Chapter 17 In a State of Disunity

The current situation on the Luo River. The clouds that carried lightning had filled the entire sky, leaving a gray horizon that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sound of thunder rung incessantly in the background as the flash of lightning stood in contrast against the lightning clouds. It was as if there were countless dragons of lightning storming the sky. Right now, the world was changing unpredictably. "Take note, all guests. Don't gather on the ground floor and head upstairs. You're free to stay anywhere from the first floor to the third floor. Please don't stay in the hall as to make way for the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion." "Don't panic, people. Go up in an orderly manner. Watch your feet." "Try your best to keep to your right when you go up. Leave a path on your left." "The executives of the Mortal World Pavilion will spare no effort in guaranteeing your safety. The homing pigeon had already left to call for reinforcements. Please wait patiently, everyone. The army of Luoyang City will come here as soon as possible. Two hours at the latest." A brief moment of chaos later, the guests went upstairs and all the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion on the dragon ship had gathered in the hall on the ground floor under Leng Wuxin's guidance. Ye Que followed the crowd and went up to the first floor as well, though he stayed at the rear. When the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion gathered, he turned his head to look at them. "A Post-celestial Realm expert, nine Pre-celestial Realm experts, more than a hundred Rank 2 martial artists. They're trying to fight the Devious Iguanas with that kind of lineup? That's hardly insufficient." Regardless of what he thought, the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion gathered at the hall had begun their counterattack. The first wave of executives fighting the Devious Iguanas on the deck already seemed weary. They desperately needed to be relieved of their duties. The dragon ship belonged to the Mortal World Pavilion and it was also the organizer of the flower-viewing drinking banquet. Naturally, they would be the first line of the defense against the siege of the Devious Iguanas. This logic was sound and irrefutable but the real question was whether they could truly stop the attacks of these iguanas. "Low-level executives, form groups of six. Grade 3 executives, form groups of three and team up for a barrier assault. You must all use your numbers to your advantage to kill the iguanas as soon as possible. You mustn't overexert yourself. Return to the hall before you exhaust your energy and conserve your strength. The nearest reinforcements need two hours to rush here. We can't let these beasts take even one step inside. Confine the fight on the deck. We can't ruin the reputation of the Mortal World Pavilion with our hands," Leng Wuxin said expressionlessly. Then, he violently unsheathed the sword he kept with him and pointed it to the deck. "Let's go!" From the first to the third floor of the dragon ship, the terraces of the cabins were filled to the brim. The fourth floor was particularly packed, with nearly 80 percent of the guests gathered here. After all, everyone knew that those on the lower floors would be the first to die in the event that the monsters barged into the cabins and that those on the top floor had the biggest chance of surviving. Everyone watched the battle on the deck closely because it would determine their life and death. The moment those on the deck exchanged blows with the Devious Iguanas, the battle was pushed to its peak. There was nothing to discuss between demons and humans. It was the death of either one or the other. Soon, the guests garnered a good idea of the strength of both sides. The monsters with the head of a lizard would fight the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion alone. Unless the executive was in the Pre-celestial Realm, none of them could defeat the Devious Iguanas on their own. However, even a Pre-celestial expert would panic when facing the siege of the Devious Iguanas and end up dodging throughout. Fortunately, the Mortal Pavilion had a formation to aid them. The formation allowed six Rank 2 martial artists to withstand a Devious Iguana and six Rank 1 martial artists to kill a Devious Iguana. In no time at all, the bodies of the Devious Iguanas filled the deck of the dragon ship, with the viscous liquid oozing out of them dying the deck green. However, even though the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion were numerous, there seemed to be no end to the Devious Iguanas. After they killed one of them, another would immediately emerge from the river and climb onto the deck. Leng Wuxin, who had been paying close attention to the battle, felt his palms turning damp with sweat. He frantically racked his brain to determine the strength of both sides, how they could hold on for a little longer, and how he could reduce the casualties among his subordinates. However, the truth was that casualties were inevitable. On the terrace of the third floor, a fat and wealthy merchant pointed to the deck and shouted, "Look! Some of the executives of the Mortal World Pavilion can't hold on any longer!" He then glanced to his left. "Hey, didn't you say that you're an excellent martial artist without a rival in the world? Why aren't you going down to help? An extra person means an extra hand." The expression of the person that the merchant pointed out changed. "Who said I'm without a rival in this world? I was bragging! I'm at most a Rank 2 martial artist. If I go down, I'll just be stepping into my grave. Don't just point me out. Why aren't you ordering your two family servants to go down? I think they're at least Rank 1 martial artists." "I need them to protect a weakling like me." The merchant snorted and stopped speaking. "Hey, brother. Go down and help, won't you? I'll pay you 100,000 taels." "Going down means death. What use is money when I'm dead?" "If you all don't help out, we'll all die." "Didn't they say the reinforcements are coming? How long would a pigeon need to fly back to Luoyang City? I believe we'll all be saved soon." "Dream on. How can you guarantee that there won't be monsters on their way here? If the whole Luo River is filled with monsters, who will the people in Luoyang City rescue first? I can assure you that they'll be rescuing the people closest to them. We're too far away from Luoyang City." The guests hiding in the cabins joined the discussion, all well-aware that the situation had gotten so dire that they could die at any time. However, no one wanted to step up. Whoever who went down now would be the first to die. Soon, the discussion turned into a chaotic argument. On the first floor, Ye Que listened to the garbled sounds coming from the argument above. He commented, "What a show of disunity." He then looked at the battle unfolding on the deck of the ship. "What a pointless struggle." "Sigh. Looks like we can only resign to our fate," Ye Que thought helplessly. There was nothing he could do without the right tools at his disposal. This in itself was a trap. With his current cultivation, he had no issue protecting himself for the short term. However, it was an impossible challenge to escape this ship unscathed. "If the so-called reinforcements can really make it here in two hours, then there's still some hope left." The reason for Ye Que's pessimism wasn't that the Devious Iguanas were invincible. In fact, it was the exact opposite. He wouldn't be this nervous if the Devious Iguanas were the only things around. In the Demon World, they were the lowest of all demonic beasts and the stereotypical large-bodied but brainless creatures. They were a bunch of low-intellect demonic beasts. Ye Que refused to believe that such an organized and structured assault was designed by the Devious Iguanas. He was certain that there was surely a Demon Race cultivator controlling these Devious Iguanas whether at the bottom of the river or some other place nearby. The cultivator must be of decently high cultivation, at least in the Psychic Realm. The person responsible for this siege was the truly terrifying presence here. "Give me the Firebird's Nest." Ye Que slowly exhaled. Ever since he returned to his youth, today was perhaps the first day he would be truly fighting. Everything in life was destined. What he faced was still endless and ceaseless demons.