? I heard that Lord City Lord is heavily injured and unconscious? Aren't injuries in the secret realm supposed to not affect the outside world? Were you hurt..."

Listening to his dear daughter's anxious and tearful inquiry laden with worry,

President Song Ming smiled slightly and patted his daughter Song Jiaojiao's head.

The smooth feel of her hair finally allowed President Song Ming, in a daze, to gradually break free from the tension and despair of wandering on the edge of death.

Footsteps came from behind.

The few of them turned around.

Wang Suming widened his eyes: "It's Jiang Long! It's Jiang Long, the team leader of the Crossing River Dragon Team! Holy crap! I'm seeing the real person! This morning at the guild I didn't even get a chance to look..."

As he spoke, he was full of excitement and adoration, wanting to rush up and ask the other party for an autograph or a photo together.

However,

in the face of Wang Suming's adulatory invitation, Jiang Long walked straight past him with a numb gaze the entire time.

With a numb expression and a desolate back...

"Team Leader Jiang Long, I'm your fan, I..."

"Fatty! Enough!" Chu Hong frowned and pulled back the bewildered Wang Suming, looking over at President Song Ming.

The latter let out a soft sigh.

"Except for him... the Crossing River Dragon Team is completely wiped out."

Hearing this, a look of shock instantly flashed across everyone's eyes.

"Th-this, how could this be... Weren't the Crossing River Dragon Team heavily battered once before in the [Cliffside Epidemic Hospital]? I heard that among the people who entered the secret realm this time, there were also their reserve members." Wang Suming gasped in cold air.

Even the people from the reserve team perished in the secret realm.

Doesn't that mean...

"The Crossing River Dragon Team... no longer exists..."

...

Night Crow Society.

Five figures, like humble dogs with their tails tucked between their legs, trembled like a sieve all over, kneeling on the ground in utter terror.

Mo Mio sat expressionless on the deep purple high-platform throne.

Behind him,

two tender, jade-white fingers playfully stirred a few strands of hair on top of his head as if teasing him.

Beside them, several ravens were playing fluently in front of a violin.

Amidst the gorgeous yet demonic and elegant violin strains of Paganini's "24 Caprices", the corners of Mo Mio's lips curved into a smile. However, looking at the eyes of these five figures before him,

they did not contain a shred of warmth.

The white-haired butler stood respectfully and fearfully to the side in a bow.

He didn't even dare to breathe heavily.

Amidst the five people's prayers and fearful waiting, Mo Mio finally spoke slowly.

The words he spoke, however, caused the area between the few people's legs to instantly grow warm.

"Contribute your final value to the Night Crow Society."

The Vulture Team leader's face turned pale as he raised his head, wanting to beg for mercy.

However,

the white-haired butler's actions were even faster than theirs.

Several strips of white cloth appeared out of thin air behind the few of them, binding them all tightly into individual mummies within seconds before the latter could even struggle.

The butler bowed in salute: "Yes, Master..."

Mo Mio said indifferently: "Find out clearly who disrupted my party, and then... let the Underworld Knight Squad take care of them!"

"Yes, Master!"

On the gloomy, winding stone steps, the butler carried a lantern all the way down, not knowing how long he had walked or how many layers he had descended.

Soon, he arrived at a massive underground dungeon spanning seven or eight hundred square meters.

Hearing his footsteps,

in the dark dungeon, a bloated, wolf-like and human-like monster immediately pulled on the chains binding it and stood up, making a clanging sound.

"Roar!!!"

The foul, pungent breath was already clearly transmitted into the butler's nasal cavity right in front of the blood-stained maw that was practically pressing against his face.

However, it did not cause him to flinch in the slightest.

Instead, the five "mummies" floating in mid-air behind him emitted muffled, struggling sounds, frantically writhing in mid-air.

"Be grateful for the grace bestowed upon you by Master."

As the butler opened the prison door, the five mummy figures were thrown inside. Immediately afterward, a heartbreaking, miserable shriek echoed out, followed by the crude sounds of chewing and tearing flesh.

The butler stood at the doorway, watching and waiting motionlessly.

When all members of the Vulture Team became the prison-bound monster's meal, a hand suddenly pressed against the switch on the wall beside him.

"Roar——!"

The monster's angry and painful howl rang out.

On the walls, runes lit up one after another, connected to the chains binding the monster's body.

A dense, ominous aura was extracted and then flowed along the runes like a trickling stream, converging into a metal component embedded in the wall.

One bullet-shaped object after another was spat out from it.

If Chu Hong were present, he would definitely be able to recognize it at a glance.

These things were none other than individual [forbidden object No. 832 Bullet (Golden)].