Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Faced with the absolute judgment of extraordinary power, the struggles of mortals seem so ridiculous and insignificant.

"you……"

Li Rui's voice rang out from the shadows, carrying a chilling coldness.

"What should we do for the children Xiaoxiao is protecting?"

boom--!

The dark red karmic fire instantly transformed into four fire dragons, which coiled around the four people's bodies!

[Judgment by Fire!]

At that moment, Zhou Xie didn't even have time to press the syringe plunger.

He felt an irresistible burning pain that forcibly dragged him into the depths of an endless cycle of reincarnation.

In the illusion, Zhou Xie is no longer the cold-blooded executor.

He became the top student in his grade, the one he personally pushed into the trunk of his car.

In the darkness, he struggled and screamed, but could only hear his own echo.

He became the roommate he had blocked on the country road.

As he was being dragged into the bread truck, he saw the street lamp flickering on and off by the roadside; it was the last light he would ever see in his life.

He became...

The fire of karma, fueled by their sins, burns so fiercely and so resolutely.

in reality.

The four men, including Zhou Xie, froze in place, their facial muscles twitching violently—a pain beyond their physical limits.

The dark purple stimulants, under the scorching heat of the karmic fire, didn't even have time to take effect before turning into nothingness along with the syringe.

Li Rui stretched out his hand, his five fingers slightly spread.

The flames danced in his palm, as if cheering.

From the perspective of Karmic Fire, the sins of Zhou Xie and the other three are being stripped away inch by inch.

He was not only killing people, he was forcibly reading their sinful memories through the "medium" of karmic fire.

He witnessed the despair of the first arrest—the first person of his age being shoved into the trunk of a car.

He saw it a second time—his roommate's final struggle on the country road.

He saw it...

Seeing this, Li Rui immediately understood Zhang Zhaoqing's logic—

He had no idea who killed Zhang Ziqian.

What he wanted was not to find the real killer.

He wanted everyone to be buried with him.

Those who had grudges against Zhang Ziqian, regardless of their ability to commit the crime or whether they were actually the murderers—

They all have to die.

What evil this is!

This isn't revenge; it's displaced anger.

This is not hatred, this is a frenzied massacre.

Zhang Zhaoqing...

Li Rui murmured the name, the dark red in his eyes solidifying into a cold, sharp blade.

The flames blazed brightly in that instant.

There were no screams, no smoke, and not even a trace of odor remained.

Karmic fire is pure eradication.

For an instant.

The shadows beneath the old locust tree returned to their deathly stillness.

Zhou Xie, three burly men, and all the traces of their crimes.

They have completely disappeared from the physical level.

Only the soft rustling of the night wind through the old locust tree remained.

Li Rui withdrew his hand, and the temperature in his palm gradually subsided.

……

Fourth floor, by the window.

The flames of karma burn silently.

But the lingering resonance that spreads from the depths of the soul when sins are burned away still imbues the surrounding air with an indescribable quality—like a kind of resonance that seems to penetrate the heart.

Duoduo was lying by the window.

Her previously vacant gaze was drawn to a sudden burst of light from downstairs.

Through the dusty glass, she saw the firelight in the shadows beneath the old locust tree.

It was a flower blooming in the darkness.

It was dark red, pulsating, yet not at all glaring.

Unlike the blood in nightmares, it's more like—

What does it look like?

Duoduo thought hard.

Like the brooch on Teacher Su's collar, reflecting warm light in the sunlight.

Yes, that's the color.

In the instant the flames burst forth, Duoduo felt the world had changed.

Those nightmares that haunted her countless nights—the wicked uncle's sinister smile, the cold, rusty smell of metal in the abandoned warehouse, the suffocating fear—

Under the illumination of that fiery flower, all the gloom melted away as quickly as snow meeting the blazing sun.

The oppressive feeling that made it hard for her to breathe, the fear that robbed her of her ability to speak, were all gently enveloped by the warm, dark red light and then burned away.

She didn't know what it was.

But she sensed that something was calling to her from the deepest part of the flames.

That was Teacher Su's scent.

Just like every time I wake up from a nap and the first thing I see is Teacher Su sitting next to me, looking at me gently, that reassuring feeling.

In the shadows downstairs.

Li Rui seemed to sense something, and he slowly raised his head.

Separated by four floors, by dappled tree shadows and fragmented moonlight.

He saw the small figure leaning against the window.

Their eyes met briefly in the air.

Although separated by darkness, Li Rui felt at that moment that the "pure white" that symbolized Duoduo's soul was closing at a miraculous speed, with the hideous hole in the middle.

He nodded slightly in that direction.

upstairs.

Grandma was startled awake by Duoduo's sudden movement of standing up and pressing herself against the window. The old woman rushed over in a panic, saying, "Duoduo, my sweet child, what's wrong? Did you have another nightmare? Don't be afraid, Grandma's here..."

The grandmother reached out her withered hand, trying to hug the child.

But this time, Duoduo didn't tremble, nor did she desperately try to burrow into the corner like before.

She slowly turned her head and looked at her grandmother.

That was the first time since she lost her voice that Duoduo's eyes had regained their vibrant light.

She opened her mouth, her voice extremely faint, even somewhat hoarse, yet it sounded like heavenly music:

"Grandma...flowers...so warm."

Grandma froze.

The old man stared wide-eyed in disbelief, and the blanket he was holding slipped from his arms and fell to the ground.

"Duoduo...you...you spoke? Say it again..."

Grandma held Duoduo in her arms, tears streaming down her face. In the narrow, dimly lit little room, her cries were tinged with a kind of ecstatic joy.

downstairs.

Li Rui "heard" it.

That faint child's voice, almost drowned out by the wind, sounded louder to him than any hymn of praise.

The ruby ​​brooch on his chest was no longer burning hot; the ever-present vengeful fury had quietly faded away, transforming into a tranquility called "redemption."

It felt like Xiaoxiao's hand gently pressing against his heart.

Li Rui lowered his head, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

It turns out that the fire of karma can not only burn away evil.

When it burns away the darkness, the light left behind can illuminate another withered flower.

Destruction and protection can be two sides of the same flame.

Li Rui took one last look at the window that was still lit with a dim yellow light, then turned around and completely disappeared into the thick, inky night.

He walked very steadily.

The fire is still burning.

It will continue to burn.

It kept burning until—

Continue burning until it's burned through.