My Misfortune Crushed Instances

"Screech—Bang!!"

The massive and aged city gate collapsed with a resounding crash. After a grueling battle, the East Gate of Ghost City was finally captured by the Witch Pheasant, Wu Tuo, and Wu Li tribes.

This battle went much more smoothly than expected because once the tribal priests unleashed their mana without restraint and fully utilized their witchcraft, the rain of arrows ceased to be a problem.

At this moment, the demon tribes were surrounding and exterminating scattered Yin Sha Undead near the gate, while others were tasked with securing high ground to scout for enemy movements.

In decades past, they had never set foot in this place. Discussions about alliances for expeditions had been had with more tribes, but were abandoned due to insufficient interests.

If not for the calamity that befell the Witch Loach tribe this time, they wouldn’t have exerted such great effort to break into the city.

"Chief priests! We’ve thoroughly searched around the East Gate. There are a few malignant spirits, but they’ve been exterminated."

After a brief, hushed discussion, the leader of the Witch Pheasant tribe stepped forward and said, "Understood, now reorganize the troops and continue the watch."

After the demon tribe member left, the three priests wore heavy expressions.

"In your opinions, what should we do next?"

"...Ghost City is more perilous than anticipated. I fear it’s unwise to venture further in."

"Then what? Do we just retreat?"

The three old demon chiefs hesitated somewhat.

Although the East Gate was captured, they found it to be much more challenging than they imagined. It was clear that to hunt down the four Great Witches, the city patrol general, and the Witch King within the city, their three tribes alone were far from enough.

"Sigh, if it’s not possible, I can ask Wu Huan to send more reinforcements."

"Their tribe suffered a great catastrophe and is short-handed now. How could you possibly ask for help?"

The reason why the Witch Crow tribe could quickly earn respect from Cheng Mingyue was that their tribe faced calamity and were on the brink of destruction. She helped them, therefore, building esteem between them.

All three priests were frowning deeply.

Their three tribes were in the East of Ghost City, the Witch Crow tribe was in the South, while there were other demon tribes in the Northwest, but after the city’s fall, they lacked cohesion and hardly interacted. Gathering to clear the city of malicious spirits was unrealistic.

While they were deliberating whether to advance or withdraw, the messenger from earlier rushed back again.

"Chief priests, the scout reports that the mansion of the Great Witch Biao Xieche in the East of the city has been leveled, with obvious signs of battle, and no trace of Yin Sha malignant spirits around."

Whoosh.

A cold wind blew past, making several leaders feel like they heard a bad joke.

"Say that again?" The impatient Witch Pheasant priest took a step forward, grabbing the messenger’s arm, "Are you saying Biao Xieche’s undead have been dispelled?"

The demon tribe member couldn’t conclude definitively and only confirmed that Biao Xieche’s mansion was indeed ruined.

"Let’s go take a look."

The three priests had considerable power; together, they were enough to handle a Great Witch. Fearlessly, they followed the guards, soon standing before the desolated ruins.

"What happened here?"

Before them lay only dilapidates and crumbling walls with no sign of evil qi, leaving all three leaders perplexed about what occurred, much less the other demon tribes.

"Priests!! Priests! Over at the Witch King Palace, the Witch King Palace has also collapsed!"

Another young demon rushed over, loudly reporting everything discovered ahead.

The leader of the Wu Li tribe squinted his eyes, "Are you sure you saw the Witch King Palace?"

The dramatic changes in Ghost City happened decades ago when these young demon tribes weren’t even born, so he suspected they might be mistaken.

The young demon argued, "Priest, I’m sure of it. Head out of Changming Street going west, then turn north onto Central Afternoon Road. It leads directly to the Witch King Palace, there’s no mistake."

Since the young demon recounted the route, the Wu Li priest couldn’t doubt further.

"What about the road? No Yin Sha Evil Spirit?"

"None, but the streets and houses have suffered considerable damage."

