Ye Zichen shot forth like a comet, landing before the Great Sage.
The resulting shockwaves sent the zombies hurtling towards the wounded monkey flying.
"Great Sage."
Immediately, Ye Zichen looked behind him. When he saw his friend’s shockingly gruesome injuries, his eyes reddened. The Great Sage’s wounds were so deep, you could see his bones. Furthermore, all four of his limbs were twisted and bent. Blood still streamed from his left eye. The look in his intact right eye revealed his exhaustion.
When he heard Ye Zichen’s call, the Great Sage forced his eyes open and smiled tiredly. “You’re here. I'm a little tired... let me sleep for a while."
With that, the Great Sage collapsed onto the ground. Ye Zichen hurriedly embraced him, calling out his name.
"Great Sage!" Ye Zichen called out over and over again. Despite his best efforts, the Great Sage didn’t respond.
He simply muttered to himself, "I'm... tired.... so tired......"
"Imbecile."
Suddenly, a ray of rosy light appeared in the sky.
A gentle call emanated from above. Before long, light enveloped Great Sage Sun’s body as he disappeared from Ye Zichen’s embrace.
Ye Zichen looked up in astonishment. However, by then, the rosy light had already completely vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.
As he considered the matter, Ye Zichen calmed down.
When that mysterious person appeared, their voice carried a hint of compassion. The word “imbecile” was undoubtedly directed at the Great Sage.
Then they left, taking the Great Sage with them. They were most likely trying to save his life.
With that settled, Ye Zichen set the matter of the mysterious figure’s identity aside. Instead, he cast his gaze over the battlefield.
Desperate?
There were no longer any other words capable of describing the current situation.
As far as the eye could see, he saw nothing but warriors of the Three Realms charging forth like moths to a flame, fearless and utterly determined.
The experts of the Beast Region and the outskirts of the Immortal Region were still locked in combat with the elites of the demon and zombie hordes.
They were so exhausted, they hadn’t even noticed Ye Zichen’s arrival.
Suddenly, Ye Zichen sensed two consciousnesses lock onto him. He looked around only to see Black Dragon and Gu Li encircling him, one on each side.
“Brother Ye,” said Gu Li. He narrowed his eyes as he smiled at Ye Zichen, his gaze somewhat mocking. “You arrived awfully late given for someone who fancies himself the man destined to save the world. How do plan on turning this around?”
“Hmph,” snorted Black Dragon. “Kid, your disappearance scared me out of my wits - I wasted a whole day waiting. You really put a wrench in my plans.”
Ye Zichen ignored them. He subconsciously turned to examine Su Yiyun.
Off in the distance, Su Yiyun sat in a wicker chair. He seemed completely devoid of life force, like a candle flickering in the wind or an ember about to burn out. At this point, he could succumb at any moment, even without outside intervention.
Su Yiyun seemed to sense his old friend’s gaze. He turned to smile at Ye Zichen, then averted his gaze.
A fair amount of time had passed with no response. Gu Li couldn’t help but call out, “Brother Ye?”
“Hm?” Ye Zichen arched his brows coldly.
“Brother Ye, no need to look at me like that,” said Gu Li playfully. “At least half the credit for the current situation belongs to Boss Black Dragon. I almost forgot to tell you: he’s the one who injured your Big Sister Liu’er so bad, she’s practically a cripple.”
Ye Zichen’s brows shot up in surprise. Before long, he located Su Liu’er off in the distance. She was still embracing Yuan Hong. Her face was pale and completely bloodless, her black eyes utterly devoid of will to live.
His heart throbbed in agony….
“You can’t blame it all one me,” retorted Black Dragon. “If you hadn’t killed Yuan Hong, she wouldn’t have wound up like this, would she? And aren’t you responsible for the Great Sage’s transformation? Didn’t you shatter his limbs? I can’t possibly bear the full weight of Emperor Ye’s fury! Don’t even think of pinning everything on us demons!”
“Is that so?” Gu Li laughed and scratched his head. “I arrived late and am not too clear on some of the details. Even so, I can’t deny your accusations. It seems we’re both in the same boat here; we’ll just have to face his fury together.”
“It seems so,” laughed Black Dragon.
"Hah.... are you finished?" Ye Zichen smiled calmly, then looked at the pair of them. "When did you two start studying comedy? Can you do impressions too?"
“Brother Ye, don’t be angry. You arrived late; we just wanted to explain the situation to you,” said Gu Li with his usual playful smile. “Emperor Ye’s fury shakes the heavens; before bearing the full force of your fury, we had to explain ourselves.”
“That’s right! We demons can’t possibly bear your rage on our own,” chimed in Black Dragon.
Clench.
This whole routine was clearly intended to mock Ye Zichen, nothing more. They feigned terror as they bragged about their accomplishments on the battlefield.
Were they trying to piss him off?
If so, Ye Zichen had to admit they’d succeeded.
He was utterly enraged, so much so that not even killing them would suffice to vent his fury.
He slowly closed his eyes. Soon, his head filled with images of the Great Sage supporting his wounded body with his staff as he faced tens of thousands of zombies.
All four of his limbs were bent, his left eye had been blinded. His wounds were so deep, you could even see his bones.
Then, the scene changed. Now he saw Su Liu’er. Her eyes were lifeless pits, her face pallid and bloodless. Yuan Hong still lay in her arms, his chest pierced right through. By now, he no longer bled.
Finally, he recalled the vast sea of corpses, the warriors who’d fallen at the hands of the enemy. Many had fought on valiantly despite mortal injuries, using their last breaths to inflict even just one more wound.
All of this was burned deep into his heart.
“Not bad at all,” said Ye Zichen, his tone indescribably calm.
Why was he so calm? Did he not care?
No, he cared a lot.
He was furious, but that didn’t mean he had to roar and rage. Sometimes, quiet silence was a better indicator of the true depths of his fury.
Like now, for instance.
"Oh no! Brother Ye is really angry now," said Gu Li just as playfully as before. "Bro, don’t take it all out on me! A humble figure such as myself couldn’t possibly bear the wrath of an honorable deity such as yourself!”
“Me neither,” said Black Dragon. He feigned terror and sneered; it seemed he was enjoying the game as well.
Despite their efforts to get a rise out of him, Ye Zichen simply canned them coldly, then lashed out!