Lian Qiguang silently walked through the thick snow. Every few steps, he would step on a section of a corpse. Seeing that the foot he was about to put down was heading toward the head of what was still a child, Lian Qiguang pressed his lips together and silently moved his foot away.
The footprints he left behind were quickly buried again by the falling snow. Before and behind him was a vast, snow-white world that seemed to have no end, so quiet that it was despairing.
No one knew how long had passed before Lian Qiguang stopped walking and looked back.
On top of a collapsed building, Wuma Yan was dressed in a red Tang-style suit, smiling warmly as he looked at Lian Qiguang.
Lian Qiguang remained silent for a long time. One hand slowly brushed over Qianming in his hand. A cold gleam flashed before his eyes, and the tip of Qianming’s blade pointed directly between Wuma Yan’s brows.
Wuma Yan smiled, seemingly not noticing the blade in Lian Qiguang’s hand at all. “Teacher, you’ve come? I knew it. No matter where I am, Teacher will always find me.”
“Wuma Yan, you understand, right?” The cold voice carried a hint of weariness and disgust.
“Teacher should know that you’re not my opponent.” Wuma Yan jumped down from the building and slowly walked toward Lian Qiguang. “Teacher, don’t be childish anymore. That man is already dead. Come home with me, all right?”
Lian Qiguang’s eyes turned cold. His grip on Qianming suddenly tightened, his fingers turning a frightening bluish-gray. “He won’t die.”
“Teacher, you should know better than anyone about the people you brought out. No matter how powerful that man is, with so many people surrounding and attacking him alone, there is more than enough to deal with him.” Wuma Yan sighed, looking at Lian Qiguang as helplessly as one would look at an unreasonable child.
Lian Qiguang pressed his lips together. His voice was cold enough to pierce through bone, freezing the snow around them. “Since that’s the case, the two of us will both die with him!”
Xiahou Shaoxuan led the remaining seven people out of the encirclement and boarded the spaceship. Without resting, Xiahou Shaoxuan immediately found An Yi and contacted the base. Upon learning that Lian Qiguang had actually gone out alone, his face instantly turned cold.
A violent, murderous aura surged around his body. His black eyes became tinged with blood, terrifying as though he could devour someone alive.
“An Yi! Lock onto Madam’s location immediately!!” He smashed his fist into the communications device and roared, suppressing the frenzy in his heart.
Seeing that Xiahou Shaoxuan’s ability was surging and his aura was unstable, An Yi nodded and quickly began operating the controls. But before long, An Yi’s expression became increasingly grim.
Yuan Ling had already simply treated the external wounds. Supporting his weak body, he walked over. “What happened? Is there some kind of malfunction?”
“No.” An Yi reached out to support Yuan Ling and helped him sit down. Then he turned back and looked at Xiahou Shaoxuan with a troubled expression. “Sister-in-law didn’t bring her light brain.”
“Then hack into the central network system and lock down each district one by one!” Despite his anger, there was an inexplicable panic in his voice, as though something was about to happen—and the consequences of that something were more than he could bear.
An Yi and Yuan Ling exchanged glances, both looking somewhat astonished.
Wasn’t this against the law? Hacking into the central network system was enough to warrant the death penalty.
Although An Yi was shocked inside, he still nodded. “Yes!”
“You have half an hour!!”
“……” An Yi.
“Bang!!”
With a tremendous crash, Lian Qiguang was sent flying a hundred meters backward. Qianming was plunged into the ground in his hand, and traces of scarlet blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Wuma Yan stood in the snow, black energy swirling around him, silently watching the weakened Lian Qiguang. “Teacher, stop. You can’t hurt me.”
“Wuma Yan, your arrogance and conceit haven’t changed one bit. That’s what I hate about you!” Lian Qiguang supported himself as he staggeringly rose to his feet. The sarcasm on his face stung Wuma Yan’s eyes.
“Teacher hates me?” Wuma Yan murmured softly.
Lian Qiguang raised Qianming and pointed it at Wuma Yan. “Wuma Yan, if I didn’t have a trump card, do you think I would have come looking for you?”
“Teacher……”
Green light swirled around Lian Qiguang’s body, winding around Qianming’s cold blade.
