Chapter 493 — Human Life Weighs More Than Heaven

The guests at the banquet were knocked utterly off balance. The blast struck so violently that houses collapsed and roofs caved in; the palace eaves behind them were torn clean off and sent spinning backward through the air. Together with the eaves went the whole banquet—plates, bowls, wine, jade tables, all of it swept up into the sky by that terrifying surge of air.

Whoosh—a great tree snapped in two at the waist and whirled up into the air, and then several people beyond the residence walls were torn off the ground by the gale, flailing wildly, clutching at the tree in their panic, only to be flung away into nothingness by another, even more dreadful wave of force. Shen Mu and his companions were cultivators of no small attainment, after all, and each of them steadied themselves.

Bai Qingfu raised a hand, and one Mystic Water Dragon Pearl after another floated into the air.

"Freeze! " he barked. Above the Bai residence, the people and objects flung into the sky were all pinned in place—but beyond the walls, house after house and tree after tree were torn up by the roots and came surging toward them, until the pressure crushed down on Bai Qingfu beyond bearing. His face flushed red.

He stamped his foot, and the True Dragon Spirit manifested behind him, making the many Mystic Water Dragon Pearls blaze with light—and still it was not enough to hold back the weight.

"Qingfu! " A woman came hurrying over with a child in her arms, leading a crowd of Bai family experts.

Each of them stirred their Mystic Water Dragon Pearls, and the pressure on Bai Qingfu eased at once. He said hastily, "Mother, uncles, aunts—and Granduncle—why have you all come? " "I received word—Beiluo Shimen has already been breached!

" The woman spoke rapidly. "What's coming is the vanguard of the demon lords from beyond the realm.

Bailong City cannot hold.

You must leave the city at once and go to the Heavenly Court! We of the older generation will hold this place. You go on ahead with the common folk of the city; we will catch up soon after! " The other youths were stunned, then cried in alarm, "Beiluo Shimen is broken?

What are we to do?

Let's hurry back to our residences and warn the elders! " "There's no need! " The woman shouted, quelling the panic. She thrust the little boy in her arms into Bai Qu'er's embrace and pressed a Mystic Water Dragon Pearl into her hand as well, saying sternly, "Your elders already know—there's no need for you to warn them! Leave the city at once and go to the Heavenly Court!

Don't bother packing anything, just go! The Dragon God Pearl in Qu'er's hand will help you drive back the darkness! " Bai Qingfu knew how grave the situation was, and looked urgently at Shen Mu.

"Brother Shen, you come with us!

" Shen Mu's heart stirred. The chest rattled and rose to its feet. Ban Gongcuo hastily leaped up onto the chest, and the Dragon Qilin, spirited and alert, leaped up onto it too. They made straight for the rear gate. When they reached it, a heaven-shaking boom suddenly sounded. Shen Mu turned to look, and saw the vast body of one of Bailong City's deities—the one guarding the south gate—flung high into the air and come crashing down toward them. At the same moment the deity was sent flying, an ox-headed giant wrapped in chains appeared outside the city gate.

Its enormous body towered even above the gate tower. It hauled on the chains, and at their end a black iron ball as vast as a mountain crashed down upon the deity!

Shen Mu felt a chill of dread. If the black iron ball smashed down on that deity, it would surely land here—what chance would they have to live?

Just then, a long, resonant dragon cry rose from the Bai residence. The woman and the many Bai family experts revealed their true forms, transforming into giant dragons that soared into the sky to meet the falling iron ball. At the same time, experts from the other great residences of Bailong City poured out in full force, surging toward the south gate. Beyond the south wall, colossal half-human, half-beast giants were battering the wall.

The towering rampart collapsed with a roar, and then countless "outer-realm fiends" poured into the city like a tide, swiftly drowning house after house and crashing into the defending army. "Go, quickly! " Shen Mu, Bai Qingfu, and the others raced toward the north gate. It was already packed with refugees, so jammed that not a drop could pass—people crushing against people, trampling one another—there was simply no way out.

On the gate tower, the deity guarding the city exerted its divine power, transforming it into great hands that reached down, lifting and shifting the people crammed there out of the city, crying in a loud voice, "Stand in the light outside the walls! Do not step out of the light!

" Shen Mu and the others leaped out of the city. They saw that many of those who had landed outside were screaming and charging into the darkness, only to turn into skeletons in an instant, flesh and bone stripped away. The deity had moved tens of thousands of people, and still countless more were surging toward the north gate, wailing and crying, while the army of the "outer-realm demons" had already cut its way over.

The deity ground its teeth and leaped out of the city, roaring, "Gather around me—I will take you to the Heavenly Court! Follow me!

The young and strong at the rear, hold off the outer-realm demons! " As for those still rushing through the city, it could not spare them either; it could only save these first. Shen Mu and the others landed. Bai Qingfu hastily led the group after the deity into the darkness, but Ban Gongcuo said furiously, "Come back, all of you!

If you want to live, don't follow that deity!

" Bai Qingfu was taken aback, and looked at this man with no legs. Bai Qu'er, holding the child in one arm and raising the Mystic Water Dragon Pearl in the other to light the way, asked in confusion, "Why shouldn't we follow them? " The child began to cry.

Her sister-in-law took the child and soothed him softly. It was Bai Qingfu's son, not yet weaned. Shen Mu said gravely, "That deity is guarding tens of thousands of people—too large a target. It will surely come under attack!

Everyone, there's nothing wrong with listening to him. The Venerable One is the finest fugitive I have ever seen—his skill at fleeing is unmatched under heaven! Venerable One, you have the most experience—tell us which way to go!

" Ban Gongcuo asked at once, "Which way is the Heavenly Court? " Bai Qingfu raised a hand and pointed west of Beiluo Shimen. Ban Gongcuo said immediately, "We go east!

Hurry! " The deity had already vanished into the darkness with the refugees, while a light glowed around Shen Mu and the others, drawing a hundred or so refugees to gather there, with more constantly drawn in by the glow. Ban Gongcuo said viciously, "Move—kill all these dead weights!

" "How can you kill our own people? " The crowd was outraged.

Bai Qu'er stopped too, ready to lead away more of them. Sweat poured down Ban Gongcuo's forehead. He said sternly, "Are you all going to die here?

Don't want to live? All this womanish mercy, and not one of you will escape! " The "outer-realm demons" burst out of the north gate and plunged into the crowd of refugees, slaughtering on every side.

Bai Qingfu ground his teeth.

"No need to wait for the others.

We go! " They hurried into the darkness. The chest also gave off a faint, ghostly light—something that would ordinarily have astonished others, but now no one had the heart to ask about it. Behind them, the outer-realm demons came on like sharks scenting blood, attacking again and again. Bai Qingfu and the others guarded the rear, fighting as they retreated.

"We're too slow, dragging all this baggage!

" Ban Gongcuo gnashed his teeth, glaring savagely at the common folk of Bailong City around them, and grinned. "These low-born wretches are a waste of life anyway.