Now that the destiny letter has been issued, there is no way to have the best of both worlds.

Layer upon layer of corpses blocked the way, and the battle scene was like a prison. Looking at Lu Xiyun's figure gradually disappearing into the darkness, Ren Xuan felt an irresistible feeling of powerlessness in his heart.

Xie Lingyan glanced at Ren Xuan, a look of deep thought in her eyes. With the strategic hubs completely destroyed and the gates of hell still open, every step in Yinshu City was now a dead end. Who was the traitor was still unknown. But at least Ren Xuan's anxiety didn't seem fake.

Xie Lingyan's gaze returned to the battle situation, and he paused for a moment. "General Ren, the Silver Pivot's arrays have all failed. The situation is changing rapidly. The four gates of the outer city must be sealed. The Silver Pivot's mechanical hub is located beneath the Sutra Library. Please lead your men there."

Fang Luoling frowned for a moment when he heard this - the location of the mechanism hub was the highest level secret in Yinshu City, and even ordinary commanders could hardly get a glimpse of it. But Xie Lingyan said it out without hesitation at this moment.

The implication is self-evident.

Xie Lingyan suspected that there was something fishy going on inside Yinshu City.

Fang Luoling didn't say anything, and Bai Xiao didn't comment either, just watched quietly.

Ren Xuan met Xie Lingyan's deep and calm eyes, and his breathing stagnated slightly.

The fate of Yinshu City rests on Xie Lingyan's shoulders, but does he dare to accept this trust?

Without saying a word, Ren Xuan turned around and ordered in a deep voice: "Form a team! Follow me to the Sutra Library!"

He flicked his sleeves and rushed towards the Sutra Library with his men.

···

There was an air of death in front of the Xiao residence.

Lu Xiyun narrowed his eyes slightly. With so many corpses and such a messy battlefield, he didn't have the time to bother looking for the so-called center of the formation.

The only option is to break the deadlock with one sword.

Lu Xiyun took a deep breath, mobilized all the energy in his body and slowly injected it into the sword blade.

The young man let out a low cry and swung his silver blade.

In an instant, the sword light flashed, and the sword energy rolled up a huge wave, swallowing up the Xiao residence completely.

A hundred meters away, Fang Luoling was floating in the air, and he exclaimed in amazement: "Oh, Brother, your house was completely demolished by this kid."

Fang Luoling exclaimed in shock and sighed, "After this tearing down, the ground is covered with array runes! Look at you, Senior Brother, this is the result of a crooked top beam and crooked bottom beams!"

Bai Xiao's expression was cold, and he glanced at it calmly: "That is not the Xiao family's technique."

Fang Luoling ignored him and continued to exclaim, "Oh my! Something rushed out from the smoke and dust! The kid and the black-robed puppet are fighting!!!"

Looking in the direction of Fang Luoling's finger, the diffuse dust and fog slowly dissipated, and blood-red runes lit up from the broken ground, crisscrossing and turning into a blood-red array diagram, dazzling and eerie.

In the center of the formation is a black robe.

The black robe floated quietly in mid-air, the fabric fluttering without wind. Beneath the hood, the darkness was so deep that the face could not be seen at all.

On the ruins, Lu Xiyun rushed forward to attack again, with swords and sabers flashing and flying.

The sword energy spread across a hundred meters, and the corpses were blown away by the aftermath.

In the distance, Fang Luoling leisurely floated upwards a little, squinting his eyes from above as he watched the earth-shaking scene unfold. "Tsk, this is something above the second rank. Xiao Xie, our Yinshu City has made great progress!"

Xie Lingyan said calmly, "Xiyun is not from Yinshu City."

Fang Luoling glanced at him and said "tsk" meaningfully, "Xiao Xie, you are the city lord, you should be aware of recruiting talents. Such a big piece of meat is right in front of your mouth, and you don't take it back for him. How can you sleep at night?"

Xie Lingyan's expression was indifferent, and there was no ripple in his heart. "Senior, to be honest, if I weren't the Lord of Yinshu City, I would definitely dig into this corner."

Fang Luoling raised an eyebrow and asked with interest, "Where does such a powerful force come from? Even our Yinshu City can't afford to offend them?"

It would be painful to say more, so Xie Lingyan didn't respond: "If you are free, why don't you go over and help."

