Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was extremely sharp.

It felt like a silver needle piercing the temple.

Several musketeers, already dizzy from the singing, groaned on the spot, their noses bleeding profusely, and even Kusso staggered.

The two children in white simultaneously looked up, and the tune in their throats suddenly changed, becoming thin and bright, as if countless shards of glass were rubbing against each other in the air.

Deep within the flower field, even more roots sprouted out.

This time, it's not just about dragging people along.

They started to twist guns, coil their legs, and even wrap their arms around people's necks!

"Governor! Right Rear!"

Rena suddenly yelled.

As Xiren turned around, a dark figure leaped out from the flower groin behind him, his face covered in mud and his eyes filled with extreme resentment. It was Moen!

The flesh that Xilun had torn off his back was still bleeding, half of his clothes were stuck to the wound, and his face was contorted like a mad dog driven to desperation.

With a short gun almost pressed against Xilun's ribs in one hand, and a blackened short knife in the other, he thrust it straight into his heart.

"Go to hell!"

boom!

Gunfire erupted at extremely close range.

But Xiren simply shifted his shoulder, and the bullet grazed his trench coat without even breaking his skin.

Immediately afterwards, he raised his left arm and forcefully parried Moen's wrist, which was holding the knife, and the sound of bones cracking rang out almost simultaneously.

Crack!

Moen screamed in pain as the dagger slipped from his hand.

"You've already run away once, and you still haven't learned your lesson."

Xilun's eyes were cold, and he thrust his spear forward with a swift motion.

*Pfft*

The spear tip pierced through his chest.

The immense inertia propelled Moen backward, slamming him firmly against an iron stake with a loud thud.

Blood flowed down the gun barrel, dripping onto the white flowers, and the petals seemed to frantically rush towards the blood layer by layer.

Moen stared wide-eyed, his throat making gurgling noises, as he fixed his gaze on Ino.

In those eyes, there was resentment, hatred, and disbelief.

It's like asking—

Didn't you say you would protect me?

Ino merely glanced at him, her eyes showing neither pity nor anger.

It was eerily calm.

"I told you, don't bring people from outside the fields in."

"You won't listen."

Moen coughed up mouthfuls of blood and foam, his fingers twitching as he tried to lift them, but ultimately could only let them fall limply.

died.

Adel stood at a distance and saw this scene. He felt as if all his energy had been drained away. He held his daughter tightly, tears and snot streaming down his face, but he couldn't even make a sound.

Ferru stared blankly at the nailed-to-the-death Moen, his chest heaving violently.

He hates this person, fears this person, and has followed this person down the path to this day.

Now that death is truly before his eyes, he feels a sense of unreality and emptiness.

But the battle situation doesn't give anyone time to be stunned.

When Moen died, the gunmen hiding in the flower ditch were obviously thrown into disarray for a moment, but Ino simply raised her hand slightly, and her singing became even shriller.

"Stop them."

His voice turned cold for the first time.

"The mother channel must not be lost."

"Are you crazy?" Ferru exclaimed, looking up abruptly. "You really want to drive that thing?!"

Ino turned to look at him.

There was even a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"Mr. Ferrou, have you ever seen a child freeze to death by a gray wall in winter?"

"I've seen it."

"Have you ever seen a girl whose lungs were half rotten but she still sang, just to exchange for half a piece of black bread? I have."

"You people always wait until a knife is to your own throat before you'll admit that order is more valuable than mercy."

Now you've destroyed the fields, the accounts, and the roots I've nurtured over the past six months—so I have to leave behind what I can."

As he spoke, he reached out and tore open the front of his gray robe.

The clothes inside are not normal.

Instead, it was a white cloth wrapped around her chest in circles, and beneath the cloth, her skin and flesh bulged, as if hiding some living creature.

Reina's expression shifted slightly: "The Governor!"

Ino laughed.

For the first time, there was a hint of weariness and a touch of madness in that smile.

"I was hoping to reach an agreement with you, Siron."

"You and I are actually the same kind of people—we both know what it takes to survive."

"Unfortunately, you were too greedy. You wanted the land, you wanted your life, and you wanted to get rid of all the filth."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch."

The moment he finished speaking, he plunged a thin silver knife into his chest!

Fresh blood spurted out.

It doesn't flow downwards.

Instead, as if drawn by something, it flowed rapidly into the depths of the field along the dark red ditch that had long been etched into the mud beneath his feet.

The two children in white suddenly began to sing in a shrill, piercing voice.

The ringing of bells was deafening all around.

The entire flower field, as if satiated by this blood, suddenly bowed down for a moment—

Immediately afterwards, a very deep and muffled "thud" came from underground.

It looked like something had turned over in the soil.

Xilun's gaze finally turned completely cold.

"Kuso, lead your men and retreat from the outer circle!"

"Rena, chop the bell stake!"

