CH 238

Fu Tianyi shuttled back and forth amidst a sea of colors.

Meng Huai and Zhong Chengfeng confronted Shen Mo on the front line, disrupting the cocoon of the enemy. Fu Tianyi had a clear division of labor; he was responsible for leading a large group of survivors who were being carried by the Lonelies.

One after another, the spherical cocoons cracked open, and the people inside were lifted by the Lonelies and carried on their heads, led by Fu Tianyi, to the rescue site. In the imagined Fu family mansion, the rescued individuals were neatly arranged in the courtyard by the Lonelies.

Fu Tianyi ran tirelessly, but the transportation capacity of the Lonely Cats was limited, and he didn’t know how many trips he had to make.

White net, rescue point. White net, rescue point… Fu Tianyi had never used his abilities so intensively before. He was exhausted all over, and every joint of his bones ached. But he couldn’t stop—behind him, the Lonely Cats dragged one humanoid cocoon after another, waving tablecloths as they sprinted. The Lonelies squeaked and screamed; their cognitive pollution shot toward the enemy troops like corrupted rainwater.

At the same time, Dog Thing kept barking in his ear. It trembled and gave him hints about which direction the enemy was most uneasy, guiding him to the right place for a breakthrough.

The army of Elementals surged wave after wave. Despite the repetitive back and forth, the decision-making of routes, casting of abilities, and physical exertion, he still had to keep thinking.

Fu Tianyi wished he could split his brain into four parts. At first, he still had the mental energy to observe the frontline situation. Later on, even his vision became blurred, and he almost collapsed.

But he couldn’t.

He must not break down, he must not make mistakes. Otherwise, the Lonelies would be attacked and the missing people would be swallowed by the Elementals—he was carrying the lives of many on his shoulders. This was even the “easiest” part on the battlefield—he could move among the swarm of Elementals because Meng Huai and Zhong Chengfeng were engaged in battle with the Charon, diverting their main forces.

Too naive.

Fu Tianyi clenched his teeth, tightly grasped the flesh and blood of the Elementals as he cast his abilities frantically.

…He was truly too naive.

Fu Xingchuan and he were the true geniuses of the Fu family among two generations. Twenty-nine years ago, during the Divine Descent, that person was also a young man in his prime. Fu Tianyi had thought that Fu Xingchuan was just born in a good era. It was easy to achieve military merits during chaotic times. As long as there was an opportunity, he wasn’t inferior to his predecessor.

‘Fuck all those opportunities,’ Fu Tianyi shouted in his heart.

At this moment, what family, what pride, what reputation… In Fu Tianyi’s almost collapsing mind, there was only one thing left: He must not stop; even if it was painful, he must not stop.

He would rather this kind of war never happen than have some damn opportunity to stand out.

A giant Elemental pounced towards him. Fu Tianyi skillfully closed his eyes, sealing his perception. Then, a barrage of spells followed, stabilizing the surrounding aura. He opened his eyes—his perception was lost, and his left shoulder was nearly severed.

As the spells were released, the intense pain gradually returned. Fu Tianyi looked at the wound with a stern face and applied a few spells to it. “Keep moving forward!”

Suddenly, the entire space shook.

The Lonelies were startled and immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, while Dog Thing’s barking reached its maximum volume. In the midst of the bizarrely shaped Elementals surrounding them, Fu Tianyi finally turned his head to look.

In the center of the white net, a huge white hemisphere was wildly deforming and struggling, as if something inside was desperately fighting. The entire white net shook violently, and the threads broke, causing the Elementals on it to fall down like rain.

“What’s going on?” Fu Tianyi endured the discomfort and devoted part of his attention to contacting Meiqiu.

[The central structure collapsed. Love is either being born or escaping.] Dr. Cat’s voice exploded in Fu Tianyi’s mind. [Judging by the intensity of the burst of energy, I guess it’s the latter.]

“Understood. How about Meng Huai’s side?”

Dr. Cat: [Follow the plan. Jiao Lian is now in charge of command. Do your job; you can’t interfere anyway.]

Fu Tianyi’s heart became calm. “…Alright.”

He turned his head again, but at this distance, he couldn’t see the frontline situation clearly. However, what he could see was that the giant half-circle rapidly deflated like a leaking balloon.

Whatever was inside had disappeared.

……

There was another person who was also on the edge of the battlefield.

“Listen, stay where you are.” Lu Xiaohe’s voice turned into text, which continuously appeared on Ge Tingting’s phone. “Xiang Jiang and Xiang Hai are severely injured. Love’s condition is weak, Huang Jin is unconscious, and the situation is still unclear.”

“And the ground?” Ge Tingting typed with her head lowered.

“The ground team cannot face Love’s body directly. They are strengthening the perimeter defense under Li Nian’s arrangement. There is no united force outside that you can join. Right now, your own safety is the top priority.”

Ge Tingting slowly clenched her fist. “Huang Jin clearly brought Qi Xin. How could…”

Lu Xiaohe truthfully replied, “Q Xin sustained severe injuries just now. She won’t risk her life for us and most likely abandoned her avatar immediately.”

