Chapter 380

How many times have I already died?

Huo Yutong could no longer count.

Each time was the pain of being smashed to bits; each time she revived, the sensation of her body being pieced together was equally heart‑wrenching, and as time flowed on, her whole train of thought seemed to have become abnormal.

Even if she fainted, she would be forcibly smashed awake; the endless battle gradually dulled her thinking, leaving her only to mechanically lunge at opponents, then be smashed apart again.

After countless repetitions, time trickled by; other memories in her mind seemed to fade, while the sensation of constant death grew ever deeper.

The overly intense pain triggered her self‑protection mechanism, causing her entire thought process to become sluggish.

Thus, when she noticed the scene before her change, she couldn't react at once and stood there dumbfounded.

That blue‑gold figure stepped before her, placed a blood‑red dagger exuding an ominous aura into her palm, and said gently:

"Now Shilake Academy is under enemy attack; your mission is to kill the enemy who is the instigator. If you complete the mission, the reward will be the revival of your mother."

Upon hearing those last words, Huo Yutong's body involuntarily shuddered violently, and her previously muddled mind cleared a little.

To her, her mother Huo Yun'er was the deepest obsession, the most important person in her life.

If merely being killed that many times could revive Huo Yun'er, she would practically beg for it.

Seeing her reaction, the blue‑gold figure gave a faint smile and gave her a light push from behind.

"Go."

Seeing her gaze, he knew his plan was steadily progressing.

Pushed by him, Huo Yutong began to stagger into the academy.

This was the academy she knew, yet at this moment it felt utterly strange.

Blazing flames raged, as if to burn everything to ashes, turning the second home that had given her countless happy memories into cinders.

Along the way she saw countless corpses—some she knew, some she didn't—and from their wounds it was clear they had all been killed by a single blow.

Such wounds gave her an unconscious sense of familiarity, but she couldn't recall—or rather, she didn't want to recall—where she had seen them.

By Haishen Hu she saw the corpses of Wang Yan and Fan Yu.

She approached silently and knelt beside them.

These two mentors who had taught her much lay there with eyes open beside Haishen Hu, dead without peace.

Who could have done such a cruel thing? She lifted her slightly trembling hand and closed their eyes.

Just then, several voices suddenly sounded from behind her.

"Quick, there's still a fish that slipped through the net here!"

"What? Really! Hehe, if we kill her and hand her over to the boss, will the boss reward us?"

Numbly turning her head, several black‑clad figures entered Huo Yutong's field of view.

Judging by the martial souls attached to them, they were obviously Evil Soul Masters.

Was it they who killed Fan Yu and Teacher Wang Yan?!

Huo Yutong's heart suddenly burst with intense killing intent; her eyes turned scarlet and she lunged forward.

As if responding to her killing intent, the blood‑red dagger suddenly surged with a domineering force that flowed into her body, instantly making her aura fierce.

"What—" the black‑clad men gasped in shock, quickly unleashing soul skills to block Huo Yutong's steps, yet each skill was sliced apart by her dagger as easily as cutting tofu.

"Swish, swish"—two sounds, a blood‑red trace arced through the air, and several Evil Soul Masters collapsed together.

Strangely, their corpses quickly turned into desiccated husks as they fell, then gradually crumbled and scattered on the wind.

In contrast, the blood‑red light on the dagger in Huo Yutong's hand grew stronger, as if it had devoured the blood of those Evil Soul Masters.

She slowly rose, condensed an ice surface on Haishen Hu, and stepped toward Haishen Dao one step at a time.

According to what those few Evil Soul Masters just said, they clearly had a superior, and that superior was the mastermind behind this invasion.

She intended to kill the mastermind behind the invasion; this had nothing to do with reviving her mother anymore—she wanted to avenge her teachers and the fallen students.

What she didn't notice was that, as her killing intent rose, a blood‑red glow gradually drifted from the dagger on her hand, creeping up her arm to her head, piercing her mind, making her killing intent grow stronger until her whole being seemed to become a god of slaughter.

Soon she had ascended Haishen Dao and headed toward Haishen Ge.

Along the way she saw many corpses, all of them people she knew.

The senior elders of Haishen Ge, several deans, and the other members of the Shilake Seven Monsters had all died miserably along the road, eyes wide open, unable to find peace.

Whenever she encountered a corpse, she would stop to close its eyes, and her killing intent grew stronger in the process.

The intense killing intent occupied all her thoughts, to the point that she had no leeway to ponder why people who clearly shouldn't be there were present.

Under the urging of this fierce killing intent, Huo Yutong's steps quickened, and soon she had passed half of Haishen Dao and arrived before Haishen Ge.

She didn't pause, but flung open the doors of Haishen Ge.

All the signs along the way indicated that the enemy was still inside Haishen Ge and hadn't had time to leave!

However, when she made out the interior of Haishen Ge, the killing intent that had been about to boil over in her mind suddenly lost its target.

Tang Wulin stood in the center of Haishen Ge, his body covered in blood at this moment, the amount of which even made Huo Yutong unable to estimate how many he had slain.

He turned his head to look at her, his eyes full of indifference.

Huo Yutong instinctively opened her mouth and hoarsely spoke his name.

"Wu… lin…"

This was the first time she had spoken in such a long while, to the extent that even uttering her beloved's name felt as difficult as saying a stranger's.

How could he be here? Is he also looking for the killer like she is? That would be wonderful—having him would surely make the search much easier.

She opened her mouth, intending to ask Tang Wulin whether he had seen the killer, but then her eyes froze.

She saw the object pierced by Tang Wulin's long spear in his hand.

It was the woman she had constantly thought of, the most important person to her, and also the driving force behind her revenge.

According to what that blue‑gold figure had just said, if she killed the instigator of this invasion, that person would be revived.

The words that had risen to her lips instantly changed, becoming a doubtful whisper.

"Mom... Mom...?"

(End of chapter)