"The rest of you, stay at least ten paces away from the ditch. If anyone falls in, don't try to rescue them directly; use the rope!"

The moment the command was given, he had already taken a step forward, his golden spear sweeping across the battlefield with a chilling aura.

boom! boom! boom!

The three iron stakes shattered one after another, sending bells, wood chips, and blood and mud flying everywhere. The two children in white were finally jolted back a step, their singing faltering.

Taking advantage of the situation, Rena lunged into the flower bushes on the right, her short blade flashing repeatedly, like a thin, cold light in the darkness.

Just as the two gray-robed men were about to pounce, she slit their throats and severed their wrists with a single stroke, her movements so fast that they were nothing but afterimages.

Ferru gritted his teeth, drew his knife, and charged forward as well.

It's not for anyone else.

It was for himself.

That night, I stood by the flower field but didn't dare to actually draw the knife.

"Get out of here!"

He slashed at a clump of roots that was pulling at a person's leg, the blade flashing as it cut into the wet, white roots, splattering out a foul-smelling white sap.

The lump seemed to recoil in pain, letting out a very faint scream.

Just as he regained his footing, the entire area of ​​land in the direction of Mother Gully suddenly bulged violently.

Like a colossal creature, it slowly raised its back from beneath the mud.

White flowers bloom in patches, spreading out.

The dilapidated pumping well collapsed with a deafening roar!

With a silver knife stuck in his chest, Ino knelt in the sea of ​​flowers, his mouth covered in blood, yet he was still smiling.

"It's too late."

"It's awake."

The next moment—

A pale, main root, thicker than an adult's thigh, suddenly shot into the sky from the ruins of the well!

boom--

The pumping well was completely blown up.

Gravel, rotten wood, black mud, and patches of white flowers were lifted into the air by a tremendous force, like a reversed snowfall.

The pale, towering main root was covered with countless unopened flower buds, each one swollen like a baby's fist. As the main root twitched, they all split open, revealing the glistening, scarlet flesh inside.

The high-pitched, overlapping, and chaotic singing filled the entire field in an instant.

It's no longer children singing.

Voices—men, women, the elderly, wounded soldiers, crying children—were all crammed into one throat, simultaneously bursting out.

Adel's daughter immediately covered her ears, screamed, and squatted down.

Two of the weaker musketeers immediately knelt down, their faces covered in cold sweat, their eyes glazing over.

"Everyone retreat to the outer circle!"

Kusuo roared at the top of his lungs, kicked one of the people away from the flower ditch, and was himself hit in the side by a spurt. He groaned and staggered back three steps, blood immediately appearing at the corner of his mouth.

That's not an ordinary flower root.

It was alive, mad, and brimming with a sticky hunger.

"Feru, take Adel and his family out!"

Rena slashed a root that was winding towards the crowd and shouted sharply.

Just as Feru was about to agree, he saw Xilun swat the golden spear in the backhand.

The butt of the gun slammed into the ground.

boom!

Frost burst forth beneath their feet, and a cold current quickly spread along the field ridges, briefly separating the crowd from the sea of ​​flowers.

"Rena, come in with me."

"The rest of you, guard the outer circle and do not approach the main channel."

"Anyone who gets dragged into this song, I'll break their legs myself."

The tone was not harsh.

But that chill was even more biting than the cold air in the fields.

Several veterans, whose minds were already shaken by the eerie sounds, somehow regained some of their senses and hurriedly pulled those around them back.

Kusso gritted his teeth: "Governor, I also—"

"You're more useful outside."

Xilun didn't turn around.

"If something rushes out, shoot if you can't stop it, but don't shoot at me."

Kusso felt a tightness in his chest and could only nod heavily.

"clear!"

Xilun stopped talking nonsense.

Step into the mother ditch.

The muddy water reached the soles of my boots, and was icy cold.

Startled, the surrounding white flowers turned toward him, their fleshy veins pulsating slightly, like mouths pursing their teeth in hunger.

The further in you go, the more chaotic the singing becomes, the stronger the pungent smell, and even the wind seems to stick to you.

Rena followed closely behind him, the short blade in her sleeve already replaced with a long sword, and she kept her breathing very steady.

"This thing is even more sinister than what's written in the ledger."

"Account books are meant to be read by people."

Xilun said calmly.

"No one will honestly remember what's truly buried in the ground."

Ahead, there is the collapsed wellhead.

Below the wellhead is not a well, but an underground stone chamber that has been hollowed out over a long period of time.

The broken well walls reveal old brick and stone arches and fragmented black dove wing reliefs—like an ancient prayer cellar that Moen and the choir converted into the mother plant's nest.

And that so-called "flower" was not a flower at all.

It resembles a deformed tree burl pieced together from the taproot, fleshy sacs, corolla, and skeleton, half embedded in the cellar and half arching above the ground.

Countless white roots hang down from it, taking root deep in the soil in all directions, connecting the entire flower field into its body.