Ge Tingting’s fingers stopped on the keyboard.

She had nothing to ask, nothing to do. The “#1 Ghost General” Fu Xingchuan understood a corpse servant’s methods, and it was almost like a battle between gods. If she rashly joined the battlefield, she would only drag her side down.

Even if the fate of her colleagues was unknown.

Ge Tingting wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She decided to calm her emotions and… huh?

Amidst the frantic turbulence, the scenery around her became distorted and blurry. The dark sewer was filled with garbage, so quiet that it made her uncomfortable. Lu Xiaohe’s communication in her ears was intermittent and hoarse, with a signal so weak that it could disappear at any moment. A large amount of static noise flooded the system, and the messages displayed on her phone were incomplete and fragmented.

Yellow Millet rapidly shrank and slid into Ge Tingting’s pocket, with the pocket button being thoughtfully fastened.

“Xiao Ge, no ■■■■ what, don’t ■■■■ struggling…”

“Xiao ■■, ■■ matter ■■■■, ■■ give up ■■ struggling…”

“■■, ■■■■■■■, don’t give up ■■…”

Lu Xiaohe noticed the problem and desperately sent the same message. Ge Tingting watched as those messages gradually became garbled and disappeared.

What’s going on?

The surroundings were a mess, and Ge Tingting quickly picked up small objects that could be used, tightly holding them to her chest. She was just contemplating whether or not to go up and take a look when suddenly everything spun wildly. Ge Tingting rolled several times on the rough stone surface before finally coming to a stop.

The voices in her earpiece completely disappeared.

The sound of the wind, the rustling of leaves, the distant bird calls—everything vanished without a trace. The familiar sense of chaos washed over her again. It felt like the Other side, but it was also not the Other Side.

Could this be the legendary interstitial space?

Maintaining a face-down position, Ge Tingting opened her eyes just a crack and carefully surveyed her surroundings—

In front of her was an endless jumble of fused debris, like a nightmare garbage dump. Huang Jin was lying not far away, motionless. Fu Xingchuan’s bone roc suddenly dissipated, leaving Fu Xingchuan himself with closed eyes and blood all over his face. Six fierce ghosts trailed behind him, their forms flickering unsteadily.

And on the opposite side, Xiang Jiang and Xiang Hai dragged their broken bodies and engaged in a fierce battle with Fu Xingchuan once again.

The only good news was that the ground troops had been pulled away by Professor Li and weren’t involved in this.

Ge Tingting dared not look around, afraid that she might accidentally catch a glimpse of Love’s body. She lay on the ground, pretending to be unconscious, but her breath couldn’t escape her.

She hadn’t seen a trace of Love.

“Haa…” Just as she thought, a sigh sounded by her ear. The voice was soft and beautiful—Sun Qi’an’s voice.

The hairs on the back of Ge Tingting’s neck stood up instantly.

“No need to pretend, little girl,” Love said softly, her tone filled with profound weakness. “I can hear your heartbeat. I know you’re awake. In a place like this, you can speak normally, can’t you?”

Ge Tingting didn’t move.

In her field of vision, there were only a pair of beautiful boots. The boots connected to shapely calves and were stained with blood on the light-colored leggings.

Seeing Ge Tingting’s lack of reaction, Love smiled. She casually dragged out an inflated corpse from the debris and leaned against it like a sofa. Not far away, Fu Xingchuan dragged his mangled body, engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Xiang Jiang and Xiang Hai. The scenes of fighting and resting were eerily close to each other, creating a very strange sight.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

Five minutes later, Ge Tingting couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke.

“I never intended to kill you from the beginning,” Love said. “Besides, there is a long time to come, and all of you are decent humans, which can give me a bit of sustenance.”

Her voice carried a touch of self-derision.

“…In the end, I still have to follow the path of Sorrow. It’s quite interesting.”

At this moment, a few steps away, one of Fu Xingchuan’s fierce ghosts was torn apart by Xiang Jiang and Xiang Hai. The evil qi splashed, causing Ge Tingting’s skin to ache.

Ge Tingting wasn’t deceived by this seemingly conversational atmosphere. Her stomach acid surged. “What do you mean?”

“Thanks to your two colleagues—aside from the part in this body, the rest of my body was completely consumed by Yin Ren.”

Love looked towards the chaotic space that seemed boundless and spoke with a hint of complaint in her tone.

“But this is one of the possible outcomes, and I had made preparations.”

She lovingly caressed her own arm.

“In a few hundred years, my power might be able to recover a bit. When the time is right, I will attempt to be reborn again… Using a phrase commonly used by you humans, as long as the mountains are green, there will be firewood to burn*.”

*(留得青山在，不愁没柴烧) Idiom referring to as long as one has resources or a foundation to rely on, they will not lack the means to sustain themselves or overcome difficulties.

Ge Tingting’s mind went momentarily blank.

According to Love’s words, Yin Ren won. But Love didn’t disappear; instead, she dragged them into this god-forsaken place… From the beginning, it planned to preserve a portion of its original form through Dr. Sun as a way out.

“They will definitely find you.” Ge Tingting’s throat felt dry.

