Panic spread like a plague, instantly flooding the small stone hut.

Some began to sob quietly, some beat the walls in despair, and some even had flickering eyes that glanced toward the teleportation formation, as if calculating something.

"Instructor Su!" Lu Jun suddenly grabbed Su Ming's sleeve, as if clutching at a final lifeline. "The teleportation formation! Let's activate the teleportation formation! We might not have high-grade spirit stones, but we can pool our mid-grade ones, even stack low-grade spirit stones! As long as we can get out of here, anywhere is fine!"

"Yes! Teleport! Even if we land off-target, it's better than waiting here to die!" Several wounded soldiers echoed in agreement.

Su Ming looked at Lu Jun expressionlessly, letting him hold onto his sleeve.

"Lu Jun."

Su Ming's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power that instantly silenced the noisy room.

"You studied the basics of spatial arrays. You should know what happens if a teleportation formation has insufficient spiritual energy, or if the spirit stone quality is inadequate."

Lu Jun froze for a moment, his lips trembling. "It... it would cause spatial tremors..."

"No, that's the mild outcome." Su Ming cut him off, his gaze sharp as a blade. "The more likely scenario is that we get torn to shreds by spatial turbulence within the transmission channel, or part of our body gets transmitted while the rest remains here."

He pointed at his own waist. "Do you want to experience what it feels like to have only your upper half return to the sect?"

Lu Jun shuddered all over, subconsciously letting go and taking two steps back.

"But... but staying here is also death!" Lu Jun shouted, breaking down. "The northern route is cut off, the sleeper agent has run away. With our few people, wounded and crippled, how are we supposed to fight the insect swarm?"

Su Ming didn't answer immediately.

He turned around and looked through the broken window lattice toward the direction of Iron Wall Pass.

The flames there were still burning, dyeing the night sky a bloody red.

"First."

Su Ming raised one finger, his tone as calm as if giving a lecture. "The teleportation formation's destination is fixed—it's the outpost of the sect's 'Northern Border Patrol Division.' If that place was safe, why didn't the sleeper agent teleport directly away, but instead chose to run south? This indicates that the other end of the teleportation formation is probably more dangerous than here."

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this. In their extreme panic, they had overlooked this simple logic.

"Second."

Su Ming raised a second finger. "We indeed don't have high-grade spirit stones, but the sect does."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over each person's face. "Iron Wall Pass has fallen, Elder Mo sacrificed himself with the formation, the earth veins were detonated. With such a huge commotion, do you think the sect wouldn't know about it?"

"Will... will the sect come?" the old soldier with the broken leg mumbled, asking.

"They definitely will."

Su Ming stated resolutely, his gaze so firm it brooked no doubt. "Iron Wall Pass is the northern gateway. The sect would never stand by and do nothing. Flying boats, warships, even Nascent Soul Ancestors are probably already on their way."

In truth, he wasn't confident himself.

But he knew that at this moment, he had to give these people hope. Even if this hope was a painted cake, it could keep them breathing a little longer.

Moreover, he still carried that scorching hot "Formation Heart Seal" in his embrace. That was the lifeline of the entire northern defense line. The sect would move heaven and earth to retrieve it.

"Therefore, our task isn't to run, but to wait."

Su Ming's voice was steady and powerful, like a calming pill. "Waiting here is both for recuperation and to potentially receive other brothers who might escape. We are the only lighthouse."

"Lighthouse..." Lu Jun muttered to himself, the panic in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a glimmer of hope.

"Alright, stop standing around."

Su Ming clapped his hands, breaking the heavy atmosphere. "Anyone who wants to live, listen to my commands."

"Lu Jun, take two people who understand formations and go outside to camouflage that teleportation formation. No need to repair it, just make it less conspicuous. Remember, set up a few 'Warning Bells' around it. Use the most basic vibration runes, don't use formations with high spiritual energy fluctuations."

"Yes, sir!" Lu Jun straightened his back. Having a task actually calmed him down considerably.

"Old Zhang, take a few brothers who can still move and tidy up the hut. Move the severely wounded onto the stone beds. Use a fire starter to make a fire, but don't use an open flame. Surround it with stones to make an 'underfloor heating' system—we want the heat, not the smoke."

"Understood!" The old soldier with the broken leg, Old Zhang, responded and called a few people to start working.