Lian Qiguang’s gaze was icy. He leaped into the air, and hundreds upon hundreds of vines rose from beneath his feet. As Lian Qiguang descended, they surged toward Wuma Yan like a vast tide, covering the sky and earth.
Qianming stabbed toward Wuma Yan, but was blocked by the black energy in front of him.
A flash passed through Lian Qiguang’s eyes. The green light spread outward, and the black energy surrounding Wuma Yan’s body began to weaken little by little as it was devoured by the green light.
Wuma Yan’s expression changed. He leaped into the air, and the black mist surged upward. Three vortexes shot straight into the heavens, sweeping up the metal remains scattered across the ground.
The two forces collided.
The vines around Lian Qiguang’s body rapidly withered. The violent storm tore at Lian Qiguang’s clothes, leaving one shocking bloody wound after another across his body.
“Teacher! Stop!!” Wuma Yan’s eyes widened. Looking in horror at the bloody marks covering Lian Qiguang’s body, he shouted angrily.
“Wuma Yan! In my previous life, I lived in so much pain, yet I never truly hated anyone. But now, I really hate you.” Bitterness stained Lian Qiguang’s face. Bright-red blood flowed down his body, staining the vines beneath his feet red.
“I finally found what I wanted. I finally found the reason I wanted to keep living. Why do you still have to drag me into hell?! I really love Xiahou Shaoxuan.”
“Teacher, Xiahou Shaoxuan isn’t dead! Everything I just said was a lie! Don’t keep doing this, I beg you! Stop! If this continues, you’ll die!!” Wuma Yan stared in terror at Lian Qiguang’s bloodied, mangled body and screamed hoarsely.
“You wanted to be together with me, didn’t you? Fine! Then let’s die together.” Lian Qiguang hardened his heart and increased the force in his hand. The withered vines grew again, surging toward Wuma Yan.
Seeing that Lian Qiguang’s aura had already begun to fall into disorder, Wuma Yan could no longer worry about anything else. He suddenly withdrew his ability.
For a moment, the two forces were impossible to control, and all of them rebounded onto Wuma Yan.
Wuma Yan spat out a mouthful of blood and crashed heavily into the snow.
Although Wuma Yan had withdrawn his ability, a small amount of the force still affected Lian Qiguang. Seeing that Lian Qiguang was on the verge of death, Wuma Yan let out a roar.
“No!!”
Just then, a figure flashed past and forcefully pushed Lian Qiguang away.
The black mist pierced through the person’s body. The powerful force mercilessly crushed all four limbs, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere.
Looking at Zhe Lang, who was left with only one arm and half of his body, Lian Qiguang’s eyes widened. He struggled up from the ground and threw himself forward, catching Su Lang’s falling body.
“Su Lang……”
Lian Qiguang stared blankly at Su Lang’s blood-covered body. His trembling hand slowly covered the split-open skull.
“My Lord, living as a person isn’t easy. Finding someone who deeply loves you, and whom you also love, is even harder. So… so, My Lord, cherish it. Live well.”
Su Lang looked at Lian Qiguang and struggled to pull up the corners of his mouth, only to cough up even more blood.
“It’s all right. Aren’t you a zombie? As long as your crystal core remains intact, you won’t die. I’ll save you. I will definitely find a way to save you.”
Lian Qiguang’s throat was tight with emotion. Trembling, he held Su Lang, his words becoming incoherent.
“My Lord.”
Su Lang stretched out his only remaining hand and struggled to grasp Lian Qiguang’s hand. He smiled.
“Look at me. What exactly am I now?”
“I’m tired. These three thousand years have been too painful for me. Maybe my lover is waiting for me down below. I’ve already made him wait for so long. He must be getting anxious.”
“Teacher……”
Wuma Yan supported his body and tried to come over, but an ice blade from Lian Qiguang blocked his path.
“Get lost!!”
Lian Qiguang roared. His black eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Wuma Yan, filled with hatred so terrifying that it made one’s blood run cold.
“My Lord, don’t cry.”
Large mouthfuls of blood poured from Su Lang’s mouth, melting the snow beneath the two of them.
“I’ve followed My Lord for so many years. Actually, I’ve always known that My Lord has always, always lived in pain.”
