Why were they all staring at him like that?
Suddenly, Xie Lian heard a whisper from below.
"So similar…" "He's not just similar…he's the exact same!"
"Is it really him?"
Someone bluntly asked, "Are you…that prince?"
Out of habit, Xie Lian blurted, "I'm not…" Yet he trailed off when he realized that the white silk he used to cover his face had been untied. He was trussed to the altar by that same white silk, and his face was fully exposed to the crowd surrounding him.
Xie Lian's heart jumped to his throat, but he steeled himself and met the gazes of the crowd.
He didn't know if it was his mind playing tricks, but he felt those stares turn strange. But thankfully, perhaps due to the imminent danger, their eyes at least didn't bear the disgust or anger he had feared. And that imminent danger made itself known in the next second as a wave of inhuman howls rang out from outside the temple!
Xie Lian tried to twist his neck around and discovered that the howling was coming from the disfigured wretches he had already knocked down. They had somehow regained their footing, and there were more out there now. They had surrounded the Temple of the Crown Prince, and they screamed as they circled it hand in hand like they were performing some horrifying ritual, or perhaps it was purely the wild dancing of demons. The crowd inside the temple huddled together, cowering in absolute terror. A young child burst into tears and his parents took him into their arms, covering his eyes and ears. Every face in the room was stricken with fear.
"What do we do? What do we do?"
"Will they break in…?"
"Even if they don't, they're so close—will we be infected…? What will we do if we catch it?!"
Xie Lian fought against his bindings but couldn't loosen them in the slightest. It seemed that the white silk had been tampered with, likely injected with spiritual power.
With veins visible on his forehead from his ongoing struggle, Xie Lian roared, "White No-Face!"
There was no response. Instead, an icy-cold hand patted his head. Xie Lian froze, hair standing on end from the touch. And when he twisted his head back, what he saw had dread prickling from his head on down his spine.
No wonder the people below him were giving him strange stares. Not only was Xie Lian's face exposed, but White No-Face was seated in the darkness right behind him.
Confronted by such a strange-looking character dressed all in white, no one dared to breathe, let alone move carelessly. So White No-Face ignored them entirely as he helped Xie Lian sit upright under the watchful gaze of the crowd.
Xie Lian was pulled into a sitting position from where he'd been lying, and now he was sitting atop his own divine altar like a bound, living statue. Aside from his eyes and neck, he couldn't move at all.
Although his situation was beyond eerie, the howling Human Face Disease victims outside were more terrifying. The attention of the crowd below soon returned to the disfigured wretches outside.
"…From what I heard, anyone in the same district can infect you, and the disease spreads incredibly fast!" someone muttered. "We're so close, they're right there, we'll definitely, definitely—!"
Anguish, panic, and despair filled the temple at the thought that they would soon fall victim to the horrifying plague.
"Why don't a few of us go out there and knock some of them dead, and the rest of us escape?" someone suggested.
Setting aside the question of whether they would even be able to kill enough of those wretches, anyone that tried would surely become infected as well. It would mean sacrificing oneself to save others, so who would want to volunteer? No one.
Xie Lian would, if he could. However, he was being restrained by White No-Face. And although he could knock down seven or eight of the mad victims at a time, it would be hard to completely shut down a group of seventeen or eighteen. There was bound to be one who broke through and rushed into the Temple of the Crown Prince.
As for killing White No-Face? Xie Lian would be a fool to even consider trying.
However, the crowd needed someone to calm everyone down. Xie Lian gathered his composure and said calmly, "Everyone, please don't lose your heads! It won't spread that quickly. We still have time to think of a solution."
But a mere guarantee that it "won't spread that quickly" was hardly enough to reassure them. Surprisingly, the one who lifted the cloud of despair was none other than White No-Face.
"There is a way to prevent and cure Human Face Disease," he said, cutting in.
At his statement, the heads of the crowd shot up.
"It can be cured? How?!"
Xie Lian felt his heart stop.
"Why don't you ask His Highness? He knows the method," White No-Face mused leisurely.
