Chapter 366: Epilogue 2

Nightfall gradually descended. In that gray, damp, and desolate city, a giant wolf lay like a mountain across the street. The pitch-black blood seeping from its body mixed with the muddy water on the stone pavement, as if it had long since died.

Its golden fur had faded, now resembling the rusty hue of iron. Beneath the fur, its flesh was decaying, and through the gaping, rotting wound in its chest, one could even see its heart, which had stopped beating.

That enormous golden heart, even as the wolf’s entire body succumbed to decay, still radiated a brilliant rainbow glow. It evoked the image of a legendary treasure buried at the end of a rainbow, driving anyone who saw it to madness.

Countless people and hauntings surrounded it, hacking and tearing at that colossal body with axes, with knives, with bare hands, and with teeth-as if even a single shred torn from it would grant them a lifetime of wealth.

Then…

From the somber sky and hazy gray mist, two piercing beams of light suddenly burst forth. As the giant wolf’s heart began to beat anew, a thunderous roar exploded like a clap of thunder.

The wind surged, howling in its wake.

The giant wolf struggled to stand, shaking its battered body. Amidst the shrieks, countless people and hauntings were flung away like fleas shaken from its fur.

With a cold, shadowed gaze, it looked toward the direction of the station. It raised its head and let out one final, long howl-like a lone wolf calling for its companions.

“Awooo-!”

With its howl, the sky grew darker, cold winds shrieked, and everyone in the city could feel it clearly-a night of extreme cold was coming.

As night drew ever nearer, an ominous aura quietly rose from the stillness, as if something was awakening from slumber.

“Rumble-rumble-rumble-!”

A series of booms echoed from beneath the ground. The earth cracked open, black flesh squirmed and surged up from the depths, merging into the scattered corpses everywhere.

Those who had died chasing after wealth, meeting doom, were awakened by the giant wolf’s roar. Gradually, they opened their eyes, absorbing the pitch-black flesh, transforming into vengeful ghosts-thousands upon thousands, gathering into hordes.

Those terrifying bodies were covered in festering sores, letting out greedy, long howls. With each howl, the black flesh around them surged like liquid, forming golden armor and razor-sharp weapons.

As a haunting wielding the power of a deity manifesting as a dire wolf, the Big Boss naturally possessed his own “wolf pack.”

“Roar-!”

The giant wolf roared again, like a general’s command, directing the “wolf pack” as they swept through the city, crossed the wasteland, and began a merciless hunt for Lu Yibei.

Just as the PL girl had said, even if the Big Boss fell back into despair, he would still, in the end, seek revenge on her.

The winding railroad tracks stretched out from the Dream Come True Entertainment City station, disappearing into the golden wasteland, littered with the towering remains of iron giants.

This vast and beautiful wasteland bore a much less beautiful name-Bone-Burial Wasteland.

Legend had it that beneath its surface were buried the bones of countless people who had died chasing after wealth.

On the wasteland, Jiang Li, clad in silver-white armor, sped after a pure white figure darting across the sky, with Lu Yibei sitting steadily atop her.

Iron hooves pounded, striking sparks from the tracks, their figures racing like the wind.

Scarlet hair streamed out in the wind, fierce as a banner.

Bathed in the blood-red sunset that never faded at the end of the wasteland, she was like a lonely knight riding toward the apocalypse.

If there were instruments by her side now, the secondary alarms would’ve long since gone off, right? A haunting of this level-its catastrophe reaction must have exceeded 30% by now…

If this kind of psychic energy fluctuation were to leak out, the consequences would be unthinkable. Jiang Li tried to gaze toward Dream Come True Entertainment City, pondering in secret.

30% didn’t seem too high, but judging from the recent reports from The Midnight Watchers Society, even hauntings that destroyed entire cities had only reached a catastrophe reaction of 43.2%.

I’m doomed, this time I’m really doomed, and I’ll drag Jiang Li down with me.

I wonder if, after I die, someone from The Midnight Watchers Society will come to collect the bodies? If they do, and see the state I’m in, will I still get a welfare graveyard?

I’ve never even been in love! If I’d known, I should’ve asked Liu Seer about the details of ghost marriages. Lu Yibei’s thoughts drifted off in their usual, peculiar way.

