POV from the third person. Tang Yue.
Urging on the harvesters of Plague Rats, who were stacking crates full of still-living or already frozen-dead rats into the bed of the last nearly full truck, Tang Yue fidgeted with the sleeves of her Judge's uniform from guilt and anxiety.
Even now, she could hear the sounds of the battle beginning on the walls and couldn't stop blaming herself for its start. After all, she was entirely to blame! No matter what Mu Bai said about his own guilt and Zhu Men's, she couldn't say he was completely right. Yes, perhaps they were guilty in some microscopic fraction of the situation, but the main blame lay with her and Lo Mian.
And she still hadn't decided who between them was more at fault. She, who had provoked him with her info dump, or the main culprit of the absurdity unfolding around them, who had snapped and gone to measures too radical even for him. After all, neither of them had realized the consequences of their actions. But it didn't matter to the girl. Deep down, she knew she had royally screwed up, and every life lost in this conflict would weigh a heavy burden on her heart.
But strangely, that wasn't what weighed on her the most. No, what worried her more was that she had lost Mu Bai's trust. Yes, her relationship with him was not entirely healthy or right, but they had relied on each other for several years now without ever letting each other down. And no matter how much she yelled at him or threatened him, deep down the girl understood that though all the sudden turns in her life caused by this guy were sometimes painful, they had only benefited her and her family. Just the exposed betrayal by her aunt was worth it.
Now, however, she had simply thrown his trust in her to the ground and trampled it when she took and told confidential and dangerous information to Lo Mian, despite Mu Bai's numerous warnings not to do so. Could she regain her former student's trust? Tang Yue struggled with an answer to that question, but one thing she knew for sure.
This mission, which he had assigned her more likely due to a lack of other free hands than remnants of his trust in her, she would complete flawlessly! No matter the cost! At least this way, she could atone for part of her guilt and begin moving toward restoring everything to how it was before that ill-fated incident.
Assembling a team to gather rats had been no trouble for her. Crowds of mages were ready to go with her to the warehouse district of the city to catch them, just to avoid going to the walls to defend the city. They evoked only disgust in Tang Yue herself with such behavior, but considering her involvement in the attack, she simply lacked the spirit to openly accuse them. And there was no need; the main thing was to complete the mission, and for that, these very people were necessary.
It took them three hours to gather the required number of Plague Rats that had huddled in warehouse corners due to the impending attack and pack them properly for transport. Considering the trucks' speed and the relatively poor road on the last stretch, it would take about an hour and a half to reach the destination. The info that they were a full half-hour ahead of the schedule Mu Bai had given warmed the girl's heart. At least here, she had exceeded his expectations.
Loading up and barking once more at the workers not to slack off, Tang Yue climbed into the cab of the lead truck to guide the entire convoy on the right road. In total, five big rigs full to the brim with packed Plague Rats departed for the Totem Serpent's hiding place. And the girl wouldn't let a single one of them suffer en route.
Fortunately, Tang Yue never had to put her combat readiness to use. Despite the battle already underway in the city, aside from a couple of stray White Eagles of Servant level drawn by the small amount of their favorite treat's scent leaking from the trucks, she didn't have to kill anyone, allowing the convoy to reach the Totem Serpent's preservation site safely.
There was, of course, a minor issue with off-roading, as the trucks kept trying to get stuck, but fortunately the girl's body was at the strength of a junior Pack Leader, so pushing the trucks a few times was no trouble. Though it's better to stay silent about how the men who had loaded these rigs and knew roughly how much they weighed looked at her with fear afterward.
Quickly jumping out of the cab and bulleting to the lake, the girl, unembarrassed by anyone, rolled up the sleeve of her uniform and plunged her hand into the water, beginning to summon her big friend and patron of the Tang Clan. Right now, Hangzhou needed its protector more than ever.
Finally, after five minutes of sending specific signals into the water's depths, waves rose on the lake's calm surface, and the Totem Serpent's head emerged from it. Having surveyed the surroundings and finding no threats to its current vulnerable state, it stared at Tang Yue with interest.
The Initial-level mages she had used as loaders and drivers froze in horror, as the girl hadn't bothered to warn them of what was about to happen. Having learned her lesson with Lo Mian, she now handled information she revealed to her surroundings with extreme caution.
"Big guy, we've brought a huge amount of Plague Rats! Mu Bai said that if you eat them, you'll be able to molt quickly! The city needs your help more than ever right now! Please, let's hurry!" Highly jumping up and stroking the serpent's scaly massive head, Tang Yue bulleted to the truck, simply ripped off the door to the cargo hold, hauled out one of the crates, and hastily ran back to the serpent, offering him her load. He, having examined it for a couple seconds, snorted mockingly.
"Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot to open it. You're not going to eat them with the packaging." Feeling stupid and burning with embarrassment, the girl jumped onto the serpent's head, opened the crate, and poured the frozen Plague Rat carcasses into the Totem Serpent's slightly open maw. Having swallowed his prey, he excitedly lit up his eyes, sensing a slight improvement in his physical condition. Then, he excitedly nodded to Tang Yue, hissing something to her a couple times.
"I'm glad you liked it! We'll bring more right now!" The girl excitedly clenched her fists. After all, everything was going according to plan, and she hadn't ruined anything yet! Her self-esteem, which had been at rock bottom after the recent incident, rose to baseboard level thanks to this.
"And what are you standing like statues for, you loafers? Quick, get your legs moving and run to haul the crates, dumping their contents straight into the city defender's maw!" Like a fury, the girl swooped down on the poor Initial-level mages frozen in terror. Every minute counted; they couldn't dawdle!
Thus, in an hour, the girl managed to gradually unload all the rigs along with her workers. It's even worth saying she unloaded half of all the crates herself, as, driving herself hard, she used her strong body to speed up the process.
But despite this, a radiant smile shone on the sweat-covered girl's face. After all, she had completed the mission! Already now, Tang Yue could see that the Totem Serpent looked much healthier, and the aura it emitted was simply suffocating, though still not quite reaching its peak strength.
It was clear he would be ready to fully shed his old skin and molt any minute! And then, at peak Warlord speed, it would take him less than five minutes to reach Hangzhou's walls! The girl hoped the molt would pass as quickly as possible to save as many innocent lives of her native city's residents... and so that Mu Bai wouldn't get hurt.