Cao Yun kept helping the wounded for a few days with his sworn brother Sun Liao. Thankfully, there were fewer and fewer wounded. Sadly, this was because the rescuers were only finding corpses now. A few miracles happened and some mortals were found alive and safe under rubbles even after several weeks had passed. However, those were really miracles, in the sense that they were excessively rare.
Right now, most of the mortals or cultivators discovered were directly sent to a giant open cemetery. There, some officials would try to identify them if possible. And if a body was not identified fast enough, it would be buried in a nameless hole. This was an effort to preserve the city from diseases. Another way would have been to burn off the bodies but everyone had different views on death and the proper way to take care of the bodies. The main belief in the Hongchen Kingdom was to indeed bury the body underground. But another huge part of the population preferred cremation. Because it was impossible to un-cremate a body, it was thus decided to bury them as long as they were intact enough.
Even though there was less and less work for Cao Yun and the other physicians, the new wounded were now in far worse conditions. Thus, they had way more deaths now. As the physical fatigue had been lessened, the psychological impact had worsened.
At some point, Sun Liao literally fell to the ground. Hearing the commotion, Cao Yun quickly went to him and tried to help him up.
"Brother, you should get some rest."
"No... No, I... I can still..."
"No, you can't! If you push yourself, you'll cause more harm than good. The physicians will be forced to take care of you instead of the wounded. Not only will you hurt yourself but you'll achieve the opposite of what you want!"
As they were arguing, an old man, the chief physician, came to them. He was only a middle Mortal Warrior, but he had proved that he was almost as good as a 1-star Heaven physician. Only a Spirit Warrior could really reach this realm thanks to his spiritual senses, but this old man's intuition was so good that he was almost able to see through flesh and bone. The only thing he was missing was the ability to see someone's sea of consciousness and to heal their mind and soul.
He was rather short and extremely old. Despite his unimpressive physique and his small bald head, this Qiren Liu had a natural authority to him. Each time he spoke, everyone listened to him. This natural aura of him was moreover amplified by the extreme amount of blood everywhere on him. He had been taking care of the worst wounded for several weeks now. And before that, he had been operating on the battlefield to try and save as many people as he could. Qiren Liu was truly a hero. Even though he was not a fighter, everyone was admiring him.
"Your friend is correct. Your health is the priority. An exhausted man will only bring harm to the people he tries to save. But that is also true for you, young man." As he spoke, Qiren Liu turned his gaze from Sun Liao to Cao Yun. "The pressure is something we can cope with right now. Go rest, both of you."
In his tone, there was no room for any discussion. And just as he was done speaking, he went back to take care of even more wounded.
Sun Liao completely let go of his arrogance and obeyed the old man. All of a sudden, he completely collapsed in his brother's arm. A single moment of calm had made him fall asleep. After all, he had been trying to stay awake for almost three weeks now. For a middle Mortal, that was clearly pushing it way too far. Hence, Cao Yun brought him in a calmer area where there were still some vacant beds. Unfortunately, it meant that more people had died.
As he put his brother to rest, Cao Yun also found a bed and lied down. He only wanted to get some rest, but he fell in a deep sleep.
-
Two days later, Cao Yun woke up. Still in a daze, he didn't understand where he was until he saw Sun Liao's face. His brother had also woken up. Looking at each other, they both remembered what had happened and where they were.
"Brother Sun, how are you?"
"... Good."
"By the way, Brother, you told me that Brother Ren was alive. But we couldn't really speak... Please, tell me what happened."
Pain could be seen on Sun Liao's face.
"Of course, you don't know..."
With some efforts, Sun Liao sat up and then stood from his bed.
"Come with me, Brother, let's go visit our brother. I'll tell you everything on the way."
Of course, Cao Yun did not hesitate. He could see that Sun Liao had lived through something awful and he could also imagine that Ren Chao's injuries were serious. Since Sun Liao had told him he was alive, he had to be. But he hadn't told him how severely he had been injured. Besides Ren Chao, Cao Yun also wanted to know what had happened to City Lord Dun Mofan and to Yun Ping, as well as all the others.
"Yinmen City was hit by the stampede almost as soon as the hunters came back from Zeng Minghe's mission. We had not even enough time to wonder what had happened to you and to the other two hunters who exchanged places with you.
"Less than two days after the return of the last team, we saw many movements in the mountains. And before we could fully understand the situation, chaos had erupted everywhere. Apparently, this stampede was way too early. After all, it didn't happen to Baziyun City before several more months after it happened to us. Immediately, we sent some birds to all potential allies. But it was useless. We were already under attack.
"At first, we were able to take care of the situation thanks to our defense. The array formations and even some battle formations of Brother Yun Ping were enough to keep the weaker demonic beasts at bay. None were stronger than 2-core demonic beasts. And with City Lord Dun Mofan powering up some killing array formations, there was no problem at all. However, then a new wave attacked. There were 3-core demonic beasts like Two-Tailed Eluding Foxes, Silver Tailed Wolves, even a Muddy Bashe. But that wasn't even all. A few 4-core demonic beasts were also part of the fray. There were a couple of Stone-Carved Lions and one Ivory Hide Rhinoceros.
"For the first time, our defenses were not enough and City Lord Dun Mofan had to take action. That's when Zeng Minghe revealed his nature! Because he had helped us create the defenses, he knew exactly their weaknesses. In fact, he had quite literally built up some weaknesses in our defense. Before I could understand what was going on, he had taken down two key array formations. And he joined the demonic beasts.
"He seemed to have tamed those three 4-core demonic beasts. And when they were working together, they were almost able to rival City Lord Dun Mofan who was also swarmed by other 3-core demonic beasts. All hell broke loose at that point. Our defenses were almost destroyed and all the hunters were forced to join the fight. This was a massacre. Yet, we were winning.
