Body command feeding world

(Happy 30th birthday to everyone!)

The flames erupting from the talisman were like a blazing sun tearing through the darkness. The intense yang flames swept out, and wherever they passed, the yin evil wailed, the child's soul dissipated, and the blood claws and shadow evil instantly turned to ashes. It burned a path of fire straight out of the valley amidst the densely packed evil horde.

Wu Wei held a sword-shaped talisman in his hand, the firelight illuminating his blood-stained profile. Strands of hair on his forehead were stained with blood scabs, and his Yangyan Bone Armor was already riddled with cracks, its golden luster dull and lifeless. Every inch of his meridians groaned in agony and exhaustion; his blood essence was almost completely depleted, his marrow sea nearly dried up, and he had to rely on sheer willpower to even stand.

He didn't hesitate for a moment, nor did he look back.

Shi Meng used his body to block the horde of demons, his chest to take Tong Shou's deadly claw, and with his last breath to push him toward survival. He traded his burning life for a moment of respite and a chance at life.

This entrustment is heavier than life and death.

escape.

We must escape.

live.

This was the answer Shi Meng gave him, even at the cost of his life.

Wu Wei gritted his teeth and ran wildly, his feet treading over withered bones, frozen blood, shattered corpses, and ice shells. Each step felt as heavy as lead, and each breath brought a searing pain that tore at his chest. The air he inhaled was icy and foul, choking him and causing a sweet, metallic taste to rise in his throat, but he could only swallow it back down, daring not to stop for even a moment.

The flames of the talisman burned in front of him, protecting him within three feet. Yin Sha dared not approach, and the child's soul dared not get close, but it was also rapidly consuming his already meager blood essence.

He dared not turn around, yet he could clearly sense—

That terrifying aura lingered not far behind him from beginning to end.

Not close, not far.

Neither kill instantly nor let them escape.

Like a cat that has caught the most interesting mouse, it doesn't rush to kill it, but only wants to play with it slowly, watching its prey struggle, run wildly, despair, and collapse until it is exhausted and falls to the ground, and then slowly extends its claws to end this boring game.

It is the head of the Yin Sha Bai Sha Tong.

That mid-level demon chief who commands hundreds of children, whose souls are united as one, and who possesses high intelligence.

He didn't give chase with all his might, didn't unleash his domain, and didn't throw out the Yin Sha Ball. He simply transformed into a faint white shadow, walking slowly and steadily, following Wu Wei a dozen feet behind, as if strolling leisurely.

The small body of a child around seven years old, with a white brocade robe stained with undried blood, two horns appearing on his forehead, and indifferent blue eyes, surrounded by more than ten mini white child spirits chattering and playing, occasionally letting out soft, sinister laughs, as if watching a wonderful show.

He's teasing me.

tease.

play.

Cat catches mouse.

Wu Wei ran for several miles, his legs were already weak, his vision was turning black intermittently, his meridians were exhausted and painful, his bone armor was about to collapse at any moment, and even the fingers holding the talismanic artifact were trembling incessantly, almost losing strength and letting go.

He wanted to speed up, to widen the distance, and to escape this valley of death completely, but his blood essence was already depleted, and his marrow sea was empty and powerless. He was only holding on by a will to "live." Every extra step he took was burning his life essence.

No matter how fast he ran, the white figure behind him always kept a distance of several dozen feet.

Neither too fast nor too slow.

If you're fast, he'll be fast too.

If you slow down, he will slow down as well.

Just as you're about to catch your breath, he flicks his finger and releases a wisp of malevolent energy that grazes past your ear, freezing your meridians and forcing you to run again.

Like a whip, it gently lashes its prey, making you afraid to stop, unable to stop, for to stop means death.

"Oh……"

A very soft, faint, and childlike laugh, yet chillingly cold, came from behind.

It is a child's head.

He is laughing.

Laugh at his pathetic state, laugh at his struggle, laugh at his desperate escape, laugh at how he was already exhausted but still futilely trying to live.

Wu Wei clenched his teeth, his jawline taut, his heart filled with murderous intent, yet he didn't even have the right to turn back and fight.

He can't beat him.

There is absolutely no chance of winning.

Tong Shou is a mid-level Fiend Leader who commands hundreds of souls, controls the Fiend Ball, condenses domains, seals meridians, and freezes blood essence. Even in his prime, he might not be able to withstand three moves, let alone now, with his bone armor shattered, blood essence depleted, marrow sea empty, and barely able to stand.

Turning back means death.

Stopping means death.

Not running means certain death.

He could only run.

The only option was to escape.

In this cat-and-mouse game, one can only be slowly drained of their last bit of strength, until they can no longer move their legs, until their consciousness sinks into darkness, until the child head slowly walks over, gently swips its paw, and ends everything.

The light outside the valley grew brighter and brighter, and the withered grass and forests of the Western Wilderness were already close at hand. If they ran a few more miles, they would be able to completely escape the Black Bone Fiend Nest and get rid of this dead land occupied by fiends.

