Chapter 498: The Rules of the Ferry Port

When the red tide surged toward Lu Yu, the alarm lights in the experiment cabin all went out.

It wasn't turned off by someone.

It was snuffed out by resentment.

Older sister walked in the front.

Her half-face, mutilated, was burned through by black hellfire; her eye sockets held no tears, no hatred, only a very old, worn-out fatigue.

She was abandoned while alive.

She was abandoned after death.

Upon reaching the Ferry Port, she reclaimed a name that let others call her Older Sister.

Now this name must also be burned.

"Ji Bai."

Older sister didn't turn back.

"From now on don't put on a bossy face; it's really annoying."

Inside the wall, Ji Bai's eyelashes twitched.

Blood flowed from his forehead into his eye socket.

He wanted to speak, but his throat was full of broken blood.

Older sister couldn't smile, so she only lifted her hand as a farewell.

The one-armed old ghost dragged his half-body along, his tattered clothes flailing wildly in the resentment.

"Older sister, walk slower; this old bone of mine can't keep up with the youngsters' pace."

Meng Wan snapped: "You two have had enough; even now you're still doing that warm nostalgia kill."

She scolded fiercely, yet black water spread across the whole ground beneath her feet.

That was her last savings.

Su Xiaoya was shoved to the back, clutching that torn umbrella cloth in her arms, crying so hard her facial features seemed about to scatter.

"Don't go......"

No one stopped.

The next second, the little girl who always hid behind Older Sister's skirt crawled out.

She originally looked about seven or eight, wearing a dirty little dress, holding a headless rag doll in her hands.

She was very afraid of people.

Usually, if anyone approached even a little, she would crawl under the cabinet.

But now, she put the rag doll on the ground and lifted her small face.

The skin on her face rolled open, fine teeth popped out in rows, her body rapidly swelled, her limbs inverted, and her crying turned into a sharp infant wail.

Resentful infant form.

Even the most timid child in the Ferry Port set himself on fire.

Su Xiaoya covered her mouth, tears streaming down between her fingers.

"Li Li......"

The resentful infant looked back at her.

That terrifying face, capable of making ordinary people go mad on the spot, strained to make a very obedient expression.

As if saying, "Older sister, don't be scared."

Then she rushed out.

Over a dozen fierce ghosts formed a wall of flesh and resentment.

No formation.

No tactics.

Entirely relying on a breath of resentment that refuses to accept fate.

They pushed the core to its limit—black fire, red mist, black water, wailing, broken limbs, fragmented memories—all twisted together, surging toward Lu Yu.

The experiment cabin's alloy floor was scraped by resentment into white traces.

The seal symbols on the wall jumped wildly; researchers behind the protective glass retreated, some legs gave out and they sat down, some covered their chests and couldn't breathe.

This is not a battle.

This is a burial sacrifice.

Lu Yu stood in place, his school uniform's hem couldn't even sway.

He watched the rushing fierce ghost horde, the last trace of patience in his eyes scraped clean.

"Hot blood, sacrifice, bonds."

Lu Yu murmured these words lowly, like reading an expired medical case.

"You say these things are very valuable."

He raised his hand and patted the non-existent dust on his cuff.

"But here, they don't count toward cost."

Meng Wan rushed to the second row; hearing this, she instantly broke down.

"You little punk, are you calculating a financial statement here? Sis today lets you reimbursement cremation fees!"

Black water turned into three arms, reaching from different directions to grab Lu Yu's neck.

Older sister's hellfire followed close behind.

The one-armed old ghost braced his remaining shoulder bone against the resentment wall, his rotten flesh all over his face shining.

The resentful infant Li Li climbed to the top, opened her mouth to bite Lu Yu's face.

The distance was only half a meter.

Lu Yu finally lifted his gaze.

In those pupils, black as if without bottom, there was no disgust.

No anger.

Nor any hesitation.

Only a chillingly obvious certainty.

"Enemies of humanity, worthless trash."

"How could they even be worthy of wounding spring and mourning autumn?"

When the words fell, he neither threw a punch nor lifted a leg.

He only let his chest cavity collapse inward.

It was strange.

A living person's chest shouldn't contract like that.

