Luo Shi’s soul-rending screams ultimately could not awaken Bai Ya. She remained motionless, her eyes tightly shut, blood still oozing steadily from her forehead. Of course, this was only natural—his hope was far too unreasonable to ever be answered.
In moments of life and death crisis, the mortally wounded hero, unconscious and on the brink, hears the call of their protector, awakens anew, unleashes their ultimate technique, and, after a hard-fought struggle, defeats the terrifying foe, ushering in a beautiful ending.
But such things only exist in ideal stories. In the face of cruel reality, everything proceeds according to its own rules. Bai Ya had suffered a severe blow to the head; just healing the wound would take ten days to half a month. The return of consciousness could take one or two months, or two or three years, or even forever.
Luo Shi knew this, of course. He also knew that his current actions completely defied his past intelligence, making him seem like a pitiful fool.
The scarlet, elongated tongue recoiled nimbly from his shoulder back into the ghoul’s mouth, bringing with it bits of flesh. The monster’s head let out an angry roar, seemingly infuriated that its “meal” had once again been prevented from eating Bai Ya.
Luo Shi felt the overwhelming killing intent. Primal terror surged in his mind, urging him to flee in panic.
Otherwise, there was only one end—death.
The ghoul’s head twisted with a sudden, bone-cracking snap, spinning 360 degrees at blinding speed. Its crimson tongue whipped out like a blood-red lash, slicing through the air toward Luo Shi with a horrifying shriek.
Getting hit by that monstrous thing would surely leave his body in pieces. Luo Shi let go of the longsword wedged behind the ghoul’s neck, letting himself fall naturally, barely dodging the attack.
“I see no chance of victory. If it’s just me—no hope.”
As he plummeted to the ground, feeling the shock from the impact, Luo Shi realized with surprise that he was remarkably calm. He wasn’t thinking of how to escape, but of how to fight, how to win.
He lamented how deeply he had been poisoned—poisoned by someone named Bai Ya.
He prepared himself: once he landed, he would immediately get up, steady his fighting rhythm, and do everything he could to stop the ghoul from hurting Bai Ya.
If he ran, Bai Ya would truly be doomed. Those cowards cowering in the tunnels didn’t have the courage to face a monster that had even filled him with terror!
“Here I go! This…!”
Luo Shi was just about to move, preparing to strike back, when he saw his waist bound round and round with red rope. Looking closely, he realized with horror that it was actually the ghoul’s tongue!
Suspended in midair, Luo Shi lost the ability to think. Perhaps it was precisely because he knew his situation so well that he fell into such speechless despair.
A tremendous force pulled at his waist. Luo Shi screamed in terror as the world spun crazily before his eyes. When his mind cleared, he saw three rows of sharp serrated teeth and the tongue root soaked in yellow-green saliva, the spaces between the teeth filled with bits of flesh and shattered bone.
In the next second, he was hurled headfirst into this hellish maw, his cheek pressed against the slick, crimson taste buds. The light in his vision dimmed, and a cold chill crept up his neck.
Was he really about to be eaten by the ghoul? And starting from the head—would he have to suffer being beheaded?
“I—I—I’m not willing!” Luo Shi shut his eyes, tears streaming down his face, as he cried out what seemed to be his last words.
Memories flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. Thinking he would never see his wife and child again, Luo Shi was consumed by pain.
But perhaps it was just his imagination. In these last moments, he actually heard many shouting voices, though they sounded feeble, strained.
It must be a hallucination, he thought.
Bang!
This time he heard it clearly—the deafening thunder of a musket firing! And very close by!
What’s going on?! Besides him, Bladeheart the Lion and Tabu, were there any other fighters unafraid of the ghoul? If that kid Lebron had survived to witness Bai Ya’s battle, maybe he would have awakened the courage to resist! But he’d already died, killed by the ghoul long ago!
“Aim for the throat! Fire!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of explosions rang out right beside him. Luo Shi even felt a piercing pain—his left leg seemed to have been struck by a stray bullet, leaving a gaping hole. Couldn’t these people aim properly?!
“Now—pull him out! Don’t be afraid! You mustn’t—mustn’t be afraid!”
Luo Shi heard the tearful voice of a timid girl—she was the little girl Bai Ya had asked the fighters to protect. What was going on?! She had actually left the tunnel!
More importantly—was she actually organizing the others to attack the ghoul?!
Amid the ceaseless gunfire, it seemed a man was approaching him, screaming to bolster his own courage. Soon, Luo Shi heard several crisp slashes, and the restraint around his waist loosened.
In that instant, Luo Shi’s survival instincts flared. With the person behind him pulling, he managed to yank his head out, escaping the fate of being ghoul food. Light flooded his eyes once more.
Still reeling, Luo Shi let himself be carried away by a burly man. Only now did he realize the reason for his rescue: all the fighters who’d been hiding in the tunnel—except those tending to the dying Tabu—had stepped onto the arena, wielding muskets taken from the slaughtered musket guard unit, firing in turn to suppress the ghoul!
Luo Shi also noticed that, under the girl’s instructions, the fighters all aimed at the ghoul’s throat. He had to admit he’d underestimated this little girl.
The fighters were loosely following the girl’s lead. She hugged the unconscious Bai Ya, tears welling in her eyes, biting her finger hard, staring at the ghoul’s every move. Every command she gave, the fighters obeyed without hesitation, as if she were their leader.
