PNB Chapter 367 People who fled
Chapter 367 People who fled
The sound of thunder rumbled, indistinguishable whether it came from the air or from the dazzling magical light ahead.
More and more forces were drawn in, and cultivators from various factions and departments were forced to get involved in this pointless conflict.
In the dilapidated area in front of the city wall, several men and women were running frantically. They kept looking back, and when they saw the Flame Wolf Army cultivators on the city wall, their eyes lit up as if they had found saviors.
"Hey~~" They waved frantically and ran towards them.
"Don't attack! We are civilians, don't attack!" They rushed towards this place as if they had seen a savior, stumbling and crawling.
Zhong Ming squinted. He noticed that one of the people had a severe leg injury, with the area below the knee almost ulcerated. Another person was covered in tattered clothes and bloodstains, but he couldn't see many wounds. He wondered where all the blood came from.
"Stop!" a comrade shouted, but the men didn't stop. They just slowed down and kept waving.
"We are really civilians. My house... my house was suddenly bombed. You should go and see. The city is in chaos."
"The city lord has decreed that no one is allowed to leave the city." The voice was authoritative and forceful; this was not a persuasion, but a notification.
The speaker was the comrade-in-arms next to the "outgoing" sergeant, a man who was either fighting or wiping his knife.
The men swallowed hard, still terrified, and kept pleading, "Sir, please save us! The city is full of bandits; they kill anyone they see..."
"Tell me, what do the bandits look like?" Zhong Ming's neighbor didn't let his guard down. He hurled a ball of earth at them, which exploded a foot in front of them, startling them into stopping in their tracks.
He stood high above, looking down at the badly injured people. "I'll say it again, tell me what they look like."
"They are all kinds of people, all powerful individuals, some... some even have military academy insignia."
A smile appeared on the man's face, and before Zhong Ming could react, a powerful spell was unleashed at him.
Several refugees joined forces to create a barrier, but it was not enough to completely stop the attack. The aftershocks sent the others flying, crashing into the ruins of the house, covered in blood.
The man grinned, "You bunch of guys think you can get away with this just by changing clothes? Military academy people robbing us? You think you're worthy? Their resources are beyond your imagination. Why would they care about your paltry sums? Let's put it another way, is there a problem with us standing with the military academy people?"
Zhong Ming frowned slightly. What the old soldier said made sense and was cautious enough, but the reactions of the people in front of him were not like those of the decisive and ruthless men in black who had acted earlier.
He said, "Wait a minute, let me ask again."
"Oh, why ask? Our mission is to seal off this area and prevent anyone from passing through. Even if they were civilians, if I killed them all, the higher-ups wouldn't be able to find any fault with it."
The man looked indifferent. At this point, it was better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free. They were just dead people. Just during that time, the number of dead people who attacked the city wall would be piled up to be incredibly high.
Zhong Ming said helplessly, "If you want to leave, go to the city gate. What are you doing here?"
"Sir, we really aren't bad people... There are too many bad guys at the city gate. They're blocking the way. If we go through... we'll just die."
"How did you find out about this?" The old soldier beside him persisted, staring intently at their every move.
One of the refugees knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times to the soldiers on the city wall.
"Your Honor, please investigate! We risked our lives to escape from that side. We have told you nothing false! Your Honor, please investigate!"
After watching for a while, Zhong Ming roughly judged the strength displayed by this group of people. The strongest one should be a guy in the middle stage of Qi Refining, the other four are all in the early stage of Qi Refining. They have no talent and have forcibly obtained their realm by relying on their connections in Jueya City. The last three are all mortals.
At least that's how it appears on the surface.
He pointed to the person at the very back, whose face he couldn't see clearly, carrying a large basket, and said, "What are you carrying?"
It just doesn't make sense to think that someone would carry a large basket while fleeing for their life.
Upon hearing Zhong Ming's question, a mortal immediately stepped forward and said, "Sir, that basket contains... my child. The child is still small and cannot run away. If I carry him while running, I won't be able to free my hands, so I had to put a pacifier in his mouth, tie his mouth shut, and carry him on my back while running away."
He carefully walked behind the basket, removed the clutter covering it, and reached inside.
The soldiers were on edge, fearing he might pull out some powerful magical artifact. Even those inside the watchtower began to evacuate from the larger openings, leaving only people at the smaller observation openings.
His movements were slow and gentle; he slowly lifted the basket, and a child's head popped out.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhong Ming suddenly said, "He has been dead for half an hour."
"What? Impossible!" The man was startled. He squeezed the child awake, and the child cried and flailed his limbs, but his mouth was gagged, so he couldn't make a sound.
"My lord, he's alive, he's alive..." The man reassured himself that it was just a false alarm. Zhong Ming got the answer he wanted; he was indeed alive.
Seeing that things seemed to be turning around, the veteran emphasized again, "I'll say it again, no one is allowed to leave from here; you can only go elsewhere."
"Find a safe place to hide. This chaos won't last long. Don't underestimate the Wolf Army," Zhong Ming tried to comfort them, but they were already at their wits' end.
"Sir, we...we're hiding here. Sir, can you protect us?" The group hesitated, afraid of angering the high-ranking soldiers.
However, the person carrying the child and the child's father did not act this way. These people all had some connection to the military, but...
If those connections were even worthwhile, they would have already gone to find someone. Those who are running towards the city wall are not exactly powerful connections.
The man looked around at the ruins, then at the remaining houses to the east, bowed to Zhong Ming, and said, "Sir, we still have children with us. Let's go to the more intact houses over there; perhaps the owners will be willing to take us in."
"See, isn't this the right way!" The veteran was very happy. As long as this group of people didn't cross the city wall, everything would be fine, and they could do whatever they wanted.
Zhong Ming then looked towards the watchtower.