In an instant, a hundred pairs of eyes were focused intensely on Xie Lian. The sharpness of their gazes made him instinctively recoil, but he was caught by White No-Face and shoved forward again.
Xie Lian could hear some hopeful voices in the crowd.
"Your Highness, do you really know?"
Before Xie Lian could answer, someone else shouted excitedly, "I heard from somebody that he does know!"
However, some were suspicious. "If he knew, then why did the capital still…? Unless he knew and deliberately didn't tell anybody?"
"Your Highness, please hurry up and tell us, yeah?"
Xie Lian immediately denied it. "I don't know!"
However, White No-Face insisted, "You lie."
Furious, Xie Lian wanted to rebuke him, but he was afraid it would instead drive White No-Face to leak more information.
He had a feeling that White No-Face would say it regardless, though, whether he denied it or not.
After struggling for a while, Xie Lian admitted in defeat, "There's… no way. It's useless!"
After a pause, the sea of people started to stir. "What do you mean, 'useless'? How can we know it's useless if you don't even tell us?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead. Xie Lian thought, I really can't say it… He mustn't say it! If the truth ever came to light, it would all be over.
Chaos would reign!
Within the crowd, someone was finally fed up and jumped to their feet. "We're already at death's door, so what's the point of keeping secrets?
Unless you want us all to wait here like sitting ducks until we die?"
In a gentle voice, White No-Face offered, "Then let me tell you."
"Be quiet!" Xie Lian yelled angrily.
Naturally, his shout wasn't threatening in the least, and White No-Face ignored him. "Do you know which people in the capital were least likely to catch Human Face Disease?"
The crowd watched him in trepidation. Although afraid to get close, they couldn't help but ask, "Wh-which people?"
"Soldiers," White No-Face answered.
It was all over now.
"Why was it the soldiers?" White No-Face continued. "Because they all did one specific thing. It's something that isn't done by ordinary citizens, which is why those ordinary citizens caught Human Face Disease."
The crowd's eyes were growing wider and wider. Holding their breaths, they inquired, "And that thing was…?"
Xie Lian lunged headfirst in White No-Face's direction, but his effort was in vain. Laughing, White No-Face shoved him back in place.
"What was it, you ask?" He hummed. "Murder."
It was all over!
He'd actually said it. As he slumped on top of the altar, Xie Lian's heart felt cold as ice.
After the initial shock, some people repeated it in disbelief, "Murder…? You have to kill someone to become immune? You need to kill someone to be cured?"
"You're lying, right?!"
The terrible thing was—no, it wasn't a lie! It was the ultimate truth, and Xie Lian had verified it himself. One who was stained with blood, one who had ended another's life, was immune to Human Face Disease!
Nobody had expected this to be the secret to gaining immunity.
Stunned, they discussed among themselves.
"How can this be?"
"I always thought it was odd, but it's true that I haven't ever heard of anyone in the army who got infected with Human Face Disease! So it's probably true!"
"It is true!"
"But doesn't that mean we have to kill someone to prevent infection?"
"Who do we kill?"
The person who posed the question immediately got lectured. "What do you mean, 'who do we kill'? Don't tell me you actually want to kill someone?"
The man didn't dare to say anything more. However, the hundred pairs of eyes that had been filled with nothing but simple terror now contained many other emotions; it was very subtle, very strange.
This was exactly what Xie Lian had feared. Once the cure for Human Face Disease was brought to light, one thing would inevitably happen:
Mass murder.
This was the sole reason that Xie Lian had kept the secret to himself after discovering the way to gain immunity. As long as one had killed another human being, they would be safe from the disease. Perhaps most people would be able to control themselves initially, but there was bound to be someone desperate enough to take the risk. The moment blood was spilled in the name of preventing the disease, it would soon be followed by a second killing, then a third… As more and more people followed suit, the whole world would be thrown into chaos. If that was the inevitable result, it was better for Xie Lian to firmly guard the knowledge and keep it only to himself.
Xie Lian smiled wryly. "Now you understand why I said the method is useless."