"Let’s take a look."

A group marched through Changming Street, turned toward the center of Witch City, and looked northward, finding the grand palace indeed gone, with only remnants of a ruined palace gate, and no Yin Sha wandering nearby.

The demons cautiously explored toward the palace, encountering no danger, until they reached the only partially intact part—the palace gate, where they finally sensed a hint of peril.

Thud, thud, thud.

Heavy footsteps echoed from behind the gate, as a massive figure emerged.

"On guard!"

The demons braced themselves as if facing a formidable enemy, those who could prepare spells did so, while the rest took up weapons.

Thud, thud, thud.

The figure emerged from the shadows, revealing its true form.

A towering gorilla.

The young demons didn’t recognize this might, but the leaders hesitated between awe and uncertainty.

Where have they seen it before?

They quickly remembered that they had, indeed, seen it with the Witch Crow tribe.

It came with those two outsiders.

The mighty gorilla walked out from the palace gate and didn’t stop despite seeing the hoard of demon tribes before him.

Until it approached within a dozen meters, a figure peeked from behind and climbed onto its shoulder.

"Oh dear, I should have opened a door for you, forgot for a moment, you see."

Li Rui, from upon high, smiled and asked, "So, how did it go, esteemed priests? Was attacking the East Gate smooth?"

The Wu Li priest, with scales on his face, forced a smile and replied, "It, it went smoothly. Warrior, and this behind you..."

Li Rui was waiting for that question.

"Oh, nothing much, the havoc is over. What’s left in the city are some lone spirits, disrupting things. I’ll trouble you all to handle them."

He glanced at the suspicious priests and the other demon tribes beside them, saying, "Don’t worry, the patrol general and four Great Witches are also gone, only some small fries are left."

Li Rui gestured ahead, signaling the mighty gorilla to proceed. As they passed the tribal demons, he said, "A little help, don’t take offense. Should you wish to find me in the future, just look for the Wu Huan priest at the Witch Crow tribe."

He grandiosely didn’t look back until the mighty gorilla exited Witch City, retreating into the basket on its back.

Xu Xiliang couldn’t help but take a closer look at him. That performance wasn’t done carelessly or just for show.

Earlier, when the young demons were investigating, the three of them had already discovered that Li Rui specifically told them to feign ignorance, not expecting such an exit performance.

Initially, these three tribes had some hostility towards outsiders, with cold attitudes. Normally, some tribal tasks would be employed first to bring their favor to friendly terms before partnering to fight enemies, thus forging camaraderie and earning greater respect.

However, since Li Rui and Cheng Mingyue didn’t want to waste time, they charged into the city alone, skipping those procedures.

Now, if the Dragon Country faction wanted to subdue these demon tribes, gaining their allegiance through kindness was unlikely; imposing fear would be necessary.

Thus, Li Rui intentionally displayed a relatively cold attitude with the goal of raising his stature, inciting more fear than respect, and when they later come to pay respect, receiving them with a friendly demeanor, to alter their attitudes.

Of course, it was only possible because they managed to slay the Witch King before breaching the gates. If they had shown any sign of weakness, the effectiveness would significantly diminish.

At this point, Cheng Mingyue, also seated in the expansive basket, wasn’t concerned about such matters; she was busy tallying the spoils.

"Here, a few attribute point crystals with bonus experience. You take them."

The transparent crystals rested in her pale palm.

"Ah, I agreed to take the jade sphere, the rest are yours. How can I accept this?"

"If you’re embarrassed, why is it going to your inventory?"

"Can’t turn down such hospitality."

"What hospitality? I was merely being polite."

"I believe you’re sincere."

The basket upon the mighty gorilla’s back was a hub of lively banter. Xu Xiliang scratched his still-not-balding head, finding it hard to believe the two bickering companions had just recently unleashed powerful moves to instantaneously defeat a boss beyond the Secret Realm’s limits.