Chapter Eighty-Five: Wait for My Return, and I Will Take You to the Yellow Springs

At the edge of his transformed, lionlike state, Zhang Changlin stood with his mouth slightly agape, staring blankly at Du Fang as he mercilessly crushed the adorable doll.

The bloodred trench coat was blinding in the night, even more dazzling than Zhang Changlin’s own bestial blaze.

In an instant, Zhang Changlin felt his own swagger and brilliance had been ruthlessly suppressed by Du Fang.

His looks were inferior.

His flair and coolness were inferior too.

He suddenly felt that his post as captain had been stripped of its soul.

But he quickly came to himself. This was not the time to dwell on such things.

He looked at Du Fang with astonishment, as though seeing him for the first time.

His gaze flashed, hooklike, as if he meant to tear out the boy’s deepest secrets, skin and flesh alike.

Perhaps tonight, he might witness Du Fang’s true power.

The plague rat, swollen into a mountain of flesh, roared and slammed down with terrifying force, hurling Zhang Changlin backward several meters and breaking off the dream-spirit field he had been extending toward Du Fang.

It turned sharply to stare at Du Fang. In its tiny, beadlike eyes gleamed a dim light; the fallen god will dwelling within the plague rat’s body seemed to have sensed some dreadful crisis.

It could not understand how such danger had arisen.

After all, its meager will could only instinctively perceive peril.

And yet it was a fallen god.

What existence could possibly make it feel threatened?

With a soft crack, the shattered doll lost its head and fell to the ground. Its princess dress was soaked by the rain, making it look bleak and pitiful, like a poor toy abandoned and torn apart by its master.

Du Fang stood quietly in place. His black trench coat had turned bloodred, awakened into his wife’s red-clad form.

Within a radius of one meter, a terrifying presence lingered.

Yet what puzzled Du Fang was this: when the doll approached within that one-meter range, it did not burst apart. Perhaps it was because it was not human.

With no choice, Du Fang lifted the hand gripped by his wife’s hand and crushed it.

As though his wife would never allow any painted vixen to draw near her.

Not even a doll.

Luo Luo squatted on the ground, clutching a pink pig plush, staring at the headless doll. Countless raindrops fell from the sky, washing over her tiny body, which trembled不停.

Du Fang felt rather embarrassed.

He had not meant it. Though his hand had been controlled by his wife’s hand, the one who had ultimately crushed the doll’s head was still Du Fang.

That doll had originally been intended as Luo Luo’s new toy.

But now he had ruined it.

"Luo Luo..."

Du Fang began, wanting to comfort her.

Yet amid the downpour, Luo Luo squatted there and slowly turned back. There was not the slightest trace of sadness on her pretty, adorable face.

What filled it was boundless delight and laughter.

Her trembling body was not from crying, but from stifled giggles.

Pointing at the doll with its crushed head, Luo Luo laughed until she could barely breathe. "Daddy, its head broke off, and now it looks even cuter! Luo Luo likes it so much!"

Du Fang opened his mouth.

"As long as Luo Luo likes it."

The rain continued to fall.

And fall harder.

Outside the hospital, cordons had been raised. Police in uniform had arrived in full force, and police cars filled the area, sealing off the hospital completely.

No idle person was allowed even a step inside.

Armed forces of various kinds encircled the hospital. Officers in riot gear used the police cars as cover and raised their rifles, all muzzles aimed at the hospital entrance.

A black curtain obscured the torrential rain and the sight of the people outside.

No one could make out what was happening inside the hospital at all.

Yet the stench of blood drifted out with the scent of rain, spreading beneath their noses and causing every heart to sink. Everyone understood that within the hospital, some terrible calamity was likely unfolding.

Si Nan’s fiery red hair had been soaked through by the rain, plastering limp strands to her forehead.

With chewing gum in her mouth, she was calmly assembling a weapon, a rifle of extremely vicious appearance. Its cold metallic sheen reflected in the rain with a chill that made the scalp prickle.

Chen Xi and her assistant sat quietly before the instruments, staring at the screen and recording the data fluctuations.

Zhao Lu had removed his black trench coat, revealing thick, powerful arms. He kept watch in all directions, the dream-spirit mark on his forehead flickering in and out of sight.

Su Jiuming, holding a white rose, stood silently atop a police car.

His face carried a trace of melancholy.

Suddenly, the melancholic Su Jiuming’s eyes twitched, his pupils contracting.

He felt an aura that made his scalp go numb.

Gooseflesh rose all over him.

He snapped his head toward the rain curtain, and with two fingers he pinched the white rose in his hand. The rose spun and exploded. Petals floated around him, forming the image of a white cat.

Like a white cat that had suddenly bristled all over!

He stared fixedly into the dim gray rain.

There, three figures were walking slowly forward.

Unhurried.

Unrushed.

As though no one around them had even noticed, only Su Jiuming reacted in time and entered a state of alert.

"Enemy attack!"

Su Jiuming gave a sharp cry.

