Chapter 32: The Acting Masters
Boom!
A shockwave spread through the thick fog, and Marcia, missing an arm, flew backward. She was already covered in slashes, rolling across the ground.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Morros knelt on one knee, covering his mouth as he coughed repeatedly, blood seeping through his fingers. He stared at Su Xiao, his eyes filled with disbelief. He couldn't understand how an ally he once worked with could be this strong.
When they were allies before, Morros had no direct experience with Su Xiao's strength. Now, as enemies, he felt it firsthand—sharp, ferocious, every strike aimed at a vital point.
The enemy's build wasn't imposing, yet he gave Morros an unimaginable pressure. The almost tangible bloodlust and killing intent surged forward, making his cheeks and eyes sting during the fight. But he couldn't afford a moment's distraction; a single lapse would mean his head separated from his body.
The hardest part was that Morros found the enemy had no openings. It seemed his attacks were sensed before he even made them. His trump card had been forced back six times by the enemy's blade, leaving his chest aching from the backlash of his own energy, nearly making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
After just five minutes of battle, Morros and Marcia were one half-crippled and one half-dead.
"Don't think... you'll get past."
Morros rose from the ground, one hand pressed to his chest and abdomen, where a bloody hole he couldn't cover gaped. Just moments ago, he had taken a straight kick from Su Xiao, leaving a cavity in his torso that revealed the scene behind him, with broken ribs jutting into the flesh.
Marcia also got up, tearing off her nearly severed left arm, her face pale from pain.
The two charged at Su Xiao from front and back. They were at the end of their rope—no, they should have been dead already. Something unknown kept them going, making them so tenacious.
Clang, clang, clang!
Hook blades clashed with the longsword, sparks flying. Su Xiao suddenly tilted his head, dodging Marcia's grabbing hand. The bright red gloves she wore were troublesome; if they touched him, half his body would go numb.
While dodging sideways, Su Xiao's left elbow struck backward. With a thud, Marcia, blood spraying from her nose and mouth, flew back again.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
Clang!
The blade rang clear. The longsword, with an unstoppable momentum, cut through the two hook blades in Morros' hands and swept over the top of his head.
As he delivered this strike, Su Xiao took a deep breath and launched a straight kick.
Thud.
Morros rolled backward. Before he could tumble far, his right hand dug into the ground, sending gravel flying, revealing the bones of his hand.
"Truly... ruthless."
Though Morros said this, a smile was on his face. If Su Xiao had held back, Morros wouldn't have felt gratitude; instead, he would have felt immense humiliation.
Just as Morros stood up, his skullcap fell off. Su Xiao had cured his hair loss problem.
Pfft.
The longsword pierced through Marcia's head. Su Xiao flicked his blade, and instead of dying, Marcia pushed herself back with her hands on the ground.
Given the injuries of this couple, they should have died several times over. Yes, Morros and Marcia were husband and wife, a fact few knew.
"Not yet... I can't die yet."
Morros' pupils trembled. Just as he was about to lunge at Su Xiao for the fifth time, a baby's cry came from the fog on the right.
Hearing the cry, both Morros and Marcia froze in place. Then, Morros burst into loud laughter.
"We succeeded, Marcia. We succeeded. Our child... has been reborn in the dream world!"
Morros' hostility vanished instantly. He stared intently at the fog on the right. Something was thrown over, landing with a splat on the ground.
It was a small creature, its lower half like an octopus, with over a dozen eyes on its head. A mouth full of sharp teeth on its belly let out a crying sound.
Seeing this, Morros stepped back half a pace, his face showing unimaginable terror. He hadn't even shown such an expression when he was nearly decapitated moments ago.
Marcia scrambled forward, trying to pick up the strange infant on the ground. Her remaining sanity told her not to do it—this creature would devour her and become an even stronger monster.
"Great Sage!!"
Marcia, now with only one arm, shouted in fury. She stomped the strange infant on the ground, and the crying abruptly stopped.
"How foolish. We should have known the outcome long ago. How could a living being be resurrected from the dead? Yet there was always that unwillingness in our hearts. Bai Ye, sorry. We two watchdogs blocked your path."
Morros sat cross-legged on the ground. His story was actually quite simple.
"Marcia, what are you angry about? Isn't this the result we were waiting for?"
"Yeah, that's right. Now we can rest easy. Too bad we couldn't find where that old bastard is, or we would have killed him."
Marcia sat beside Morros. They showed neither anger nor sorrow. What they wanted was the result, and that last shred of hope. But given the Great Sage's style, he wouldn't leave them any hope.
"Do it, Bai Ye!"
Morros shouted sharply. The next moment, the longsword swept through, and droplets of blood scattered in the air.
Su Xiao killed both with one slash, yet no kill notification appeared.
