Chapter 371: Food Spoiled, Corpse of a God

Zhang Liyou's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, the 【Turtle Breath Technique】 barely able to suppress her heart rate; her fingers clutched the bed sheet tightly, knuckles turning white from the force.

Her throat tightened, as if an invisible hand were strangling her breath.

"Cui Cui?"

She called out softly, her voice trembling so faintly it was almost inaudible.

No response.

The room was terrifyingly quiet.

"Cui Cui!"

Zhang Liyou raised her voice, but still received no response whatsoever.

Countless terrifying thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, each one sending a piercing chill through her.

Zhang Liyou's heartbeat nearly stopped; she stared dead at Feng Yuhuai: "What did you do to her?"

Feng Yuhuai looked at Zhang Liyou without blinking, her smile still gentle:

"Just letting her sleep a bit. Cui Cui hasn't rested well, and her emotions were too sorrowful and agitated; a nap will nurture her spirit, good for her body."

Her fingers lightly brushed over Cui Cui's cheek, the motion so gentle it was like caressing a work of art, with a hint of coquettish reproach:

"Otherwise what, did Liyou think I would do something to Cui Cui? Your question is a little bit strange, you know?"

Zhang Liyou's heart eased a breath, but before she could finish exhaling, her scalp went numb.

She stiffly lifted her chin, looking at Feng Yuhuai's gentle, painting-like face; that face was still beautiful, yet those eyes were pitch-black like two black holes devouring light.

The corner of Zhang Liyou's mouth twitched once, her expression frozen as if locked in place.

A full three seconds passed before she squeezed out an ugly smile:

"Sorry Yu Huai, Xiao Juan disappeared, I've been a bit on edge these two days. I just feel Cui Cui's brain wasn't working well to begin with, and you knocked her out on top of that; when she wakes up her brain will be even more stupid."

Feng Yuhuai didn't press the matter; these two days her mind had recovered its former agility, she didn't know why, but it was inseparable from Xiao Juan.

Probably because the quality of the last night snack was too good, containing some brain-nourishing therapeutic effects, just unknown how long the effects could last.

This put Feng Yuhuai in a state of both wanting to hurry up and devour Cui Cui and Zhang Liyou, and yet a bit reluctant to part with them; this mentality, food-loving gluttons should be able to empathize with.

"What a pity, if Liyou doesn't eat this night snack soon, it'll probably spoil, ah—"

Feng Yuhuai looked at Zhang Liyou's stiff profile, the tip of her tongue unconsciously licking over her canine teeth, thinking quietly in the depths of her heart.

Feng Yuhuai narrowed her eyes, concealing the murderous aura in her pupils that seemed to be selecting someone to devour, covered her mouth and laughed lightly:

"Right, Cui Cui has always been reckless and muddle-headed.

But Liyou you, how come you're so composed today, truly making me look at you with new eyes; I still remember before, you shouted every day about avenging Yazhi."

Zhang Liyou's heart skipped a beat; she could feel Feng Yuhuai's gaze traveling along her carotid artery, like measuring the angle to bite down.

"One Yazhi, one Xiao Juan,"

She forced herself to meet Feng Yuhuai's eyes,

"I realized I should grow up; revenge isn't a slogan hung on the lips, but requires conserving strength and biding time, planning slowly."

Feng Yuhuai moved her palm away, revealing a brilliant, neat set of teeth—that smile reminded Zhang Liyou of a wild beast before the hunt.

"Good, our Liyou has grown up too."

Her voice sweet like honey juice:

"Then you stay with Cui Cui and sleep a while, conserve strength and bide time. I'm going to compete in a match, be right back."

Zhang Liyou watched Feng Yuhuai's departing figure pull the door and leave, her taut nerves relaxing slightly.

She forced out a smile: "When Cui Cui wakes, I'll drag her to cheer for you."

"Good!"

Feng Yuhuai stuck out her tongue, licking her red lips.

She raised both hands, casually gathering her waterfall-like long hair in her palm, using a bright red rope to tie it up high; a few soft strands slipped down beside her ears.

That red rope faintly flickered in the light, like traces of coagulated fresh blood, forming a stark contrast with her slender fair fingers.

The ponytail swung proudly behind her, rubbing against the Martial Dao uniform on her back with a "hiss—hiss—" sound, like a venomous snake poised to strike secretly flicking its dangerous snake tongue.

She watched Feng Yuhuai's figure disappear at the door, until the other's back completely vanished in the corridor.

Only then did Zhang Liyou slowly loosen her tightly clenched hand on the bed sheet; her fingers were stiff and white from prolonged force, fingernails deeply embedded in her palm, even showing some reddish blood marks.

Zhang Liyou took a deep breath, barely propped herself up, walked slowly to the door, reached out and gently pushed it shut, then locked it from the inside.

A crisp "click" sounded exceptionally clear in the silent room; she stared blankly at the door lock for a moment, confirmed it was locked, only then turned around, her steps somewhat staggering.

She walked back to the bedside, sat down, her slightly trembling hand carefully reaching toward Cui Cui's nose tip.

Confirming the warmth of breath exhaled onto her index finger, Zhang Liyou's whole body only then collapsed onto the bed as if drained, embracing the sleeping Cui Cui tightly from behind, her body still trembling slightly.

"Relying on me alone can't deal with this monster Feng Yuhuai; I must find a helper, a trustworthy, sufficiently powerful helper…"

Exhaustion surged up like a tide, soaking her consciousness.

In a daze, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, thoughts gradually swallowed by the dim drowsiness, and she fell into deep sleep.

When she woke again, several hours seemed to have passed; the clamor on campus had diminished, a rumbling thunder-like roar came from the sky.

Cui Cui had woken a while earlier, staring blankly out the window; seeing Zhang Liyou awake, she spoke in a gentle voice with a pale face:

"Liyou, it's raining!"

………….

The gods of the Old Era always favored using heavy rain as an eraser.

Whenever human greed and bloodshed piled up too heavily, Olympus's thunder would roar, the glazed tiles of Lingxiao Hall would shatter in response, Tianhe would pour down like a deluge, carrying supreme majesty to wash the filthy earth completely clean.

A vast expanse of white, as if a blank merit register were spread anew, waiting for humanity to rewrite Fate once more.

Those devout believers knelt in the mud, singing hymns, pleading for forgiveness with trembling voices.

They deeply believed every lightning bolt tearing the sky was the gods' annotation, every fierce flood was a world-restart cleansing procedure, as if after the heavenly punishment's heavy rain, decay would ultimately transform into new life.

Alas, the gods of the New Era have long since fallen.

Their corpses lie sprawled across the cloud tops — cloud tops in the physical sense, massive, cold, filling the sky, blocking the Sun, utterly motionless.

The Tianhe exists no more; in its place are countless crisscrossing steel brackets and mechanical pipes.

Three million alloy water pipes coil and knot overhead, twisted into a gigantic urine drainage network; the muffled breathing of hydraulic pumps has replaced the thunder's rumble.

When those chrome-plated pipes begin to spasm rhythmically, the Lower City people know the time has come again to receive their "baptism" — the Upper City's digestive system is discharging its metabolic recycled water through artificial sphincters.

They call this rain.

Oh, right, don't misunderstand — as long as it's daytime, this kind of "rain" will absolutely never be accompanied by overcast skies.

Because billions of colorful "Suns" hang eternally aloft; they are energy, and they are symbols, absolutely impossible to block, and they never extinguish in the daytime.

And, the Sun is waterproof!

So,

The Lower City people even more affectionately call all this — Sun Rain!

End of Chapter