Chapter 271: Hope Amidst Despair

Dark clouds rolled, thunder boomed, and a torrential, foul-smelling rain poured down as if it cost nothing.

With the spiritual charm of the Shengxian River stripped away, the corruptive energy in Four Corners Town surged even more fiercely. The once-clear river had turned murky and rancid, its stench so overpowering that a single whiff could make someone retch up bile.

The river’s surface was littered with countless dead freshwater creatures. Looking out, the rotting fish and shrimp bobbed with the current—a sight so grotesque that anyone with a fear of dense clusters might collapse in terror on the spot.

In Four Corners Town, some still braved the stinking rain, darting through the streets and alleys.

Some rioted and looted, unleashing the evils of human nature, while others, heedless of danger, stepped out of their homes to save people.

The courtesans of the pleasure district emerged from their pavilions, each armed with a wooden stick. When they spotted villains forcibly violating civilians, they charged in, beating them relentlessly.

These assailants weren’t just men—there were plenty of women too… Yu Ling and the others were dumbfounded when they saw a hefty woman, built like a small hill, pinning a frail boy to the ground.

Riding his black donkey, Grandpa Donkey teamed up with Liu Feng, rallying a group of villagers to clash with the “starving” villagers in a chaotic brawl.

Guo Teng and Feng Wei, working with the wealthy households, set a “gold and silver” trap, luring greed-blinded villagers into it before binding them all up.

Over on Zhou Zhongtian’s side, he led a group of teenagers, the youngest barely twelve or thirteen. He had them arm themselves and knock out or tie up villagers hell-bent on self-destruction.

For a moment, Four Corners Town grew louder and more chaotic!

At a certain point, the corruptive energy above Four Corners Town churned violently, stirring the winds and clouds. Amid the howling gusts, faint ghostly wails could be heard carried on the breeze.

In East Corner Village, the tide-like swarm of minor ghosts exploded one by one, dissolving into strands of pure corruptive energy that shot skyward.

This sudden shift drew everyone’s eyes to the heavens!

Where the corruptive energy converged, thousands of ghastly apparitions emerged, alongside a massive shadow—hundreds of meters long and dozens wide, resembling a flood dragon—writhing up and down within the energy.

Most chilling of all, the dragon-like figure had two heads aligned side by side at its front!

Four enormous eyes, glowing like red lanterns, stared ahead, fixed on something unknown.

“An evil dragon! It’s an evil dragon!”

“No wonder the chang ghosts under it were so formidable!”

Gazing at the sky, Liu Feng’s body trembled uncontrollably. In all his years as an External Agent, he’d never seen an evil dragon, but he knew that something capable of becoming a dragon was far beyond what people like them could handle.

In his view, even Zhao Li wouldn’t stand a chance!

“We’re doomed!”

“These old bones of mine are probably going to be buried here today.”

“But that’s fine—before I die, I’ve at least taken on a dim-witted disciple!”

Grandpa Donkey kept a good mindset. After a mere glance at the dragon shadow in the sky, he lowered his head, refusing to look again. To him, death was inevitable sooner or later—staring only heightened the fear in his heart.

“Look! Look! Look!” Liu Feng pointed skyward in sheer horror, his expression far more shocked than when he’d first seen the dragon shadow!

Grandpa Donkey assumed this apprentice, taken on less than a day ago, had been scared witless and was calling out in panic.

So, he leaned over the donkey’s back, smacked Liu Feng’s head, and clicked his tongue, “Damn it, being scared is fine—but why keep whimpering like a woman!”

Snapped out of it by the blow to his head, Liu Feng hurriedly said, “Grandpa Donkey, look! There’s someone standing in front of that evil dragon!”

“Bullshit!”

“Who’d dare stand in front of an evil dragon at a time like this—and be human?”

As he spoke, Grandpa Donkey and the black donkey both looked up, peering through the heavy rain curtain toward the sky.

“Holy mother! There really is someone… no, no, that’s gotta be an immortal!”

“Wait, or maybe it’s one of the evil dragon’s crew…”

Hearing this, Liu Feng swallowed hard and said, “Grandpa Donkey, if I told you that person’s my colleague, would you believe me?”

“Good disciple, I believe you.” Grandpa Donkey lowered his head and spoke in a gentle tone, then added, “Good disciple, if you’re really scared out of your wits, how about I send you on your way? That way, you won’t have to suffer when that evil flood dragon crushes you to death later.”

“You old coot! Why would I lie to you?”

“That’s really my colleague! Mr. Gu!”

Grandpa Donkey furrowed his brow. “You brat, are you trying to deceive your master?”

“Little sister, don’t be afraid. That bastard has already been knocked unconscious by us,” Yu Ling whispered to a disheveled young girl.

The girl’s torn clothing barely covered her body. She curled up in the corner of a wall, trembling like a frightened rabbit.

At around sixteen years old, she was still an innocent maiden. Having narrowly escaped being violated, the fear she felt wouldn’t dissipate in just a short time.

And with the monstrous flood dragon looming in the sky and grotesque ghostly faces appearing above, her terror only deepened.

No matter what Yu Ling said, the girl seemed unable to hear it. She remained huddled in the corner, letting blood seep from her wounds and the cold, foul-smelling rain drench her body.

“Yu Ling, do you think we can survive this?”

“Yeah… we’re just ordinary people. We can fight against those men, but against that thing in the sky? There’s no way we can win…”

“Yu Ling! I don’t want to die… I still have my parents to take care of… I don’t want to die…”

A wave of despair spread among the courtesans. They might have been stronger-willed than ordinary women, but in the end, they were still just mortals struggling for survival.

When they realized that all their efforts might be in vain—that they might not be able to save themselves or their village—the tension in their hearts finally snapped.

“Everyone, don’t panic!”

“Four Corners Town doesn’t just have us!”

“The External Agents are here too, especially Mr. Gu!”

“You all know about him! He’s definitely someone extraordinary!”

“I believe he can save us—”

Yu Ling’s voice suddenly halted. Her eyes widened as she stared at the sky, tears brimming as she cried out, “Mr. Gu! Look! That’s Mr. Gu!”

“He’s standing in the sky! He dares to stand in front of that evil flood dragon!”

“I told you he’s not an ordinary man!”

Her words made everyone look up. And when they clearly saw the white-robed figure standing in the sky, facing off against the monstrous flood dragon, a spark of hope rekindled in their hearts.

“Mr. Gu is just an External Agent. He only earns three taels of silver a month. Yet he dares to fight that evil flood dragon for us, for West Corner Village, for all of Four Corners Town!”

“Then we have to do our part too!”

“The young girls and boys of our village mustn’t be defiled by those crazed fiends!”

With those words, Yu Ling tossed a wooden stick to the trembling girl in the corner and said firmly, “We saved you. If you’re willing, come with us to save others. If you’re not, we won’t blame you—just go back and hide in your house!”

“Don’t let our efforts be in vain!”

With that, Yu Ling picked up a broken stone from the ground and strode out of the alley.

Moments later, the once-terrified courtesans—and even the trembling girl—grabbed whatever weapons they could and followed her forward.