The whole weird world is waiting for me to go to heaven

Chapter 1104 Two Flowers Bloom
In the new gathering place.

Thanks to Nalan's treatment, the condition of many wounded soldiers finally stabilized.

I thought I could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but unexpected new situations kept arising—

More and more people are experiencing unusual symptoms.

It started as a dull headache, which then developed into a tearing pain, and was even accompanied by tinnitus, auditory hallucinations, and double vision.

What's even more unsettling is that it's often accompanied by drowsiness and lethargy.

Moreover, once asleep, one dreams of some indescribable existence, but upon waking, one remembers nothing, only a cold sweat and a trembling fear.

Huang Xiuwen could only repeatedly instruct everyone to calm their minds and use meditation to combat distracting thoughts.

But unease gradually spread through this temporary shelter.

Everyone is afraid of unknowingly falling into the abyss.

The problem is that the more fearful you are, the more easily you can be corrupted.

So, when Huang Xiuwen raised her hand and knocked out the fifth person who was collapsing, crying, and delirious, and locked her in the deepest room of the cave, with layers of restrictions falling outside...

There are twelve people remaining outside.

They all felt a deep sense of sympathy and silently looked at each other.

I know this can't go on any longer.

At a signal from his eyes, Tu Yusheng stepped forward, leaned close to Huang Xiuwen, and whispered:

"Captain Huang..."

"what happened?"

Huang Xiuwen rubbed her temples.

She was pale, with heavy bags under her eyes, and looked exhausted from a long struggle with hallucinations and nightmares.

“We’re thinking…” He glanced back at the group standing not far away, and slowly began to speak, “…to go out and find some herbs to calm our minds.”

Huang Xiuwen frowned slightly but did not speak immediately.

With renewed confidence, Tu Yusheng raised his hand and gestured to a woman in her early twenties from the Tang Dynasty.

"This Miss Shao Yan remembered that there was a large amount of Mind-Concentrating Grass in a cave she had visited, but the restriction was too strong at the time, and she couldn't break it, so she simply gave up..."

“I know, she talked to me about it.” Huang Xiuwen raised her hand to stop him from saying anything more. “So you’re planning to go together?”

"Yes. Let's pick some volunteers who are currently in good condition to go with us; it's not too far anyway..."

result--

"enough."

Huang Xiuwen interrupted Tu Yusheng again, her voice colder than ever before.

"I thought you, Yusheng, were smart enough to understand my good intentions. But what happened? You instead led the charge in inciting people to disobey my orders."

"No, Captain Huang, that's not what I meant..."

"Whether that's what you mean or not is irrelevant. You're taking men with you, and the core strength is all going out to their deaths. What about the rest? Have you thought about that?"

Huang Xiuwen's words became much scathing.

Tu Yusheng didn't know how to respond.

His mind was in a mess, filled with inexplicable murmurs, so he couldn't think straight and could only hear Huang Xiuwen's words continuously entering his ears:

“You weren’t there when the last settlement was breached, so you naturally don’t know what happened.”

"I risked my life to protect these people and bring them here."

"It seems peaceful now, but if we are attacked again, we will have less than twenty people left, most of whom will be wounded, and how many of them will be conscious?"

She stared at Tu Yusheng, speaking each word clearly:
"Are you planning to go out and die before you transform into a monster, and drag everyone down with you?"

"Or should I—preserve my life, wait for a chance to survive, and then seek revenge?"

Tu Yusheng clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Huang Xiuwen was clearly very satisfied with this silence.

"Alright, go back and tell everyone to calm down and not to overthink things."

"My dad will be here to save us soon."

"The best course of action now is to protect the remaining people."

After saying that, Huang Xiuwen turned and left.

Tu Yusheng was left standing there, his hands clenching tighter and tighter.

The headache felt like a blunt instrument churning inside my brain, and the unease in my heart only intensified.

That fermenting feeling almost made him want to raise his fist, knock down that slender figure, and tear off Huang Xiuwen's calm yet hypocritical mask...

"What's wrong, Yusheng?"

Tu Yusheng suddenly woke up.

Hastily concealing the darkness within.

Turning around, I saw that everyone had gathered around, their eyes filled with hope.

"What did Captain Huang say?"

He could only shake his head.

He repeated Huang Xiuwen's words, skipping over the sarcastic sentences.

I lowered my gaze, not daring to look into those disappointed eyes.

"Ugh……"

"It's not surprising, really. So many people have offered suggestions and advice, only to have them turned away."

"I thought it was because of nationality, but I didn't expect that even... Tu Yusheng's words were useless."

"Captain Huang... she just wanted to protect everyone." A Xuanzhou trial participant said in a low voice.

Another person nodded in agreement: "What she said makes sense. More and more people are getting out of control, and nobody knows who will be next. Taking action rashly under these circumstances is tantamount to suicide."

"Not to mention the remaining people... will they be in danger..."

