All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 355 - 5 Northern Border Chaos (2/3)

Chapter 355: Chapter 5 Northern Border Chaos (2/3)

An Jing and Subdue Evil discussed matters related to Heavenly Demons and Demon Calamities. To outsiders, it looked as if An Jing was intently observing the demon’s corpse, occasionally flipping the intestines and at times prying open the ribcage to examine the viscera.

Although it might not seem strange, it was normal for An Jing to be curious about demons at his young age.

Honestly, many martial artists present had enjoyed catching toads or little insects in their youth, playing with them all night long.

With An Jing’s strength, a demon was hardly better than a toad, merely a plaything in his hands.

But this utterly engrossed spirit of research was admittedly admirable, yet somewhat chilling to them.

—How am I supposed to strike up a conversation?

Xu Tai found himself in an extremely difficult position.

An Jing had revealed his identity, and he had informed him of his desire to go to Linjiang City, which was an easy request to fulfill since Xu Tai and the other Hanlang Escort Agency’s escort masters were headed there.

But now, since everyone was either exhausted or seriously injured, with some even critically hurt, it was clearly not possible to set off immediately; to depart would mean to split forces.

As the leader of the team, Xu Tai definitely needed to guide An Jing, but he was really worried about the well-being of those brothers he’d leave behind without his supervision.

—Even demon attacks on the convoy could happen, there’s no safe place around Broken Blade Mountain!

Xu Tai had wanted to ask An Jing if he could delay a bit, to wait till the injuries of the brothers were treated before they set off immediately, but seeing An Jing now muttering to the demon corpse, the well-known Head Escort did not want to disturb him.

While Xu Tai was in a dilemma, a sudden flicker caught in the corner of his eye and his pupils constricted as he shouted to An Jing, "Be careful! Behind you!"

An Jing, who seemed immersed in analyzing the demon, had already sensed something was off the moment Xu Tai spoke. He turned his head, a flash in his eyes, and an ice spike flying straight towards the back of his head melted in mid-air, forming a mist of water vapor.

The invisible and immaterial Essence Qi fire followed the trajectory straight into the surrounding many demon corpses and suddenly, a sharp screeching noise was heard. A small black shadow darted out from the demon corpses, stumbled a few steps, then dropped to the ground, turning into charred remains and remaining motionless.

"Were there still some alive?"

Although being hit by an ice spike would only break the spike, the fact that he could still be ambushed by a demon surprised An Jing: "I thought I had killed them all."

He dropped the now disheveled demon corpse he had been examining and walked towards that small black shadow—shockingly, it was the embryo of a small deer.

Seeing this well-formed embryo, An Jing suddenly realized that among the many demons he had just slain, one was a pregnant doe, almost ready to give birth, both mother and offspring had been tainted by Demonic Qi, turning into demons.

It was this demon hidden within the mother that had evaded An Jing’s perception due to its very faint life force, and then launched a sneak attack.

"Interesting, I remember according to what you said, Subdue Evil, if the mother is a mundane beast, a demon would not use Skills, relying only on brute strength, let alone an unborn embryo."

An Jing, intrigued, bent down and used the Tyrant Sea Blade to cut open the demon corpse, yet still found nothing: "Is this the result of Heavenly Demons evolving over the years?"

"Rather than evolving from Heavenly Demons."

Subdue Evil said, "I think it’s more likely someone has been manipulating behind the scenes."

Indeed.

An Jing stood up and turned his head, smiling at Xu Tai and others, "Thank you for the reminder. There is a town not far from here; we will rest there for a while."

"I’ve been away from the Northern Border for nearly three years, and I don’t know the current situation here. I will need you older brothers to fill me in."

"Not at all, not at all," Seeing that An Jing was easy to talk to, Xu Tai felt relieved. He immediately summoned the team, lifted the wounded, and led them toward Shimen Town.

Originally, Xu Tai intended using it as a base for defense and slaying demon beasts, Shimen Town had quite robust defensive measures.

The outermost layer was a wooden spiked fence, followed by a ring of dug-out spike pits. The sturdy stone walls were mottled with bloodstains, and some heads of horse bandits and demon beasts hung on them, enough to demonstrate its fierce martial past.

But even such a fortified town and its high-spirited townspeople had to relocate in the face of the Frost Calamity beast tide. However, they had not planned to completely abandon the place; many houses were sealed, indicating they were only temporarily leaving.

Upon arriving at Shimen Town, before they knew it, An Jing had taken over issuing orders from Xu Tai.

An Jing adeptly ordered everyone to start fires, boil water, tidy up the houses, find fuel, and treat the injured. He even consoled the injured martial artist and gave him an extraordinarily effective ointment.

This ointment, applied to the wounds, quickly eliminated the pain and left only a slight weakness—when the injured martial artist joyously took a few steps, all the martial artists of Hanlang Escort Agency erupted in cheers, praising Young Hero Jing’s nobility.

Xu Tai was among them. While cheering with his own escorts, he realized that he had naturally become An Jing’s assistant, being directed here and there by him without feeling anything amiss.

This, of course, was no small matter. Putting aside that An Jing had saved them from numerous demons and was incredibly strong, they should rightly look up to him, and An Jing’s commands were exceptionally methodical.

Smooth and consistent orders were issued. The escort masters, still somewhat panicked by the demon attack, gradually stabilized during the execution of these orders.

As the rudimentary camp was established and the crossbows on the walls were set up, in just three-quarters of an hour, the originally panicked crowd had once again become calm and orderly.

This astute leadership skill hardly seemed to belong to a teenager just over ten years old!

"Xu, please have a seat."

At that moment, inside the now-warm house, An Jing was already holding a cup of hot water, inviting Xu Tai to sit down like a host—although feeling somewhat unaccustomed, Xu Tai still bowed and accepted, "People often say that the Divine Mandate is different from ordinary people. I originally thought that was an exaggeration, but now I see, I was shallow. Young Hero Jing, you truly stand above the ordinary."

He bowed first, thanking An Jing for saving the lives of everyone at the escort agency and for the medicinal treatment of the injured, before taking a seat.

This seemingly rugged Head Escort was actually very polite; once seated, without needing further prompting from An Jing, he began to voluntarily share about the situation around Broken Blade Mountain, informing about the beast tide and the current difficulties faced by Linjiang City.

"But presently, the situation around Broken Blade Mountain is much worse than I thought."

After drinking some hot water, Xu Tai frowned, "To the north of Broken Blade Mountain is the Northern Barbarians’ army station. Although the Frost Calamity has temporarily ceased, there is no sign of warming."

"Now with these demon beasts mixed in the beast tide... I really don’t know why they attacked us; we were merely transporting some urgently needed food and medicine to Linjiang City!"

"What about the Da Chen government?"

An Jing looked thoughtful as he inquired, while Xu Tai shook his head, "Recently, the authorities issued an order, declaring the area north of Broken Blade Mountain as a war zone, everything is under military control, many civil officials have withdrawn. And most military officials have been reassigned to the front lines and no longer stationed in the city."

"So, around Broken Blade Mountain, there aren’t many officials from Da Chen anymore, this place has nearly become a no-man’s land."

"I know you came to the Northern Border to search for your mother, right? If you think your mother is in Linjiang City, then we will set off immediately after this. There’s a shortage of food and medicine over there, and no officials managing, the situation is not very optimistic!"