Pu Ban City turned stagnant.
Most of the markets founded by large clans and families in Pu Ban City, and the campsites they built for their people to rest on their way to Pu Ban City or back from Pu Ban City, were empty now.
Other than the ones from outside the city, around forty percent of civilians left the city overnight to seek refuge with their families or friends, hiding in the forest, or directly joining the troops retreating from the city.
In the next moment, a big half of all kitchen chimneys in the city had smokes not rising from them anymore. Usually, the roosters would crow and the dogs would bark in the morning. But on this day, the city was much quieter than usual. Some dogs guarded the door of their families, humming in low voices that sounded like crying. Even animals had sensed the coldness from the air, and seemed to see a sign of the downfall of Pu Ban City.