Sophia sat by the window and stared out at the watery hell her family had been living in for the last few days. It was already the sixth day since the evacuation order had been issued and they had still not been allowed entry into the city.

There were more and more beast attacks every single day, so much so that the couple of hundred guards weren't capable of defending the entire area.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. What was going? Why were they denied entry? Where was her eldest son?

*Crunch*

There was a sound from the front, waking her from her thoughts. She looked up and saw the half-naked man sitting on the rock with his head down. The rock had small cracks all over it and looked like it could fall apart any second.

"It was fine a few days ago,

" she mumbled mindlessly.

Hearing her voice, the man, probably for the first time since arriving here, looked up and met her gaze, starting her.

"Those eyes, it was you?

" she whispered with wide eyes but the man did not reply and lowered his head once again, closing his eyes.

She stared at him for a little bit longer until Jacob called her for dinner. They were having soup from some bones that had been boiled over ten times already along with a few rice cakes. These were the only things left to eat now.

Jacob tried going hunting but there was not a single animal anywhere near them. The only thing in abundance was the cold water and the beasts circling around them.

They were very fortunate that there hadn't been any beast attacks in their area. They seemed to be avoiding them and only attacking other sides.

"Honey, you need to eat more, it's not good for the baby if you starve yourself like this,

" Jacob said pleadingly when he saw Sophia stare at the food without touching it.

She shook her head,

"I'm not hungry. Take my share to the boy outside, the one sitting on the rock. Even if he is a cultivator, I haven't seen him eat ever since he got here. He must be hungry but too shy to ask,

" she turned around and looked at Hao Xuan through the window once again.

"Look at his state. He must've gone through something horrible to end up like that. And he looks even younger than Felix. What would his mother think if she saw him like this?

" she said with tears in her eyes. Jacob also looked at the boy and shook his head. He knew how much his wife cared about their eldest son.

Even though they bickered and fought endlessly, she still loved him more than anything in the world. And they had been trying to contact Felix ever since coming here but there was no response from him at all. He knew Sophia was just using the boy as a replacement for Felix, but there was nothing he could do.

"Sure,

" he said with a smile and filled a big bowl of soup, and took several rice cakes with him.

"But dad, there's barely any left for us!

" Reece shouted but with an angry glare from Jacob, quieted down instantly.

***

Hao Xuan had arrived at Galena even earlier than the Miller family but hadn't entered on purpose. The entire place gave him an unsettling feeling.

When he first went up to talk to the guards, Zhurong who had been soundly sleeping suddenly woke up.

"Bad place, evil,

" he muttered with half-closed eyes and entered the container with Xiao Xiao before falling asleep once again.

Hao Xuan didn't use his badge to force his way in or even kill his way in because of that. He slowly walked back until the strange feeling disappeared and sat down on a rock.

The only time he went out was to 'devour' a few beasts to heal his wounds. He had found some but still not enough to heal him completely.

It was also at this time that he had 'met' the Miller family.

On the fourth day there was a strong fluctuation in the spiritual energy, so much that every single cultivator present felt it.

A blackish energy surrounded the entire castle and almost covered it completely. Of course, normal people could not see this change, hell, even cultivators below the Spirit realm had no way to see it. The only reason Hao Xuan was able to was because of his more powerful soul and constitution, but even for him, it wasn't very clear. It simply looked like a black haze to him.

But what caught his attention was the unsettling feeling that he was feeling before suddenly got much stronger and more 'physical'. He had felt this before, or rather remembered feeling something similar before.

Back when he saw the memories of Deimos, this was the feeling that was present when a true demon had appeared. The feeling of utter hopelessness, the feeling of evil and darkness. It was the body's natural response when encountering something so.....'unholy'.

As soon as he felt it, without wasting a second he contacted First and told him the severity of the situation. He didn't tell him how he knew this, just that he did. He told him that something evil had taken over the city and was probably controlling the city lord.

"Alright, I'll contact the great general myself and let you know,

" First said.

A few hours later he called again,

"Since the city lord was a Profound realm expert that means whatever's there now is probably stronger. Unfortunately, the Legion has no one to spare at the moment, but the 'Spearhead's' are sending a couple of people. They should be there in about two days. You must wait for them before doing anything,

" he explained before hanging up.

Hao Xuan had been sitting out in the open because he didn't want to use the portable camp and draw too much attention towards him. He was waiting for the two people from the Spearhead to arrive, which was Great General Ouki's division.

"War God Ouki..

" Hao Xuan mumbled while reminiscing. He had met this person before when he was escaping from the Alces. The reason Hao Xuan remembered him so clearly was because he used the same weapon as Hao Xuan, a glaive.

After regaining his memory, Hao Xuan had looked him up.

"Hailed as the God of War, born to a civilian, the great general has never been defeated on the battlefield. With his massive glaive, he has killed an uncountable number of enemies. One of the only three Great Generals still actively serving the Kingdom of Mei, he is a hero born to the battlefield.