The largest fleshy sac in the very center throbbed slightly, and a distorted human face floated on its surface.

It's none other than someone else.

It was Ino.

His upper body had been almost completely swallowed by the roots, with only his face and half of his neck exposed. His glasses were shattered, and his mouth and jaw were covered in blood. His gray robe was torn, and thin roots were still crawling under his skin.

But he's still alive.

They were still talking.

"Governor..."

His lips moved, but the sound seemed to come from all directions at once.

"Now, you heard it, didn't you...?"

A hint of coldness flashed across Rena's eyes for the first time.

It's not fear.

It's disgusting.

"You fed yourself to it."

"It's not feeding."

Ino managed a weak smile, a smile that no longer resembled a human's.

"It's a loan... a loan to preserve some seeds."

As he spoke, his eyes momentarily glazed over, as if he were looking elsewhere.

"People are freezing to death in the northern parish, coughing to death in the southern factories, and children in the gray alleys sing until their throats are hoarse, but they still can't get a draft-proof quilt... Someone has to come up with a solution."

"The choir was at fault, but at least they provided food."

"And you, Siron?"

"If you kill me, if you kill it, what will those children eat tomorrow?"

Xilun stood in the mud, his eyes calm to the point of being indifferent.

"What they eat is a matter for the living to worry about."

"It's not about burying the dead in the ground and then having a monster sing for them."

Ino fell silent.

A few breaths later, he chuckled softly.

Laughter mingled with the chorus, sounding both jarring and melancholic.

"I knew you wouldn't understand."

"You're not ignorant, you just haven't reached that point of defeat yet."

"When you also have to exchange lives for your path someday... maybe you'll remember me."

The words fell.

The enormous fleshy sac suddenly swelled up!

The roots around them seemed to have been whipped, bursting up all at once and rushing towards Xilun and Reina.

"Take half a step back!"

Xilun let out a low shout and suddenly swung his golden spear upwards.

boom!

The gun barrel struck the first wave of the tide, producing a dull thud like metal clashing.

Dozens of white roots exploded instantly, sap splattering everywhere, but the roots behind them kept piling up, like a net that was constantly being stitched together.

Rena slid in from Xilun's right side, slashing three times with her longsword from bottom to top, specifically targeting the thinnest point where the roots intertwined.

With a flash of light, the three clumps of lateral roots that had rushed towards them were cleaved open one by one, and several white seed kernels containing bone fragments fell out, still gently pulsating after landing.

She stomped on it, her face growing even colder.

"It's using corpses to feed its seed."

Xilun had already seen it.

More than just bones.

At the edge of the cellar lay a dozen or so mutilated corpses, their flesh collapsed and their throats covered in lacerations, as if each one had had its voice forcibly "drawn out" by this mother plant.

No wonder they're called a choir.

What they want is not simply flesh and blood.

It was her throat, her cries, her last breath before death.

Don't be fooled by its flowery appearance.

Xilun gave a reminder, then stomped his foot and used the momentum to propel himself up, the tip of his spear pointing directly at the central fleshy sac.

The mother plant seemed to have sensed a real threat.

The next instant, all the white flowers around that had opened trembled at the same time and screamed in unison!

With a sudden jolt, Xilun felt a tingling sensation in his ear bones, and the blood and qi in his chest seemed to be gently stirred by some invisible vibration.

Even more bizarrely, the scene before my eyes blurred for a moment—

It's not a flower field.

It's not a cellar either.

Instead, it was a dim wall lamp, a narrow old street, and the silhouette of a woman in an old dress.

It was just a fleeting moment.

A chill suddenly rose in Xilun's eyes.

The Moon Memory Meditation Technique suddenly activated deep within my mind, and a pale, round moon rose from the darkness, instantly crushing the illusory image.

"Trying to touch me with your illusionary voice?"

His voice was low and deep.

"You've got the wrong person."

The next moment, he pushed the Great Thunder Breathing Technique to its limit.

It felt as if countless muffled thunderclaps were exploding simultaneously in my chest, abdomen, spine, and throat.

Xilun suddenly opened his mouth and let out a deep, resounding roar!

It wasn't a shout.

It's Lei Yin.

A visible shockwave, carrying a sense of tremor, swept forward, causing white flowers, side roots, and broken bricks at the edge of the cellar to explode in its path.

Even the central fleshy sac was shaken and shrank violently, and Ino's face on the surface instantly twisted.

Taking advantage of this moment of hesitation, Rena crouched down and lunged forward, plunging her long knife deep into the joint on the right side where the main root and the fleshy sac connected. With a burst of strength from her arms, she twisted it violently!

puff!

White semen mixed with black blood sprayed all over her.

The mother plant let out a mournful cry that was unlike anything a plant could make.

Xilun has arrived.

The golden spear crashed down from above!

boom! ! !