Chapter 882
Even those who managed to react faster, turning and fleeing with all their strength, were still unable to escape the pursuit of that scorching inferno, as the tongue of fire chased them relentlessly, catching up in mere moments, and once touched, there was no resistance, no struggle, only annihilation without even a trace of bone left behind.
In just a few breaths of time, more than half of the North District candidates had already perished, their numbers dwindling from over twenty to only a handful, leaving behind only a few desperate figures still running for their lives, their movements frantic, their minds filled with nothing but the instinct to survive.
Yet even that instinct...
Was nothing more than a delay.
Because the flames were already right behind them.
No matter how desperately they ran, no matter how much strength they forced out of their exhausted bodies, it would only buy them a few more seconds at best, a fleeting extension before the inevitable end.
Among those still alive were Li Wujie, Li Baijie, and Fan Wei.
At this moment, all three of them stood on the edge of death.
Li Wujie, having received the cultivation method bestowed by Ryan, had undergone a remarkable transformation, his strength soaring in a short period of time, breaking through the bottleneck of an Upper Elite and advancing into that realm with astonishing speed.
Not only had he crossed that major threshold, but he had even reached the rank of a three-star Upper Elite, leaping multiple stages in succession, a rank of progress that surpassed even Fan Wei's already impressive growth.
Such advancement within a single month was nothing short of extraordinary.
Among the fleeing candidates, Li Wujie, with his superior strength, had managed to stay ahead of the others, maintaining a fragile lead that allowed him to barely hold on for a little longer against the relentless advance of the flames.
But Li Baijie was different.
Her innate talent had never been particularly strong, and although she too had benefited from the cultivation method provided by Ryan, the short time she had spent training meant that her current strength had only reached the rank of a nine-star warrior, far below the others around her.
Because of this, her speed lagged behind significantly.
She could not keep up.
If it had not been for Fan Wei, who had rushed forward at the critical moment, grabbing her hand and pulling her along as he fled...
She would have already been reduced to ashes.
For now, she was still alive.
But at a cost.
Because of her...
Fan Wei's speed had been drastically reduced.
Originally, with his strength, he would have had no difficulty escaping ahead of the group, perhaps even outrunning the range of the flames entirely, but now, dragging another person along, he had fallen behind, becoming one of the last in the fleeing line.
Not only could he not escape...
Even staying alive had become uncertain.
Li Baijie understood this clearly.
She knew she had become a burden.
A weight dragging someone else toward death.
"Fan Wei… let me go."
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, her expression filled with determination.
"If you keep holding me, we will both die. If you let go now… you might still survive."
Fan Wei's response came instantly, without hesitation.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
His voice rose sharply, filled with anger and disbelief.
"If I let go of you, you'll die immediately!"
"That's better than both of us dying together!" Li Baijie said, her voice tinged with urgency and pain. "Let go of me, and escape on your own. There's no need for you to die because of me!"
"No."
Fan Wei tightened his grip on her hand, his expression firm and unwavering.
"I won't let go. If we die, we die together."
Those words...
Struck deep.
Li Baijie's eyes trembled, her throat tightening as tears welled up uncontrollably, her heart shaken in a way she had never expected.
For a moment...
She did not know what to say.
In the past, she had seen Fan Wei as arrogant, prideful, someone who looked down on others, someone who relied on his talent and appearance to act without restraint.
He had been...
Unlikable.
But now...
In this moment...
This same person was willing to risk his life, to refuse escape, to choose to stay with her even at the cost of his own survival.
Suddenly...
He did not seem so detestable anymore.
And as she looked at his determined face, his features sharp and resolute under the pressure of life and death...
He seemed...
Strangely...
Even more handsome than before.
"Hurry! Both of you!"
Li Wujie's voice rang out from ahead, urgent and strained.
"The flames are catching up! Sister Bai, you must hold on! When we left the Li Clan, we promised to grow stronger together and return with honor! You can't die here!"
At this moment, the tongue of fire had already closed in behind them, the scorching heat pressing against their backs, drying their clothes, filling the air with the unmistakable smell of burning fabric and flesh.
