Chapter 137: First Blood
Ye Zan stared over the village wall at the forest surrounding it. There was no sign of any beasts yet. Not that he expected to see any. Master had said it would be at least two hours before the first ones arrived and that was almost an hour ago.
Villagers and sect members were still slowly making their way to their assigned positions. Which frustrated Ye Zan more than a little. He got that most of them weren’t any type of soldier, but he would have preferred to have everyone rush to their spots.
Master had ordered that there be no sense of urgency, though. Instead, he wanted a calm and organized stream of people taking their positions. It was a marathon, not a sprint.
Of course, none of them had any idea what a marathon was, but the meaning was easy to guess from the context. The tide would not last minutes or even hours, but days.
All their plans took that timeline into account. The personnel were all arranged in shifts. Manning the wall outside of when one was designated to do so was subject to punishment. Additionally, the twins and Senior Sister Kang Lin were not allowed to do so much as launch a single attack on any creature lower than rank four unless it was to directly save someone’s life.
Every person in a leadership position was to exude confidence and admonish those around them to keep calm and do their job. The message for the troops was that, if everyone pulled together, there was nothing to worry about.
Ye Zan was having a hard time believing that idea. He’d heard tales of beast tides but not firsthand accounts because he’d never met anyone who’d survived. Instead, he’d heard stories from those whose friends had died in one.
Of course, before meeting Master, Ye Zan hadn’t spent much time around cultivators. He suspected that the survivability of a mortal during such an event differed greatly from even a low ranked Qi Gathering practitioner.
Turning his attention to the plaza, he saw that Jin LiJuan had arrived. He hopped down to make sure she was doing okay.
She cupped her hands when she saw him. “Greetings, Senior Brother.”
After returning her greeting, he said, “Do you have any questions or need anything, Junior Sister? Master has given you an important responsibility.”
At least, Ye Zan hoped feeding coins to the barrier was an important responsibility. If it turned out not to be one, that meant the shield didn’t work, and that they were all likely to die sooner rather than later.