My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 397 The Lake Hunt Amidst Internal Strife, The Battle of the Hospital (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

At Haifan City Hospital, looking out from the top floor corridor, every ward is empty except for the one at the end of the corridor where the light is still on.

A young girl was sitting on the hospital bed.

She had short, black hair framing her forehead and a long, fiery red braid tied behind her head. In front of her was an open folding table with a birthday cake, plastic forks, spoons, a knife, and plastic plates for cutting the cake.

A wooden chair beside the bed.

There was also a person sitting on the wooden chair. The person was wearing a Zhongshan suit, had his hair slicked back, and was looking down with one arm around his shoulder and the other hand playing with his mobile phone.

The ward was quiet. An old-fashioned television was playing the morning news from Haifan City.

"The authorities have issued an orange typhoon warning. Typhoon 'Gale-Gale,' a category 12 typhoon, is about to make landfall. Residents of Haifan City are advised to avoid going out today and to lock their doors and windows..."

In the distance, patches of gloomy rain clouds drifted in. Soon, the patter of rain entered the ward, and a light drizzle began to fall outside the window.

The rain streaks traced beautiful parabolas, turning into large raindrops that hit the windowpane, slid down, and then transformed into a white mist that climbed up the window like a gecko.

Lin Xingshi lowered her eyes, scooped up some cream with a spoon, ate a piece of cake, and turned to look at the cumulonimbus clouds outside the window. She stared blankly at the pattering rain.

After a while, she suddenly remembered something: "By the way, where did Lao Hui go again?"

“He said he forgot to buy you a gift, and then he skipped away happily,” Zhou Jiuya said, sitting by the window.

“Him…” Lin Xingshi said irritably, “You just lied to me that he went to buy cigarettes, but it turns out he was hiding outside with a cake, waiting to come in and scare me.”

“From childhood to adulthood, he’s always had this many mischievous ideas,” Zhou Jiuya said. “You can’t stop him.”

“That’s true…” Lin Xingshi said, then scooped up a small piece of cream with a spoon and put it in his mouth.

Suddenly, she turned to look at Zhou Jiuya and said, "Speaking of which, we've known each other for almost ten years, but this is the first time we've celebrated our birthdays together. How did you suddenly become so insightful?"

They first formally met when the four major families gathered their respective candidates for succession.

Lin Xingshi remembers that when Zhou Jiuya was a child, he was just a reckless and carefree snot-nosed kid. Back then, his personality wasn't as awkward and reserved as it is now.

At that time, he was the weakest of the four. Every time he lost in a sparring match, he would either squat in a corner with his knees in his arms and remain silent, or wipe away his tears while making threats.

In the end, Lin Xingshi had to go over and comfort him before he could cheer up.

At this moment, Zhou Jiuya lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked up at her and asked seriously:
"Want to hear?"

Lin Xingshi raised his eyebrows and slowly nodded.

Zhou Jiuya said earnestly, "A week ago, one of the exorcists in the family died. He was cursed by the Ju-on demon, and no doctor in the family could save him... Before he died, I went to visit him. He was holding my hand and said he wanted to go home to celebrate his daughter's birthday. It was then that I realized that some people don't even have the chance to celebrate their birthdays. Life still needs a sense of ritual."

"Really? You're so humane?" Seeing how serious he was, Lin Xingshi couldn't help but smile slightly.

“I made it up on the spot.” Zhou Jiuya shrugged. “But you can take it as true. I was indeed inspired by this exorcist, which is why I came here specifically to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. Touched, aren’t you?”

"That's enough, I think you're the one who's my daughter. No respect for elders, be careful you don't get impeached by me, the captain of the lake hunting team," Lin Xingshi teased. "But I didn't expect our young master Zhou to make such a joke."

"So...when do you plan to be discharged?" Zhou Jiuya shrugged and changed the subject.

“Let’s wait for this rain to stop, then we’ll leave and leave the hospital to those who need it,” Lin Xingshi said softly. “No matter what, emptying the hospital of all the patients is a bit much. Although it’s for safety reasons, you might as well just find a basement and dump me there. My wounds will heal on their own by morning.”

She shrugged. "I'm not going to be blown away by the wind."

"If I really threw you into the basement, you wouldn't want to," Zhou Jiuya sneered. "What if the White Raven Brigade opened a door and ambushed you in the basement?"