Everyone remained silent.

These are undeniable concerns.

Therefore, it cannot be said that Huang Xiuwen was wrong; it's just that she chose a conservative strategy.

However, a tall, robust, red-haired woman from the northern desert spoke coldly:
"I would rather die in battle than be trapped in this turtle shell, watching my compatriots outside disappear and go mad one by one while I do nothing."

Another trial participant from Lingqiu nodded in agreement: "Well said. I don't care. It's better to go crazy outside than to harm others and myself here."

Shao Yan's expression was also firm: "Okay, let's set off now."

"You guys are insane!" Tu Yusheng exclaimed urgently. "Acting on your own? We're a team! Dividing ourselves at this time is the worst thing we can do—"

I hesitated for a moment after speaking only halfway through.

I had just heard something similar, and it was a reprimand directed at me.

At this moment——

"Who exactly wants to split us? Is it us, or you?"

A cold voice came from the shadows.

Everyone was startled and turned around to see Batel standing not far away, expressionless, with eyes like knives.

Tu Yusheng subconsciously lowered his head.

It was another Xuanzhou trial participant who spoke first:
"What do you mean?"

"Hehe, as expected of someone with a guilty conscience, he jumped out even though I didn't name names."

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, finally realizing that Batel was referring to the people of Xuanzhou.

"What right do you have to slander us?" a Xuanzhou man shouted angrily.

"That's right! Captain Huang has sacrificed so much for everyone, are you all blind?"

"You have indeed made a lot of sacrifices, but for what?" Batel asked coldly. "Is it for the safety of the trial participants, or to win people's hearts and minds, and to achieve your grand ambition of dominating Xuanzhou?"

The group of Xuanzhou trial participants paused for a moment.

A moment later, they all rushed to refute.

"Don't make false accusations!"

"Isn't it incredibly ungrateful to say something like this at this time?"

"That's right! Tell me, what exactly has Xuanzhou done to wrong you!"

Shao Yan slowly spoke up: "That's right, Captain Huang has always been very responsible—organizing everyone to find survivors, establishing a base, and personally setting up the restrictions; she even used herself as the core of the formation—"

“That’s right!” a Xuanzhou person eagerly chimed in, “Once the formation is broken, she’ll be the first to suffer! Not to mention, how much spiritual energy does it take to maintain the entire formation? Otherwise, with Captain Huang’s resilience and cultivation, how could she be suffering from the strange energy like us right now?” “Yes, we don’t deny any of that,” a Lingqiu person gritted their teeth, “but—”

"Why were all those arrested last time people from the other three kingdoms?"

This sentence silenced everyone.

Because this is an ironclad fact.

In fact, my suspicions about Xuanzhou didn't just begin today.

Before this, Xuanzhou's cohesion was indeed very strong, and Captain Huang was truly capable. Whether it was combat skills, overall command, or the formation of restrictions, he was impeccable.

But now, things are changing.

Captain Huang was already exhausted from trying to stabilize the restrictions while dealing with the subtle influence of the void on her, so she was powerless to balance and stabilize people's hearts.

The longer her promise drags on, the more hollow it seems, giving the impression of inaction, and it's only natural that people's hearts are restless.

They were never one country to begin with.

Huang Xiuwen's prestige is not yet strong enough to influence the other Three Kingdoms Trial Participants.

But for the people of Xuanzhou, it is still quite secure.

"That only proves that you Three Kingdoms Trial Participants are not skilled enough and lack ability!"

Finally, a Xuanzhou native let out a cold snort, his tone contemptuous.

"Bullshit!" Batel shouted angrily. "Why don't you say it was your Captain Huang's command that went wrong?"

"How is it a command problem?" Shiliulang also arrived. "Look at the gatekeepers, we from Xuanzhou are here too, and we're also charging ahead. Captain Huang has always treated everyone equally and has never shown favoritism to anyone!"

"So it can only be said that it's a problem with your abilities."

"Then why are all the people most affected by the void from our three kingdoms?" one of them said. "None of those people quarantined in that room are from your Xuanzhou!"

"Ha, that just proves that you lack willpower."

"Instead of listening to Captain Huang and calming down, they caused trouble here."

"Given this, the quality of cultivators in the other three kingdoms is beyond question. What problem is there in our Xuanzhou dominating the world?"

"That's right. In the past, we were just far away from the mainland, so we never had any exchanges or sparring. We never knew that the cultivators of the three kingdoms on the mainland were so weak. It's really laughable!"

“We are stronger, more determined, and more cohesive, unlike you who lack any sense of the big picture and are now fighting amongst yourselves—the four-nation united government should be led by Xuanzhou.”

"You... are all just extras in this trial."

The Xuanzhou people's sarcastic remarks, one after another, finally ignited everyone's anger.

Sparks almost flew up in the air.

"Then why don't you tell me—where does this sense of cohesion come from?" Shao Yan asked coldly.

