The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 182: The City Lord’s Cruelty

Finally, it was Yao Chen who broke the heavy silence first, speaking up: “City Lord, just say what you need to. If it’s about gathering Spirit Stones from the various clans, there’s no need to feel embarrassed.”

“This is a matter of life and death for the entire city. I doubt anyone would be stingy in such a situation. There are no fools here.”

Yan Pojun, seated at the head of the conference table, glanced at him and responded, “You’re mistaken. I didn’t call this meeting to gather Spirit Stones. For now, the Spirit Stones from the Outer City Gu Kings will suffice. There’s no urgent need.”

“The reason I’ve summoned everyone here today is because I’ve come up with another strategy to repel the enemy, and I’d like to discuss it with you all,” Yan Pomu said calmly.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Gu Kings present straightened up, their eyes lighting up with excitement.

“If the City Lord has any brilliant ideas, please don’t keep us in suspense,” someone below couldn’t help but say eagerly.

“It’s not exactly a brilliant plan,” Yan Pojun paused for a moment before slowly continuing, “As we all know, Shi Haojun’s descent into madness is entirely due to the matter with Shi Rui. His return is solely for revenge.”

“He intends to kill every single person from Black Moon City, leaving no one alive. But this auction has attracted a large number of people from Black Moon City into our city, and they’ve all become his targets for slaughter. We, Black Stone City, are simply caught in the crossfire.”

“I’ve been thinking—what if we kill every single person from Black Moon City in the city? If we throw all their heads in front of him, he has the ability to hear our thoughts. He would sense that there are truly no remnants of Black Moon City left within the city.”

“After all, Black Stone City is his birthplace. His mother’s clan and relatives are here.”

“Perhaps, if he’s convinced that all his enemies are dead, he might retreat and spare the city of his mother’s clan.”

These words sent a shudder through everyone’s hearts—they hadn’t expected this to be Yan Pojun’s plan.

Killing all the people from Black Moon City in the city… there were tens of thousands of them. There were over twenty Gu Kings from Black Moon City alone, though only a little more than ten remained alive now. But even that wasn’t a small number.

If such an order were given, the city would be awash in rivers of blood.

However, everyone now wore thoughtful expressions, considering whether this plan was feasible.

Yan Pojun wasn’t wrong. Black Stone City was Shi Haojun’s birthplace, his hometown, where he’d grown up, full of his memories.

If he truly believed that all his enemies were dead, he might just spare Black Stone City and retreat.

With that thought, everyone became more receptive.

After all, it was Black Moon City’s people who had caused all this. Why not use their heads to put an end to it?

At this point, the Shi Clan Patriarch sighed heavily and spoke in a grave tone: “We’ve already thoroughly offended Shi Haojun with our past decisions. He might not be willing to show our Shi Clan any mercy.”

“My estimation is fifty-fifty. Killing all the Black Moon City people in the city might give him reason to leave, but it might not.”

“You seem to have forgotten what kind of Gu he’s refining. It’s none other than the infamous Forbidden Gu. The growth of a Forbidden Gu requires continuous slaughter, constant massacres, and at its final stage, it even requires wiping out an entire region.”

“He’s completely lost his mind now. Even without revenge, he’d still need to keep killing. Do you really think he’d spare Black Stone City?”

At these words, everyone fell silent.

Indeed, Shi Haojun’s descent into madness might not be just about revenge anymore.

Even if he killed all his enemies, he might continue his slaughter. If he stopped, the growth of his Forbidden Gu would halt. Having already tasted that heaven-defying power, would he really be willing to pause its growth?

Everyone instinctively shook their heads. There wasn’t a single naive person among them.

They all understood that killing all the Black Moon City people might only make Shi Haojun retreat out of consideration for his mother’s clan. But the chances of that happening were slim.

Yet, even with a slight possibility, they were willing to try.

After all, it wasn’t their lives on the line—it was others’. What harm was there in trading other people’s lives for their own slim chance of survival?

The Long Clan’s Long Yuan frowned and asked, “The City Lord must also be aware that the likelihood of this plan’s success is low. If we go through with it and Shi Haojun doesn’t retreat, what then?”

“No matter,” Yan Pojun revealed a cruel smile. “I’ve already considered the possibility of failure. In fact, failure is quite likely. But we must try.”

“Even if we fail, it’s no big deal. The city’s food supply is limited, and the more people that die, the more food we’ll save.”

“We can also take this opportunity to kill off those unfamiliar faces whose backgrounds we know little about, claiming they’re from Black Moon City, and thus reduce our food shortage.”

“Moreover, when we’re hunting down the Gu Kings from Black Moon City, we can deliberately create a larger commotion, prolong the battle, and drive them toward the commoners. The residual effects of the Gu Kings’ battle will inevitably kill off many ordinary people. That will ease our food pressure even further.”

As soon as he said this, everyone felt their hearts go numb. The patriarchs sitting around the table widened their eyes in disbelief, staring at the City Lord.

With the influx of strangers into the city for the auction, was he really suggesting killing them all?

Killing the outsiders was one thing, but now the City Lord was talking about slaughtering the city’s own people! Didn’t he realize that fewer than ten percent of each family’s newborns had the potential for cultivation? The vast majority of their clansmen were ordinary mortals, settled throughout the city, continuing the bloodline of their families.

