Chapter 48: Chapter 42: The Person and the God Behind (Added for the Magic Little Arrow!)
No one knew how long it would be before someone came to deal with the tens of thousands of corpses here.
Those who had passed away would eventually become just a long list of victims on the TV, remembered by no one other than their relatives and friends.
The sky had turned completely dark.
The sun would rise as usual tomorrow.
However, in the silence of this dark night, someone had yet to leave.
A kilometer away from the hotel, atop another skyscraper.
A five or six-year-old girl sat on the edge of the rooftop railing.
Around the girl's neck hung a pair of large red headphones, each ear cup adorned with a pattern resembling an eyeball.
She had been watching the events unfold in the hotel from the beginning of the battle, hands propping up her cheeks, without blinking an eye.
It wasn't until Xiao Mengyu was about to be defeated that she reached out her hand and pressed down through the air.
Boom—
The hotel building was pierced through by her press, collapsing into the void.
Xiao Mengyu fell towards the ground.
Shen Ye caught her.
The subsequent battle continued relentlessly.
Everything ended.
Shen Ye left on his Ghost Fire Motorcycle.
The little girl chewed her gum, blowing a large bubble.
Pop.
The bubble burst.
A voice quietly emerged from the empty space beside her:
"Aren't you going to meet him?"
"It's not the right time," the little girl said.
"He just saved you once, going out of his way to send you off on his motorcycle," teased the voice.
The girl couldn't help but laugh, sighed, and said emotionally:
"Brother Shen Ye has grown up, hasn't he?"
"... Compared to when he was a child, he has become even sillier now."
Although she said this, her bright eyes, slightly upturned corners of her mouth, and swinging little feet betrayed her true feelings.
The two eyeballs on the red headphones took flight, floating in mid-air, and spoke again:
"This is all the trouble your sister caused. She didn't bother with the aftermath, and instead, you rushed over to help, almost exposing me in the process," it grumbled.
"Stop complaining. It's a good thing she didn't kill everyone. Besides, didn't I almost get exposed too?" the girl replied.
"If you had revealed your identity in broad daylight, I wonder how you would have dealt with the consequences," the two eyeballs retorted indignantly.
"Enough, I'll take you for beef noodles later," the girl pacified.
"Wow, I want an extra egg, and some fine wine—" the eyeballs gleamed red, "wait a second, are you asking me for a favor? Spit it out!"
The girl stood up.
Her physique began to change, rapidly "growing" into a teenage girl in her teens.
The night wind.
Tousled her hair.
If there had been a moon and a river at that time, she, leaning against the railing and gazing afar, would have been indistinguishable from Song Qingyun in the video.
Beep beep!
Her phone rang.
The message was from "Song Qingyun."
With a light tap, the melodious female voice sounded from the phone:
"Yinchen, where did you run off to? There's a banquet tonight, and I can't handle it alone. Hurry back."
The girl's expression turned cold.
Her gaze shifted back to the hotel building, which resembled a haunt of ghostly spirits.
"Erase all traces of my presence, make sure no one knows I was here, and prevent the group with my sister from finding me," she instructed.
"Okay, what about the situation here?" asked the eyeballs.
"Erase all traces of Brother Shen Ye's battle, let no one become aware," she commanded.
The eyeballs inquired further, "But there is a witness, the girl with the sword—"
The girl interrupted, "She won't voluntarily mention Brother Shen Ye's affair to anyone, trust me."
"Alright, I'll get to work—after that, are we going to the banquet or eating noodles?" the eyeballs asked.
"Noodles," the girl made a chopping gesture downward with her hand, indicating her final decision.
The eyeballs cheered, but still uncertainly asked:
"Are you really not going to the banquet?"
The girl pouted and said, "My sister thrives in such situations, unlike me—after all, everyone knows that I'm a good-for-nothing who can't do anything."
The two eyeballs spun around, letting out shrill laughter:
"You, a good-for-nothing? Hahaha! That's hilarious!"
Yet, the girl sighed:
"Being alive is good enough for now… Maybe I'll be dead by tomorrow, right?"
This time, the two eyeballs ceased their laughter.
...
Two hours later.
At another end of the city.
In a budget hotel.
The man had washed away the bloodstains from his body and put on clean clothes.
He sat at the table, poured himself a glass of liquor, and drank it in one gulp.
The drink was so strong that it caused him to cough violently.
Only with the help of the strong alcoholic burn did he feel his condition slightly improve.
Looking down.
His flesh was no longer flesh, but a substance etched with dense runes and felt like rubber, yet softer than rubber.
His body continued to squirm.
It was hungry.
Blood filled the man's eyes as he frowned, clearly enduring an unspeakable torture.
--This was a flesh puppet from another world.
If he didn't feed it promptly, it would torment his spirit, subjecting him to unimaginable agony.
But it was all worth it.
