When the last person walked out of the stage, the only still standing was Baoshi. He was still eating and refused to give up, wanting only to consume more.
"Sir, you don't have to eat anymore," Mayor Lim announced, approaching him. "Since you are the winner."
"No, feed me more!" Baoshi screamed, his voice guttural. "I want more! Give me more!"
"Everyone out of the arena now!" Lim Peizhi shouted, his voice ringing with urgency.
All the citizens stampeded out of the arena, colliding with one another in their desperate haste.
Baoshi screamed and stomped on the stage, causing the ground to shake violently. The stage broke apart, and Baoshi landed, unconstrained, in the middle of the empty arena.
"You trick me!" Baoshi screamed angrily, then roared loudly up into the sky. His form began to distort, growing rapidly until he became a twenty-foot-tall giant. He stomped on the ground harder and harder, his massive feet cracking the very earth.
"He's trying to break the magic circle," Guo Baiyu observed, his voice grim. "We must attack now!"
"Father, get out of here and go hide in a safe place!" Lim Peizhi shouted at Mayor Lim, then swiftly sent two arrows flying at the giant. One of the arrows struck Baoshi's left arm, sinking deep.
Baoshi stomped again and again until the ground cracked, and with a final, massive heave, he was free. The twenty-foot giant began kicking and stomping anyone who stood in his way, desperately trying to escape the city.
Guo Baiyu took out his magical bow and sword, which were the size of a painting brush, into his palm. He chanted a spell, and the magical weapons expanded, becoming weapons of ordinary size. Guo Baiyu's sword was half a yard long and three inches wide. The two blades connected in the middle, forming an arch, with the central connection serving as the handle. In order to be able to create endless arrows, one had to learn all the spells equipped with magic bows and swords.
According to Master Zhao, the bow and arrow were a very powerful weapon that only the most patient temperament could learn. It had taken Guo Baiyu two and a half years to be able to fully use his weapon as an extension of his inner desire. Guo Baiyu released two magic arrows at Baoshi's back, causing him to tumble heavily to the ground.
A huge worm then emerged from the ground, charging directly at Guo Baiyu. Ping'an swiftly released her whip. The whip wrapped around Guo Baiyu's waist, pulling him backward and freeing him from the worm's imminent attack.
Then, thirty icicles, conjured by Zhao Renshu, struck the worm. The giant worm fell dead onto the arena ground with a loud thumping sound.
More giant worms emerged from the mountainside, their massive forms destroying houses and claiming lives. Dust filled the air, disorienting the citizens.
Ping'an watched, everything happening in slow motion before her eyes: citizens screaming for help, crying in pain, calling out for loved ones, and corpses lying on the ground covered in blood. She heard her own heartbeat thumping wildly in her ears. She breathed slowly, one ragged breath at a time.
"Ping'an... Ping'an... Wake up...!" Guo Baiyu screamed, grabbing Ping'an's right arm, trying to shake her from her trance.
Ping'an slowly turned to Guo Baiyu, her face defeated. "Baiyu... It's all my fault. I released them."
Guo Baiyu hugged her tightly, his voice firm. "Get a hold of yourself. We are fixing it. Let's kill it and bring the souls back."
Ping'an and Guo Baiyu, their resolve hardened, chased after Baoshi.
In the street, black spiders, the size of baby piglets with eight legs, scurried around, killing people indiscriminately.
"Everyone who can fight!" Lim Peizhi shouted, his voice ringing out over the chaos. "Today is your day to prove to the world that no demons or creatures can take this city from us! We stand together and drive these creatures back to where they belong!" He raised his sword high, a beacon of defiance.
His encouraging words galvanized the citizens, prompting them to pick up any weapon they could find. Hunters from different inns also emerged, joining the fray. Hundreds of men and women merged as one, putting aside their personal grudges just for today, and began to attack the spiders.
Zhao Renshu and Huang Hongse arrived on the arena stage, the air thick with dust. Zhao Renshu saw two flashes of light not far from them, and he witnessed a large worm rearing up into the sky as if preparing to attack. Zhao Renshu summoned a talisman and sent thirty icicles directly at the worm. When the worm fell and hit the ground, it created even more dust in the air.
