City Lord's Mansion, inner bedroom.
"Cough."
On the bed, Bedfellow snapped his eyes open and began to cough violently.
He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, where a dark-red brand was deeply etched into his skin-husk.
It was Chen Zhou's Eternal Calamity Karma-Fire Brand.
"Fortunately... fortunately..." Bedfellow panted, breathing a sigh of relief. It was lucky he had a spare skin-husk.
"City Lord, you're finally awake!"
Cheng Zhishan stepped forward quickly. "A major disaster has occurred. After dark, anomalies broke out in both the inner and outer cities.
"A large number of white cocoons appeared in the outer city district, and human-face sores are rampant in the inner city district. Many... many people have already died."
He swallowed hard. "Of the ten Blackwater Guard squads sent out to patrol, only one returned."
Bedfellow slowly sat up. "Dead? Commander Cheng, do not be impatient. Death is not the end."
"Bodhisattva's Pure Land of Great Dreams is about to descend. This is a tribulation, but also a test. We must believe in Bodhisattva Jieyin; he has his own arrangements."
Cheng Zhishan felt a tightness in his chest.
"City Lord, the people are in a state of panic, and the white cocoons are still appearing. We..."
"We?" Bedfellow interrupted him and stood up.
Cracks had already begun to appear on his human skin-husk body, but he didn't care.
"Cheng Zhishan, you are loyal to me, but you should be even more loyal to Bodhisattva Jieyin." He walked up to Cheng Zhishan, his ever-shifting face leaning in close.
"I need you to act immediately. Gather as many remaining citizens as possible in the central square. I will be there to assist the Bodhisattva in crossing this tribulation together!"
"Gather the citizens?" Cheng Zhishan turned pale with fright. "City Lord, gathering people together at a time like this... if the white cocoons break out... wouldn't that be sending them to their deaths?"
"They were already living in a sea of suffering. The sooner they are liberated, the sooner they will find peace," Bedfellow's voice was gentle. "I will be there in person to assist the Bodhisattva and guide them into Sukhavati."
"Yes, your subordinate obeys," Cheng Zhishan gritted his teeth and said with a cupped-fist salute.
The streets of Lantao City were a mess.
Screams of panic and cries for help rose and fell one after another.
Eerie white cocoons were scattered across eaves and corners, some even wriggling slightly as white grids crawled across the ground.
"The Blackwater Guard is here! By order of the City Lord, all citizens are to gather at the central square immediately! The City Lord will personally descend to protect all living beings!"
Cheng Zhishan led a squad of Blackwater Guard elites, shouting loudly on the main street.
Bedfellow followed right behind him. He did not intentionally hide the brand on his face, simply walking calmly.
Wherever Bedfellow passed, the white cocoons that were still wriggling withered and retreated, hiding in the shadows.
To the desperate citizens, this scene was nothing short of a miracle!
"Look! Those monsters are afraid of the City Lord!"
"The City Lord is here! We're saved!"
"The brothers of the Blackwater Guard haven't given up on us either!"
People in despair are the most desperate to grasp at any straw.
The citizens of Lantao City already had a deep-rooted trust in the Blackwater Guard, and seeing the City Lord's divine might now, it was as if they had seen a savior.
Panicked citizens began to pour out from their hiding places, following closely behind the Blackwater Guard and Bedfellow.
"Commander Cheng, you must save us!"
"My wife last night... sob... she was sleeping right next to me..."
An old man grabbed Cheng Zhishan's arm, tears streaming down his face.
Cheng Zhishan's body stiffened.
A strong sense of absurdity washed over his heart.
He, Cheng Zhishan, Commander of the Blackwater Guard, felt as if he were leading a flock of lambs to the slaughterhouse.
And these lambs were still profoundly grateful to him.
He looked at those eyes full of trust and expectation. He opened his mouth, but could say nothing. He could only nod stiffly and continue to lead the way.
At that moment, the sound of intense fighting came from the street on the other side.
"Malevolent ghosts! Tear those nets apart!"
"Quick, there are survivors here, take them away."
A team charged out from the flank. At the head was Jian Huaishuang, carrying a giant sword, his face cold as frost.
Behind him were Jiang Ziang and other Corpse Soul Sect disciples, as well as the malevolent ghosts they controlled.
They had clearly also experienced a hard battle; the paper people were covered in the slime of the white cocoons.
They had just cleared a few streets to search for survivors when they happened to run into this large-scale gathering of people.
Bedfellow saw Jian Huaishuang and the paper people behind him at a glance, and his heart immediately tightened.
He recognized this aura; it was the same source as that Bone Temple fiend in the deep dream!
"Commander Cheng, stop them! They are Bone Temple evil spirits, intending to sabotage the Bodhisattva's ritual and harm the citizens!"
Hearing this, Cheng Zhishan looked at the aggressive team of paper people, and then at the terrified Lantao citizens on the square who viewed him as their protector. A flicker of struggle flashed across his face.
Cheng Zhishan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were filled with resolution.
He chose to obey.
"Blackwater Guard, form ranks! Stop them and protect the people!"
Military orders were absolute. All Blackwater Guards drew their spears and formed a battle array, facing the paper people as battle erupted with a roar.
Jian Huaishuang frowned slightly, looking at the Blackwater Guard blocking the way and the large number of innocent citizens gathered on the square.
He didn't immediately order a forced attack. Instead, he locked his gaze on Bedfellow, who was standing on the high platform of the square, and said coldly.
"Coward who hides his head and shows his tail, why haven't you faced your execution?"
Before he finished speaking, the giant sword on his back unsheathed, turning into a sharp white stream of light that pierced straight toward Bedfellow!
Bedfellow had just fled from Chen Zhou with heavy injuries, and his strength was greatly diminished. Facing Jian Huaishuang in peak condition, compounded by the effects of the Calamity Brand, he immediately fell into a disadvantage.
He barely managed to circulate dreamlight to defend, but his figure continued to retreat.
"You... you're only at the fifth-stage and haven't even touched the threshold of eerification. How can you have such power?"
Bedfellow felt that death energy that countered all dreams and gritted his teeth hard, a flash of madness appearing in his eyes.
He stopped worrying about Jian Huaishuang and instead soared into the air, hovering above the square.
"Since you are unwilling to liberate yourselves proactively, then I will give you a hand!"
He spread his arms, and that human skin-husk on the verge of shattering actually began to emit brilliant dreamlight!
"Great dream dharma, Heavenly Net!"
Dreamlight poured down, and countless grids surged from the ground.
"City Lord! What are you doing?" Cheng Zhishan turned back in horror, just in time to see the grids pulling the tens of thousands of citizens on the square into the net together.
"Ah—"
"Help, my hand!"
"So sleepy..."
All the citizens entangled by the grids rapidly lost color in their skin. White, grid-like fibers began to pour out from their eyes, ears, mouths, noses, and even every single pore.
Squelch... squelch...
It was the sound of flesh and blood being forcibly converted.
In just a few breaths, tens of thousands of living citizens were transformed into giant cocoons under that ghastly pale dreamlight.
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