Chapter 142: Feng Ming Makes His Move!

Tao Fengming’s sudden action left everyone with question marks filling their minds.

Song Mu was even more stunned upon hearing these words.

The prefectural city was a great distance away from their current location, yet Tao Fengming had already sensed the situation over there.

Just what level had the range of his spiritual consciousness reached?

Shock filled Song Mu’s heart, but their pace was already swift, and within moments, they were sprinting along the official road.

The disaster victims on the road saw Song Mu and the others frantically rushing northward and initially thought some disaster had befallen behind them. Several bailiffs attempted to step forward to question them, only to be directly repelled by the overwhelming aura radiating from the few Scholar-ranked men.

Only then did they realize just how formidable this squad of literati truly was.

Song Mu and the others rapidly turned back toward the Shaozhou Prefectural City. Before long, Song Mu suddenly spotted smoke rising in the distance from behind the mountains.

It was drifting over from the direction of the prefectural city.

"Master!"

Song Mu pointed toward that direction and shouted to Tao Fengming ahead. Tao Fengming merely raised his head slightly, and his speed increased by another notch.

Seeing that the situation had changed, the others had no choice but to channel their literary power beneath their soles, moving at lightning speed.

Soon, the group arrived at the outskirts of the prefectural city. The refugees here presented a completely different sight compared to those elsewhere.

They were fleeing southward; to be precise, they seemed desperate to get as far away from the Shaozhou Prefectural City as possible.

The official road was in absolute chaos, filled with deafening clamor and uproar, where a moment of carelessness would result in people being trampled and overturned.

Song Mu and the others found it difficult to make any headway amidst the throng. Following Tao Fengming’s order, they stepped off the road and into the nearby harvested rice paddies, continuing their advance toward the city.

Just at that moment, a sharp, piercing cry suddenly echoed from ahead. The sound tore through the firmament, sending a jolt through everyone's minds.

Song Mu heavily furrowed his brows, the expression on his face shifting abruptly.

He was all too familiar with this hawk’s cry.

It was the very same call of the giant hawk that had soared into the sky from the Great Eagle Mountains yesterday morning!

The sound reverberated rapidly, causing even the Scholars to change expression and instinctively reach for the weapons at their waists.

Song Mu and Xue Kaiwen brought up the rear of the group. After rounding a mountain ridge, they finally laid eyes on the Shaozhou Prefectural City hundreds of meters away.

At this moment, plumes of smoke were rising straight into the sky from within the city of Shaozhou. Most striking of all was a massive bird in the sky, continuously spewing flames and whirlwinds down into the city, igniting fires everywhere.

Outside the city gates, countless commoners scattered like dense swarms of ants, their wails echoing across the land.

"Beasts!"

A stern shout rang out as Xiao Xiong, consumed by fury, brandished his staff and charged forward. Four other Scholars closely and angrily followed behind him.

Song Mu lowered his gaze and saw that Tao Fengming had stopped ahead, standing atop a small hill and gazing into the distance at everything unfolding before them.

Several figures had also risen from within the Shaozhou Prefectural City. They engaged the great hawk in mid-air, continuously hurling forth earth-shattering poems.

Yet for reasons unknown, they proved completely unable to subdue the giant hawk, which was merely at the half-step demon king realm.

Several Imperial Scholars were actually helpless against a single giant hawk!

This was the most shocking realization of all. Song Mu hurried forward, arriving at Tao Fengming's side, and spoke up.

"Master, what should we do?"

***

Tao Fengming kept his eyes closed, his eye sockets twitching. Song Mu quickly fell silent, knowing his master was probing the situation ahead.

Soon enough, Tao Fengming opened his eyes, a look of hesitation and incomprehension staining his face. He looked at Song Mu, swept his gaze over the other talents who were all watching him, and finally spoke in a slow voice.

"Head straight into the city. Demonic beasts are attacking the northern side, and someone inside the city has succumbed to demonic corruption."

"Your mission today is to slay demons and eliminate devils."

"Someone has succumbed to demonic corruption?!" The group of Scholars widened their eyes in shock, but Tao Fengming had already issued his command.

They nodded in succession, voicing their acknowledgment. Song Mu found a patch of grass to set down his personal belongings, slung his longbow across his back, grasped his sharp sword, and prepared to set off.

However, Tao Fengming called out to him, speaking precisely.

"How many Qingming poems do you know now?"

"Qingming poems?" Song Mu paused, then hurriedly replied.

"A little over ten."

"Good!" Tao Fengming nodded, pointing to the side as he instructed Song Mu.

"I will send you and Xue Kaiwen to that city tower. You will compose Qingming poems, and I will lend you a hand."

Song Mu was struck dumb, desperately wanting to ask why Tao Fengming was unwilling to take action himself. But the situation was critical, and whatever Tao Fengming said went. Song Mu nodded, and the three of them headed toward the city.

The commotion inside the city was growing increasingly violent, and the chaotic noises were becoming sharper. Song Mu could clearly hear the miserable screams of the people and feel the intense fluctuations of the battle between the human literati and the demonic beast in the sky.

The three quickly reached a corner of the city wall. A large number of commoners were rushing outward, and amidst them, bursts of miserable shrieks could still be heard.

