In the Hunter Guild's office on the second floor, guarded by four armed personnel.
Following the explosion from North Street, Xu Liyan picked up the ringing black phone, listening to his subordinates reporting the situation monitored by drones.
Before he could issue any orders, a fierce burst of gunfire erupted at the city gate on South Street.
This instinctively made him frown, with a bad premonition.
Xu Liyan waited patiently for a while, and finally, a different person on the other end of the phone reported the sudden incident of the wandering vagrants creating chaos and about to rush into the city.
"Is this the situation 'Father' wants?" Xu Liyan muttered to himself, hanging up the phone, redialing, and connecting to the highest commander of the city defense army.
He ordered with a cold expression:
"Immediately gather the main force and push all the wild wanderers who rush in back out. Don't worry about how many people die."
After issuing this order, he called his confidant in charge of the city lord's guard:
"Divide the manpower into two parts. One part will take heavy weapons to the First Hospital to assist Audick in solving 'Father', and the other part will gather downstairs to escort me back to the City Lord's Mansion."
The City Lord's Mansion had permanent fortifications and underground bunkers, which were much safer than the old building of the Hunter Guild.
Moreover, if the riot became more serious, and 'Father' escaped the encirclement, and the situation could not be controlled in a short period of time, then he could also leave from the relatively safe and closer North City Gate under the protection of the City Lord's Guard and return to his own manor, or directly go to another city.
Having arranged these things in an orderly manner, Xu Liyan stood up and walked towards the door with his attendant completely covered in robes and hood.
The four armed personnel outside immediately dispersed, each in their position, guarding against possible attacks from different directions.
Just then, Xu Liyan suddenly felt an itch on the back of his left hand.
He subconsciously reached out with his right hand and scratched the back of his left hand a few times.
Not only did the itching not disappear, but it became even more severe.
Xu Liyan became anxious and scratched harder.
Red scratch marks immediately appeared on the back of his hand.
Almost at the same time, his back, his chest, his thighs, his face, all the places on his body covered or uncovered by clothes, experienced unbearable itching.
The more he scratched, the more itchy he felt, and the more he wanted to scratch. In a few seconds, he felt like a million ants were crawling on his body, wishing he could take off all his clothes and have a good scratch.
Not only him, but the four armed personnel also experienced similar reactions and had reached the point where they couldn't hold their guns and only wanted to scratch.
Clang, clang, clang, the metal guns fell to the ground, bouncing a few times.
The only one who didn't move was the mysterious person completely covered in a hooded robe.
"Oh..." A slightly surprised voice came from a room at the other end of the corridor.
Then, a person walked out.
This was a woman with long blonde hair and light blue eyes, her skin was rough, and her pores were slightly large, which made her look very attractive.
She was the vice president of the local Hunter Guild, Christina!
"You don't feel itchy?" she asked curiously, looking at Xu Liyan's unusually mysterious attendant.
As she spoke, three people came down from the staircase near the president's office.
Some of them were holding pistols, and some were holding "short neck" submachine guns, their eyes locked on Xu Liyan, who was scratching frantically.
Among these three, one was a woman, about 1.65 meters tall, with a baby face, and two were men, one was masculine and handsome, and the other was weathered.
They were the remaining three members of the "Old Tune Group" who had disappeared before:
Wei Yu, Lu Jiqi, Yun He!
At this moment, the mysterious person wearing a hooded robe stepped aside, blocking Xu Liyan and the three attackers behind.
In the sound of clanging, the mysterious person's body was hit by a large number of bullets, causing sparks to fly everywhere, but only the clothes were damaged, and no blood was left.
With a whoosh, the mysterious person tore off his robe, revealing a tall body composed purely of a black metal skeleton and various mechanical components that looked intimidating.
He raised one hand and calmly proclaimed a Buddhist chant:
"Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, this poor monk no longer has that kind of feeling.
"Although I still feel itchy, I can completely tolerate it, as if facing an illusion."
This was an answer to Christina's question just now.
He was indeed a mechanical monk, a mechanical monk living in this wasteland.
Christina raised an eyebrow:
"Then how about another one?
"May all your desires be fulfilled."
The next second, Xu Liyan and his five bodyguards discovered that the itching on their bodies was gradually weakening, while the mechanical monk's red glowing eyes suddenly brightened, close to blood.
"Erotic desire erupts? You are indeed an Awakened, an Awakened who believes in the Year Star Mandala." The mechanical monk muttered to himself, then put his hands together and said calmly, "Female benefactor, this poor monk is not Jingfa or his brothers and can barely control himself."
