Chapter 848 - 203: The Promise
Where there is blood, the Death Curse will spread, continuously devouring life until desolation remains.
Su Changxing arrived outside Hanjing City, where Chenhe’s troops were stationed due to the change in circumstances following the deaths of the Sixteen Swordsmen.
Zhou An led a squad outside the city walls of Hanjing City, and even though he was severely injured, no one could oppose him, and those who came to stop him were all cut down with a single sword strike.
"Looks like you can’t hold on anymore, can you?"
Su Changxing arrived at the Seventeenth Suburb camp, where he met Lin Xiuyu sitting in a wheelchair.
He looked emaciated, with white hair mixed with strands of black, his right eye sunken.
Seeing him, Su Changxing was reminded of another person, Zhong Jueqing, the former captain of the Security Bureau.
The figures of both men were so similar that they slowly overlapped in Su Changxing’s mind.
Lin Xiuyu’s lips held a faint, enigmatic smile as he looked at Su Changxing and hoarsely said:
"I didn’t expect you to come back at this time; I thought you wouldn’t return."
Even though they had collected information from many timelines, the future was ultimately unpredictable. Even if Su Changxing never returned, it wouldn’t be surprising.
Su Changxing stepped in to observe his condition, placed a hand on his shoulder, sighed, and said, "You’ve worked hard."
Such an approach brought no benefit to Lin Xiuyu himself; he was pushing himself into a bottomless abyss.
"Are you confident? Is there anything you need my help with?"
Lin Xiuyu smiled more broadly, pointed at Su Changxing with his index finger, and said, "Haha, you always doubt me; I can feel your suspicion."
Su Changxing chuckled: "That shows I still trust you and am not hiding anything."
Lin Xiuyu laughed and then began to cough, coughing up blood. His body aged while still appearing youthful, in reality, no different from a person close to dying of old age,
"As for help, there are of course areas that need support; I will use all the Death Curse in this region to sever the connection between Blue Star and the World of Heaven."
"But this will take some time. If those people retaliate desperately, it could be troublesome, although others have promised to help us fend them off, there’s no guarantee they can hold them back."
Su Changxing thought for a moment and said, "Even if we cut it off, the channel can be reopened, which may ultimately be futile."
Lin Xiuyu’s idea was certainly good, but completely severing the connection between the two worlds was not so simple.
"That’s right, it is."
"But being able to delay for some time is enough."
Lin Xiuyu suddenly stopped, smiling as he stared at Su Changxing. His remaining eye turned cloudy, making it difficult to see clearly, but at this distance, he could still make out Su Changxing, seemingly unchanged from before.
Su Changxing thought for a while and understood Lin Xiuyu’s implication: "You mean the third apocalypse erupted from the World of Heaven?"
Lin Xiuyu nodded and said, "Yes, based on the clues we have, a very small number of people possess memories that seem to foresee the future. We combined and analyzed these, discovering that the third apocalypse would erupt from the World of Heaven."
"As long as we can cut off the channel before the third apocalypse erupts, even if we can’t avoid it, we can greatly delay its arrival."
"With time comes hope; that’s what you told me before. I believe you’re right, so I’m doing this."
"You must support me; things have reached this point, and we can’t turn back."
Su Changxing nodded in understanding, sighed, and said, "It feels like things will always go wrong; indeed, it has come to this... I hope you can survive."
Lin Xiuyu smiled faintly and said indifferently, "Of course, I hope so too. You know, I’m most afraid of death, otherwise, I wouldn’t have an ability that fears death."
"These curses are all seeded by me; there are simply too many. I will guide them to one place in a short time to impact the channel’s node."
Lin Xiuyu was pushed by Cai Jing, walking forward along the path in front of the camp, heading toward the altar temporarily erected in a clearing not far away. Dozens of flickering candles stood in the night, the strong wind unable to extinguish them.
Lin Xiuyu turned his head and continued, "Actually, I mastered the power of curses back then, but I didn’t know they were curses, so I planted curses in many team members."
These curse seeds would unknowingly take root and sprout, achieving the purpose of controlling the target’s life.
But this was not Lin Xiuyu’s goal.
"I’ve always refrained from using the power of curses, feeling it was forbidden and would bring disaster."
"However..."
Su Changxing could sense Lin Xiuyu’s internal struggle in coming this far, knowing his actions would greatly impact the world’s course but uncertain of the final outcome.
"Superpowers originate from the power in the bloodline. Since you possess such power, it’s possible to fully control it," Su Changxing explained.
"Perhaps."
Lin Xiuyu staggered as he rose from the wheelchair, walking towards the altar, gaining more strength with each step. His frail body seemingly grew younger.
This was an exchange ceremony, trading power with an ancient entity, at the cost of the abundant Blood Energy left within the Death Curse.
By doing so, Lin Xiuyu would attain extraordinary control over the curse.
However, power comes at a cost, and Su Changxing knew he couldn’t bear such power.
This would lead him to his doom.
A bolt of lightning flashed above the altar, then the wind picked up, carrying rain droplets that pattered on the stone platform.
In that instant, Su Changxing felt an overwhelming will descend upon this space, like some rule-transformed existence, akin to a god.
Death Curses spread across various locations seemed to gain will, converging toward one place, along with already dead and decayed corpses.
...
"He’s mad, you madmen! All of you are madmen!"
A long-haired man cloaked, holding a small wooden stick, looked up at the sky, shouting hoarsely as if feeling immense terror.
He was also one of Chenxi’s Apocalypse, the "Black Mage" Chen Qi.
Zhou An looked at the person before him, a smile curling at his lips. Despite being gravely injured, he still exerted immense pressure on the opponent:
"I’ve said it before, there’s nothing Zhou An wants to accomplish that can’t be done."
"Be smart and make way; let everyone else leave here. This war has already been decided, and it’s not worth having your brothers die here, don’t you agree?"
The ground all around was littered with corpses, all in a state of decay.
The personnel on both sides engaged in chaotic battle outside the city, but thanks to Zhou An, even though Seventeen’s overall strength was not greater than the opponent’s, they still held the advantage.
"What’s the use of fighting, I said from the beginning that there’s no need to fight."
A lazy and somewhat immature voice came from behind Chen Qi.
Hearing this voice, Chen Qi’s expression changed slightly, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, and he fell silent.
A petite figure slowly walked step by step, wearing a luxurious purple gown adorned with intricate golden embroidery, the lines smooth, delicate, and beautiful like a work of art, adding an air of nobility.
She was a young girl, adjusting the purple bow headband on her head with her left hand, encrusted with tiny amethyst crystals.
Her hair was fluffy, carefully curled into small waves cascading down her shoulders, dark purple eyeshadow brightening her eyes, which gazed at Zhou An with orange flaming pupils, mysterious and alluring:
"Surprisingly, you didn’t die. That’s quite surprising."
As she spoke, she seemed happy, with a hint of excitement.
Zhou An, seeing her arrival, couldn’t help but hold his breath, saying solemnly, "Lillian, as per our agreement, I’ve won."