But Wu Wei's body had already reached its limit.

His vision blurred, his ears rang, his limbs felt heavy as iron, his meridians were dry and painful, the light of his Yangyan Bone Armor had completely dimmed, cracks spread all over his body, and he could shatter into light fragments at any moment.

The fingers that held the talisman had lost all feeling, and the flames on the talisman paper dimmed and flickered, no longer stable or intense, barely able to protect a sliver of life, no longer able to burn away evil and clear a path.

Tong Shou followed behind him at a leisurely pace, his blue eyes filled with mockery and indifference as he watched him gradually decline, watched his life force rapidly drain away, watched him go from running wildly to staggering, and from staggering to limping.

The mouse is almost too slow to run.

The game is almost over.

With each step Wu Wei took, he felt his bones and muscles breaking inch by inch, his blood essence completely depleted, unable to even muster a trace of warmth, his marrow sea deathly silent, and even Shu's will becoming weak, only repeating itself endlessly in his soul:

"Hold on... Don't stop... Once you stop, you'll never be able to get up again..."

"He's wearing you down...he's playing with you...he's just waiting for you to exhaust yourself..."

"Don't sleep... Don't fall down... Shi Meng risked his life for this, you can't die..."

Wu Wei wanted to respond, to nod, to tell Shu that he could still hold on, but he didn't even have the strength to open his mouth. He could only stare intently at the faint light in front of him, dragging his broken body step by step toward the direction of life.

Behind him, Tong Shou quickened his pace slightly.

I didn't mean to kill him; I just found the game a bit boring and wanted to make my prey fall faster.

A white shadow flashed, instantly closing the distance by several feet.

The distance was now only seven zhang.

Wu Wei felt a chill run down his spine. A life-or-death crisis gripped his throat, and a fear that emanated from his very bones exploded, forcing him to unleash the last vestige of his potential. He suddenly accelerated and sprinted forward once more.

However, this glimmer of potential only lasted for a few dozen breaths.

puff--

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the ground in front of him red. He staggered and almost fell to the ground.

The blood essence is completely depleted.

The meridians have completely dried up.

The bone armor went completely dark.

The marrow sea was completely still.

The lamp went out, the oil ran out, strength was exhausted, and life hung by a thread.

He could run no more.

His legs buckled, and he collapsed heavily to his knees on the frozen ground, his knees slamming against the dry bones with a crisp cracking sound. He braced himself with his hands on the ground, gasping for breath, coughing up blood and froth. His vision was blurred; he could only see the faint glow of the talismanic artifact in front of him, as weak as a candle flickering in the wind, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

There's no way to escape.

There's really no way to escape anymore.

Behind them, the white figure slowly came to a stop.

Tong Shou stood five zhang behind him, no longer approaching, no longer teasing, no longer playing with him.

The game is over.

The mouse can no longer run.

It's time to harvest.

He slowly raised a pale, slender little hand, and a jet-black yin energy ball began to condense in his palm. A hundred child souls screamed and cheered around him, and the yin energy domain silently spread out, freezing the surrounding air, freezing the ground, and freezing the last remaining trace of life in Wu Wei.

His blue eyes were indifferent, devoid of any emotion, reflecting only a disregard for life.

In his eyes, Wu Wei and the withered bones on the ground were no different.

Wu Wei slowly raised his head, his blood-stained profile facing the small figure behind him. There was no fear, no despair, no pleading in his eyes, only a deathly coldness and a trace of deep-seated guilt towards Shi Meng.

He did not survive.

He betrayed the path to survival that was earned with his life.

Yeah.

Once you're dead, you no longer need to remember that heavy entrustment, no longer need to remember that figure lying in blood, no longer need to remember that brief but burning warmth in this cold world.

So be it.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow to land.

The Yin Sha Ball slowly expanded in the child's palm, a hundred souls wailed, and malevolent energy soared to the sky. A fatal blow was about to fall.

But at that very moment—

Tong Shou's movements suddenly froze.

The Yin Sha sphere, which had only condensed to half its original size, instantly dissipated.

For the first time, an emotion other than indifference and mockery appeared on his face.

It was shocking.

It's panic.

It is fear.

It is an instinctive fear of a higher existence that originates from the depths of the soul.

It was a being stronger, fiercer, more refined, and more irresistible than him. The mere leak of its aura caused him, the mid-level demon chief who commanded hundreds of children, to tremble and dare not move.

Tong Shou suddenly looked up, gazing into the depths of the Black Bone Fiend Nest, towards the darkest, coldest, and most desolate underground area.

Qing Tong contracted violently, the two horns on his forehead trembled slightly, and the mini white child spirits around him instantly fell silent, not daring to make a sound, and all curled up behind him, trembling.

No sound.

There were no unusual phenomena.

There was no overwhelming force sweeping across the land.

Only a faint, extremely subtle, yet powerfully concealed high-level malevolent energy, capable of causing even the most malevolent spirits to grovel, gently dissipated from the depths of the earth.

Just a trace.

