Chapter 80: 78. Dream Concert (Two-in-One)

78. Dream Concert (Two-in-One)

The grenade explosion created a smokescreen, shrouding everything in silence. A moment later, only a few short, hurried footsteps could be heard approaching. One after another, several figures broke through the dust and smoke, sprinting toward He Jia'an and the other two in the corridor.

The three of them could not outrun the blood-men, so once the blood-men entered their precise firing range, the three drew their guns and fired, attempting to block the blood-men's pursuit.

The specially made high-lethality bullets pierced the bodies of the blood-men, leaving several holes in them, but this only caused them a brief delay. Before their heads were destroyed, their bodies maintained the characteristic of rapid healing, quickly recovering from their wounds before continuing their relentless pursuit.

Among the three, aside from Yu Lianyun, He Jia'an and Li Yingqi were decent shots, but maintaining a steady aim while running at such high speeds was no easy task. Especially when facing such a large number of blood-men monsters with incredibly fast movements, they simply had no time for precise aiming.

Consequently, the three emptied three magazines in succession without eliminating many of the pursuing blood-men.

Just as He Jia'an and the others turned a corner, a panicked figure jumped down from a nearby stairwell and began running desperately ahead of them.

"Xin Junmao?" When He Jia'an saw the person who had suddenly jumped out, they were all a bit stunned.

Xin Junmao, focused on running, faintly heard someone calling him. He glanced back and discovered that it was actually three disheveled Mysterious Investigators also fleeing, with a group of crazed blood-men monsters in hot pursuit behind them.

Xin Junmao's eyes turned red with agitation, but his throat was parched from running, and he couldn't speak for a moment; he could only nod forcefully at them.

He Jia'an and the others quickened their pace to catch up with Xin Junmao. He Jia'an asked, "Have you seen any other survivors?"

Hearing this, Xin Junmao shook his head.

After receiving this answer, which was hardly a surprise, He Jia'an only paused for less than two seconds before saying to Xin Junmao, "Since you are still alive, then come with us and escape."

Xin Junmao nodded heavily; this was his greatest wish at the moment.

Boom!

The walls and ceiling suddenly buckled and bulged. A torrent of blood squeezed out from the gaps, breaking through, and in an instant, it crashed down toward Xin Junmao and the others, intending to swallow them whole.

Xin Junmao's heart tightened, and he subconsciously blocked the path in front of He Jia'an and the others. Immediately, the Comb in his mouth glowed again, and the illusory figure of the Bhikkhuni appeared in his eyes once more. The Bhikkhuni chanted Buddhist scriptures, and a ring of invisible shielding rose up, spreading outward to block and erode the scalding, corrosive torrent of blood.

However, the blood-men and the mindless, broken madmen who lacked the Bhikkhuni's protection were not so lucky. A vast ocean of blood broke through the dome, submerging and swallowing everything in the corridor; even those who were believers and kin of the Daughter of Gluttony could not escape disaster.

The angry Daughter of Gluttony seemed to show signs of losing control.

Watching the scene of the blood-red torrent swallowing everything, everyone felt their hearts tremble. He Jia'an looked at the Comb in Xin Junmao's hand with shock; he had not expected Xin Junmao to possess such a powerful Forbidden Object, and it appeared that this phantom of the Bhikkhuni was not as evil as other Forbidden Objects.

But the thought that the Comb was not evil did not last more than a few seconds. He Jia'an soon discovered that the compassionate-looking Bhikkhuni was deliberately pulling back the invisible barrier, seemingly wanting to protect only Xin Junmao, while they were about to be excluded from the range of protection.

Xin Junmao also noticed this and quickly said, "Hurry and follow closely so we can escape, otherwise you will all die here."

With no other choice, the three had no option but to run with Xin Junmao.

In this world of endless blood where one could not tell north from south, He Jia'an and the others ran at top speed. Their hearts were pounding, and they were so nervous they felt like they might die on the spot. Their fear was not just because of the race against death, but because in such an environment, they had no ability to discern direction; a single wrong step would mean death.

However, He Jia'an and the others were surprised to find that Xin Junmao, who was leading the run, not only never hit a wall in such an environment but seemed able to see other obstacles, even calling out to warn them whenever they were about to accidentally bump into something.