The number of these mortals was massive—upwards of millions.

The city lord's order would result in countless deaths, a sea of corpses piling up into mountains, and rivers of blood flowing through the city.

Although it would save food, it seemed incredibly cruel and inhumane.

They finally realized that this was likely the city lord's true plan. What he mentioned earlier about countering Shi Haojun's strategy was probably just a pretext, something he said for show.

To survive, the city lord could come up with the most vicious ideas imaginable, and they were truly shocked by his ruthlessness.

At that moment, all the hands of the elders beneath the table were trembling, and cold sweat was dripping from their palms.

The city lord's heart was indeed dark, and as everyone looked at him, their eyes began to reveal fear and dread.

To have such a ruthless and merciless person as the city lord... they couldn’t tell whether this was a mistake or a necessity. The elders exchanged glances, their expressions complex as they looked at each other.

Yan Pojun swept his sharp gaze across the elders and said in a firm voice, "In times of calamity, extreme measures must be taken. Do not let sentiment cloud your judgment. I hope you can understand my decision."

"My actions may seem cruel, but you cannot deny that they will allow us to hold out for a little longer. Perhaps, with the extra time, we can await rescue."

"Sacrificing some to save the entire city—many would know this is the right choice. Their sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Alright, this matter is settled. It will be executed tonight. Delaying even one more day will waste more food. Everyone, go back and make preparations."

After finishing his words, Yan Pojun abruptly stood up, declared the meeting over, and walked out without saying anything further.

The other elders around the table exchanged glances, sighed heavily, and slowly left as well...

---

In the evening, the night grew darker.

It was unclear whether it was a hallucination, but the slowly rising moon appeared blood red...

Long Xuan, hiding in his house, packed up everything, waiting for the family head's signal to flee this place through the Sou Gu hut.

He could not stay in Blackstone City for another moment.

That Shi Haojun was an absolute lunatic. Long Xuan couldn’t fathom how such a twisted figure could even exist in this world.

Good heavens, Shi Haojun’s dozen or so peak-grade Gu insect were crafted from tens of thousands or even millions of resources, overwhelmingly powerful. Who could possibly defeat that?

Even without the Plague Demon Gu, his combat power was already unbeatable.

And that Plague Demon Gu was ridiculously strong, capable of slaughtering its way through crowds of Gu Kings.

What made it even more terrifying was that the Plague Demon Gu could control any living being smaller than itself, including viruses—something that this world's people barely understood.

To think that in the previous life, a virus capable of creating zombies had now mutated under this Gu, and it could even control hordes of Gu King-level zombies.

How could anyone fight against that?

The moment that thing appeared, it was already the end of the world.

Long Xuan hurriedly thought to escape. This world was far too dangerous; he wanted to return to Earth.

Suddenly, as Long Xuan anxiously waited for the clan head’s call, chaos erupted outside, followed by the sounds of battle and countless screams.

His expression changed drastically.

What was going on? Could Shi Haojun have broken through the city already?

That couldn't be right! Wasn’t there supposed to be a Spirit Vein under the city acting as the core of a formation? Shi Haojun shouldn't have been able to break through so soon!

Long Xuan quickly opened the door and used the Eye of Heavenly to scan the surroundings.

Good heavens, the entire city was in complete chaos, thick smoke rising everywhere as if a riot had broken out. Battles raged all around, accompanied by endless screams.

Corpses littered the streets, and blood stained the ground everywhere.

“What’s happening? Why is everyone killing each other? Have they turned into zombies? Has the bio-virus already infected the entire city?” Long Xuan was stunned.

He hurried to the top of a spire and looked out, seeing fierce battles all over the city. One group of people was madly slaughtering another, leaving corpses strewn across the streets, rivers of blood flowing.

He witnessed firsthand a large number of Gu Kings chasing down a dozen other Gu Kings.

The dozen Gu Kings were being relentlessly pursued, leaving death and destruction wherever they ran.

The aftershocks of the Gu Kings’ battles were immense. Allowing them to run wild through the city meant countless deaths!

The city’s residential areas were primarily inhabited by defenseless mortals, whom the Gu Kings could kill with just a breath.

Having the Gu Kings fight in the residential district was an absolute disaster for the mortals.

The mortal areas were already filled with corpses, the air echoing with cries and screams. Countless houses had collapsed, others were burning in a sea of flames, and thick smoke billowed upward.

The scene was horrific, beyond imagination.

“It looks like the Gu Kings from Blackstone City are slaughtering the Gu Kings of Black Moon City. Blackstone is trying to kill everyone from Black Moon City to earn Shi Haojun’s forgiveness.”

Long Ziyan approached, frowning as she spoke.

Long Xuan nodded, hesitating, "The Gu Kings are definitely from Black Moon City, but isn’t there a bit too many people below the Gu King level from Black Moon City?"

“A single auction could have brought a large number of Black Moon City residents into the city, but this many is just too much, isn’t it?”

“If this killing continues, the number of dead will be countless.”

“Surely this massacre includes more than just Black Moon City’s people. If this chaos keeps up, half the population of Blackstone City might be wiped out...”

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