The gaze bypassed reality and dreams. Even the black mist couldn’t stop it.
Gao Ming didn’t know how to describe it. It was just a gaze, but being stared by it was equivalent to being enveloped by endless tragedy. He felt miniscule under its gaze.
After Gao Ming obtained the God of Flesh and Blood, he kept improving in strength. He thought he could safely survive the tragedy, but under that gaze, he was like a fallen leave caught in a storm. He could barely control his own fate, much less thrive.
“Han Hai is a dream. They might be the weavers of this dream.”
In Gao Ming’s memory, even Yan Xizhi, who was already a dream ghost, was not this powerful. The gaze inside the bloodred city seemed to represent something unmentionable. Indescribable pain erupted all over his body. Since Gao Ming looked right at the gaze, his eyes started to bleed, and his left eye started to rot. He wanted to reach out to touch his eyes, but his arms were wilting too. Different wounds appeared on his body. Every wound represented a unique way he had died in his past incarnations.
The God of Flesh and Blood and the faceless figurine screamed at the same time. The presence of death around the figurine collapsed. The God of Flesh and Blood crawled back into Gao Ming’s body. He mobilised his full power to help cure Gao Ming. The flesh bloomed like a red flower and then rapidly wilted. It was not until the faceless figurine was fully dragged into the torture room and was completely separated from the real world that the illusory city shrouded in fog slowly faded away.
The gaze in the city possessed no emotion. It stared at Gao Ming coolly before disappearing. Gao Ming, who had been ‘reborn’, lay down on the bed of mirror shards. He gasped for air, and his heart pounded. The heart of the divine dimmed slightly.
“I almost perished even though I’ve been stared at for less than five seconds! I can’t even match one of its gazes!
“Han Hai is a cage, and the twelve gazes appear to be the owners of the cage!” Ignoring the sharp shards, Gao Ming stayed on the ground as he combed through the information in his head. “The shadow world is dominated by the black mist and death. There are thirteen bloodred cities, and twelve of them have existing owners. Only the thirteen city, Han Hai, is an ownerless land.
“However, Han Hai is different from the other cities because it hasn’t been polluted by the redness. This city appears to have died with the shadow world.”
Gao Ming thought about some possibilities: like the original shadow world being killed by the owners of the bloodred cities and Han Hai being on the shadow world’s side. This would explain why part of the shadow world’s residual will would appear at Han Hai.
“Can a world be killed?”
Gao Ming felt that Han Hai was a very special place. The other twelve city owners would not surrender it easily.
As he was deep in thought, someone tapped his shoulders. Gao Ming looked up and saw Fan Li crawling towards him. Fan Li grabbed Gao Ming by his shoulders and planned to drag him out of the activity room. Fan Li was shocked to see Gao Ming move his neck. “Brother, you’re amazing! You can still move despite being so injured?!”
Gao Ming had wounds all over his body, and his eyes were bleeding. He looked awful, but with the aid of the God of Flesh and Blood, these all became ‘minor injuries’.
“How many explosives did you carry into this anomaly? Do they even work on the horror story?” Fan Li carried Gao Ming. Try as he might, he couldn’t explain why there was an ‘explosion’ in the activity room.
“Why did you come back?”
“I can’t just leave you here! Didn’t you say your family own a kindergarten? How did you get your hands on the explosives?” Fan Li carried Gao Ming to the first floor. He knocked on the supermarket door with a set rhythm. Ра
Soon, Brother Lee opened the door, “Come in!”
Fan Li carried the ‘heavily injured’ Gao Ming to the last row of shelves. The other teammates were all there. They were staring at the live-feed surveillance video.
“You actually brought him back?!” Bai Shu looked bitter, “Sister Zhang has lost her mind. Wu You and Gao Ming are heavily injured. The three of them can’t move, and the ghosts are coming this way…”
“What is your point?” Ou Yang Susu covered Sister Zhang’s mouth. Sister Zhang made some muffled noises. If Ou Yang Susu didn’t hold her back, she would have charged into the group of monsters.
Bai Shu opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. Youyou spoke up for him, “We don’t have the ability to bring them with us. That is the simple truth. Instead of dying together, we should hide the three of them here while the rest of us search for the mud figurine. After we destroy it, we’ll come back to get them.”
“Sister Zhang has provided us with so much useful information. How can you suggest we surrender her to the ghosts?” Ou Yang Susu hugged Sister Zhang.
“You’ll die because of your overwhelming empathy.” Bai Shu shook his head. “This anomaly has just started but the terror shown is already way beyond the ones we’ve experienced. The faceless ghosts are coming. The singing woman is still around here somewhere. We do not have the ability to show kindness and sympathy anymore!”
“If it’s possible, I will not abandon them, but we are cornered!” Youyou stood beside Bai Shu. They had already come to a decision.
“You are still too kind. A bad person wouldn’t have said so much. They would have found an excuse to escape. However, it is also possible that you are not capable enough to do that. Therefore, you’ve been trying to persuade us to abandon the weak to serve as a distraction so that you can escape safely.” Brother Lee was a doctor. He had seen many incidents at the hospital, “Why don’t we meet in the middle? The ghosts are approaching. Leaving them here is no different from killing them. I’ll go distract the ghosts, and you can move them somewhere safe. After that, you can search for the mud figurine.”
Brother Lee might look weaker than his wife, but he was the first to volunteer when there were troubles.
“I’ll go,” Fan Li put Gao Ming down.
“No. You’re the strongest among us. You must protect the rest!” Brother Lee pulled Fan Li down. “I’m the best candidate.”
Gao Ming closed his eyes and leaned against Fan Li. He sank into his torture room. The God of Flesh and Blood had propped the main consciousness of the faceless figurine on the surgical table. They were ready to dissect it to consume the faith it had garnered.