The storm took many things away.
The cozy cabin where they had briefly rested.
The peaceful academy routine, filled with small certainties.
That hard-won happiness.
After a brief hug, the two held hands and headed into the sunlight, beginning a grand escape.
— Once again.
***
Meanwhile, in Binglan City…
The rain had stopped, and sparse figures appeared on the streets.
After the rain, the world seemed much cleaner. Puddles reflected the afternoon’s blue sky and white clouds, shimmering in the sunlight.
There was no blood and no corpses.
It was as if the slaughter in the rain had never happened.
‘Was it an illusion?’
‘I clearly heard the sounds of fighting earlier and felt a bone-chilling dread.’
The people were confused.
A middle-aged man in a black robe stood at the city gate.
“Master, everything has been recovered.” Shortly after, a youth arrived and spoke respectfully.
The man nodded and continued to look at the spot where Lu Mo had fought Extinction.
“I never expected it would be Xue Yue who betrayed us back then,” he murmured. “And what surprised me even more was that Xue Yue actually killed the Sequence 1, Extinction…”
“Senior Brother Extinction…” Upon hearing the name, the youth clenched his fists.
He had always admired Extinction and could not believe that the Sequence 1 would die at the hands of the Sequence 7, Xue Yue.
“That Xue Yue must have used some underhanded methods for Senior Brother Extinction to…” he said angrily.
“No.” The man shook his head. “On the contrary, Extinction lost to Xue Yue in head-on combat.”
“What?”
“I can feel… traces of Dark Extinction.” Amidst the youth’s profound shock, the man spoke with a complex expression.
From the residual dark traces, it was clear that Dark Extinction had crushed Extinction and swallowed him.
The answer was obvious.
“In other words, over five years and without any help or support from Shadow Moon Hall, Xue Yue learned the ultimate technique from the secret manual on her own,” the man said again.
In truth, even he found it hard to believe.
But the fact lay right before him.
“Talent in both Light and Dark, with terrifying comprehension… She is truly a monster.”
“Why didn’t Shadow Moon Hall notice back then?”
The man sighed suddenly.
Soon, he took out a crystal, activated it, and sent a message to the main hall. “As of now, raise the level of this mission. Increase Xue Yue’s danger rating to six stars.”
“Six… six stars?” The youth was stunned.
He understood what six stars meant.
Assigning Lu Mo a six-star danger rating meant her actual strength had completely surpassed all the young sequences.
She now had the strength to fight against the deacons!
Thus, the information traveled along invisible threads across the domains toward Shadow Moon Hall.
In places where sunlight could not reach, countless dense information lines surged toward Shadow Moon Hall, then radiated in all directions with the hall as the center.
It formed a dense net, closing in on Lu Mo and Elia.
Just like the invisible hand of fate reaching out for them.
Those five years of warmth were over.
It was as if Cinderella’s magic had expired; the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, and the magnificent princess dress became coarse cloth.
Lu Mo and Elia were once again a rogue assassin and a hunted girl. Homeless once more, they fled between various domains to evade capture.
As Lu Mo exposed her strength, her opponents were no longer sequences.
They had become deacon-level existences.
Those deacons had been immersed in the Transcendent rank for many years, sensing the laws and seeking the best opportunity to step into the Earth Vein Realm.
In terms of power, they far surpassed Extinction.
Facing deacon-level opponents, even Lu Mo found it troublesome.
“Xue Yue, this is your last chance. Hand over Elia, return to Shadow Moon Hall, and undergo the Dark Baptism. The Hall Master can still spare your life.”
A deacon had once cornered them and spoke to Lu Mo.
The Dark Baptism was a forbidden technique of Shadow Moon Hall. It would directly erase the recipient’s memories, imprison their soul, and imprint a brand of eternal loyalty.
After the baptism, the person’s talent and aptitude would be damaged, and their sanity would be affected.
But even so, Lu Mo would still be considered a genius of Shadow Moon Hall after the baptism.
To be able to comprehend the ultimate techniques of the *Shadow Moon Secret Manual* on her own at such a young age—Shadow Moon Hall had not seen such a person in over 100 years.
