Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

The entire old melody seemed to have been silenced.

The next instant, crimson light exploded within its body.

That wasn't an explosion, it was a collapse.

It was like a dirty temple, barely built up with resentment, corpses, and the lingering echoes of sacrifices, that had been pierced through the very center by a bullet.

All nine tentacles froze simultaneously, and the human faces at their ends opened their mouths, but couldn't utter a sound.

The vengeful shadows in the black water writhed violently, like a pot of mud being boiled over a raging fire, beginning to dim, collapse, and fall off in large chunks.

His palms were wide open, his eyes staring blankly, and for the first time, pain surfaced in the whites of his eyes.

"You guys... still like to steal..."

Its sound was broken, as if its throat was filled with water.

Lund was too exhausted to listen.

After that shot, he felt as if all his energy had been drained. The black steel spear was still embedded in that thing, but his hand was already starting to lose its grip.

The crimson light quickly dimmed, and the blood loss from the wound, the erosion from the black lines, and the exhaustion from the long-term mental struggle all retaliated at that moment.

His vision suddenly went black.

The steel beam beneath their feet broke completely at that moment.

"Teacher!" Xilun's expression changed drastically.

Lund swayed and then plunged straight into the black water.

In that instant, a thin, long black rope suddenly sprang out from the severed limb, like a final evil thought, heading straight for his back!

Without any hesitation, Xilun lunged forward.

A sudden surge of white light emanated from him.

He flung the gun away, his arm reaching forward to grab Lund's slumping shoulder and back.

At the same time, the black rope that was rushing towards them was already close enough that Xiren could only raise his other hand and forcefully press the prayer bud onto it—

laugh!

White smoke exploded, and the black rope convulsed wildly like a living thing, forced back half a foot by the heat.

This half-foot is enough.

Xilun grabbed Lund and, using the momentum of their fall, twisted his body sharply, slamming into the half-collapsed concrete slope beside him.

The two tumbled down the gravel and mud, with the completely collapsed old cavity and the surging black tide behind them. One steel beam after another crashed down from above, shaking the entire ditch.

Xilun slammed his back against a broken wall, felt a sweet taste in his throat, and almost vomited blood on the spot.

But his first reaction wasn't to himself; instead, he looked down at Lund in his arms.

The person is still alive.

He had simply fainted, his face was frighteningly pale, and his brows were tightly furrowed, as if even unconsciousness had not truly freed him from the nightmare in that black water.

Xilun's chest heaved violently twice, his heart pounding so hard it made his eardrums ring.

in time.

Fortunately, it was in time.

Before he could catch his breath, a lower, deeper tidal roar suddenly came from the collapsing darkness behind him.

It wasn't the sound of the severed limbs.

It was as if something in the deeper sea had been startled by the shot and turned over.

Xilun's eyes turned cold, and he dared not stop.

He picked Lund up in his arms and turned to leave.

Lund is very heavy.

It wasn't just his weight; he was a level three extraordinary individual who had practiced shooting for many years and whose muscles and bones were dense. After completely losing his support, his whole body felt as heavy as a piece of iron soaked in blood.

When Xilun first picked him up, both arms sank down.

But he didn't loosen his grip.

The person in his arms had very weak chest movements, but the wound was bleeding. The dark line on the left arm had deepened, winding along the skin like a thin, venomous snake, crawling towards the shoulder.

Even worse, Lund still carried the scent of the black water from the depths of that old cave, damp, cold, and filled with lingering resentment. If you got too close, it was as if countless mouths were whispering in your ear.

Xilun gritted his teeth, praying that the whiteness of the sacred bud would expand once more.

It wasn't sharp, nor dazzling, but just a faint layer, like the first ray of dawn before sunrise, quietly enveloping him and Lund.

It was because of this light that the thing that was chasing after them stopped.

In the collapsed ditch, the black water was still rising rapidly.

Those vengeful faces and water ghosts that had just been scattered, shaken back, and forced away by the holy bud were not truly all dead.

They crawled out of the cracks, peered down from the broken rails, and emerged inch by inch from the churned water, like a swarm of tireless leeches, once again eyeing the scent of living people.

But when the white light shines, they become afraid.

The fear was obvious.

Several of the closest ghosts had already pounced halfway, their faces almost touching the air beside Xiren's shoulder, but they seemed to have hit some invisible, scorching wall, screaming and shrinking back.

A severed arm emerged from the black water and grabbed his trouser leg. The fingertips quickly turned gray and then white, turning into a small clump of foul-smelling powder that was washed away by the water.

Xilun carried the person and ran swiftly through the swaying ditch.

With each step, the soles of my boots sank into the icy sewage, and then I had to pull them out.

Broken beams, rubble, and collapsed steel rails lay scattered all around, with hardly a flat road.

He had to rely on the echo chamber to find the most stable point of force while protecting Lund in his arms, and also be constantly on guard against the remaining resentful shadows that might suddenly erupt from the black water on both sides.

My spirit is rapidly depleting.