"

"No wonder he is so popular. He was a nobody, yet with pure hard work he climbed to where he is today,

" Hao Xuan thought after reading his history.

"Hey there,

" a voice woke Hao Xuan up. He looked up and saw a middle-aged man standing in front of him with an umbrella and some dishes in his hand, smiling at him.

"Hope I'm not bothering you. We made some extra food and thought I'd share. My wife always makes so much, I keep telling her but she never listens. Women right? Haha,

" he handed Hao Xuan the tray and the umbrella.

"I know its not that fancy, but it will warm you right up. Perfect for this cold weather,

" he said before running back to the carriage in a hurry.

From start to finish Hao Xuan didn't even have a chance to react. By the time he regained his sense, there was a steaming bowl of soup and an umbrella in his hand.

"Um, thank....you?

" he shouted at the man's back with a confused look on his face.

"Is this charity? Do I look that bad?

" he looked at himself but stopped upon realizing the condition he was in,

"Nevermind...

"

After hesitating for a few seconds he took a sip and was amazed. How could it taste so good? Was it because he hadn't eaten for a while? Within a few seconds, everything was wiped clean. Not even a crumb was left.

"Now I'm hungry again,

" Hao Xuan rubbed his stomach.

"When the hell are the Spearhead people arriving? How long am I supposed to live like this?

" he shouted inwardly.

After washing the dishes with some clean drinking water from his storage ring, he went up to the carriage and knocked.

There were many voices of kids bickering coming from the inside which quietened down immediately.

"Yes? Oh, hello! How was the food?

" Jacob's head popped out from behind the door and he smiled upon seeing Hao Xuan.

"Thank you, it was really good. I went hunting last night and brought back some extra meat, can you guys use before it goes bad? I can only eat so much you see,

" Hao Xuan laughed and waved his hand and a basket of dried meat, eggs, milk, some fruits, and nuts appeared.

"I really appreciate you doing this for me. I thought I would have to throw this stuff away, but thank god there is someone who can use it,

" he smiled and shoved the basket in into Jacob's arms before walking away merrily. It actually looked like he was glad to get rid of the stuff, leaving Jacob with furrowed brows.

"What's that?

" Sophia asked when Jacob returned with a huge basket filled to the brim with food.

"That boy over there, he said he went out hunting and got a bit too much, so wanted to share with us.

"

"Huh? He went hunting and milked some beasts and stole some eggs while out?

" Miller asked suspiciously when he saw the contents of the basket. The milk and the eggs had expiration dates on them while the meat was in airtight sealed bags. It was pretty clear all this stuff was bought from a very high-end place. Each egg was as big as a small melon.

"Can we really keep it?

" Jacob asked his wife, who was the main decision-maker.

She looked out the window and smiled seeing the lonely silhouette in the rain.

"Sure, why not?

"

"But what if it's poisoned?

"

"If he wanted to harm us, there are a lot easier ways to do so, especially for someone like him,

" she shook her head.

That night the Miller family had a hearty dinner. And there was enough food to keep them fed for days if rationed properly. The next morning there was a knock on the carriage door. Jacob looked out and saw another basket filled with even more things, waiting outside for him.

He looked up at the rock where the young man sat every single but it was empty now. There was no one there anymore.

"He left...?

" Jacob mumbled. He went back and told Sophia, who quickly looked out the window and got a bit sad seeing the empty rock. She was so used to the boy's presence outside that it had become a natural thing.

The wounded boy who sat in the cold rain for almost a full weak with tattered clothes was like a sacred being in her eyes. He sat between the carriage and the jungle filled with wild beasts, but she knew as long as he was there, her family would be safe.

***

Hao Xuan was standing in front of two silhouettes in the jungle, glaring at them bitterly.

"Took you people long enough,

" he said through gritted teeth, trying to sound calm.

"We came here as fast as we could,

" one of the figures replied from under the black hood that covered his face completely.

"Whatever, let me change first and I'll go make a ruckus to give you guys an opportunity to enter without drawing too much attention,

" Hao Xuan waved his hand and the portable camp appeared, startling the two figures.

The rain couldn't pass through the barrier so as soon as the camp appeared, Hao Xuan let out a sigh of relief. This was the first time he had been out of the rain in almost a week.

"Make yourself at home. If you want to make some tea or food, there's the kitchen,

" he pointed at the campfire and went into the wood cabin.

The figures just stood there, looking around with wide eyes.

"This, isn't too bad a thing,

" one of them mumbled while examining the different formations.

About ten minutes later the cabin door opened and Hao Xuan walked out with a white Hanfu. He looked like a completely different person from the beggar-like appearance before.

"Ready?

" he asked while fixing his collar.

"As we'll ever be,

" one of the figures waved his hand and a giant spear appeared.

"Great,

" Hao Xuan stored the camp away and summoned Bai.

"Let's see how they treat the Ninth head of the Red Legion,

" he smiled and set off towards the city gate.