The crowd was silent. Xie Lian sighed. He forced himself to keep his chin up, then soothed them with a gentle tone.
"No matter what happens, please stay calm and don't act rashly or you'll play right into this creature's hands."
Among the crowd, there was a genteel-looking couple. With her child wrapped in her arms, the mother wept, "How did this happen?! Why is this happening?! Why does it have to be us, of all people? We've never done anything wrong!"
"Cry, cry, cry—what are you crying for?" a nearby person snapped at her. "All you know how to do is cry and cry! No one here has done anything wrong! You think you're the only unlucky ones?"
"What, you're not even going to let people cry?!" the husband retorted angrily.
"What's the use of crying so much that you annoy everyone around you? Shut your mouth!"
It was unbelievable that a fight could break out over such a petty thing. Everyone was clearly teetering on the edge of breakdown, and even a small touch could set them off.
Xie Lian was quick to pacify them. "Stop arguing! Stay calm! Only calm minds can bring solutions!"
However, the more he tried to calm the crowd, the more agitated they became.
"Stay calm? How can we be calm at a time like this? If you're so calm, why don't you think of something? Let's hear what you got!"
The request silenced Xie Lian. What kind of solution was there?
None!
He dug through his mind desperately for an answer until his brain was on the verge of exploding. But he couldn't think of any way to resolve the situation in front of him!
Suddenly, he felt someone squeeze his cheeks. A hand had cupped his face and twisted it to face the audience below the altar. Xie Lian's eyes widened in confusion.
An icy cold voice spoke from behind him. "Who should you kill?
You still don't know after seeing this face?"
"…" At that question, not only did all movement cease below the altar, but even the ball of ghost fire hanging above him froze in place.
"Did you forget? He is a god," White No-Face reminded them amiably. "Which means—" Before he could hear the rest, Xie Lian felt a chill wash over his chest. Stunned, he gazed down and saw the tip of a pitch-black sword pushing out of his abdomen.
The blade was long and slender, and was colored a deep, black jade.
Its central ridge reflected the light in a crisp silver line. The blade was every bit as dangerous and frigid as the coldest winter night. It was, without a doubt, a rare and treasured sword—the exact kind that Xie Lian would have once obsessed over obtaining and then never let leave his grasp.
Xie Lian couldn't look away. The tip of the sword started to slowly inch back into his stomach until it disappeared once again.
"—His body is immortal," White No-Face finished.
Before anyone had the chance to react, White No-Face tossed the blade toward the crowd of onlookers. Clang! The tip pierced the ground, and the sword stood at a slant before all those pairs of eyes. Its thick, frigid aura quietly permeated the air.
A rush of blood gushed up Xie Lian's throat. The ball of ghost fire flew to him, pressing close as if trying to cover his wound.
Xie Lian choked on his bloody rage and gritted his teeth. "You… You!"
Lights danced in his vision. The ball of ghost fire shot straight at White No-Face as if suddenly furious. But White No-Face caught it effortlessly and held it captive within his palm.
"Watch," he ordered the ghost fire. In the next second, White No-Face yanked Xie Lian's head around so he was facing him. "And what about me? Aren't you the one who proclaimed that you wanted to save the common people?"
"But! But I… I…" Xie Lian stammered.
But he had never thought that this would be the only way he could save people!
Below the altar, there were already some who were scared to tears by the bloody scene, but the bolder ones were still watching.
"Will… Will he really not die?!"
"It's true… Look, there's barely any blood… He's still alive—still perfectly alive!"
Xie Lian was racked by another intense cough.
"So in other words, even if we kill him, he won't die?!"
"That's great!"
The one who cheered got scolded. "'Great'?! What's so great about this?!"
"Since he won't be able to die…don't we have a solution now?" the scolded person mumbled.
"But to stab someone, that's so…" "He's a god! Even if he gets stabbed, he won't die! We're just ordinary people here. If we get infected with Human Face Disease, our fates are sealed!"
Watching the struggle unfold, White No-Face beckoned to Xie Lian.
