"What... What's going on here?" One of the enforcers was dumbfounded. "Can the 'Divine Favor' be withdrawn?"
If the simultaneous descent of the three divine paths was within their comprehension, the current situation completely surpassed their understanding...
They had lived for so many years and had never heard of anyone who received the 'Divine Favor' and then lost their divine path.
"Just as expected," the shadowy man outside the courtyard nodded slightly.
"It's a pity that after struggling so hard to obtain the 'Divine Favor' in such a desperate situation, he can only watch helplessly as they retreat," Chu Muyun felt pity for Chen Yifei, knowing how much he aspired for the divine path after staying at his home for so long.
"Pity?" The shadowy man looked at him strangely.
"There are thousands upon thousands of people in the world who possess the divine path, but he is the only one who has fused with a 'World-Ending' calamity and still retains his sanity... He is already a unique existence in this world. What's there to pity?"
Chu Muyun shook his head and didn't speak.
Inside the courtyard.
Chen Yifei stood stunned, looking at the three divine paths rapidly retreating...
He had been forsaken by the divine path.
It was possibly the only hope in this world that could have allowed him to escape the control of the "Audience".
He didn't know what had happened, but he felt a sense of dread emanating from the divine path. He turned around and looked behind him, vaguely seeing those pairs of eyes gradually disappearing into nothingness.
"...It's you again," Chen Yifei said with a bitter smile.
"Yeah, I should have known... Once I embarked on the divine path, it meant there was a possibility of escaping your control. How could you have just let it be?"
"You would rather have me stay on the stage forever, becoming a puppet on strings for your entertainment..."
Chen Yifei's smile gradually turned sinister, and deep despair emerged in those blood-outlined eyes... Even the divine path had retreated under the intimidation of the "Audience". As an ordinary person, he couldn't think of any way to escape them.
Rather than being a puppet on strings for a lifetime, Chen Yifei would choose death.
The divine favor retreated like a receding tide;
Chen Yifei, dressed in red, was hoisted alone atop the skeleton, laughing despairingly and wildly.
"Come on, Qian!" Chen Yifei laughed wildly, "You want to kill me, right? Do it!! Aim for my head! Remember, to kill me completely, you need two shots!!"
Qian Fan was momentarily confused but finally regained his composure. He looked at Chen Yifei, who seemed insane, and a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
"I don't know what's going on... But since you've lost the 'Divine Favor', just wait for your death!"
He raised his gun again, aimed at Chen Yifei's head, and pulled the trigger!
Bang——!!
This time, no miracle occurred.
The bullet pierced through Chen Yifei's skull, instantly taking his life, along with half of his head exploding, splattering red and white onto the ground.
The courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
Qian Fan and the others looked at Chen Yifei, who was left with only half a head, and their anxious hearts finally eased...
It wasn't that they were cowardly; it was just that everything about Chen Yifei was too eerie, eerie enough to make them doubt whether he was human and whether he could die.
But now, regardless of what he was, he was dead.
"This kid... is too eerie," Qian Fan put away his gun, spat on the ground, and turned to walk into the house.
Just as he turned around, he saw the other two enforcers standing under the eaves, their eyes wide open in horror...
"What are you doing?"
"Fan, Fan Ge..." one of the law enforcers raised his hand trembling, "He...he...he..."
Qian Fan's brows furrowed as he turned back to look in the direction the law enforcer was pointing, and his pupils suddenly contracted!
What he saw was the crimson corpse mounted on the skeleton mysteriously straightening its body, the dangling half of its head slowly lifting, with its broken skull and flesh beginning to writhe frantically!
The remaining half of the eyelid suddenly lifted, revealing a bloodshot eyeball staring fixedly at Qian Fan!
"You Qian!"
"Didn't I tell you to shoot twice?!!"
"One shot won't kill me!! Can't kill me!!!!"
The ruptured vocal cords frantically rubbed together, producing a grating sound that made even the seasoned Qian Fan and the other two feel terrified, nearly collapsing on the spot with their legs giving way!
"Monster... Monster!!" one of the law enforcers screamed in horror, "He's not human! He's a monster!!"
"Shoot!! Shoot quickly!" Chen Yifei roared in frenzy, "Aim at my other half of the head! Come on!!!"
This eerie scene made Qian Fan's hand tremble...
"I know... It's you!" Qian Fan seemed to have realized something, "You're the calamity that descended that night!!"
Upon hearing this, the other two law enforcers also woke up from their stupor, their faces turning even more pale.
They were really scared.
They knew that the two calamities that crawled out of the Gray Realm were one of third-order and one of fifth-order, both of which were beyond their capability to handle...
Qian Fan gritted his teeth, pulled out his gun from his waist again, and shakily aimed it at the red-clad monster imprisoned in the skeleton.
At this point, he had no choice but to shoot.
However, just as he was about to pull the trigger, the handgun seemed to be grasped by something, and the barrel was violently twisted into a lump!
Qian Fan felt a tremendous force hitting his chest, and he was sent flying like a kite with its string cut, crashing through the door of the house and landing heavily on the ground.
The other two law enforcers stared wide-eyed at the emptiness ahead, but they couldn't see any attacker!
There was nothing there.
But in Chen Yifei's eyes, it was not the case.
A familiar red-clad young man stood in the swirling snow, slowly turning around to look at him... his eyes filled with tears.
"Brother..." he said, "Brother, you can't just die like this, you can't just give in to fate!"
Chen Yifei's head was slowly repairing, and that crimson eyeball was staring blankly at Chen Muxu, with the madness finally subsiding somewhat.
He spoke in a hoarse voice,
"Not give in to fate? What else can I do... continue to be their entertainment? What's the meaning of that?"
"But if you die now, you'll lose everything."
"Even if I don't die, I have nothing." Chen Yifei muttered, "Even if I survive, they will constantly interfere with my life. If they can create one you, they can create a second, a third... One day, I'll be driven mad by them."
"Brother! As long as you're alive, there's always hope... isn't there?"
"... Hope?"
Chen Yifei looked at Chen Muxu's bloodshot eyes, silent for a long time, and suddenly smiled.
"I understand." Chen Yifei turned back to look behind him, his eyes filled with blood vessels as if staring at something,
"You're scared!!"
"You know that if I die again, I'll be completely dead!!"
"You're scared that if I die, there will be no one left to perform for you, so you're creating his illusion to trick me into living, right?!"
"Brother..."
"Giving me a vague hope, watching me desperately pursue it, and then letting the so-called hope vanish when I'm about to reach it... That's what you want!"
"Brother!"
"You want to manipulate my life, play with my mind, you're delusional!!!"
"Brother!!!"
A roar interrupted Chen Yifei's fierce roar.
He turned back to see Chen Muxu standing there with tears streaming down his face, looking at him with pleading eyes.
"Brother... It's really me, trust me... Everything I said is true."
"I..." Chen Yifei was stunned for a long time, with struggle and pain etched on his face, "Muxu, I know, it's just that..."
Chen Muxu took a deep breath, wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes, and his eyes revealed an unprecedented determination.
"Brother, you do have hope..."
He reached into his bosom and took out a cloth bag. As the mouth of the bag was untied, vermilion-like glass beads fell out one by one.
"The path they have cut off..."
"I will continue it for you."