Captain Lei wanted to pursue, but when he raised his head and saw that smear of strange redness in the sky, his expression suddenly changed. His emotions then fluctuated, and he coughed out fresh blood as his body turned increasingly greenish-black. Clearly, he was on the verge of collapse.
Xu Qing approached hastily and supported Captain Lei.
As Captain Lei was panting, Xu Qing sat him under a large tree and looked up into the distant jungle where the Bloodshadow Team Captain was speeding away. His eyes flashed with murderous intent.
"You're alone, don't pursue him. With the Bloodshadow Team destroyed, he cannot amount to anything. In addition, this redness in the sky… I think I have seen it before…"
Captain Lei grabbed onto Xu Qing as he looked up and stared unwaveringly at the blue dome of the sky.
"He's a lurking peril," Xu Qing said slowly.
He didn't like any type of hidden perils and within this jungle of the forbidden zone, Xu Qing felt confident. Like how he had dragged Fire Crow to death, he would drag this Bloodshadow Captain to his death as well. However, he instinctively looked up at the blue dome upon hearing Captain Lei's words.
A wave of faint and ethereal-sounding singing drifted from within this jungle.
All of the mutated beasts' roars in the forbidden zone's jungle disappeared at this instant.
In the silent jungle, the singing became clearer.
It sounded as though a woman was holding a hidden bitterness about her husband's departure. Following the reverberations, waves of faint red mist appeared from where the Bloodshadow Captain had sped toward.
It swept up everything in the surroundings and filled the air.
Xu Qing's body trembled suddenly. Captain Lei, who was sitting below the large tree, also shuddered in that instant. Both of them instantly looked toward the origin of the singing voice.
It was just that the former was incomparably vigilant, while the latter… seemed to be in a trance.
The singing continued to drift endlessly and when the voice entered Xu Qing's ears, it caused an indescribable coldness to fill his body. It felt as though he was under the icy blood rain in the ruined city from before.
Even though he was currently at the third level of Body Refinement, he still couldn't handle it. His teeth started chattering and he lost the mobility of his body.
Xu Qing's mind was in a rumble. He couldn't help but recall what Cross had said about the forbidden zone's taboos when they first entered.
At the place they were staring at, the Bloodshadow Captain stopped as well. His body was shivering uncontrollably.
It was as if there was something invisible approaching him at the moment, causing him to lose all strength to escape.
Xu Qing personally saw wisps of white mist flowing out of the shivering Bloodshadow Captain's seven apertures, blending into the blood fog that pervaded the air.
And in this process, the Bloodshadow Captain's body swiftly withered and decayed until it turned into a dried corpse and shattered into dust.
The fog covered the ground where it was and started spreading through the air toward Xu Qing and Captain Lei.
With the nearing of the fog, Xu Qing's body trembled. Finally, he saw the cause of the Bloodshadow Captain's death. It was… a pair of bright red woman's boots, and they looked very tattered.
"This is…" Xu Qing panted and his eyes were wide open. He saw the pair of boots appearing in front of the distant fog, moving on its own on the soil and walking toward them step by step.
There was nothing above the boots… Only the singing voice with hidden bitterness, coming closer and closer.
It was as though there was an invisible body of a woman wearing this pair of red boots, singing as she walked over.
The voice became increasingly clear. The blood-colored boots walking on the soil were heading toward Xu Qing.
This strange scene made Xu Qing's pupils constrict intensely. His body wanted to move, but it couldn't do so.
It was as if the cold had frozen his entire being, making even his teeth rattle. He could only watch helplessly as the pair of blood-colored boots stepped closer until it was half a zhang away from him…
The threat of death covered all of Xu Qing's emotions in that instant. He wanted to step back, but he was powerless. Only the large amount of blood veins appearing in his eyes divulged his violent struggle at that moment.
Just when the pair of blood-red boots was about to take another step nearer to him, at that very moment… A trembling voice drifted over from beside Xu Qing. It was Captain Lei.
"Red Peach… Is that you…" The voice was hoarse and trembling with a hint of uncertainty.
At that moment he spoke these words, the strange singing came to an abrupt stop.
At the side, the boot that was lifted in the air stopped for a moment before changing direction unexpectedly. It was like the woman who was standing there had turned her body at that moment and looked at Captain Lei.
Upon seeing this scene, Captain Lei's body trembled, and his breathing became unprecedentedly hurried. But at that moment, his exhausted body burst forth with leftover energy. There was an unprecedented glimmer in his eyes as he stared unwaveringly at the space above the pair of boots.
It was as if in his eyes, he could see someone incomparably important to him, a woman that was as important as his own life, standing there.
She was separated from him by a void, by the world, by yin and yang, as they looked at each other.
The strong Captain Lei had tears falling uncontrollably at that moment.
"You… Have you returned…" His trembling body lifted a hand, as though he wanted to grab something. That pair of red boots slowly lifted as well and walked up to Captain Lei. They then bent over slightly.
The invisible woman seemed to have squatted down gently in front of Captain Lei's body, letting his trembling hand touch her face.
However, Captain Lei's hand swept across the void and couldn't touch anything. As his efforts proved futile, his tears… fell even more.
Only his murmurings existed, basking in this desolate sadness.
After a long time, it was as though the sound of the woman's soft sigh came from nothingness. That pair of red boots then slowly straightened and gradually stepped back.
It only adjusted its direction after it had retreated by three zhangs. It bypassed Xu Qing and walked into the distance with the red fog following.
"You asked when I shall return, I have no idea.
Asking about a return date which seems uncertain.
The fog hid the cruelty of the situation and the fog of singing distanced itself."
The singing continued. With the hidden bitterness, the voice seemed to be filled with more agony and melancholy as it walked further away.
Not only so, but the blood-colored fog also bypassed them. It seemed as though it was roiling and floated toward the distance.
Only when the singing voice became weaker did the fog disappear completely. The voice then slowly dissipated as well.
Xu Qing's body finally regained its mobility. He panted heavily and his eyes were filled with horror. The first thing he did was to turn around and look at Captain Lei who sat there.
At that moment, Captain Lei was staring blankly into the distance. There was a dazed look in his eyes, and the tears still continued flowing silently.
Xu Qing was silent. Whatever he wanted to ask, he couldn't get it out at that moment.
After a long time, Captain Lei mumbled softly.
"Do you find it strange?"
Xu Qing nodded quietly.
"Before, Cross told you that I'm one of the few who have heard that singing voice." Captain Lei looked into the distance and spoke slowly in a low voice.
"Do you know that the singing voice in this forbidden zone is really strange? Most of the people who heard it had died and only very few could survive.
"But if the person was able to survive it, then they would receive a 'gift' from this forbidden zone. The next time the person hears this singing voice, it will let them… see the person they miss the most in their entire life.
"I originally thought this was just a legend, and it was because of this legend that I've waited silently at the campsite for decades until my hair turned white…
"And today, I finally saw it."
When Captain Lei spoke to this point, his entire being seemed to age by a lot. The wrinkles on his face stacked, and there was a sense of fragility emanating from his body.
"Do you also have someone separated by yin and yang*, and have someone you want to see… If you do, then don't learn from me, don't wait here…
"Even if you see them, it's still futile in the end…" Captain Lei muttered bitterly. He closed his eyes, and the tears streamed down the folds of his face ceaselessly, dripping on his lapels.
Xu Qing was silent. He lifted his head toward the place where the voice disappeared to. In the depths of his eyes, recollection of his memory gradually emerged.
There was someone he wanted to see too.
Someone he really, really missed.
[1] The yin and yang here refers to the separation between the yang realm (mortal world) and the yin realm (underworld)