Jiang Chen sat cross-legged, pushing the Seven Apertures Spiritual Resonance divine ability to its absolute limit. At the same time, his eyes, sharp as a hawk's, cast the Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil into the heart of the mouse tide.
In this moment, Jiang Chen had no other recourse; this was simply not something mortal strength could contend with. Even a Spirit King level powerhouse would be as insignificant as a drop in the ocean within this boundless tide of rodents, unable to make even the slightest wave.
A gleam of sharp intelligence now shone on Consort Dan's face. She sat upon a stone slab, no more than five or six meters from Jiang Chen.
She understood, more or less, that if Jiang Chen could not find a solution, then all they could do was quietly await their deaths.
Perhaps the defensive lines Jiang Chen had laid down could delay the tide's advance for a little while. But under the crushing pressure of the infinite mouse swarm, that tiny, circumscribed area was practically no different from having nothing at all.
It was like trying to scoop a river dry with a ladle—a woefully inadequate effort, completely mismatched to the scale of the threat.
"What is Jiang Chen thinking right now?" Consort Dan felt not a shred of fear at this moment, only a calm, clear-headed acceptance.
Watching him sit there so still, his face bearing that unshakable composure even as a mountain might crumble before him, Consort Dan had to admit that this Jiang Chen was indeed extraordinary.
In a situation like this, even Prince Ye Rong, who was accustomed to witnessing countless grand spectacles, had a bitter smile plastered across his face.
He had only recently been secretly delighted at defeating his political rival, Ye Dai. Who could have imagined that the very next moment, fate would take such a drastic turn?
The mouse tide...
Ye Rong gazed upon this boundless, golden sea surging forward at terrifying speed. In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, it would flood their area, claim it, devour them, and gnaw them down until not a single bone remained.
"Is this my, Ye Rong's, fate?" His bitterness was extreme. At this moment, what difference was there between victory and defeat, between success and failure?
He could only imagine that Ye Dai and his group, down in the lower valley, must have already been overrun and swallowed by the mouse tide by now.
Ye Dai and the others were certainly already morsels in the belly of this Gold-Munching Mouse tide.
But the current Ye Rong felt no joy whatsoever. Because this irresistible force of destiny was about to befall him with equal finality.
This thought brought a pang of sorrow to Ye Rong's heart. His gaze fell upon Jiang Chen, and suddenly, a spark ignited within him. From the depths of his despair, a sliver of desperate hope was born.
"Jiang Chen! Yes, we still have Jiang Chen! As long as Jiang Chen hasn't given up, I, Ye Rong, still have a chance to turn things around! Perhaps... perhaps Jiang Chen still has a plan?"
Ye Rong clung to this small comfort, like desperately shielding a flickering candle flame in an endless darkness.
It was the last ray of hope.
No one wanted to disturb Jiang Chen at this moment, nor did they dare.
If they still harbored even the faintest sliver of desperate hope, its sole source was Jiang Chen. Only he, at this critical juncture, could keep them from a despair so profound it led to suicide.
"Aah!"
"Save me! Don't kill me!"
"No, I don't want to die!"
From the main road below, a series of agonized screams rose.
Ye Rong's heart stirred. He recognized those screams immediately—they came from Ye Dai's group.
Consort Dan had heard them too; her elegant brows furrowed slightly as she couldn't help but look down. Within the boundless golden ocean, a few figures were putting up their final, futile struggles.
It was indeed Ye Dai, Chen Li, and the others.
The poison within their bodies had worn off, but even if their martial strength had been ten times, a hundred times greater, it would be utterly useless against this infinite tide of mice.
This desperate resistance only served to further inflame the mouse tide's viciousness, stirring their bloodlust to a frenzy.
Ye Dai screamed in despair, "Ye Rong, I'm dying, but don't you dare gloat! You're going to be their meal right after! Hahaha! We fought and schemed against each other, and in the end, we all just perish together!"
"The third one's already been eaten, and I'm about to be next! Aah! My leg... Fourth, you're up next! Tell me, isn't Second feeling awfully pleased with himself right now? Tell me, this mouse tide—maybe he was the one who triggered it! For all we know, he's hiding somewhere right now, laughing at our plight, waiting for the news of our deaths! We fought each other, and in the end, it all worked out in his favor!"
"Second Prince?" Ye Rong's heart sank. A dying man's words often hold a sliver of truth. The things Ye Dai was blurting out in his death throes might actually make a certain amount of sense.
Recalling the dead Gold-Munching Mice on the road, this tide was almost certainly artificially triggered. Then who was the one who had triggered it?
There was undoubtedly a human hand behind this. And it was obvious that this person had known both Ye Rong's movements and those of the First Prince, Ye Dai.
Who else would be interested in both his and Ye Dai's whereabouts?
The Second Prince, Ye Qiao!
The image of Ye Qiao surfaced in Ye Rong's mind, and his mouth filled with bitterness. "Second... it seems you really are the ultimate winner!"
The thought of Second Prince Ye Qiao also flashed through Consort Dan's mind. That enigmatic figure who had clashed with First Prince Ye Dai for years, who had always been suppressed but had never truly fallen.
Could it really be that *he* had orchestrated this?
Consort Dan gave a helpless smile. At this point, even if they knew it was Ye Qiao's doing, it changed nothing.
Whether it was Ye Qiao or not, it no longer mattered.
The boundless mouse tide had already surged to the foot of the mountain and was beginning its relentless advance up the slope. Although the speed uphill wasn't as fast as on flat ground, it would be at their feet in just a few breaths.
Squeak squeak squeak!
Squeak squeak!