After all, thanks to this flesh puppet, he had come back to life.
This was a miracle.
Only a divine spirit could accomplish such a feat!
The man took a deep breath and started reciting a series of obscure, inhuman spells.
Not until his surroundings were engulfed in crimson light did he kneel down and chant with the utmost devotion:
"Oh great being beyond description,"
"I have paid the price as per our covenant, yet you could have arrived just now. Why did you still leave in the end?"
After saying this, he lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to move an inch.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
A bizarre, fragmented shadow quietly emerged in the void before him.
"Fool."
The shadow loomed over him, mercilessly swinging a black whip and savagely lashing the man.
The man's body trembled uncontrollably, as if enduring pain beyond human limits, yet he lay on the ground, not daring to move.
The shadow kept whipping until the flesh puppet on the man's back was completely shattered, the puppet crying out as the remaining flesh and bones were exposed, and only then did the whip slowly stop.
For a moment,
The shadow spoke:
"There is a secretive figure hidden in the shadows."
The man lifted his head in shock.
—He hadn't sensed it at all!
"Your strength is as insignificant as a firefly. You are not nearly enough for me to unleash an attack. The moment I arrive, you would surely be killed by that hidden enemy."
"Understand?"
"I understand," said the man with a deferential tone.
Knock knock knock!
The sound of knocking came.
"Come in," the man's steady voice said.
The door opened.
A bright and charming girl walked into the room, gently closing the door behind her.
The man froze, unable to help himself:
"Her... I surely had already..."
"Your work this time was indeed quite good, I just sewed her head back on," said the black shadow.
It gently stepped back, landing on Zhao Yibing and disappearing from sight.
Zhao Yibing blinked her eyes, her listless expression gradually becoming lively, and she spoke in a crisp female voice:
"At first, I found your world weak and tedious, hardly worth mentioning."
"Who knew the Curse of the King of Ten Thousand Fallen Evil Spirits I bestowed upon you would backfire, its strength completely taken away."
"Immediately after, you were also defeated."
"Only then did I realize—"
"Your world is filled with intrigues, even harboring the arrival of other 'beings' acting in secret."
"My servant,"
"Walk with me in your world."
"Let me see what secrets your world hides."
"By the way, I want to ask him—"
"How he broke the Cursed Sculpture of the King of Ten Thousand Fallen Evil Spirits."
"That was strength I had gathered over countless years."
"I will take it all back!"
The man's face bloomed with ecstatic joy.
He crawled on his knees to Zhao Yibing's feet, kissing her toes while chanting:
"Oh, great and eternal divinity, I prostrate at your feet, listening devoutly to your teachings, forever serving by your side."
Zhao Yibing showed a pondering look, suddenly hearing a "giggling" teeth-chattering sound by her ear and returning to her senses.
—That was the voice of the flesh puppet.
It was crying, pleading, repressing its instincts.
Zhao Yibing got the hint and finally spoke up:
"I have traversed an exceedingly long distance, arriving here, and reviving you... I need some souls to replenish what was expended."
"And you have just been revived. If the flesh puppet is too starved, your soul will be eroded away."
She continued, commanding:
"Go hunt."
"Kill a thousand people, bring their souls back to me, their flesh is yours."
"As you command!" the man responded, bowing his head and hunching his back, silently rising from the ground, then he walked backwards to the door, opened it, and left.
A thousand people.
Wonderful.
Only a divine spirit would care for him so much.
And only the flesh puppet bestowed upon him could consume so much.
Under the guidance of the divine spirit, his life had long since become spectacular, even more romantic than he had ever dreamed.
The man felt everything was so perfect.
Voice conversations came from the rooms around.
This further ignited the man's appetite.
But no.
The Divine Spirit spoke of hunting.
How could he simply harvest at random, making everything less refined?
...He wanted those best souls, the highest quality flesh.
With this thought in mind, the man felt even the flesh puppet had submitted to him.
—It could read his thoughts.
Now, it no longer tormented him, but instead began to cooperate fully with him.
This was good.
The man wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth with a white handkerchief and straightened his appearance in the mirror at the end of the hallway, then he elegantly entered the elevator.
There was already a girl in the elevator.
"Hello," the man said with a smile.
The girl glanced at him, her eyes suddenly brightening.
—The gentleman was indeed very handsome and maturely charming.
"Hello," the girl smiled back.
"Going to the concert?" the man inquired, noticing the ticket in her hand.
"Yes, I'm meeting some friends. Do you also like this band?" the girl asked.
The man nodded: "Their performance is terrific, I love the atmosphere of the live experience."
"You like the atmosphere? It seems we have that in common," the girl laughed, covering her mouth.
"Yes, especially when there are lots of people, it's very lively. It gives me a sense of excitement and freedom," the man said.
"Haha, I feel the same. Maybe that's the charm of a concert."
"Indeed."