"The common people are here, waiting for you to save them. Please, go ahead."
Anger blazed in Xie Lian's eyes. "The only way to save the common people is to eradicate a twisted monster like you!"
White No-Face sneered. "What's the matter? Your Highness, didn't you boast to me so confidently of your inability to die? You couldn't possibly be scared now. Since you can't die, you can sacrifice yourself and relieve others of their suffering. Isn't that a delightful thing?"
"Was this your plan all along?!" Xie Lian clicked his tongue. "Do you think that everyone in the world is as evil as you?!"
True to his words, the expressions of the people below weren't the ecstatic ones of those that had been rescued; instead, they were hesitant and split. There were conflicting opinions on the matter, and the crowd had yet to come to any sort of decision—and no one yet dared to pull out the black blade.
As if reading his mind, White No-Face laughed out loud. He shook his head disapprovingly and sighed. "Silly child. Foolish child."
Xie Lian twisted his head away and refused to let the creature pet him again. "Get lost!"
"You think they don't want to do it?" White No-Face asked. "Wrong.
It's not that they don't want to do it, it's just that no one wants to go first."
"Aaaaah!"
A devastated cry erupted from under the altar; it had come from the genteel wife. "My child, my child!"
The infant in her arms wailed uncontrollably as lumpy, dark lesions began to rise from his chubby arm. The people around them immediately backed away, leaving them a wide berth.
"This is bad—the kid is infected!"
Anguished, the couple exchanged a look, then jumped to their feet.
They walked to the altar, pulled the black sword from where it had been stabbed into the ground, and placed it between the child's hands.
Grimacing, they lunged at Xie Lian.
"…!"
The black blade was extremely sharp, for the couple had already pulled out the sword before Xie Lian felt the excruciating pain explode from his abdomen. They dropped it to the ground with a loud clang and apologized over and over.
"Sorry… Our child is still young, there was really…no other way.
Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Their faces were pale as they apologized, and they kowtowed over and over in front of Xie Lian before disappearing into the crowd with their child.
The blood clogging Xie Lian's throat thickened, and he was about to cough it up when he heard White No-Face snicker beside him. He forced down the mouthful of blood and hissed, "What are you laughing at?! Do you think that you got what you wanted? You forced this whole situation!"
The ghost fire trapped in the creature's hand flickered even more fiercely.
Taking his time to do so, White No-Face explained, "Humans have to be forced before they'll reveal their true selves."
Among the hundred people here, there was now one who no longer had to fear Human Face Disease. As they saw the dark lesions slowly fade from the child's arm, the crowd swallowed heavily and remained silent.
After a long while, a young man finally stepped forward amidst the dead silence. Bracing himself, he walked toward the altar, then bowed several times with his hands clasped in front of him. "I'm sorry. I don't want to do this. I really don't, but I don't have a choice," he pleaded. "I just got married—my mother, my wife, they're both at home waiting for me…" The man rambled on and on until he could no longer continue, then shut his eyes, raised the sword, and thrust it toward Xie Lian. Because his eyes were closed, his aim was off and the sword punctured Xie Lian in the side instead. When the man opened his eyes and realized he hadn't hit a fatal spot, he panicked, frantically pulled out the weapon with trembling hands, and stabbed Xie Lian again!
Xie Lian had gritted his teeth to prevent any sounds from escaping his throat, and he let out nothing more than a grunt at the two consecutive jabs. A stream of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
It was true that he wouldn't die. But that didn't mean he wouldn't be injured…or feel every bit of pain.
The sound of the weapon tangling on his flesh, the feeling of it scraping on his bones—it was so distressing and painful that Xie Lian almost went mad. When it came to this, he was no different from a mortal.
After the second person finished, he stepped down without offering Xie Lian a single kowtow. The expression on his face at the deed he had committed was a mixture of regret and the joy of survival—it was hard to say which feeling won out. Once he retreated into the crowd, silence returned.
It was another long time before a few more hesitant people began to look like they wanted to come forward with reasons of their own. Before they could rise to their feet, a man interrupted.