Lin Xingshi didn't continue the conversation. She turned her head to the side, her clear eyes reflecting the city in the rain. She casually reached out and touched the braids hanging on the bed.

"What did you wish for when you blew out the candles?" Zhou Jiuya asked.

Lin Xingshi thought for a moment, then silently shook his head.

“Wishes won’t come true if you say them out loud,” she said.

"Are you still waiting?" Zhou Jiuya asked.

"What are you waiting for?"

Lin Xingshi paused for a moment, then slowly turned his head to look at him.

"Waiting for that Nian beast, didn't you say you wanted him to celebrate your birthday with you?" Zhou Jiuya said expressionlessly. "Captain, who can't see through your little scheme?"

"Is it really that easy to tell?"

"if not?"

"Hmm..." Lin Xingshi pondered for a moment, "Actually, I don't quite understand its attitude either. We were friends when we were young, but it's not certain that it will still think the same way now that we're older. Besides, I injured the Nian Beast Lord so badly in front of him..."

Zhou Jiuya interrupted, "There's no need to consider so many issues. You just need to think about one thing."

"what?"

"If he were to eat a human one day, would you still turn a blind eye?" Zhou Jiuya said, emphasizing each word.

"will not."

Without hesitation, Lin Xingshi shook his head.

“That’s right,” Zhou Jiuya said slowly. “A human is a human, and a demon is a demon. Even a lion that has never eaten a human would be kept in a zoo in the human world. How can a lion walk openly on the street?”

After saying that, he raised his head, glanced at Lin Xingshi, and suddenly let out a low sneer.

"What are you laughing at?" Lin Xingshi looked at him, puzzled.

"If all else fails, you can form a contract with the child of the Nian beast."

"what……"

"Anyway, you still have an empty slot in your Sky Drive. This way, it's a win-win situation for everyone, and you won't have so many troubles," Zhou Jiuya said, tilting his head.
"A contract with the son of the Nian beast?" Lin Xingshi shrugged and teased, "Interesting, how did you even come up with that idea, Crow."

She paused, then shook her head with a wry smile. "If the Nian Beast King knew that his son had made a pact with a human, I wonder how furious he would be. He might even lead an army of undead from hell to attack."

“Who told you to be so unconventional? We Lake Hunters have never advocated making contracts with demons, saying it would affect the purity of the Skywalkers,” Zhou Jiuya said. “Only you gave up the potential of the Skywalkers. When the old folks in the Lin family found out that you had made a contract with a demon without permission, they were almost furious with you.”

“Isn’t this normal?” Lin Xingshi scooped up a piece of cream cake with a spoon and put it in his mouth. “I just like to go against them. And even though I made a contract with a demon, I still became the world’s number one exorcist. I really don’t know where their theories came from.”

"Is it possible that this is because you are a special case, rather than because their theory is wrong?"

"Just say so."

As the two were talking, Zhong Wujiu suddenly opened the door and walked in from the corridor.

At this moment, Zhong Wujiu had removed his ghost mask, revealing his face. Half of his face was dark blue-black, ferocious like a wild beast, sometimes resembling a tiger, sometimes a cow, and sometimes a sheep.

This is a side effect of the Sky Chaser's "Twelve Beast Nuo Masks"—half of his face is affected by the beast spirits. Fortunately, the other half of his face retains its original appearance, delicate, with clear and upright features, making him a handsome man.

Only the hunters of the lake have seen Zhong Wujiu's true face. He usually wears a mask so as not to frighten others with half of his face.

"What's wrong, Wujiu?" Lin Xingshi asked.

Zhong Wujiu remained silent.

At that moment, Lin Xingshi and Zhou Jiuya suddenly noticed that he was holding a mask in his hand. The mask was stained with blood, and large drops of blood dripped down the edge of the mask, one by one, onto the floor.

Zhong Wujiu had his other hand behind his back, his face expressionless. A flash of lightning turned the sky into daylight, and the ward was slightly brightened. Half of his face was in light, and the other half was in darkness, his beastly eyes spreading blood-red light in the darkness.

The two were slightly taken aback, a chill running down their spines, but the next moment, Zhong Wujiu slowly pulled a chicken out from behind his back.

