Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 855 Take action
Mianzhou, once a fourth-tier city near the capital, was not particularly prosperous, but it was a peaceful place.

But now, all that can be seen is devastation.

The empty streets, devoid of lights, were deathly silent, like a giant, dead black centipede winding across the broken earth.

Occasionally, a few scattered lights can be seen on a street corner, but the flickering light reflects not warmth onto the wet road surface mixed with rubble and dark brown stains, but a chilling dark red glow.

A complex smell filled the air.

It was a thick, lingering stench of blood and rust, the heavy smell of dust rising from collapsing buildings, and something deeper, a cold, putrid stench that seemed to come from the depths of the earth.

"Da da da……"

The chaotic and hurried footsteps abruptly tore through the heavy silence.

Two young people were running frantically through the ruined streets, seemingly out of their minds.

They looked to be in their early twenties at most, their faces covered in blood and dust that had not yet dried. One of them was wearing a jacket with torn sleeves, while the other was much more disheveled, wearing only one shoe.

Wang Bo was panting heavily, his lungs felt like they were about to explode, and each breath was accompanied by a hoarse pain.

Zhang Qi, standing nearby, was in even worse shape. His face was contorted with fear from running so hard, and his steps were unsteady, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

Just then, Zhang Qi's foot was suddenly tripped by a protruding, broken cement slab. He let out a short cry of surprise and fell heavily forward to the ground!
"Boom!"

Zhang Qi's vision went black from the fall, and he felt excruciating pain in his knees and elbows. His palms were cut by sharp pebbles, and blood was flowing freely.

"Damn it!" Wang Bo abruptly stopped, turned back without hesitation, and reached out to grab Zhang Qi's arm, trying to pull him up. "Get up!!"

As Wang Bo pulled, he desperately turned his head to look back. The street behind him was shrouded in an impenetrable darkness, with only a few scattered, ghostly red lights illuminating a small area in the distance.

What was once a familiar street garden and supermarket is now just a collapsed concrete skeleton and jagged steel bars.

A chilling wind, seemingly from nowhere, swirled and emerged from the empty windows and cracks in the ruins, howling as it swept across the deserted streets.

The wind was icy cold, blowing against Wang Bo's back, which was already soaked with cold sweat. This city, which he once knew so well, now felt utterly unfamiliar to him.

"Don't worry about me, run! Run!" Zhang Qi pushed Wang Bo's arm forcefully. "I don't have the strength to run anymore... my legs... my legs feel like they don't belong to me... run!"

"I...I'm here, I can still buy you...some time...Hurry up!"

"What the hell are you talking about!" Wang Bo shouted, almost growling, veins bulging on his forehead, as he tried to pull Zhang Qi up even harder.

"Get up! Do you want to die here?!"

"No, I... can't hold on any longer." Zhang Qi waved his hand, his face turning deathly pale. He pointed to the foot where he had lost his shoe, blood seeping through the white sock.

"I can't walk or run anymore. I'm sorry, it's my fault. I shouldn't have let you risk yourselves here."

Tears welled up in Zhang Qi's eyes.

The images of his companions, Sun Hongyu, Song Yan, and Li Hong, flashed through his mind, and a look of guilt appeared in his eyes.

The five were classmates from the same school. After becoming beginners, they got along well and formed a team. With Zhang Qi's keen judgment and the five's tacit cooperation, they successfully navigated two small mazes.

All three of them successfully advanced to E-level.

They came here hoping to try their luck, but little did they know it would be a decision they would regret for the rest of their lives.

"Damn it, what are you saying? Everything only has meaning if you survive. Stop talking nonsense and get going."

Wang Bo pulled Zhang Qi up, and before Zhang Qi could say anything, the two of them suddenly froze.

As if sensing something at the same time, the two turned around simultaneously, their eyes fixed on the dark street behind them.

In the dark street behind me, something seemed to be approaching.

Suddenly, a red light flickered in the darkness.

That wasn't a faint, unsettling reflection in the distance, but a strange, sudden burst of light right up close!

"Woo!"

With a sharp, ear-piercing whistling sound, the red light suddenly expanded! Like a sea of ​​blood bursting its banks, or like a demonic eye opening, the thick, pungent red light, carrying the acrid smell of rust, instantly engulfed the entire street, along with Wang Bo and Zhang Qi, who were lying on the ground!
Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and immense fear gripped their throats, preventing them from even screaming.

A chilling red light swept across the skin, bringing a bone-deep coldness; all that remained in sight was an endless, nauseating sea of ​​blood.

"Gotcha...!"

A faint female voice suddenly rang out in the center of the red light. The voice was dry, cold, and without any inflection, like scratching glass with a fingernail.

The light dimmed slightly, converging into a single source—a simple lantern covered with dark red oiled paper or some kind of leather.

The figure carrying the lantern appeared particularly distorted under the red light.

She seemed weightless; her toes touched the ground with exceptional gentleness, yet her movements were as fast as teleportation.

"Flickering... flickering..."

Each flash closed the distance dramatically without warning; one moment it was more than ten meters away, and the next it was right in front of you!

