Chapter 163 - Speculation (1)

A merchant caravan traveled along the official road leading to Sageridge. On both sides of the road stretched endless refugee camps.

In the middle of the caravan, a middle-aged man on horseback gripped a long halberd in one hand. His steed was fine and powerful, and his eyes were filled with worry as he looked toward the refugee camps on either side. His lips moved slightly. “Too many...”

A young man riding beside him leaned closer and asked in a low voice, “Boss Xue, what’s too many?”

The horses they rode both carried demonic beast bloodlines. They were tall, handsome animals, their muscles sharply defined beneath their coats.

The middle-aged man glanced sideways at the young man. “Too many refugees.”

The young man turned and looked back at the refugees. After a brief silence, he lowered his voice and said, “Now that you mention it, the refugee camps here are much larger than the ones we saw before. But so what?”

Deep worry lingered in the middle-aged man’s eyes. “One careless slip, and these refugee camps will riot.”

The young man did not seem too concerned. He pointed toward the military camp stationed in the distance. “The border army is stationed over there. Judging by the size of that camp, there should be at least a thousand-man unit. Even if a riot breaks out, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

The middle-aged man sighed and said quietly, “I’m not worried about Sageridge. I’m worried about merchant caravans like ours.”

The young man froze. Then his expression turned strange as he looked at those numb, lifeless refugees and muttered, “It shouldn’t come to that, right? Attacking the official road is a serious crime...”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “When people can’t even stay alive, who cares about crimes? I only hope the court’s inspectors can hurry up and disperse these refugees. If they keep gathering like this, and if they truly have no way to survive, they might really start robbing the road.”

The young man’s eyes flickered. His grip on his weapon tightened slightly. “Mhm. This beast tide around the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range seems like...”

Before he could finish speaking, a flock of birds suddenly burst out from the endless mountain forest on one side of the official road.

The flock was so massive it almost blotted out the sky.

The birds came quickly and left just as quickly. In the span of a few breaths, they had already swept over the official road and fled deeper into the Great Flame Empire’s territory.

Everyone on the official road saw the sudden change, and everything on the road seemed to freeze in place.

Everyone knew what those flying birds meant.

But stuck in their current position, no one dared to move recklessly.

And amid that frozen silence, the middle-aged man’s hand began to tremble slightly around his halberd. Yet he did not look toward the forest. Instead, his gaze remained fixed on the refugee camp. “The demonic beasts are here. Prepare for battle.”

The young man snapped back to himself. “Wh-what?”

The middle-aged man swung his halberd and let out a thunderous roar. “Caravan, tighten formation! Prepare for battle!”

In the end, the demonic beasts still broke through the forest.

The moment the first demonic beast charged into the refugee camp, the moment the first refugee vanished between its jaws, panic spread beyond all control.

Terrified screams, mournful wails, furious curses, all of it erupted at once, as if someone had knocked over the first domino. Chaos swept through the slums on both sides of the official road with terrifying speed.

“Demonic beasts... The demonic beasts are here! Run!”

“Ah! Help me!”

“Damn it all, our village is gone, and now we can’t even stay on Erxi Slope! Oh, court above...”

“My child! Where is my child?! Erwa!”

“No, don’t take my grain! That’s for saving my mother’s life! Don’t kill me! I’m begging you!”

“Run, Fan’er! Don’t run onto the official road! Those masters won’t show mercy! Run toward Sageridge!”

As panic spread, the refugee camp exploded like a pot of boiling water.

On the side closest to the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range, countless ragged civilians surged toward the official road like an avalanche.

Some wanted to flee to the other side of the road. Others wanted to take advantage of the chaos and loot whatever they could.

Those swept along by the crowd and those harboring darker intentions came wave after wave, rushing toward the merchant caravans and martial companies on the official road.

The caravans and martial companies traveling along the road reacted just as quickly.

“These refugees have gone mad!”

“Escort team, ready yourselves! Anyone who charges the caravan dies!”

“They dare rob the Four Seas Caravan?! Kill them!”

“B-but these are all ordinary people. Are we really going to strike them down?!”

“You idiot! Would ordinary people come here to steal our goods? These people have already lost their minds!”

“If you don’t strike first, do you think these refugees will spare you? Are you going to compensate the trading firm for the goods? Kill them!”

The escort agencies and martial companies protecting the caravans drew their blades one after another. Yet even those gleaming weapons failed to stop the refugee tide swallowed by fear and madness.

Like a flood, the refugees swept over the caravans on the official road, then rolled on toward Sageridge not far away.

The instant the demonic beasts appeared, the grand illusory array engraved around Sageridge was activated. In the blink of an eye, Sageridge and the land within a one-kilometer radius outside it were shrouded in a thick white fog.

Looking down from the sky, the entire county seemed to have vanished, but that was only how it appeared to the outside world.

Inside the illusion formation, the chaos continued.

Even though the vast majority of the demonic beasts had already been sealed outside, the black mass of refugees still swarmed toward the sharply defined town walls like ants.

Terror had devoured every scrap of reason these poor souls possessed. They desperately tried to reach the place they believed was safe, even though the demonic beasts behind them had already been blocked outside.

Unfortunately, the border army of Sageridge would never allow them into the town.

The general in charge of Sageridge knew very well that letting this mob of frenzied refugees inside would only trigger an even greater disaster.

The border troops stationed beside the refugee camps formed their battle lines and waited in strict formation.

The company commander tried to persuade them. It was useless.

Under the relentless impact of the surging refugee tide, the killing began.

Anyone who dared charge the town gates was to be cut down without mercy. Kill until these mad refugees finally came back to their senses.

In the end, the chaos was confined outside Sageridge.

In less than half an hour, ten thousand people died silently in the turmoil brought by this demonic beast attack. And of those who had actually died in the beasts’ jaws, there were at most a hundred.

Sageridge had three gates in total. East, north, and south. There was no western gate, because the west faced the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range.

After the trade routes reopened, Sageridge established three markets inside the town, one by each of those gates.

Every market was bustling, and the method of management was wonderfully simple and brutally direct, stationing soldiers there.

The highest administrative officer in Sageridge right now was a commandant-general. Expecting a crude military man to handle complicated civil administration really was asking a bit much.

So beside each market, there was one company of five hundred soldiers stationed there. If anyone dared start a fight in the marketplace, they would simply be dragged out and beheaded.

Having a general govern a region had its downsides, but it also had its advantages. At the very least, in an emergency, Sageridge reacted far faster than it would have under some bureaucrat.

For example, right now. Within half an hour of the demonic beast tide’s arrival, the once-bustling streets had been forcibly cleared.

Squads of border soldiers armed with sharp blades patrolled back and forth through the town in strict formation.

Standing by the inn window, Xu Yuan gazed up at the dense fog overhead, a fog that seemed as though it had existed since the dawn of time.

In truth, the instant he saw the grand illusory array activate, Xu Yuan knew that, barring any accidents, there had probably been another accident.

And sure enough, that was exactly what had happened.