As he spoke, Xu Liyan and the five bodyguards had found places to hide and engaged in a gunfight with Wei Yu, Lu Jiqi, Yun He, and the others.
The mechanical monk was located in the heart of the gunfight, hit by stray bullets, but stood firm, as if he had only encountered a rainstorm.
Christina pressed on her hip and bowed slightly:
"But it can be seen that you are also affected."
A smile appeared on her face, but it seemed quite sacred:
"Mandala is in our hearts."
"Benefactor, everything in the world is an illusion, and so are desires. If you indulge in the pleasure brought by the physical body, you will be bound by it and become a beast in the world." The electronic synthesized voice of the mechanical monk even carried a bit of compassion.
He put his hands together again and said solemnly:
"Six paths of reincarnation, the animal path."
As soon as the mechanical monk finished speaking, Christina saw countless phantoms of beasts.
There were wolves, tigers, hyenas, and wild boars, all looking at her with green eyes.
Under such gaze, Christina's self-awareness suddenly changed.
She found herself unknowingly becoming a wolf, covered with coarse gray-black fur, and a tail decorated with withered grass drooping down.
She was a little panicked, a little dazed, wanted to say something, but only made animal sounds:
"Awoo..."
In Xu Liyan's view, Christina and the other three attackers suddenly and strangely fell to the ground, their limbs propped up, making "awoo" sounds.
Their eyes seemed to have lost the light of wisdom.
"Haha..." Xu Liyan couldn't help but laugh. He stepped out of his hiding place and said with some fear and excitement, "You didn't think I only had some ordinary bodyguards and relied solely on 'advanced hunters' hired from the guild, did you? If it weren't for Jingnian Master, how could I have known in advance that someone was going to assassinate me?"
Xu Liyan's five bodyguards instinctively turned their heads and looked at the mechanical monk.
Although Jingnian was not wearing a monk's robe or a cassock, and his metal skeleton and heavy firepower body were exposed, he still maintained the demeanor of a high monk, saying peacefully:
"The most important supernatural power this poor monk gained from seeing myself is:
"Foresight."
As soon as he finished speaking, the gunfire at the South Street location suddenly became blurred, and the entire building swayed, instantly shattered, like a dream.
Xu Liyan shuddered and found himself still in the president's office, just putting down the phone.
"Zen Master, just now..." Xu Liyan turned his head quickly and looked at the mechanical monk Jingnian, who was wearing a hooded robe.
Before he could finish speaking, Jingnian nodded:
"This poor monk was also dragged into an illusion and competed with Benefactor Christina.
"This is very similar to a certain ability in the realm of the Year Star Destroyer."
"Destroyer... Isn't that the Year Star worshiped by the 'Anti-Intellect Cult'? 'Father'? Shouldn't he be in the First Hospital? Did they bring other Awakened?" Xu Liyan was both surprised and angry. He stood up, "It's not possible to determine whether Christina has a problem. In the illusion, her performance was like that of the 'Holy Desire' Church. If she was indeed involved, it means that someone from 'Initial City' wants me dead!"
Jingnian chanted a Buddhist chant in a low voice:
"Benefactor Xu, it's better to leave here as soon as possible and return to the mansion."
The common illusion just now completely exposed his identity, and two of his abilities were also revealed.
This made him "foresee" a strong crisis.
"Okay!" Xu Liyan pulled out his pistol and walked towards the door.
The five bodyguards outside immediately surrounded him, like human shields.
They were all prepared to block bullets with their bodies.
As long as the city lord did not die, their families would definitely receive the most proper care.
"Next, highest alert status." Xu Liyan ordered.
"Yes, City Lord!" one of the bodyguards replied.
He immediately added:
"We were also dragged into that illusion just now and know what happened."
Xu Liyan looked at this bodyguard and found that he looked very tired, with very heavy dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were quite deep.
"Okay." Xu Liyan nodded. "When this matter is completely over, I won't be stingy with rewards!"
At this moment, the red light in Jingnian's eyes suddenly became intense.
His auxiliary chip told him:
There were only four bodyguards outside before.
And his consciousness believed:
The total number of bodyguards was five, and there were no problems now!
"Not good..." Jingnian's emotions sank, and he was about to use the "Animal Path" with the largest impact range indiscriminately.
At this moment, the five bodyguards simultaneously raised the guns in their hands and aimed at Xu Liyan.
The eyes of four of them were slightly dull and sluggish, as if they were facing not the city lord, but an enemy with a deadly feud.
Without any delay or hesitation, they pulled the triggers.
Bang, bang, bang!
Sparks spurted out of the muzzles of the five guns, and multiple bullets poured towards Xu Liyan.