Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 1053 - 655 Visitors

Chapter 1053: Chapter 655 Visitors

The pitch-black sky dome was dotted with countless blood-red stars.

Xu Yuan noticed that ever since earlier, these insect beasts had been fixated on him, their blood-red compound eyes in the sky full of maddened greed.

Even though his energy mechanism was concealed by the Soul Intent Black Mist and the Soul-avoiding Clothes, the gaze of these insects remained inescapable, like a shadow.

This made no sense.

Aside from the fully operational Protective City Formation, not even a Saint could detect him, let alone these lowly insects.

Yet now, with all city defense authority having been taken back by Li Junwu, it ruled out the city defense array. The reason they could track him seemed to boil down to one possibility...

Stopping in a quiet and narrow alley, Xu Yuan raised his gaze to the swarming insect tide in the sky.

It appeared that the little ghost who had devoured the Thousand-Thorn Ghost Willow could also sense his position, and far more acutely than he could theirs.

Thoughts flashing through his mind, Xu Yuan tugged at the Soul-avoiding Clothes on his body and clicked his tongue lightly:

"Tch, had I known it’d turn out like this, I might as well have left this Soul-avoiding Clothes for Li Junwu."

"If you’d like, I can send it back for you right now."

The mocking voice of Tian Ye, coming from an unknown origin, echoed in his mind. Xu Yuan, upon hearing it, unhesitatingly took off the Soul-avoiding Clothes and extended it toward the empty space beside him:

"Then I’ll trouble you for that."

"....."

Emerging from the shadows, Tian Ye’s golden eyes flickered with a strange light in the gloomy narrow alley:

"Are you serious? The Saint on the other side of the wall could break through the city at any moment, and if the heavenly canopy falls, the Saint could reach you in an instant."

Xu Yuan responded with a nonchalant smile:

"For now, it’s you—a calamity survivor from twenty thousand years ago—that I need to rely on."

Tian Ye seemed to glean something from his smile, her crimson lips curling slightly:

"You don’t trust me?"

Xu Yuan shrugged and replied ambiguously:

"Considering you a last-resort trump card—how does that translate to distrust in your eyes? And if I truly didn’t trust you, why would I keep you around at such a critical moment?"

Tian Ye appeared convinced of her assumption but showed no sign of anger. Instead, she circled Xu Yuan with playful curiosity, snatched the Soul-avoiding Clothes from his hand, and chuckled lightly:

"Is it because the Jiantian Pavilion Master hasn’t moved against me? ...But since you’d like me to, I’ll do you this favor."

As the words fell,

She cast Xu Yuan a meaningful glance, then another at the insect tide-covered sky, before her figure gradually disappeared into the shadows of the narrow alley.

Watching as Tian Ye’s form vanished into the darkness, Xu Yuan turned around calmly and leapt into the air, transforming into a streak of jet-black flame that sped toward the West City Wall.

The blazing streets flew past him rapidly, countless frenzied silhouettes flickering amidst the flames and shadows, venting their wicked desires.

Unexpectedly, along his journey, Xu Yuan came across organized militias suppressing the chaos—well-structured, disciplined militias.

Even in the absence of formal coordination, the Noble Clan Commerce Association within the city had begun spontaneously subduing the violent rioters sowing disorder.

Driven into a desperate situation, they seemed to grasp the meaning behind the saying: "No egg remains unsmashed beneath a toppled nest."

Originally, many had thought to surrender or flee, believing that the Saint attacking the city wouldn’t commit indiscriminate slaughter and that the internal power struggles of Zhenxi Prefecture’s upper echelon had little to do with them. Changing rulers wouldn’t necessarily threaten their status. But the circumstances now were different—the insect tide beyond the heavenly canopy clearly appeared incapable of accepting surrender.

So, they now craved order. They needed to unite with the Zhenxi Army to resist the strange creatures outside and secure survival.

Under the leadership of several noble clans and the Xia Group, the city’s unrest was being suppressed at a visibly accelerating pace.

And the more streets he passed, the more astonished Xu Yuan became.

The actions of the city’s noble families and Xia Group didn’t merely stop at quelling rioters. They were also barricading numerous critical thoroughfares, occupying the empty Zhenxi Army barracks, and using them as a central hub while constructing defensive perimeters centered around various noble residences—everything carried out in an orderly fashion.

Evidently, these noble families were already preparing for the arrival of the insect tide.

To integrate these disparate noble clans so efficiently in such a short span of time, Xu Yuan found himself impressed by the capabilities of whoever had taken the lead.

What surprised him even more was that these noble families and the Xia Group were not only looking out for themselves—they were relocating and sheltering civilians within the defensive perimeters they had established...

This gesture left Xu Yuan somewhat dumbfounded.

With the Zhenxi Army having withdrawn under orders into the government office, these noble clans were actually concerning themselves with the fate of commoners?

In this life-or-death crisis, the leader of these noble families could persuade them to care about the survival of the populace?

Just as he reached this thought, Xu Yuan’s musings abruptly ceased. He sighed softly and shook his head.

He realized that, throughout this journey, he seemed to have become increasingly cold-blooded. Thankfully, there were still others who adhered to these moral boundaries.

His eyes flickered briefly, suppressing the strange emotions stirring within him, and a complicated smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

If this war wasn’t lost, he ought to pay a proper visit to that leader someday.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Xu Yuan’s fiery streak of escaping light slowed abruptly in low altitude, his gaze turning toward the ground.

His destination had arrived.

Below lay a sprawling marketplace resembling a grand plaza, its strategic location near the West City Wall lending it prosperity. Merchant caravans entering from the west would often stop here to trade their goods—whether acquired through purchase or plunder in the Great Desert—as well as slaves.

But in this moment of impending siege, the once-bustling marketplace was eerily silent, strewn with debris. Scattered wares and toppled vessels spoke of the panic that had overtaken their owners during their hasty departure.

Landing lightly on the ground, Xu Yuan walked alone down streets resembling a ghost market, his footsteps echoing through the surrounding darkness.

Reaching the market’s center, Xu Yuan halted, surveying the desolation around him.

This marketplace was far removed from residential areas within the city, so activating it here should result in minimal unnecessary casualties.

With this thought, Xu Yuan strolled leisurely to a fruit vendor’s stall and casually picked out a particularly well-presenting fruit. He bit into it gently.

"Crunch... pfft."

The fruit’s flesh entered his mouth, and after just two chews, Xu Yuan spat it out in distaste.

Tricked—it was durian-flavored.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Xu Yuan reached for another fruit from a nearby pile, only to see a hand as pale as snow extend from the unmanned stall, seizing it before he could.

Raising an eyebrow, Xu Yuan felt his eyelid twitch unconsciously.

He found himself staring into a pair of human eyes,

Yet within those eyes resided countless tiny pupils, resembling the compound eyes of an insect.

The pallid-faced individual smiled faintly at Xu Yuan from across the stall, tossing him the fruit before softly asking:

"Brother Zhou... or should I say Brother Xu, I’m curious—your departure from the government office and solo trip to this Yellow Dragon Market... surely it’s not merely to eat a Yellow Fragrant Fruit?"