At critical moments, the things she worried about always had such a strange flavor.

Just then, the sky darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A light rain began to fall, the cold wind whipping the droplets hard against their fair faces, each one like a blade’s cut.

“Boom-boom-!”

The “wolf pack” came charging from afar, their heavy footfalls merging into a rumble that rolled across the ground like muffled thunder.

In the distance, pairs of crimson eyes appeared, densely packed, countless as the stars in the sky.

From above, the torrent of gold and black surged in from all directions, as if a monstrous hand were closing around them, squeezing tighter and tighter, until only a puddle of blood would remain.

Jiang Li placed Ah-Hua, who had been in her arms, onto her back, freeing her hands. In her palm, a long blade materialized. Eyes narrowing, she said to Lu Yibei in a low voice, “Something’s coming. A lot of them…”

The sources of psychic energy fluctuations coming from afar were so many they were overwhelming, making her psychic sense nearly useless.

“Yeah, looks like the Big Boss is going all out-sending a whole regiment to gank us! We’re surrounded!”

“Are you scared?”

“Scared to death, but…” Lu Yibei nodded seriously. “You just keep chasing that birdman. Leave the rest to me.”

After all, they’re all coming for me. If it really comes down to it, at least I have to make sure you get away, right? Lu Yibei thought to herself, pulling open the guitar case and drawing out the Pure Lotus Sword, gripping it tightly in her hand.

“……” Jiang Li remained silent, sneaking a glance at Lu Yibei’s profile. On that slightly youthful face, she saw a chilling calmness that made her heart skip a beat, as if this life-threatening situation was nothing new to her.

Is this still the same cowardly Lu Yibei I used to know?

What exactly did she go through while I was gone?

Jiang Li pondered, then said to Lu Yibei, “Don’t try to act tough…”

Before she could finish her sentence, a piercing shriek suddenly erupted.

Using the cover of the man-high withered yellow grass, a figure approached at an astonishing speed. A ferocious wolf, clad entirely in golden armor, leapt toward them.

In the next instant, a flash of silver light poured from Jiang Li’s hand. The long blade slashed without warning, cutting off the wolf’s trajectory mid-pounce.

But then she saw something strange-the wolf’s sharp claws seemed to melt, becoming soft and nimble as they curved around her blade, darting out like a venomous snake’s tongue.

Jiang Li leaned back, narrowly avoiding the claws that grazed past her face. As she abruptly pushed herself upright, her blade swung in a swift arc from below, slicing upward. Accompanied by the sharp screech of psychic energy fluctuation colliding, the wolf’s body was torn apart.

The psychic energy fluctuation was strong, and the attack methods were peculiar, but they seemed to lack adaptability…

In the brief exchange, Jiang Li quickly assessed the combat capabilities of the wolf pack. As she pondered, her peripheral vision caught sight of Lu Yibei, and she froze slightly.

Lu Yibei was huddled, clutching a crystal bottle filled with glowing viscous liquid, trembling uncontrollably.

Jiang Li’s mouth twitched slightly as she said coldly, “Weren’t you not afraid?”

“Gulp-!”

Lu Yibei glanced at the restless wolves, swallowed lightly, and retorted, “Afraid? Me? How could I be afraid! These creepy things-I could take on a hundred of them!”

“But the problem is, I’m scared of dogs! When I was a kid, I stole persimmons from a neighbor’s yard and got chased and bitten…”

“That’s a wolf,” Jiang Li said faintly. “Can’t you even tell the difference between a wolf and a dog?”

“Oh, I was chased and bitten by a wolfdog…”

Jiang Li: “…”

In the silence, another fierce wind howled. Her gaze sharpened as she withdrew her attention from Lu Yibei and refocused on the enemies ahead.

–

While Jiang Li and Lu Yibei were locked in battle with the “wolf pack” summoned by the Big Boss…

High in the sky, Hydrangea observed the scene, her heart secretly alarmed. She hurriedly used the familiars’ mark to contact her master.

Moments later, Black Peony’s voice echoed in Hydrangea’s mind. “Oh? Hydrangea? What’s the situation over there?”

