Chapter 2826: Everyone's Still Alive
The villa district on the eastern side of Flowing Gold City was spacious, featuring several sizable artificial lakes, but very few people lived there. Only a scattered handful of households dotted the lakeside, maximizing privacy and minimizing interference between residents.
In any city with a decent population, such a low-density living arrangement would be considered a luxury, let alone in a desert city like Flowing Gold City.
A young man with his hair tied up in numerous small braids carried a glass of water and some food to the lakeside. He pulled a blanket tighter around the gaunt woman seated in a wheelchair before saying, "The lakeside is humid. Let's go inside after a while. Are you hungry? Want something to eat?"
The woman looked to be in her sixties or seventies, but her exposed hands were as dry as tree bark, her skin similarly cracked. Even the slightest movement caused it to split and peel away. The peeling areas showed no wounds, but the flesh beneath was slightly pale, as if the dead outer skin would naturally shed once new skin grew in.
But this wasn't recovery—it was a constant drain on the woman's life force, continuing until she died.
A flicker of sorrow passed through the young man's eyes. He casually covered her hands with the blanket and said softly, "How about we eat a little?"
The woman gazed calmly at the lake ahead. "I'm dying soon."
"You won't die," the young man forced a smile. "A-Xue has already sent someone to prepare the medicine. You're just poisoned; death is still far off."
A look of sadness crossed the woman's wrinkled face. "Why bother begging others for my sake? Even if the poison is neutralized, I'm no longer of much use."
The woman was Dou Shengnan. Though she had aged rapidly under the time ray, her bodily functions hadn't yet deteriorated to a critical point. What truly crippled her was the eye that had been gouged out, followed by her desperate struggle for survival after being thrown into a high-risk random instance.
The poisoning was merely a consequence of that high-risk instance. The toxin was rapidly consuming her vitality. Over time, even if the poison was cured, she would quickly show signs of degeneration. Without her props to assist, her spiritual power could no longer serve as Jin Feixue's strong support. She had no particular advantage in combat, and without her spiritual realm, she would only hold back the other members of the Eerie Sound Knights if she continued to act with them.
"How can you say that?" The young man, also a member of the Eerie Sound Knights, said firmly, "If you're useless, then what am I? I usually just fiddle with instruments; I'm mostly useless in a fight. If you think that way, I should have committed suicide to atone years ago."
Dou Shengnan smiled and reached out to do something, but accidentally knocked over the glass of water in front of her.
Li Li quickly caught the spilling water, picked up the glass, and said, "Let me pour another cup..."
Before he could finish, his expression suddenly changed. All the defensive instruments covering the villa district had abruptly failed, and a sharp, murderous intent pressed in like a tangible force!
Unfortunately, before he could pull out a prop, a time power fell upon him. He remained frozen in place as Dou Shengnan's spiritual realm erupted beside him, simultaneously surrounding him with defensive props for protection.
Dou Shengnan's expression turned somewhat unhinged. She shouted toward the lake, "It's you, isn't it! Get out here!"
Her black spiritual realm flowed like liquid, instantly covering the entire villa district, including the lake. Everywhere the darkness touched was within her control, and she clearly sensed Xu Huo outside the villa area.
"So it really is you! I knew this day would come!"
Her spiritual power surged toward Xu Huo like a tidal wave. Dou Shengnan seemed to let herself go, as countless faces burst forth from the black liquid. Those agonized faces toppled down like a mountain, howling as they bit toward the sole target within this spiritual realm!
Xu Huo stood on a small patch of white spiritual power, watching the surging faces ahead. He moved his foot slightly, and white materialized objects flowed out, splitting into countless tangents. Like blade-whips, they twisted into the formation of faces, quickly tearing a gap in the middle as he stepped into the villa district.
Dou Shengnan's spiritual power was abnormally vast, and because her spiritual realm was far from calm, being inside it felt as if the very air had turned into scissors. This resentment-like force stabbed at one's back, chilling to the bone. For a moment, it felt like he was back facing the Goddess Vine, desperately cramming things into his mind—that sensation of his brain nearly bursting, robbing him of the ability to think!
As their spiritual realms clashed, their props also exchanged blows multiple times. Using his bone ring, Xu Huo forced Dou Shengnan back into her wheelchair. He erected a defensive barrier over the lake, separating her before moving closer.
"I didn't expect to see you again." He looked at the woman, barely recognizable from her original appearance. "You're still alive."
Dou Shengnan panted, leaning back in her wheelchair. She let out a cold laugh before saying, "And you're still alive too."
Given the situation at the time, the crises they faced after separating were similar. She had entered a high-risk instance, while Xu Huo had been randomly teleported and severely injured, barely able to move. Who would have thought that when they met again, he would be in far better shape than her, especially his spiritual evolution—completely different from before!
At this moment, deep wariness flickered in Dou Shengnan's eyes. She could no longer gain an advantage in props, especially with spatial props, which were completely ineffective. This meant Xu Huo carried similar props of greater power. At a distance, she had no confidence in killing him.
Glancing at Li Li beside her, she added, "You didn't hit me with time power right away. You probably have another purpose."
Given Xu Huo's current strength, killing Dou Shengnan was no longer difficult. He studied her. "Your spiritual intensity is weaker than before. In your current state, there's no way you could plant an anchor in someone else's spiritual realm. Someone's helping you?"
Dou Shengnan showed a hint of surprise at this. "Is that all you want to know?"
"What else?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
Dou Shengnan opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly swallowed her words. She gave him a dark smile. "Let's see if you have the skill for that."
As she spoke, she sank into the darkness, vanishing from the lakeside as if she had instantly dispersed into the spiritual realm, her whereabouts impossible to track.
Xu Huo looked around. Before he could act, explosions erupted around him one after another—the villa had stockpiled numerous energy weapons, now densely packed and moved to his vicinity.
Glancing back at Li Li, still frozen by time power, he flexed his right hand. The "Time-Space Hand" formed a cutting net that instantly shredded all nearby weapons. But as the fragments fell, a sharp sonic boom exploded beside his ear, forcing him to involuntarily close his eyes.
Dou Shengnan seemed to have been waiting for this moment. A portal opened ten meters in front of him. A needle tip pierced through the barrier formed by spatial power, shooting straight for his face. As he blocked the needle, a strand of silk coiled around the lake, gathering and tightening like a tornado toward him!