A spider leaped towards Zhao Renshu and Huang Hongse. Huang Hongse unsheathed her sword and swiftly cut the spider in half. Zhao Renshu pulled Huang Hongse behind him, brandished his sword, and cut down another attacking spider.
"Where did these creatures come from?" Huang Hongse demanded, her voice strained.
Zhao Renshu ignored Huang Hongse and shouted, "PING'AN!" He turned around; his voice filled with rising panic. "Ping'an, where are you?!" He cried out, "Baiyu!" He could think of nothing else other than the safety of his family. There were too many creatures around. He muttered to himself, "Think... Think... You dumb ass... Think..."
Just then, more spiders ran towards them quickly, but three beams of light shot them down. Huang Hongse turned around; it was Huang Yueliang.
"What's wrong with him?" Huang Yueliang asked, concerned by Zhao Renshu's frantic state.
"I don't know," Huang Hongse replied.
"What would Baiyu do in this situation?" Zhao Renshu asked aloud, desperately trying to channel his brother's wisdom.
"He is not here," Huang Hongse stated plainly.
"I know!" Zhao Renshu shouted, exasperated. "I was wondering what he would do if he were here!"
"Perhaps if you studied harder," Huang Hongse retorted, cutting another spider in half, "and didn't rely too much on your brother's brain, in times like this, you might be able to think of something!" She groaned as she stabbed another spider.
"I am the muscle; he is the brain!" Zhao Renshu protested. "I kill; he cleanses!" He conjured five talismans and sent them directly to the incoming army of spiders. "That's it! He said, 'Take out the leader and the army will crumble.' We need to find that ugly man quickly!"
"That giant man went this way," Huang Yueliang said, pointing. She sent magical sound waves at the spiders, creating an opening path for the three of them.
"He's running away!" Guo Baiyu shouted at Ping'an, urging her forward.
Ping'an commanded her swords out, sending the three blades to attack Baoshi. Two of the swords pierced Baoshi's two front shoulders, one sword in each. The third sword returned to her hand.
"Enlarge!" Ping'an shouted. Both of her swords enlarged, nailing Baoshi to the city wall.
From a distance, Zhao Renshu, the Red Moon Hunters, Lim Peizhi, soldiers, and some of the other hunters tried desperately to defend the city by attacking the swarms of spiders.
"I just want to eat!" Baoshi roared, trying to pull free from the swords. "I am very angry now! Arrrg..." He pulled himself from the two swords, bleeding profusely from the wounds. He knelt down and hit the ground with his two fists. His powerful fists created a ground tile wave heading directly at the hunters.
Guo Baiyu put his hands together and cast a spell, and then two red magic talismans appeared on both of his palms. He knelt down on one knee, placed his hands on the ground, and then a high mud wall rose from the earth, preventing the wave of floor tiles from attacking the city.
In doing so, the ground wave destroyed the mud wall, and rock fragments fell straight down onto Guo Baiyu and Ping'an. Guo Baiyu pulled Ping'an into his arms and shielded her inside his embrace from the falling debris.
"NO!" Zhao Renshu screamed. He began to cut down more spiders, then shouted desperately, "Ping'an!... Baiyu!"
When Zhao Renshu was about to run towards the fallen debris, Huang Hongse grabbed Zhao Renshu's left arm and pulled it back, preventing him from rushing towards Ping'an and Guo Baiyu. She sent two magic flags into the air, which instantly turned into hundreds of small flags, forming a magic shield that protected them from the falling rocks and debris.
Zhao Renshu watched in horror as the rocks and dust debris fell directly on his family.
From a distance, two people stood on the top of the mountain, observing the devastation in the beautiful city of Waterfall. These people wore white armor. Their eyes were green. The tips of their ears were like an elf's. Their skin and hair were white. Their hair was neatly braided on both sides of the head, tied to the back of the head. They all wore crystal headbands on their foreheads. Each man held a crystal white spear.
"Father, should we help them?" a Young Man asked.
"No, our job is to protect the Northern Fortress," an Older Man replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "Humans, they brought this upon themselves."
The two men walked away, the sound of galloping horseshoes echoing faintly behind them. As the two men walked further away, their rears transformed, revealing them to be that of a horse.