"I can't stand this anymore."
The crowd turned in the direction of the voice, and Xie Lian lifted his pale face too. The one who had spoken was the buff street performer.
"Are you seriously just going to do whatever that monster tells you to?" the street performer scolded the crowd. "From what I can see, he's just babbling nonsense. And even if it were true, just because this guy can't die doesn't mean this isn't murder!"
"Buddy, wake up—everyone here is about to die!" a bystander advised him.
"Aren't I here too? Won't I die too? But do you see me doing anything?" the street performer shot back.
That shut a few people up, but a second later, someone resorted to hurling accusations. "A guy like you probably doesn't have any elders or children in your family, right? 'Every man for himself' might be fine for you, but a lot of us here have families to look after. How can you compare yourself to us?"
The street performer pointed at the couple who had gone first so quickly. "It's true that I don't have a wife and son. But if I did, I would never let my son see me resorting to these methods even if it meant I died— let alone guide him into doing it himself! If a child grows up to be a bad apple, it's the parents who are to blame. If you were that eager to save him, why didn't you make your child take a stab at you instead?"
The wife covered her face and wept bitterly. "Don't curse my son! If you must curse, curse me instead!"
The husband was furious. "Are you listening to yourself? You want my son to kill his own father and mother? What reckless disregard for ethical principles!"
Although the street performer probably didn't understand what he meant, he retorted, "Murder is murder! At least it'd be courageous to sacrifice yourself for your son. Speaking of which, why don't any of you guys try going for the weird-looking guy in the mask?"
Upon hearing that, White No-Face burst out in laughter. The crowd was both terrified and furious. Their fear was directed at the monster, and their anger was directed at the street performer. They hushed their voices and chided him, "You…! Shut your mouth!"
What if they accidentally angered the monster?
But the street performer saw through them immediately. "Oh, so you don't have the balls to kill the big evil guy, so you chose someone else to stab instead?"
Unable to suffer such humiliation from a simple brute like him any longer, someone shouted, "This fella won't stop preaching at us! Here I thought he might have some bright ideas! But after taking a closer look at that deathly pale face of his, I'd say he probably only has a couple days left to live at most. That's why he talks so big. If you're so righteous, why don't you sacrifice yourself to help get us all out of this predicament?"
"I don't want to sacrifice myself, but neither does anyone else," the street performer countered. "Who does? Do you? How about you? But at least I won't stab anyone."
"But he's different," someone said.
"How so?" asked the street performer.
"He's a god! 'Save the common people'—he said that himself.
Also…also, he can't die!"
The street performer was about to keep arguing, but Xie Lian couldn't hold back any longer. He coughed weakly and called out, "B-buddy! Hey, buddy!"
Because of the stab wounds he'd already sustained, his voice was quite faint. Still, the street performer turned to look.
Xie Lian's voice was filled with gratitude. "Thank you! But…just forget about it."
If the street performer kept arguing, he'd probably get beaten up. Xie Lian remembered that the man's grave internal injuries had been caused by their competition.
Guilty at heart, he repeated, "Thank you! Your injuries from shattering boulders on your chest—have they healed?"
"Huh? What are you saying? How could I have been hurt? Boulder shattering is my specialty!" the street performer exclaimed proudly.
The man refused to lose face even in a situation like this—it was practically the same as claiming to be completely fine while spitting out mouthfuls of blood. Xie Lian wanted to laugh.
Suddenly, a person pointed at the street performer and screamed. "It's spreading! It's spreading!"
Xie Lian was stunned, as was the street performer. Following the pointing finger, the street performer touched his face. As expected, he felt something uneven.
The people around him immediately moved away. Xie Lian opened his mouth, wanting to call the street performer over—but to do what? To get him to fatally stab him too?
The words were lost in his throat.
In the moment while Xie Lian hesitated, the street performer stroked his face several more times, then dashed out of the temple. Seeing the action unfold, Xie Lian called after him.
"Where are you going? Come back! If you don't treat it, it will spread!"
