Chapter 535: The Pegasus Moment
At this very moment, a bold idea suddenly emerged in Qian Wu's mind.
Since he could no longer take the other party with him, could he turn his own body into "Xuanwu"?
Even if doing so would bring countless consequences... such as no longer being able to disappear along with "The Final Ending," or becoming a "Divine Beast" instead of a "Participant."
But now that Qi Xia's grand plan had already begun, no matter how he looked at it, such a role was needed.
With this thought, Qian Wu immediately extended his right hand and grasped Xuanwu's palm.
"Give me your body..."
But what Qian Wu hadn't anticipated was that even though he was holding Xuanwu's hand, his body underwent not a single change. It was as if his "Twin Flowers" had lost its effect at this moment.
"What...?"
"What trick are you trying to pull now?" Xuanwu asked coldly. "If you still can't kill me... I'll be very disappointed..."
At this point, Qian Wu finally realized that everything he did was futile. Facing this woman who seemed like a deity, he was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, actually thinking he could trade his life for someone like her.
Thinking about it from any angle, it was obvious... how could his life possibly be equal to Xuanwu's?
"It really seems I can't do it..." Qian Wu let out a bitter laugh, his expression utterly bleak.
Hearing this, Xuanwu's face clearly showed displeasure. She pulled back sharply, withdrawing her hand.
At the same moment, all of Qian Wu's wounds changed from pitch black to blood red. The gash on his neck, in particular, burst open like a breached dam, spurting blood instantly.
He had the chance to heal himself by touching Chou Ershi, but he didn't reach out. He knew Xuanwu wouldn't let this go easily, and the outcome of this encounter was already sealed.
Seeing both Qian Wu and Luo Shiyi fall to the ground dead, Chou Ershi's expression also became composed.
Now there was no need for him to struggle anymore. He knew that by himself, he was absolutely no match for the three people before him.
So he simply spread his arms wide, welcoming his own death.
Xuanwu showed no mercy either. She directly extracted Chou Ershi's heart from thin air and crushed it in her hand.
Killing the three before her wasn't difficult for Xuanwu, but her eyes revealed deep sorrow.
"Mission accomplished." She let out a soft sigh, then vanished from the spot.
Tianma and Tianhu, who had been standing nearby for a long time, slowly exhaled in relief when they saw Xuanwu disappear. A few seconds later, anger gradually crept onto Tianma's face.
She turned her head, staring in the direction of the prison, her expression exceptionally cold.
"You damned bastards... you actually dared to bully an old woman like me?" She took a few steps forward, then slowly pulled a pocket watch from her bosom. "This old woman's moment is about to come... you can all go to hell now..."
Inside the prison, everyone watched Tianma nervously through the cracks in the door. Most of them were experiencing the "Pegasus Moment" for the first time and had no idea what was about to happen. They all held their breath, waiting silently.
"Three... two... one..." Tianma smiled slightly and snapped the pocket watch shut with a *click*.
The "Pegasus Moment" had arrived.
The sun in the sky abruptly contracted the moment Tianma's countdown ended.
Several seconds had passed since Tianma closed her pocket watch, yet the imagined catastrophe still hadn't appeared. Throughout the entire prison, aside from the faint sound of wind, there was only the sound of everyone's breathing.
The silence around them was terrifying.
A moment later, Qi Xia heard some strange noise above his head. A rustling sound came from midair, like a light drizzle falling, or like countless birds flying across the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw that the sky, which had never had a single cloud, now seemed to have gained a patch of dark cloud.
That dark cloud emerged from behind the yellow-brown sun, gradually expanding.
"A cloud... behind the sun?"
Qi Xia suddenly felt he had discovered a barely perceptible flaw, but at this moment, there was no time to think deeply about it.
That dark cloud grew larger and larger, as if it wanted to envelop the entire sun. Then, like a living creature, it swirled in the sky for a while before suddenly plummeting toward the ground.
Only then did everyone finally see what that "dark cloud" really was.
It wasn't a cloud at all—it was a massive writhing mass of black threads.
"Damn..." Qiao Jiajing felt that the strangeness of this place was continually pushing past his limits. He quickly tugged at Qi Xia beside him. "Swindler, shouldn't we be running?"
"Running..." Qi Xia squinted at the sky. "But which direction should we run?"
No sooner had he spoken than the clusters of black threads, now descending to midair, suddenly spread out like ink diffusing in water. Countless black threads shot off in countless directions.
"Get out first!!"
Everyone rushed out of the prison gate, only to see that the black threads were about to reach the ground.
"Everyone!" Chen Junnan shouted. "Don't let those threads touch you under any circumstances! They're as sharp as blades—the moment they touch you, they'll slice you to pieces! Luckily, they're not especially fast. As long as you keep running, you'll eventually shake them off!"
The members of the "Cat" team all nodded in acknowledgment. Chen Junnan exchanged glances with Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajing.
From now on, it was every man for himself. No one could help anyone else anymore.
"Old Qi." Chen Junnan stared at Qi Xia. "I'll say it again—both of us can die, but you can't."
Qi Xia hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
He felt that although he had snapped out of the nightmare from the night before, he was still somewhat dazed for some reason.
"Swindler, you don't look right..." Qiao Jiajing asked. "Still not feeling well?"
"I'm fine." Qi Xia shook his head. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Officer Li, who had been standing behind everyone earlier, was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Officer Li?"
"Over there...!"
Zhou Mo pointed to an open space in the distance. Officer Li was sprinting at full speed toward something red on the ground.
"Hey! Big Li!" Chen Junnan called out. "Where are you going?"
"You all go ahead! I need to get something!" Officer Li replied.
"Get something?"
Everyone knew this was a life-or-death moment. Even if Officer Li really ran into danger, they couldn't guarantee his safety anymore.
"Never mind, just run first." Qi Xia said. "Spread out across the open ground. Otherwise, you won't be able to tell which thread is yours. Get it wrong, and you'll die."
"Got it!"
The group scattered across the small square. By now, the black threads were only three to five meters above their heads.
"May everyone live to see the end... As for these things..." Chen Junnan let out a bitter laugh. He picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it fiercely into the air. The moment it touched the black threads, it was sliced clean in two. "I hope they never touch a single one of you."