Chapter 131: Fallen into Demonic Corruption by Selfish Desire, Noble as a Divine Being for the Greater Cause

Humanity is a race full of contradictions.

When no external enemies surround them, they will resort to any means for their own interests, wage wars for power and wealth, and kill each other for personal gain.

Every page of history is soaked in countless blood.

Yet when true crisis strikes, this race can unleash astonishing cohesion, building a wall of flesh and blood.

Today’s Great Xia is exactly like this.

The disaster in Qingshan County has laid bare the brightest light of human nature; the warriors of the Tian Shu Bureau, Mingzhibudi , still built their final defense with their lives, until the very end.

They embodied the meaning of “never retreat” with their lives.

This nearly instinctive spirit of sacrifice is the brightest light of humanity.

Perhaps darkness has never truly left—even now, in the age of Qi revival, many dark things exist among humans beyond ordinary comprehension; yet just as the brightest stars appear in the darkest night, human brilliance shines most brilliantly in the darkest moments.

Those heading to Qingshan County now are not merely Gu Che, Lu Jing, Lin Ruoxi, and other third- and fourth-rank ability users, nor only reinforcements from Yunshan City’s Tian Shu Bureau, but also support forces assembled from surrounding cities.

Countless warriors, fully equipped, march unhesitatingly toward Qingshan County.

They know this war will end in victory, and they also know that some among them, even their comrades, will die in it.

But no one fears.

Not long ago, their ancestors, unable to see the future of Great Xia, were willing to sacrifice their lives to uphold their will and avert collapse! Now, in a war they know they will win, how could they possibly fear?

The will of their ancestors shines upon them—they have nothing to fear!

Even the various factions within Great Xia are the same on this point.

In times of peace, they may appropriately secure benefits for their families and friends, as long as it does not harm Great Xia, for this position is not the result of one person’s effort alone; but before such fundamental moral choices, all will must unify—Great Xia stands above all.

“All units, move out!”

In the morning light, the rotor wash of helicopters brushes against every face; young warriors check their gear one last time and exchange smiles.

This is humanity: capable of falling into demonic depravity through selfish desire, yet capable of rising to divine nobility for great righteousness.

At the crossroads called the future, they once again chose the most difficult yet most honorable path: to protect life with life, to dispel darkness with light, as they have done in every past crisis of survival.

The directors of the Tian Shu Bureaus from various cities watched their retreating figures, eyes clouded with Huanghu ; their silhouettes seemed to merge with those of the ancestors they had imagined in their minds.

Did they feel the same way back then?

It’s a pity—they are the ones discarded by this era, neither granted celestial treasures nor awakened with abilities; had they been, perhaps they too would have been among those heading to Qingshan County.

“This era belongs to them.”

They smiled faintly—each generation ought to be better than the last.

At this moment in Qingshan County, reinforcements from Yunshan City’s Tian Shu Bureau have arrived and are fighting the mutated creatures.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Zhang Mo’s sidearm spits fire, three precise shots piercing the eye sockets of a mutated mountain cat; blood splatters his tactical mask—he has no time to wipe it, draws his knife in one motion, and drives it deep into the throat of a mutated wolf-dog lunging from the side.

“Crack—”

The blade jams in the cervical vertebrae gap; the dying mutated wolf-dog’s thrashing nearly overturns him.

Zhang Mo braces his knee against the beast’s chest, grips its rotting fur with his left hand, and twists his knife with all his strength! With a crunch of shattering bone, foul black blood sprays over him.

“Boom!”

Nearby, a shell explodes a spider-like mutated creature in the ruins of a shop; the blast wave knocks Zhang Mo’s helmet loose, revealing his blood-smeared young face.

“Three o’clock!”

His teammate’s voice crackles in his earpiece.

Zhang Mo rolls away from flying concrete chunks, looks up—and sees a mutated pangolin, nearly as large as a car, smashing through a building’s outer wall; its scales are embedded with bullet casings, like a suit of metallic thorns.

“Damn.”

He discards his empty pistol, pulls two grenades from his belt.

The pangolin spots him.

Its amber vertical pupils lock onto Zhang Mo; its thick tail sweeps aside a streetlamp pole, sending rebar and cement flying like toys; Zhang Mo retreats rapidly through the rain of debris, biting open the grenade pins with his teeth.

“Come on, beast!”

As the mutated pangolin charges, Zhang Mo slides beneath its belly, shoving the hissing grenade into a gap between its scales.

“Boom!”

The explosion hurls him several meters; in the ringing silence, he sees the mutated pangolin writhing in agony, chunks of scaled flesh flying everywhere; but soon, the creature stumbles back to its feet.

“Not over yet.”

Zhang Mo spits out dirt, pulls two more grenades; this time, he rips open his combat suit to reveal a full row of grenades strapped to his waist.

“First, I’m not the ‘Handsome Grenade King.’”

“Second, bring me a few more of those!”

He charges toward the mutated pangolin, leaps upward just before collision; the beast instinctively opens its jaws—he slips four or five grenades into its gaping maw.

“Boom—boom—boom—”

Amid continuous explosions, the mutated pangolin explodes like a watermelon; as foul blood rains down, Zhang Mo takes a deep breath, picks up his assault rifle, and turns to find his next target.

Zhou Lie leans against a broken load-bearing pillar, chest heaving; his alloy longsword is dulled and caked with thick blood.

A deep claw wound cuts to the bone on his left arm; blood drips steadily, pooling into a dark red stain on the ground.

Five mutated wolves encircle him, their greenish eyes glinting in the dim mall; their bodies are twice the size of ordinary wolves, fangs bared, drool dripping from their jaws, pupils brimming with Shouyu .

“Think you’ve got me?”

Zhou Lie laughs, the sound growing louder, revealing his blood-stained teeth.

“Awooo!”

The leftmost mutated wolf lunges first!

Zhou Lie advances instead of retreating, swings his longsword horizontally—it slices open the wolf’s belly; but another mutated wolf seizes the chance to bite his calf!

“Get off!”

His left palm slams down—sudden flames erupt from his palm, roaring like a dragon, instantly incinerating the wolf’s head.

The stench of charred flesh spreads, but the remaining three wolves grow enraged and charge together!

Zhou Lie spins, swings his blade—fire clings to the edge as it cleaves the foremost wolf’s neck; the heat instantly carbonizes the wound, and the wolf’s head flies off.

But the other two wolves’ claws tear into his back!

“Ahh!!!”

Agony blacks out his vision—he bites his tongue to force himself awake, plants his longsword into the ground to steady himself, and swings his left hand backward!

“Boom!”

A fan-shaped explosion of fire engulfs the two wolves behind him; they scream, writhing on the ground, their fur crackling as it burns—hair-raising.

The last mutated wolf seizes the chance to leap for his throat!

Zhou Lie sees it—but he has no time to draw his blade.

“Squelch!”

He thrusts his left arm straight into the wolf’s mouth; sharp fangs pierce through muscle; pain surges—he grips his sword with his right hand, face twisted in ferocity.

“Die!”

The longsword drives straight through the wolf’s eye socket into its brain; the beast convulses violently, then collapses.

Zhou Lie gasps, shoves the corpse aside; his left arm is a shredded mess. He staggers to his feet, leaning on his sword.

“Is it over?”

He wipes blood from his face, vision blurred—but the next second, his pupils contract sharply.

From the shadows ahead, a colossal figure slowly emerges.

(End of Chapter)