Chapter 297: No Home Left to Return To
Seeing the Humans flee wildly on the Desolate Plain, the Demons immediately advanced forward.
Yet unexpectedly, a figure blocked their path.
It was a person, covered in blood, who nonetheless radiated such a dense coppery smell that it made them become horrified.
“Hehehe…
”
The boy looked at the bloody scene before him. Greed flickered in his eyes. Crimson energy seeped from his sides, spreading out over the ground like veins or roots.
Like roots, like sinews, it crept step by step towards the oncoming Demon tide.
“Halt! Halt!”
Seeing this, the leader, a Sixth-Realm Demon beast, felt something awful was coming. He stepped back. The other Demons behind him widened the distance too.
“Eighth Realm…
”
The Sixth-Realm beast stared at the figure before it and suddenly recognized him. “Second Peak Lord? Could it be the Second Peak Lord?”
But the boy seemed not to hear his voice.
He kept repeating a single word: “Blood.” The veins crawling over the ground instantly snaked into the Demon crowd.
“Hah!!”
The boy vanished from where he stood. The next moment, sharp fangs tore into the neck of the Sixth-Realm beast.
The Demon beast’s eyes widened with disbelief.
Yet, in just moments, all its blood had been sucked away. Its life expired.
“S-save…
”
It struggled weakly as its shriveled corpse crumpled to the ground.
The surrounding Demons backed away, terror evident in their eyes. None dared approach.
“…
Blood…
”
The boy lunged into the Demon crowd. Explosions of crimson mist bloomed among them, and in an instant, hundreds of Demons fell by his hand.
Upon the City Tower, Mu Cang stared, utterly unable to believe his eyes.
“He alone…
he can hold back tens of thousands of Demons…
”
Yet, when he saw the blood-trophy joy twisting Gou’er’s face, an involuntary shudder ran through him.
The boy was truly terrifying now.
Under his relentless assault, the Desolate Plain was shrouded in a bloody haze.
The Demon Race, incapable of bearing such casualties, had no choice but to retreat.
“Fall back! Fall back!”
An Eighth-Realm presence was terrifying. Now with the invading Demon King also occupied by others, this seemingly tireless boy filled them with immense dread.
The Demon forces retreated over ten miles, fleeing that expanse of prairie as fast as possible.
Supping on Demon blood, the boy strode step by step. When he raised his head, he saw the plain was left strewn only with countless corpses.
Boom!
The rain fell harder, washing the blood from the boy’s body, washing it from the mountains of the dead.
The metallic scent of blood overwhelmed the petrichor rising from the wet earth.
He stood alone on the plain, greedily savoring the blood, lunatic laughter slipping from his lips.
He grabbed a corpse killed by a blade, feasted on the blood not yet drained. Next, he seized a human’s body – perhaps some Jianghu Swordsman…
The Demons watched, filled with dread. Upon the Fortress Wall, every Cultivator and Martial Artist was horrified.
“Who is that?” one Martial Artist blurted out after witnessing this. “Feasting on blood to survive…
that man is more terrifying than any Demon beast!”
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
Mu Cang opened his mouth but found no words to refute them.
Beside him, Lao Bazi frowned. “What do we do…
”
Rain drummed on the spear in Mu Cang’s hand, washing it clean, exposing a flash of silver light beneath the grime.
“I…
” Mu Cang’s lips tightened. “Why ask me? I don’t know.”
Lao Bazi let out a slow breath. “Mazi’s gone. You relayed Chieftain Song’s messages. If not you, who?”
Mu Cang’s arm trembled slightly. He glanced at those standing upon the wall – dozens of Cultivators, thousands of Jianghu Martial Artists.
He sighed. “I lack the caliber for such responsibility. It falls to you.”
But Lao Bazi shook his head decisively. “Even the bravest, if lacking wisdom, cannot be a commander. Slaying Demons I can do.”
“How would I fare any better?” Mu Cang protested.
“You would,” Lao Bazi insisted, locking eyes with him. “I say you will. You will bear this command. This position of Chieftain – you will hold it, whether you wish to or not!”
Mu Cang gripped his spear. He finally comprehended: he had no choice.
In circumstances like these, he was the most suitable choice. Not because he was truly capable, but because he alone had stood close to Chieftain Song. With Mazi gone, only he remained.
Mu Cang heaved a long sigh. Rain fell into his eyes. The drops scattered like blossoming petals. Inside, his mind was chaos, utterly uncertain what to do.
The massacre on the plain paused with the boy’s stillness.
BOOM!
Thunder shattered the air.
The boy stood atop the mountain of corpses. Rain slid down his hair, discolored slightly pink by the blood staining the strands.
Upon the Green Mountain, Chen Changsheng turned his gaze towards the distant Desolate Plain.
Qing Tianyou jerked in mild surprise. Piercing the curtain of heavy rain, his gaze landed upon the solitary figure standing amidst the lone Desolate Sea.
“It’s him…
” Qing Tianyou murmured, surprise flashing across his face. His brow immediately furrowed in concern. “His condition…
is even worse than I envisioned.”
“An unretrievable sickness,” Chen Changsheng stated softly.
Qing Tianyou nodded grimly. “The Cultivators and Martial Artists from the Divine Domain fell back. That was predictable…
but why the Demons…
”
Chen Changsheng replied, “The sheer tide of Demons could consume him, certainly. Yet, reckoning the cost…
it simply wasn’t worth it. Here you possess a force rivalling an Eighth-Realm Great Demon, yet it indiscriminately slaughters both friend and foe. The Demon kin acted cautiously, seeking stability.”
“Ah, understood.”
Qing Tianyou gave a slow nod, his gaze never leaving the distant boy.
After a moment of pensive silence, he sighed softly. “In his current state…
it might be better if he doesn’t come back to his senses. Should he regain consciousness…
”
Chen Changsheng echoed the sigh, a deeper sadness touched his voice. “He is about to awaken.”
This stunned Qing Tianyou. Pity pierced his heart.
.
.
After taking in endless blood-red feasts, the Demon blood within his body seeming finally appeased, slowly quieted.
Under the chilling downpour, the boy’s mind gradually began to clear.
The noxious, metallic scent of blood washed over him, jolting him fully awake.
He staggered, nearly collapsing onto the rain-slicked gore.
Gou’er managed to steady himself. With a hand, he wiped the rain and grime from his face. Took a moment to breathe. Then, his eyes swept his surroundings.
The landscape was devastated. Endless corpses stretched as far as his eyes could see. Every single one drained of blood.
Gou’er froze. Disbelief etched on his face. He stumbled backward a step, then another.
He looked down at his hands. Blood filled the spaces between his fingers. His breathing grew labored. His hands shook uncontrollably.
As he took in the panoramic of the dead plain, Gou’er seemed to hear the phantom clamor of endless battle swirling around him. The faces of countless Humans and Demons he himself had dispatched.
“AHHH!!!!”
He dropped to his knees, clutching his head. A scream ripped from his throat, despairing and raw.
His expression was sheer pain. Forcing himself to stand, he looked towards the distant City Tower.
He turned his head sideways, looking towards the vast, mist-bound Demon Realm.
But as he gathered himself to move forward…
he hesitated inside.
He grasped he had nowhere to go anymore. It felt like this plain of corpses…
this was all that remained of home to him.