Emerging from the library corridor with Prince Yang Jinyan, the elder and Liu Xing hurried onto the main street of the clan compound. Prince Yang Jinyan led the way, the elder at his right, while Liu Xing followed behind. Together, they headed toward the main gate, where they found it standing open, a crowd of Yang clan members gathered around another group of people.

When onlookers saw the prince and the elder approaching, those near the gate moved aside, revealing about twenty people. One man, several women, elders, and children. They wore dirty, sweat-stained green robes with their eyes wide and alert, as if they were fleeing something and expected pursuit at any moment.

Upon seeing them, Prince Yang Jinyan's eyes widened suddenly, and the elder's narrowed.

"Who are they?" Liu Xing asked.

The prince answered him. "They're from the Wang clan."

Liu Xing's eyes in turn widened. This was the Wang clan they had discussed only a mere hour ago. Seeing some members arrive suddenly, and in such a state, his heart began beating furiously, and his stomach churned with anxiety. He deduced something terrible must have happened to them.

After arriving, the prince ordered his people to tend to the women, elders, and children. "Give them new clothes, food, and prepare their rooms."

The prince ordered the man, however, to follow him and the elder into the meeting hall. Four chairs stood behind the round table. The prince, the elder, and Liu Xing sat, while the man in the green robe occupied the fourth, eating ravenously as if he hadn't seen food in days. The man was past his prime. His skin sagged, marked by several lines. He had black hair tied into a bun, and Liu Xing saw two strands of white in his dark hair. He had a mustache, a slightly rotund stomach, and pale skin that looked like it had never seen the sun. His cultivation was low, only at the Lock Opening realm's third stage. After he finished eating, he thanked the prince and the elder. Briefly, a smile touched his face, but gloom quickly eclipsed it. His lips turned downward, sadness filling his eyes.

"My name is Wang Lin. And I'm one of the few who survived our clan's massacre. Let me tell you what happened to my clan."

Wang Lin briefly introduced himself before telling his story. He was the son of an elder. Lacking talent for cultivation, he had become a disgrace to his family. He turned to trade instead, finding little success as a merchant.

"I decided to visit my family for a month. It was my vacation. But to think that it would turn into a nightmare, with my father sacrificing himself for me." His eyes glistened. "Wasn't I a disgrace to you, father? Why did you sacrifice yourself for me? It should have been me who died, not you."

He wiped his eyes, took a breath, and continued. "It happened so fast. One moment everything was okay, and the next, there was an explosion. I ran outside to check what happened, and I saw most of the clan compound was flattened. In the sky, there was this terrifying thing floating. Its qi was so oppressive and tyrannical, I thought my heart would stop right then and there. This thing had a human body, snake limbs, and green ears like coconuts. It cackled madly before it launched itself and began killing my clan members. It was so strong that the wind from its attack tossed me from side to side!"

Hearing this, Liu Xing clenched his fists. It was them, those spirit beasts!

The prince and the elder glanced at Liu Xing for a moment before turning back to Wang Lin as he continued his story.

Wang Lin's tale was one of luck and sacrifice. Each time death seemed imminent, someone else became bait, allowing him to escape. But each escape burdened him with the wives, children, and elders whose survival he now had to ensure. Then, by pure dumb luck, a moment came when nearly all the spirit beasts converged behind the clan compound. He seized the opportunity to flee.

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"I had several talismans to thin our presence and veil us, plus pills to enhance our physical abilities temporarily. Some of the wives now have their cultivation broken because of the effects of the pills they consumed, but they said it was worth it. Long story short, we finally arrived here."

Liu Xing inhaled deeply, trying to process the information. Crucially, Wang Lin mentioned dozens of spirit beasts. He hadn't mentioned the worms. When Liu Xing asked, Wang Lin confirmed seeing only the human-like spirit beasts with snake limbs. Their number was high—more than twenty. This meant at least two of the original had successfully split. And if two had succeeded, the others likely had as well.

