Under Lin Qiye and An Qingyu's gaze, the Gaunt Man who had been crouching on the ground like a dog ignored the stones around him and slowly rose to his feet.
He straightened his back, pressed his palms together before his chest, and stared at the fissure overhead. Endless ash drifted down over him. If not for the eerie smile that flickered across his face from time to time, he looked almost like a devout believer receiving baptism.
"What are they doing?" An Qingyu asked with a frown. "Receiving Cthulhu's baptism?"
"Probably."
Lin Qiye nodded slightly. "Doesn't matter. Let's go over first."
The two sped through the void, weaving between countless devout wraiths. The farther forward they went, the more wraiths there were, standing amid the ash like black stakes, utterly unaware of Lin Qiye and An Qingyu passing by.
They moved incredibly fast, crossing half the valley in just over ten seconds.
But at that moment, An Qingyu, who had been continuously tapping his fingertips against his palm, suddenly noticed something unusual. His brows knitted as he lowered his gaze toward his palm.
That glance made his body jolt!
Seemingly noticing An Qingyu's abnormality, Lin Qiye turned toward him. The instant his gaze landed on the massive tumor in An Qingyu's palm, his pupils contracted sharply.
"This is..."
"It's the ash!" An Qingyu's mind raced, immediately recalling the time he had caught a speck of ash for closer observation. "Damn it. There must be Lovecraftian Deity contamination in that ash. They're trying to control me through it."
An Qingyu narrowed his eyes. Without another word, he condensed a frost sword and cleanly severed his entire right arm, hand included!
Thud—!
His whole arm rolled onto the ground.
Having cut off his own arm, An Qingyu's expression did not change