"The rest of you, take shifts on watch. Focus on the direction of Iron Wall Pass and the northern approach. At the slightest sign of movement, sound the alarm immediately."

Su Ming arranged everything methodically. Each of his instructions was clear, specific, and highly actionable.

At times like this, people don't need grand strategies; they just need to know what to do next.

After assigning tasks to everyone, Su Ming walked alone to the hidden door in the corner.

He crouched down and carefully examined the hidden door's mechanism.

"Master, is this secret tunnel still usable?"

"Doubtful." Lin Yu's voice sounded. "The earth veins are blown. This tunnel is probably mostly collapsed. But this entrance section seems relatively stable. Keep it. If we truly get surrounded, we can dive in and use it as a rat hole to hide for a few days."

After doing all this, he finally let out a long sigh and sat down leaning against the wall.

Only now did the intense pain and exhaustion he had been forcibly suppressing surge up like a tide, almost overwhelming him.

The night deepened.

Outside the stone hut, the wind and snow grew fiercer.

Inside the stone hut, though crude, the "underfloor heating" and human presence provided some warmth.

Most of the wounded soldiers had fallen into a stupor, occasionally letting out a groan of pain. Lu Jun curled up by the door, holding a formation plate in his arms, his head nodding—clearly exhausted as well.

Su Ming sat cross-legged in the darkest corner of the hut.

He swallowed a "Reviving Spring Pill" he had saved from the previous battle. The medicinal power transformed into a warm current, slowly nourishing his parched meridians.

But he didn't rush to guide the medicinal power to repair his broken bones. Instead, he began circulating the "Like Water Art."

Pale blue water-attributed spiritual energy flowed gently within his body, softly enveloping the "Formation Heart Seal" floating deep within his Consciousness Sea.

The seal was currently emitting an extremely faint, yet incredibly tenacious, fluctuation.

......

Late night, the third quarter of the hour of Yin.

This was the darkest time before dawn, and when people were most drowsy.

"Whoo—whoo whoo—"

A low, urgent owl call suddenly came from the roof.

It was the secret signal from Lu Jun, who was on watch duty.

Everyone in the hut who had been in a stupor instantly woke up. Old Zhang almost instinctively grabbed the half-broken blade beside him. Even with a broken leg, that killing intent was still there.

Su Ming's eyes snapped open. There wasn't a trace of sleepiness in them, only a cold, clear lucidity.

His figure flashed, appearing at the door like a ghost, and he pressed a hand over Lu Jun's mouth just as he was about to speak and ask.

"Shh."

Su Ming raised a finger, signaling for silence.

He closed his eyes and once again urged the "Formation Heart Seal," carefully extending his divine sense outward.

North.

In the woods about three li away.

There was a series of extremely chaotic, yet deliberately suppressed, footsteps rapidly approaching this direction.

Not insects.

Insect footsteps were more dense, sharp, and carried that teeth-grating sound of carapace friction.

These sounds were heavy, dragging, accompanied by suppressed coughs and the clatter of weapons.

People.

And many of them.

"Prepare for battle," Su Ming ordered in a low voice, though his tone didn't carry much killing intent. "They might be our own people, but don't let your guard down. Old Zhang, take people to guard the windows. Lu Jun, activate the warning arrays."

Everyone immediately moved into action. Though nervous, having a leader kept them from panicking.

A moment later.

The footsteps reached the clearing outside the stone hut.

"Who's there?!"

Su Ming pushed the door open, his longsword held diagonally pointing at the ground. His voice carried far in the cold wind.

The figures in the woods clearly paused.

Immediately after, a voice full of tears, yet brimming with pleasant surprise, rang out:

"Is... is that Instructor Su?! I'm Wang Er Mazi from Yi-3 Battalion!"

Su Ming was taken aback.

Wang Er Mazi? That guy from the training class who never knew the answers to anything, but was more slippery than anyone at running away?

As the voice fell, over a dozen utterly bedraggled figures stumbled out of the woods.

By the reflected light from the snowy ground, Su Ming could make out their appearance.

This group was in even worse shape than Su Ming's people.

Some had their robes burned to tatters, some had half their bodies charred black, and some were being carried by their comrades, clearly unconscious.

But the clothing on their bodies was indeed the standard-issue robes of the Cloud Hidden Sect.

"It really is you!"

Lu Jun rushed out excitedly, supporting that Wang Er Mazi. "You... how did you find this place?"

"The flying boat... the flying boat exploded..."