In the middle of the night, the drums of battle rang throughout the streets causing a stir in the city.
Shouts and roars could be heard as every available militiaman and personal guard was summoned and suited up for battle.
The city walls were fortified as several men were placed atop the walls to keep watch of the outer perimeters.
The people of the city were frightened to find their city appeared to be setting up… for war.
Zhao Wei stood at the head of the battlefront with the original group of people who gathered at the very beginning.
While he was discussing their plans when several different citizens clamored to him begging for answers.
"Sir, what is happening to the city? Are we going into war?"
"Are people from the Savageland invading?!"
"What will become of us?"
Zhao Wei calmly responded to each of their inquiries to the best of his ability. But his mind was distracted. The questions were never ending and at this rate he would be stuck here for the next several hours.
Although it was his responsibility to take care of the panic that would ensue within the city, as it's greatest expert he also had many other responsibilities he had to take care of.
Just as he was thinking of blowing off the crowd, a surprising hand reached out in his time of need.
"Do not fear, it is just a situation has occurred causing the nearby wildlife to begin to panic and stampede. We fear the after effects of the chaos and plan on evacuating all of the people in the city. If any damage occurs to your property you'll be reimbursed later on."
This sudden calming voice of reason cleared up the panic of the crowd. Even Zhao Wei was almost convinced that this was just a normal animal stampede and not a demonic beast wave.
The helper began to explain the evacuation plan and told the civilians to move themselves over to the city's shelter first. After other men would give the orders they needed to follow.
Finally the crowd dispersed and Zhao Wei and the mysterious helper were the only left nearby.
"Thank you for the assistance, a lot of trouble might have occurred if it wasn't for your help, Yong Heng."
The mysterious helper who assisted Zhao Wei in this troubling time, Yong Heng, gave a quick nod to Zhao Wei before rushing off in a different direction.
Although the city lord did not expect to be brushed off this way, he didn't mind it too much either. He understood everyone had their own views on him and he didn't expect everyone to view him highly.
But it was strange. He couldn't help but feel that Yong Heng's voice seemed slightly familiar, but no cultivator he recognized popped up in his mind when trying to pinpoint it.
__________
Xue Chang could feel a cold sweat forming on his back.
While he was worried about being caught by his father, he also couldn't just leave Zhao Wei there to waste time helping all of the citizens.
It was easy for him to get them off Zhao Wei's back since he interacted with similar people all the time and knew what would give them peace of mind, but he couldn't act for long else he might be caught.
So once his job was done he exited the scene immediately.
Xue Chang moved along in order to meet up with two familiar faces.
Tian Hai and Tian Kai were part of the evacuation squad that was leading the civilians toward the panic shelter.
From there they would be led out of the city through a hidden passageway.
Seeing Xue Chang approach them, Tian Hai and Tian Kai quickly moved over to see what was happening.
Although they were notified a big event was occurring in the city, they weren't able to glean any information on the main crux of the situation.
"Xu- Yong Heng! What's happening here? Why is the city in such chaos?"
Xue Chang lowered his voice slightly as he whispered out, "A beast wave has formed nearby the city. Things seem to be getting out of hand as preparation for battle is occurring all throughout the city."
"A beast wave! Why would such a thing occur over here?! The demonic beasts in our vicinity have never been this aggressive before." Tian Kai was befuddled by this turn of events.
Xue Chang didn't have an answer his question.
But luckily someone else may have had an answer.
"This is probably an event organized by a third party."Sun Jianhong, who happened to be nearby and overhear their conversation, quickly inserted himself into the discussion.
Tian Hai's brow furrowed as he questioned, "Organized by who?"
"While this news was told to only the high ranking city guards and aristocrats, it appears that this beast wave did not occur naturally. This may have been planned out by someone else targeting our city."
At Sun Jianhong's words, two figures appeared in Xue Chang's mind.
The strange woman and mysterious demonic beast. They were the cause of several other issues, so he wouldn't be surprised if they were involved in this as well. But they were dead now, killed personally by him. This meant there were other accomplices lurking in the shadows.
"And that's not all…" but the bad news didn't end there, Sun Jianhong revealed a shocking possibility that caused a shiver down all of their spines.
"A beast wave this big would've been detected a long time ago. No way our city lords would have let this wave grow this big. Unless… someone purposefully concealed this information."
A traitor to Water Cloud City.
The prospect was frightening enough by itself. After all, the city had plenty of enemies that would love bring disaster to the city. But this scenario was far worse. This traitor wasn't just bringing disaster to the city, but they were causing a catastrophic event that may lead to countless deaths.
And to top it all off, they had to have a rank that was high enough that it could delay the intelligence gathering abilities of even the city lords.
Although it was only temporary, that short lapse of information caused the current irreversible mess.
Xue Chang had already suspected something was up before, after all how could the weird shrine he found in the city be built there without anyone ever noticing?
But he could never find any evidence to prove his suspicions. But if others have come to a similar conjecture, then the chance of a traitor being among their ranks had increased substantially.
"Sun Jianhong, are there any suspects as to who the traitor may be?"
At Xue Chang's words an awkward expression formed on Sun Jianhong's face. Glancing nervously up toward Yong Heng's concealed face, he whispered out, "Actually, you're pretty high up in the list of people under suspicion of being the traitor."
"Wha-" not only Xue Chang but even the Tian brothers paused at the revelation.
But as they thought over it even more then it made a lot of sense, a mysteriously powerful character just appears out of nowhere and involves himself in many big events that occur throughout the city.
Of course this would be the most suspicious person when thinking about possible traitors to the city.
Seeing their distress, Sun Jianhong quickly added, "But a lot of people have vouched for you Yong Heng. Me included actually. If you were truly the traitor then revealing the plots and helping us solve so many issues wouldn't make sense. Plus you don't nearly have enough influence to cut off information from the city lords. Your name was just a passing thought."
Relieved by the explanation, Xue Chang gave out a sigh of relief.
If he really was suspected of being the traitor then that would make his future interactions with his father even more awkward.
"That's a relief to hear, but what are you doing here Sun Jianhong? Shouldn't you as a city guard be prepping the outer walls for the attack?"
"Actually I'm here for you Yong Heng. The city lord Zhao Wei has called for all of the strongest experts in the city, you included, to gather together. He plans on activating the city's defensive formations."
"The defensive formations? That would take a lot of resources to activate. Is the situation really that serious?"
Sun Jianhong nodded solemnly, "A lot more than we expected. The beast wave has grown nearly twice its projected size in the last few hours. Although it's movement has slowed down, the pressure it exudes is not something that can be easily dealt with."
The tired look he had on his face told Xue Chang all he needed to know about the situation.
Stating that he will meet up with the others soon, he turned to Tian Hai and Tian Kai and privately asked them for a favor, "Find my mother and sister and guard them carefully. Things might not end well so I'll need you to protect them from harm to the best of your ability. Can you do it?"
Xue Chang's guards nodded without hesitation.
After interacting with them for so long, Xue Mei and Xue Ai were like a second family to the Tian brothers. They'd give their lives for the two if commanded to.
"You can count on us, we will keep them safe."
Xue Chang thanked his guards and left his mother and sister to them. Turning back to Sun Jianhong, he nodded and asked the young guard captain to lead the way.