This made even Tong Shou, a mid-level assassin, unable to muster the courage to resist.

That wasn't one of their kind, nor a leader; it was absolute suppression in terms of hierarchy—it was a high-level evil spirit.

Before a high-level evil spirit, a mid-level evil spirit leader is still an ant.

Without any hesitation, Tong Shou didn't glance at Wu Wei again, nor did he care about the prey that was already in his mouth, as if he had encountered something more terrifying than life and death. The small white shadow suddenly turned around, transforming into a streak of light, and recklessly turned and ran back towards the depths of the Black Bone Fiend Nest, its speed far exceeding any moment during the previous chase.

In a panic, they fled in disarray.

Within moments, it vanished completely into the depths of the dark mist and never reappeared.

The chilling aura that had frozen everything in the air vanished instantly.

A deathly silence enveloped the surrounding area.

All that remained was Wu Wei, kneeling on the ground, exhausted and covered in blood, and the faint flickering flame of the talismanic artifact in the wind.

Everything happened too suddenly, too strangely, too unbelievably.

One second it was a cat-and-mouse game, a hopeless situation where certain death was inevitable, the next second the leader of the assassins who was chasing him fled in panic and disappeared without a trace, as if some more terrifying being had forced the leader of the assassins back to his lair without saying a word.

Wu Wei opened his eyes blankly, propped himself up on the ground, and turned his head with difficulty to look at the empty path behind him. The mist flowed and the wind howled, but there was no trace of Tong Shou.

gone.

really gone.

escaped.

He stood there, stunned. His body, which had exhausted all its strength, relaxed instantly. An indescribable feeling of exhaustion swept over him, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

The will of the pivot slowly resounded deep within his soul, carrying unprecedented solemnity, apprehension, and a trace of lingering fear:

"It wasn't that he wanted to leave... he was called back."

"Beneath the Blackbone Fiend Nest... lurks a high-ranking fiend."

"Its level is a whole rank higher than that of the Child Chief, and its aura is ancient, fierce, and extremely condensed... Just a wisp of its aura leaking out is enough to make the mid-level Fiend Chief dare not disobey in the slightest and can only return to its nest immediately, not daring to go out even half a step further."

"That's an existence he can't contend with, nor is it a level we can reach right now."

"We...we escaped with our lives."

Wu Wei remained silent, panting heavily, coughing up blood, his body completely exhausted, yet he still gripped the talisman artifact tightly in his hand, refusing to let go.

He didn't understand hierarchy, the order of evil spirits, or the terrors hidden underground.

All he knew was that...

He survived.

Shi Meng risked his life to save him.

He slowly lowered his head, looking at his blood-stained, trembling hands, and at the faint but warm firelight in front of him. Involuntarily, the image of Shi Meng before he fell reappeared in his mind.

The tall, honest-looking man, covered in wounds, spread his arms wide and used his body to shield him from all the deadly attacks.

That friend I'd known for only a month, yet who had walked alongside me, trusted me, relied on me, and entrusted my back to me.

The person who, on his deathbed, was still smiling at him, nodding to him, telling him to escape, telling him to live.

A deep, burning pain shot through my chest once more.

This time, it wasn't just a simple feeling of being moved; it was a mark etched into my very bones.

In this cold, cruel, dog-eat-dog world where everyone lived in fear, he truly understood for the first time—

You can't live by killing, and you can't survive by being strong.

It's not only through loneliness, indifference, wariness, and distrust that one can go further.

Someone is willing to take a knife for you.

Someone is willing to give their life for you.

Someone is willing to give you the chance to live.

This world is not all darkness and killing, nor is it all betrayal and exploitation.

There is also warmth.

There is still someone to rely on.

And friends.

There are reasons worth remembering, protecting, and living for, even at the cost of one's life.

Wu Wei slowly gripped the talisman, braced himself against the ground, and slowly and laboriously straightened his body again.

Although the bone armor was cracked, it was not broken.

Although his blood essence was depleted, he was not dead.

Although the sea of ​​marrow is empty, it is not exhausted.

My heart aches, but I am even more determined.

He looked up at the gradually brightening sky beyond the Black Bone Fiend Nest, towards the direction of Rock City, towards that city that held a sliver of peace and a child he had to protect.

Shi Meng, I survived.

What you risked your life for, I protected.

I will keep going.

I will become stronger.

I will remember you.

I will remember that glimmer of light that once existed in this world.

The wind swept across the western wilderness, stirring up the blood and bones on the ground, and lifting his blood-stained clothes.

Wu Wei turned around, no longer glancing at the Black Bone Fiend Nest. Dragging his battered body, he walked slowly but firmly, step by step, toward the outer city, toward peace, toward the path to survival.

Behind them, the Black Bone Fiend Nest was shrouded in swirling mist, and the high-level fiendish aura deep underground remained hidden. The child head dared not appear again, and the group of fiends dared not pursue them any further.

Above the intermediate level, there is the higher level.

The path to ruin is endless, and there are always stronger opponents.

He survived.

And this path of risking one's life for another has only just begun.