Chapter 27.72 Yu Hui and Rendezvous
“The city is already in chaos…”
“Yes, with Senior Lanhua’s push, the local conflicts have escalated into a full-blown chaos. And the fuse might very well be…”
I turned my head to look at Amaterasu, or rather, Xiao An, who was playing with Little Master Juncheng behind us.
“Haaa, she said she’d give me a demonstration, but the result of this demonstration is truly earth-shattering. As a preemptive large-scale devastating attack, it directly turned one-third of the city into desert terrain. Those caught in it, of course, unfortunately became mere cannon fodder. I’ve also restrained the souls of these people. While I don’t intend to use them in evil ways to make soul banners or anything, I’ll keep them confined until the game ends to prevent any accidents. In addition, I obtained the right foot part of Lord Juncheng. This time, it wasn’t a fake, but his actual right foot. It was found in a desert area, about thirty meters deep underground. There were many skeletons nearby. Perhaps there was a dispute over Lord Juncheng’s left hand before.”
“So now we have two parts… besides the part held by Ji Lianbing, there are four others out there.”
“It’s estimated that the remaining parts have fallen into the hands of others as well.”
“That’s for certain. We still have an overwhelming advantage here. According to the organization’s classification, any Calamity Witch is at least rated B-class, and that’s even before awakening. If they’ve awakened, depending on the danger and scope of their abilities, it’s possible to rise to S-class or even Z-class. Xiao An was originally a god, and now she’s a Calamity Witch. Just as I expected, she can already be the basis for establishing a third faction.”
After we had explored the desert terrain to a sufficient extent, we returned to the city. What came into view was a severed tree. The cut was very neat, and from this strike alone, it was evident that the attacker’s swordsmanship was extremely skilled. “Hey! Xiao Bai, look ahead!”
Hearing Xinran’s words, I continued to look forward and was stunned by the scene before me. The severed tree was just the ‘last one.’ Before it, there were countless other trees, green belts, high-rise buildings, vehicles, and people… all cut in half with a single strike. If these cuts were irregular and uneven, I wouldn’t be so surprised, as there are always some extraordinary individuals in this world who can cut stone and iron. But ‘this’ was on a different level and scale. A single strike?
“Hoh, that’s quite something.”
“This kind of scything attack… is it man-made?”
“To be able to do this much is no longer human. It has surpassed the realm of demons and monsters, touching upon the ‘domain of gods’.”
Indeed, someone who can cut down an entire city block with a single blow is truly…
“Speaking of which, you probably have a good idea who did this, right? In the end, it’s always them who remain.”
I remained silent, exchanging glances with Xinran. She had the same look of certainty. In fact, when we saw this scene, the figure that likely came to mind for both of us was the same person. The petite yet reliable girl by Lord Juncheng’s side, deeply trusted by Lord Juncheng… the taciturn girl. She’s more trusted than me, who has been by Lord Juncheng’s side for several lifetimes… How annoying, perhaps I should…
“Your eyes have gone dead, Xiao Bai. Control your emotions.”
“Ah, I’m so sorry, I lost control for a moment.”
Since I don’t have a destiny, the amplification of emotions still seems to be affecting me. So, all my previous lapses were due to this. It must be! Although I’m aware of this, I can’t maintain my composure at all times. My cultivation is still insufficient…
“That’s right, it was probably Xue’er who did it. As far as I know, her ability is to imbue all objects with the concept of ‘slaughter’ itself.” Xue’er refers to Jiang Xueqing, the killer of ghoul and a genius at dismemberment.
“That’s hard to understand… after all, isn’t there no death in this world right now?”
“Yes, in this world without death, the concept of slaughter doesn’t lead to death, but to ‘termination’ and ‘conclusion.’ When imbued into a blade, it possesses the characteristic of ‘cutting through everything.’ But even so, to unleash such a large-scale aerial slash would require considerable power. For example, one person can easily cut a piece of tofu, but what about a hundred pieces, or ten thousand pieces? The resistance would be no joke.”
