Thousand Tribulations, You Win

Qian Jie charged forward at once, with Huang Hao following close behind.

Qian Jie stood in front of Bing Lü and dealt the main damage, while Huang Hao harassed her from behind.

It was fairly easy at first. Bing Lü was being suppressed by the righteous two-on-one assault, but Qian Jie seemed to have just been bled dry and did not have much strength left.

Huang Hao looked at Qian Jie. "How did that village manage to injure you?"

"Even so, you still want to protect them?"

Qian Jie said, "Not really. I just want a fight."

Huang Hao looked at him without saying anything. He simply charged forward as well and stood alongside Qian Jie.

"Hey, you, don't—"

Before Qian Jie could finish, Bing Lü's attacks suddenly grew stronger and surged toward him.

"Watch out." Huang Hao quickly flashed in front of Qian Jie and blocked the first wave of impact.

Qian Jie was somewhat unwilling to accept it, but he said nothing and simply attacked alongside Huang Hao.

At that moment, Bing Lü began charging up, and several thousand icicles appeared before them.

"What the hell? Didn't Bing Lü have this move in the game?"

Qian Jie's expression turned somewhat grim when he saw the icicles, but he did not move.

Huang Hao grew anxious. "No, what are you thinking? You're still planning to take this final attack head-on?"

"If you don't dare, then I, your grandpa, do!"

Huang Hao kept attacking Bing Lü with fire, but Bing Lü spent the entire time charging her ultimate, so it had little effect.

The ultimate was ready soon. With the same power Huang Hao had unleashed when he fell at the beginning, it came crashing down.

Qian Jie took up a defensive stance, but Huang Hao clearly did not trust his defenses. He split off some flames and wrapped them around Qian Jie.

Qian Jie stared at himself in surprise, then looked toward Huang Hao. "What are you doing? Aren't you using that power to defend yourself?"

Huang Hao smiled. "Don't worry. Even after you're dead and turned to ash, I won't—"

Before he could finish, the enormous icicles slammed into them. With Qian Jie's own defenses, along with the flames weakening the ice, he suffered only the tremendous force of the impact and was sent flying several meters backward.

Huang Hao was not so lucky. Already distracted by worry for Qian Jie, he had failed to prepare a defense, and without his own power protecting him, an icicle pierced straight through his chest.

"Hey, you!"

Qian Jie stared at Huang Hao in shock.

"We just met. Why did you save me like that?"

Huang Hao looked at the icicle embedded in his body. Black flames gathered around the wound, and he felt no pain, only a lack of strength.

Qian Jie pulled the icicle from Huang Hao's chest, threw it to the ground, and helped him up.

"You said it yourself—we... had just met. You were willing to come help me right after meeting me, so I had to... return the favor somehow," Huang Hao replied weakly.

Qian Jie looked at Huang Hao, angry and sorrowful. During the battle, he had already come to regard Huang Hao as a friend. He had never expected to lose him again so soon.

"Relax. I'm fine."

After Huang Hao finished speaking, black flames surrounded him, and he vanished.

Qian Jie stared blankly at the empty ground. Huang Hao had disappeared, leaving behind only a few scattered black flames.

Qian Jie turned around furiously. "You damn bastard! I just made a friend, and you dared to—! I still haven't avenged those villagers!" With that, he charged forward like a bolt of lightning.

Bing Lü had just finished charging her ultimate and was in a weakened state. When she saw Qian Jie rushing over, she looked extremely frightened and directly summoned icicles at him.

Qian Jie was consumed by rage. He charged straight to Bing Lü, trading injury for injury, ignoring the wounds on his body as he seized her head and dragged her across the ground.

Sand and dust flew up along the way. After dragging Bing Lü all the way, Qian Jie flung her into the air, then leaped up and smashed her down, creating another crater. He grabbed Bing Lü by the shoulder and brutally tore her apart with his bare hands, splitting her into five pieces. (Respect history. Respect Shang Yang.)

After finishing all of this, Qian Jie looked back at the scene. He had no strength left and collapsed.

Angela watched everything from the side. She did not feel sad about Huang Hao's disappearance, because she knew that Huang Hao had merely gone to the Imaginary Tree.

At that moment, Huang Hao's voice appeared in Angela's mind. "Are you there? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

Angela replied, "Father, you were far too reckless. What if you hadn't succeeded? I was startled too, you know."

Huang Hao laughed loudly. "An'er, don't worry. I've already tested it. I'm only an entity of consciousness, so I can return to the blank space at any time. Short of special methods, it's impossible for me to die from physical damage alone."

"By the way, do me another favor. Write a letter for me and place it on Uncle Qian Jie from earlier."

Angela asked, "What should I write?"

Huang Hao said, "Write..."

No one knew how long had passed before Qian Jie woke up and found himself in an unfamiliar place.

"Where is this? How did I end up here?"

"You're awake?" A well-built young woman walked over.

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Aponia. I saw you unconscious on the ground, so I brought you back to treat your injuries." The woman named Aponia answered him. "Oh, there's also a letter for you here. It was on you when you passed out."

Qian Jie eyed it warily, but he still reached out and took the letter. It read:

"My friend, I'm perfectly fine. After you passed out, I came back, only to find that you had already taken care of everything. I didn't expect you to be so powerful. This time, you win. When we meet again, I won't go easy on you. I imagine you have quite a few questions, so I might as well tell you everything. Angela really is my child, but she's rather special. You could say she's also a product of the Honkai. As for my power, read more books. Once you know about the Imaginary Tree, you'll understand. After all, I'm not a Herrscher, though there's no way you would know about the Imaginary Tree anyway. Oh, and if you join Moth to the Flame in the future, remember to pull me up with you. I don't want to be some low-ranking soldier."

"I seem to remember that you could have killed me instantly. Who were you worried about—me or Angela? Just kidding. We'll probably meet again, so just don't mistake me for a stranger and beat me to death."

"-----Your friend, Huang Hao."