Chapter 1186: Good Child
When Earth Pig felt his Adam's apple being seized, he seemed to have been prepared for it long before. He jerked his head back violently, crashing it into Vermilion Bird’s chin. Despite his quick reaction, his throat still bore faint bloody marks.
Without a moment’s pause, Earth Pig spun around and raked a claw at Vermilion Bird. The two fighters’ methods appeared almost identical—both relied on formidable finger strength and sharp nails to tear gashes into each other.
Vermilion Bird raised his arm to block, and shallow cuts appeared on his forearm. He then retaliated, again tearing Earth Pig’s chest into a bloody, mangled mess.
In just a few seconds of fighting, Earth Pig had shed massive amounts of flesh. The two were clearly not on the same level in terms of strength and lethality.
Seeing this, Zhou Mo understood that defeating Vermilion Bird might be a completely different ordeal from defeating Xuanwu. Though unaware of Xuanwu’s battle situation, as Vermilion Bird himself had said, because he lacked “Immortality,” he feared death even more than Xuanwu did. He would never give any “Participant” a chance to kill him. Whether it was the “signal flare” or what Earth Pig called “Spirit Touch,” the moment Vermilion Bird perceived a threat, he would strike first without hesitation.
Earth Pig staggered backward under Vermilion Bird’s overwhelming assault, as this outcome had been predetermined. He was merely an “Earth Grade”—how could he possibly stand alone against Vermilion Bird, the enforcer of “Zodiac rule violations”?
“Before I’ve even used my ‘Immortal Art,’ you’re already on the verge of collapse,” Vermilion Bird said. “Little Pig, why not consider siding with me? As long as you don’t reveal the name of my ‘Immortal Art,’ I’ll spare your life here. I’ll explain things to Qinglong, and we’ll pretend nothing ever happened.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Earth Pig said. “It took me so long to get a chance to fight fiercely for my companions—this is the battlefield I’ve been dreaming of.”
“Why pretend to be so passionate?” Vermilion Bird shook his head. “Once you reveal my trump card, everyone here will die. Kneel now and call me ‘Lord Vermilion Bird,’ and I’ll behave as if none of this ever happened.”
At this moment, Zhou Mo blinked, realizing that Vermilion Bird and Earth Pig shared one thing in common… they were both a little chuunibyou. How could anyone enjoy being called “Lord”?
“Kill me to silence me, huh?” Earth Pig said. “Too bad you won’t get away with it.”
He turned to look at Zhou Mo, just about to speak, when he found his mouth seemed to be filled with cement—completely unable to open.
“Why can’t you be obedient…?” Vermilion Bird sighed. “Good children are becoming rarer these days. Is it because I’ve killed too many?”
Zhou Mo saw that Earth Pig’s mouth was opening and closing in perfect rhythm with Vermilion Bird’s, and even his expression turned utterly contemptuous. Clearly, he had fallen victim to the extremely maddening “Soul Capture.”
Then Vermilion Bird slowly reached out and stroked his own chest.
Seeing this, Zhou Mo quickly cried out, “Stop—!”
The formidable “Soul Capture” activated. Earth Pig slowly raised a hand and stroked the gaping wound on his chest. Zhou Mo rushed forward to grab him, but couldn’t budge his body an inch.
With a look of terror, Earth Pig drove his fingers into the wound, then moved them slightly, tearing the entire gash open wider. Blood gushed like water, staining his entire abdomen red.
“This cut isn’t deep enough,” Vermilion Bird said with a light laugh. “A good child should learn to torment himself—it saves me a lot of trouble.”
With a wave of his hand, he compelled Earth Pig to tear his own wound open even wider. Earth Pig was drenched in sweat from the pain, but his mouth remained sealed, allowing only muffled groans.
“Don’t be afraid… don’t be afraid…” Vermilion Bird said slowly. “With this amount of bleeding, you’ll die soon. Once you’re dead, there’s nothing to fear.”
“You lunatic…” Zhou Mo’s lips trembled, but she could do nothing to help. Although she traveled among various “organizations,” her role was mostly as a contact person. Even with some martial skill, there was no way she could take on a “Divine Beast” with just a metal bar.
The impression Vermilion Bird gave was entirely different from Xuanwu and Baihu. He was perhaps more like Qinglong—both were the embodiment of “despair.”
“No one present today will leave alive,” Vermilion Bird declared, gazing around the group. At that same moment, Earth Pig slowly turned and mimicked his movement. “I’ve thought of an interesting game. As a ‘Zodiac’… you must have every last bit of value squeezed out of you.”
He floated forward slowly, fixing his gaze on the sweat-soaked Earth Pig. “Good child, I’ll take away your reason. You’ll kill these people yourself until you collapse from blood loss. Consider it a small punishment. How about that?”
Earth Pig’s eyes showed uncontrollable terror. This fight with Vermilion Bird could hardly even be called a difficult battle—the moment Vermilion Bird activated “Soul Capture,” he had no ability to counter. He knew he could die, but he couldn’t die in such a worthless way.
Vermilion Bird slowly reached out his hand, holding it in front of Earth Pig’s face. “To live forever… or to die forever—which do you choose?”
Earth Pig, unable to speak, simply glared wide-eyed at Vermilion Bird.
“Oh, I forgot…” Vermilion Bird slapped his forehead in a show of mock-epiphany. “With injuries as severe as yours, you can never live forever now.”
Just as Vermilion Bird smiled and activated “Soul Capture,” Zhou Mo finally lost her temper. She swung the metal rod she had picked up, striking Vermilion Bird square on the back of his head.
The dust settled. Zhou Mo felt as though she had struck a wall—Vermilion Bird remained completely unmoved, while her own hands ached from the shock.
Though Vermilion Bird took no damage, he was visibly provoked by Zhou Mo’s move. He twisted around, veins popping on his still-smiling face. Instantly freeing Earth Pig, he swung his hand at Zhou Mo.
“Naughty…”
In the next moment, a bizarre giant tree erupted from nowhere between them, forcibly separating the two. Before Vermilion Bird could register the situation, a hand clutching a dagger emerged from within the tree, stabbing at his lower abdomen. Unfortunately, Vermilion Bird’s body was incredibly hard; the stab only left a tiny scratch. The hand vanished back into the tree before Vermilion Bird could react, as if nothing had occurred.
“Sixth Sister!”
A man and a woman hurried over from a distance. They were “Shuttle” Cui Shisi and “Lush Wood” Liu Ershiyi.
Though Zhou Mo felt some relief, with only the three of them, their “Echoes” still couldn’t threaten Vermilion Bird.
“We were the nearest, so we got here fast,” Cui Shisi said, glancing around. He felt the situation was worse than anticipated. “In theory, no matter which ‘Gate’ we encounter Vermilion Bird, there would be at least one ‘Earth Grade’ fighting shoulder to shoulder. But here, Earth Pig seems to have completely lost all combat effectiveness—the severe blood loss could never support him continuing to move.”