"City Lord Dun Mofan took some serious hits but thankfully his cultivation was stable enough to resist those three coordinated beasts and the swarm of weaker ones helping them. When it mattered, Brother Ren even stopped the Ivory Hide Rhinoceros with his bare hands. Both his arms got broken in three or four, but he stopped the mad beast. Thanks to his efforts, he created an opening in Zeng Minghe's defense and I put an arrow through that bastard's heart. Without him, it wasn't that difficult to kill the three 4-core demonic beasts. In the absence of their coordination, City Lord Dun Mofan was able to pick them up one by one.
"However, the nightmare was not over. It had just begun. We were already exhausted by the fight when the cause of this early stampede appeared. This was a Infernal Camel Scolopendra, a 6-core demonic beast!"
Hearing the name, Cao Yun stopped walking for an instant. It took a few instants for Sun Liao to realize that he was walking alone. Worried, he turned back and saw an intense look in his brother's eyes.
"Brother Sun, describe that beast, please."
According to Sun Liao's description, there was no possible doubt, this Infernal Camel Scolopendra was the evolved form of the Red Flesh Camel Spider Can Mouye had used against him in the woods. Cao Yun had not seen the beast form a sixth demonic core and evolve. But because it had left Can Mouye's sides, he had suspected that something like that had happened to it. This meant that not only had Can Mouye killed both Mountain Fenghuangs, but he was also the cause of the destruction of Yinmen City. For an instant, Cao Yun regretted that this bastard had only one life to give. Otherwise, he would have enjoyed killing him again.
That was the perfect moment for Cao Yun to explain what had happened to him to his brother. Obviously, he left out some minor details. It wasn't particularly because he didn't trust his brother, but they were still surrounded by many people. Even if they were mostly unconscious or sleeping, this wasn't prudent to speak some secrets out loud. Cao Yun would confide in his friends later when they would be back in the Wubei Sect. Moreover, they would also be rejoined by Mei Hua. This would also spare him from repeating everything twice.
"I see... Well, you also had it rough, it seems. I knew that if you had known what was happening, you would have come right away...
"Anyway, like I was saying, this creature was beyond what we could deal with. Only City Lord Dun Mofan was equipped to take care of it. However, the 6-core demonic beast had recently broken through and was full of vitality while the old man was wounded and tired. As such, both Yun Ping, Brother Ren, and even several hunters tried to help him. Even I tried to help with my meager archery.
"But against a 6-core demonic beast who could easily kill a middle Mortal Warrior, we were just insects disturbing it a little... Brother Yun Ping got his arm ripped away and devoured by the beast while many of our comrades fell to its vicious attacks. In a last effort, Brother Ren tried to immobilize it and every bone in his body was broken."
Once again, Cao Yun stopped in his track.
"Every bone?! Are you exaggerating?" Sun Liao shook his head and his eyes were dead serious. That worried Cao Yun even more. "How is he now?"
"Do not worry too much about him, you'll see. He's mostly fine."
How could he be fine if every bone in his body had been broken? Even with Heaven medicines, that would take a lot of time to heal, and there would still be trauma. As a Mortal, he really needed his physical body to advance his cultivation. It wasn't that important for a Mortal Warrior, and even less so for a Spirit Warrior, but in the first stages, the body was primordial. If Ren Chao had too many injuries, in the worst case scenario, that would prevent him from breaking through. But until he reached his friend, he would stay calm. After all, he fully trusted Sun Liao. Maybe they had been able to take care of his injuries.
Sadly, Yun Ping's injury was definitive. Reattaching an arm was feasible but recreating it from scratch was the domain of the Spirit medicines and pills. It would be almost impossible to forge one for him. Besides, he was fighting with a spear, he needed both arms. With one less arm, he would need to change his weapon and that would delay him in his progress. Thankfully, as a Mortal Warrior, his body was not as important anymore. That being said, missing an arm would still have some consequences on his future cultivation. Although that moved Cao Yun, he wasn't as attached to Yun Ping, so it lessened the blow.
"In the end, City Lord Dun Mofan gave everything he had. He fought the creature completely alone while we were taking care of the remaining demonic beasts. Almost everyone was killed. Despite all the preparations I had made, this was useless. Without City Lord Dun Mofan, I was unable to protect my own array formations and the fight was bloody. Even though I didn't receive any injury that was too dangerous, I was almost the only survivor thanks to my archery.
"When finally I could breathe, I saw it. City Lord Dun Mofan was standing in the middle of his own residence in ruins. He was covered in sweat and blood, the corpse of the Infernal Camel Scolopendra at his feet. At first, I didn't realize. But after getting close to him, I saw that he was dead. Yet, he was still standing, both of his arms were grabbing his halberd. In order to protect his city, he had literally died standing. But everything around had been destroyed and almost everyone was dead, because my defenses did not hold."
"Brother, you're not responsible, Zeng Minghe is."
"I was the one who had to take care of the array formations. I should have realized the weaknesses that bastard had introduced in our defenses and I should have prepared for them! If I had been stronger, I know that my archery could have saved many more people. In the end, City Lord Dun Mofan sacrificed himself for almost nothing."
"Brother! You lived! Brother Ren lived and Yun Ping lived! No matter how many lives he saved, his death wasn't in vain! I will not let you say such a thing!"
Sun Liao cast his eyes downward. Clearly, this carnage had been a terrible blow to his ego. But in his despair, Cao Yun was able to see a fire he was familiar with now. There was a fiery resolve in his pupils. Until now, Sun Liao had only cared about array formations as a hobby and a future job. But now, there was something more to it. In the upcoming months and years, he would become even more serious both in array formations and in his cultivation.