Chapter 1680: Dark Mark

This guy's hand was just about to touch Xin'er, yet at this very moment, Xin'er raised her head and cast a cold glance at him.

Just this one look made the bespectacled man's body stiffen; his expression was one of shock, revealing a trace of horror.

Immediately following, his body began to twitch violently; he slowly lowered his head and discovered that, at some unknown time, a large hole had appeared in his chest.

Thump, the bespectacled man knelt on the ground, twitching incessantly; it was clear his life had reached its end.

Xin'er slowly extended her hand and placed it on the bespectacled man's head.

The bespectacled man's eyes widened, his whites began to roll back incessantly, and finally, the pupils in his eyes vanished; he slowly stood up, his facial expression ferocious.

He had already evolved into a Devouring Human Hearts ghost, though only at the Initial Stage, retaining a human form; next, he would wander everywhere to devour human hearts.

After finishing all this, Xin'er continued to walk forward, while this newly evolved Devouring Human Hearts ghost followed behind Xin'er, walking forward step by step.

Although he was still human, he had already lost his heart; now he was an existence without a soul.

"Let's go, follow her." Chen Yu let go of Honghou's hand, and the two followed behind.

Xin'er walked along Chinatown all the way out, heading straight toward the seaside, and she arrived at an abandoned chemical plant.

This chemical plant had previously processed nuclear waste, and the radiation was extremely severe, so basically no one came here now.

Even in the daytime, this place was only frequented by some mutated birds, and there was basically no sign of people; at night, the place looked even more gloomy and eerie, giving people a truly terrifying feeling.

Wherever Xin'er went, one after another 'people' suddenly crawled out from beneath the trash.

Perhaps these people could not be called true humans, because their expressions were ferocious, and some were even Second Stage Devouring Human Hearts ghosts; although they had human forms, their bodies had already turned into monsters.

Every step Xin'er took, a Devouring Human Hearts ghost appeared from under the trash heaps; by the time she reached the center of the factory, dozens of people were already following behind her.

These people, or rather, Devouring Human Hearts ghosts, had already formed a team; they followed behind Xin'er in a grand procession, finally gathering together.

Honghou, who was following behind, had a somewhat horrified expression; she had never imagined that the team of Devouring Human Hearts ghosts had already grown to such an extent.

"Didn't you say before that there was something wrong with her? Did you not discover this action of hers?" Chen Yu asked Honghou.

Honghou was already wearing a look of horror; she shook her head and said, "I didn't. I only felt that she was somewhat unusual, but I truly did not know about these things of hers."

"The Dark Mark was given by that guy behind the scenes. I don't know why he chose Xin'er, but judging from the current situation, it is truly not optimistic." Chen Yu's brows were tightly locked.

The Devouring Human Hearts ghosts before them surrounded Xin'er; at this moment, Xin'er slowly unbuttoned her clothes, exposing her upper body, and the Dark Mark on her back emitted a faint radiance.

These Devouring Human Hearts ghosts all emitted a dark red light from their bodies; these lights were the Blood Essence they had absorbed after killing people.

"What is she doing?" Honghou asked, feeling astonished and uncertain.

"Harvesting," Chen Yu said. "The power condensed after these Devouring Human Hearts ghosts kill and devour hearts is now being collected by her, and then presented to the person above. As she is now, she is equivalent to being a spokesperson for some demon."

"This kind of method is something I have only seen in my life," Honghou said, watching the situation before her without blinking. "Using so many people to absorb blood energy to nourish him, the progress must be very fast."

"That's right," Chen Yu said. "This is also why Jiutun has grown so rapidly. A mere avatar of his has grown terrifyingly in a short period of time; he can even control the Apocalypse Society to seek Faith Power for him."

"The old methods of wanting to destroy the world at every turn are really not common anymore," Honghou sighed slightly and said, "It seems I need to learn more."

Seeing that the ritual was complete, Xin'er slowly put on her clothes, and then her eyes emitted a crimson light.

As the light in her eyes flickered, the dozens of Devouring Human Hearts ghosts beside her also slowly retreated; they were going to continue with a new round of tasks.

Yet at this very moment, a ray of light suddenly lit up, and a huge circle of light appeared, surrounding these dozens of Devouring Human Hearts ghosts in the center.

Chen Yu flicked the Lichen in his hand, the circle of light shrank slightly, and with a buzzing sound, accompanied by a cloud of blood mist, dozens of Devouring Human Hearts ghosts turned into dust in this instant.

Xin'er suddenly raised her head; she stared fixedly at Chen Yu and let out an angry shriek. Immediately following, a circle of light erupted from all around her body, and this circle of light rapidly closed in on Chen Yu.

Chen Yu's figure flickered, and he had already vanished from the scene; immediately after, he appeared beside Xin'er.

As Chen Yu pointed his right hand, a light prison appeared, firmly binding Xin'er inside.

Finger-Space Prison—a prison resembling a bubble appeared; no matter how Xin'er struggled inside, she had no way to break free from the restraints.

Unable to break free for a moment, Xin'er shrieked hysterically at Chen Yu; the expression on her face was ferocious and terrifying, making one feel awe-struck at the sight.

"Xin'er, I am now going to strip the Dark Mark for you; you must endure it." Chen Yu walked forward and put away the Lichen.

"What do you intend to do? Strip it by force?" Honghou could not help but feel some worry. "After all, the Dark Mark is already closely connected to her body; if stripped by force, no one knows what will happen."

"We in Huaxia naturally have methods to strip it," Chen Yu said. "It's just that the whole process is somewhat painful."

"A bit of pain is better than being completely lost. In her current situation, if the Dark Mark on her back is not stripped, I fear she will truly never come back," Honghou said with some worry, looking at the beloved Xin'er.

"That's right, if it's not stripped now, then she truly won't be able to come back." Chen Yu crossed his hands and formed a seal.

With a 'whoosh', a black phantom was forcibly stripped from her body, but this phantom was tightly bound to Xin'er's body and unwilling to leave.

Xin'er let out bursts of hissing sounds; the endless pain made her feel as if life were worse than death.

"Come out!" Chen Yu shouted violently and increased his force.

Another burst of hissing sounds came out, and this hissing was emitted by the shadow bound to Xin'er's body; her consciousness had always been in a half-asleep, half-awake state.

"Chen Yu..." Xin'er cried out in pain, "Give me a quick end."

"Endure it and it will pass. No matter what happens, your willpower must keep up," Chen Yu shouted in a deep voice. "Again."