Chapter 175: The Return Bus

The others also scrambled out of the pit one by one.

Wu Xian crouched beside the pit's edge, lost in thought; the pit's opening slightly bulged, resembling a grave mound.

"In the wilds, an isolated grave… this is what they meant by 'isolated grave.'"

Wu Xian had long been puzzled: why call it "Isolated Grave of the Desolate Realm" when there were eight mounds here? Now he finally understood.

Whether the circular clearing or the eight mounds, all of it was contained within a single grave mound.

He turned to Du E.

"Your Little Tianmo dug up the eight snake graves crafted by Liu Baoyu and freed my Dragon Louse—did it know what lay at the center of those eight snake graves?"

The Little Tianmo clung to Du E's leg, barely poking its head out, its eyes brimming with bloodlust.

Unfortunately, without Du E's command, it could not kill at will.

Du E crouched down, communicated with the Little Tianmo for a moment, then stood and spoke.

"It says that place was like an independent space—each of the eight directions held a different scene. The big dumb bug kept moving from one space to another, no matter how hard it struggled; only by destroying all eight snake graves could it escape. So it's the one who did the most, and it wants to drink a basin of blood…"

Wei Dian nodded beside him—he had figured it out too.

"Liu Baoyu's Dark Art created the eight snake graves. To escape, we had to pass through all eight mounds. Perhaps we were all trapped inside the Dark Art all along—this pit beneath us was once the snake nest, and also the grave of Liu's great-grandmother."

Wu Xian added beside him.

"What we experienced was likely what truly happened in the Liu household before Liu Baoyu unleashed the Blood Rain Apocalypse."

"Liu's great-grandmother received the Soul-Stealing Art from a Master, but never abused the Dark Art; instead, she sought to ascend to the Dragon through righteous means. Her descendants, coveting the Soul-Stealing Art, feigned celebration to turn her into a Ghost Dragon, forcing her to leave the mortal world…"

"Before she became a Ghost Dragon and had to depart, she used this… Shadow-Snake Illusion Dark Art to record these scenes, trying to prove something."

Du E touched the shell of the Tianmo egg.

"She probably didn't want people to see her as the one who destroyed the world."

Su Mi propped herself up on her elbows, unconvinced by their theory.

"But the eight grave mounds were full of deadly peril—nothing like a path meant to let someone escape alive with a message."

Liang Fang observed the shape of the pit they'd emerged from—it looked violently torn open from within.

"Liu Baoyu transformed into a Dark Dragon right through this pit—he must have discovered the Shadow-Snake Illusion Art left by Liu Xianggu, then corrupted it with his own dark energy."

"That must be it," Wei Dian nodded. "Liu Xianggu couldn't have known what happened in the Banquet Hall Grave—so the story inside the Banquet Hall Grave was left by Liu Baoyu."

The group chattered, reviewing their past experiences.

But no matter how clearly they discussed the past, they still couldn't leave the Blessed Land.

The group reached the bus stop and found the sign read: "Li Hen Tian Terminal." Boarding any bus from here, no matter the direction, would take them to Li Hen Tian.

The Lotus Juanren's credential had not lied to them.

This blood-soaked land was merely the cutscene before their exit from the Blessed Land—they only needed to wait at the station for a vehicle to arrive and hitch a ride out.

After waiting about ten minutes, Hu Yunkuan, looking exhausted, crawled out of the pit—he had experienced an entire day, and seeing Wu Xian and the others still there, he looked utterly stunned.

This further proved that beneath the pit lay a place of temporal chaos.

Hu Yunkuan alone passed through the Study Grave—truly a near-death ordeal—but his mindset had transformed, so he overcame countless dangers and escaped alive from the study, reuniting with the other survivors.

They waited a little longer.

Far off, they saw a bus approaching.

Wu Xian smiled: "Our ride's here."

Hu Yunkuan frowned: "But will they let us board?"

Du E patted the Little Tianmo's head.

"They will."

…

Fear, anxiety, tension.

The atmosphere inside the bus was suffocating, much like the mood among Wu Xian's group earlier.

Inside the bus, including the driver, there were fifteen people—all ashen-faced, tense, staring around, the vehicle piled high with survival supplies.

Since the Blood Rain, everything had gone mad—monsters roamed everywhere.

These monsters fed on humans, devouring their lifespans. At first, firearms could kill some, but the monsters grew stronger, gradually manifesting impossible abilities.

The entire world had fallen; major Demon Kings now ruled their own territories.

Most humans were slaughtered instantly, their deaths horrific beyond words; demons competed to kill, and the few survivors were captured and kept as livestock—bred for lifespan and food.

What awaited them was a fate worse than that of beasts.

These fifteen people on the bus were the last survivors of Fuyuan City—they drove aimlessly, searching desperately for any place where humans might still live in safety.

Suddenly, the driver spotted a group of people ahead.

Two young women stood on the road, waving, signaling they wanted a ride.

A young man exclaimed excitedly.

"Survivors! Finally, more survivors!"

They needed to stop somewhere, rebuild—more survivors meant better chances.

But the driver was drenched in cold sweat.

"Survivors? They're demons in disguise… do you think a bus stop makes sense out here in the wilderness?"

His words sent the others into a panic.

"Hit them! Hit them! Don't let them on!"

They didn't even consider the possibility the people waving might be human—they couldn't afford a single mistake; in this world, any carelessness meant death.

Just as they thought the bus would crush the girls on the roadside—

The bus slammed to a sudden stop, halting precisely beside the bus stop.

The young man hurriedly questioned the driver uncle, but the driver uncle turned his head and revealed a face even uglier than crying.

Only then did the people on the bus notice that right at the brake position there was a little monster emanating black qi, and the little monster looked at them with an expression as friendly as it could manage.

That expression nearly scared everyone in the bus to death.

So those people waiting for the bus really were demons!

Crack!

The car door opened, and Wu Xian, reeking of blood, was the first to board.

The original fifteen people on the bus didn't even dare to breathe heavily; they could only watch with fear on their faces and numb all over as Wu Xian and the others filed onto the bus one by one, as if they could already see their own miserable future.

Wu Xian walked over beside the driver and said with a smile.

"Drive."

The driver swallowed and asked: "Go… go where?"

Wu Xian thought for a moment: "Any direction is fine, all roads lead to the same place; when we arrive you'll stop on your own."

(End of this chapter)