“Other people don’t understand My Lord. They all say that My Lord is ruthless, cold, and heartless. But that’s not true. You’ve simply been cold for too long, and you’re afraid of being burned by warmth.”
“My Lord.”
Su Lang slowly moved Lian Qiguang’s hand toward his own head and smiled.
“Give me release.”
Lian Qiguang shook his head as he looked at Su Lang. The hand resting on Su Lang’s head trembled uncontrollably.
“My Lord, kill me.”
Su Lang closed his eyes and sighed helplessly. “I really don’t want to live like this anymore.”
Lian Qiguang opened his mouth, then slowly closed his eyes. The hand resting on Su Lang’s head clenched into a fist.
After a long while, Lian Qiguang suddenly opened his palm. An ice spike condensed in it and pierced through Su Lang’s skull.
As a crystal core was pulled out, Zhe Lang’s life came to an end.
Looking at the blood-stained crystal core in his hand, Lian Qiguang silently placed it into his spatial storage.
Lian Qiguang supported his staggering body and stood up. He looked coldly at Wuma Yan. Qianming, tightly clenched in his hand, seemed to sense Lian Qiguang’s anger and emitted a buzzing vibration.
“Teacher……”
“Wuma Yan, today, one of you and I must die!”
“Boss, we found him!”
An Yi pressed the final button and turned around to call out.
Xiahou Shaoxuan quickly came over, his sharp eyes locked onto the floating screen.
“Boss, he’s in District Three.”
Xiahou Shaoxuan frowned deeply and handed over his light brain. “Put the target’s exact location onto my light brain.”
An Yi nodded. His hands tapped rapidly across the floating screen, and soon he had locked the location onto Xiahou Shaoxuan’s light brain.
Xiahou Shaoxuan took the light brain and turned to leave.
“Boss, where are you going?”
“The rescue troops will arrive soon. You stay here and wait for them. I’m going alone.”
“Boss!!”
Although Xuan Lang and the others stubbornly tried to stop him, Xiahou Shaoxuan paid them no attention. When they became too troublesome, he simply struck them unconscious with a single palm.
Leaving the others where they were, Xiahou Shaoxuan boarded a spaceship alone. Following the location displayed on the light brain, he pushed the spaceship’s speed to its absolute limit.
Wife, you mustn’t be in danger. Please, don’t!
Lian Qiguang pressed forward step by step. Qianming in his hand showed no mercy, every strike aimed at one of Wuma Yan’s vital points.
Wuma Yan was seriously injured. Lian Qiguang was fighting with his life on the line, and with that mysterious green power reinforcing him, Wuma Yan was unable to escape unscathed for the time being.
“Teacher, do you hate me this much? Do you really want to die together with me?!”
Black mist locked around Qianming in Lian Qiguang’s hand. Wuma Yan looked coldly at Lian Qiguang.
“Wuma Yan, don’t call me Teacher! You don’t deserve to!!”
Lian Qiguang forcefully broke free from Wuma Yan. Qianming swept sideways, leaving a deep wound that exposed bone across Wuma Yan’s chest.
Looking at the wound on his chest, a fierce glint flashed through Wuma Yan’s eyes. But when he looked at Lian Qiguang again, his expression softened, even carrying a hint of a smile.
“Does Teacher think doing this will save those humans?”
Triumph colored Wuma Yan’s face, making him look somewhat sinister beneath the bloodstains.
“I won’t let Teacher play the savior anymore, and I absolutely won’t let Teacher leave me again for those damn humans!!”
“What did you do?!”
Knowing Wuma Yan’s nature, Lian Qiguang knew that Wuma Yan had always disdained lying. His heart tightened at once, and a bad premonition gradually rose within him.
“Teacher, after today, there won’t be a single human left in this world.”
“Including you!!!”
“Marshal!!”
Escorted by a group of soldiers into an isolation chamber, Xiahou Zhong heard horrifying roars and the screams of living people mixed together with the incessant pounding against the door outside, sending chills down the spine.
“Marshal!”
An officer walked over to Xiahou Zhong and solemnly handed him a report.
“The safe zone has been infected, and the equipment has been extensively destroyed. The zombies that were frozen outside have been thawed, and they’ve all flooded into District One.”
“Just tell me the result!”
Xiahou Zhong rubbed his aching brow and sighed.
“District One… has fallen.”