Chapter 319: After the Locusts (8/15, Autumn Subscription)

The human-bone kites flew back into the sky one after another, merging into the Black Cloud.

They changed direction, flying toward the distance.

That direction was… toward Gu Yue Cun.

And after they left, the bone spheres formed by Chen Lao crumbled apart one after another.

Of the dozen or so human-bone kites left behind, not a single one remained—only a white-robed old man stood atop the bone sphere.

That was… Uncle-Master?

That was what the fleeing members of the Extreme Ice Sect thought.

But when they saw the white-robed old man slowly reveal a savage grin, and two kite-like ancient wings burst through the flesh of his back—

They understood—Uncle-Master… had fallen!

Terror rising in their hearts, they fled in panic, tails between their legs, vanishing into the distance. Fortunately, the Wu Yu Clan member who had taken over Uncle-Master's body did not pursue.

And at this moment, the tail protected by the group wore an unusual expression.

She felt these people's emotions, their joys and angers and sorrows, and savored them carefully.

Because… she was beginning to feel that these people seemed to be real people, flesh and blood, no different from her.

Because… through these past few days of investigation, she had finally uncovered the truth of the neighboring boys' school.

"Hai Ming… the headless corpse… the game and reality…"

A strange chill and fervor flickered in the tail's eyes.

The two emotions, combined, were not at all out of place—just as she fit so perfectly with Lord Qi Ba Jiu.

"Interesting… more and more interesting!"

"I want to live, I want to live longer!"

"If I die in the game, I'll die in reality—so what about the power inside the game? Could it also…"

The tail was still a stranger to this game.

But she had already sensed it.

This game was no simple thing!

……

The Black Cloud came suddenly, and left suddenly.

Everything was as if a gust of violent wind had swept through, casually crushing the insignificant little ant that was Mo Cun.

After the Black Cloud departed, Mo Cun fell into silence.

It could be foreseen that if no one rebuilt it, then in a few decades, a few centuries, this village that at its peak could be called the foremost village of Heiqing Shanmai would be forgotten in a corner of history.

No one would ever know that in this village there was a Chief Captain Lang Wu who, for the village's safety, was willing to become a subordinate village, only to seek protection for it.

Nor would anyone know that in this village there was a Captain Lang Mo who had just awakened to a captain's resolve, understood a captain's duty, and fallen here.

Still less would anyone remember Mo Cun's tens of thousands of villagers, its sturdy houses, and that unfathomably mysterious ancient formation!

Everything would be buried by time.

Everything would be forgotten by history.

In all of Daqing Guo, in a remote borderland, what did it matter if one village fewer remained?

It was merely a dot erased from the map.

Countless lives reduced to a single number.

Everything, as if it had no meaning at all.

But everything, as if it all possessed meaning!

*Snap! *

A hand reached out from the endless rubble and ruins.

Then came another hand, then the upper body, and then the whole person rose from the ruins!

It was a man—a man covered in wounds, as if he had fought his enemy to the very last second.

When Mo Cun still stood, everyone called him Captain Wu.

Now that Mo Cun was gone, he was just a martial artist surnamed Wu.

Captain Wu felt his chest burning, scalding hot!

His pupils had, at some unknown moment, turned gold.

His heart pounded rapidly, as if it had become a kind of Phoenix Cry.

"Dead… everyone's… dead!!"

Captain Wu clenched his fist, and the golden light in his eyes blazed even brighter!

He slammed the ground of the rubble hard.

*Boom!! *

With Captain Wu at the center, the rubble beneath the ruins surged violently outward, blasting open a clearing!

Within a hundred meters around, it was spotlessly clean—not even a speck of dust remained.

"This… I did this?"

Captain Wu stared blankly at his burning right hand, faintly sensing something like a golden liquid seeping from his skin and coating his fingers.

But just as this feeling was about to come together in one stroke, the burning in his body and the violent pounding of his chest rapidly faded, returning to calm.

The power within him vanished.

Captain Wu felt he had returned to the strength of the Second-rate Realm of the Post-Heaven stage.

Though compared to his strength before Mo Cun's destruction there was some improvement, it was limited—nowhere near the state he had just been in.

He tried punching the ground, and sure enough only a small crater was left, utterly lacking the earlier might.

"Damn... damn! Damn!!! Come out! That power! Come out! I want revenge! I want revenge!!"

Captain Wu's eyes were bloodshot as he knelt on the ground in agony.

The same feeling he had when he learned of Captain Huo's death surged back into his chest.

And this time, it was even worse!

Because this time, what he lost was everything.

A person's life is made up of experiences.

The people met, the places lived in, the encounters, the past—these are the proof that one has lived.

And now, Captain Wu's past, all of it, had been destroyed.

Destroyed by... that Black Cloud!

His chest felt hot again, but the heat was far from enough!

"More power, more..."

Pata.

A hand reached out from the rubble ahead.

"Alive... person?"

"Still someone alive?!"

Startled, Captain Wu's chest sensation quickly receded.

He rushed over and grabbed the person's hand.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'll save you! I'll save you!!"

He cleared away the rubble and pulled out the person, then froze upon closer inspection.

The still-living person was none other than... his disciple, Chen Xiaomiao!

Chen Xiaomiao was nearly dead; Captain Wu gave her several pills, barely stabilizing her breath.

Then Captain Wu searched the surroundings, clearing rubble, area by area, calling out.

Indeed, he found many more survivors.

When night fell, they gathered around the Human Soul fire, staring at the shattered Di He in silence.

Just one day ago, they had been laughing and chatting in Mo Cun, living carefree, happy lives.

Yet only one day later, their homes were destroyed, their families dead, and not a single familiar face remained.

"Wu Yu tribe... Wu Yu tribe!! This grudge is unforgivable!"

"I want revenge! I want to train in martial arts! Can Captain Wu teach me martial arts?"

"And me... I want to kill the anomalies! I'll kill every last one of them! I'll kill until not a single anomaly remains in the world! I swear it, I swear it!!"

Mentioning the enemy, the crowd grew impassioned.

Captain Wu noticed that the last speaker was a little girl named An Dong'er, apparently a descendant of An Shenyi.

(End of Chapter)