Although Xin Junmao himself was unaware and did not realize his own Abnormal state, He Jia'an and the others had noticed it.

Thinking of the corpse he had seen in the previous utility room that was abnormally similar to Xin Junmao, He Jia'an felt more and more that this plain-looking Xin Junmao was hiding some huge secret that even he himself did not know.

"We're out!" Just as the four were running closer and closer together, with the space between them shrinking and the protective barrier controlled by the Bhikkhuni becoming so narrow it could barely support them, Xin Junmao, sweating profusely, finally revealed a look of joy and shouted.

The Mysterious Investigators felt a surge of joy and lunged out toward the red in front of them, following Xin Junmao.

Returning to the outside world, the Mysterious Investigators, who had lunged out, protected their bodies and fell to the ground. They were back at the entrance of the Stone Gate, having emerged from the spot they had blasted open when they first entered.

Xin Junmao protected his head and rolled on the ground several times; gravel pierced his skin.

Seeing that Xin Junmao remained lying on the ground after rolling there and did not climb back up, Yu Lianyun hurried forward to check: "Hey! Are you okay!?"

Upon reaching him, Yu Lianyun discovered that Xin Junmao had already fainted.

Boom, boom, boom...

The ground shook and the mountains swayed. The tremors became increasingly violent. Stalactites and stone pillars in the rock dome of the Underground City began to break. Sharp stalactites pierced through deformed buildings, and collapsing stone pillars crushed structures. In a short time, the Underground City fell into ruins... And the source of all this was the existence behind the Stone Gate. The Daughter of Gluttony was manifesting her true form; she was about to awaken from this blood-red Underground City and, like an angry volcano, erupt onto the surface world.

Seeing this, He Jia'an and the others felt a deep sense of despair. With such a magnitude of tremors, they had no time to escape...

He Jia'an tried to contact the outside world, but from the moment they entered the hidden Tunnel, all signals had been cut off. He knew his message wouldn't get through, but he kept trying, hoping for a miracle.

He Jia'an wasn't trying to call for help; he wanted to tell the people outside to run.

"Heh." Yu Lianyun and Li Yingqi looked at each other and smiled. There was no bitterness or relief, only the feeling of people who had long walked on the edge of death, viewing it with indifference.

The death of a Mysterious Investigator was inevitable, and there was no choice in the outcome of a miserable death.

They could not achieve the noble detachment of facing death without fear; numbness toward death was the most truthful portrayal of their inner selves.

The only response was the dead, static-like sound of the current. Gradually, He Jia'an gave up on the call, sighed in "resignation," and pulled a cigarette from his pocket to hold in his mouth. He took out a lighter he had almost never used.

He spun the wheel to spark a flame, producing a short flicker. He Jia'an stared straight at it, as if looking at the candle before his own memorial portrait. He muttered, "The last time in my life, you can't blame me for taking a puff, old captain..."

Just as He Jia'an slowly brought the cigarette tip toward the flame, Yu Lianyun let out a sound of surprise and said, "Wait, something seems wrong."

He Jia'an froze. Li Yingqi observed the collapsing Underground City, and they soon felt the "wrongness" that Yu Lianyun had mentioned.

The tremors were decreasing!

They looked at the Stone Gate in astonishment. The Stone Gate, which had been burst open by the red liquid, stopped deforming, leaving only cracks everywhere. The thing that had been expanding inside the Stone Gate had disappeared, as if it had retracted.

The Daughter of Gluttony had suddenly calmed down, her anger gone.

The three, who had prepared themselves for death, stood frozen in place, their eyes filled with confusion. What was going on now?

"Tsk, how annoying." He Jia'an regretfully put away his cigarette, feeling that the "old captain" he had just muttered about was manifesting, stopping the furious Daughter of Gluttony just to prevent him from taking one last puff.

"So, what exactly happened?" He Jia'an looked at Xin Junmao, then at the crack-filled Stone Gate. "I just feel like some strange connection has formed between Xin Junmao and the Daughter of Gluttony."

Xin Junmao suddenly fainted, the Daughter of Gluttony suddenly stopped rioting... Something must be at work.

