Chapter 387 - 210: In the Crevice of the Painting Scroll

Chapter 387: Chapter 210: In the Crevice of the Painting Scroll

"Madam! Madam!"

Zheng Xiu cried out desperately. Xie Luohe was unresponsive, as if she couldn’t hear him. When he finally shouted, "Xie Luohe!", her body shuddered, though less violently. Veins bulged on her forehead as she fought to suppress her pain, and she pointed toward the heart of the battlefield. "Don’t... No more killing!"

Zheng Xiu froze at her words.

He suddenly looked up, toward the valley entrance. Outside, the wind still howled, even though the storm had passed. And yet, not a single gust reached inside the valley. ’What’s blocking the wind and sand?’

In that instant, a cold dread washed over Zheng Xiu. He pressed his lips together, his gaze fixed on the battlefield. The Knights, their eyes bloodshot with frenzy, had long since lost themselves to the slaughter. Over half of the ten-thousand-strong army from the Western Regions lay dead. The ground was a sea of crimson. Blood flowed in impossible quantities, forming rivers that twisted with flesh and bone into gruesome torrents. From above, the entire battlefield resembled a colossal meat grinder. The flash of blades acted as its knives, and the flowing blood was a great mass of meat, churning and churning to create a living vision of Purgatory.

There was far more blood than he’d imagined, and the flesh of the dead looked unnervingly vibrant.

"Xie Luohe, stay here!"

A realization struck Zheng Xiu like a bolt of lightning. The familiar scene before him jolted him to his senses. Without waiting for Xie Luohe’s reply, he painted a great bird into existence, mounted its back, and flew toward the battlefield.

’I get it now! There might still be time! At the very least, I have to get the Monk... Xie Yunliu... out of there!’

Aboard the great bird, Zheng Xiu glanced back at Madam and said resolutely, his tone a mixture of threat and plea, "Whatever you do, do not go over there!"

Xie Luohe nodded in silence, watching the man she had been with for ten years depart. She tried to stand, but her legs gave way, and she collapsed back to her knees. A mournful sigh echoed in her mind. ’Who... am I?’

...

’Gongsun Mo won’t die.’ Zheng Xiu was certain of this as he rode the great bird toward the battlefield. ’Whether I’m Zheng Xiu or Gongsun Mo, I haven’t yet painted the Cannibal Painting that started all this. I haven’t created that haunting masterpiece. I absolutely cannot die here.’

In the blink of an eye, Zheng Xiu was hovering above the battlefield. The town below was already coated in a shallow layer of blood. The Knights frantically stomped through the gore, carving a path through the Military Array, their frenzied expressions terrifying to behold. As Zheng Xiu landed, the rivers of blood on the ground began to stir, and faint, inky wisps of light drifted up from the corpses.

The ground cracked open without a sound. Quicksand welled up from beneath, mixing with the blood and flesh.

BOOM!

A violent tremor shook the ground nearby, making the surrounding corpses jump several inches into the air as if they were coming back to life. Zheng Xiu’s gaze followed the source of the tremor. He saw a monstrous, half-man, half-camel creature charge onto the battlefield, dragging an arm that was several meters long.

Half of its face was demonic and twisted, its long fangs dripping with bloody foam and bone shards. The man-camel hybrid stomped down, crushing several people underfoot. Then, its long arm swelled, writhing flesh and blood coalescing into a spear—both flexible and hard—that shot across the battlefield.

In an instant, friend and foe alike—Knights and soldiers of the Western Regions—were skewered by the spear of flesh. They were hoisted high into the air, their deaths a gruesome spectacle.

"Arturo!"

Even in this monstrous, inhuman form, Zheng Xiu recognized Arturo at a glance.

Arturo’s charge and his horrifying appearance stunned both the Knights and the surviving soldiers of the Western Regions. But after a moment of dead silence, the soldiers, already terrified by the slaughter, weren’t rallied by his arrival. Instead, they broke and fled in a panic. The Knights, however, their eyes bloodshot with frenzy, simply raised their blades and charged recklessly forward.

The most striking among them was Cheng Xiao. He stepped forward in silence. His long saber seemed to come alive, greedily drinking the blood from the ground. In an instant, it glowed red-hot, emitting a terrifying smoke.

As Zheng Xiu hesitated for a moment, stunned by Arturo’s rampage, a figure shot out from a corner, making to escape.

Zheng Xiu’s eyes narrowed.

’It’s this world’s Director of the Secret Factory Lou Mengkong—who is also Fan Yao!’

’Trying to run?’

Zheng Xiu gave a cold smile, letting Madness color his gaze. He sliced open his wrist, and as blood surged forth, he expertly formed a "Bird Cage" and gave chase after Fan Yao.