Fang Luoling waved his hand and said leisurely, "Wouldn't it be dangerous for you two formation masters to be without any protection? Besides, there's nothing I can do in that battle map."

As she spoke, she suddenly turned her head and said, "Xiao Xie, speaking of which, why isn't your little brother affected by the battle map?"

Bai Xiao continued, his tone indifferent, "This battle diagram tampers with the flow of earth energy, the operation of the five elements, and even the arrangement of the eight trigrams, but it does not affect that boy's energy. This shows that the skills in the battle diagram and that boy's skills are of the same origin."

He paused, as if realizing something, and instantly turned his gaze to Xie Lingyan: "That black-robed man?!"

Xie Lingyan's expression remained unchanged, she only sighed, "That's not a human."

Fang Luoling narrowed his eyes, restraining his usual nonchalant expression, and looked into the distance: "It's exactly the same as my senior brother's puppet just now. It's the work of the same person."

She seemed to realize something, and her teasing tone finally softened. She asked seriously, "Is he your friend?"

Xie Lingyan shook her head calmly, sighing casually, "It happened once. He did so many evil things in the past, and now he's getting his comeuppance. It's all because of the hard work of my adoptive father and Xiyun and the others, all those years spent searching for the remains in vain."

Upon hearing this, Fang Luoling was so angry that he threw his sleeves and said, "Brother, look at this! You Xiao family are so crazy! You dig up graves all day long, and you don't even let the dead go!"

Bai Xiao ignored him and just stared at Xie Lingyan quietly: "Blood relatives killing each other, aren't you afraid that it will be a burden to him?"

He paused, as if realizing something: "No, you're just worried that he'll be burdened, so you tried to forcibly terminate the formation just now, wanting to end it yourself."

Fang Luoling felt the atmosphere was too oppressive and quickly interrupted, "Tsk, your friend is a complete failure as a human being. It's quite rare to see friends and brothers vying to kill him."

Xie Lingyan nodded slightly, as if thinking carefully, and came to a conclusion: "Xiyun is worried that I am burdened, and I am worried that Xiyun is burdened. In the end, no one cares about him. This is really not right."

He paused, his expression calm. “However, puppets don’t have self-awareness, so they don’t need our concern.”

Fang Luoling stared at him, the expression on her face was hard to describe.

After a while, she sighed, her tone rather helpless: "Xiao Xie, I think that with your mentality, there is no such thing as 'burden' at all."

Before he finished speaking, a loud noise suddenly sounded in the distance, shaking the entire battlefield.

Fang Luoling looked up and saw that in the billowing smoke and dust, a man in black robe was chopped to the ground by a sword, and the evil energy dissipated for the most part.

She shook her head and sighed, "Look at how ruthless that kid was. I don't think he has any burdens."

The battle map shook as the black-robed man fell, yin energy floated, and the power of the formation began to collapse.

Bai Xiao's eyes were slightly stern, and he seized the opportunity: "Boy, seal the door now!"

Just as Xie Lingyan was about to take action, his face suddenly changed, the energy in his body rapidly dissipated, his body swayed, and he actually coughed up blood.

At the same time, the black-robed man who fell to the ground began to recover slowly, his Yin energy gradually condensed, and he stood up again.

Bai Xiao's expression changed slightly, and he cursed softly, "Destiny Note..."

Fang Luoling's expression changed instantly: "Xiao Xie, what's wrong with you?! How are you two involved in this fate letter?!"

Before she finished her words, she flashed into the battlefield and stood in front of Lu Xiyun: "No, we can't fight like this! This puppet is tied to Xiao Xie. If he dies, Xiao Xie will be buried with him!"

Outside the barrier, Bai Xiao frowned slightly and said indifferently, "She's been a city lord before, yet she's still so naive. Now that the fate letter is in place, where's the solution to having the best of both worlds?"

Xie Lingyan chuckled softly and wiped the blood from the corner of her lips. "If Old City Lord Fang weren't so naive, this black-robed puppet would probably be you, Senior."

Bai Xiao was startled when he heard this, his eyes darkening slightly. "If she doesn't stop him, that guy will kill the puppet and you'll die. But if she stops him and interferes with him, not only will you die, but he'll be buried with you."