“An ordinary Calamity Witch shouldn’t be able to do this, but my father is surrounded by monsters. They themselves possess abnormalities. On top of abnormalities, adding destiny is like a chemical reaction. In fact, we are all ‘freaks’ among the Calamity Witches. For instance, I am a god, yet I was bestowed with the destiny of the three calamities, which is quite unreasonable.”
“Indeed, ordinarily, a normal Calamity Witch should be like Xinran.” I roughly understood what Xiao An meant. Reflecting on my past lives, this situation was indeed unprecedented. Xinran, unaware of our conversation and not yet within our discussion sphere, asked in confusion, “Hm? What are you talking about? What do you mean by an ordinary Calamity Witch like me?”
“It means that destiny doesn’t usually choose anomalies. It should be that ordinary people are chosen by destiny to become ‘anomalies.’ Do you understand what I mean?”
“…You mean only ordinary people can be chosen by destiny?”
“That’s right. Destiny bestows ‘extraordinariness’ upon ‘ordinary people.’ But I myself am no longer an ordinary person, yet I still received destiny’s favor. This is very strange.” I had never considered this issue before, but now that I think about it, it is indeed very strange. Is it because of Lord Juncheng’s uniqueness? Destiny chooses those who were important to him in his past lives… But why these people? Or rather, why weren’t these ‘people’ Calamity Witches ‘at that time’? And why are they concentrated in this lifetime? Also, about the Yata no Kagami falling onto Lord Juncheng, it wasn’t Xiao An who did it, so who could it be… It’s strange, there are ten kinds of disharmony that linger in my mind.
“There’s another point. You also know what Xue’er likes, right? Now that Father is in several pieces, if she finds out about this, she might become more terrifying than anyone.”
“…Ah…” I also have to consider this factor. Jiang Xueqing’s infatuation with severed limbs, especially Lord Juncheng’s, can be imagined. She has probably transformed from a weird girl into a walking disaster.
“If we clash with Xue’er now, it definitely won’t end well. But with Father gone, to negotiate with her, we need to find another person, the other one you mentioned wanting to bring to our side… or rather, ghost.”
“Ghoul, Kaoru Tsukiyose.” Since Jiang Xueqing is here, it’s even more certain that she must be somewhere in this city.
“That’s right, so we can put aside the search for Father’s other parts for now. We need to find Xun first…”
“Hiss hiss hiss—” Suddenly, a piercing sound echoed, and a giant black python lunged towards us, its maw wide open, attempting to swallow us all with fire! “Xiao An, Bai Ran, it’s just like this!” The flames were quickly extinguished, but the snake didn’t die. Some black threads re-formed the parts that had been burned away.
“Wait, this… hair?! I’ve provoked someone I shouldn’t have. I won’t resist; I’ll turn and run immediately.” The giant black python might have also realized it provoked someone! “Something must have happened to make it like this! Hurry, chase her!”
“There’s no doubt about it! This is definitely Xun’er’s head!” Xiao An exclaimed, realizing it, and picked up Little Master Juncheng to chase after the snake. Xinran also reacted immediately, her speed augmented by the wind. No matter how fast the giant black python was, I was right on its heels. We had an absolute advantage in terms of movement speed. We smoothly caught up to the source. In the center of the parking lot, two figures could be seen. Several giant pythons were coiled in the sky. The person had lost consciousness, her hair scattered on the ground like a black carpet. As expected, one of them was Kaoru Tsukiyose, with her eyes closed. Some of these giant pythons were her hair. And the other figure from behind was… Ke Ling. Seeing that figure, Xinran blurted out, “Huh? Ke Ling! What are you doing here!” So it was Ke Ling. She seems to be trapped here? …Wait… Why is Ke Ling here? The ‘anomalies’ summoned by Lord Juncheng’s left hand should all be ‘anomalies’! If I remember correctly, Senior Lanhua relied on… But Ke Ling is also here. This means… she’s also an anomaly!
