Chapter 468: Ruins 12

They landed on the ground, just like throwing a piece of meat into a pack of dogs.

Puppets from all directions lunged at them in unison, their steps as synchronized as two hands under the same nervous system, working together to pin down a grasshopper in the grass.

After landing, Liu Ziyi didn't even look before preemptively releasing a pile of fire, then she let out a scream; the firelight illuminated too many hideous, ugly faces, which truly exceeded the limit of what a girl could tolerate.

Luo Qi jumped up, grabbed Liu Ziyi, and ran, "Fire is useless, they don't know fear, they won't dodge the burning."

His words were not wrong; the puppets charged straight into the ring of fire, heading directly for them. Although their burning bodies would eventually be reduced to ashes, before turning to ash, they could still strangle the two of them while covered in flames.

Luo Qi chose a direction with the fewest puppets to run, and the three puppets blocking their path fell to the ground silently like puppets with cut strings. Liu Ziyi screamed in shock, but Luo Qi didn't even look, dragging her away at a sprint. He didn't have time for any delicate adjustments and could only use the simplest, crudest method: directly extinguishing their entire brains.

"Too efficient," Liu Ziyi shouted while panting as they ran, "You're practically a Grim Reaper harvesting lives."

"We are being driven back into the depths of the city," Luo Qi shouted back, pointing toward the direction ahead where the puppets were sparsest. "This is so ominous."

Liu Ziyi glanced around and asked, panting, "How many puppets can you kill at most? Hey, what exactly is your output?"

"Don't worry about me right now," Luo Qi shouted in annoyance. Mind Mages are adept at Deep Dive into consciousness, adjusting and controlling originally independent consciousnesses through delicate "surgery." They generally do not extinguish souls on a large scale; if it's just about killing, Battle Mages like Du Zhengyi and the others are more suitable. Letting a Mind Mage do this is like taking a scalpel onto a battlefield; although sharp, it would quickly become dull. He restrained his usage, actually not knowing how long he could keep his mind clear.

"Then do we have a way not to run according to their wishes?" Liu Ziyi said, she was panting even harder, one hand pressed against her stomach. "You forgot what I usually do for work; I'm even worse at running than you."

"It would be best to find a place to hold out until dawn," Luo Qi said, checking the surroundings urgently, but in such an abandoned city, what place could possibly be safe?

"Fine, I'll listen to you," Liu Ziyi said, "So where are we running?"

Luo Qi cursed himself in agitation; just as all bad things always gather together, at this moment, a bolt of Lightning Technique streaked across, and a thunderclap exploded. Both stopped in their tracks, Liu Ziyi raised her head to look at the pitch-black night sky, and took a deep breath of the scent in the wind.

"This is..." Luo Qi asked hesitantly. Actually, there was no need to ask; a torrential downpour fell overhead, and the cold rainwater soaked Luo Qi instantly. He looked back, and the fire behind them gradually shrank in scale amidst the rainstorm.

Liu Ziyi wiped the water from her face and answered Luo Qi's question, "This is someone making it rain. Since I can release fire, someone else can extinguish it."

Luo Qi looked at the city shrouded in the pouring rain; amidst the firelight gradually extinguishing behind him, countless human figures flashed by blurrily. His cat was struggling in his pocket, desperately trying to climb out; his agitation was scorching it. This was a very dangerous signal; it was a Telepathy creature, more sensitive than humans, and it had already started to feel pain now. The next one would be Liu Ziyi.

"What's wrong with you?" Liu Ziyi asked anxiously, "We must keep running, those things will catch up immediately."

"I..." Luo Qi swallowed and said. In the chaos, he locked eyes with Liu Ziyi; just one glance, and he suddenly unfolded Liu Ziyi's consciousness. Countless Magic symbols he didn't recognize were intertwined in a complex and orderly structure. In a flash, he saw Du Zhengyi again. Younger... no, it was a more juvenile Du Zhengyi, walking past him with cold eyes, looking straight ahead. That was the friend in other people's eyes, he reminded himself; he was not in a normal state of mind. This was an instant, fast as Lightning Technique; he couldn't control himself, but this instant felt as long as months, with countless changes in people and events, spinning faster and faster.

No... don't... that was a clean little girl! He withdrew, his body swayed, and he suddenly covered his mouth, suppressing a wave of intense nausea.

"What's wrong with you?" Liu Ziyi asked him anxiously.

He was dazed for a while, clutching onto himself amidst countless chaotic fragments of life. Suddenly, he shoved Liu Ziyi's shoulder, pushing her away a few steps.

"Luo Qi!" Liu Ziyi stood there at a loss, looking anxiously at the group of puppets about to pounce on them, then looking at Luo Qi, who seemed to have suddenly gone zombie-like. She didn't know what was wrong with Luo Qi, but she knew something must have gone wrong; she roughly knew that Mind Mages all had it very difficult.

The heavy rain soaked them like two idiots in a low-quality romance drama; anyway, even for this reason, they couldn't go on like this. She turned her head abruptly, facing the group of humanoid puppets firmly. Countless complex formulas flashed through her mind; she had to find a Magic that could be used. She wasn't a warrior, but she had always been the one providing prototype weapons to warriors; how could she not find a usable method?

She suddenly threw out a cold light source, then raised her hand, clearing her mind of distractions, and began to chant the first syllable of the spell. Just then, a powerful force erupted from behind her; it was a directed torrent of Yajian, carrying a crazy aggressiveness, pure and greedy, as if it were the hunger to devour that only a gluttonous beast would have. When that force swept past her, it felt like thousands of needles scratching the edge of her consciousness, and she screamed. Her consciousness was like a stone in the Yajian; the torrent bypassed her, only grazing her edges, and they burst out and surged past, pouncing on the group of puppets in front of her.

Her screaming stopped; she opened her eyes wide, looking at the puppets that had suddenly gone still in front of her. How many were there? The blurry figures in the rainstorm filled the street, as if they were creatures that had just awakened from ignorance.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and her scream was stuffed back into her throat. She knew it was Luo Qi, but she trembled, her whole body stiff, not daring to look back. Zombies and Luo Qi—she didn't know which one she should be more afraid of.

Luo Qi pulled her over abruptly, one hand pressed against her face, lifting her head up, "Look at me, are you okay? Did I touch you just now?"

Liu Ziyi gasped for a breath; she didn't even know she had been holding her breath just now, and she shook her head. She looked into Luo Qi's eyes, surprised to see his fear and hesitation; he acted as if he didn't know how powerful he was.

"Ziyi," he said, "Can you... not tell anyone what happened just now?"

Liu Ziyi had completely regained her composure, "You know, you could make me forget what happened just now."

Luo Qi didn't speak.

She suddenly knew that he wouldn't do that. She turned her head away, took a deep breath, and said in a laboratory-work tone, "Fine, how many puppets did you control just now? Are we going to play chess? Or play a gladiator arena game?"