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墨書 Inktalez
As the path of slaughter widened, the ghosts that once filled the space became increasingly sparse. After vanquishing the last spirit, Mu Xuanche propped the Devouring Blade against the ground, his body swaying unsteadily. I rushed over, stepping through the blood-soaked ground to support his faltering form, while Bai Qiling had already collapsed into the Blood Pool, exhausted.
It was no surprise; not long ago, they had fought their way out from a group of worker ghosts. Just moments ago, they had lost a significant amount of spiritual energy to the iron door behind them. Now, after battling those spirits clad in blood armor for so long, I looked at the scattered limbs around us and gradually regained my composure. I removed the earplugs from my ears; perhaps with time, one could adapt to the sight of such horrific and grotesque remains. What lay beneath my feet might have been someone's severed intestines, but my heart grew colder as I tried to avoid looking at those things. Instead, I lifted my gaze to the towering tree ahead, which shone brightly like daylight.
A ghostly blue light illuminated the entire area, and from somewhere came an extremely faint sound of laughter. I wondered if these spirits enjoyed lurking in corners, observing us from their lofty perches like puppeteers watching clowns dance. Looking at Mu Xuanche and Bai Qiling, who were gasping for breath on the blood-soaked ground, an overwhelming anger surged within me.
I gently lowered Mu Xuanche and positioned him so he could lean against Bai Qiling. Stepping through the blood-stained ground, I moved closer to the great tree.
"Who are you?" My voice was soft but somehow felt distant. At that moment, the mocking laughter from afar grew sharper; it sounded like a young person's laughter but carried an inexplicable chill.
Suddenly feeling belittled, I drew my short knife and approached the tree. Before Mu Xuanche could stop me, I swung down with all my might.
In an instant, a bolt of lightning struck down violently onto my palm. Pain shot through me as I clutched my wrist, and more raucous laughter echoed in my ears. Instinctively glancing at Bai Qiling, I noticed he wore a wary expression; this was no mere illusion.
Summoning my courage, I raised my head to face the source of the laughter.
Indeed, among the interwoven branches above me, I spotted a pair of snow-white ankles.
I took a few steps back towards Mu Xuanche and Bai Qiling; my field of vision widened. There sat a boy who appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in flowing white robes and white shorts, perched high in the tree. Around him lay remnants of dismembered bodies scattered across the treetops. A chill ran down my spine as I noticed his expression—unprecedentedly cold and devoid of emotion—as he looked down upon us.
"Who are you?" I realized my voice trembled despite myself.
His pupils were a rare golden hue, reminiscent of a cat's eyes—golden and demonic—like a monster silently observing us from afar, contemplating how best to pounce on its prey for a fresh meal.
"Why aren't you speaking? Are you scared?" I replied coldly. As my words fell, the boy's face began to twist gradually; his golden eyes narrowed slightly as a cruel smile crept across his lips. At that moment, piercing laughter echoed from all directions. My scalp prickled; this time I hadn’t put in any cotton to muffle it. My instincts told me that this boy was a crucial figure in our current endeavor.
I needed to pry something out of him.
"Who are you?" I tried to calm my racing heart.
The boy stared at me with an expressionless face. His features were not delicate, but rather clean and well-placed, with short, smooth hair. If I had encountered him on the street, I would have thought he was a tidy neighbor boy. Yet here he sat in the midst of a pile of still oozing limbs, staring at me with an unprecedented indifference.
I initially thought he wouldn’t speak again, so I lowered my head, trying to think of another way to provoke him into talking.
"Who are you?" Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from somewhere, ringing in my ears. I jerked my head up to look at the boy. He tilted his head, his lips moving as if mimicking my earlier words, "Who are you?" He repeated it.
A surge of joy filled me, but I kept my expression neutral as I replied, "Who are you?"
"I am..." The boy tilted his head, seemingly puzzled by the question, yet his expression remained cold and hard. "I am... a tree..." Suddenly, it seemed like he had an epiphany; his brows relaxed and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "I am so lonely. I need many people to keep me company. The more people there are, the less lonely I will be."
Though his gaze was level with mine, I could clearly sense that he wasn’t really looking at me.
From his words, I caught a strange undertone. If he was so lonely and needed people to accompany him, could it be that these dismembered bodies were all killed by his own hands?
A straight line of realization shot through my mind. If I wasn't mistaken, this boy who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen was the true culprit behind all the bizarre events.
Before I could fully process my thoughts, the ground suddenly trembled violently. I looked up to see the massive tree roots buried in the Blood Pool suddenly rise up, blood splattering down from them onto the Blood Pool.
The roots swayed slightly before charging toward me. A jolt of fear shot through me; my body couldn’t keep up with my brain. Before I could react, the roots lashed out.
In an instant, Mu Xuanche rushed in front of me, raising the Devouring Blade to meet the attack. The blade slipped from his hand and plunged into the Blood Pool as Mu Xuanche was violently thrown back by the roots.
In just a moment.
My mind finally snapped back to reality as I stared blankly at Mu Xuanche, who had fallen in the distance. In that moment, an overwhelming anger surged within me—perhaps it was frustration at my own helplessness, or perhaps it was anger directed at the boy's actions.
I let out a deep roar of fury. The boy perched high in the tree suddenly erupted into a sharp, piercing laughter I had never heard before. I couldn't understand what was so funny; looking at Mu Xuanche sprawled on the ground, I drew my dagger.
The boy glanced at me in surprise, clearly thinking I was about to stab the tree again.
Instead, I swiftly cut into my skin, blood gushing forth. Bai Qiling couldn't stop me in time as I splattered my blood onto the trunk of the tree.
Suddenly, the great tree began to convulse violently.
The boy's face twisted in extreme agony as he stammered out a few words. The tree collapsed, and the limbs that had hung from it fell one by one into the Blood Pool.
"Wait for me..." The boy's body gradually became ethereal and blurred.
I froze for a moment, wanting to rush forward and embrace the tree trunk, but the boy's lips curled into a cold, hard smile. The great tree began to dissolve into a mist, vanishing completely from my grasp.
I could feel the entire building trembling; even the iron gate that had blocked our way disappeared.
At that moment, Bai Qiling had lifted the weakened Mu Xuanche. He glanced at me, and I nodded before we dashed outside together.
I didn't look back at the collapsing world behind us; the Flower Board crumbled away with a deafening roar. Bai Qiling and I hurriedly carried Mu Xuanche up to the third floor, but even the stone steps began to shake precariously. By the time we reached the third floor, the building could no longer withstand the pressure of the collapse above us. Bai Qiling gritted his teeth and threw me over his shoulder, stepping onto the railing at the corner and leaping down.
I could hear intermittent rumblings from behind us as the building continued to crumble.
In front of me, I felt a cold wind sweeping up from below against my cheek.
Bai Qiling rolled on the ground several times before finally coming to a stop due to inertia. During that time, I had been thrown out and landed on a sand dune. Bai Qiling seemed to have twisted her leg, while I only felt some pain from hitting the ground with my back; other than that, I had no injuries. Mu Xuanche lay on the side, his face pale.
We raised our heads and looked at the building in front of us, which should still be under construction.
It had already begun to quietly collapse.
“Feng Yu, we have found the culprit.”
Feng Yu turned around and said, “Oh?” Then he exclaimed, “That’s truly remarkable; I admire you.”
I listened to his words but felt indifferent, even a hint of disgust.
His tone was as if we had done something trivial and were seeking his praise. I genuinely disliked his attitude from the bottom of my heart.
(End of Chapter)
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