A three-layered wall surrounding and enclosing the entire restaurant building stood tall - its inner and outer layer were both made of stones, dirt and sand, and both were rapidly replenishing as growing thicker and taller; the middle layer was made of solid alloy, which was constantly growing in height, density and thickness, and the two flat but rough sides of it allowed the dirt, rock and sand to climb up, so that the entire wall could continue to grow taller, to further contain the rising glowing liquid. Jason’s figure turned to a silver shadow circling around the wall he erected and infusing his Xuanli into it.

Floating above the space enclosed by the wall, was Caroline with two pairs of fiery wings, with three orange balls of energy floating around her raining down pillars of fire and vaporizing the liquid to suppress its rise. Many human-shaped creatures made of liquid constantly tried to leap out from its surface and reach the area outside of the wall or attack Caroline, but they were all instantly sliced up and blasted into tiny droplets and smoke. She had yet to know what those shadows could do, or any long term effect the glowing liquid could have on the surrounding area. But her instinct told her, nothing good could come out of it.

Outside of the wall, there were vehicles from the Division forming blockades stopping any incoming traffic. Division agents were dispersed around the area, trying their best to evacuate people in this area.

And similar to the people whose feet and ankles were touched by the liquid earlier to a certain extent, many people in the area seemed to have fallen into a state of unawareness and unresponsiveness - they just stared at the direction of the restaurant building, not doing anything and not reacting to external stimuli, which would make their evacuation easier, if not for the fact that some kind of paranormal activity had also occurred in the surrounding area, even though it was in broad daylight.

“Go!” Waving her scimitars in the air and cutting down a solidified figure made of paint and oil, which came out of an old and mass produced oil painting hanging on the wall of an apartment, Aimee yelled at the mother and son hiding at the corner of the kitchen: “Take your son and go! Get outta here! There will be people outside to help you evacuate!”

“Bang bang bang!” Thomas was in the same building, but inside another apartment on a lower floor, the energy pellets from his enchanted shotgun blew off the entire upper body of a ferocious life-sized anime girl figure wielding a fruit knife, sending it tumbling and cracking up all over on the floor of the living room, breaking a cheap looking wooden coffee table in the process. After this, he yelled at the two young men with some bleeding but not lethal slashing wounds on their chests and arms: “Leave now! And get some smaller figures next time!”

“Boom!” Just right after the two young men left this apartment, a humongous carp whose body was made of a whole piece jade with the colors green, white and red crashed through the ceiling of the apartment Thomas was in, and different from normal decorative jade carps, this jade carp had several layers of sharp teeth in its mouth, its tentacles were soft, moving and had some sharp spikes along its many sections. And just when Thomas aimed his enchanted shotgun at the throat of the jade carp, it roared and released a powerful shockwave and blew Thomas through a wooden wall.

“Thomas! Be careful!” Aimee leapt through the cracks across the floors and caught up with the tail of the jade carp.

“I’m fine!” Thomas jumped from the ground and stood with her enchanted in hand and firing at the jade carp’s head. The fiery bullets bounced off the scales of the jade carp and were not able to deliver more damage than a few cracks.

“Clank! Clank!” Aimee’s scimitar knocked off a few chips on the jade carp’s tail, and the inside of its body was revealed to be just what she expected - it was still jade, though infused with all kinds of chaotic and dark energy.

The painful cries of Division agents could be heard coming from other parts of the street and this apartment building - the escaped energy from the restaurant building seemed to have created more powerful monsters than anyone could have imagined.

Thomas fired an energy slug from his shotgun at the jade carp’s throat, and it landed right on some small but razor sharp teeth inside its throat. The jade carp growled in pain and wagged its head, one of its tentacles whipped through the air and swept him off his feet and flipped his body in the air.

Aimee jumped and did a side flip in the air, while swinging the scimitar in her right hand at the jade tentacle that just threw Thomas on the wall. After a loud clunk sound, the tentacle was broken off.

The jade carp, now seemingly in pain, tried to roar once again, but the energy slug seemed to have wounded the inside of its throat, and it coughed and wheezed just like a human with a severe sore throat. 

This time it was Aimee who let out a roar, as she lunged forward and slammed one of her scimitars at the left eye of the jade carp.

The next moment, Aimee was thrown into the ceiling then fell down due to being bumped by the jade carp’s head. Her scimitars fell on the ground, but at least the attack she unleashed completely broke the jade carp’s left eye.

“Bang!” Just when the jade carp opened its mouth and tried to bite down on Aimee, Thomas jumped out from behind the broken wall, with his eyes glowing in flaming red and fired another charged and powerful energy slug at its mouth. The energy slug exploded right on its upper lip, and broke a large crack on its upper jaw. The head of the jade carp was pushed back and could not finish the bite, but it managed to whip its tentacles in the air, in an attempt to strike Thomas again.

“Clank!” A hand completely covered in thin but steel-like ice grabbed the tentacle in mid air, it was Aimee, who was now kneeling on the ground with one knee, her entire right arm covered in ice, and her eyes glowing in light blue.

Shoutout to my patrons:

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Jonathan

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Also, the full book of Xianshi Inn is available on Amazon! If you would like to support me and read the ending early, you can go ahead to Amazon and search "Xianshi Inn" to check it out!

---Egao Chan