“Reporting to my master, the situation seems a bit unusual. The Big Boss hasn’t successfully escaped and has even been severely injured by Wang Buliuxing through some unknown means.”

“Oh?” Black Peony paused for a moment, then asked, “What’s its current condition? Is it dead?”

“Well…” Hydrangea hesitated before replying, “I’m sorry, Master, I don’t know. Earlier, I saw the Big Boss was about to break free, so I rushed back. The subsequent events were observed from a distance.”

“However, I believe it’s still alive. Right now, the wolf pack, formed from the corpses of the Buried Bones Wasteland and the flesh of The Flesh Tunnel, is hunting Wang Buliuxing.”

“You’re saying the Big Boss has tapped into the power of The Flesh Tunnel?” Black Peony asked, her tone noticeably more urgent.

“Yes, I dared to contact you immediately to deliver this news,” Hydrangea said.

“Heh! This just got interesting!” Black Peony sneered. “I imagine Celestian will be quite anxious when he hears about this.”

In truth, the glimpses of The Flesh Tunnel seen along the Dream Come True Journey were merely the tip of the iceberg. The true Flesh Tunnel was an immense “ocean” of flesh capable of enveloping the entire vast space.

It was created by the Big Boss and later refined by Black Peony and Celestian to seal off the malicious influences of the world-a structure akin to a city-wide barrier.

If the Big Boss had merely violated the contract and left early, causing the chips to disappear and cutting off the hope of leaving this place, Celestian might not have taken action. But now, to exact revenge on Lu Yibei, the Big Boss had drawn on the power of The Flesh Tunnel, completely changing the situation.

Celestian had no intention of leaving this place. He only wanted to remain here, concocting his poisons and ruling as a local tyrant. The foundation of all his plans was The Flesh Tunnel.

Anyone who dared to disrupt the normal functioning of The Flesh Tunnel would have to pay the price!

“Hydrangea, come back for now. If there’s no significant danger, lend Wang Buliuxing a hand,” Black Peony said faintly. “I need to make a trip to the Pharmacy and then head to the Entertainment City myself.”

“That guy is in for a world of trouble!”

The iron hooves thundered across the wasteland, echoing with terrifying roars all around.

It had already been nearly an hour since the appearance of the “wolf pack,” and breaking out of their bloody encirclement proved far more difficult than the two had anticipated.

Jiang Li’s pace was slowing down. Lu Yibei could feel it-under the relentless onslaught of the wolf pack, Jiang Li’s gleaming silver armor was already covered with scars, some deep, some shallow.

In the continuous battles, she realized her previous assessment of the “wolf pack” was completely wrong. They were not just undead puppets fighting with brute force; they retained all sorts of skills from their lives-each different, endlessly emerging.

Among these evil spirits who had all died at the hands of the Big Boss, most were mere cannon fodder, but some hauntings possessed psychic energy fluctuations even greater than the typical Class A standard.

Moreover, those evil spirits clad in golden armor seemed utterly unafraid of death, indifferent to attrition-even if they were sliced in half, blown apart and scattered as dust in the air, their successors would launch merciless attacks without pause, unending.

By rights, this battle was less perilous than the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts led by the Plague Taisui, yet this time, Lu Yibei no longer had the Ley Line Energy to bolster her.

Thus, the “lone knight,” surrounded by an army, moved slower and slower, as if sinking into a quagmire of death…

Suddenly, a shrill scream almost pierced her eardrums. A powerful gust swept past the back of her head, making Lu Yibei shudder in fright.

Immediately after, the violent clashing of blades erupted behind her. Jiang Li seemed to be clashing with some extremely powerful enemy. In just a few seconds, the sound of metal colliding rang out dozens of times, the waves of psychic energy fluctuations stirring the air into rippling circles.

Faintly, Lu Yibei heard Jiang Li give a muffled groan. She was about to turn to check on her, but then heard Jiang Li’s cold shout.

“Don’t look! Didn’t we agree? I take the front, you cover the back.”

At those words, Lu Yibei’s heart felt as if it was gripped by a small hand. She forced herself to resist the urge to turn around, raised her Broken Sword, and swung it at the charging enemies ahead.

“Screw you, just die already!”

