Chapter 286: The Fall of the Main Helm

“Ah!”

“What is that thing?!”

“There’s something inside the blood fog!”

“Help!”

“Close the gates!”

The moment the blood fog entered the Caobang Main Helm, chaos erupted everywhere.

Dozens of Caobang disciples were attacked in an instant.

The blood fog surged wildly.

From her hidden vantage point, Bai Jingtang heard the heavy thuds of bodies smashing against walls. She also heard the wet splatter of blood striking the ground and walls.

Then came the sickening sounds of bones breaking, bodies being torn apart, and flesh being pierced.

In the blink of an eye, the Caobang Main Helm had become a living hell.

The blood fog rapidly swept across the front courtyard, extinguishing the torches and lanterns there.

Then the candle stands inside the front hall were snuffed out.

Darkness swiftly engulfed the front courtyard, the front hall, and the side courtyards.

The fog surged deeper toward the council chamber and the training grounds. Wherever it passed, every torch, lantern, and light source was extinguished.

Darkness swallowed the entire Main Helm.

Trapped in the darkness, the Caobang disciples’ screams and cries rose one after another.

“Helm Leader!”

“Ugh!”

“What the—”

The scream ended abruptly.

The sounds of gates and walls being violently broken through grew louder and louder.

Helm Leader Sun Wen stepped out of the council chamber after hearing the disturbance.

The moment he opened the door, he saw the surging blood fog devouring the torches and lanterns on both sides as it rushed toward him.

As a Second-Rank Martial Artist, Sun Wen could keenly sense that something was moving within the fog—something fast and heavy-footed.

“Helm Leader, retreat!”

“What kind of monster is this?!”

Two trusted aides shielded Sun Wen as they retreated.

But suddenly, two black shadows shot forward and grabbed them around the waist.

Before Sun Wen’s eyes, the two First-Rank Martial Artists were dragged straight into the blood fog.

“AHHH!”

“Helm Leader, call for help!”

Sun Wen finally snapped out of his shock.

While retreating in panic, he pulled out a Caobang signal rocket from his robe. Bursting through the back gate, he fired the distress signal toward the Blood Moon in the sky.

SHRIEEEK!!!

When half the Main Helm had already fallen, the Caobang distress rocket finally shot into the sky.

A brilliant dark-red flare burst open, forming the majestic character “CAO” in the sky, illuminating the entire Sanhe Commandery.

Sun Wen let out a breath of relief.

But suddenly his body stiffened.

Looking down, he saw something black—like a whip—coiled tightly around his waist. The other end extended deep into the blood fog.

“AAAAAH!!!”

The enormous force was impossible for a Second-Rank Martial Artist to resist.

He was violently dragged back into the fog.

Across the Main Helm’s side courtyards and wing rooms, disciples rushed out after hearing the commotion.

But the blood fog had already swallowed every light.

The Main Helm was completely engulfed.

The chaotic screams continued for a dozen breaths.

Then—

everything fell silent.

Holding the Yellow Dragon Bow, Bai Jingtang lay hidden less than fifty meters away, witnessing the entire fall of the Caobang Main Helm.

Inside the Main Helm were at least a hundred people.

Gone.

Just like that.

What was even more terrifying—

from beginning to end, Bai Jingtang never found a chance to act.

She wanted to see the killer’s true form.

She wanted to capture a clue to follow.

But from start to finish, she never even saw the enemy.

Footsteps suddenly echoed.

TAP! TAP! TAP!!

A large number of Caobang disciples arrived.

Hundreds of them rushed over from the hall, holding torches.

Yin Xingtian, Old Seven, Lin Cunxin, and Zhao Jinshan arrived together.

Three Third-Rank Martial Artists and one Fourth-Rank Martial Artist led the elite forces of the Caobang hall.

“Stop!”

Yin Xingtian raised a hand from afar, preventing his men from recklessly entering the blood fog.

Old Seven stared at the fog-covered Main Helm and dock plaza. He frowned and said quietly beside Yin Xingtian,

“The smell of blood is overwhelming. There is no movement inside… The brothers of the Main Helm are likely beyond saving.”

Just then, another group arrived.

Two Constable Captains from the Six Gates of Sanhe Commandery arrived with a large force of constables and yamen runners, all fully armed.

“What happened here?”

Constable Captain Yu stared at the vast blood fog ahead, his face filled with shock.

Constable Captain He’s expression was grim.

Bai Jingtang glanced once at the battered CAO” character still lingering in the sky above the Main Helm.

Then she silently withdrew.

…

Huishui County, Yulong Gang Hall.

After receiving Su Wan’s warning, Lin Xun quickly arranged his forces.

Tung oil and torches were prepared, turning the dock plaza as bright as day. Torches, lanterns, and candles were placed both inside and outside the hall.

They also brought out large amounts of charcoal from the Weapon Room, setting up braziers across the dock plaza.

The river surface reflected the blazing light.

The blood fog did not appear.

…

However, at the Yulong Gang Water Stronghold, a blood fog silently began to spread.

The fog quickly swallowed the lights on the water stronghold’s dock and watchtower.

The Yulong Gang disciples paid it little attention.

The lights went out one by one.

Like a living shadow, the fog swallowed the entire stronghold.

…

Hejiang Town, Sanjiang Branch Helm.

The blood fog still lingered.

Although dozens of massive fires blazed across the dock plaza, lighting it as bright as day, the fog showed no sign of retreating.

As time passed…

The tung oil slowly burned away.

The flames began to shrink.

Their brightness weakened, and the illuminated area gradually shrank.

At that moment, the blood fog began to stir again, rolling forward as if preparing to advance once more.

“They are waiting for the flames to weaken!”

“What kind of monsters are those things?”

Yang Feiyue’s eyes were filled with concern.

Wangchuan said nothing.

He grabbed a jar filled with tung oil and hurled it down into the plaza.

SMASH!!

The jar shattered, splashing oil across the ground.

Blue-green flames surged upward more than two meters high within the blood fog.

The fire blazed fiercely once again.

Again!

Wangchuan hurled several more oil jars.

The flames roared across the plaza.

Under the bright firelight, the blood fog quieted once more.

Wangchuan had already realized something.

Whatever was hiding in the blood fog was absolutely beyond his ability to confront.

Enduring and surviving was the only option.

Sure enough—

At that moment, Bai Yuhui logged back into the game and brought explosive news.

“Helm Leader!”

“My sister said the Main Helm in the prefectural city was attacked by the blood fog. Sun Wen is dead! The Main Helm is finished! Not a single person escaped!”

After saying this, Bai Yuhui looked toward the blood fog over the dock plaza with deep fear in his eyes.

Wangchuan drew in a sharp breath.

The Main Helm had been annihilated.

“What about the hall? Didn’t they send reinforcements?”

“They couldn’t make it in time… By the time the reinforcements arrived, the Main Helm had already been swallowed by the fog. My sister said we were lucky to detect it early and find a way to stop the fog from advancing. Otherwise, we might have died even before Sun Wen.”

“And there’s more.”

Bai Yuhui continued,

“The Six Gates and the hall both tried sending scouts into the fog. Several of them died. Now both sides are in a stalemate…”

“My sister also discovered something.”

“The things inside the blood fog seem uninterested in ordinary civilians who are not Martial Artists. They only target places where Martial Artists gather.”

“….”

Wangchuan froze.

For no apparent reason, he suddenly thought of the fish in the Sanhe River…