# 1971
Chapter 1958: Behind the Black Curtain
Savage lightning tore across the sky, and the pale light that had illuminated the world was quickly devoured by darkness.
The earth trembled, the wild wind wailed, millions of monsters trampled the ground beneath their feet, and eighteen divine corpses overlooked the world... Above the two Cthulhu Faction deities that had torn open the sky, a pitch-black figure bared its teeth and burst into wild laughter!
Gods and horrors surged forward like a tidal wave from the end of darkness, destroying the psychological defenses of nearly everyone with an overwhelming force.
Not to mention ordinary people—even seasoned Night Watch soldiers or gods themselves would inevitably feel fear upon seeing the scene before them... They collapsed helplessly, lips trembling uncontrollably. It was the first time they had seen "death" approach so clearly.
"Commander... We have ten minutes until the three passes can teleport to Beihin City..."
Min Junliang's bitter voice came through Lin Qiye's wireless earpiece.
Min Junliang had also witnessed the Cthulhu Faction's general offensive. Given the situation Beihin City was facing, even if all three passes evacuated there, the chances of the combined Supreme Gods of Great Xia winning were extremely slim... Let alone that currently only Commander Lin was alone in Beihin City. Asking him to hold off the Cthulhu Faction army alone for ten minutes was simply a fantasy!
They had prepared so hard for so long, and now they could only let their Supreme Commander fight a lone battle... Guilt and regret filled Min Junliang's voice.
Unexpectedly, Lin Qiye did not feel anger or disappointment upon hearing this news.
With one hand hidden in his sleeve and the other gripping the blade's hilt, he walked step by step through the crowd under everyone's gaze, moving toward the very front... He simply made a soft acknowledging sound.
"If I fail this time, tell Shen Qingzhu to ring the Donghuang Bell at all costs."
"Donghuang Bell?"
"Yes. Once the fighting starts, I won't have time to listen to the earpiece anymore... I'll be here waiting for you."
With that, he removed his earpiece and let it fall to the ground with a soft click.
Most of the crowd had retreated behind Lin Qiye, but some people remained paralyzed where they stood, paralyzed by the aura of the gods... Among the over a thousand people who had fled the shelter, a mother and child had been forgotten at the very front.
"Xiao Yu... Xiao Yu!"
The middle-aged woman watched the boy standing foolishly before the wave of monsters, struggling to get up from the ground as if wanting to pull him back. But as millions of hatchlings drew near, the ground beneath her feet shook violently. She had only taken two steps before being knocked to the ground again!
"Xiao Yu! That's dangerous!! Come back quickly!!"
The boy's face turned deathly pale as he stared at the eighteen divine corpses standing in the sky, as if paralyzed by fear, unable to hear his mother's calls behind him. He stood frozen like a statue.
The woman gritted her teeth and tried to stand up again, but as a few hatchlings fleeing at high speed let out piercing screams, the tremors knocked her down once more, her consciousness growing hazy.
She sat瘫软 on the ground, one hand extended as if trying to grasp the small figure dozens of meters away, but couldn't reach it by even an inch...
At that moment, a crimson figure walked calmly past her.
"Save him... Please save my child!!"
The woman seemed to have seen a lifeline, grabbing the end of that cloak and pulling the figure to a stop, crying out desperately.
The figure paused.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine."
Lin Qiye glanced back at her, gently releasing the pale hand, his calm voice seeming to possess some kind of magic that eased the woman's fear somewhat.
The Crimson Cloak fluttered in the wind as he continued forward.
The woman stood dazed for a long moment, looking down blankly. On the hand that had just gripped the cloak's end, she saw it was now stained with blood...
Thunderous footsteps echoed from nearby, and the shrieks of millions of Black Goats resounded in their ears. The little boy at the very front felt as if he had fallen into an ice abyss... His very soul seemed paralyzed and floating away, infinite fear and despair shrouding his heart.
A broad palm patted his shoulder from behind.
The boy snapped back to reality, face pale as death, and turned to look back. A figure draped in a Crimson Cloak had appeared beside him.
"Don't be afraid, child... Don't be afraid."
Lin Qiye smiled gently. "As long as I'm still alive, they can't hurt you."
As Lin Qiye's palm came to rest on his shoulder, the terrifying pressure brought by the black tide instantly dissipated from the boy's heart. He stood dazed for a moment, then somehow found the strength, and ran swiftly back into his mother's arms!
Lin Qiye turned to look at the embracing mother and child, his gaze slowly settling on the [Chaos] in the sky. His pair of eyes—one golden, one black—were profound as an abyss.
"[Black Curtain]."
An extreme darkness spread from the nothingness behind Lin Qiye, like the black curtain that falls after a stage performance, slowly enveloping the thousands of people behind him and the shelter...
In the eyes of those behind Lin Qiye, the surging millions of monsters were hidden from view. Light, shadow, sound, divine might—nothing could penetrate that black curtain. They were completely cut off from the battlefield.
At the same time, the crimson figure standing before them also vanished from their sight...
A boy named Xiao Yu looked around blankly, asking anxiously,
"Mom... Where did Commander Lin go?"
The woman held him tight, her gaze fixed on that black curtain, and comforted him:
"He's right there... Right behind that black curtain, we just can't see him..."
As everyone's vision was blocked, the several phones doing live streams also lost the distant view. The众人 watching on their screens stared at that black curtain dividing the battlefield from the wasteland, and immediately erupted in discussion.
【What is that? Is that Commander Lin's ability?】
【Of course, Commander Lin probably didn't want the aftermath of the battle to hurt ordinary people, so he completely isolated them from the battlefield】
【But that means we can't see anything either!】
【Whether we can see it or not doesn't matter anymore... With that many gods and monsters, how could Commander Lin possibly hold on alone? The northern front falling is probably just a matter of time】
【Will Commander Lin die?】
【Is it possible... that Commander Lin has already accepted he might die, so he didn't want us to see that scene?】
【Can the person upstairs shut up! Commander Lin is invincible! He won't die!!】
【Maybe... he already told us the answer... Does anyone remember the last line in the Night Watch information?】
【If the night must fall, I shall stand before ten thousand souls, blade raised toward the abyss, my blood staining the heavens... I think I'm starting to understand what that means】
【If I could, I'd trade ten years of my life to pray for Commander Lin to survive...】
【...】
This black curtain shrouding the world had placed everyone firmly behind it. No one knew what was happening on the other side of the curtain, but the one thing they could be certain of was that as long as this curtain remained, they were safe.
If this curtain disappeared, it might mean that the figure standing before ten thousand souls... was already gone.