Chapter 1165: The Historian's Swan Song

The Historian's Swan Song

Perhaps because the Yu Hui Church belonged to 【Chaos】, and he happened to be a 【Chaos】 "Envoy," Cheng Shi had quite a fondness for the scene of the dying sun's afterglow.

At this moment the setting sun was slowly sinking, and the shadows of people and things stretched long in the twilight—except Cheng Shi's shadow, which was tattered and torn, looking like a kite with the wind leaking out.

Looking at Cheng Shi himself, though not so tattered, he was in an utterly wretched state; his spiritual power had been burned dry by the fierce breath of 【War】, and now he couldn't even muster a single healing art to treat himself.

He stumbled into a narrow alley, and in moments his figure vanished into its shadows.

After a few breaths, a figure appeared on the alley's rooftop. Zhao Xishi frowned slightly as she observed for a moment, and upon seeing several passersby glancing back at the alley from time to time, the corner of her mouth curved into a smile.

Historians who reconstruct the past in history know best how to piece together clues. They may not be as adept at tracking as hunters, but as long as they catch a few traces, they can likewise deduce the target's location.

Clearly, a stranger had entered this alley.

But Zhao Xishi did not rush in to pursue. Instead, she took out her history book and altered Redikol's history, causing passing pedestrians to suddenly turn around and one after another walk into the alley.

Only after they emerged safely from the other end of the alley did she nod, confirming that the Weaver was at his last gasp and no longer had the strength to set traps here.

"No wonder he ran so fast—looks like that fire of 【War】 really burned through his defenses."

Zhao Xishi chuckled lightly and went straight into the alley. To be safe, she also left a contingency at the alley's mouth to summon Mo Shu, so that even if she carelessly lost to the mortally wounded Weaver, at least one companion could come to make the final harvest.

As for whether Mo Shu could shake off Chen Shu and arrive in time......

Betting the entire reputation of the Cleansers—if he couldn't make it, he'd have no face to keep walking in Jieshu's ranks.

A historian is cautious. Even though everything today had gone so smoothly, proceeding according to her plan, when facing a Weaver of extraordinary combat power, she still went all out.

She didn't believe the Weaver would only flee without counterattacking, so she used herself as bait, first walking halfway down the alley to hold back the Weaver's retreat, then decisively pulling out a page of scripture and blasting half the alley flat.

Before Cheng Shi could even make a move, he was blasted up out of the ground.

He coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood heavily. Without a thought of counterattacking, he buried his head and charged outward at once, cursing through his teeth:

"Shit.

Zhao Xishi, don't let me catch you later!"

"Later?"

Zhao Xishi's gaze sharpened, and she said coldly, "What 'later' do you have?"

Saying so, she waved her hand, and the pedestrians who had earlier left the alley inexplicably turned around and returned to the alley's mouth, one by one blocking Cheng Shi's path of escape, their faces savage, as if about to devour him.

Cheng Shi's brow darkened, but his steps didn't pause—he charged straight through.

"You want to use these NPCs to block me?

Dream on!"

"The one who should be dreaming is you. Isn't death just an endless dream......"

The historian opened her history book once more. At her summons, the pedestrians crashed into Cheng Shi one after another, each one exploding in front of him and blasting out dense 【Annihilation】 power. Only now did Cheng Shi realize that Zhao Xishi's method of hunting him still came from Mo Shu.

That clustered 【Annihilation】 power was several times the dose that had been in Ji Yue's body back then, and it struck Cheng Shi down almost in an instant.

He vomited fresh blood and tumbled to the ground, struggling and writhing, but his jaw was clenched tight and he never let out a single wail.

He used the last wisp of his strength to heal himself, but the light of that healing art, compared to the 【Annihilation】 power rampaging inside him, was like a firefly before the bright moon—it had no effect at all.

The Weaver's defeat was certain.

But even so, Zhao Xishi still did not approach him.

She merely watched from afar, occasionally tossing out cutting remarks to speed up the Weaver's breaking.

After struggling for a long time, Cheng Shi finally ran out of strength. He twitched twice, the blood at his mouth had already turned black, his pupils slowly dilating. Looking at Zhao Xishi with unwillingness, he asked the last question of his life:

"Why?"

Zhao Xishi gave a contemptuous laugh:

"Why?

As a peak player, how could you ask such a childish question?

This world is kill or be killed, deceit against deceit. If you die, you can only blame your fate for being too soft. Where do so many 'whys' come from?

But we really are quite interested in you.

As for how interested...... heh, I don't want to let you die a ghost who knows the answer."

The historian's words ended there, refusing to say a single secret more. The unwillingness in Cheng Shi's eyes grew stronger, but the light in them was also gradually fading.

He was dead. The widely praised Weaver had fallen just like that, within Redikol's history.

After confirming time and again that the corpse before her had no breath left, a flash of fervor passed through Zhao Xishi's eyes.

Her gaze at Cheng Shi's corpse was full of covetousness, as if she wished she could drag this body back to Jieshu the very next second to verify whether that hair-raising conjecture of theirs was really true.

She walked briskly toward Cheng Shi, pulled out a paper box like an urn from her personal space, opened the lid, grabbed the corpse's hand, and started stuffing it inside.

But the very instant she touched Cheng Shi's arm, a sudden change occurred!

That corpse, which had no breath left, suddenly opened its eyes. From the charred face, burnt skin peeled away to reveal a corner of a mouth curved in a smile. A large, burnt-black hand instantly flipped over and seized her arm, its force so great that it directly crushed Zhao Xishi's arm bone!

Zhao Xishi's pupils contracted sharply, her expression changed drastically. Ignoring the pain, she decisively drew her blade, hacked off her own arm, and retreated backward, crying out in shock:

"This is impossible!!!"

"Impossible?"

The perfectly intact shadow Cheng Shi closed in on Zhao Xishi from behind at the first instant. Just like the first time he killed her, he locked her neck in the crook of his arm, while his other hand tore off the historian's last arm still capable of holding a pen to write history.

Once more he whispered in her ear like a demon:

"This world is kill or be killed, deceit against deceit. If you die, you can only blame your fate for being too soft. Where do so many 'impossibles' come from?"

Before the words had fallen, with a crack, the head came off.

Cheng Shi pressed forward and drove the Skinning Bone Blade into Zhao Xishi's chest once more.

This time, the historian truly fell within history.

Looking at the utterly lifeless Zhao Xishi, Cheng Shi did not smile. Instead, he violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, collapsed onto the ground, tilted his head back, and cursed:

"No wonder Chen Shu couldn't hold out......

If it weren't for 'Vitality,' who could withstand this thing?

'【Annihilation】 is so overpowered it needs a nerf—how is that playable!?'

At this, Cheng Shi gritted his teeth and stood up, answering his own question:

"Nerf!

I'll nerf it myself!"

The afterglow of the setting sun spread a long golden carpet through the alley, and at the same time stretched Cheng Shi's shadow long, draping it over Zhao Xishi's body.

Those who defile fate—throughout the ages, aside from a certain person, none have met a good end. Historians have proven this with blood-red brushstrokes, and her swan song has ultimately been buried in the pages of history.