But the man only ran even faster and hollered over his shoulder, "I'm not coming back! If I said I won't do it, then I won't do it…!"
Soon, his figure disappeared. The disfigured wretches around the temple somehow knew that the man was one of them now and didn't block his path. Xie Lian continued to call out until he couldn't see the man's shadow anymore.
The people below the altar began to mutter amongst themselves.
"It's over, he's gone!"
"That idiot! It'll spread regardless of where he runs! It's already too late—he's already infected!"
"He…couldn't have gone down the mountain to kill others, right?"
The words that the street performer had said before he left held the people in the temple at bay. Time passed, and no one went forward to pick up the sword. The situation had stalled.
Xie Lian couldn't tell if he felt joy, worry, or fear, but most importantly, he didn't know what to do next. As he was fighting to clear his mind, someone stood up.
"Can I say something?"
It was a middle-aged man. Xie Lian looked up and thought the man seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall where their paths had crossed.
While Xie Lian was still trying to remember, the man announced, "To tell you the truth, he tried to rob me!"
Xie Lian was shocked into silence. It was that man!
The crowd was stunned.
"Rob?"
"Isn't he a crown prince? Isn't he a god? He robbed someone?"
"It's the absolute truth," the man confirmed.
"So? What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing… I just wanted to let everyone know that he tried to steal!"
The man crouched again after he finished his statement.
The temple fell into a solemn silence again after the outburst. That single statement had planted a seed of darkness within their hearts.
Robbery… Another scream came from below the altar. "My leg, my leg! It… feels strange!"
Again?! And to their surprise, it wasn't just one person this time.
Another cried out, "Me too! My back! Someone please help check my back!"
No one dared to approach either of them, so they had to show their bodies from a distance. One rolled up their pant leg while the other took off his top. After getting a clear look at the state of their bodies, screams of terror erupted from the crowd.
The disease was so advanced that the lesions on their bodies had fully taken shape!
"How did it grow that fast?!"
"Did you guys forget? We've been stuck here for a long time!"
"But how did they not notice?!"
"It didn't grow in an obvious place and it's only a little itchy—how could I have known it had turned into this?!"
"It's over, it's over. We probably all have it growing on us already."
"Quick! Everyone do a checkup! Inspect your body!"
It was pure chaos inside the Temple of the Crown Prince. Screams rang out through the air as the inspection went on. And just as expected, quite a few of them already had lesions surfacing all over their bodies that they simply hadn't noticed. And now that they found them, they saw that the lesions had already formed all five facial features!
Like they had sensed the situation inside, the disfigured wretches outside the Temple of the Crown Prince danced even more wildly, hand in hand. A thick fog of dread had spread rapidly through the temple in all directions. Xie Lian's heart pounded nonstop like it was about to break through his chest.
From what he remembered, Human Face Disease took some time to spread.
Why was it manifesting so quickly tonight?
White No-Face. It had to be White No-Face!
Xie Lian whipped his head around to look at the cold-eyed spectator who had started all this. But before he could open his mouth, someone shot to their feet.
Panting heavily and eyes bloodshot, the person began to criticize Xie Lian. "You…you're a god, you're a crown prince, yet you dare to commit robbery?"
Xie Lian was dumbfounded, not understanding why the man had brought up that incident now of all times. "I—" The man cut him off sharply. "We worshipped you, and what do you do? Rob people! What did you bring? A plague!"
He brought the plague? Shock was written across Xie Lian's face.
"Me…? It wasn't me! I only—" The crowd's patience had finally reached its breaking point.
With red-rimmed eyes, nearly a hundred people surrounded Xie Lian.
The one that was closest grabbed the black sword from the ground. Xie Lian stopped breathing.
The man shakily grasped the black sword, mumbling, "You… You need to do penance for your sins, right? You need to atone, right?"
The dark blade coursed with chilling light. Xie Lian's fear soared to its peak.
There were so many people. If every single one of them stabbed him with that sword, what would be left of him by the end?