Clearly, the city ramparts were right there, yet no garrison troops had been dispatched, and the refugees below were entirely without guidance.

"What is that?"

At that moment, Xue Kaiwen suddenly shouted. Both Song Mu and Tao Fengming looked toward the direction he was pointing.

At the distant western city gate, a sudden disturbance had erupted, and several figures within the crowd were actually leaping up to bite and tear at others.

"They have been infected by demonic seeds!"

Tao Fengming said, flicking a strand of literary power outward before saying to Song Mu, "I'll send you up to the city tower first. Xue Kaiwen, go deal with those two fellows."

Xue Kaiwen trembled all over, his face turning deathly pale, as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Song Mu raised his head to look at the towering city wall. Suddenly, a surge of power rose from beneath his feet. That gentle force carried Song Mu upward, and in the next moment, he and Tao Fengming landed atop the city ramparts.

Atop the city wall sat a bronze tablet inscribed with a Grand Scholar’s essay, guarded only by a scattered handful of soldiers. A massive crowd of commoners had surged onto the ramparts, and from both sides came bursts of miserable shrieks.

Those were the commoners infected by demonic seeds, charging at the city wall.

"Who goes there?"

No sooner had the two landed than a soldier stepped forward with a stern demand, but Tao Fengming merely flicked his sleeve, sending a wave of power rippling outward that forced the soldier to retreat in a panic.

"Stay right here. Begin writing now and release the poems toward the southern stairs. I am going to activate the Grand Scholar’s essay."

Tao Fengming instructed Song Mu, who immediately nodded. As he reached into his pouch for his supplies, he remembered Xue Kaiwen and looked down toward the base of the city wall, only to find no trace of him.

Just as Song Mu wanted to remind Tao Fengming, he caught sight of a familiar figure among the crowd surging outward, facing his way and looking up. It was Xue Kaiwen.

His face was deathly pale, sandwiched within the fleeing masses. Though he still gripped his weapon, he stared blankly ahead.

Suddenly, he turned violently and bolted away alongside the fleeing commoners.

***

Song Mu struck the city wall, feeling a heavy weight in his heart, but he had no choice but to turn around, hurriedly pulling out his court tablet to begin composing poetry.

A poem immediately materialized on the paper within the tablet.

"Walking to where the water ends, sitting to watch the rising clouds."

"By chance I meet an old man in the woods, laughing and talking with no set time to return."

An excerpt from the Poetry Buddha Wang Wei’s *Zhongnan Mountain Retreat* formed in an instant—a superlative Qingming poem.

In a flash, Song Mu completed the poem, tore the paper off, and tossed it away. The poem instantly vanished, transforming into gentle breezes that brought the frenzied figures on the city wall to a sudden halt.

Without lingering on the outcome, Song Mu lowered his head and immediately began writing his second poem.

"How broad and flat the magnificent vessel, empty waters merging with the infinite horizon."

"Dark clouds rise from distant mountain peaks, while sunlight chases the returning currents."

"Cicadas chirp, making the woods seem even quieter; birds sing, rendering the mountains even more secluded."

"This place stirs thoughts of returning home, a lifetime weary of wandering."

In the next moment, the entirety of Wang Ji's *Entering Ruoye Creek* also appeared upon the literary paper.

Meanwhile, Tao Fengming had already reached out to activate the Grand Scholar's essay. The writing on the bronze tablet began to glow with a golden luster. Under the continuous infusion of Tao Fengming's literary power, the tablet suddenly emitted a pillar of light.

The pillar soared into the sky, seemingly triggering a resonance across the entire city wall. The essays on the other three walls also activated at that very instant, sending four pillars of light shooting into the heavens where they converged and rained down golden radiance.

The city-defense grand array was finally activated.

The nervous soldiers nearby relaxed their wary gazes upon Song Mu and the two newcomers, and under the command of several squad leaders, they began driving the demonized individuals down from the city walls.

Song Mu continued to write with his head lowered, though the commotion within the city showed no signs of abating.

Tao Fengming raised his head to look, as if sensing something, and took a step forward.

His expression carried a hint of urgency, mixed with a struggle, until his gaze finally hardened into determination.

"Jingzhao, stay here. If your spiritual consciousness is exhausted, retreat out of the city."

With those words, literary power began to surge and rise beneath Tao Fengming's feet, and in the next moment, he soared into the air.

His robes fluttered wildly in the wind, his disheveled hair whipped about, and two balls of literary power slowly condensed in his palms as a terrifying pressure began to emanate from his entire body.

"Come out, abominations of the Demonic Cult!"

Tao Fengming shouted sternly, causing the entire city to tremble. Even the giant hawk in the sky recoiled at that moment.

Song Mu released the Qingming poem in his hand, his eyes wide with astonishment.

He had never witnessed such bearing from Tao Fengming. Usually lazy, slovenly, and unpredictable in temperament, Tao Fengming, the moment his literary power was unleashed, proved far more formidable than all the literati of the city combined.

The terrifying pressure spread outward like a tidal wave, and right after Tao Fengming shouted those words, another terrifying pressure rose from deep within the city in response.