Dialing

"Tick." 520 Official Website

www.

"Tick."

Blood falls.

Gu Shen gripped the Truth Ruler, wiping his cheek with his other hand. The fire surged, and the only door leading to the rooftop had been smashed to pieces. As for the person who smashed the door... they were now scattered in every direction of the rooftop.

Time slowed down.

One second felt like an hour to Gu Shen.

He could see the angle at which every bed sheet on the rooftop fluttered, the fleeting shape of every flame, everything within his sight, and he could sense all living things around him.

Holding the Truth Ruler made his thoughts clearer, but also more numb.

This power was less like a gift from the gods and more like a deal with the devil... You grasp the power, and as you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.

The Orange Cat quieted down, silent, perched on Gu Shen's shoulder as small as a sparrow. Its eyes flickered with ever-changing light, observing Gu Shen at this moment.

["This person is dead."]

Gu Shen looked at the messy door panel and the blood clots in front of him, and this thought appeared in his mind.

["I did it…"]

Followed by a lengthy confusion.

["Did I?"]

In the long stretch of time, countless thoughts were dissected, and repeated questioning yielded the same answer.

["He did it to himself."]

Gu Shen sighed deeply, feeling as if all the strength in his body was being drained... It felt like a century had passed, but in reality, only 20 seconds had gone by.

20 seconds later.

Gu Shen wiped the blood from his cheek and silently watched the second "chaser" appear at the end of his vision, shocked by the bloody scene.

There were two people who wanted to kill him.

The guy he had just killed possessed a power that seemed to enhance his physical body... as could be seen from the way he broke through the door lock.

He was a brute.

And now, what he saw was the complete opposite, a skinny figure, not tall.

This was probably the one who tried to break down his door earlier.

At that time, he heard the sound of the door panel corroding... He must have mastered a similar power, so he was also the mastermind behind this arson.

Gu Shen slowly looked over.

At the end of the corridor, the skinny man who saw his companion turned into a pile of minced flesh was pale and his voice trembled.

"What a... joke?"

He doubted the scene his eyes were seeing.

Was all of this real?

On the rooftop, the youth with thousands of blades suspended behind him, holding a ruler, stared at him coldly. Just the stare alone brought an invisible pressure...

How could this be an ordinary person?!

["He is afraid."]

Gu Shen saw the meaning in the other's eyes.

He was actually afraid?

Afraid of him... or, this ruler?

He slowly looked at the silver Truth Ruler. From the clear, water-like silver body of the ruler, he saw himself at this moment. His familiar face had become very strange, because his eyes carried boundless killing intent.

["Killed so many people..."]

["You... deserve to die..."]

Gu Shen heard his own voice squeezing out from his chest bit by bit.

This time, the scene he imagined was what he had just seen from above the rooftop... because of that explosion, innocent people were trapped in the fire, burned to charcoal.

As the voice settled.

"Whoosh!!!"

The silver light of the Truth Ruler suddenly erupted, and this blazing light instantly crashed into the darkness at the end of the corridor.

The night turned into day!

Under the power of the Truth Ruler, the extraordinary being with incredible power seemed to have become an ant.

The terrified man suddenly caught fire. He shrieked and frantically patted himself, even rolling on the ground. He tried to extinguish the flames, but the fire burst out instantly, engulfing him like a tide.

This was a fierce yet gentle man-eating fire, burning only on him—even when the man crashed into the pile of wooden boards in the corner, only a few dim sparks splashed out, extinguishing in an instant.

This fire did not spread.

It only burned him.

Until, after a few breaths, the arsonist who had been screaming and shouting was burned to ashes by the fire he had set himself.

This fire, which completely defied logic and understanding... slowly extinguished.

A miracle.

In a sense, this was a miracle.

Gu Shen stared at this scene. He watched the flames surge and slowly extinguish in the dark corridor, eventually turning to ashes... with each second that burned, so did his thoughts.

It was a kind of ethereal, yet real existence.

That man was burned.

His own "thoughts" were also being burned.

What supported the miracle was himself, holding the Truth Ruler... In the darkness, his spirit was being used as fuel.

After the burning, only exhaustion remained.

Gu Shen exhaled a long breath.

The fingers holding the Truth Ruler began to tremble violently, and needle-like pain surged like a tide. He gasped for breath, wanting to inhale fresh air, perhaps because of the scorching fire tide, his chest felt so stuffy that he couldn't breathe.

"A little side effect." The Orange Cat emphasized the words "a little," and said calmly, "To summon wind and rain like a god, there's always a price to pay, isn't there?"

"...Yes."

Gu Shen laughed hoarsely, "Thank you for reminding me."

The overdrawn spirit was constantly reminding Gu Shen that it was time to let go.

But he didn't release the Truth Ruler; instead, he gripped it tighter, and slowly raised his head, looking at the sky.

His originally scattered mental power re-condensed.

The Orange Cat raised its head along with Gu Shen's movements.

Above the rooftop, the dome shrouded in the fiery mist inexplicably saw the emergence of patches of dark clouds. These dark clouds pieced together, thickened, and eventually enveloped the old building in a matter of seconds. Soon, raindrops began to fall, and then they connected into a curtain of rain.

Although this scene was absurd, it was within the scope of the Truth Ruler's power.

"You really are a...madman." Chu Ling sighed softly.

Gu Shen smiled, "Can I take that as a compliment?"

He was like a withered green plant, meeting timely rain after a long drought, or rather, a torrential downpour.

The rain pattered down.

Gu Shen felt a headache, a real headache, both inside and out.

The final rainfall drained all his spirit. At this moment, Gu Shen could no longer precisely control the rain like he did when he initially created the Sword Domain... But judging from the roaring momentum of this heavy rain, extinguishing the fire tide was not a problem.

After doing all this, Gu Shen had reached a point where his brain was incredibly painful even when he closed his eyes.

It really was a deal with the devil.

After the deal, he would not only be reduced to his original form but also fall into hell.

"Meow..."

The Orange Cat meowed.

Gu Shen's eyes were confused. He could barely hold the Truth Ruler anymore. Chu Ling's voice, entering his ears, had turned back into a cat's meow... The heavy rain fell, he sat slumped against the wall, his consciousness gradually dissipating.

The Orange Cat sighed, burrowed its little head into his arms, and pulled out a cell phone.

Gu Shen's lips were dry. He no longer had the strength to be surprised, and helplessly watched the Orange Cat dial that number for him.

"Beep—"

"Beep."

The call connected on the second ring.

"Hello..." Gu Shen squeezed out the last of his strength, asking with difficulty, "It's me..."

A burst of laughter came from the other end of the phone.

"I've run into some trouble... can you help me sort it out?"

"Of course!" The person on the other end of the phone laughed happily, "Even the biggest trouble can be sorted out!"

"Really..." Gu Shen also laughed, "Two terrifying guys wanted to kill me, but I turned the tables and killed them instead. That counts as self-defense, right... can you guys handle that?"

The laughter on the other end of the phone disappeared.