The two women bickered and bantered, finding a brief moment of relief amid the anxiety and unease.
Since there was no way to evacuate the villagers in time anyway, they might as well give up and accept it.
If General Jiyan had truly defected and was coming to Taoyuan Vale with Fractsidus members, they would buy time with their lives for any villagers who managed to see the truth and flee.
They were already mentally prepared for that.
A faint static sound broke the air. Yangyang stopped Chixia mid-play and pulled out her terminal to accept the call. Baizhi's tense voice came through immediately:
"Yangyang, have the villagers of Taoyuan Vale evacuated?"
Chixia glanced at the chaotic scene in Taoyuan Vale, scratched her cheek awkwardly, and answered weakly for Yangyang:
"No… the villagers won't leave. They're even clamoring to see General Jiyan."
On the other end, at the Court of Savantae, Baizhi felt the world go dark. A surge of frustration churned in her chest, nearly making her faint from anger.
She was silent for a long time, a thousand words caught in her throat. Finally, she let out a heartfelt exclamation:
"Shit!."
Back in Taoyuan Vale, Chixia could hear the storm of emotions in that single syllable and hurriedly comforted her:
"Baizhi, don't be angry. Just tell us—where are General Jiyan and the others now?"
"Southern Court of Savantae. They're heading along the road toward Taoyuan Vale. I set up some roadblocks on their route ahead of time—"
Boom!
A thunderous explosion cut through the terminal. Yangyang's heart clenched. She quickly asked:
"I think I heard something explode. Baizhi, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. That was the sound of General Jiyan blasting through one of my roadblocks with a single shot. It delayed them by about half a second."
Baizhi's voice was calm, carrying a faint sense of resignation to death.
The corrupted General Jiyan was about to reach Taoyuan Vale, yet not a single villager had fled—and some even wanted to line the streets to welcome him…
Could anything be worse than this?
"Baizhi—is there a small beacon near General Jiyan's current position?"
Noah suddenly spoke up.
Baizhi, still in hiding, instinctively looked toward Jiyan's location. There was indeed a small beacon nearby. She lowered her head and replied:
"Yes. Why?"
"No reason. I have a rough idea of where they are now. Don't worry—I'll go handle them."
Noah pushed off with both hands, landing gracefully from the boulder, and started walking southeast.
The map of this world roughly matched the in-game layout, but real distances were far greater.
In the game, sprinting from Taoyuan Vale to Jinzhou took only a few minutes. In reality, it could take an hour or more.
As a professional liver, Noah had memorized every inch of the game map. Knowing the location of just one beacon was enough to pinpoint Jiyan's relative position.
"Noah, don't go!"
Yangyang hurried after him and grabbed his arm.
Smart as she was, how could she not realize Noah intended to confront General Jiyan?
Earlier, when he'd said he would fight Jiyan alone, she had taken it as a joke. But now it was clear—he was serious!
This was reckless!
Noah had only awakened his resonance ability yesterday! Beating a Tacet Discord was one thing—taking on General Jiyan?
Yangyang couldn't comprehend how someone could be this bold.
"Don't be rash. General Jiyan is the legion general personally appointed by the Sentinel Jué. His strength is unfathomable. He's not someone you can face."
"If I don't go stop them, are we just going to sit here and wait for them to come knocking?"
Noah acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world, finding nothing strange about his decision.
Yangyang was momentarily speechless. Her usually gentle brows furrowed. She explained softly:
"Speaking from my own selfish wishes, I very much hope you can defeat General Jiyan, defeat Fractsidus, and even defeat that red-clothed stranger who invaded Jinzhou."
"But the reality is—you only awakened your resonance ability yesterday. You may not be stronger than them. In fact… you're just a traveler passing through Jinzhou."
"You have no reason, no obligation, to risk your life against an enemy you can't possibly beat."
Yangyang's emotions grew more intense. Finally, she gave a bitter smile and shook her head, her words filled with helplessness and despair:
"I'm grateful you've stayed with us this long, but danger is coming. You should find a safe direction and leave Jinzhou."
"Leave?" Noah asked in surprise. "Then what about you two?"
That single question struck a chord deep in Yangyang's heart. Tears welled up instantly, mist clouding her eyes:
"We… will stay with Jinzhou until the very end."
At those words, Noah fell silent.
He fully understood Yangyang's resolve and knew they were already prepared to die.
Whether it was Scar invading Jinzhou or the uncertainly traitorous Jiyan, both were insurmountable mountains for them.
Facing enemies they could not overcome, they had long grown numb and weary from the pain. Yet fate would not grow merciful because they endured enough, nor soften because they remained hopeful.
When cruel reality sought to strip away the last things they had, they would offer their lives as kindling, igniting an unyielding wave amid despairing lament… even if that wave was nothing more than an itch to their enemies.
That determination to face death moved Noah deeply.
He finally, truly understood—they were living, breathing people, not NPCs that handed out quests and then vanished, not beings he could brush off with casual excuses.
"You say the villagers of Taoyuan Vale refuse to evacuate, but the ones who truly don't want to leave… are you two."
"But I believe—"
"What should end is the suffering—not life itself!"
Noah raised his hand, gently prying Yangyang's fingers from his sleeve. His gaze was confident and calm:
"I'm not like some yellow-haired camera that pretends to sleep and runs from problems. Since I'm here, I won't turn a blind eye—"
"Relax—"
"I'll win!"
Noah broke free of Yangyang's grasp, said no more, and strode toward Jinzhou.
Back where they stood, the terminal in Chixia's hand transmitted a voice:
"Chixia—who was that man asking about my position just now? Reinforcements from the Grand Library?"
"No, you've met him. It's Noah—the one we picked up yesterday. His newly awakened resonance ability is incredible."
Chixia glanced at Noah's running figure, lowered her head, and continued into the terminal:
"He's heading off to fight General Jiyan right now."
"Huh?"
On the other end, Baizhi was completely stunned.
A man they picked up yesterday awakened resonance ability and is now going to face General Jiyan head-on?
Like a level-1 Yasou challenging a fully built, passive-stacked top Nasus.
That's just feeding!
As the usually rational and cool-headed Huaxu Academy researcher, Baizhi lost her composure—redlined, broke defense, panicked!
A frantic voice burst from the terminal:
"Chixia! Go stop him right now!"