If Yin Ren devoured Love, he would definitely become stronger, and he would never give up on his companions.

Love seemed to see through her thoughts and added a hint of amusement to her voice. “Have you seen this place? This is the edge of the interstitial space, where there is no order. I deliberately chose the deepest hiding spot. Finding someone here is like searching for a speck of dust in the universe.”

“If they want to find us, it will take them at least a thousand years… The survival strategy of Sorrow seems somewhat useful.”

Love’s voice became even sweeter.

“You can chat with me more. That way, maybe you’ll go insane a bit slower. I really need sustenance…”

So that’s it. Love only wanted “time”—enough to drive humans crazy, the ever-changing time of the world. Ge Tingting stared at the sticky, interconnected fragments and ancient objects on the ground, despair crashing over her. She almost lost consciousness.

She couldn’t give up.

Even if it took a thousand years, perhaps Yin Ren wouldn’t give up, but she was just a fragile mortal. She was only sixteen years old; she couldn’t do it—she couldn’t retain her sanity for such a long time in this chaotic place, nor could she defeat the enemy in front of her.

The fact that even the enemy knew this made their conversation so easy.

She couldn’t give up.

The surrounding chaos was dim and silent, as if she were buried alive seven feet under. Ge Tingting’s eyes felt intensely itchy, but she desperately clenched her teeth to prevent the tears from falling.

She could feel Love’s gaze, a gaze that even held pity, like a person looking down on a desperate ant.

She couldn’t give up.

Ge Tingting tightened her grip on her clothes, and all the random things she had grabbed from the sewer fell out.

Damaged scissors, a metal hairpin, a lighter, unopened mint candies, small oranges, and a baby-sized apple that fell to the ground.

They were of no use.

A few steps away, three more of Fu Xingchuan’s fierce ghosts disappeared into smoke, leaving only two strands of black smoke around him. Without Li Nian’s support and in an unfavorable environment, he was facing an inevitable defeat.

Even though it seemed meaningless, he still stood.

She couldn’t give up… or could she?

Ge Tingting reminisced over her relatively short life. From her parents’ deaths to meeting Feng Qi, from joining Shian to discovering the astonishing identities of her colleagues, and then getting involved in the war between gods. Perhaps for an ordinary person, this would already be a sufficiently tumultuous life.

Huang Jin was in an even worse state. Even if he were to wake up, he would never see his beloved girl again.

If only she had given him a push and encouraged him to confess earlier… No, given the current circumstances, maybe it was right that he hadn’t confessed…

Ge Tingting lowered her head, and her thoughts began to scatter.

At least in the past hundred years, Love couldn’t descend into the world, so things would be stable outside. Ding Lizi had her eyes cured, and even if she started a new life, she would always remember Huang Jin…

Ding Lizi had her eyes cured…

Ge Tingting blinked and looked at the small apple not far away. It was ugly, pockmarked, and covered in dust, with only a faint hint of red showing.

She stared at it intently, and the sourness in her eyes gradually disappeared.

“…” She clenched the apple tightly, muttering softly. Her voice was low, and Love turned her head, only able to catch a rough idea of what she was saying.

It was a nursery rhyme.

“When the red light is on and the green light is burning, every household closes their door… At midnight, when the fruit ripens, be careful what you say with your back to the door..” Ge Tingting clumsily hummed; her pronunciation wasn’t very clear.

Love thought she was mentally confused and didn’t intervene.

“Pray for tranquility, wish for good fortune, and shut your eyes so you can’t see…” Ge Tingting continued to hum softly.

Perhaps Love had made a small mistake.

Whether it was Fu Xingchuan or Huang Jin, it shouldn’t have brought her to the interstitial space. This wasn’t the Other Side; she could keep her belongings here, and this wasn’t the mortal world; she could speak.

As a repayment for finding Zhong Chengshuo, Yin Ren had cured Lu Xiaohe’s mother and healed Ding Lizi’s eyes. He still owed only one wish to her; this was a “contract”.

On the Other Side, Hu Tao could find Yin Ren through a contract. So, could she replicate that here?

Facing an opponent who was almost godlike, this was the only thing she could do, and it was the strongest blow she had.

“…The rooster crows, with footsteps far away, and comes back next year to report the peace.”

Ge Tingting, with a hoarse throat, stumbled through the ancient ballad.

Ge Tingting reached out her blood-stained hand and held the small apple. She closed her eyes tightly but raised her head resolutely, “looking” in Love’s direction.

“We are right here.”

She enunciated her words clearly and made her wish.

“Save us, Great Master.”

At that moment, as the last fierce ghost beside Fu Xingchuan fell, Love turned its gaze in confusion, and Ge Tingting burst into an almost imperceptible smile.

In the next instant, a sunset glow ignited in the dark chaos.

The author has something to say:

Friend: Love is so pitiful, like confidently picking up a vegetable and accidentally grabbing a piece of ginger.

Ge Tingting—weak and helpless but capable of shaking things up on the spot.

Kinky Thoughts:

The title of this chapter is an idiom referring to someone who is intelligent and wise takes great care and forethought in their actions, considering numerous possibilities and potential outcomes before making decisions.