No more coquettishness, no more wantonness.

Above the heavens, the raindrops falling at speed seemed to have been frozen in place by an invisible force at that very instant.

Si Nan’s chewing motion halted.

Her speed of assembling the rifle suddenly increased. Then she raised the weapon, bent slightly at the waist, and aimed in the direction Su Jiuming was warning of.

Zhao Lu thrust both hands upward. The ground writhed, and from the steel-reinforced concrete, two great earth-colored hands rose high like city walls, forming immense shields in front.

In the distance, footsteps echoed.

The three figures gradually came into focus.

A ferocious azure dragon mask, an ox-head mask, a horse-head mask...

Three strange people.

Three singular, unruly people.

At a glance, they were clearly no good.

"God Core, Netherworld..."

Behind Su Jiuming, the petals spread open into the shape of a white cat as he spoke in a grave voice.

His eyes were locked on the ox-head and horse-face masks.

A faint murderous intent leaked from his body.

The Netherworld organization... that was the dream-demon group that had killed his younger sister!

"Hek hek hek... so the little cat is hiding here. Lord Yama has sent us to take you away."

The ox-head and horse-face tilted their heads. Their eyes rolled beneath the masks as they stared at Su Jiuming and laughed.

Su Jiuming trembled all over, killing intent spilling from his eyes.

He lowered his body slightly, like a white cat coiling to pounce.

The azure dragon, wearing that ferocious mask, turned and glanced at the ox-head and horse-face.

"Senior, don't forget what we agreed on. First we finish my objective."

The azure dragon said.

The ox-head and horse-face looked at him.

Whoosh.

The next instant, the ox-head vanished.

Rainwater burst apart in a thunderous spray, and countless white droplets formed a corridor in midair.

When he appeared again, the ox-head was already beside Su Jiuming. One hand shot out, as if intending to seize him in a single strike.

Su Jiuming cried out sharply, the dream-spirit in his brow erupting wildly.

That surge of dream-spirit energy kept intensifying, intensifying.

In the end, Su Jiuming himself seemed transformed, like a white cat whose entire body had been bleached pale. Dream-spirit energy seemed to become tangible, forming the outline of a giant white cat around him.

A claw lashed out, colliding with the ox-head’s fist.

Su Jiuming was blasted from the car roof and fell to the ground, tearing open the rainwater pooling below into white waves.

Bang bang bang!

In the distance, Si Nan opened fire.

The gun barrel, red-hot like a branding iron, began to spit bullets furiously.

Yet the ox-head merely shifted his head slightly, avoiding every single round.

The eyes beneath the ox-head mask flicked toward Si Nan.

"A gun?"

"You’re firing at a Netherworld ghost-captain... at a city-destroying level?"

His tone dripped with mockery and scorn.

Si Nan blew a gum bubble.

Dream-spirit energy surged.

The bullets that had passed over the ox-head suddenly reversed course in a graceful arc and came screaming back!

Pop!

The gum bubble burst.

Then the returning bullets exploded as well.

Boom, boom!

The ox-head’s body staggered from the blast, but when the smoke cleared, he was completely unharmed.

Nearby, under the police chief’s orders, the other officers also opened fire.

Flames spat from the muzzles.

Countless bullets poured toward the ox-head!

The ox-head spared Si Nan another glance, cold light in his eyes, and stamped down heavily. The roof of the car caved in at once, while a terrifying wave of dream-spirit energy swept out from him.

Every bullet, upon nearing within one meter of his body, froze in midair.

"Take cover!"

Su Jiuming’s eyes narrowed as he shouted sharply at the officers who were firing.

Boom!

The bullets suspended in the air all began to howl back in a torrent.

Fortunately, the officers had all ducked behind the police cars, narrowly avoiding the storm of returning fire.

Still, bullets struck the vehicles and sparked in showers of fire.

"Enough playing. We’re short on time."

The azure dragon’s voice was cold and impatient.

He had sensed the death of the plague rat.

The death itself was not the issue.

What mattered was his fear that the plague rat’s death might cause Sequence Forbidden Artifact 091 to lose control.

The ox-head glanced at the azure dragon and said nothing.

Then he spread his fingers toward Su Jiuming.

With a rustle, a jet-black chain appeared, cold rain striking it with merciless force and producing a sound as though it were solid matter.

That chain extended from the ox-head’s palm all the way to Su Jiuming’s neck.

Like a brand.

Like shackles.

"You’ve already been arrested. Don’t go anywhere. Stay put."

"When I return, I’ll take you to Netherworld."

The ox-head smiled lightly.

It was the ghost-captain mark he had placed on Su Jiuming.

Once he helped the azure dragon subdue the fallen god, he could follow the mark to find Su Jiuming, capture him, and bring him back to Netherworld to complete the mission Yama had assigned.

Then the ox-head leaped down from the dented car roof.

The azure dragon and horse-face advanced as well, the three of them moving toward the hospital.

The terrifying fluctuations of dream-spirit energy made everyone’s heartbeat seem to skip.

