Chapter 347: The Prophecy of the Bloody End

With his back to the lake, Wang Han managed to summon back a sliver of his consciousness, cold sweat streaming down. He stared straight ahead, but the myriad of flowing, iridescent lights rushed toward him from behind like swarms of invisible demons, only to stop abruptly at the surface of his body, unable to advance any further.

At this moment, Wang Han finally understood that these dream-colored lights were a form of existence—they were incomprehensible life!

These lights were merely life forms that survived by clinging to that lake, yet to an ordinary human like him, they were already as unreachable as humans are to ants.

Wang Han felt his consciousness slipping; insidious voices reached his ears. No, it was that he understood the information those whispers wanted to convey all too clearly, and the resulting chaos and madness were more than he could bear.

If there truly were gods in this world to save the people, please bestow mercy and let humanity be far removed from this damned torture and suffering... Wang Han prayed incessantly to the void within his heart.

At one point, while enduring the whispers of the evil spirits, Wang Han suddenly heard the clear, bright voice of Li Yuning.

"Zhao Qian, please tell me everything you know." Li Yuning said this to the "someone" she was standing with her back to.

Was the already-dead Zhao Qian behind them? Wang Han's cold, rigid heart suddenly began to pound violently; a different kind of astonishment and fear occupied his mind.

But Wang Han, whose brain was growing increasingly chaotic, did not curiously turn back to look. His ability to think was limited, and he was mostly driven by the instinct for survival, not daring to glance back even once.

But then, the voice coming from behind made Wang Han abandon his curiosity. From above that lake, which should have been utterly devoid of life, came a woman's hoarse narration.

"The Blood Moon rises, the bloody Queen will be reborn in the gorgeous mire, loyalty spanning time and space will be as ancient and immortal as the Queen's existence, eternal and undying. The servants who swear allegiance to her will merge their blood with our King, the Queen's great power will bring the end to the world, the sun will never rise again, the Yin Moon, the night of extreme Yin, Yin full and Yang absent, the dark night will crush the light, break the world's balance, and the universe will welcome unity..." Zhao Qian said, her voice so low and her words so fanatical.

Li Yuning continued to ask questions unhurriedly, letting Zhao Qian continue the topic.

"Miss Hong is the Queen's messenger, the spokesperson for our King while she slumbers, and the Legion Commander of the Bloody Temple Knights. She will lead the Queen's loyal subjects to expand the territory, welcome the revival and return of our King, and slaughter the thorns on the path..."

"How does she lead you to act?"

"She will guide the direction of our advance; the dazzling ones must be trampled underfoot, they must not have a good death..."

"How does she guide you?"

"Miss Hong repeats the philosophy at gatherings and conveys the King's will to us."

"When is the next gathering, and where is the location?"

"At..."

Under Li Yuning's patient guidance, the answer was gradually revealed; Li Yuning successfully learned the key information from the mouth of the dead Zhao Qian.

Wang Han's brain was in a mess. Although he heard the voices of Li Yuning and the person behind him, he didn't actually take in much of what was said. The knowledge being force-fed into his mind by those whispers was about to destroy his spirit and will.

At this moment, Wang Han suddenly remembered that he possessed a Copper Coin Mask that could avoid and dispel evil spirits. Since it could get rid of the Child of Cruelty, why couldn't it help him break those maddening whispers?

Trembling, he found the Copper Coin Mask in his bosom. The moment his hand gripped the mask's copper coins, his spirit jolted, his thoughts became much clearer and smoother, and his rigid motor functions recovered to a certain degree. He quickly strapped the Copper Coin Mask onto his face; the cold copper coins slowly became scalding hot, and a choking, scorched smell constantly emanated from the mask's coins.

The consciousness squeezed by the knowledge was calmed, but the throbbing pain in his brain felt like a heart—sometimes sharp, sometimes numb—as if a heart were beating inside his skull.

Wang Han covered his head and slowly turned back. He saw Wei Jiang, his face covered in oil paint, holding one end of the Shackles in one hand, tugging at the red, hot chain that bound a woman's body—a body that was unrecognizable and whose form was dissipating. The other end of the Shackles was wrapped around her.

Although he had never met Zhao Qian, he felt that this thing before him, tortured beyond human recognition, was her. Her lower body emerged from beneath the lake's iridescent colors like smoke and clouds, as if she had been suffering all manner of torture beneath the lake, for an unknown number of times, before they had even called for her.

"That is enough, Uncle Wei." Li Yuning noticed Wang Han wearing the Copper Coin Mask and was somewhat surprised, but she didn't pay it much mind and turned to speak to Wei Jiang beside her.

Wei Jiang nodded slightly, then pulled the chain with force. The Shackles wrapped around Zhao Qian acted like sharp blades, easily slicing through Zhao Qian's body. Zhao Qian let out a piercing scream.

But, while it could be called a scream, it wasn't entirely one. Wang Han heard a wild joy in Zhao Qian's cry; it was the excitement of a demon from hell escaping the dark abyss.

However, in the next second, Zhao Qian's joy vanished. The lake water surged and boiled; countless swollen bubbles rose on the surface, and the iridescent colors became even more twisted and distorted. From within those bursting, exploding bubbles, one after another, even more hideous and distorted evil ghosts and vengeful spirits scrambled out of the water, forming sinful, twisted tentacles that grabbed Zhao Qian's upper body as it broke free from the lake.

Her head, neck, shoulders, arms, and torso—several distinct parts—were grabbed, crushed, torn, and bitten wildly by the indescribable evil ghosts. She was torn limb from limb and smashed to pieces, after which the evil ghosts and vengeful spirits fell back into the water with a splash.

The water surface slapped, waves surged, and colorful droplets splashed everywhere; each drop violently assaulted every one of Wang Han's visual nerves.

Wang Han was shocked by the crazy scene just now, trembling all over with fear. Those vengeful spirits, evil ghosts, and wandering souls could not bear to see anything beautiful; they would drag those companions who wanted to escape back into the "embrace" of the lake to continue enjoying the endless torment with them.

Wang Han looked at the waves on the lake, where he could faintly see broken colors twisting and interweaving, slowly turning back into a silhouette resembling Zhao Qian. She floated and sank in the lake, fried and boiled, torn apart and then aggregated again; every bubble exhaled while drowning contained her desperate screams.

It was impossible to describe the horror of it, but what terrified him even more was the true face the lake had never revealed. What kind of indescribable existence was the water that had absorbed thousands of vengeful souls and adsorbed the mysterious colors?

"Time to go." Li Yuning patted Wang Han's back heavily, waking him from his stupor. Wang Han finally came to his senses in a daze and followed behind Li Yuning, stumbling. He felt the world was uneven, more turbulent than the waves on the sea.

Was he walking on the ground, or was he, like those pathetic, damned, and evil wandering souls, drowning in the lake?