No matter how smoothly the Moon Memory Meditation Method operates, it cannot withstand the drain of the Holy Sprout Prayer.

Xilun felt as if someone was scraping his brain layer by layer with a knife, the more they scraped, the emptier it became, and the emptier it became, the more it hurt.

My vision started to blur at the edges, and occasionally I would even see double images for a moment. The darkness in the depths of the ditch and the rain dripping from above blended together, making it feel like I was about to be dragged into the water.

But he dared not stop.

I wouldn't dare even once.

The old, completely collapsed cavity behind it still emitted faint, intermittent vibrations.

The sound was very low, as low as the sea breathing underground. Xilun didn't know if there was anything deeper, nor did he want to know.

All he knew was that the longer Lund stayed there, the worse things would become.

A section of broken rails hangs precariously in the air ahead, with three or four meters of black water below.

Without stopping, Xilun stepped onto the gravel and leaped forward with great force.

The whistling wind rushed past my ears.

When he landed, one knee sank, and the corner of the concrete beneath his feet crumbled, nearly causing Lund to slide down with him.

Xilun used his right shoulder to forcefully turn his body back, but the shock caused a dull pain in his chest, and he almost couldn't suppress the blood in his throat.

Just then, there was a loud splash of water behind me!

Suddenly, a child's face, pale from being submerged in water, emerged from the black water behind it. The neck was pitifully thin, the eye sockets were empty, and only two black lines were running down.

It didn't pounce on Xilun, but reached out to Lund in his arms, its lips moving as if silently calling out something.

The next moment, another woman's hand landed on the child's shoulder.

The third one, the fourth one, the fifth one...

Like a family swallowed by the sea, slowly crawling out of the water.

Xilun's eyes turned cold. Unable to free his hands, he simply raised his foot and stomped down.

The chilling aura of darkness exploded from the soles of his feet!

Click!

The black water beneath their feet froze instantly, and white and blue ice layers grew wildly along the surface, freezing the figures that had just emerged into a half-crawling, half-reaching position.

Without even turning around, Xilun continued forward with Lund in his arms, his shoulder and elbow grazing the broken steel beam as he rammed into it—

boom!

The steel beam fell, crashing heavily onto the ice, crushing both the ice and the ghost into dust.

The exit of the trench is finally near.

The rain was getting louder and the wind was getting stronger above, indicating that they were almost back on the ground.

Xilun's chest eased slightly, but then a crooked figure suddenly flashed past the exit ahead.

"west...Xilun!"

Pete's voice was trembling and hoarse, as if someone had been choking him.

He clung tightly to the half-collapsed wall, still holding the short gun in his hand. His face was frighteningly pale, clearly indicating that he hadn't dared to go far before, but had been pinned outside by fear.

He was stunned when he saw Xilun carry Lund out, and then his eyes reddened.

"Still alive?" Pete's voice trembled. "He's still alive?"

"Get out of the way," Xilun said in a low voice.

Pete then seemed to wake up from a dream and quickly staggered two steps to the side.

Xilun carried Lund out of the ditch, and the torrential rain pounded all over them again.

The sky outside was still dark, but it was much better than the living darkness below.

The wind carried a salty, fishy smell as it swept in, revealing a broken bridge, wrecked tracks, overturned freight cars, and a half-submerged dock area.

Further away, the waves were still lapping at the shore, one after another, like something breathing in a huge chest.

Pete followed behind, panting as he ran, glancing back repeatedly, afraid that something else might emerge from the dark water.

But I really dare not go near those things.

The light of the white sacred bud was faint, as if it might go out at any moment, yet it steadily protected Xilun.

Whether it's a water ghost rising from the puddles or a ghostly figure floating under the broken bridge, as soon as you get close, your movements will involuntarily slow down, and then you will shrink back.

Several more resentful ones braved the white light and charged forward, but before they could even touch anyone, they were scorched and began to sizzle, retreating back into the darkness with miserable cries.

Xilun's heart pounded.

It's not fear, it's a belated sense of tension.

It wasn't until he actually carried the person out of the ditch that he finally had a sense of reality that "it was still in time."

But the sense of reality that had just begun to emerge was immediately suppressed by deeper questions—Lund's fighting style, his gaze, and his words, "If I were to die alongside my disciple, it would be my incompetence as his master," all weighed heavily on Xilun's heart.

The teacher just now clearly had the will to die.

If I hadn't arrived in time...

Xilun didn't want to think any further, and unconsciously tightened his arms around the person.

"This way! This way!"

Suddenly someone shouted from the rain in the distance.

It's Sarah.

She had a wet bandage wrapped around one shoulder, and her complexion was also bad. She was holding a lantern and standing next to a makeshift cart.

Behind her were two patrolmen and the two dockworkers whom Xilun had rescued from under the truck. All of them hid behind the broken wall, not daring to approach the depths of the black water, and could only watch from afar.

When Sarah saw Xilun carrying Lund out, her eyes lit up, and she quickly went to greet him.

"Put it in the car!" Her voice was hoarse but crisp. "You hurry too—"

"We can't stop."

