How Come I'm the One Being Pursued?

The crowd in the stands grew larger and larger. As the time crept closer to nine thirty, the mood of the crowd soared ever higher. The entire venue felt like the calm before a storm, waiting in a silent, sweltering atmosphere for the moment of complete release.

"Guinaifen! Look! It's Guinaifen!"

The emotions that had been suppressed for so long were instantly detonated by that scream. In an instant, overwhelming cheers and shrieks swept through the venue. Fanatical fans waved their glow sticks and light signs with all their strength, screaming in excitement as they welcomed their idol onto the stage.

"Guinaifen! Guinaifen! Guinaifen!"

"Miss Guinaifen──! It's me──! Please marry me──!!"

"Miss Guinaifen, I love you so much! For you, I'll buy the collaboration figures—one thousand of them still won't be enough!"

Listening to the ear-splitting screams around him, Bai Jun really wanted to stuff two balls of cotton into his ears. But blocking his hearing would affect his judgment, so he could only let out a brief lament like a middle-aged man who couldn't accept pop culture. "This is insane. I feel like my ears are about to go deaf."

"What? Brother, what did you just say—?"

"No—thing—!"

Amid the enormous vortex formed by high-powered speakers, screams, cheers, and countless other sounds, Bai Jun could only raise his voice as much as possible and practically shout while talking to Boothill.

Amid the boiling fervor, Guinaifen's graceful figure appeared at the center of the stage beneath the spotlight.

Cute, beautiful, mature, pure—countless words of the highest praise seemed to flood into the audience's hearts in an instant. As they gazed at the blue-haired idol smiling gently beneath the spotlight, the venue actually fell into brief silence.

Even Bai Jun couldn't help lingering on her face for a little longer.

Even under all those colored lights, her looks and beauty didn't diminish in the slightest... No, perhaps all that complicated makeup before going onstage was the secret to maintaining her appearance beneath those kaleidoscopic spotlights.

Bai Jun suddenly found his and Boothill's earlier shortsightedness rather laughable. No wonder those costume designers and makeup artists had been displeased.

But that thought quickly vanished as a light, ethereal melody began to play. It felt completely different from listening to a record on a CD player. A voice capable of touching the soul gradually rose, and the listeners all fell under the spell of the intoxicating singing, unable to pull themselves free.

Even Boothill, who was also on guard duty, couldn't help nodding and humming along to the rhythm. Bai Jun, however, wasn't as captivated as everyone else. He heard something else within the song.

"This feeling... is it the power of Harmony?"

Influenced by the Sui Emperor, Bai Jun was extremely sensitive to the aura of all kinds of Path powers. In less than a moment, he sensed traces of Harmony in Guinaifen's voice. Yet this power had no target; it simply conveyed all manner of positive emotions to the listeners, along with something beautiful known as hope.

Even setting all that aside, Guinaifen's singing was simply in a league of its own.

Bai Jun found a seat with a good view. As he listened to Guinaifen sing, he silently observed the situation around the venue.

Interestingly, he spotted one or two familiar figures in the crowd. Qing Que, Sushang, and Guinaifen... Why was Tingyun here too? Wasn't she supposed to be busy with work?

Because of work over the past two days, Bai Jun hadn't brought his Jade Omen with him. Looking back, that had indeed been a wise decision. Otherwise, all those incoming calls would have been a real headache.

When Guinaifen's song was halfway through, Bai Jun noticed a few people moving about in certain areas. Though that was perfectly normal, everyone else was sitting in their seats, immersed in Guinaifen's singing, making these people stand out as particularly strange.

They were dressed very ordinarily, and their appearances were those of average people. At first glance, nothing seemed wrong. But on closer inspection, every one of them carried a dark green crossbody sports bag over one shoulder, and their expressions were far too calm.

Especially when Bai Jun noticed one person's wrist, his casual expression vanished instantly. After sighing, he slowly rose from his seat.