Three...

Three city-destroying level beings!

How were they supposed to stop this?

The downpour kept hammering down.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

The police chief in uniform suppressed the fear in his heart and pulled the trigger toward the azure dragon.

The bullet, wrapped in a tongue of flame, burst from the barrel, spinning as it shattered several raindrops falling from the sky. Carrying terrifying kinetic force, it sought to smash through the skull and pierce the azure dragon’s temple.

Yet before it could pierce his head, the azure dragon pinched it between two fingers.

Clink.

The bullet dropped to the ground, and the azure dragon cast a cold, indifferent glance at the police chief.

Then he slapped the air.

Countless raindrops, bearing dream-spirit power, gathered into a dragon claw and struck toward the police chief.

If that claw landed squarely, the chief would likely be reduced to powder.

This was the azure dragon’s reprisal.

A punishment for daring to fire at him!

"Fire!"

The police chief showed no fear. Eyes wide, he pulled the trigger again.

He roared.

He was a police officer. He would never bow to evil.

The officers behind him also frantically squeezed their triggers.

Countless bullets poured out, whistling toward the azure dragon.

But most were slapped dead in the air by that translucent dragon claw, losing all momentum and becoming embedded in it.

The dragon claw remained unstoppable.

It struck toward the red-eyed police chief!

"Old Zhao!"

In the distance, Su Jiuming, bound by the chain, shouted sharply.

"Understood."

Zhao Lu replied in a muffled voice.

He had appeared somehow, already standing in front of the chief.

His thick arms shook.

Both forearms rose violently.

The concrete ground was lifted like a carpet, forming a shield before them.

Boom!

The earthen wall exploded.

Zhao Lu grunted, blood spilling from his mouth and nose.

But the dragon claw was also forced back.

The eyes beneath the azure dragon mask turned razor-sharp.

He chose not to continue. Time was pressing, and he could not afford to waste it here battling Zhao Lu and the others.

Having seen that his strike had actually been blocked, he gave Zhao Lu a long, hard look.

Then the azure dragon turned and led the ox-head and horse-face to the black barrier.

He drew a small dwarf doll from his chest.

Pushing the doll forward, accompanied by a squealing, mocking laugh, the black curtain opened.

The azure dragon, ox-head, and horse-face all stepped inside.

This scene made the police chief, Su Jiuming, and the others understand.

So the true culprits behind this dream catastrophe were these three city-destroying level beings.

At that moment, an unbearable heaviness seemed to settle over everyone’s hearts.

Su Jiuming yanked at the chain around him, but no matter how he pulled, it would not come off. It seemed both real and unreal.

After tugging for a while and failing, he stopped.

"Three... no..."

He turned with a grave expression toward the distant street.

There, it seemed cut off from the world. Terrifying dream-spirit fluctuations and the aftershocks of a dreadful clash rolled in like ripples, smashing through raindrops as they came.

"Chairman Tang Nai has been held up... which means the enemy still has a fourth city-destroying level existence!"

Su Jiuming murmured, his face ugly.

A city-destroying level expert was equivalent to a city-crossing level dream traveler.

And now four had appeared at once, far beyond what a third-tier city like Jinling could possibly defend against.

Under the Dream Traveler Association’s deployment system, the more important and larger the city, the stronger the stationed dream travelers assigned to guard it.

In an ultra-first-tier metropolis like the capital, the stationed dream travelers included several national-level experts.

Because the denser the population, the more likely emotional convergence would give birth to terrifying dream disasters. Thus, the larger the city, the stronger and more numerous its defenders.

Organizations like Netherworld, New World, and Sky Demons would not dare utter a word in the capital.

But in a third-tier city like Jinling, the strongest stationed dream traveler was only at city-crossing level, and even then there were not many of them. There was only one from the Dream Traveler Association: the chairman.

For a city like Jinling to suddenly produce four city-destroying level beings, as it had today, was simply unimaginable. It was something that had not happened once in decades.

Even if city-crossing experts from other cities were dispatched to assist, it would already be too late.

The hearts of Su Jiuming and the others were heavy.

They stared at the black curtain that had swallowed the silhouettes of the azure dragon and the others, feeling only helplessness.

Suddenly, Su Jiuming froze.

He looked toward the black curtain that had engulfed them.

Faintly, the black barrier... had begun to seep red.

And then,

whoosh!

The black curtain

turned completely bloodred.

...

Rain dripped from the azure dragon’s mask.

He had torn through the barrier and stepped inside.

The ox-head and horse-face followed beside him.

Yet the instant the azure dragon’s feet crossed into the hospital grounds, his entire body stiffened violently.

He abruptly raised his head.

Beneath the mask, his eyes held endless shock as his gaze pierced through the falling rain and fixed on the top floor of the hospital.

Because the azure dragon discovered that the dream-spirit connection between the dwarf doll in his hand and Sequence Forbidden Artifact 091, the doll, had been...

ruthlessly severed.

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