157: Unbearable catastrophe, a team of survivors?

The city walls had long since collapsed, replaced by countless writhing, nest-like structures made of Demonic Beast secretions.

The entire city was like a giant corpse being digested.

As the distance closed, Su Lei clearly felt countless malicious consciousnesses sweeping over them from the darkness.

Each time he was "watched," the bronze bell in his Sea of Consciousness would emit an alarm only he could hear.

The two moved forward, hugging the shadows at the base of the wall, carefully avoiding the viscous biomass on the ground with every step.

An uncomfortable, sticky sensation came from the soles of their boots, as if they were treading on the internal organs of some giant beast.

Just as they were about to step into the ruins of the city gate,

Su Lei's peripheral vision caught sight of over a dozen humanoid figures, encased in slime, twitching rhythmically on the ruins to their right.

Their bodies were already riddled with corrosion, and their exposed skin was covered in spiderweb-like black patterns, slowly transforming into carapaces.

Webb's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Following his gaze—

At the corner of the city wall, three bodies were encased in slime, pinned like specimens to the biological matrix.

Five insectoid, multi-legged monsters were constantly dissecting the bodies with their sharp forelimbs, extracting brains and hearts to store in the sacs on their backs.

The oldest warrior had only half a skull left, hollowed out and sprouting several tentacles.

"Those are... Tianyuan City's scout team..."

"They are my subordinates."

Webb's voice echoed in Su Lei's mind.

It was filled with an unspeakable sorrow mixed with anger.

Su Lei's peripheral vision saw the veins on his hand, pressed against his saber hilt, bulge and tremble violently for a moment, but then it quickly steadied.

In just that brief instant,

the few insectoid, multi-legged monsters not far away seemed to sense something and suddenly stopped.

Several tentacles extended from their carapaces, probing the air.

Su Lei immediately pressed on Webb's shoulder, his Mental Energy subtly covering the other's body, calming the fluctuations of his mental membrane.

The monsters turned their heads in confusion, then eventually lowered them to continue their "work."

The sticky sound of flesh being torn open was particularly jarring in the dead silence of the city.

Webb closed his eyes in shame, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Sorry, I..."

He took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, they were filled with a cold resolve.

He gestured for Su Lei to continue moving forward.

The two carefully navigated the city ruins.

To avoid alerting anyone, they did not use Mental Energy scans, relying instead on the most primitive method of step-by-step searching.

Su Lei's gaze swept over both sides of the street.

Dried bloodstains and broken weapons remained on the ground.

Collapsed houses were everywhere, rubble and broken wood mixed with the flesh-like biological matrix.

Turning a street corner, the sight before them made both of them stop simultaneously—

Dozens of mutated beings, lined up, were carrying bodies and moving towards the center of the city.

Their skin was already semi-chitinized, their spines protruding like sawteeth, yet they still wore tattered civilian clothes.

Webb's breathing imperceptibly deepened for an instant, then immediately returned to steady.

As they passed a square, they witnessed an even more horrifying scene.

Three spider-like monsters were injecting living people into translucent egg sacs.

The encased humans were still struggling, but no sound escaped them.

As they delved deeper, such shocking sights became increasingly common.

Su Lei's face was extremely grim.

He gripped the Kaitian Blade in his hand tighter, his knuckles turning white from the force.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the ancient bronze bell vibrated violently, shaking away all the negative emotions attempting to erode his rationality.

"We're almost there."

Webb's voice suddenly rang in his mind as he pointed towards the towering bone altar in the distance.

Su Lei took a deep breath.

At this moment, he was clearer than ever about what he had to do—

Bring back Hong Tian Venerable's remains, obtain its Legacy, and return to face the impending Demonic Beast catastrophe.

He would never allow such a tragedy to repeat in his world.

He would personally end this Reincarnation!

...One minute later,

Su Lei and Webb lay behind a broken wall at the edge of the square, silently observing the circular plaza, nearly a thousand meters in diameter, before them.

Most of the blue stone bricks paving the plaza floor were shattered,

and dark red fleshy vines, pulsing rhythmically like blood vessels, crawled through the cracks.

In the center stood an altar piled with bones,

and seven rune-carved stone pillars were arranged in a circle, three of which had already collapsed.

Atop the altar, Hong Tian Venerable's remains floated in mid-air, wrapped in spiderweb-like black threads.

On the outskirts of the plaza, countless Demonic Beast offspring roamed in the darkness.

They varied in form; some resembled giant lizards but had six legs, others were like spiders but with human faces, and even more were entirely masses of writhing flesh.

Most alarming was that over half of them exuded Yao Beast-level aura.

Furthermore, twenty exceptionally powerful auras were distributed throughout the plaza, giving Su Lei the feeling that they were no weaker than Webb, a Martial Ancestor-level powerhouse!

In other words, they had to seize Hong Tian Venerable's remains and safely retreat under the noses of twenty Great Grandmasters and hundreds of Yao Beasts... A drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down Su Lei's forehead.

Even the most rational person would feel a profound sense of powerlessness when faced with such a situation.

Suddenly—

Crack.

A nearly inaudible cracking sound came from the architectural ruins two hundred meters to their right.

Su Lei and Webb turned their heads simultaneously, immediately sensing a faint human aura.

"Could there still be survivors resisting?"

Webb frowned slightly, cautiously extending a wisp of Mental Energy towards the direction of the sound.

A moment later, he opened his single eye, which flashed with a hint of surprise and excitement.

"It's Hong Tian Venerable's guards from Xinghui City."

"Four Martial Ancestors, six Grandmasters."

Su Lei pressed Webb's arm, frowning deeply.

For some reason, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and an inexplicable chill crawled up his spine.

"Wait... something doesn't feel right."

Webb was silent for a moment, then looked at him seriously, "What's wrong?"

"I can't quite say."

Su Lei carefully stared at the ruins, vaguely seeing metallic glints flashing through the cracks.

Those people were hidden very well; if not for that soft sound just now, they would not have been discovered at all.

But for some reason, a vague unease welled up in his heart.

"I don't see any problem..." Webb observed carefully for a moment, then mused, "It's better to go and see."

"If we can rendezvous with them, the subsequent actions will be much smoother."

Su Lei did not refute.

The facts were laid bare.

Relying solely on him and Webb, let alone rescuing Hong Tian Venerable, even approaching the center of the plaza would be extremely difficult.

If they could secure the help of this small team, it would undoubtedly greatly increase their chances of success... "Be careful. If anything feels off..."

"If there truly is a problem, don't worry about me; just adapt to the situation."

Big Wolf Book Source kindly reminds: Due to special reasons, the group has been forcibly disbanded! A new group has been rebuilt, Group 1 ID (298732622) Group 2 (1062268835) to prevent loss of contact, tg: t.me/dahuilang888. This message will be displayed until tomorrow noon!