- A Certain Shop in the Suburbs of Shenzhen -

(Feng Mian's Perspective)

What do I do now...?

I had just finished my call with Mei Gui...or rather, Xuan Kai. I turned around to look at all the elderly in here who were Intermediate Mages at best. There's no way these seniors will be able to defeat those monsters out there...in fact, I doubt they can even beat me - most of them, anyway. I think there was maybe one or two Advanced Mages, and one early-stage Ancestral Mage, but just this lineup wouldn't be able to get us to the safe zone unharmed. There's my parents and the other girls, too...I wonder how they are all doing. Please be safe, everyone.

I had originally came to this shop to pick up some late-night snacks, since it was close to my house. I just never expected the entire city to go under lockdown due to a sudden invasion of these monsters, which looked suspiciously like one I've fought before, during the final match of the Advancement Exams a while ago. I didn't want to believe it, but this catastrophe was probably the work of the Midnight Syndicate, yet again.

I felt a burning hatred swell up within my heart. First, they threaten me with my parents, and now, they destroy the city that I have come to call home. If given the opportunity...I will definitely not show any mercy towards this criminal organization...or at least, that's what I'd like to say, but the me right now was still far too weak.

Even Xuan Kai probably wouldn't be able to take on one of the higher-ranked members in the Midnight Syndicate, let alone me. However, I knew for a fact that his cultivation speed was far beyond the norm, and I assumed that had something to do with the mysterious Chaos energy within him.

...Looks like I'm going to have to work even harder than before in order to keep up with him, huh?

Just when I was deep in thought, an ear-piercing noise snapped me back to reality.

"Waah! Waah!" it shrieked.

No...! It's too loud! If this keeps going on, those monsters outside will find us...!

I hurriedly looked around to see where the sound was coming from, and spotted an old woman carrying a baby in her arms, trying desperately to calm her down.

"What's wrong?" I walked over and crouched down.

"This baby, Fei'Er....she just suddenly woke up and won't stop crying, no matter what I do..." the old woman explained. "She probably misses her mother..."

"Where is her mom right now?" I asked.

"I don't know..." the old woman sobbed, on the verge of tears as well. "She should be at home, but with those abominations lurking around..."

I nodded in understanding. "I see...she will be okay, granny."

"I-I hope so..."

I fell into thought as the baby continued crying, then made a decision.

"Granny, could you let me hold the baby for a second?"

The old woman blinked. "H-Huh? Ah...if I may ask, why?"

I sighed. "Well...I'd like to try calming her down."

The granny considered my proposal for a second, then gave in and handed the baby over to me carefully after seeing the sincerity in my eyes, devoid of any malice. I cradled the baby in my arms and slowly, began singing a quiet lullaby.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird.

If that mocking bird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring is brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat don't pull, Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over, Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog called Rover don't bark, Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart turn round, you'll still be the sweetest baby in town."

As I sang, I gently rocked the baby side to side within my arms, being careful to keep the pace gentle along with my voice. Then, slowly but surely, the baby stopped crying, calmed down, and eventually faded away into the blissful time of sleep once more. I sighed in relief, then carefully handed the baby back over to the old woman, whose eyes were now full of admiration and gratefulness.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

I smiled gently in return. "No problem. If she wakes up again, just let me know."

"Alright...I will have to trouble you then, when the time comes," she replied with a slightly forced expression.

Then, suddenly, a dark shadow loomed over the windows of the shop, and everyone within, myself included, instinctively held our breath. The shadow sniffed its nose a few times, and pressed its ear directly against the wall, as if keenly listening for some sound.

Everyone present stiffened, too afraid to make a single peep. After around a full minute of tension, the shadow disappeared, and we all let out a long-held breath of relief. The old woman with the baby mouthed the words 'thank you' once again to me, and I looked at them as if saying 'no problem'.

Leaving the two with a faint smile, I returned back to where I originally was, in the corner of the store. However, many gazes were now drawn my way after seeing what I did, and I had a feeling I became the leader of this group of people all of a sudden. But alas, what can I do? I was too weak to lead us out of this predicament, but at least...someone I knew who just might be strong enough to save us, is on his way here now.

Xuan Kai...please hurry...

*****

(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

"Okay...this should be the place," I muttered under my breath.

I was currently hiding in a patch of bushes, a good distance away from the shop Feng Mian was in. According to the address she sent, this should be the place. I looked around, and spotted 8 monsters total. Though in reality, it would probably be best to assume there were 1 or 2 more I just couldn't see from where I was right now.

So 10 in total, huh...just like what Feng Mian said.

We had flew here from the Coastal Metropolis as fast as possible, but in order to avoid being detected by any monsters on the ground, we had to land in a spot relatively close to our destination, but didn't have any monsters in the area. Luckily, we found this patch of bushes, and it provided nice cover, especially in the dark of night. Then again, I didn't know these monsters' true abilities, apart from superhuman strength. For all I know, they could have insane night vision as well, in which case the cover of darkness didn't do shit. I could only hope for the best.

I sent Mei Gui a telepathic message, just to be safe, since the monsters could have extremely keen hearing too.

[Well, Mei Gui? Do you think we can take them on?"]

[...According to my calculations, Master and I combined can simultaneously take on five at once.]

Wait, for real? Five? I mean, I have defeated two Golden Monarchs already, which were technically already insanely strong in the world. There wasn't a lot of them, after all. But both times, I had won through some sort of clever trick and manipulating their underestimation of me to my advantage, not by facing them head on. I doubt I could trick these monsters, seeing as how they didn't care about anything except destruction.

...Hm, I'll just chalk this up to I can take on one, while Mei Gui can take on four.

After some careful thought, I made my decision. [Alright...hopefully, Feng Mian and the rest of the people in there can handle five on their own. Let's move.]

[Understood, Master.]

I set Flaria down on the ground, and began whispering. "You just stay here until the fight is over. If I really do need your help, then I'll just call out your name, alright?"

"Hmph! Hopefully you die here, so I can go back to being free!" Flaria whispered back with a pout. Then, after seeing my conflicted expression, she closed one eye, and looked away with the other. "A-Ahem...I suppose serving you for a little longer wouldn't cause any harm. So, um...just try not to die, okay?"

I chuckled softly. "Sure."

Then, turning to Mei Gui, I nodded, and she did the same in return. I pulled out my katana from my Space Locket, and then realized Mei Gui didn't have a weapon.

[Mei Gui...? Don't tell me you're going to fight with your bare hands...the daggers you used last time when we attacked the Xuan residency are in my Space Locket right now, do you want to use those?]

Mei Gui shook her head. [No, Master. I have a weapon.]

Saying this, she extended her right arm to her side, and to my surprise, a large flaming spear of black and red suddenly materialized in her hand.

My eyes widened. [Wait...is that the same spear you used last time, during our fight with Xuan Kun?]

Mei Gui nodded. [Yes, Master. I will explain this to you some other time, but for now...]

I sighed, then turned to look at the monsters, lumbering around aimlessly, having already completely destroyed the area and hunted down every single human alive...or so they thought. Feng Mian and the others in that shop were still off their radar currently, but who knows how long that can last. Which is why...

[Yeah...let's start the slaughter.]