"I just slaughtered a chicken, I can make you some soup." He paused, "Luckily, there's a kitchen in this hospital."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xingshi and Zhou Jiuya remained silent for a moment before slowly shifting their gaze from the chicken blood on the ground to Zhong Wujiu.

"You're something else." "You scared me."

The two said it almost in unison.

"Did I scare you...? Well, it's a birthday surprise," Zhong Wujiu said expressionlessly.

"What kind of surprise is this?" Zhou Jiuya said irritably. "You're still the same, missing a screw in your head."

"Stop teasing Wujiu." Lin Xingshi smiled gently.

Zhong Wujiu looked up at the two of them, then calmly said, "I'm going to make chicken soup."

Zhou Jiuya sighed, "Let's save our energy. Why don't we go find a restaurant later?"

"On a typhoon day, what restaurants are open outside?" Lin Xingshi glanced at the gloomy sky outside the window.

"The typhoon hasn't arrived yet, has it?" Zhou Jiuya asked.

"Actually, I wanted to make it myself. I haven't cooked in a long time, so it doesn't matter whether you drink it or not."

After Zhong Wujiu finished speaking, he turned and left with the chicken and the blood-stained mask.

"Bang...bang bang..." The sound of rain hitting the window grew louder and louder.

Lin Xingshi turned his head away, a strange unease creeping into his heart. The rain was pouring down, as if it would flood the city, and the rain clouds swallowed the daylight. In the distance, the sea was surging with waves, and the fishermen stopped their boats, went ashore, put on their raincoats, and hurried toward the harbor.

Because of the influence of the Sky Chaser, Zhou Jiuya would feel sleepy all the time on rainy days.

Fortunately, the rain wasn't heavy enough, far from being a torrential downpour, otherwise he would have fallen asleep on the spot, just like he did in Tokyo.

At this moment, Zhou Jiuya simply yawned with his arms crossed, tilted his head, leaned against the windowsill, and closed his eyes for a nap.

Lin Xingshi silently looked out the window. After a while, she suddenly heard the news broadcast stop abruptly, replaced by a hissing noise.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at the television. First, there was a jumble of static and noise jumping around on the screen, and then she saw a bizarre pattern on the screen.

It was a six-pointed star pattern, with a circle in the center and an even larger circle outside, connecting each point of the six-pointed star.

For some reason, Lin Xingshi felt that the image on the TV looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it before. It seemed to be from when he was reviewing the files of a criminal exorcist; the exorcist's nickname was...

— "Red street light".

"Nine Crows, wake up... something seems wrong." Lin Xingshi said softly, waking Zhou Nine Crows.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Jiuya stretched, frowned, and slowly opened his heavy eyelids.

"Watch TV."

Zhou Jiuya glanced sideways at the six-pointed star pattern appearing on the television screen. At that moment, he suddenly froze, his body stiffening in his chair.

The next second, a mournful howl suddenly came from outside the door, followed by a ferocious and muffled roar. The rain poured down, the raindrops pounding against the windowpane.

"Bang, bang bang, bang bang bang..."

Zhou Jiuya and Lin Xingshi exchanged a glance; they recognized the voice coming from downstairs.

Whenever Zhong Wujiu switched Nuo mask modes, a corresponding beast roar would come out from the mask, while another sound seemed to be the screams of medical staff.

"What happened downstairs?"

Lin Xingshi was taken aback, then lifted the blanket covering his legs, put the table aside, got out of bed in his hospital gown, and rubbed his bare feet against a pair of slippers.

"I don't know, something happened to Wu Jiu." Zhou Jiuya frowned. "Let's go take a look together."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Jiuya got up from his chair and walked towards the window.

Lin Xingshi followed, her injuries still throbbing, her bones feeling like they were about to fall apart. It seemed she had underestimated the severity of her injuries.

The moment she stepped out of the ward, a clap of thunder roared, and a bolt of lightning flashed across the corridor window, illuminating the dark, gloomy rain clouds.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, massive bronze pillars crashed through the ceiling above her head and plummeted down, carrying with them fine raindrops that poured towards her head!

Lin Xingshi reacted with lightning speed. Her feet touched the ground, and a blue lotus suddenly appeared beneath them. Soft and elastic, it propelled her to the right of the corridor, narrowly missing the bronze pillars. In an instant, more than ten pillars shattered the floor and then drilled into the ground beneath the hospital.

