Chapter 284: Chaos Descends (1)

All of Jinling City was in ruins.

When Yan Liqiang and the Four Seas Escort Agency arrived in the city, this was what they saw. Collapsed walls, houses on fire, and buildings that had been reduced to rubble. They could not even find a building that was still standing.

Yan Liqiang had no idea what the city looked like prior to the earthquake, but the scene in front of him now reminded him of the pictures he saw online after the Tangshan and Wenchuan earthquakes.

Other than the earthquake, a few meteors had fallen straight onto the city last night. The meteors had bombarded the city, leaving craters ranging from tens to hundreds of meters in diameter on the ground. Everything within the radius of a thousand meters from the huge craters was reduced to ashes. Nothing could have survived it, not even a cockroach.

The city which was once the city of dreams, was now a ghost town. Apart from the ruins, only dust and the scent of blood lingered in the air.

Those who survived the catastrophe were covered in blood. Their faces were full of soot, and they were either wandering like soulless zombies, searching for the remains of their loved ones, or sitting among the ruins, grieving for everything they had lost overnight as though they had lost their minds.

Corpses filled the city wherever Yan Liqiang went, and they were of all ages and walks of lives. It was a gruesome sight.

To make matters worse, the bureaucracy buildings and Law Enforcement Office were wiped off the map with a bang when a meteor had fallen less than two meters away from them in the city.

The army which was based in the city had set up their camps in the city. During the incident, most of the soldiers were conducting their training in the foxholes. Therefore, when the walls collapsed, the soldiers were not impacted by the meteor crashes and explosions, but they were all buried in the ruins of the massive city wall.

Even the city gate had collapsed when Yan Liqiang and the escort party arrived. They had to climb through the mountain of debris to enter the city.

Upon entering the city, Yan Liqiang saw a soldier who was still in his uniform. He was in a mess, and he stood by the collapsed wall with a pair of blank eyes. He seemed to be devastated by the catastrophe. Yan Liqiang tried calling him twice, but the soldier did not respond. Instead, he stood by the ruins as he mumbled, “It’s all gone! It’s all gone!”

Wang Hui and the others who stayed behind in the depot and never stepped foot into the city were deeply shocked by the sight. They finally knew what Yan Liqiang said was true. Law and order did not exist in the city anymore. There was simply no one to govern the city. They had nobody to rely on other than themselves. Survival was now the priority. The escort mission could only go on if they survived.

Wang Hui’s face turned pale as he saw the craters with a diameter of a hundred meters across the southern part of the city and the empty space around them, “I’ve been to Jinling City before. This spot used to be the busiest part of the city, Jinling’s Eighteenth Square. All the best restaurants and music were here. Escort Leader Feng brought some men here to meet his friend. If they were meeting at Jinling’s Eighteenth Square, then…”

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If Escort Leader Feng was meeting someone at Jinling’s Eighteenth Square last night, then it only meant one thing — he had vanished. Even his remains could never be found again, so there would be no way for him to come back.

Even before Wang Hui finished his sentence, everyone had understood the implication. The sight before their eyes once again proved that Yan Liqiang was right. If Escort Leader Feng had not been back by morning, it was very unlikely for him to be alive…

Now, everyone in the escort party was looking at Yan Liqiang with respect. He had proven himself as a person with accurate judgment. He was able to predict the outcome of the event long before anyone else had realized it. This was wisdom and a power great enough to earn him respect.

Yan Liqiang noticed the difference too. Everyone had been looking at him with eyes filled with respect. This was something he had been hoping for. The escort party was now in shambles without a leader and everyone feared for their lives. If he chose to remain silent and do whatever he was told to, he might just lose his own life in the Heavenly Realm. That would be bad, because he needed the Heavenly Realm to peek into his own future.

He turned his eyes away from the steamy meteorites on the ground and stared at his companions with unbelievably calm eyes, “Escort Leader Wang, do you remember which part of the city people bought or sold daily necessities such as rice?”

“I think… I do. It’s near the western gate. There was a market where locals traded daily necessities.”

“Great. Let’s go check out that place. Maybe we can find some food. After that, we must leave the city as soon as possible. This city is now filled with corpses. Unless the army arrives in time to clear the streets, the city will be infected with diseases and we won’t be able to come in again. Remember, we are running out of time, so we must hurry.”

Everyone nodded, and Wang Hui led the way through the ruins to where the western gate used to be.

As they walked, Gu Zexuan walked up to Yan Liqiang and whispered, “Leader, there may still be some survivors under the debris.”

“I know…” Yan Liqiang nodded as he looked at Gu Zexuan, “We could’ve saved some people if we were here last night. But not now, we are short on time. Indeed, some people might still be alive, but the current situation doesn’t allow us to tarry too long here. Look at us. We have no water and food. Jinling City will soon explode with chaos and diseases. We must ensure our survival before we think about rescuing them. Everyone in the escort agency is putting their life in my hand right now, I can’t lead them to death!”

Gu Zexuan looked around the city that was filled with rubble and craters as he sighed helplessly.

……

Somewhere in the middle of the ruins in the city, a group of men dressed like peacocks was scavenging around. Before long, they carried a wooden box out from the rubble. They opened the box, and each one of them screamed in excitement, “We are rich! Rich! There really are treasures hidden in here! Now, all this money belongs to us! Muahahaha!”

While the men were celebrating, Yan Liqiang and his men came up from the other side of the ruins. They bumped into each other, and the group of men nervously took out their weapons and confronted Yan Liqiang’s men, “Who are you people….”