Mist billowed and surged.
A figure slowly emerged from within.
Fang Xin stood at the cave entrance, coldly watching the Cyclops and his dozen or so men.
When they saw Fang Xin truly appear, Xiao Cha exclaimed, “Brother!”
Jiang Xiaocha was both surprised and delighted.
She clearly hadn’t expected Fang Xin to dare cross through the darkness to reach this place.
The others also showed expressions of surprise mixed with astonishment.
They had just experienced firsthand how dangerous this place was at night.
For Fang Xin to dare come over at this time, how incredibly brave he must be.
Cyclops and his men were even more shocked.
They had heard before coming that Shang Tianque had entrusted his daughter to Fang Xin, a new cadet from the Sky Shield Bureau, for protection.
The matter of someone from the Yang Family dying at Fang Xin's hands had caused a huge stir, and the Bai Mao Zai, who was called a Jie Liu Zi of the Ninth Division, even went to the White Lotus Society and caused a ruckus. This matter was widely known, and that Bai Mao Zai eventually went on to cause trouble at the church, even killing the church's second-in-command in the Red Lotus District.
Although many things were suppressed, many speculations still circulated. It was said that in the end, many organizations and forces paid close attention, and using this as a starting point, many organizations and forces that had long been dissatisfied with the church began to show their fangs.
The situation that day was extremely tense; it felt as if those organizations could unite at any moment and storm the church headquarters. If the Pope himself hadn't intervened at the last minute, severely punishing many church members involved in the incident, the situation might have truly spiraled into an unpredictable direction.
And the eye of that storm was this new member of the Ninth Division named Fang Xin.
Many major powers were paying attention to this Fang Xin, and the Ten Thousand Beasts Palace was particularly interested, as there were only a handful of people who could make Shang Tianque eagerly go to teach.
Cyclops and his men stared at Fang Xin. They had heard that Fang Xin was a very capable fighter among the new cadets at Sky Shield Academy, but they hadn't expected this young man to dare traverse the darkness of the God and Demon Ruins to get here.
Whether it was an illusion or not, after the darkness descended upon the God and Demon Ruins this time, the terrifying presences within the darkness seemed more restless than in previous years, and the danger level naturally increased infinitely. They had all witnessed the walking corpses led by the Rakshasa just now, so it would be false for them not to be surprised that Fang Xin dared to come at this time.
Fang Xin slowly walked into the cave, and Cyclops's men instinctively made way for him, sizing up the young man.
“Xin Guo!” Li Bao'er also blinked her large, watery eyes, looking at Fang Xin with curiosity.
“How did you get here, Xin Ge?” the drunken Shi Tailang slurred, his tongue thick.
Fang Xin casually replied, “I walked.”
The Di Xing Yecha (Earth Walking Yaksha) who had guided Fang Xin was waiting in the mist a hundred meters away, and the Rakshasa who had just paid respects to Fang Xin was also waiting in the mist.
With just a command from Fang Xin, Cyclops and his men could be torn to shreds.
Cyclops and the thugs he brought exchanged glances, fierce light glinting in their eyes.
“Everyone, this kid must have some kind of treasure that can avoid those terrifying presences. This place is so dangerous at night; if we had this item, we could move freely in the darkness! And if we also snatch their teleportation talismans, wouldn’t we be able to move unhindered in these God and Demon Ruins!”
Cyclops licked his lips, his expression greedy, wishing he could dismember Fang Xin and devour him alive.
The others stared at Fang Xin like a group of Lao Se Pi staring at a cam girl.
Hearing this, Li Bao'er was the first to stand beside Fang Xin, and Bai Yulin and Shi Tailang also stepped forward, forming the first line of attack.
“These scoundrels, they just swore they wouldn’t make a move again, and now they’re already thinking of other things!” Shi Tailang spat at Cyclops and his men.