Her sticky, damp long hair, as if soaked in some kind of filth, was disheveled and covered most of her face, with only a few strands revealing a chilling red glow.

Those are her eyes!

With no whites in their eyes and no pupils, their eye sockets seemed to contain two cheap, red-hot glass beads, staring intently at the two people who were completely frozen in fear.

"Caught."

That dry, cold voice rang out again, repeating the same words, echoing clearly in the deathly silent street, carrying a sense of indifference as if the hunt had finally ended.

A chilling, hungry, and amused aura, like a viscous substance, instantly enveloped the immobilized Wang Bo and Zhang Qi. Wang Bo trembled violently, his eyes bloodshot, and suddenly screamed, "Fuck your mother!!"

Driven to the extreme by fear and an unquenchable rage, Wang Bo suddenly pulled an axe from his spatial storage and swung it at the woman's face.

"boom!!"

The dull thud of the axe chopping flesh came from the woman's face; it had struck her head directly.

However, the woman was unmoved, a hint of amusement in her fiery red eyes, and she even let out a scream of "Aiya!"

The sound was less a scream of agony and more a mocking tone.

Wang Bo's anger immediately subsided, and he felt as if his spine had been completely removed. His limbs were ice-cold, and he sat down on the ground, unable to lift a single muscle.

Zhang Qi wasn't much better off; his mind raced as he frantically started digging under his own neck.

He pulled out a cross.

"Ha... Hallelujah!!"

The woman tilted her head, looking at the cross in Zhang Qi's hand with a puzzled expression, and slapped it away.

Seeing that it wasn't working, Zhang Qi continued to rummage, pulling out a jade Guanyin. Before he could even utter a word, the woman snatched the jade Guanyin away, put it to her mouth, and crunched away as easily as if she were eating a cookie.

Zhang Qi felt a chill run down his spine when he saw this scene.

Seeing the woman ignore Wang Bo, who was already trembling with fear on the ground, and walk towards him, Zhang Qi also plopped down on the ground.

When he saw the woman point the red lantern in her hand at him, the outer layer of skin covering the lantern cracked open, revealing a gaping maw that seemed to be biting him.

Zhang Qi instinctively dodged backward, shouting, "Amitabha! Ancestor, save me!"

"Buzz!"

A faint, yet seemingly soul-piercing hum resounded without warning from the depths of the void, like a bowstring stretched to its limit being gently plucked.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely fine golden line suddenly appeared in the void without warning!

"Hey!"

The golden lines suddenly expanded, twisted, and shimmered! Like a real golden lightning bolt, it struck down at a speed beyond the limits of vision!

quick! too fast!
The golden light's tearing through the void completely defied the laws of space. One moment it was creating a rift high in the heavens, the next, that chillingly concentrated golden light had already pierced through!

boom! ! !
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only an extremely muffled roar, as if the void itself had been pierced!
The golden light struck the female ghost carrying the blood lantern with perfect accuracy!
Time seemed to freeze for a moment in the face of this magnificent divine power.

The cruel and playful expression on the female ghost's face froze instantly, then transformed into an indescribable terror and horror!
"what!"

This scream was so shrill and pitiful that it sounded inhuman.

But the scream lasted for less than a hundredth of a second before being pierced directly by the golden light.

"Boom!!"

The paper lantern fell to the ground and then burst into flames with a "boom!"

The world seemed to suddenly become quiet.

Wang Bo stared blankly back, his mouth agape enough to fit an egg, while Zhang Qi remained in a backward-falling position, his dazed gaze seemingly completely bewildered by what had happened.

Everything happened so suddenly that neither of them knew what had happened.

Just then, a lazy voice came from behind them.

"Young man, just for the sake of those four words, 'Boundless Heavenly Venerable,' I, this humble Taoist, will save you."

Wang Bo and Zhang Qi looked in the direction of the sound.

Suddenly, three more people appeared behind them, along with a huge tiger.

The Taoist priest who was speaking was riding on a tiger, and two people stood beside him, who looked to be older than the two of them.

Just as the two were stunned, Xiao Ran raised her eyelids and glanced at them.

With just one glance, he could see them completely, as if they had been stripped naked.

"An E-rank and an F-rank? Coming to a den of evil spirits to deliver takeout?"

Xiao Ran knew that now that the Lost City had landed, many people were eager to improve, but one must take things one step at a time. Anyone who dared to run out before reaching D-level and truly mastering their professional skills was really courting death.

Wang Bo and Zhang Qi exchanged a glance, then quickly scrambled to their feet and knelt before Xiao Ran. "Brother, please, we still have companions. Please help us save them."

"Please, I'll do anything for you, even be your slave," Wang Bo said, his eyes red, as he was about to kowtow to Xiao Ran.

Before his head could even kowtow, Xiao Ran lifted him up from the ground as easily as picking up a chick.

"A Northeasterner?"

Xiao Ran asked, noticing Wang Bo's accent.

“Yes.” Wang Bo looked at Xiao Ran, puzzled.

Xiao Ran nodded. "We need a guide. Would you be willing to help?"

"I'm willing. I'd give my life for you if you could save my friend."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran glanced sideways at Wu Man and said, "Make your move."

(End of this chapter)