The ribs drew together, flesh pressed against the skeleton, the whole body seeming to be hollowed out from within by an unseen deep void.

In the next breath, the chest swelled.

The Taotie Core unfurled inside him.

A jet‑black shock ring spread outward from in front of Lu Yu.

There was no fire.

No smoke.

Only devouring.

Li Li, the resentful infant at the front, froze midair.

She still held a biting posture.

In the next instant, her tiny arm shattered into many pieces, the cloth doll fell from her arms, and before it touched the ground it turned to ash.

"Sister Xiao Ya......"

Her sobbing voice broke off halfway.

Su Xiaoya's pupils narrowed as she lunged forward, tripped by the Black Water left by Meng Wan, and fell to the ground.

"Li Li!"

Sister collided with the shock ring.

The black Hellfire held for half a breath.

Only half a breath.

Her arm first split, then the shoulder, chest, and half of her face.

A high‑level Fierce Ghost's spirit should be hard to destroy, but before a Taotie, rank only decides whether it's eaten more slowly or more quickly.

Sister lowered her head, watching her hand fade, and suddenly cursed.

"It really hurts."

It was probably the most human‑sounding thing she said after death.

Meng Wan surged from the side.

She compressed all the Black Water into a curved blade, slashing along the ground toward Lu Yu's ankle.

"Sister, hold on!"

Sister gave no reply.

She could no longer hold on.

The shock ring expanded over her body.

Snap.

She shattered entirely.

It wasn't an explosion of resentment.

It was like thin glass broken into countless shards, each fragment retaining a fragment of old scenes.

A tea cup from the Ferry Port.

Su Xiaoya's first bowl of hot soup.

Ji Bai stood at the doorway, wiping his umbrella.

A child called her "sister".

Everything was gone.

Meng Wan's curved blade was only a few inches from touching Lu Yu when the Black Water suddenly went out of control, sucked into the shock ring.

She was thrown backward, half of her spirit scattering in the air.

"Damn......"

She cursed as she hit the ground, but her tone had lightened considerably.

"This round was a huge loss; I haven't even dated yet......"

A second shock caught up with her.

Meng Wan's body split open at the waist.

She turned her head toward Su Xiaoya, forcing out a final sentence.

"Don't copy the senior's sharp tongue."

"Live on."

Before the words finished, the Black Water extinguished.

The one‑armed old ghost roared and pushed forward.

His half of the body was devoured, yet he still clamped his teeth on the floor's edge, trying to move the resentful wall forward by half an inch.

"Ji Bai!"

The old ghost forced a blood‑foam‑like strange sound from its throat.

"If you kid can get up, then don't let us die in vain!"

The impact ring rolled over.

The old ghost's skull rolled out, landing not far from Ji Bai.

That half‑remaining face still had its eyes open.

Then it also shattered.

The red tide collapsed.

The burning of a dozen‑plus Fierce Ghosts only caused Lu Yu's school uniform hem to lift gently.

That's all.

In the experiment cabin, even the alarm was gone.

The researchers stared blankly at that empty area.

The ghosts that had crowded the Ferry Port moments ago were now only a few wisps of dissipating smoke.

Su Xiaoya knelt on the ground, the umbrella cloth in her arms soaked by tears.

She opened her mouth, but could not produce a cry.

Lu Yu lowered his head and glanced at his cuff.

Clean.

He put his hand down, satisfied.

"Honestly, it's more durable than I expected."

He turned toward Lin Zhi by the experimental table.

"The group attachment effect, emotional resonance can temporarily boost combustion efficiency."

He sounded as if he were presenting experimental conclusions.

"Unfortunately, garbage piled together is still garbage."

A harsh scraping sound of Reinforced Steel Bar echoed from within the wall.

Lu Yu halted.

Everyone looked over.

Ji Bai moved.

His entire skeleton was more than half shattered, his right leg was ruined, his right arm hung from the shoulder, his chest and abdomen collapsed, blood surged out of his clothes, flowing down the wall to the floor.

Yet he clutched the Reinforced Steel Bar in the wall with his left arm.

Five fingers dug between the corroded iron bars, the Nail lifted, flesh and blood were cut open.