The entire corridor was shaking, cracks appeared on the floor, and tiles fell from the ceiling.

"A crow?" Lin Xingshi turned his head to look at the bronze pillar, a look of confusion flashing in his eyes.

Her figure twirled in mid-air, and several illusory images of blue lotuses appeared one after another. She stepped on the blue lotuses, her figure constantly leaping out, thus avoiding the sudden attacks of all the bronze pillars.

"Azure Lotus Demon" is the first demon that Lin Xingshi has contracted. Because her Sky Chaser does not have the ability to fly, she can use the Azure Lotus Demon to make up for this deficiency. The lion rides on the azure lotus and rises to the sky.

"what happened……"

Lin Xingshi frowned and landed barefoot on the ground.

The torrential rain poured in through the gap in the ceiling, and her slippers fell to the ground with a thud, quickly being washed into the bottom of the hospital and into the next floor.

"That was..." she murmured silently. At that moment, two figures appeared on her left and right sides.

Both of these people were people she knew very well.

“Nine Crows, Wu Jiu…did you go too far with your joke?” Lin Xing Shi slowly straightened up, raised his head, and glanced at the two of them out of the corner of his eye.

At this moment, Zhou Jiuya and Zhong Wujiu both had strange expressions, excessively indifferent.

Their eyes were empty, like those of walking corpses, but the killing intent emanating from them was genuine; it was an aura of seeing her as an enemy and wanting to tear her to pieces.

Zhou Jiuya had his hands inside the pockets of his Zhongshan suit, his gloomy face lowered, and the Tonggu compass hovering above his head.

Zhong Wujiu wore a "Xiongbo" Nuo mask, and his body was wrapped in a phantom of ink that looked like steam. The phantom occasionally emitted a deep and powerful tiger roar. His five fingers were also covered with ink-like tiger claws, and his aura was as fierce as a wild beast.

"Seriously... controlled by a mental ability user?" Lin Xingshi was taken aback, then quickly realized the situation. "What kind of ability user could do this?"

The battle was about to begin. Zhong Wujiu lightly touched the ground with his feet and pounced out like a black tiger.

"Roar—!" With a lion's roar, his right claw tore through the air and scratched at Lin Xingshi.

Lin Xingshi crouched down and slid past Zhong Wujiu from under his feet, then his figure was suddenly covered by a hazy lion shadow.

This time, the lion's shadow was much smaller than in the battle outside the city walls; this was Lin Xingshi's usual combat stance. Normally, she would only adjust the shadow of the lion's head to a size of over twenty meters when fighting such enormous creatures.

"Whoosh—!" A fiery red shadow swayed, wrapping around Lin Xingshi like a curtain of flames as she rushed toward Zhou Jiuya, closing in on him.

After hesitating for half a second, Lin Xingshi twisted his body and raised his right fist to punch forward.

But after hesitating for just a moment, Zhou Jiuya was able to leap backward, and the Qingming Scroll opened up in an instant, surrounding him.

The raging fire swept in like a tidal wave, only to be swallowed up by the painting; the remaining flames devoured the entire corridor, and in an instant, a whole row of windows shattered, the deafening sound of breaking glass never ceasing.

The next moment, the entire hospital collapsed.

The corridor floor was torn apart by flames, and Zhou Jiuya's figure fell together with Lin Xingshi in the collapsing ruins.

Zhong Wujiu gave her no chance to catch her breath, stepping on the walls and floors that were flying in mid-air, and shot towards Lin Xingshi.

He crossed his arms and used his dark tiger claws to draw a cross in ink. The cross shot out with a whoosh, shattering countless falling walls and glass, and crashing towards Lin Xingshi's back, who was dressed in a hospital gown.

Lin Xingshi caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye. His right foot stepped on the phantom of the blue lotus, and his body shot upward like a falcon, passing by the dark shadow in a cross shape.

"Swish swish—!" Zhong Wujiu's cross continued forward, instead attacking Zhou Jiuya.

At that moment, Zhou Jiuya didn't have time to unfold the Qingming Scroll. The "Words Without Curses" bracelet on his wrist suddenly lit up with a warm light, and then an invisible barrier enveloped him, blocking the ink shadow cross.

A cross-shaped crack was faintly spreading across the surface of the barrier, indicating that it was on the verge of collapse.