Cyclops sneered, “They really are a bunch of little brats whose feathers haven't even grown in completely. How can they believe such words? There are so many people who swear in this world; besides those involved in the Witchcraft System, who else would suffer retribution for breaking an oath? Everyone says the Ninth Division is a monster room, but they are, after all, a group of little brats. If so many geniuses were killed at once, wouldn't the higher-ups of the Ninth Division be so distressed they couldn't sleep all night?”
Fang Xin looked at Cyclops as if he were an idiot, “If I heard correctly just now, you said something about not making a move after joining forces with my teammates, and if you broke your oath, you’d be devoured alive by a Rakshasa, right?”
Cyclops shrugged, “Oaths and such are useless. Stop stalling, you bastard! No one can save you! You’re all going to die today! Get them!”
Fang Xin gave Cyclops a chilling smile.
“Is that so?”
As Fang Xin’s words fell.
The mist surged, and a foul stench permeated the air.
Dense figures swept out from the mist; the Rakshasa who had left earlier reappeared, and the Di Xing Yecha (Earth Walking Yaksha) who had been guiding Fang Xin also brought people along, with over a hundred figures blocking the cave entrance.
The pressure was instantly overwhelming.
The arrogant look on Cyclops's face immediately vanished, and he quickly led his men to re-erect their protective barrier.
Li Bao'er also immediately ordered, “Form up!”
“Xin Guo, are we going or not?” Li Bao'er asked Fang Xin. When Fang Xin wasn't around, she was the leader of this small team; when Fang Xin was present, they all followed his command.
Cyclops and his men didn't have teleportation talismans, so seeing this, he quickly shouted, “Everyone, I was just joking! Haven't you all collected much god and demon marrow yet? Your scores definitely won't be top-ranked, and if you leave like this, you'll still be disgracing your Ninth Division, won't you! Now we should unite, everyone work together, and resist these Rakshasa walking corpses and Yaksha!”
As he spoke, Cyclops glanced at the ring on Fang Xin’s finger again, “Your god and demon marrow is still zero; you don’t have a single one. If you leave like this, your score will be unsatisfactory, and if it’s unsatisfactory, there will be a penalty! We must unite now! I promise you this time, as long as we withstand this wave of attack, I will absolutely not kill you!”
“Xin Ge, what should we do?” Shi Tailang and the others now all looked to Fang Xin for leadership.
Fang Xin raised his hand and waved it backward, “Retreat!”
The team immediately fell back.
“Prepare for battle!” Li Bao'er growled. Everyone looked serious, thinking that Fang Xin didn't have any god and demon marrow and didn't want to leave. They were all a team, and advancing and retreating together was a team principle, so they were all prepared to tough it out.
Cyclops’s expression lit up with joy, “Haha, Little Brother Fang Xin, a wise man submits to circumstances! Let’s resist them together. As long as we grit our teeth, they’re afraid of fire, so let’s make the bonfire burn brighter, and everyone work together, bringing out all our special skills; it’s not impossible to hold them off!”
Fang Xin raised his hand and waved, directly putting the bonfire into his spatial ring.
The light in the cave instantly dimmed, with only the protective barrier formed by the zhilian device emitting a faint glow.
“What are you doing?”
Not to mention Cyclops being shocked, even Li Bao'er and the others didn't understand Fang Xin's actions. Taking away the bonfire, wasn't that just giving up?
Fang Xin’s smile was cold as he raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture.
“Kill them all!”
Cyclops roared in anger upon hearing this, “You little beast, disaster is upon us, and you’re still causing internal strife!”
Li Bao'er, holding her twin blades, was about to act after a brief thought. She didn't know what Fang Xin was up to, but if Fang Xin said so, then it must be right.
Unexpectedly, just as she was about to move, Fang Xin grabbed her arm.
“Aren’t we killing them all, Xin Guo?” Li Bao'er turned her head and asked, looking a bit bewildered.
Fang Xin pointed at the dense shadows outside the cave.
“I wasn't telling you to do anything! I was telling them!”