He pulled himself out bit by bit.

It wasn't standing up.

It was crawling back from the ruins.

A half‑broken Reinforced Steel Bar scraped his side ribs, dragging a piece of flesh and blood.

Ji Bai didn't utter a word.

When he hit the ground, his knee gave way, and he knelt down with a thud.

The floor dented, forming cracks.

Su Xiaoya cried, "Ji Bai, don't get up… please…."

Ji Bai propped himself up with his left hand and looked up.

He stared at Lu Yu.

There was no hope in his eyes.

No grand words.

Even his hatred was burned thin.

Only one thing remained.

He could not yield.

Lu Yu looked at him, a hint of impatience in his eyes.

"Still alive?"

Ji Bai's mouth was full of blood, and his words came out broken.

"Give her… back to me."

Lu Yu lowered his head and glanced at Lin Zhi.

Lin Zhi was crawling on the ground toward Ji Bai.

She was already so transparent that the blood stains on the floor could be seen through her.

Her fingers dragged across the ground, pulling out a very shallow red line.

One step.

Half a step.

She crawled very slowly.

With each movement, her spirit body dispersed a little.

Yet she still crawled toward Ji Bai.

A Bai......

She called him softly.

Ji Bai's shoulder trembled.

Seven years ago, in the abandoned chemical plant, he had also lain in a pool of blood, hearing this woman call his name.

At that time she wore red, standing between the flames and the corpses, and asked him, "Kid, do you want to live?"

Ji Bai had no strength to answer then, but his heart already held the answer.

She crouched down, pressed his forehead, and said, "Then don't die."

Seven years later, it was her who crawled toward him.

Lin Zhi reached out, trying to thrust her last spirit into Ji Bai's chest.

She had saved him once.

Now she wanted to save him again.

Lu Yu lifted his foot.

The sole of his shoe pressed against Lin Zhi's back.

It was a light kick.

Lin Zhi's spirit bent violently, and her red garment tore open a huge gash.

Ji Bai's pupils contracted to a dot.

"Let her go."

Lu Yu pressed his toe hard.

Lin Zhi's forehead was pressed to the floor, her fingertips less than a foot from Ji Bai.

She made no cry of pain.

She only stared at Ji Bai, shaking her head with effort.

Go.

It's still that word.

Ji Bai pushed against the wall and stood up.

His left leg trembled.

His broken right knee dragged behind him.

Each step he took forward left another clump of blood on the ground.

Lu Yu finally grew annoyed.

"I originally intended to keep you."

He raised his hand, and the black vortex in his palm unfurled.

"But you really are...... too rigid."

Su Xiaoya scrambled up, clutching a canvas umbrella and rushed to Ji Bai's front.

Her resentful spirit was shattered, unable to sustain even a complete form, yet she still spread her arms.

"If you want to eat, eat me first!"

Ji Bai whispered, "Step aside."

"No!"

Su Xiaoya cried fiercely.

"Ferry Port rule: when you see someone abandoned, give them a pull. You taught me that!"

Ji Bai was stunned.

Those words were like a thin thread, threading through the blood‑stained ground and ash, pulling him back a little from the brink of collapse.

Lu Yu stared at the two, the black in his pupils slowly spreading, devouring the whites of his eyes.

His voice was so low it seemed inhuman.

"The farce should end now."

The light tubes on the ceiling of the test chamber went out one by one.

The sealing sigils on the floor were covered by darkness.

Su Ming and Liang Wen rushed in through a distant corridor; they had just stepped onto the lower level when the pressure forced them to halt.

The over‑the‑top expression on Liang Wen's face vanished.

"What the hell."

Su Ming gritted his teeth; the Time Marrow Worm inside him thrashed wildly, yet it could not pierce this area at all.

"He's about to open a domain."

Lu Yu raised both hands.

Darkness spread from beneath his feet, swallowing blood, swallowing ash, swallowing the last traces left by big sister and the others.

He looked at Ji Bai, at Lin Zhi, at Su Xiaoya.

"Today."

"You won't even leave any residue."

He whispered.

"Domain activation—"

"'Subdue Demons·Xingtian'."