The moment he saw this emblem, an inexplicable sense of calling surged into Lin Qiye's heart.
It was a strange feeling, as if everything was destined. When the emblem lying in the snow reflected his charred and festering face, countless images flashed through his mind like a movie.
In the rainy night, Zhao Kongcheng drew his sword and slew the ghosts; outside the fog, Zhou Ping swung his sword and slew the gods; at Shenlong Pass, Lu Qiu risked his life to deliver a message; beside the border, the gods of Daxia sacrificed their lives to become monuments...
At this moment, Lin Qiye also saw the light radiating from them.
It is on that emblem.
It has always been on my body. The distance between it and myself is so close, yet seems so far away.
Lin Qiye, whose body was charred, stretched out his hands tremblingly, and dug the light out of the snow as if holding a treasure, holding it in his palms.
What fell into the snow was not only an emblem, but also what Lin Qiye lacked in his heart, the belief and mission that belonged only to the Night Watchman.
That was what he had lost in the past few years, and it was also the root cause of his confusion and self-doubt.
The moment he grasped the emblem, all the confusion and doubts in his heart seemed to have answers.
Lin Qiye smiled.
He smiled happily, and even though this caused a hideous bloody crack to appear at the corner of his carbonized and charred mouth, his eyes were still brighter than ever.
"I have exhausted all the ancient Chinese poems and foreign poems... This time, I want to try something else."
He stood up slowly, and in the snowstorm, he looked up at the towering national monument. He clenched his right hand holding the emblem into a fist and raised it to his temple.
The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.
He stood there straight, his lips slightly parted, his voice mixed with some mysterious rhythm, and he replied in the snowstorm:
“I, Lin Qiye, swear an oath before all the people of Daxia.
——If the dark night finally comes...”
…
The howling wind and snow echoed between the mountain peaks.
Countless recruits stared blankly at the battlefield with the national monument in the distance, motionless like sculptures.
They witnessed with their own eyes the figure in the crimson cloak, who stood before the gods in a mortal body, was defeated and seriously injured time and time again, but got up stubbornly and firmly, and stood guard under the divine monument again.
The first time he was killed by the God of Sky, the hearts of the recruits seemed to stop suddenly, and endless despair and sorrow surged in their hearts.
He was thrown into a deep pit by the God of Life for the second time, and the new recruits were completely disheartened.
When they saw Lin Qiye's body burning in flames and carbonized as he climbed out from the bottom of the pit, they could no longer control their emotions and roared with all their might. They pounded the ground with their fists, and their red eyes were filled with tears.
"Instructor Lin!!"
"Instructor Lin!!!"
"Coach Lin!!! Kill these damned Outer Gods!!"
“…”
This was the first time they witnessed such a brutal battle.
It was also the first time that they felt so clearly what a Night Watchman was...
Beside the recruits, Shen Qingzhu stared at the charred figure. Under the crimson cloak, his body trembled slightly. His ten fingers dug deeply into his palms, his nails piercing the flesh, and strands of blood dripped from his joints onto the snow.
He wanted to rush over countless times and fight alongside Lin Qiye and the other two, but his reason controlled him again and again and made him stay where he was.
He does not have the abnormal potential of Lin Qiye, nor does he have the monster as terrifying as the one in Cao Yuan's body. He, Shen Qingzhu, is just an ordinary person. Even if he rushes to the front of the divine monument and uses the ghost and god guidance to forcibly improve his realm, he will not pose any threat in front of the gods.
Lin Qiye kept them here in the hope that they could protect these new recruits if something happened to him.
These new recruits...are the future of Daxia.
Shen Qingzhu's chest heaved violently. He looked at the battlefield in the distance and felt for the first time that he was so weak, so weak that he was not even qualified to fight with his brothers and risk his life.
Anger, self-blame, unwillingness, these emotions surged into his heart like crazy.
He...can't do anything.
Just when Shen Qingzhu was sinking into deep self-blame, he saw that under the National Divine Monument, the charred figure slowly raised his fist and placed it next to his temple.
A voice echoed between heaven and earth.
“I, Lin Qiye, swear an oath before all the people of Daxia.
——If the dark night finally comes...”
The moment they heard this voice, all the recruits present were stunned, only Shen Qingzhu seemed to have thought of something and reacted quickly.
He recalled the conversation that Lin Qiye had had with him not long ago, and guessed what Lin Qiye was going to do next.
Damn it… Damn it!!
A glimmer of light flashed through Shen Qingzhu's mind. He turned his head sharply and yelled at all the new recruits beside him:
"What are you waiting for?! Instructor Lin's last lesson hasn't ended yet!
Everyone!! Follow Instructor Lin and take the oath!!!"
Shen Qingzhu's roar awakened the new recruits present from their confusion. They quickly stood up straight, clenched their right fists and placed them next to their temples. They stared at the charred but still upright figure in front of the divine monument:
"I, Fang Mo, swear an oath in front of all the people of Da Xia!"
"I, Lu Baoyou, swear an oath in front of all the people of Daxia!"
"I, Li Zhenzhen, swear an oath in front of all the people of Daxia!"
"I'm Su Zhe, in..."
“…”
In the end, everyone's voices converged into one sentence:
"——If the dark night finally comes!!"
…
In the distance, the oaths of hundreds of new recruits rumbled like thunder, echoing in the wind and snow.
Isis stood under the monument, looked in the direction where the sound came from, frowned slightly, then turned to look at the charred figure that had crawled out of the deep pit and was slowly walking towards him.
As the sound spread, it seemed that some extremely powerful force was constantly emerging from his body.
That is the [Poet of the Sky].
"It's really haunting..."
Isis snorted coldly, put on a green jacket, and walked towards Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye's expression was extremely calm. He opened his mouth and spoke again:
"——I will stand before millions of people!!"
“——I will stand in front of tens of millions of people!!!” On the distant mountain, hundreds of recruits roared in unison.
“——Draw your sword towards the abyss!!”
“——Strike the abyss with your sword!!!”
Seeing Isis's figure getting closer and closer, Lin Qiye took a deep breath, flipped the emblem tightly clenched in his palm, and a short silver needle popped out automatically.
An unprecedented light burst out from Lin Qiye's eyes!
He thrust the short needle into his flesh like lightning, and roared with all his strength:
"——Bloodstained Sky!!"
"——Bloodstained Sky!!!"