The situation was as bad as he had predicted. Worse, the Wang clan was the clan they had intended to contact for help. Now, how could they communicate with his sect?

"Also, I don't know where this communication orb came from. One of the kids said that it was thrown by a black tentacle." Wang Lin placed a blue orb on the table. It glimmered in the light, glowing faintly.

Liu Xing raised his eyebrows. He had never seen a communication orb before, but he knew they were common, though expensive, treasures for long-distance communication. Suddenly seeing it, a thread of hope sparked within him. There was only a small chance the communication orb was tuned to the Tang Dynasty, but Liu Xing clung to that hope.

The prince grabbed the orb and observed it. "A high-quality comms orb. In the Twelve Sun Empire, there are only dozens of comms orbs of this quality."

"Do you have more comms orbs, Prince?" Liu Xing asked. "Could you use this to communicate with other cities? We need to know how bad the situation is."

"I do, and I've already used them. Unfortunately, the Yang clan's comms orbs aren't as good as this one and only have a short range. I ordered all Yang clan members in other cities back here. They accepted readily and reported nothing unusual, which implies the other cities were still intact at that time."

"We need to communicate with them again," the elder said. "We need to assess this threat."

"All right," the prince nodded solemnly. "I'll go and do just that. Also, I think it's time to throw caution to the wind and spread word of our dire condition far and wide, Elder. The people of the empire are now in danger, and since this threat is too great to be handled by our current empire, we need to order people to evacuate."

"Indeed, there's no need to suppress the information anymore," the elder nodded gravely.

Listening to the exchange, Liu Xing processed its meaning. It seemed the Yang clan, specifically the elder, had tried to suppress news of the emperor's death and the clan's subsequent weakening. This made sense. News of the emperor's death, especially murdered by his own son, would surely create unrest. Moreover, if hostile nations learned of it, they would undoubtedly cause trouble.

This explained something he hadn't considered, such as why there seemed to be no unrest in cities outside the capital flowing here. The Yang clan was near the capital. If the capital suddenly went silent, merchants would surely ask why trade had stopped, wives would ask why their husbands hadn't returned, and many more. He realized Yang clan members in other cities must have been suppressing information from the capital. He glanced at Prince Yang Jinyan walking briskly out of the meeting hall, then at Elder Yang Zhaoyan. The elder nodded slightly, as if confirming Liu Xing's thoughts.

He inhaled deeply, considering the implications. Evacuation might save some people, but the underlying threat remained and still needed to be addressed.

"Do you know where this comms orb is tuned to, Wang Lin?" the elder asked.

Wang Lin shook his head. "I don't. But I do know it's tuned to somewhere far away. The brightest communication orb I've ever seen didn't shine this brightly."

The elder nodded, then glanced at Liu Xing. "This fellow is so lucky, perhaps his luck extends to us. There's a small chance that this orb is connected to the Tang Dynasty."

Wang Lin raised his eyebrows. "Why the Tang Dynasty?"

The elder didn't answer him. Instead, he grabbed the orb and gave it to Liu Xing.

The orb nestled in Liu Xing's right palm. It felt cool, yet strangely warm. He could feel qi inside it, arranged in intricate formations. He glanced at the elder, then at the confused Wang Lin, and decided to just get it over with. If it was connected to the Tang Dynasty, he would be relieved. If not, he'd be disappointed, but not angry. After all, Wang Lin had received the orb by sheer luck.

He inhaled deeply and poured qi into the orb. It glowed brighter, humming faintly like trapped bees. The orb clicked. Liu Xing knew it had connected. He opened his mouth, intending to speak first, but the person on the other end beat him to it.

"Who is this? How can you call me?" The voice was calm, a bit gruff, and strangely familiar to Liu Xing. He racked his brain, searching for the owner of the voice.

When recognition dawned, his eyes widened.

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