Bai Xiao paused, his tone tinged with the coldness of someone who saw through fate: "Saving one person is naive, saving everyone is wishful thinking."

···

Sutra Repository.

Yue Anshan rushed to Ren Xuan breathlessly, his voice changing with anxiety: "Old Ren! The brothers over at the Xiao residence sent a message saying that the young master is being beaten by Fang Cun's puppets!"

Ren Xuan's eyebrows jumped, and he said in disbelief: "How is it possible? What kind of puppet can suppress him?"

Yue Anshan was horrified: "How the hell would I know! I heard he was beaten to the point of vomiting blood!"

"What the hell!" Ren Xuan shuddered, his voice suddenly rising: "What is Xie Lingyan doing?!"

Yue Anshan's scalp tingled. "Let's mobilize the troops. If he opens a battle map, I'll open one too. No matter what Xie Lingyan does, we can't do anything else. If something goes wrong, we only have two heads."

Ren Xuan calmed down for two seconds and shook his head decisively: "It's too late to mobilize troops. The zombies outside the city have blocked the road and we can't get into the city at all. Xie Lingyan is holding up the barrier. We have to deal with this mechanical hub first."

Before he finished speaking, Ren Xuan's eyes locked on the entrance to the Sutra Library, and his brows suddenly furrowed.

Yue Anshan looked in the direction he was looking and saw a young man in red leaning lazily against a pillar with his eyes half closed, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

But beneath his feet, spider-web-like blood-red lines had already spread out, as if flowing blood, swallowing up the ground.

On the spider web, dozens of people were unable to move, some with pale faces, some covered in cold sweat, as if they would be covered in blood if they struggled even a little.

Among them, Tang Wuyong struggled to hold on, gritting his teeth and insisting: "General Ren... don't worry about us... Yinshu City... the safety is the most important..."

Ren Xuan lowered his brows and remained silent for a moment.

He recognized this formation.

Chasing the Soul and Seeking Essence is the first of the ten forbidden techniques. Anyone below the third level will die if they try it.

Not to mention that Yuan Feng was just sleeping in the formation, even if Yuan Feng died in the formation, they could not step in.

Ren Xuan took a deep breath and called out in a cold voice, "Yuan Feng, the battle in the inner city is raging. Don't you find it boring to just stay here?"

The young man in red slowly opened his eyes, raised his hand lazily, and casually pointed at the plaque of the Sutra Library. He then made a gesture to silence the crowd: "Keep your voice down, don't disturb us while we're reading."

Yue Anshan twitched the corner of his mouth and sneered, "From just now until now, this guy has been sleeping against the pillar. What the hell is he reading?"

Ren Xuan stared at him. “We?” Yuan Feng was always cold as ice. Fang Cun had tried tirelessly to win him over, but he had never been noticed. Who would he call himself “we”?

Ren Xuan stared at Yuan Feng, then suddenly narrowed his eyes and changed the subject: "Yuan Feng, is your brother in there?"

Yuan Feng's expression remained unchanged. He tapped his fingers on his knees and asked, "What's it to you?"

Ren Xuan said in surprise: "He can even read books?!"

The red-clothed young man's eyes changed slightly, and he slowly stood up straight, saying in an unhappy tone: "What do you mean?"

Ren Xuan didn't answer, but instead raised his eyes and stared at Yuan Feng: "You answer me first. Whether you believe it or not, Fang Cun——has ideas about your brother, and I'm helping you."

These words were like a sharp thorn, accurately piercing Yuan Feng's sore spot.

The young man frowned slightly, his tone filled with impatience: "Of course my brother can understand books. Didn't anyone teach you to read?"

Ren Xuan's heart sank.

That's not right... In his previous life, Yuan Feng's brother was just a walking puppet in Fang Cun's hands. But now, it seems that the situation is completely different from what he remembered... Could it be that Fang Cun hasn't made a move yet?

His eyes narrowed slightly: "Yuan Feng, Fang Cun wants to manipulate your brother in order to control you."

The air suddenly became quiet.

Yuan Feng's expression suddenly turned cold, the bloody spider web under his feet surged like a tide, and the space distorted violently.

The next moment, Yuan Feng appeared in front of Ren Xuan.

The young man lowered his voice and said in a cold tone: "How do you know?"

Holy shit, this guy knows?!