Chapter 537: Death Begins
"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise. "Has someone excavated Qi Xia's brain? Could it have been rats?"
"Rats...? Are there any other living creatures here besides us?"
"Then who do you think excavated Qi Xia's brain?" Chu Tianqiu slowly approached Dr. Zhao. "Who do you think it was... who cut open Qi Xia's brain, excavated a piece, fried it in a pan, and then swallowed it down?"
Chu Tianqiu's words sent a chill through Dr. Zhao's entire body.
"And you can see it too, can't you?" Chu Tianqiu stepped forward one pace at a time, forcing Dr. Zhao to retreat repeatedly. "What he's missing isn't just a piece of brain—I've tried every place that could be swallowed, and they even gouged out his eyes."
"So what exactly are you doing?" Dr. Zhao asked with a frown. "Your cellar is filled with food... You shouldn't be so desperate as to eat people, should you?"
"Indeed." Chu Tianqiu nodded, a profound smile spreading across his face. "Here... some people eat others to keep themselves alive, to continue being human. But others eat people to stop being human altogether."
"Stop being human..." Dr. Zhao looked into Chu Tianqiu's eyes and slowly drew a breath. He was beginning to feel that joining "Heaven's Gate" might have been poorly considered.
"Dr. Zhao, I told you—as long as you help me accomplish this, I'll make you the vice leader." Chu Tianqiu reached out and patted Dr. Zhao's shoulder. "Now you and Zhang Shan are my right-hand men. This is a great honor—you should cherish it."
Upon hearing these words, Dr. Zhao showed no expression on his face. He merely nodded blankly, then turned and walked out the door.
"Oh, and..." Chu Tianqiu called after him. "Dr. Zhao, don't go back to your room for now. Go get Zhang Shan. The three of us will have a meeting on the playground."
"What?"
...
When the black threads approached the Ground Snake's game venue, Li Xiangling was the first to notice the problem.
An unusual sound came from the sky outside—it sounded like a large flock of birds sweeping across the sky, yet also like a fine drizzling rain beginning to fall.
"Everyone..." Li Xiangling called out to the others who were clearing the rubble, making them stop what they were doing and listen more carefully. "It sounds like... it's raining outside?"
Lin Qin, who had been resting nearby, furrowed her brow when she heard the words "it's raining." Her expression changed noticeably.
At any other time, the sky of the "Land of Endings" remained utterly silent. But whenever something fell from the sky, it was inevitably deadly.
"Noon Hour...?" Lin Qin calculated the current time and sensed grave danger. "Everyone get out of here!!"
"What?" Zhang Chenze was taken aback.
It sounded like rain outside right now. Would a normal person choose to run straight into the street?
"Although I'm not entirely sure what will happen..." Lin Qin said, "but whatever change the 'Noon Hour' triggers, we'll need to run for our lives! Staying inside the building will get us killed!"
Zhang Chenze looked down at Lin Qin's broken right leg, which Li Xiangling had just stabilized with a wooden board. If they needed to flee, what would Lin Qin do?
"Don't worry about me." Lin Qin knew what everyone was thinking and quickly shook her head. "No matter what disaster falls from the sky, there's no way I can escape."
"Then we..."
"Don't hesitate!! Go!!" Lin Qin shouted. "Survive one more day if you can. Don't forget the plans you've made. If you're lucky enough to see Qi Xia, you must tell him about Wen Qiaoyun!"
Upon hearing this, the nearby Yun Yao, Tiantian, Li Xiangling, and Zhang Chenze exchanged heavy glances, then nodded.
Yun Yao knew that Lin Qin retained longer memories than herself. For her to show such a panicked expression meant something truly major was happening.
Besides, they were now completely united. Lin Qin had no reason to deceive them. They could only grab a few personal belongings, pull Tiantian along, and run toward the main entrance.
But before they could get far, a faint sound reached their ears.
All the windows of the building were suddenly punctured with numerous small holes. Eerie black threads drifted in through these holes, coming to a stop right before their eyes.
Fortunately, the black threads weren't moving quickly. They floated like drifting willow catkins in midair.
"Don't touch them..." Lin Qin warned the others. "Get out now and run for your lives."
Hearing this, the group avoided the strange black threads, made their way to the door, and then looked back toward Lin Qin's direction.
Lin Qin sat in the innermost part of the building, seemingly already surrounded by a dense web of black threads.
"Everyone, the 'Noon Hour' should belong to 'Tianma,'" Lin Qin said calmly. "This will be a two-hour death race. I suspect that besides speed... you'll also need extraordinary endurance."
"We understand..." Yun Yao nodded, her expression dim. "Take care of yourself. We'll see you next time."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qin relaxed and leaned back, trying to find a comfortable position to welcome death.
"Goodbye," Lin Qin said.
Yun Yao nodded, then added before leaving, "Lin Qin, you've really changed my view of the 'Extreme Path.'"
"It doesn't matter what you think of it," Lin Qin replied. "The 'Extreme Path' has always been like this."
Yun Yao watched as a black thread slowly drifted in front of Lin Qin, lightly pointing toward her brow.
Lin Qin didn't even flinch. She let the thread, like a toothpick piercing tofu, stab into her forehead. Then her eyes lost their vitality.
Yun Yao's pupils contracted. Before she could react, the black thread swung downward fiercely, splitting Lin Qin's body cleanly in two from the brow, her blood gushing out like a flood and pooling on the floor.
Lin Qin's body now lay like a piece of rotting banana peel casually thrown on the ground. Apart from the skull connecting them, her torso had split into two separate masses.
This horrifying sight made everyone's eyes widen instantly. They quickly ran out the door.
Fortunately, the black threads weren't fast. A normal person could outrun them at a jog. Unfortunately, once they got outside, they found that the threads were now pursuing them from different directions. After a brief exchange of glances, the four immediately settled on a strategy—they would flee in four separate directions.
"If we survive... we'll come back here," Yun Yao said.
Everyone nodded upon hearing this.
"Tiantian, stay safe," Yun Yao added.
Upon hearing this, Tiantian nodded expressionlessly, but Yun Yao could still read what she was thinking.
"Try to live this time," Yun Yao said, pursing her lips. "There will definitely be someone waiting for you at the finish line."
"Yes," Zhang Chenze said, tears in her eyes as she nodded to the others. "We've endured more hardship than anyone else. We deserve a better future."
The four confirmed their directions and began fleeing in four different paths, pursued by the eerie black threads.
As she ran, Yun Yao looked up at the sun in the sky. Countless black threads were radiating from behind it, dancing through the air toward every corner of the city.