Xilun interrupted her directly.

Sarah was taken aback.

Xilun didn't explain, he just turned to look at the ditch.

In the rain, the exit was pitch black, like a mouth that hadn't closed yet.

Although those things dared not approach under the white light, the surging sound that came from the deeper depths did not disappear; in fact, it was even clearer than before.

It wasn't a threat that would pounce immediately, but rather something enormous was turning over underwater, weighing down the entire Seven Piers area.

It's not far enough from here.

Far from enough.

Sarah wasn't stupid either. She glanced in the direction of his gaze, and her expression immediately changed.

"Retreat north!" She reacted swiftly, turning and shouting, "Don't stand there! Call everyone away from the road and retreat to the high ground near the sea station!"

Several patrolmen and dockworkers immediately responded in a flurry.

But orders are orders; when it comes to actually withdrawing, things are still chaotic.

The water was too deep, the ground was slippery, and broken planks and metal parts were everywhere.

Xilun carried Lund at the front, practically wading through the black water to get ahead.

Sarah followed beside him with a lantern, occasionally lighting his way, while Pete stumbled behind, cursing the sea and those restless bastards, his voice trembling as he cursed.

As we passed by that broken pier, a dozen or so shadows suddenly rose from the water.

They didn't show themselves, but slowly followed in the dark water, like a group of fish forced apart by the light.

Occasionally, lightning flashes by, illuminating their swollen faces, white-washed hands, and long hair dragging along the bottom of the water.

They chased after it, reaching out their hands, but always fell short of that layer of pale white light, and dared not truly pounce.

The rain was getting lighter and lighter.

It didn't stop completely; the torrential rain that had previously slammed down, making it impossible to open one's eyes, gradually transformed into denser and faster-moving diagonal threads.

The wind subsided, and the dark clouds were gradually torn apart, revealing a faint line of lighter gray on the far eastern horizon.

Xilun is still moving forward.

My spirit is almost dried up.

The whiteness grew thinner and thinner, and my fingertips began to tremble.

Every time the dizziness that I had just suppressed with the Moon Memory Meditation Technique would come back even more violently the next moment, as if a hand was repeatedly stirring inside my brain.

But he just wouldn't stop. Even though his steps felt as heavy as lead, he still held Lund and kept walking towards higher and farther goals.

Sarah glanced at him, her lips moved, but she ultimately didn't say, "Give me the person."

She could tell that Xilen wouldn't let go.

Fortunately, he didn't give up.

Because the further you go, the more turbulent those things become.

As if sensing that dawn was approaching and the darkness was receding, they became even more unwilling to give up.

A tall, muscular corpse wearing an old patrolman's raincoat suddenly leaped out of the ditch beside him. Half of his face was mangled, but his mouth was wide open.

Xilun didn't even bother to pick up his gun. He sidestepped and rammed it with his shoulder, sending it flying backward and crashing into the water. As it did, Baiyi swept over it, instantly turning its entire body into a cloud of black smoke.

Two more ghostly figures skimmed along the ground, but just as they approached Xilun's feet, they were twisted and deformed by the afterglow of the sacred bud, disappearing in the blink of an eye like thin paper thrown into a fire.

In the distance, the clouds over the sea finally parted a little.

The first ray of light shone down.

It wasn't dazzling; in fact, it appeared somewhat pale due to the lingering rain and dark clouds.

But when that beam of light fell on the puddles at the dock, on the ruins of the broken bridge, on Xilun's shoulder, and on the pale, almost bloodless face in his arms, the whole world seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

The sun came out.

The downpour gradually subsided.

The shadowy figures that had been following them were once again suppressed by this ray of light, and their movements became noticeably slower.

Several dark figures that had been following closely underwater began to quietly retreat into deeper waters, like wild beasts of the night finally smelling the daylight.

Xilun did not turn back.

He quickened his pace again, taking advantage of the little bit of daylight.

Beneath my feet lay puddles, broken wood, and cracked stone slabs; behind me, the night receded like the receding tide; and before me, the outline of the high ground gradually became clearer in the direction of the seaside station.

Lund in his arms was still unconscious, but his brows were a little more relaxed than before, as if the dark water that had been pressing down on his mind had finally been lifted.

The heart in Xilun's chest was still pounding, fast and heavy.

He didn't know why Lund had gone to such a suicidal state.

He had no idea what was buried deeper beneath the dock.

All he knew was that he had finally brought the person out.

This is enough.

Sarah, panting beside her, suddenly asked in a low voice, "Are you still holding on?"

Xilun's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice was a little hoarse, but very even.

"Let's get out of here first."

After saying this, he didn't stop walking and continued forward with Lund in his arms.

Sunlight gradually spread through the gaps in the clouds, making the raindrops shine.

The pale light of the sacred buds overlapped with the rising morning light, illuminating the boy's cold, pale profile, as well as the quiet figure in his arms.

Behind them, in the receding depths of the black water, beneath a collapsed section of the sea, it seemed as if a pale eye had closed very, very lightly.