Time seemed to have frozen. Smoke slowly spewed from the vent. Tiny sparks burst out. The bullet spun in the chamber. The red-hot warhead flew out of the muzzle. It tore through the air, rushing toward Bai Fan’s face, then brushed past her ear.
It shot toward the man behind her.
The man raised two fingers, casually catching the silver bullet from the Magnum 50AE.
Frozen time suddenly resumed.
Bai Fan heard Ruan Mingxi shout, “Run!”
Her scalp tingled. Danger. Extreme danger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ruan Mingxi kept shooting at the man behind her, firing as she ran toward Bai Fan. The two finally met.
But Bai Fan felt she couldn’t hold on any longer. Her body went limp, about to collapse. Ruan Mingxi caught her in time, letting her lean on her shoulder.
“Sister Mingxi, are you… okay?”
Ruan Mingxi had just blocked Master Mo’s attack to save her and had fallen. She smiled.
“I could take down two oxen right now.”
“But you just now…”
“I wasn’t really hurt. I just pretended to fall, hoping for a chance to blow that old man’s head off from behind…” She ruffled Bai Fan’s hair. “I didn’t expect Little Fan to be so amazing, taking him out by yourself. Leave this one to us for now.”
Bai Fan leaned on her shoulder, actually feeling a sense of security. This time… it seemed she was no longer alone; she had companions by her side.
The man wore a well-tailored suit, with a goat mask on his face. Behind the mask, his scarlet eyes faintly glowed with gold. Between his two fingers, the silver bullet still retained spiral inertia, spinning at his fingertips, wisps of green smoke rising. With a light flick, he dropped the five silver bullets to the ground. Along with them dropped Ruan Mingxi’s spirits.
Even Master Mo couldn’t calmly face her Magnum Eagle, but this man… had caught all her bullets with just two fingers. No mistake. He was the one behind Master Mo, the higher-ranking Blood Descendant who granted Master Mo his blood. An absolutely dangerous enemy!
“Unexpected.” His gaze swept over the two girls.
Just one look. Both of their spines shivered, their skin felt like it was being licked by a deadly viper.
The man stepped over the blood of the corpses, came to Master Mo’s broken remains, bent down, and picked up the head with its frozen expression. He examined Master Mo’s final expression—fear, terror, regret, despair… Pity.
“Though he was a vicious dog trying to bite his master, greedy, rapacious, arrogant… but I don’t dislike his ambition.”
He paused.
“After all, he was still my dog. To cut off his head without asking the owner… somewhat… slaps my face.”
His bloodshot eyes swept over the two girls who were tiptoeing cautiously backward. Especially the girl with snow-white hair and blue eyes.
“But… unexpectedly, there’s a pleasant surprise.”
He curved his lips into a smile that contained a nearly greedy joy.
“I was just looking for you.”
His gaze landed on Bai Fan.
“A Holy Order Ascendant who hasn’t awakened her Astral Sign yet.”
That look was almost hungry.
Bai Fan’s hair stood on end under his stare.
‘This guy… was the one behind Master Mo? He… was definitely more dangerous than He Sheng before. Absolutely. Absolutely must not get into conflict with him. Must escape.’
The man laughed loudly.
“This uncut gem, I’ll take it for now.”
He lightly curled his fingertip. All the blood from the Blood Slave corpses in the underground parking lot was drained in that instant. Blood water surged from all directions to his side, converging into a scarlet river.
Ruan Mingxi supported Bai Fan as they retreated. But the blood water flowed and coalesced into a giant hand massive enough to crush a huge truck, surging toward them. They had retreated to a corner with nowhere left to hide. Ruan Mingxi raised her gun and fired. The bullets hit the blood hand like throwing pebbles into the sea, not even a splash. The shadow of the blood hand covered them. In the corner where they had no escape, the scarlet tide engulfed them.
Bai Fan smiled bitterly.
‘As expected… I’ve never had good luck.’
Whenever life seemed to take a turn, about to go on a better path, misfortune would suddenly strike. Like some kind of curse. As if she was never meant to have anything good.
‘Is this… the end?’
The blood hand descended.
“Senior Brother, help!”
The wine-red-haired girl beside her shouted loudly.
“If you don’t come now, your cute junior sisters are going to die!”
At that moment, the blood hand froze. The goat-masked man’s smile stiffened. He sensed something, and golden light bloomed in his bloodshot eyes.
In front of Bai Fan, a back clad in a black cloak had appeared without her noticing. The person extended a scabbard. An invisible force held back the blood hand, preventing it from advancing even an inch.
Ruan Mingxi sighed in relief.
“Senior Brother!”
Her voice carried the grievance of surviving a disaster.
“If you’d come one second later, you wouldn’t have seen your two cute junior sisters after tonight.”
Bai Fan’s eyebrow twitched.
‘When did I get added as a junior sister?’
Lin Xincheng did not look back. His gaze calmly pierced through the blood sea, landing on the goat-masked man.
“Bloodline Association, as expected, it’s you.”
The man stopped smiling. The face behind the blood-colored mask became extremely solemn, as if facing a great enemy. He clenched his five fingers, blood burst from his palm, merging into the blood sea. The blood water suddenly expanded several times, as if it had become a boundless ocean, enough to drown the entire underground parking lot.