With a low shout, crimson flames erupted from the blade, instantly incinerating the enemy to ashes.

Clearing the enemies ahead for the moment, when the sounds of battle behind gradually subsided and she could hear Jiang Li’s heavy, labored breaths, Lu Yibei’s brows drooped for a moment, then she began to ramble.

“Don’t you think the two of us right now are like that old movie, ‘doomed to be fugitives’? That movie’s about two women who accidentally kill a criminal who attacked them, panic, and go on the run, never to return.”

“Haven’t seen it. How does it end?” Jiang Li replied calmly, her breathing a little unsteady.

“…” Lu Yibei was silent for a moment and shrugged. “It’s… not bad.”

In the movie’s ending, the two protagonists drove their car straight into a canyon-choosing death.

But right now, Lu Yibei felt it was a little inauspicious to mention that sort of ending.

Just then, the ground suddenly trembled violently, as if something enormous was approaching with thunderous quakes. Jiang Li stumbled, and Lu Yibei instinctively reached out to wrap her arms around Jiang Li’s waist-only to feel a patch of slick, sticky liquid.

Her heart tightened. She jerked her hand up for a look and saw a smear of bright crimson.

“You’re hurt?!” Lu Yibei cried in alarm.

“…” In silence, Jiang Li looked down at the armor torn from her chest all the way to her back, and at the bloody, mangled wound.

The fierce fighting, plus having to protect Ah-Hua, who had lost all combat ability, was too much of a burden for her.

“Just a minor injury. It’s nothing compared to when I fought the Dusk Maiden. Patch it up when we get back and it won’t even leave a scar.”

She was telling the truth. When she hunted the Dusk Maiden, as a rookie operator, she was gravely wounded-almost to death.

But…

“But, these damn ghosts just keep coming. Even if your wound isn’t serious, if we keep fighting-” Lu Yibei couldn’t finish her sentence. She worried her words might become a prophecy.

If that happened, the two of them could only “drive into the canyon” together.

At that moment, the ground shook violently again. The next second, something erupted from the earth, breaking through the soil.

Tons of dirt and stone were hurled skyward, and the iron rails laid on the ground snapped with a shrill, piercing sound. As if time slowed, a Giant clad in golden armor appeared behind them, emanating an apocalyptic pressure as it stretched out countless arms.

In an instant, gales swept out like the sudden appearance of an eye of the storm, sending Jiang Li-her footing lost-flying. Three figures traced arcs through the air, crashing heavily to the ground, leaving deep furrows in the wild grass.

Lu Yibei struggled to her feet, glancing at that figure which so closely resembled the front of the Giant Train, and cursed under her breath, “Damn it! I knew it-if it’s got this many legs, there must be just as many arms. Otherwise, this thing would be completely unbalanced!”

“It’s a haunting with the power of the Hundred-Armed Giant…” Jiang Li explained, “Just as you said, it should be related to pulling the Giant.”

Lu Yibei turned her head to look at her, only then noticing the gruesome scars on her body. Her gaze shifted several times before she was about to say something, but figures began to emerge densely around them, encircling them tightly.

“What do we do now?” Jiang Li asked in a low voice.

Hearing this, Lu Yibei propped herself up with the Broken Sword, stood up slowly, and walked to stand in front of Jiang Li, blocking the approaching golden-armored giant. She turned her head back and grinned, “What else can we do? When there’s danger, women and children retreat first-that’s one of Country Z’s fine traditions!”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Li exclaimed, “Are you planning to face them alone? Even if that’s the case, I don’t think I can escape. Why not-“

“You can escape.” Lu Yibei’s facial paralysis returned, and she said seriously to Jiang Li, “Trust me, if you want to leave, you can. After all, they’re all here for me.”

As Jiang Li opened her mouth to argue, Lu Yibei quickly interrupted, “Don’t say something silly like ‘we leave together.’ If you don’t leave, Ah-Hua will die with you.”

“Don’t try to argue. You know this very well-two survive, or three die together. It’s your choice!”

Jiang Li struggled to her feet, secured Ah-Hua, and walked to Lu Yibei’s side, gripping the long blade tightly. “Then we’ll die together. Ah-Hua would respect my choice…”

Lu Yibei: “…”