It's Not Raining at All Outside

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes, and her brow furrowed involuntarily.

"What's wrong?"

An Changqing immediately noticed her abnormality.

"I... I can't hear anyone here. I can sense life signs, many of them, but... I can't pick up any emotional fluctuations."

She tried to describe her perception more precisely.

"No calmness, no joy or sorrow, just a blank emptiness, like stagnant water, devoid of anything."

Long Ao set aside his impatience, his expression turning grave. "What do you mean? Are they all vegetables?"

"No, this is worse than being in a vegetative state."

An Changqing's brows knitted tightly. Combining this with the mission's background context, he formed a hypothesis. "It means their spiritual worlds might already be dead."

The moment he finished speaking, a harsh splintering of wood rang out simultaneously from the alleyways around them.

"Bang."

"Bang, bang."

One after another, decrepit wooden doors were violently smashed open from the inside. Dozens of figures staggered out from the darkness, surrounding the group of four.

Their eyes were vacant and numb, clutching various objects—rusty cleavers, half-broken iron rods, and even someone holding a brick.

Clearly, this was no organized force.

"What's this, some new kind of welcome party?"

Long Ao assumed a fighting stance but found his fists unsure where to strike.

"Don't fight back."

An Changqing immediately stopped him. "They're ordinary people. Look at their movements—completely uncoordinated."

The closest figure, a middle-aged man, raised a chipped cleaver and swung it in an extremely slow, clumsy arc toward An Changqing's shoulder.

An Changqing sidestepped and used his scabbard to gently redirect the cleaver into empty space. But behind him, another resident lifted an iron pipe and aimed for An Changqing's back.

Long Ao's situation was worse. Surrounded by four or five people, he had to dodge their uncoordinated attacks without retaliating. He could only use his arms to block, each impact producing a dull thud, leaving him flustered and battered.

"This is infuriating."

Long Ao took a brick to the forearm with a grunt. The brick shattered on impact, leaving him unharmed, but his expression was grim.

There was an unwritten rule: strictly forbidden to harm defenseless civilians.

Even disregarding that rule, Long Ao couldn't bring himself to attack a group of ordinary people. Neutralizing someone was far harder than killing them.

Long Ao could face a gang of thugs without flinching, but these people left him at a loss.

A woman raised a bottle high. Just as Long Ao prepared to dodge, the chaotic, noisy alley suddenly fell silent.

All the attacking residents froze mid-motion, rooted in place, maintaining their previous attack stances without moving.

The woman holding the bottle still wore a numb expression, only a flicker of confusion deep in her pupils.

"What... what's going on?"

Long Ao stared at the bottle hovering less than half an inch from his forehead, looking around.

"I just made them calm down a little."

Chen Guan stepped through the frozen crowd. For him, casting a shared illusion on a group of ordinary people was trivial. If he wanted, he could keep them locked in place indefinitely.

A shining moment for a mentalist.

Seeing Chen Guan approach, Long Ao moved to clap his shoulder. But Chen Guan walked straight past him, stopping before a man who had fallen to the ground.

Without a word, Chen Guan used the tip of his giant scythe to gently lift the grimy collar at the back of the man's neck.

The collar lifted, revealing a sight under the moonlight that sent a chill down everyone's spine.

On the grimy skin of the man's neck was branded a coin-sized black spiral mark.

The mark didn't seem lifeless.

Because, at that moment, the black spiral was slowly writhing at an eerie rhythm.

"This damn thing is alive."

Long Ao stared at the writhing black spiral, feeling his fists clench uselessly.

He prided himself on not being squeamish, but even he felt a wave of nausea.

"It's draining his vitality."

An Changqing's face darkened.

He pointed at the man's pallid cheeks. "Look at his complexion. He looks like he's been hollowed out."

"I see now."

Su Yuehe nodded thoughtfully, Encyclopedia Su living up to her reputation. "This area's lifelessness isn't due to spiritual death."

"Their life essence is being drained away. That's why their emotions feel like dead water. All these residents are being treated like livestock."

Before her words faded, several green-glowing projectiles shot from the rooftops on either side, aimed at Su Yuehe.

The real enemy had made their move.

"Looking for death."

Long Ao bellowed, reacting fastest. He shifted sideways, planting himself in front of Su Yuehe.

He didn't bother blocking the projectiles, because two dark figures used them as cover, silently lunging in with sharp short blades aimed at Su Yuehe's throat.

The assassins had a clear target—take out the support first.

As for why not Chen Guan? Who wants to attack someone dragging around a slab of iron?

Long Ao's bare arms bulged with taut muscles, veins coiling wildly, exuding explosive power. Ignoring the attacks overhead, he pivoted and threw a simple, straightforward punch at the assassin descending on his left.

The air exploded with a series of sharp, muffled booms in the wake of his fist.

The fourth-tier peak assassin's eyes widened in shock.

He never expected such speed.

Caught off guard, he could only cross his arms in defense.

"Crack."

The sound of bones breaking was crisp.

Long Ao's fist shattered the assassin's block, slamming heavily into his chest.

The assassin's sternum caved in. He flew backward, crashing through an old brick wall with a thunderous rumble.

Instant kill.

The other assassin, seeing his comrade fall, showed no fear. Instead, his eyes burned with a fanatical determination for death.

His body expanded unnaturally midair, spiritual energy leaking from within.

He intended to self-destruct, dragging everyone down with him.

"Don't even think about it."

An Changqing snorted, reaching for his sword.

"Silence."

Su Yuehe's voice rang out first.

The invisible force of her rule descended.

The assassin's body froze. The chaotic spiritual energy inside him calmed.

He fell from the air in shock.

A flash of sword light.

An Changqing appeared beside the assassin, his long sword moving with precision, slashing the tendons of both hands gripping the short blade and both legs in a single fluid motion.

Not a single unnecessary movement.

The assassin crumpled to the ground, letting out a muffled groan of pain.

"Not harming civilians is our principle."

An Changqing straightened up, his voice losing its usual warmth.

"But for scum like you, there's no need to show mercy."

He sheathed his sword and turned to Long Ao.

"How's the other one?"

"Dead."

Long Ao walked out of the rubble, curling his lip.

"Couldn't even take a hit."

Having faced so many formidable foes before, Long Ao had held nothing back. He hadn't expected to kill the guy outright.

Sure enough, after leaving Huaqing, the world outside wasn't the same.