Chapter 1137: Worthy
As soon as Horse Twelve left with the "arm," the scene immediately fell into silence, as if nothing had just happened.
Song Seven paused for a moment, then made hand signals to the people on the rooftop, arranging the next round of offensive tactics.
Now that Xuanwu had lost one arm, it was somewhat helpful regardless of the aspect.
"Oh... crap..." Jiang Ten suddenly thought of something, turned his head to look in the direction where Horse Twelve had run off, and muttered blankly, "Forgot to tell Twelve the bad news about 'Indestructible'..."
"Ah, fuck me!"
A miserable scream came from Horse Twelve in the distance. His voice was faint and ethereal, as if he had already run a great distance, but he was still within the coverage of "Silence."
"This—this arm is beating the shit out of me! Oh fuck—!" His voice grew fainter and fainter. "Can someone come and help? Goddammit, this is Xuanwu's arm, how the hell am I supposed to fight it alone... Ow!"
"Oh..." Jiang Ten turned back nonchalantly. "It's fine. Looks like Twelve already knows."
The rest of the group then acted as if nothing had happened. Amidst Horse Twelve's fading screams, they stared intently at Song Seven's hand signals and Xuanwu down on the ground.
After Song Seven made a series of gestures, everyone nodded at the same moment.
A moment later, the entire "Cat" team launched a joint offensive again. This time, the tactics were almost identical to the previous round—using props and "Echoes" to launch large-scale attacks. Many bizarre phenomena converged and swept across Xuanwu's entire body.
Although Xuanwu had lost one arm and could no longer block large-scale assaults, the team still found it extremely difficult to inflict any real damage on her.
All the attacks hit Xuanwu, but they still seemed to sink into the sea—loud in impact yet failing to stir even a ripple.
"Such a formidable 'Indestructible,'" Jiang Ten said, squatting on the roof with his hands tucked into his sleeves. "When will I ever have such ability?"
Officer Li watched from the rooftop for a long time, then tossed away the cigarette butt in his hand.
"Song Seven," he said softly. "I'm going to give it a try."
"'Give it a try' meaning...?" Song Seven turned around and asked.
"Even if the target looks strange, in the end, it's still human-shaped," Officer Li said. "What would happen if I managed to pull out Xuanwu's heart?"
Song Seven pondered the question, feeling that the answer was difficult to gauge.
Although no one knew the answer, Song Seven just felt that Xuanwu wouldn't die.
Even if all human-shaped beings could die, Xuanwu definitely wouldn't.
"I can't say for sure," Song Seven answered honestly. "Xuanwu's current state is just too bizarre."
"Song Seven, based on your experience, if I try to pull out Xuanwu's heart..." Officer Li asked with a troubled expression. "Would she fly into a complete rage and kill us all?"
"This..." Song Seven lowered his head in thought. "Four, to be honest, I've seen many people who say they 'don't want to live,' but survival is a human instinct. Once the other party truly realizes they're about to die, their subconscious will make them do everything to survive. So Xuanwu will very likely be enraged."
"So... should I try, or not?"
"Try," Song Seven said. "After all, we have no other breakthroughs. If Xuanwu really does go berserk, all of us will bear the consequences together."
"Alright..." Officer Li nodded, then reached his right hand into his pocket and closed his eyes.
Xuanwu reappeared from the thick black mist, still looking lifeless.
To her, this continuous barrage of attacks was naturally a novel death experience, and the closest she had come to death in a long, long time.
Maybe with a little more effort, it would succeed...?
All they needed was to try a little harder, cooperate more closely, and make the "Immortal Art" a little stronger—then she might finally fall here.
How reasonable that sounded...
A guardian of the rules, dying only on the path of guarding those rules—this was the most fitting death for her.
Thus, she had wronged no one. Not the "rules," not the people she had killed, and not the Azure Dragon, who had ensured she would never starve.
The Cat team also felt that Xuanwu was unlike any enemy they had ever encountered.
It wasn't so much that Xuanwu resembled a "Divine Beast," but rather that she gave them the feeling of an "Aboriginal" with boundless magical power.
Every enemy they faced in the "Land of Endings" required sufficient wisdom to deal with—but Xuanwu didn't.
She could only accept the simplest thoughts, as direct as "You kill me first, then I'll kill you."
But the simplest was often the hardest. Even with "Divine Power" and "Heaven's Steadfastness" here, they might not gain any advantage over Xuanwu.
Clearly, Xuanwu desperately wanted to die, clearly she had given them every opportunity—but they simply couldn't kill her.
"You..." Xuanwu said softly as she walked forward, "try harder... aren't you almost succeeding...?"
No one dared to answer Xuanwu's question. After all, whether they succeeded or failed, they would all die.
If they succeeded, the Azure Dragon would kill them. If they failed, Xuanwu would kill them.
"I can feel it..." Xuanwu dragged her long hair forward, continuing to walk. "I can feel you getting closer and closer to success..."
As soon as she said this, Xuanwu felt a sudden flutter in her heart.
But the sensation of that flutter felt incredibly distant, as if it had entered her mind from another space.
"Hmm...?"
She lowered her head to examine her body, but found nothing unusual.
The next moment, Xuanwu felt a sharp pain in her heart. It was as if something had been torn out of her chest, and a cold ache surged into her mind.
This time, the pain was far more intense than any before, as if something had attacked her from within her own body.
"Indestructible" could no longer block this bone-piercing agony.
Officer Li, trembling, extended his hand from behind Song Seven. In his hand was a bright red, beating heart.
Glimmers of starlight swirled around the crimson heart, as if it had been teleported here from another space.
Song Seven also turned back in shock. He had never imagined Officer Li's plan would go so smoothly. Su Shan, standing nearby, widened her eyes.
The thing in front of them was precisely Xuanwu's heart... and Xuanwu's vital point.
If the heart was destroyed... would she surely die?
Officer Li made a split-second decision. He picked up a sharp piece of wood from the ground and stabbed it fiercely into the heart.
At that same moment, Xuanwu, still standing far away on the open ground, let out a scream that startled everyone nearby.
But the next second, Officer Li felt something wrong. It was as if he had plunged the piece of wood into a wad of straw.