Chapter 221: The War Ghost's Trap (End)

The black rat began to chirp, a strange cry like the sound of a hollow flute. The rustling sound began again, from behind, from above, from beneath the earth. The overwhelming number of them made the subtle sounds thunderous. Pinpricks of light shone in the darkness, the pure white eyes of the beasts opening simultaneously.

Darkness itself was an endless swarm of rats. A swarm of rats blocked the way for the two of them, and Chu Hengkong smiled at them.

"Get out of here!" Chu Hengkong yelled, at both the black rat and the tattered body. He dragged Du Lanbai with one hand and the murderous knife with the other, letting the blade sink into the moving ground and suck the blood from the giant's belly.

He knew he should be running, but the mere movement of Chongming's body was a miracle. He dragged Du Lanbai forward inch by inch, the herd still gathering, the darkness obscuring the light ahead.

"Now both of our funerals are a joke!" Du Lanbai shouted. "The hero who killed the evil god will be eaten to death by rats!"

"If you have the energy to talk nonsense, then find a solution for me."

"I don't even have legs, what else can I do? The only solution is for you to throw me away, grab my badge, and use your Huangtian Flow to kill me!" Du Lanbai struggled desperately, "Please don't let me die like a coward, okay? I don't want to be holding you back until the very last moment!"

Chu Hengkong said nothing, pulling the knight forward. Within a few words, the beasts swarmed over, climbing onto their feet and enveloping them with their armor.

The armor of Chongming and Du Lanbai was both formidable, treasures worth risking their lives for in Chu Hengkong's day. But before the Black Rat, a particle-level 6, any relic armor was as good as paper. The Black Rat gnawed through the plate in one gulp, its sharp teeth carrying metal fragments into the flesh, its barbed hooks gouging out teaspoon-sized chunks of flesh.

This was the first direct injury Chu Hengkong had suffered. The pain from his instep nearly killed him. Then, dozens of piercing pains erupted simultaneously, and the first batch of black rats opened their mouths and devoured the food.

Chu Hengkong roared, his will bursting forth with his rage, sending the greedy black rats flying and slicing them into pieces. Some of the black rats came into contact with the murderous knife and were directly severed by the sharp blade. But the dead rats vanished like an illusion, and a new swarm of rats followed closely behind, once again following the same path.

The rats' numbers are truly endless, like a black ocean of despair; you wave away a splash, and a new wave returns. They move slowly, even sluggishly, because they have no need to eat quickly. Once they encounter rat food, there's no retreat. No matter how hard they struggle, they'll eventually become scraps in the rats' stomachs.

This is the most terrifying thing about black rats. A single black rat is no different from an ordinary wild animal, but the number of rats in a group is "fixed" and never changes. This group of hungry rats has no concept of individuals. The rat group as a whole is a ghost of particle 6, immortal and indestructible, endless. Once encountered, there is no way to escape.

Black rats were constantly being knocked down by the impulsive force, and new ones climbed up one after another. The wild warrior could not take more than a few steps before being dragged into a living mire. The blood on the blade of the murderous knife darkened, like the red eyes of a desperate desperado in dire straits, as if the weapon itself was enraged by the situation. Chu Hengkong knew that he should be able to swing the knife now, because the murderous knife was eager to kill the rats.

But he didn't move. He turned to look at Duranbai. The knight being dragged to the ground was in an even more miserable state. He was the lowest person in this sea of ​​despair. His plate armor had been completely pierced, and only a pale face remained among the dark swarm of rats.

He suddenly flew up, and the rats attached to him were shattered by his manic spirit. Chu Hengkong concentrated all his energy on his left arm, and with one hand, he lifted Du Lanbai up and raised him high above his head!

The knight's screams were drowned out by the frantic pounding of his heart. His flammable and explosive heart threatened to explode, but was suppressed by his even more violent temper. Chu Hengkong held the knight in place, practically using his spine as support to prop up Du Lanbai. Under such circumstances, there was no way he could move.

"Hey, Duranbai!" he roared hoarsely, "We're going to die soon! Do you have any last wishes before you die?"

"What's the point of saying this other than making yourself regret more?" Du Lanbai was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Go ahead and tell me! There's no chance now if you don't tell me!"

Du Lanbai gasped several times: "I was planning to go back to my hometown and get married after this battle!"

Even though he was at the critical moment of life and death, Chu Hengkong couldn't help laughing out loud.

"What are you kidding! I spent the entire night doing ideological work before heading into battle! I was thinking that after returning victorious, I'd find my bad-tempered fiancée and tell her that I've earned the right to marry her because of my military achievements... But now I have no choice but to tell her to forget me and find a good man to marry!"