"This is... the Gymnasium, the scene of the concert audience!?" After escaping from Miss Zhao's palace, Xin Junmao only felt a blur before his eyes, and after just rubbing them, he had suddenly arrived at this concert venue that was gradually filling with people.

Subsequently, Xin Junmao felt that there was some other foreign object in his pocket. He reached into both his pockets and pulled things out: that bloodstone Comb and a concert ticket.

He saw that the ticket was for the first tour encore of Haimofen in the Shenzhou Region, and it also indicated the corresponding seat number.

Xin Junmao was somewhat dazed, but he followed the seat number and found his seat.

When he saw the seat, Xin Junmao froze in place, his eyes widening. He looked at the beautiful woman sitting next to his seat number in a plum-blossom cheongsam, and fear flooded his mind again. He felt like he was having a nightmare.

"Although I don't know what's going on, I hope you can sit nicely next to me now." Miss Zhao crossed her arms and smiled at Xin Junmao.

The other party's words seemed like a request, but Xin Junmao heard a thick sense of threat, as if he dared to run now, not a single member of the audience at the concert would survive.

Upon hearing this, Xin Junmao had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk over, then sat down obediently beside Miss Zhao; he tried his best to lean toward the other side, but Miss Zhao took the initiative to scoot over, hugged his arm, and pressed against it with a giggle.

Looking at that face which was clearly mature and beautiful yet possessed a hazy, innocent cuteness, Xin Junmao felt a bit dazed.

This daze was different from the previous few times; this time, it was not Miss Zhao actively seducing him with her charm ability, but rather his own heart inexplicably skipping a beat.

"If... if you didn't eat people..." Xin Junmao muttered a sentence he did not finish.

Miss Zhao heard him from the side and replied with a smile, "Then what would you do?"

Xin Junmao shook his head and did not answer.

Miss Zhao, however, seemed to have obtained the answer, and she smiled even more happily.

Suddenly, enthusiastic cheers erupted from the audience, and applause thundered.

The protagonist of this concert, Haimofen, took the stage with his violin, closely followed by a group of Classical Orchestra members with ashen faces.

"Good evening everyone, I am Haimofen." Haimofen smiled, using a casual tone he had never used in public before, "I am very happy to see you all in such a place again. Last time, a rude fellow disrupted the concert and made you feel unpleasant; I express my deepest apologies."

Haimofen bowed, then immediately straightened his body and laughed, "To make up for your losses, I have decided to hold my tour, this soul concert that truly belongs to me personally, once again."

Regarding this, Xin Junmao felt very strange; he was clearly not an audience member at the scene that day, so why was he also invited?

And soon, Haimofen provided the answer: "This time, I have not only invited the audience from the last live event, but also the audience who watched my performance through live streams and other channels at the time."

"So that's how it is." Xin Junmao suddenly realized, but immediately showed a look of shame; a freeloader like him had actually received an invitation from Haimofen, and he couldn't help but silently praise Haimofen as a very magnanimous music master.

Miss Zhao smiled and said, "He does have some skill, to actually be able to pull even my consciousness in."

Hearing Miss Zhao's words, Xin Junmao was also suddenly startled; only then did he realize that this was a very realistic dream, and at the same time, he discovered the strangeness about Haimofen.

"Without further ado, let us begin tonight's performance." After Haimofen finished speaking, he officially cut to the main topic; his hands slowly deformed, and black sharp-blade gloves appeared on them, and he once again used the blades as a violin bow to play the instrument, "I hope you all like the first piece, 'Magic Sound'."

As the conductor, who could finally conduct normally this time, made the starting gesture, Haimofen was the first to play the first note, and the magical tone of the entire concert seemed to be set in stone.

After Haimofen played a solo, the conductor faced the orchestra and raised both hands continuously; the musical notes played by the orchestra gradually rose, perfectly connecting with Haimofen's violin solo, merging with Haimofen's unique violin sound into a more vigorous musical force—that was true symphonic music.

Listening to Haimofen's bizarre melodies and strange chords in the magical music, Xin Junmao became somewhat intoxicated, and for a moment, he forgot that there was a peerless fierce creature by his side.

Unknowingly, the song ended, and the applause at the scene was thunderous, but it was only then that everyone noticed that Haimofen's violin strings had actually extended from the knots, like growing hair, growing all the way to the ground.