These surviving fighters had once been terrified out of their wits by the ghoul—directionless, pessimistic, having given up on struggling to survive. Was she using this to make them obedient puppets? Are young girls nowadays all so capable? Luo Shi couldn’t help but wonder.
A bold idea—paired with her solid command—meant he owed his life to her.
Faced with the formidable power of firearms, the ghoul had to protect its now-vulnerable, injured spot, especially the fatal weakness Bai Ya had revealed. There was no way it could bother swallowing Luo Shi. Besides, when swallowing, its throat became even more exposed, enlarging the critical target. In the end, due to a twist of fate, the ghoul failed to kill Luo Shi, and for the first time had its food snatched away from its jaws.
Luo Shi was carried behind the girl. Now a wounded man, his left leg would likely be useless without timely treatment. Normally, he’d have cursed at being hit by friendly fire, but under these circumstances, he didn’t mind. Instead, he felt a strange warmth surround his heart.
How wonderful, he thought. He wasn’t fighting alone. All the survivors were attacking the ghoul. No matter what happened in the end—even if it ended in total annihilation—it felt like there’d be no regrets.
“Big sis! Bai Ya! Bai Ya!” The girl, voice choked with tears, hugged Bai Ya tightly and cried out desperately, hoping she would wake up and once again be her pillar of support.
She was so afraid. After leading everyone out, she thought only of saving Bai Ya. Everyone waited for her instructions, entrusting their lives to her, but she was still so afraid—because she couldn’t lead them to the end!
She couldn’t think of any way to break the deadlock. Even after learning the ghoul’s weakness from Bai Ya’s fight, they couldn’t break the monster’s defenses, nor survive its assault! Only Bai Ya—this was something only Bai Ya could do!
Only Bai Ya could kill the monster. Only Bai Ya could save her! She believed this completely, to the death!
“Wake up… save me… Bai Ya, sob, sob.” The girl buried her head in Bai Ya’s chest, listening to her faint heartbeat, letting out muffled sobs.
As the sound of musket fire was replaced by the desperate click of empty triggers, the ghoul turned into a blurred shadow, sweeping past the musketeers, jaws agape, mauling or killing them outright. Luo Shi and the girl had both foreseen this outcome. Without muskets, the fighters had no way to resist the ghoul.
All the Bronze Fighters present had lost their fighting strength. There was no one left to fight.
“So this really is total annihilation.” Luo Shi gave a self-mocking laugh. He didn’t want to do anything now—just smoke a cigarette and wait for death.
Screams echoed across the arena. The looming terror gradually enveloped the girl. Reeking of gunpowder, the ghoul, twisted and fearsome, glared at Bai Ya in the girl’s arms, let out a furious roar, then lunged at the pair with jaws wide and bloodstained claws outstretched.
The outcome was decided.
Anyone could see it. The girl refused to leave Bai Ya’s side, just hugging her and crying softly. She would be eaten by the ghoul together with Bai Ya. Every fighter present was doomed to die.
For a moment, silence hung over the scene. Lunhui Tianqi’s pupils suddenly contracted. She finally understood what it was about Bai Ya that attracted her—it was the fear she’d once witnessed!
Five years ago, when the four armies marched out and left Amidarl vulnerable, the long-prepared revolutionaries launched a blitzkrieg, swiftly crushing the king’s royal guard and storming the capital. They used secret arts to seal away the slave girls’ racial gifts, killed or captured dozens of slave girls directly serving the king—this was when the revolutionaries came closest to toppling the Amidarl regime. The king was left with only one slave girl at his side, surrounded by tens of thousands of revolutionaries. By rights, he should have had no way to escape.
Yet, in the end, he survived. Captured, Lunhui Tianqi witnessed the birth of this miracle amid utter despair.
The king’s last slave girl fought like a wild beast—her number wasn’t even in the top ten. She pounced on anyone who tried to hurt her master. Even with her racial gift sealed, she fought with a mad ferocity, heedless of wounds or death!
A sword pierced through her mouth, scrambling her brain into a bloody mess. Seeing this, Lunhui Tianqi thought the king had lost all his support and would soon be hacked to death.
But the king’s expression was calm, as if strolling through his own garden, not a hint of concern for the danger around him.
It was not the face of a man who had lost everything.
That slave girl became Lunhui Tianqi’s nightmare. Despite her terrible wounds, she didn’t die. She snapped the sword in her mouth and killed the stunned soldiers. Her life began to ebb away! Her eyes grew clouded! She howled, roared—even as her consciousness faded and her blood dried up, she let no one approach her master!
In the end, her non-human bloodline overwhelmed her human blood for the first time ever! She awakened as a demon king—killing every revolutionary without exception! She saved Amidarl’s will.
And when the crisis was over, she was executed on the king’s direct order.
Yet Lunhui Tianqi would never forget that obsession, that terrifying resolve to save her master at any cost. That was a foe even the “Law of Life and Death” could not overcome!
Bai Ya possessed that same obsession. It was there, within her. That, too, was the answer Liu Miong had tried so hard to show her last night.
As for that question—when did Bai Ya actually lose consciousness—Lunhui Tianqi admitted Liu Miong had been right.
After all, she couldn’t deny the reality before her eyes.
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