Seeing this, Fan Wei gritted his teeth.
Then...
With a sudden surge...
He forced his body to accelerate once more.
His speed spiked abruptly, pushing past several fleeing candidates, pulling Li Baijie forward with him until they caught up with Li Wujie.
But the cost was evident.
His face turned pale instantly, his breathing became unstable, and his entire body trembled under the strain, his strength nearly exhausted, sustained only by sheer willpower.
And just as he reached the front...
The flames arrived.
"Woooosh...!"
The remaining candidates behind them were swallowed whole, their screams echoing briefly before vanishing completely, leaving behind only silence and drifting ash.
At this point...
Only three remained.
Li Wujie.
Li Baijie.
Fan Wei.
All others had fallen.
And throughout this entire process...
The candidates from the other three districts watched.
They saw everything.
They saw the North District candidates being targeted, attacked, and killed one by one.
Yet not a single one stepped forward to help.
Their attention remained fixed on the monster.
Their goal...
Unchanged.
Kill it.
Take its reward.
As for the lives of the North District… They did not matter.
Even if all of them died… There would be no pity.
Because from the very beginning… The North District candidates had been nothing more than expendable tools.
Cannon fodder.
And now...
As the flames closed in once again...
Even the last three were on the brink.
Li Baijie looked back at the approaching inferno, then turned her gaze toward Fan Wei, whose face was pale yet resolute, still gripping her hand with unwavering determination.
Something in her expression changed.
She had made a decision.
"Wujie…"
Her voice was soft, yet steady.
"It seems… your sister won't be able to enter Western Mansion with you."
"Nor return to the Li Clan… to bring honor to our name."
"If you see Li Wei…"
She paused briefly.
"Tell him… having a brother like him… is the greatest blessing of my life."
Then...
She turned to Fan Wei.
"And you…"
Her voice softened further.
"Fan Wei… thank you. Knowing you… made me very happy."
"What…?" Fan Wei's eyes widened, a sudden sense of dread surging through him as he realized what she meant.
But before he could react...
Before he could stop her...
Li Baijie let go of his hand and rushed toward the incoming flames.
"No, Li Baijie, what are you doing, come back!"
The moment Fan Wei saw Li Baijie turn toward the incoming tongue of fire as if stepping willingly into death itself, his mind went blank for a brief instant before a surge of panic crashed through him, and he shouted her name with all the strength he had left, his voice tearing through the chaos with desperation.
As he roared, his body instinctively tried to turn back, his feet shifting as if to chase after her and pull her away from that fatal path, yet everything had already gone too far, because Li Baijie had already rushed to the very edge of the flames, and within a single breath, the blazing tongue would swallow her whole, leaving no trace behind.
If he tried to stop her now...
Not only would he fail...
He would also die instantly.
That realization struck him like a blade, freezing his movement mid-step, and even though his heart screamed at him to go after her, to grab her, to drag her back no matter what, his body hesitated, caught between instinct and inevitability, between emotion and the cold certainty of death.
Li Wujie, who had been running ahead, turned around at this moment, and when his eyes landed on Li Baijie standing before the flames, disbelief and anguish surged across his face as he shouted hoarsely, his voice trembling with pain.
"Sister! Why are you so stupid! Why!"
"Farewell… you must live." Seeing that Fan Wei had not come after her, Li Baijie stopped completely, no longer moving toward the flames, but instead standing still, calmly waiting for death to arrive as if she had already accepted everything.
She raised her hand gently and waved at Li Wujie and Fan Wei, her expression devoid of panic, devoid of despair, devoid of fear, replaced instead by a faint, quiet smile that carried an indescribable sense of relief, as though a burden had finally been lifted from her shoulders.
That smile...
Burned itself into Fan Wei's eyes.
He stood there, frozen, his thoughts halting entirely as that single expression seemed to dissolve everything within him, melting away fear, melting away hesitation, leaving behind only that image of her standing calmly in the face of death.
At that moment, the roaring flames, the danger, the battlefield...
All of it faded.
In his world...
Only she remained.