Before she could finish speaking, she reached out and grabbed Sixteen Lang's wrist in a flash.

Shiliu Lang was terrified and dodged, but was still grabbed by the sleeve by another person and yanked hard.

His sleeve was torn, revealing a boat-shaped tattoo on his wrist.

Xuanzhou and the others moved swiftly, protecting Shiliulang behind them.

The other three trial participants frowned, their gazes gradually turning cold as they looked at the tattoo.

"What is this?" someone asked.

"It's just a tattoo," Shiro hurriedly explained, clutching his wrist.

"Then why don't we see if other people from Xuanzhou have the same 'tattoo'?"

Shao Yan's gaze was like a sharp blade, staring intently at each and every Xuanzhou person.

For a moment, everyone in Xuanzhou fell silent.

The atmosphere in the cave suddenly froze.

The air, which was about to ignite, seemed to freeze.

Tu Yusheng stood between the two sides, feeling a buzzing in his head. His gaze slowly turned to Batel and Nalan, his lips pressed tightly together.

Batel looked back at him without fear.

Just as tensions were about to escalate to the point of no return, a cold female voice came from behind:
"That's enough. There are only a dozen or so of us. Are we going to start fighting amongst ourselves?"

Huang Xiuwen came out, her eyes filled with frost.

"Whether there's internal strife or not depends on who's inside and who's outside," Shao Yan retorted without backing down.

Huang Xiuwen frowned.

Looking around at the crowd—half of them were from Xuanzhou, feeling helpless and embarrassed; while the others all looked suspicious and wary.

"Captain Huang, since that's the case, wouldn't it be better to let these ungrateful bastards leave the gathering place?"

"Exactly! If we're so unhappy here, let's just go our separate ways!"

Shao Yan and the others, however, showed no fear.

He looked directly at Huang Xiuwen.

They clearly believed she wouldn't easily be expelled.

If Xuanzhou truly intends to dominate, what it needs most now is to maintain popular support, not to escalate conflicts.

The reason for letting these people utter such outrageous remarks is merely to serve as a warning.

As expected, Huang Xiuwen did not respond, but slowly said:
"Stop saying things like that. What we should be doing right now is to work together, not to split each other apart."

"Have you considered the true origins of those attackers?"

Everyone was startled.

It's unclear why Huang Xiuwen suddenly brought this up.

“I didn’t emphasize it before because I was worried about undermining morale—but the completely different clothing, customs, powerful weapons, and unique ability system…”

"Don't you realize it? These people come from another civilization, another planet."

Huang Xiuwen spoke each word clearly.

Everyone was shocked.

Many people's eyes were also flashing, clearly indicating that they had already made up their minds.

Huang Xiuwen continued: "At this moment, we represent our planet and our civilization. How insignificant are the disputes between countries at this time?"

"Yes, we are indeed insignificant," Shao Yan admitted. "But the premise of cooperation is mutual trust. However, with so many things right in front of us, it's obvious whether Xuan Zhou has ulterior motives. How can we feel at ease?"

"That's right, we don't want to become cannon fodder!"

Facing the intense gazes of the crowd, Huang Xiuwen smiled calmly.

"That makes sense."

Slowly rolling up her sleeves, she revealed her wrist, which bore the same boat-shaped tattoo, with large, blooming peach blossoms, their crimson color alluring.

"This is a communication mark among cultivators in our Xuanzhou."

The crowd was in an uproar when Huang Xiuwen admitted it.

The situation in Xuanzhou was also unexpected.

Even more unexpectedly—

Huang Xiuwen gently brushed her wrist, and a peach blossom seemed to come alive, appearing like a blood-red plum blossom materializing from a tattoo.

The ink plum blossoms scattered, gradually transforming into a line of blood-red characters in the air:
"Wait for me, I'll be there in three hours."

The handwriting is vigorous and unrestrained; anyone from Xuanzhou can recognize it at a glance.
"This is Master Huang's handwriting!"

“That’s right, this is my father’s letter. It’s a special way of communicating because we are connected by blood. It’s not that I’m trying to hide it from you.”

Huang Xiuwen retracted the words, lowered her sleeve to cover her wrist, but her face was even paler than before, clearly indicating that such a display was not without cost.

"When was this sent?" Shao Yan asked, staring intently at her.

"An hour ago."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire cave erupted in chaos.

"Two hours...that means we'll be picked up in four more hours?"

At this moment, the previous doubts and hostility were suddenly swept away by hope and excitement.

No wonder Huang Xiuwen kept saying her father was coming soon.

Overjoyed, no one cared about Huang Xiuwen's concealment or Xuanzhou's selfishness; they just wanted to get through this period.

But no one noticed that the boat-shaped tattoo on Huang Xiuwen's wrist suddenly trembled violently, faintly emitting a deep red glow.

It's not the red of a peach blossom.

It's as if blood is gushing out from it.

(End of this chapter)