Chapter 36: Who... Can Punish Me?

Crimson blood splattered across the screen behind the stage.

The drumbeats and the melodies of stringed instruments from both sides of the stage abruptly ceased!

Everyone was momentarily stunned, their pupils contracting sharply. The pungent smell of blood overpowered the alcohol in their systems, and they shot to their feet, their faces etched with disbelief.

"You..."

Bone Blade's gaze slowly lifted from his blood-soaked chest to Chen Ling's face.

It was as if he had realized something.

"You're... that kid's... older brother?"

A torrent of blood gushed from his throat, making his words slurred and indistinct. His expression was one of sheer terror.

"You like tearing out people's hearts, don't you?" Chen Ling's face was smeared with blood, his eyes burning with intense hatred and madness. "Today... I'm going to carve you clean too!"

Chen Ling raised his hand toward the void behind him.

From the waist of a frozen resident of Ice Spring Street in the audience, a sharp dagger suddenly began to tremble violently.

It was as if an invisible hand had gripped the hilt, yanking it from its sheath and sending it hurtling toward Chen Ling at the center of the stage.

The "audience" was cooperating with his performance.

Chen Ling caught the dagger and, with lightning speed, plunged it into Bone Blade's chest. Following the bloody hole he had torn open with his hand, he sliced downward, gutting Bone Blade in an instant.

Bone Blade's mouth opened uncontrollably, the extreme pain forcing a scream, but the blood flooding his throat choked it into a gurgling whimper.

Blood and organs spilled from the gash. Bone Blade crumpled to his knees, his hands frantically trying to shove the spilled viscera back into his body. But after a few feeble attempts, his movements gradually stilled...

He was dead.

In his lifeless eyes, the reflection of the blood-soaked stage and his own mutilated body lingered... but more than anything, there was terror and helplessness.

Chen Ling looked down at Bone Blade, kneeling dead before him, his expression barely changing. This was his first kill, but perhaps due to the surge of hatred and adrenaline, he felt almost nothing... save for a faint twinge of nausea.

He didn't notice that, at this very moment, high above in the snow-filled sky, a black star began to glimmer faintly.

"Chen Ling?! Have you gone mad?!"

"As a law enforcer, you kill without reason or justification!! You will be punished for this!!"

Qian Fan, witnessing this scene, couldn't help but widen his eyes. He immediately bellowed.

On the blood-stained stage, the figure in red slowly turned...

The young man's face was still streaked with fresh blood. He gripped the dagger, looking down at the terrified crowd below, his eyes filled with murderous intent and madness.

At this moment, the densely splattered blood on the screen behind him began to glow faintly, like countless crimson eyes opening in the darkness, seated in an invisible audience, watching everything unfold.

[Audience Expectation +5]

Whoosh—

A soft sound echoed as all the torches in the courtyard extinguished simultaneously.

"Punish me?"

Chen Ling let out a light laugh. He slowly raised his finger, smearing the hot blood on his cheek, drawing a bloody streak at the corner of his eye... The face of Chen Yan, once adorned with red makeup, seemed to overlap with Chen Ling's, his entire aura now eerie and bloodthirsty.

He was the vengeful spirit Chen Ling, and also the vengeful spirit Chen Yan—a performer on a stage, acting alone under the gaze of the apocalyptic calamity.

"You, what right do you have to punish me?"

"Who among you... can punish me?"

In the next moment, the figure in red vanished from the stage.

A dagger sliced through the void, so fast that no one present could react. A muffled grunt followed as a resident of Ice Spring Street, standing closest to the stage, fell to the ground, blood spurting from his neck.

Li Mang, Sun Liu, and the others were horrified. They had all faced Chen Ling before and knew how terrifying he was.

The most critical issue was that today they had come to the celebration for pleasure, and almost no one had brought firearms. At most, they had hidden a couple of cold weapons on their persons... But even when they had guns at the tavern, they hadn't been able to take down Chen Ling. How could they possibly do so now?

The red phantom darted through the crowd, ruthlessly harvesting lives. As the body count rose, Chen Ling had completely overcome the faint shadow of guilt. Instead, he found himself growing strangely adept at the act.

Amid the swirling snow, a bloody and grotesque massacre unfolded within the courtyard.

Meanwhile, a hundred meters away from the courtyard.

"He actually attracted the attention of the 'Path of the Soldier'?" Chu Muyun stood beneath a snow-laden tree, his gaze fixed on the distant courtyard. "I never expected him to be such a genius... in the art of killing."

"Not just the 'Path of the Soldier.'"

From the void, a figure cloaked in shadow gradually materialized.

"Didn't you notice? The star of the 'Path of the Witch' has also reacted..."

"The 'Path of the Witch'?" Chu Muyun was taken aback. "What does he have to do with the 'Path of the Witch'? Why would it respond to him?"

"I don't know."

"But don't you find it strange?"

"What?"

"How could a Fusionist attract the gaze of a divine path? Moreover, he's a Fusionist bearing the mark of 'Apocalypse'..."

"That's not so strange. He merely attracted their attention, as if his innate talent caught the notice of the divine paths. But he hasn't truly received the[Divine Favor]... The path to divinity isn't meant for monsters."

"I see."

"But this kid is indeed insane and ruthless. You have a good eye."

Chu Muyun smiled faintly but said nothing.

"However, he's in for trouble now."

"Why?"

"I can sense it." The shadowy man paused. "That law enforcer, Qian Fan, carries the aura of a 'Sacrificial Artifact.'"

---

Back in the courtyard.

With each swing of Chen Ling's blade, seven or eight residents of Ice Spring Street fell dead.

Without firearms, the residents had no choice but to flee. But their speed was no match for Chen Ling, who wielded the[Dance of Slaughter]. As they reached the front courtyard, they were hunted down one by one!

"Brother Fan! What do we do?!" a law enforcer urgently asked.

"He must have already received[Divine Favor]and stepped onto a divine path..." Qian Fan's mind flashed back to the scene of Chen Ling summoning the dagger from thin air, his expression grim. "Damn it, which divine path has he taken?"

"Then doesn't that make him a judge?!" Another law enforcer paled. "How can we possibly defeat him?"

"Why hasn't Brother Ma arrived yet?!"

"It's too late... If this continues, not only will Ice Spring Street be wiped out, but we might not even survive."

A ruthless glint flashed in Qian Fan's eyes. He reached into his robe and pulled out an object wrapped in black cloth.

As he unwrapped it, a broken finger bone was revealed to the air...