If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

The inhuman roar finally stopped.

Deep within the underground palace, there was a deathly silence.

Zhou Yang's heart was pounding louder than a thunder drum. He could hear the swallowing sound as his Adam's apple bobbed. Each breath tore at his chest with excruciating pain.

He grabbed Qin Shuang and rushed towards the hole without looking back.

Outside, the night was as dark as ink.

There was no time to hesitate.

"Walk!"

Zhou Yang let out a low growl and forcefully pushed Qin Shuang upwards. She used the momentum to flip over and leap out of the cave. Zhou Yang followed closely behind. The moment his feet touched the ground, an extremely cold and gust of wind attacked him from behind.

He dared not turn around.

That was the Blackwater Dharma King.

They are evil spirits that crawled out of hell.

Zhou Yang's life force had been greatly depleted during the repair of the broken dragon spine. He was now at his limit. But he couldn't stop.

He lightly touched the ruins of the observatory with his toes, and like an arrow released from a bow, he hurtled down the mountain. His figure left a trail of afterimages in the night sky.

fast!

Faster!

Qin Shuang was not far behind him, also exerting all her strength. Her lightness skill was already quite good, but in front of a monster like the Blackwater Dharma King, she was still as slow as an ordinary person.

Zhou Yang instantly created distance.

He could no longer hear Qin Shuang's panting, nor her cries. In his world, only one thing remained.

escape.

Behind you, that chilling aura clung to you like a leech, relentlessly biting and refusing to let go. It was silent, yet more despairing than any roar. Like an invisible venomous snake, it coiled around your neck, ready to tighten at any moment.

Zhou Yang had never felt so close to death.

It was closer than when they faced Commander Chen's ambush last time.

His lungs felt like they were being scorched by fire. Every breath he took was tinged with the metallic taste of blood. His dantian was completely empty; he was forcing himself to take each step with sheer willpower.

The thing behind me is too powerful.

So strong that there's absolutely no chance of winning.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a blurry black shadow. The shadow had no specific shape, like a flowing mass of ink, drifting in the night. But its speed was astonishing.

The distance is getting shorter.

From 100 zhang to 50 zhang.

Then it goes up to thirty feet.

Zhou Yang's heart sank little by little.

If I keep running like this, I'll be caught up within three miles. Then I'll be like meat on a chopping board.

No.

We must find a way.

His brain was racing. Pain and exhaustion were sluggish, but he forced himself to calm down.

Don't go to places with few people.

That's the Dharma King's hunting ground. He'll play you to death like a cat hunting a mouse.

Go to places with lots of people.

Beijing!

A resolute glint flashed in Zhou Yang's eyes. He abruptly turned, no longer fleeing towards the wilderness outside the city, but instead heading towards the heart of the capital. Like a shooting star, with a long trail of flame, he streaked across the night sky, plummeting straight into the area where the lights were most densely packed.

Blackwater Dharma King paused for a moment.

It seemed they hadn't expected their prey to dare to venture into the crowd.

But he only paused for a moment. The dark figure accelerated again, carrying an even more ferocious aura, and gave chase. To him, the entire capital was his slaughterhouse. What did a few more people matter?

The wind whistled in my ears.

The rooftops beneath my feet are changing. From the glazed tiles of temples to the blue tiles of ordinary people. They are becoming increasingly dense.

Ahead lies Suzaku Avenue.

The most bustling street in Beijing, bar none.

During the day, the streets are bustling with traffic and noise. Although it is now late at night, the restaurants and brothels on both sides are still brightly lit. There are still pedestrians and vendors returning home late.

Zhou Yang suddenly grew taller, like a large bird, and swept across the long street.

His appearance immediately caused a small commotion among the crowd below.

"Look! What's that?"

"Someone is flying in the sky!"

"Is he a deity?"

Zhou Yang ignored the gasps of surprise. His entire attention was focused on what was behind him.

The dark figure arrived as well.

It hovered directly above Suzaku Avenue. The night sky seemed to have been pierced with a hole, and pitch-black air poured down continuously.

The lights along the entire street seemed to have dimmed a bit.

The Blackwater Dharma King has appeared.

He hovered there, his face obscured, only his cold, emotionless eyes conveying a sense of icy indistinctness. He looked down at the world below, like a god looking down at ants.

His gaze locked onto Zhou Yang, who had just landed on the street corner.

The escape is over.

Zhou Yang, panting heavily, leaned against a shop pillar, staring intently upwards. He knew he couldn't escape.

Then, I won't run anymore.

The Dharma King slowly raised one hand. That hand was withered and thin, yet shrouded in a layer of viscous, mercury-like black mist. He spoke no nonsense, nor did he employ any unnecessary moves.

It was just a simple palm strike.

Slap it downwards.

There was no earth-shattering noise.

At first, there was only a very faint "pop" sound, as if something had been punctured.

Immediately afterwards, the air emitted a sharp, piercing wail.

Centered on the palm of the Dharma King, concentric black ripples spread outwards like waves. Wherever the ripples passed, the archway of the restaurant instantly turned to ashes, and all the lanterns along the street went out with a "poof".

The ground along the entire Zhuque Avenue suddenly trembled.

The once-hard bluestone pavement, like tofu struck by an invisible hammer, cracked wildly in a spiderweb pattern starting directly below the palm of the hand. The next second, all the bluestone slabs, along with the soil beneath, were reduced to dust!

A huge pit with a diameter of more than ten zhang appeared out of thin air.

The surrounding crowd fell into a deathly silence. Then, they erupted in hysterical screams.

People scattered like bees whose swarm had been disturbed. Cries and curses mingled together.

"A monster! It's a demon!"

"Run!"

Chaos descended instantly.

This is what Zhou Yang wanted.

Just before the palm strike landed, he didn't choose to dodge backward. Instead, he stepped forward to meet the destructive force head-on.

He poured all the remaining strength in his body into his legs.

His bones groaned as the palm struck down. But he did not retreat.

He wants to leverage this power!

The aftershock of that incredibly powerful palm strike grazed his body. Zhou Yang was like a leaf in a storm, his body flying backward uncontrollably.

But he used this thrust to forcefully twist his body in mid-air.

The target is the most magnificent mansion, located diagonally opposite the deep pit.

Guozhang's Mansion!

That was the residence of the current emperor's father-in-law, who was also the current empress's father. It was heavily guarded and held immense power.

At this moment, Zhou Yang was like a gambler who had lost everything, betting all his last bit of capital on this table.

What he had to do was to stir the water up even more.

Let's make an even bigger hole in the sky!

His body, like a cannonball, crashed into the two massive vermilion gates of the Imperial Father-in-Law's residence.

"Bang--!"

A loud bang.

On the heavy vermilion gate, wood chips flew everywhere, revealing a clear human silhouette.

The two doors swung open with a loud bang.

The guards standing at the door were thrown back by the tremendous force before they could even react to what was happening. They coughed up blood and fell unconscious on the ground.

Zhou Yang stumbled into the room, rolling several times on the floor before stopping. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his vision began to blur.

But he smiled.

A smile that bordered on madness.

He struggled to lift his head and look towards the doorway.

In the darkness, the ominous black shadow slowly descended. He didn't step through the door, but simply stopped outside the threshold.

Those emotionless eyes bypassed the panicked servants and guards in the mansion and locked onto Zhou Yang once again.

He was like a patient hunter.

Seeing its prey, it fled into another cage that it thought it could also easily control.