Chapter 739: Useless Echo
Zhang Shan gritted his teeth as he tugged desperately at the black sword before him, his entire body drenched in sweat.
“Xiao... Yanjing...” Zhang Shan forced the words through clenched teeth, “Run!”
At that moment, Xiao Yanjing finally snapped back to reality and stumbled backward several steps.
Even Zhang Shan himself had no idea what was happening. With just a single sentence from Chu Tianqiu, his "Heaven's Mandate" had been completely broken. Now, relying only on brute strength to hold onto the massive sword, he felt as though his arms were about to be torn off.
The hands he was clenching tightly were constantly splitting open under the brute force of the giant sword, blood spurting from his fingertips.
“Damn it...”
He held onto the sword with all his might, leaning backward, but the sword itself was extremely heavy, and now a mysterious force was driving it forward unstoppably. Even though Zhang Shan was naturally gifted with immense strength, without the protection of "Heaven's Mandate," his entire body was not only severely injured but also weakened significantly.
His feet were planted into the plastic ground like tree roots, but over time, they dragged a deep groove across the surface.
“Chu Tianqiu... that's enough...” Zhang Shan said through gritted teeth. “Enough... I understand now...”
“Zhang Shan, why did it have to come to this?” Chu Tianqiu said with a faint smile beside him. “I only want your eyes.”
A look of unwillingness flashed across Zhang Shan's face. “Make this black sword stop... I already know what you're capable of...”
Hearing this, Chu Tianqiu turned his head to look at Han Yimo and spoke softly, “Han Yimo, forbid the use of ‘Immortal Arts.’”
As soon as the words fell, the "Seven Black Sword" in Zhang Shan's hand instantly dissolved into a sky full of starlight.
Suddenly losing his strength, Zhang Shan fell backward uncontrollably. Lao Lyu, who had been prepared, immediately threw himself to the ground, using his bulky body to catch Zhang Shan, preventing him from hitting his head.
Everything settled. Han Yimo and Dr. Zhao were both utterly bewildered, while Zhang Shan lay on top of Lao Lyu, gasping heavily.
Xiao Yanjing stepped forward to check on Zhang Shan’s condition and found that not only were his palms cracked open, but the skin on his forearms was also torn apart in large strips.
“Zhang Shan... are you okay?” Xiao Yanjing asked.
Zhang Shan lay on the ground, panting for a long time before finally speaking slowly, “I really can’t figure this out... That sky full of starlight... isn’t that the special trick of that tattooed kid?”
“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu smiled faintly. “I nearly forgot. You’ve seen what Qiao Jiajin can do.”
“You...” Zhang Shan lifted his head to look at Chu Tianqiu. “How did you manage to use someone else's ‘Echo’ on yourself?”
“That’s all thanks to the ‘Heavenly Serpent,’” Chu Tianqiu said. “If it weren’t for the note he gave me... I would never have unraveled this secret to this day. Who would have thought that the murkiest, most foul-smelling eyeballs of the dead were exactly what I needed to swallow... It’s a pity that before this, I would just dig them out directly and trade them to the ‘Zodiacs’ for food.”
“What...?” Zhang Shan’s brow slowly furrowed.
“What a bizarre situation...” Chu Tianqiu slowly curled the bloodstained corner of his mouth. “Did they already know about my situation... and that’s why they used eyeballs as currency? Or...”
Feeling that he had recovered enough, Zhang Shan slowly stood up and said, “Chu Tianqiu... Did all the food at ‘Paradise Gate’ come from the eyeballs of our comrades?”
“What else would it be?” Chu Tianqiu countered. “What do you think was the reason I always asked you all to bring back the bodies of our fallen comrades?”
“That...”
“Are you really so magnanimous that you think this is wrong?” Chu Tianqiu asked in a low voice.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Zhang Shan said. “If it were me... I would probably have done the same thing. Using organs from the dead to trade for food... isn’t such a big deal here, after all, I’m still human. But if I had to kill someone and then take their eyeballs, I couldn’t do that, because I am also human.”
“And that’s exactly why... you’re the deputy leader of ‘Paradise Gate,’” Chu Tianqiu said, slowly extending his hand toward Zhang Shan. “Zhang Shan, give me your eyes. I will put them to good use.”
Hearing this, Zhang Shan slowly reached out his hand, then asked in a deep voice, “Chu Tianqiu, if I give you my eyes, can you promise to keep Lao Lyu and Xiao Yanjing safe?”
Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Zhang Shan, if you willingly give me your eyes, then you will be my most capable right-hand man. I will not only ensure their safety but also lift the ‘Bane of a Thousand Spells’ so that your injuries can heal.”
“Alright, it’s a deal.”
Zhang Shan extended three fingers and accurately aimed them at his own eye. With a muffled groan, a fresh eyeball drenched in blood was plucked out.
A dizzying pain shot from Zhang Shan’s eye socket, but he did not hesitate. He then aimed for the other eye.
Within seconds, his rugged face was left with two bloody sockets, a sight that was particularly horrifying.
“Take them.” Zhang Shan thrust his hand forward, his voice hoarse. “If you keep your word, I’ll fight for you from now on.”
Chu Tianqiu took the blood-red objects from Zhang Shan’s hand and nodded with a smile. “Of course.”
Having said that, he closed his eyes slightly. Zhang Shan felt the mysterious force that had been suppressing him vanish, and all the wounds on his body began to heal rapidly.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yanjing and Lao Lyu watched with their own eyes as Zhang Shan’s sunken eye sockets bulged once more, a yellowish-white substance swirling like a vortex within them. In just a few seconds, his eyes opened again, with only two streaks of blood left on his cheeks.
“As expected of ‘Heaven’s Mandate,’” Chu Tianqiu said. “I will cherish these two chances.”
Zhang Shan slowly stood up, looked at his healing palms, and then asked with a hint of confusion, “So... what exactly is your ability?”
“Like Chen Junnan, I’m too ashamed to talk about my ability,” Chu Tianqiu said with a light laugh. “Zhang Shan, do you believe that in this world... there is a power that can do nothing except preserve memories?”
Zhang Shan pondered Chu Tianqiu’s words and reached up to wipe the blood from his face. “No, I don’t.”
“I initially thought my ability could only preserve memories,” Chu Tianqiu said with a bitter smile. “It’s just that my position is so awkward. I am the leader of a faction, yet I possess the most useless ‘Echo’ in all of the ‘Land of the End.’ No matter how you think about it, it’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Fortunately, I quickly figured out how to control my ‘Echo’ and told everyone that only by ‘witnessing the end’ could I resonate.”
“So you’ve been lying since then...”
“No, I never lied,” Chu Tianqiu replied seriously. “As long as I can see the ‘Land of the End,’ I can activate my ‘Echo.’”