“Blood Sea Raging Waves.”
The towering blood sea surged toward the three people in the corner. Bai Fan held her breath. Even Ruan Mingxi began to hold her breath.
“You two, close your eyes.”
That voice was very calm. The two obeyed and closed their eyes simultaneously.
He raised his blade. The scabbard opened a crack, only revealing a sliver of the blade. Darkness, darkness that devoured heaven and earth. That crack seemed to hide an entire black hole.
“Instant Thought: Empty Aspect.”
In an instant, the blood color disappeared. No, not just the blood color. All the colors of the world were drained in that instant. The world seemed gray and white. The roar of the blood sea, the drifting dust, the flowing wind, the rising heartbeats all stopped.
A barely perceptible crack began from his feet, extended, spanning a hundred and twenty meters. Exactly encompassing the blood sea, the control of power precise to a hair. Then the gigantic hand of blood formed from Spiritual Essence split down the middle, falling apart on both sides, then cut across the middle, splitting again… The blood sea silently collapsed, receded.
It seemed like a long time. Or maybe just an instant. Bai Fan heard his voice.
“You can open your eyes now.”
She opened her eyes in a daze. The young man stood with his back to them. In the dim light, his silhouette showed a sharp outline. He seemed to have just emerged from a deep, bottomless darkness, still carrying a lingering chill.
‘Is it my imagination? Have I… seen him somewhere before?’
“Hm?”
The two came back to their senses, finding the giant blood hand before them had disappeared. The towering blood sea from before seemed like just an afternoon illusion.
Ruan Mingxi pressed her chest, letting out a long sigh of relief.
‘As expected, the most reliable Senior Brother Xincheng.’
She silently gave the back a thumbs-up in her heart.
They looked at the goat-masked man. His face was deathly still.
“Sun Ember · Yama Blade.”
He spoke, his voice dry.
“Life Extinguishing Aspect, no mistake… You are Chadizi.”
Bai Fan listened to these words, her mind a blur.
‘Didn’t understand a single word. Like listening to a heavenly scripture not meant for her.’
After saying all that, the man took a deep look at Lin Xincheng.
“What an unfortunate man,” he said. “This time… I admit defeat.”
The moment the words fell, his body exploded, turning into countless blood raindrops, scattering across the entire underground parking lot floor. The young man took off his cloak, signaling the two girls to cover their heads. The blood rain fell on the cloak, making a fine rustling sound.
“That man… what’s his background?” Bai Fan asked.
“He should be one of the Eight Great Bishops of the Bloodline Association.”
“Bishop?”
Ruan Mingxi’s scalp tingled. She had seen the relevant wanted posters; she knew that bishop-level guys were monsters who had done catastrophic things. Being targeted by such a person made her shudder just thinking about it.
“So what’s his situation now? Suicide?”
“No.”
Lin Xincheng’s voice was calm.
“That was just one of his Blood Clones; his main body is elsewhere.”
“Even a Blood Clone isn’t easy to refine, right? Just giving it up so casually?”
Ruan Mingxi thought for a moment, her eyes circling around the boy’s face.
“Is he afraid we’ll capture his Blood Clone alive and find his main body through it?”
“The old man of the Ruan family went to great lengths to arrange for you to team up with me,” the boy’s tone was flat. “Was it to test the Spirit Energy of Sun Ember?”
“Hey, don’t think of me that way.”
The wine-red-haired girl smiled playfully.
‘Unexpected, so a little scheme like this was discovered.’
“Haha~ Senior Brother, just pretend I never asked.”
“I have nothing to hide about this. No harm telling you.”
The boy paused.
“One of Sun Ember’s special effects is the ability to propagate damage to the main body through a clone.”
He paused again.
“He was in a hurry to commit suicide with this clone because he was afraid the damage from Sun Ember would spread to his main body.”
Ruan Mingxi was stunned for a moment, then she clapped. Clap, clap, clap.
She saw Bai Fan standing blankly without moving, so she added, “Clap along with me.”
“Oh.”
Bai Fan belatedly started clapping along. The two girls stood amidst the blood and corpses, the black cloak over their heads, clapping.
“Truly the most reliable Senior Brother Xincheng,” Ruan Mingxi smiled. “I knew you would come in time.”
“I’m glad you two are all right.”
Then his gaze turned to Bai Fan.
“You’ve taken quite a few injuries. Go back to the hospital for some treatment.”
He paused.
“And I also have some questions for you.”
Bai Fan’s heart tightened, but she still nodded lightly.
“Alright.”
‘Looks like I can’t run this time. I’ll just confess honestly—about my past under Master Mo, and about Shisan Kai. Sister Mingxi said he’s a good person. He shouldn’t give me a hard time… right?’
Her inner monologue wasn’t finished when she suddenly felt her body go weak. Her vision… black, so black… She fell forward limply, right into the young man’s arms.
Lin Xincheng was startled. But what surprised him even more was something else. The girl who had fallen into his arms was slowly beginning to change. Her snow-white hair quietly faded, like snow melting in winter, revealing a deeper color. Her face also underwent subtle changes.
“Hm?”
When it all stopped, Lin Xincheng looked at the somewhat familiar face in his arms. His body froze in place.
“…Little Fan?”