Chương 483: Realm in Chaos (IX)

Despite the fact we've been travelling without being assaulted every other mile, it was only marginally quicker than before. We still had to be careful navigating the darkness and slowly extracting ourselves from the canyon before finally coming up on the flat stretch. Though we hurried, we still took breaks every once in a while, and one such occasion came about ten minutes after we finally left that dreaded canyon. The land was just as it was when we first traipsed through here, endlessly desolate, dry, and dark.

Though I had no way of knowing what the kids were doing, and though I was quite worried, seeing that no more notifications came after the announcements of their breakthroughs, I relaxed somewhat. My biggest concern right now is figuring out what to do once we leave this place--there's gonna be a major fight, no doubt, but I've zero plans on participating in it.

Hopefully, there will be some survivors beyond us who will be able to vouch for the fact that we were properly fucked over by that old woman and her cohort, which might result in an outright war right then and there. A perfect cover, if you ask me, to slither away.... but there was still leaving this place part.

"Are you worried about your Disciples, Senior?" Duo Xin sat besides me and handed me a still-steaming cup of tea.

"... in part about them, and in part about what they might do."

"Hm? What they might do?"

"I love them dearly," I said.

"But they aren't exactly the calm and subdued sort."

"Oh," she smiled.

"I'm sure they will adhere to Senior's teachings."... that's the issue, isn't it? They seem to be picking the absolute worst of me to emulate... but I best keep that to myself.

"What about you? Any worries?" such as that man that has yet to stop following us without ever stepping in. Honestly, at this point I don't even think he's real; I think he might just be a figment of my imagination, or Eternity's way of messing with me since it hasn't been doing it that much recently.

"Hm. I'm worried about others, too, but I trust in them. As I trust in all of us here. We'll undoubtedly get the upper tier of Beasts to tame once we return!"

"I'm sure you will," as our conversation wound down and tea grew colder, my guts began to... churn. At this point, I'm half torn between it being my own instinct and it being the system's subtle way of warning me that something isn't right. And, usually, it's extremely accurate. Like, scarily so. And if it's churning right now... it can only be because of one thing.

"If you've all rested, let us hurry."

"Hm. Everyone, get up. We're leaving!" Duo Xin must have picked up on a trace of anxiety in my voice as hers left no room for rejection; others listened and quickly packed as we departed, our quickened walk slowly turning into a run and eventually into an outright sprint. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The longer we traveled, the more pronounced the feeling in my gut became; by the time we reached the edge of this godforsaken land--which had extended somewhat further south than before--by stomach had practically twisted itself inversely. Even this far out, I could see faint traces of destruction. Smoke billowed out into the ashen sky as dark as obsidian, and Qi was in such disarray it felt fingers unmade it with purpose.

"I'll be going ahead," I said to the kids and began burning through my Qi reserves like a jet, executing Shadow Steps as frequently as I could. Worry gnawed at me to such a degree that I ended up ignoring the alarms to slow down and nearly hurt my meridians by overexerting Qi consumption. No matter. Me being hurt is one thing, but if anything happens to those kids... As I descended past the mountains and the forests and the strange cliffs that were still beautifully picturesque, the strange Qi grew even stranger.

The air grew thicker with shadows, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. When I emerged upon a cliff that overlooked the shredded landscape of my own make, I gasped; it was... ruin. Ruin beyond ruins. It had shrunk down to a measly few dozen square yards, and there were no more than fifteen people left alive.

Up in the sky, a young man whose robes were dyed scarlet red with blood was desperately summoning golden palms of light to try and defend against the mountain-sized swords of pure darkness that descended upon him. Down below, the remaining cultivators fought against an onslaught of cloaked--but living--figures, and that old woman, who was the most vicious of them all. When I saw that all the kids were alive, I sighed in relief; when I saw their states, however, my heart leapt into my throat.

Save for Long Tao--who wasn't even there, the bastard--everyone else was in a state of abject misery. The worst off was Wan Lan, who was 'fighting' that old woman--it was clear that the latter was merely toying with her, trying to discern the depths of the young girl's healing capabilities. All the same, Wan'er repeatedly lunged forward but to no avail.

To her back was Xi Zhao, who had an entire right arm missing and was wielding the sword with his left hand; clumsy though it was, it still seemed a decent enough deterrent that he managed to keep several cloaked figures at bay. Behind him, Rayce was currently force-feeding healing pills to Xing Feng and Dai Xiu, who both appeared unconscious. Right by them, Light was on her knees, her eyes wide and bereft of light as she stared at the two bodies below her--both of whom I recognized.

One was the girl we took with us into this space, Zhou Yun, a bright and hopeful spirit who only came because she wanted to see more of the world. She now lay dead, a hole the size of a fist apparent right where her heart was. By her side was another familiar face--Liao Xinya. Her entire body was shredded from head to toe, not an inch of her unwounded; perhaps the most depressing bit, or, well, the second most depressing, that she had died perhaps two or three minutes before I arrived.

They were far from the only ones who were dead; hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses lay strewn about in various states of completeness. It was a sight so ghastly that it left me momentarily speechless.... and then it made me angry. I've been angry before in this world, but I've been helpless just as often. Even now... what can I do with my anger? I know, in the heart of my heart, that I can't fight even that old woman, let alone that monster flying in the air, toying with that young man. But fight I must.

They're my kids. And they've been hurt by people who had no right to look their way, much less hurt them. They've killed two young girls who've done no wrong, who've only wanted to live a life unchained from some arbitrary duty. They've destroyed thousands of lives in a pursuit of hollow power. They must die. No, not just die. They must experience death worse than a thousand lifetimes of torture in hell. Maybe... maybe I'll die.

Maybe in my desperate bid to exercise some level of justice, I'll foolishly die and break the kids' hearts completely. But I must try. After Moonlake City, I promised myself I'd never be a bystander while the kids struggled to survive. Not again. Never again. There is only one thing in the arsenal of gifts that the system gave me that might be of help--ability to inherit the kids' strengths. I don't even know the exact nature of it, as I've never tested it.... but I choose to believe.

The system always gave me tools meant exclusively to strengthen but also protect the kids. This one clearly can't strengthen them... which leaves the other one. Please. Please let it be the other one. Please.