Morros' upper torso fell to the ground. In a fleeting glance with Su Xiao, he seemed to blink. Marcia's mouth twitched slightly, clearly conveying some kind of message.
These two—no, this pair of scoundrels—were both clever. Would they be used by the Great Sage to this extent? Obviously, they hadn't died at all. Instead, their acting was explosive.
A small, hard object suddenly appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He discreetly put it away. This was a great gift, and the reason these two were willing to act as "watchdogs."
Meanwhile, outside, by the moonlit Lake Po.
A small hut stood here. Most of its interior was a pool of flesh and blood—the ground-up remains of a super aquatic creature. Two figures rose simultaneously from the viscous flesh, gasping for air. They were none other than Morros and Marcia.
"That bastard is too ruthless. He must have guessed something, yet he still struck so hard."
Marcia raised her hand to touch her head. Just moments ago, her other body's head had been split in two by Su Xiao's blade.
"The Great Sage might be watching from the shadows. As long as the item was delivered, that's fine. We've been used by the Great Sage for so long; it's time to return the favor."
Morros was also feeling his own head. His other body's skull had been cut off by Su Xiao. Now, touching his smooth scalp, Morros felt a surge of frustration.
Morros and Marcia's situation was actually quite simple. The two had lost a child, and in their desperation, they were manipulated by the Great Sage for a long time, even attempting to kidnap the previous Holy Maiden to draw her blood—all orchestrated by the Great Sage in the shadows.
More crucially, after their investigation, the couple discovered that their child's death was caused by the Great Sage. Their entire lives had been calculated by him, and for a long time, they dared not even meet each other, fearing total annihilation.
When Morros happened to meet Su Xiao and learned that Su Xiao intended to kidnap the Holy Maiden, Morros almost wanted to write on his forehead: "He's kidnapped a Holy Maiden before; he has experience!"
As for why Morros trusted Su Xiao, it was because of Su Xiao's strength. Though Morros wasn't a top-tier fighter, he had good judgment. He had once suspected that Su Xiao could take on the Great Sage alone.
With such a powerful ally, Morros immediately returned to Gem Street. He missed his wife terribly. After meeting her, they hastily had a sunset-red version of marital life.
Now, it was time for this couple to take revenge.
...
Inside the dream world, Su Xiao walked through the thick fog, with Bubu Wang and Baha following behind him. This brought the cost of staying in the dream world to 300 Soul Coins per hour.
Night shrouded everything, with only moonlight casting down. The surrounding fog gradually thinned, revealing rows of stone buildings ahead—multi-story, pointed-roof structures. This was once a prosperous small town. A clock tower stood in the distance, faintly visible through the mist, its hour and minute hands both pointing to midnight.
This was the most coveted aspect of the dream world: as long as one stayed here, they would never age. The reason was that this small world only had one day and night, endlessly cycling. Every morning at six, the world's power would "reset" everything back to its state 24 hours prior. The only thing that couldn't be "reset" was the death of living beings.
Don't think one could achieve immortality here. For example, if a Beast Clan member cycled through the dream world for 18,250 days—50 years—once they left and returned to the real world, they would rapidly age 50 years in an extremely short time.
In the end, the people in the dream world were all prisoners, living aimlessly, and would turn to ash the moment they left.
There were 6 hours left before the dream world reset. Su Xiao didn't want to experience this reset—who knew what side effects it would leave? Within 6 hours, even if he didn't achieve his goal, he had to return to the foggy area. His "dream door" was there, and he could only leave through it.
Countless peering sensations came from all around. The prisoners of the dream world were very "hospitable." Su Xiao had no idea how many prisoners the Great Sage had accumulated here. Undoubtedly, the dream world was the Great Sage's lair, and he was very confident in it, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Su Xiao looked at the buildings ahead. There were many enemies. Even with his strength, fighting through them head-on would be difficult. Even with the passive effect of Azure Shadow King to restore mana and Undying Shadow to restore health, this recovery came at a cost—it consumed his body's cellular energy. Once exhausted, he would be surrounded and killed.
Su Xiao didn't doubt that the prisoners of the dream world could achieve this. The Great Sage had accumulated them for so many years; the number of prisoners would be staggering.
What made Su Xiao hesitate now wasn't whether he could fight through, but whether he should use [Blazing Sun's Wrath: Apollo] to scorch the ground, or try out the newly developed [Devourer].
A plan formed in Su Xiao's mind. He didn't need to fight to the death here. He could do it in five separate trips.
He had two [Blazing Sun's Wrath: Apollo], one [Devourer], and two batches of the repeatedly improved [Underworld Flame: Hades].
In other words, Su Xiao could launch five separate attacks on this place. Harass the dream world once, then retreat. Let the enemy recover, then come back to harass again, repeating the cycle. However, this plan was too devilish; the psychological shadow area of the enemy would be enormous.