"The north gate has been breached!! Monsters are surging in!!"
The top of the city wall erupted in chaos, filled with the sounds of footsteps, horns, clashing metal, and a more intense cacophony of roars and screams than before.
A layer of black smoke and dust rose from the northern sky, swirling like fog and spreading towards the northern °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° streets.
Paul's expression changed. He stood up abruptly, pulled his halberd from the ground, and turned to look towards the north gate.
His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out immediately.
Then he turned his head and looked at Carter and the others, his gaze quickly sweeping across their faces.
"Uncle Paul?" Carter stood up as well. "What's wrong?"
Paul paused for a moment, then stepped forward, grabbed Carter's shoulder, and pressed so hard that Carter felt a sharp pain in his shoulder blade.
“Carter.” His voice was low, but every word was clear.
“My wife and daughter are in Shijiang Lane, near the East Gate, in that gray house. You...you go to the East Gate now and help me get them out to Baita City.”
Carter opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again.
"...Uncle Paul, what about you guys?"
Paul did not answer, but turned and walked toward the north gate.
"Paul!"
He had already taken a few steps when he stopped, without turning back.
"Carter, you're a good lad."
He paused, then said, "If you can get my wife and kids out of here, I, Paul, will owe you my life."
Then he led a few halberd-wielding soldiers into the gray cloud of dust that was billowing in from the north.
Carter stood there, watching his figure disappear into the corner and the smoke of gunpowder.
A hand touched his arm; it was Mark.
“Carter, let’s go.” Mark’s voice was deeper than usual. “East Gate.”
Carter glanced again in the direction of the North Gate, then nodded.
"Walk."
In Dongmen Shijiang Lane, the house with the gray roof had no lock on the door, and a faint candlelight shone through the crack in the door.
Carter reached out and pushed open the door. Inside, a woman and a little girl of about seven or eight years old were sitting at a small table. The woman was holding the girl, her head down, and she was muttering something under her breath.
She heard the door open, looked up, her face initially wary, but upon seeing who it was, her expression changed to a cautious surprise.
"Did...Paul send you?" she asked.
“Yes,” Carter said. “Uncle Paul asked us to take you away.”
She stood up, her hand tightly gripping her daughter's: "North Gate..."
"It's broken."
Her face paled for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. She looked down at her daughter and said, "Lily, put on your backpack, let's go."
The little girl was very well-behaved and didn't ask any questions. She picked up a small bag that had obviously been packed in advance and stood next to her mother.
There was no fear in her eyes; she didn't yet understand the weight of that word.
When they came out of Stonemason Lane, there were already many people on the street.
People in armor, in plain clothes, carrying children, and with luggage were all out of the city as the east gate opened wide, and the flow of people surged out of the city like a gray river.
The soldiers guarding the gate waved their arms on both sides: "Hurry up! Don't stop! Keep heading northeast! To White Tower City!"
Carter glanced back and saw that to the north of Graystone City, black plumes of smoke were already billowing, their bases a deep red, like red-hot iron bars.
He took a deep breath and turned around.
"Walk"
Once outside the city, I wasn't alone on the road.
The fleeing crowd formed a gray line on the official road, stretching as far as the eye could see.
At first, the order was relatively good, but after walking for about half an hour, a commotion came from behind. Someone shouted, "They're catching up!" The second half of the group started to speed up. Some people started running, some fell down, and some were trampled by the people behind them.
Carter glanced back and saw several gray-white figures moving along the official road in the distance.
They are taller than ordinary people, their movements are stiff but fast, and they wield rusty longswords. They don't get tired or run out of steam; their speed is even and stable.
Undead Warrior, Level 15.
Some high-level awakened individuals in the team volunteered to stay behind to cover the rear, along with two or three first and second class awakened individuals. When they rushed forward, their weapons were already glowing with skill lights, but many more fell along the way.
Carter didn't look back any further; he took Lily's hand and ran with the crowd.
When they got tired from running, they would walk for a while, and then run again after they recovered. The five of them stayed together and didn't separate.
After walking for a while, the road forked ahead. The main road turned north towards White Tower City, but black smoke was already billowing to the north.
The crowd began to split up, with some continuing north along the main road and more turning southeast onto the side streets.
Without hesitation, they turned southeast. The path was much narrower than the main road, with withered yellow fields and scattered bushes on both sides.
The running crowd spread out even further here, and gradually no one else could be seen in front or behind.
But the undead warriors behind them didn't lose track. They didn't need to rest or drink water, but the undead warriors did.
Two hours have passed.
Three hours have passed.
Lily started to have trouble walking, so Eileen carried her on her back and ran for a while, but their pace slowed down more and more.
The path ahead bends before a low hill, but Eileen's legs are too weak to run anymore.
Carter turned around, and three gray-white figures appeared about two hundred meters behind them, moving slowly but steadily approaching.
"Can't run anymore?" Mark asked.
Eileen gritted her teeth: "...Yes."
But carrying Lily on her back, she could run almost as fast as she walked.
The three undead warriors drew closer and closer. Carter and another archer turned and each fired an arrow. The arrows struck the undead warriors in the shoulder, causing them to pause briefly before they continued their advance.
150 meters.
One hundred meters.
Mark raised his shield and stood in front of Eileen.
"Carter, run forward."
Are you alone?
"I have a shield."
Carter wanted to say, "Your shield is white quality," but he didn't say it.
He turned to look ahead, and about two hundred meters ahead, on the top of a low hill, stood three people.
The exact appearance was unclear, but one of the figures disappeared at an abnormally fast speed.
Then, in front of Carter, a black figure appeared as if sliced out of the void, suddenly appearing behind the three undead warriors.
Then three sword flashes appeared as if they were all slashed at the same instant.
The three undead warriors froze simultaneously, a thin line appearing between their heads and torsos, before their upper bodies slowly slid down, crashing onto the dirt road and kicking up a small cloud of dust.
The black figure landed back on the ground, sheathed its sword, and moved with the precision of a thousand rehearsals.
Carter stopped walking, and Mark behind him stopped too.
Eileen put Lily down, leaned against a tree by the roadside, and gasped for breath. The archer sat on the ground, unable to even lift his bow.
Jiang Yelan walked back, his gaze quickly sweeping over the five people: a shield bearer, two archers, and a woman holding a child. They were of low level, poorly equipped, and exhausted.
"Where did you come from?"
Carter, panting heavily, raised his hand and pointed west: "Gray...Graystone City."
Jiang Yelan nodded and turned to walk back to the low hill.
On the top of the low hill, Lin Feng stood there. "How is it?"
Jiang Yelan replied, "It came from Graystone City and was destroyed three hours ago."
“Three hours ago...” Lin Feng repeated in a low voice, then looked up to the north, towards the direction of White Tower City, “White Tower City should be here soon too.”
He looked down at his waist, took out five small vials of light blue liquid from his pack, and sealed the bottle openings with wax.
"The acceleration potion will last for four hours. Go and give it to them."