Black rats swarmed up, fell, and climbed up again, endlessly. Flesh was rapidly disappearing under the gnawing, and they were turning into two pale skeletons. Chu Hengkong leaned against the rocks and smiled, "Then are you willing to die here? Are you willing to watch your fiancée marry another man? She will sleep with a man you don't know, raise children for him, and long after, when she is old and gray, she will tell her children about the knight Du Lanbai who pursued her very hard. She originally planned to agree, but unfortunately, he died in the black rat swarm, and everyone laughed at his funeral."

"Qixing Chongming, shut the fuck up!" Dulan's eyes were bloodshot. "Are you a demon? You still want to torture me at this time?"

"Are you still willing to die now?" Chu Hengkong interrupted him, "You think you are not as good as Chongming. You are indeed not as good as Chongming. Because you gave up wanting to die a long time ago, and Chongming still planned to lead you out!"

Black rats swarmed Chu Hengkong's upper body, biting through his breastplate first, their sharp teeth cleaving through bones. In two seconds, they would reach his heart. Chu Hengkong ignored them, roaring fiercely, "You all have unfinished business! You have achievements to make, fame to be known, and the fools who look down on you to silence you. But you're about to fall before you've even finished anything. So he refused to accept this..."

So no matter how painful it is, he will try his best to live!"

He thought of the dead souls forcing smiles, of the icemen guarding the city, of Qingxia struggling to resist her true nature. Those painful, tortured lives, even knowing their pursuits were futile, persevered to the very end. He roared, "If you're unwilling to give up, then move!"

Du Lanbai saw a glittering golden badge fly past him and land on his head. That badge was his last shred of strength. He knew from the beginning that he was beyond saving, and Chongming's normal state was no different from when he was seriously injured. So he deliberately left this little bit of strength to Chongming, hoping to increase his friend's chances of survival.

He kept clamoring to die not because he was a coward without courage, but because he was worried about dragging down his friends who had a chance of survival. But his friends didn't think so. Chongming returned the badge to him, and they decided to get out alive together.

Dulanbai gripped his badge tightly, raised his right arm high among the black rats, and roared, "Pegasus!"

The badge lit up, transforming into a dazzling light. That light blew away an endless swarm of rats, transforming into a cyan hurricane that shook the darkness!

It was a winged Pegasus, majestic and handsome, like an angel's mount. Its body was a translucent blue-green, with a swirling mark slowly flowing within it, the "wind mark" that symbolized a knight's identity. The Pegasus lifted the two dying men, and the black rats that attempted to approach were all blown away by the hurricane. It stepped through the darkness, the herd, and the black rats' blockade, piercing the black rats' blockade, leading the knight and the remnant to a ray of light.

Chu Hengkong hugged Tianma's neck and laughed: "That's right, Knight!"

"I don't care!" Du Lanbai desperately tried to maintain Tianma. "Now we have no way to deal with the things outside. You'd better tell me you have another way!"

"It's solved with momentum."

"I really threw you down, you bastard!"

"I have a plan." Chu Hengkong smiled, "Trust me!"

Du Lanbai also began to laugh. Amidst the wild laughter, they advanced, the Pegasus galloping like a cyan arrow. The black rats pursued relentlessly, their speed not as fast as the Pegasus, but their numbers far outnumbered. All the black rats within the giant object received the signal, pouring out relentlessly, like a wave of despair, one after another.

The Pegasus was about to be devoured by the rats, but the rising tide was broken by the blade's flash. The fierce blade trembled amid the men's laughter, the ferocity that had seeped into the blade during the long battle aroused. It exerted its own power without the need for its master to wield it, for it wished to preserve Chongming's strength until the final moment, the moment that would decide victory or defeat. Countless rats shattered against the blade, and its color deepened, a piercing red piercing through the black.

The scars forced a clear path, and the light ahead drew nearer. The celestial horses neighed and galloped, and they flew out of the cave. The hungry rats followed, forming a wave that blocked out the sun. They stepped on the rats and rushed towards the light outside the cave.

In an instant, the world dimmed, and a turbid, sticky gravity surged toward their hearts. They felt both cold and warmth, conflicting emotions emerging the moment they leaped out of the cave, like a paradise at the bottom of the abyss. They saw the true form of the light outside the cave: an eye, an eye hanging in the sky like a full moon!

Outside the cave, there was no world, only blood and beasts. The filthy black blood was the night sky, where the bright moon hung. Endless black rats formed the moving earth, and countless giant arms clasped together formed the edge of the circular earth. Thousands of rotten limbs covered with eyeballs supported the continent of flesh and blood, causing it to float above the sea of ​​illusions.