Zhou Jiuya frowned, and the air pressure suddenly dropped in the next instant.

"Boom——!"

Amidst the howling rain, the Nine Dragons Cauldron crashed down, crushing the entire hospital into ashes. Countless white tiles and glass shattered, and boundless dust billowed out, almost enveloping the entire block.

A moment later, when the dust and mist cleared, Lin Xingshi had already donned the Nanming Glazed Lion Head, transforming into a colossal lion, standing tall in the raging rain.

"Wow..."

On the ruins of the hospital, torrential rain washed over the Lion Shadow, but the flames engulfing it showed no signs of abating; on the contrary, they burned even more fiercely.

Lin Xingshi clutched the wound on his waist, knowing he wouldn't last much longer.

Her health was very poor, and the question was whether she could wake one of the two men before then, or hold on until Zhuge Hui arrived.

Lin Xingshi thought that Zhuge Hui should not have been mentally controlled by the enemy, otherwise he would not have been "absent" from this occasion. He quickly noticed the commotion.

At this moment, Zhou Jiuya grasped the Tonggu compass suspended in mid-air, his right hand's five fingers clenching slightly.

"boom!"

In the deep pit behind the lion's shadow, the Nine Dragon Cauldron suddenly trembled violently, and the dragon patterns on the cauldron suddenly lit up. Then, the phantoms of nine giant dragons emerged from the mouth of the cauldron! They bared their fangs and claws and attacked Lin Xingshi with agility.

Lin Xingshi's lion shadow stepped on the blue lotus and rose into the sky, avoiding the dragon shadow's sudden attack.

The next moment, she unleashed the power of the "Wooden Stake Demon," and within a radius of 150 meters, tall wooden stakes rose from the ground, forming a vast array of wooden stakes covering the ground.

The lion's shadow tumbled down from mid-air, then stepped onto the highest wooden stake and transformed into a meteor engulfed in flames.

It roared as it plummeted, crashing straight into the nine oncoming dragons and burying them inside the wooden stake.

"Bam—!"

One by one, the wooden stakes shattered, and the sharp nails hidden within pierced the dragon shadows, pinning the nine giant dragons to the ground, where they howled in agony, unable to move.

Immediately, Lin Xingshi once again manipulated the Flame Lion to leap up, stepping on the wooden stake, looking down at Zhou Jiuya, whose face was full of anger.

The shadows of thousands of wooden stakes stretched across the land, covering his figure. The torrential rain relentlessly washed over the stakes and the lion's shadow.

Just then, Lin Xingshi suddenly heard a bird's cry, a strange and deep sound.

“This is…” She raised her eyes, raised her eyebrows, and looked into the distance.

Zhong Wujiu's Nuo mask had already switched to the "Boqi" form, with a pair of dark wings unfolding behind him, and a mournful bird cry piercing through the rain.

Lin Xingshi covered his ears, but it was too late; his head throbbed with pain, and every nerve seemed to be trembling. Yanshi suddenly clutched his head and slowly knelt on top of the wooden stake.

At that very moment, massive bronze pillars crashed down from its head, slamming its body into the ground. The lion's shadow smashed through the wooden stakes, and the peach blossom nails hidden inside the stakes pierced its belly, also penetrating Lin Xingshi's shoulder.

She withdrew the power of the wooden stake demon, and the tall wooden stakes covering a radius of a hundred meters disappeared, leaving only a weak lion shadow pressed to the ground by the bronze giant pillar.

"Boom...Boom..."

Zhou Jiuya's bronze pillars fell one after another, pinning the lion's head, back, paws, and limbs to the ground, rendering the lion unable to move for a moment.

Lin Xingshi was already injured in the fight, and his injuries were bound to worsen once again.

She knelt on the ground, clutching her gaping wound, beneath her a pool of blood. The blood flowed gushing out, turning crimson, and dissolving into the rain.

"Nine crows...no blame."

Lin Xingshi's consciousness was already somewhat hazy. She raised her head against the rain, and the figures of the two people were reflected in her pupils.

The mournful cry of the burqa bird lingered in her ears, and fragmented images slowly surfaced in her eyes.

She vaguely remembered that after each training session in their childhood, they would gather together, sit by the sea, drink beverages, and watch the sunset sink below the horizon.

One day, Zhou Jiuya was drinking milk when he said, "From now on, Lin Xingshi will be our captain. Anyone who dares to object, I'll smash him to death with a pillar, understand?"

