In the blink of an eye, the stunning pitch-black rose yellowed and wilted.
A withered flower petal drifted down from above. Although it fell slowly, its descent was unstoppable.
“How about we all die together?”
Still curled on the ground, Hua Hai managed a faint laugh despite his agony. His face was pallid and wan, yet his smile was deeply intimidating.
Jiangchen looked up. The wilted petal seemed to blot out the entire sky.
“We can’t let it land,” he shouted frantically, then racked his brains for a way to stop the petal’s descent. Despite his best efforts, he came up empty.
Run away?
They couldn’t possibly run away.
No matter how fast they ran, could they really escape the petal’s range in time?
The answer was obvious.
“You’ve gone mad!” Jiangchen roared as if on the verge of a mental collapse. “Do you want to kill your people too?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” said Hua Hai breathlessly, his smile grieved. “They’ll die sooner or later anyway. Compared to dying at the hands of filthy monsters like you, isn’t it better…. to die amongst my flowers?”
Hearing this, Jiangchen was suddenly petrified with fear. He saw madness in Hua Hai’s eyes; he was clearly serious about this.
“You’re insane, you’ve gone mad……”
Jiangchen tugged at his hair and started venting all of his inner fury on Hua Hai.
It didn’t matter.
Hua Hai simply let Jiangchen punch and kick him without reacting in the slightest.
By now, his body was already on its last legs. He’d depart this world soon enough anyway. If Jiangchen killed him how, so what? That just meant he’d reincarnate a little earlier. He didn’t care in the slightest.
His only reservation was the fate of his companions. He felt truly sorry for them; they were all going to die with him.
Even so, he didn’t regret his choice.
If he could annihilate the demons and blood zombies once and for all…..
It would be worth it no matter how many people he had to sacrifice.
“That lunatic.”
As Gu Li saw this, he couldn’t help himself; he buried his head in his hands. His current location was well within the flower-petal’s range. When it landed, he’d die too!
He had no illusions about living through this - even his soul trembled in fear as he watched the flower’s descent.
“Ye Zichen, go stop him or we’ll all die.”
He had no choice; if he wanted to live on, he needed Ye Zichen’s help.
“Sect-master Hua is the leader of the Hundred Flowers Gate. Why should he listen to me? Even if he did, why should I stop him?” Ye Zichen laughed.
“Can’t you see that, as soon that flower-petal lands, we’re….. we’re all going to die? We’re all going to die! This isn’t a game. The flower-petal can’t distinguish between friend and foe; it’s going to wipe us all out. You’re going to die! Your woman’s going to die! Everyone here is going to die!”
“Oh?” Ye ZIchen simply laughed indifferently. “We’ll just die, then. If we can take you all down with us, so what if we accompany you to the grave? Sect-master Hua is doing the right thing; I’m not opposed.”
“You……..” Gu Li grabbed Ye Zichen’s collar and shook him frantically. “Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“You’re all insane.”
Wham!
Gu Li shoved Ye Zichen away, a fierce light flashing through his eyes. Suddenly, his gaze fell on Su Liu’er and Su Yan.
“Make him stop or I’ll kill them both right now!”
In response to the threat, Ye Zichen’s gaze wavered. After a brief pause, he closed his eyes and bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry.”
Su Liu’er, who was still just barely conscious, knew his words were directed at her. To his surprise, she didn’t seem displeased. To the contrary, she nodded affirmingly.
“It’s fine.”
“You’re all insane, all of you…..”
From their brief conversation, Gu Li could tell what they were thinking. He fearfully tossed the Su sisters to the side then knelt, head in his hands.
If the flower-petal descended rapidly, then wiped them out instantaneously, he wouldn’t have had time to freak out about it.
But facing its torturously drawn-out descent, Gu Li had a mental break down.
It wasn’t just him. Practically all the demons and blood zombies reacted the same way.
They tensed up fearfully. They were at an absolute advantage; why should they die all of a sudden for no good reason?
Some of them grew so frantic, they immediately lost their wits.
Meanwhile, the forces of the Immortal Region were unperturbed, as if life and death were already meaningless. This whole time, they’d motivated each other by insisted they’d get through this and go home.
Even so, who amongst them really believed it? They all knew it was a lie.
They’d long since accepted that death was inevitable. Even if the flower-petal wiped them all out, so what?
At least they’d be able to drag those filthy demons and blood zombies down with them. They’d still come out ahead.
Suddenly, someone called out, “brothers, let’s kill a few more of those demon and zombie bastards before we die!”
It was unclear who exactly had said it, but even so, the forces of the Three Realms surged forth in response, sweeping through their panicked enemies…...
A massacre!
Black Dragon ignored Ye Zichen. Facing imminent peril, why would he concern himself with anything else?
“Brother Su, can you stop that flower-petal from landing?”
Black Dragon knew he was helpless to stop it; Su Yiyun was his only hope.
Su Yiyun sat atop his chair, his breathing so shallow it was almost imperceptible. It wasn’t particularly hot out, yet he was sweating profusely.
Hearing Black Dragon’s question, he glanced up at the enormous rose-petal. “I can’t.”
Despair.
Hearing Su Yiyun’s response, Black Dragon sunk into despair. He’d always been able to rely on Su Yiyun, but now even he was helpless. Were they really……
Was the entire demon race really going to die here? Under his leadership?
Suddenly, everyone present heard a deep rumbling.
They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a black shadow hurtling toward the rose-petal. As they collided, the petal was pushed back slightly.
“Yinggou.”
The Zombie Progenitors were the first to recognize the figure. They immediately noticed that, although he’d just barely touched the petal, Yinggou’s arm had already corroded. There was nothing left of it but dry bones.
“What are you doing? Get back here!” Jiangchen roared instinctively. The Zombie Progenitors had known each other for over ten thousand years; they’d long since grown to care for each other. However, since Jiangchen was completely soulless, he wasn’t worried about Yinggou’s safety so much as the piece of Denglong’s soul he carried.
“Quit acting tough. Get back here!”
Yinggou completely ignored his frantic plea. Instead, he pushed the petal further and further back. Before long, Jiangchen saw him turn toward the other three Zombie Progenitors and smile…….
“Live well.”
Then his gaze turned solemn as he roared, “Rakshasa’s Sea of Blood!”