Chapter 96: The End of the Sky

Because there was a mysterious figure nearby, I decided it would be best not to keep searching. A wild boar was hardly enough, but at least it might just about help everyone regain a little strength. In this chaotic age, how fortunate it was simply to have wild boar meat to eat.

As I walked, I took in the scenery along the way. Everywhere there were burning fragments of rock. I approached one that was not very large but blazed with fierce flames, crouched down, and examined it closely. The stone was red all over. It had already been a full day since the heavenly fire had descended, yet the flames on these fragments seemed inexhaustible. I picked up an ordinary stone and hurled it at the burning fragment. In an instant, the fragment was smashed to pieces by my forceful blow, flames scattering everywhere. The ground where the fire had swept over it gave off a wisp of white smoke and turned blackened with scorch marks.

"Brother Qin, did you see the person who ambushed me just now?" I asked as I stood up, suddenly thinking that Qin Tian might have seen them.

"Oh? I didn't see anyone. Are you sure somebody ambushed you?"

"Damn it, if no one ambushed me, where did this injury on my face come from?"

Qin Tian gave a wry smile, looking helpless. Perhaps he really had not seen anything. After all, that person was simply too strong. I was certain their power was definitely above that of a martial grandmaster. Could they have been a divine martial expert? Mu Rong Xue had once said that even a warrior of the Heavenly Dao would be nothing but a single blow before her. I thought it would be safer to stay with Mu Rong Xue. Lost in thought, I headed back.

Whether it was because we had moved faster, or because the journey there had taken too long, in half an hour Qin Tian and I had returned. The injuries of the Qinglong Gang had already been bandaged. When Mu Rong Xue saw me return, she rose from the ground and said, "I am sorry. They have been infected. Turning into the undead is only a matter of time. After I applied medicine, it may delay the process a little, but I do not know for how long."

"Even Miss Mu cannot do anything? Aren't you the divine healer?"

I always felt that Mu Rong Xue had changed greatly after coming out of the Mist Forest. Where had the Mu Rong Xue who could bring the nine-tailed fox back from the dead gone?

"There is something you may not know. Do you remember the soul I told you about?" Mu Rong Xue said solemnly.

"The soul? Of course I remember. You said your other soul was sealed at the edge of heaven."

"At the edge of heaven? That is a bit too mysterious, isn't it?" Qin Tian cut in.

I motioned for Qin Tian not to interrupt and kept listening to Mu Rong Xue. She let out a soft sigh, gathered her thoughts, and said, "Once I recover my soul, my abilities will naturally return. But the one you helped me find last time was only my spiritual soul. It could only ensure that I could safely leave the Mist Forest alive. The spiritual soul has no offensive power at all. My current cultivation is not even one-tenth of what it was at my peak."

"I remember you were very powerful in the Mist Forest," I pressed on.

"Yes. In the Mist Forest, I had about half of my peak strength. Last time you fainted, I helped you recover one of your souls, and my power had not yet recovered, which was why these low-level creatures caused such heavy losses on our side." Mu Rong Xue seemed to blame herself deeply. When she said this, her face was grave.

So that was it. No wonder all along this journey I kept feeling that my own abilities seemed to surpass Mu Rong Xue's. I had thought I had become stronger, when in fact it was only that Mu Rong Xue had grown weaker.

"Miss Mu need not blame herself. Everything has its destiny. Perhaps this is their calamity." Looking at these brothers who had fought their way here step by step, now one after another dead or wounded, and with the wounded still at risk of infection, I knew that when the time came I might have no choice but to turn my gun on them. Just thinking about it, I dared not go on.

"Miss Mu, let us help you recover your other soul. Then you can regain your peak strength and even walk unhindered across the mortal world." I said to Mu Rong Xue. Just imagining a great host led by a divine beauty, sweeping across the seas and saving all living beings from suffering, was enough to make one's blood boil.

But Mu Rong Xue's words chilled half of my heart: "I cannot retrieve my other soul for now. Going there would only be courting death. Besides, after the outbreak of the virus, many humans infected by it underwent certain changes. Some of them have powers that almost surpass those of low-tier gods."

"Humans can surpass gods? That's not scientific."

"Indeed. I just sensed a very strong surge of energy. That energy does not belong to any one of us." Mu Rong Xue said, gazing toward the distant mountains.

That mountain was exactly the one where Qin Tian and I had gone hunting wild boar. Could the person Mu Rong Xue sensed be the one who had ambushed me?

"Miss Mu, I was ambushed in the mountains just now. The other side seemed to have some purpose. Clearly, they are very strong. We did not even see whether they were male or female." I said, looking at Mu Rong Xue.

Mu Rong Xue also noticed the deep wound on my face, down to the bone. She told me to sit down, so I took a seat on a rock. From a small white bottle she poured out some powder and applied it for me, then tore a strip from her clothes and wrapped the wound up. At this point my face was already utterly mangled.

"All right. Your injury is not serious, but it may leave a scar. The other side clearly did not intend to take your life. Yun Fei, do you have some enemy?" Mu Rong Xue asked as she sat down beside me.

"An enemy? I don't think I've offended anyone."

I really could not remember. If I were to speak of enemies, there was one in Phoenix Blue City: that spoiled rich young master from Ye City. Back then I had beaten him until he looked like a pig's head. I did not even know whether he was dead. Could it be him? Impossible. If someone that stupid could become an unparalleled master, then I really would have to smash my head against a wall.

"Not offended anyone? You brat have offended plenty of people. Didn't you also recently run into that Demon Spirit Cult or whatever? Maybe it's someone from them causing trouble." Qin Tian leaned against the stone wall at the cave entrance, basking in the sun with narrowed eyes as he spoke.

"That's impossible. It can't be that simple." I faintly felt that things were not so straightforward. If it really were people from the Demon Spirit Cult, we might already be dead on the spot. I certainly did not believe they would leave us alive as a future threat, only to let us come after them for revenge.

"Then what do you think we should do now? Someone has us under surveillance. Have you seen that old movie, *No One Survives*? Ten years ago, that killer showed up, and we all die." Qin Tian grew more and more agitated, and the more he spoke, the more absurd it sounded.

"I think we'd better hurry to Phoenix Blue City as soon as possible, to avoid any complications if this drags on," Mu Rong Xue said.

"Fine. We'll leave after dinner. If possible, we should find some horses." As I started the fire, I was also thinking about our next steps. What a damned age this was. We had originally planned to head for Phoenix Blue City, yet all along the way there had been one difficulty after another. Just as we were almost there, some mysterious assassin had appeared out of nowhere.

Very soon, a sumptuous roast wild boar was ready. The aroma of the sizzling meat made my mouth water. In less than a minute, the pig leg in my hands had already been devoured clean. At that moment, a sudden sense of danger struck me.

"He is here." Mu Rong Xue said anxiously as she sprang to her feet.

Even without her warning, I had already sensed it. What was meant to come would always come.