They escaped from the giant's stomach, but were still in its clutches, because the giant had long since become one with the heaven and earth, and the entire battlefield was assimilated by its existence.

This is the Black Rat's host, a moving hell, the ultimate life form favored by the Dark Moon. It is the Son of the Waxing Moon, the sole surviving messenger of fear, the abyssal spider with a thousand eyes and ten thousand hands!

"Dark Moon Divine Art: Blood Piercing the Sky." it said.

A foul demonic voice shook the heavens and earth. The magic of the First Abyss, drawn by the Son, fell into the crescent-shaped eye. Black blood, carrying the power of the Dark Moon, formed a colorless "arrow." A long-prepared divine spell was unleashed, striking the dying warrior at the most fatal moment. Wherever the arrow struck, the gravity of the abyss triggered a collapse of space. The poisonous spell emanating from the First Abyss would tear apart all who were not blessed by the Dark Moon. Behind the Pegasus was a tsunami created by the surge of black rats. There was no way to retreat, no way to escape.

At the same moment, the ashes on the blade fell away. The blood it had drunk along the way fully revealed the blade's sharp edge. The ash on the blade disappeared, replaced by a vibrant crimson. Veins like veins stretched from the handle to the tip, like the gills of a breathing shark. Now was the moment to unsheathe the blade, the final word. Chu Hengkong slowly raised the blood-red blade.

He sheathed the murderous knife.

Gravity erupted, the Pegasus dropped, and the Dark Moon's arrow pierced the eyes of the Remnant Heart. Chu Hengkong simply closed his eyes, unconcerned with the coming life or death. The surging spirit slowed his perception of time to its limit. In this still moment, he recalled the knife he had once witnessed.

He needed to strike his sword. His only chance of survival now was to strike. This wasn't some trick like using the reverse blade, but a true, one-hit, deadly slash. He couldn't use his muscles. They would snap before he struck. He couldn't use his bones. The recoil of the strike would shatter him. He had only one chance. Only a split second. When he was within striking distance of his foe, he pulled his sword with the tiniest of strength.

There is death, but no life. There is death, but no life!

Yes, he had seen such a slash before. On his first day in the wilderness, he had tried to imitate it but had completely failed to grasp its essence. And now that the time had come to draw his sword, what else could he use?

What else does he have available?

Chu Hengkong opened his eyes abruptly. He breathed hard, a roar like a dragon's. A surge of magical energy surged through his body, and his fragile heart contracted, a devastating explosion imminent.

He still has a heart. He still has this dangerous heart. He must use the strength of his heart to push forward, use the power of his heartbeat to draw the sword!

The memories dormant in his flesh were awakened at this moment. The incredible power in his heart was transmitted through his bones and injected into the murderous knife with perfect efficiency. When the sound of the knife and the sound of his heartbeat overlapped, Chu Hengkong drew the murderous knife!

At that moment, the world was silent, and a line of blood emerged in the darkness.

A terrible fire erupted from the blood!

With the blood-red slash mark at its center, the divine arrow cleaved, and the entire world collapsed. Will, heart, and blade—everything was channeled into that perfect slash, not a single drop leaking out, erupting with resolute force within the enemy. A blanket of scorching heat surged from the slash mark, instantly annihilating the swarm of black rats. The unleashed force from that single blow reduced the massive form of the Holy Child of the Full Moon to ash, and flames erupted from its corpse, illuminating the sky in blood!

The shadow appears in the sky and the fire in the heart is drying up.

There's no other sword technique like this in the world, one that scorches one's own heart before slaying the enemy. It's the maddened blade of extinction, destroying both the enemy and oneself. Only a madman willing to die could wield such a blade. That desperate madness will one day pierce the shadows and illuminate the sky.

Then the dark world collapsed, and blood rained down from the sky. Chu Hengkong's drained heart swayed in his chest. He thought he was going to die again, but he felt a sense of relief.

He no longer felt the excruciating pain. His bones were strong, his limbs powerful, and his heart beat steadily in his chest. Chu Hengkong realized he was finally himself again. The murderous knife lay still, the blood on the blade receding after the blow, like a narrowed eye.

Only those who can perform Huangtianliu are qualified to draw their swords... right?

"You are even worse than an outsider."

He sheathed his sword, turned around, and stared at Du Lanbai in the white world. The knight's limbs returned in the blink of an eye. Du Lanbai was stunned for a moment, as if he understood something. He shouted to Chu Hengkong, "Young man! You have to live too!"

"I will." Chu Hengkong turned around, "I will survive and win!"

He grabbed the murderous knife and ran towards the other side of the light, towards the battlefield waiting for him!

(End of this chapter)