Zhuge Hui sat cross-legged on the beach, waving a folding fan, and said to the sea under the setting sun:
"We will be inheriting the position of Lake Hunter in the future, so the captain is naturally important. Although I am resourceful and clever, the captain should be the strongest person so that people can believe it."

Zhong Wujiu was sitting on the beach, silently flipping through a cooking book, nodding only symbolically.

"Is I really capable?" Lin Xingshi swung her legs and asked them curiously, "But I'm a girl, you three boys, don't you feel embarrassed being pointed at and talked about by me?"

"So what if she's a girl?" Zhou Jiuya shrugged. "You're the most suitable person to be our captain."

"Alright then, I'll try my best to be a captain who won't let you down," Lin Xingshi said calmly. "But if you're not satisfied, you can come and fight me anytime. Whoever wins will be the captain."

"Do they still dare to be dissatisfied?" Zhou Jiuya sneered. "If they are dissatisfied, I will be the first to beat them to a pulp."

“That’s right, that’s right. Our Brother Crow is so fierce. He says you’re the captain, how dare we have any objections?” Zhuge Hui said with a smile, waving his folding fan.

"Come on, to celebrate the election of the captain, I'll cook for you guys tonight," Zhong Wujiu said quietly as he closed his book.

The other three children fell silent. They exchanged a glance, then silently got up from the beach and walked away without looking back.

But then, the scene in her memory suddenly distorted. The young Lin Xingshi turned around and saw three children playing on the beach as the sun sank below the horizon.

She tried to speak to them, but no one could hear her. Suddenly, she felt a chill, as if she were sinking into the ocean. At that moment, the setting sun withdrew its rays from the beach, and night enveloped everything. A profound sense of loneliness surrounded her.

“Boom—boom—!”

The bronze pillar continued to crash down from above, relentlessly pushing the enormous lion shadow deeper into the ground.

Lin Xingshi snapped out of his hallucination, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes, looked up at Zhou Jiuya.

“Big liar…” she said silently, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Zhou Jiuya looked at her expressionlessly.

The bronze pillars seemed endless, continuing to crash down. The lion howled in agony. With each pillar that fell, the fiery lion sank deeper into the ground, and wounds appeared on the Lin Xing Lion's body, her eyes stained with blood.

Zhong Wujiu waved his black wings, hovering in mid-air, the black ripples sweeping away the rain.

The mournful cry of the Birchbird pierced through the rain, incessantly echoing from afar.

Lin Xingshi's pupils contracted continuously, and distorted hallucinations appeared before his eyes.

In a daze, she saw that cold winter again.

She ran through the streets and alleys, passing through doorways and countless lights, finally running back to her apartment, but she couldn't find Xiao Nian anywhere.

Just then, a huge blizzard howled in from outside the window, shattering the glass and covering her body. She sank deeper and deeper into the snow, unable to move.

"Little New Year..."

Lin Xingshi's lips moved slightly as she softly uttered a name. The lion shadow above her head suddenly became blurry, unable to withstand the relentless bombardment of the bronze pillar.

She felt her body getting colder and colder, and the scene before her eyes slowly darkened.

Her heavy eyelids drooped, and she knelt down in a warm liquid, which she mistook for rainwater.

But that was her blood.

But in the next instant, a wooden door appeared on the surface of the ruins of a dessert shop on the long street. The wooden door slowly opened, and amidst fluttering pages and the cawing of crows, eleven figures walked out from behind the door.

The members of the White Raven Brigade stood amidst the ravaged ruins, looking up into the pouring rain at the distant, howling lion shadow, as well as Zhong Wujiu and Zhou Jiuya.

Enma Rin ripped off the collar of her school uniform and drew her sword.

"You're having a lot of fun, you Lake Hunter bastards." Andrew loaded the last Dragon Ash into his sniper rifle, grinning wildly, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Zhou Jiuya.

Xia Pingzhou glanced at Lin Xingshi, who had already turned into a blood-soaked figure, took a deep breath, and then a black and white halo emerged from his body, transforming into a circular chessboard.

"Target: Zhou Jiuya."

Qi Yuanli spoke calmly, his hands in his trench coat pockets, behind which rose a flock of dark crows.

"The action begins."

(End of this chapter)