These towns and villages near the border have basically all died or fled, leaving no trace of life.
Even plants withered and decayed due to the invasion of demonic energy, truly a scene of utter devastation.
Ji Mofan searched along the way and prepared the bodies for burial, but at most he found a few cultivators who were too slow and had been left behind by the main force, still barely clinging to life.
His expression grew increasingly grim.
Even the black bird was no longer as excited as before, and would quietly nudge its little master, who had just returned from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, with its big head every time.
Including the area in southern Xinjiang, there are a total of 43 villages bordering the Demon Realm. The smallest of these villages has no more than ten households, while the largest village has a total of two thousand registered local residents.
Ji Mo Fan was unaware of this.
He could at most judge the approximate population size by the number of houses in the village, but the village with the largest population, Daoman, had several village chronicles and genealogies that had not been burned.
None of the other villages survived; the dead mortals were like a speck of dust in history, scattered along with their origins in the flames of war.
Only Daoman Village is like this.
The reason was not that the demonic cultivators hadn't cleaned up the battlefield, but that these things had been carefully wrapped in cloth and hidden in the stove by their villagers.
And there were defensive runes written with spiritual energy on that piece of cloth.
That piece of cloth was large enough to protect an adult and help them escape.
But what was covered up was only the thick stack of diaries and family trees, with the remaining space barely enough to fit a child who had been drugged.
It was a coincidence, really. If no one had come to this Daoman Village to search for the missing person after the demonic cultivators' sweep, the child probably wouldn't have lasted more than a day or two in the stove.
Moreover, he couldn't make a sound after being given the medicine, and there was a cloth covering the outside to prevent any power from probing him. Although Ji Mofan arrived in time, the possibility of him being able to find him by chance was extremely slim.
Just as he was passing by the house, the main beam of the room suddenly broke in two.
The house was mostly collapsed, and the stove was exposed. One of the legs was broken by the roof beam, revealing brightly colored fabric underneath, with spiritual runes flashing within.
Ji Mofan handed over the child and all the paper documents left behind by Daoman Village to his young disciple, who had already received basic treatment and was preparing to go to the rear to find the main force.
The disciple burst into tears upon seeing the child.
Their sect was located right next to Daoman Village, but when the riot broke out, they failed to protect the villagers who worshipped them as gods.
The sect, including the sect leader and servants, numbered only about a hundred people. This was barely enough to deal with demonic beasts under normal circumstances, but utterly inadequate for a battle like this.
His senior brothers and sisters all died under the swords of the demonic cultivators. He was originally going to die too, but his master shielded him from the demonic cultivators' swords before they pierced through him.
The sword missed his collarbone, sparing his life, and a miracle occurred.
However, his master went to the Yellow Springs in his place.
If Ji Mofan hadn't happened to appear, their entire sect and Daoman Village would probably have been wiped out.
Two of them are alive now.
By the time Ji Mofan had searched all the areas affected by the demonic cultivators, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
The land bathed in the morning light was ravaged, littered with blood and fire. Even the terrain had been destroyed by cultivators skilled in earth-attribute techniques, with withered trees crisscrossing the road.
However, there were still some footprints on the ground.
At first, their movements were scattered from various places, but they all converged on the widest official road. The road headed north, where loud shouts of battle were also heard.
When they were still more than ten miles away from the battlefield, Ji Mofan had Lianrong land in advance and transform into human form to stay by his side.
Aside from a few smaller sects located nearby, the closest sect to the Demon Realm is the largest sect in the cultivation world—the Xiaoling Sect.
The demonic cultivators arrived too suddenly and in such a chaotic manner that the Xiaoling Sect did not have time to establish a scorched earth defense, which is why the border towns suffered heavy losses.
But when they arrived at this first city under the protection of the Xiaoling Sect, the situation was quite different from before.
Clad in light black armor, the cultivators traversed the air on their swords, knocking a demonic cultivator who came to provoke them into the moat.
The water in the moat wasn't deep, but it couldn't withstand the manipulation of a cultivator with a water elemental root. Even the shallow bay was turbulent, utterly defeating the already disorganized small group of demonic cultivators.
"Little master, should we go up and help?" Lianrong asked eagerly from the side.
She also wants to eat junk food!
It smells awful but tastes delicious! It's crunchy and spicy when you chew it!
She was in the Demon Realm a while ago, when she was just a cub. Her tiny beak had to crush spirit stones before she could put them in her mouth.
It's made her only able to smell the stench, it's infuriating!
Ji Mofan shook his head, "I'm not going."
The demonic cultivators were no match for the city guards of the Xiaoling Sect; it was only a matter of time before they suffered a defeat, and it didn't matter whether he intervened or not.
This time, he wanted to find out exactly who instigated these demonic cultivators to attack the cultivation world.
Just now, Ji Mofan did encounter several groups of demonic cultivators during the search, but unfortunately, he did not obtain any useful information. These people were only ordered by their superiors to come and harass them, but they did not know who their superiors were.
So in the end, they all turned into cute little snacks for Lianrong.
These demonic cultivators currently besieging the city are not only incredibly weak, but their fighting style is also completely chaotic. It's less of a siege and more of a reckless, brutal brawl where they charge at any opponent they encounter.
On the other hand, the city guards were much more disciplined. When the enemy advanced, we retreated; when the enemy camped, we harassed; when the enemy was tired, we attacked; when the enemy retreated, we attacked[1]. They used one tactic after another, and it was obvious who trained them.
When Lianrong heard that there was no food left, she became very depressed.
She forgot many of her hobbies over the long years, but she kept eating this one.
But never mind, she's not someone who doesn't understand the situation, and now is not the time for her to indulge in eating and drinking recklessly.
Ji Mofan, carrying Lianrong, took advantage of the chaos of the battle and quietly infiltrated the city.
The city's protective formation only prevents demonic cultivators from entering; it's not as strict for righteous cultivators and mortals.
Without the token of the Xiaoling Sect, once you go in, you can't get out and can only stay inside and wait for further arrangements.
As soon as he entered Jimo Fanyi, he saw that the streets and alleys were full of refugees who had fled from all around.
They were all covered in dust and dirt, and as far as the eye could see, there were wounded people wailing and children crying everywhere.
——
[1] When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we attack: The source cannot be written in too much detail as it will be blocked. In short, it is a sixteen-character formula that highly summarizes the basic principles of guerrilla warfare.
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