“Hah… In your dreams!”
Lu Mo refused without a second thought.
Erasing memories and being branded—what was the difference between that and being a slave to Shadow Moon Hall?
In the Simulated Reincarnation, whether she lived or what realm she reached did not matter.
The only thing that mattered…
Was Elia.
She fought the deacon. Although she was wounded, she eventually found an opportunity to escape with Elia.
During this period, Elia also took up the sword on her own initiative to strike at the enemies.
She wanted to do her best to help Lu Mo.
This was not an academy duel, but slaughter in its truest sense.
When Elia swung her sword and bisected an assassin from Shadow Moon Hall, seeing the blood spray and the internal organs falling out, the intense visual impact and pungent smell of blood almost made her vomit.
After escaping that pursuit, Elia could hardly eat.
“Actually, you don’t have to kill,” Lu Mo said, looking at the pale and distracted Elia. “I can handle all of this… myself.”
“No.” Elia shook her head. In the firelight, her eyes were firm and without cowardice. “I want to kill them. Not just because I want revenge, but because I want to stand beside Sister Lu Mo.”
“We’ll make it out alive, right, Sister Lu Mo?” Elia smiled again when she looked at Lu Mo. “Just like five years ago. We’ll have a chance to return to the Ice Orchid Institute, attend the graduation ceremony, and get our diplomas. Or, we just won’t go back at all. We can go somewhere even further! The world is so big; we can travel and see everything. We’ll never get tired of it. When the day finally comes that we’re tired of playing, we’ll find a place to settle down. Just the two of us. No one will find us then!”
Hearing Elia’s words, Lu Mo suddenly seemed to think of something. She smiled and said, “Alright. When that day finally comes, through thousands of rivers and mountains, I will accompany you to see them.”
“Thousands of rivers and mountains… accompany me to see them…” Elia repeated the words and then smiled at Lu Mo again.
She was sincerely happy and blissful.
There was also the shyness of a young girl in love.
“Then it’s a promise! Pinky swear!”
“Yeah.”
They hooked pinkies by the firelight, vowing to each other that neither would die.
The girl’s heart held thousands of rivers and mountains, and her eyes held the stars and the galaxy.
“It’s getting late. Elia, sleep for a while. I’ll take the first watch.”
As the sky darkened, Lu Mo urged Elia to rest. Only then did Elia lie down reluctantly.
Perhaps the first time killing was too mentally draining, or maybe she was just too tired. She watched Lu Mo’s figure and quickly fell asleep.
That night, Elia had a dream.
They returned to the Ice Orchid Institute, back to that cozy little home.
The wind blew the wind chimes, making a pleasant sound.
Lu Mo was sitting at the table again, preparing for the evening’s lecture. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, she wore glasses, and she was drawing and writing seriously.
Elia lay on the sofa, fanning herself, eating snacks, and quietly looking at Lu Mo’s back.
There wasn’t a single worry or sorrow.
At some point, she realized it was a dream.
But she was reluctant to wake up.
‘How wonderful would it be if time could stay frozen at this moment forever?’ she thought.
But she also knew that once she woke up, she and Lu Mo would have to keep running.
No more rest, no more warm afternoons like this.
“Age 18…”
While Elia was sound asleep, Lu Mo pulled up the system interface again, looking at the three missions and whispering to herself.
They were so close to completing all three missions.
But now, both she and Elia were trapped in this situation.
“Only two months left until Elia turns 18…”
“Please, it’s only two months. You have to hang on.”
She spoke.
She finally showed some exhaustion.
Before this, she had always acted strong and optimistic in front of Elia.
She did not want Elia to see this kind of weakness.
“At least completing Mission 1 would be good…” Lu Mo whispered, quietly glancing at Elia sleeping beside her.
‘This is all just an illusion.’
She kept telling herself this.
But sometimes she would feel dazed.
It was as if the person standing before her was not a fabrication, but a living girl.
She hoped Elia could survive past age 18 and… keep on living.
Even if she had to give her own life for it.