There was something that Xie Lian feared even more than the thought of being endlessly stabbed until nothing remained of him but an indistinguishable pile of flesh riddled with thousands of holes. He had a vague yet terrifying feeling that, should he allow them to do this, he might lose a part of himself that would never return.
Unwilling to consider this any further, Xie Lian couldn't help but cry out.
"Hel—" Before the phrase "Help me" could leave his throat, the same icy black blade was thrust into his body once again. Xie Lian's eyes widened in horror.
The razor-sharp sword was stabbed in, then pulled out. The next person followed without wasting a second, and the next stab was shoved into practically the same spot. The sound locked in Xie Lian's throat finally broke free, and a long, painful scream tore through his entire body.
The anguished scream was so piercing that the people around him were gutted by the sound. Some closed their eyes and turned their faces away.
"…Don't let him scream. Let's speed things up and get the job done fast!"
Xie Lian felt someone muffle his mouth and restrain his hands and feet.
"Hold him down and don't let him fall," someone instructed. "Also, don't stab off the mark; it doesn't count if it's not fatal!"
"Line up one by one, no cutting the line! I told you guys not to cut—I was here first!"
"Which areas are fatal? How do I know if it counts?"
"Just aim for the heart, throat, or stomach!"
"If you're not sure you stabbed a fatal area, do it again!"
"No way! Where is everyone else supposed to stab if you get more than one turn?"
The initial hesitation and reluctance had turned into nonchalance. The more time that passed, the more fluid their movements became. The sword moved endlessly in and out.
Xie Lian's eyes were open as wide as they could be throughout. Fat tears rolled down his face. Deep down, a voice silently, viscerally screamed.
Help me.
Help me, help me, help me.
Help me, help me, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help me!
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS!
Why can't I die?
WHY CAN'T I DIE?!
Xie Lian wanted to wail with the most devastating sound, but his throat couldn't gasp out a single word—it had probably already been sliced through. He wanted to thrash wildly from the pain. It was like suffering the sum agony of countless lifetimes, and he didn't know if he'd be able to feel any other pain again.
He couldn't see anything. The world was pitch-black save for the nearby ball of ghost fire, which burned furiously. The ghost fire was growing brighter and stronger, but it still couldn't escape the cage of White No-Face's hand.
Xie Lian's own heartbreaking screams couldn't be heard, but he could hear another heart-wrenching wail that seemed to come from the flame. Although it wasn't him, it felt like he was the one making that sound —its pain was the same as his own.
In the end, Xie Lian couldn't hang on to his sanity. His consciousness had completely shattered, and he was left to blankly gurgle from his throat.
Suddenly, an explosion shook the Temple of the Crown Prince, and a raging ocean of flames burst forth.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A chorus of screams rang out. The searing fire set everything ablaze;
none escaped. Ghost fire surged like blazing ocean waves. In an instant, the hundred living humans inside the Temple of the Crown Prince were reduced to a hundred sets of charcoal-black bones!
When the flame gradually subsided and coalesced once again, the tiny ball of ghost fire was no more—in its place, the figure of a young man was gradually taking shape.
The young man dropped to his knees in front of the scorched, black surface of the altar. Bent over deeply, he clutched his head in both hands.
He bellowed in immense, devastating pain.
He didn't dare look at what had become of the person lying on the altar, for what lay there didn't resemble a human anymore.
Bones and skulls were strewn all over the interior of the Temple of the Crown Prince. White No-Face cackled uncontrollably as he turned and left the temple. The raging fire hadn't stopped at the temple's doors; even the frenzied, disfigured victims outside had been reduced to dried corpses and piles of waste. As if blind to the devastation, White No-Face tread across the ashen, charcoal remains.
The entire forest—no, the entire mountain trembled in agony and grief!
Countless black shadows flew upward into the night sky, souls of the local dead scrambling in terror to escape their resting place, but a strong gust of wind scattered them in all directions. A gigantic mass of black clouds slowly rotated above the Temple of the Crown Prince, rumbling restlessly. It resembled a colossal demonic eye.
This was the birth of a great evil—the signs of a wrath ghost taking form!