"What's wrong, brother?"

"...Work's here."

Bai Jun's sudden movement immediately caught Boothill's attention. After hearing his words, Boothill unhesitatingly loaded bullets into his revolver and swept his sharp gaze across the stands. "What direction?"

He trusted Bai Jun's judgment. As long as Bai Jun said the word, Boothill would immediately fire toward the direction he indicated.

Bai Jun shook his head rationally and gently pressed down Boothill's raised revolver. "No shooting. It'll cause panic among the people inside."

After all, the essence of protecting Guinaifen was to prevent anything from happening during the concert that might damage the Luofu's reputation and image. If gunfire caused panic and chaos, it would completely go against the purpose of this mission. Maintaining this stable situation until the end was the real objective.

No matter how unreliable he seemed normally, Bai Jun still knew what mattered most when the time came.

"Go notify Helen, then keep observing from here. I'll deal with those guys first."

After memorizing the approximate locations and appearances of those people, Bai Jun picked up the saber at his waist, intending to deal with the rats lurking in the shadows alone. But Boothill suddenly patted his shoulder.

"It's fine, brother. I expected this much. Look—"

Boothill pulled an entirely black suppressor from his pocket and calmly fitted it onto his revolver's barrel. Bai Jun didn't know how it worked, but seeing the older Sea-patrolling Ranger's confident expression, he smiled faintly.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Lord Sower, what should we do?"

Hearing the voice beside him, Tanga, who had only recently taken up his position, stroked his chin.

As a Sower, he looked utterly harmless. His appearance was plain, his height average, and his frame thin. He was the sort of ordinary person who would disappear into a crowd and never be found again. Yet the crimson sword hilt secretly bound to his arm seemed to remind everyone of his extreme danger.

"Patience. In another ten—no, five minutes, throw the solidified Vidyadhara marrow powder we tested last time onto the stage and into the audience. Once the chaos starts, immediately flee toward the predetermined location. Do not get drawn into a fight."

After the testing in Aurum Alley and further improvements, the solidified Vidyadhara marrow powder could now drive individuals with Mara-struck tendencies into madness in an extremely short time. Even for those who weren't Xianzhou natives, the various toxins in the powder would be enough to give them hell.

After finalizing the plan, Tanga smugly looked around at the Cloud Cavalry standing guard throughout the venue, inwardly lamenting their stupidity.

He hadn't expected this mission to be so easy. Perhaps the Luofu simply didn't care about this concert. The Cloud Cavalry posted around the venue were all ordinary soldiers, and even getting through security had been no trouble. Everything had gone so smoothly that it was almost unbelievable, but that suited him just fine.

As long as they could stir up chaos at this concert, the Luofu would certainly be swept into a storm of public opinion. It would be best if they could kill that big star. Then, under pressure from public opinion and Penacony, the Luofu's internal affairs would surely descend into utter disorder.

Yet the followers behind him never answered. Tanga, who had carved his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Zhuming, immediately seemed to realize something. His pupils widened, and his fingers touched Crimson Thorn's hilt.

"Don't move, or I'll kill you immediately."

A hand pale enough to be called fair rested on his shoulder, as casually as if it belonged to an old friend. Yet the chill in that voice made Tanga swallow hard, his body turning as cold as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely see the icy azure pupil beside him. A vast pressure rose from within his heart, and at that moment, a terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in Tanga's mind.

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die...

But he knew that if he shifted his gaze away from the presence he had no choice but to guard against with every nerve tense, the price would be meeting his end immediately.

"This powder smells familiar. Hmm, as expected, you were the one causing trouble in Aurum Alley last time, weren't you?"

"────Ugh!?"

Before he could answer, an irresistible force covered Tanga's mouth. When his consciousness returned, he had already been dragged to the open space beneath the stadium, then violently smashed into the ground.

The stone floor caved in with a crash, sending fragments flying in every direction and creating cracks that were horrifying to behold.

The fierce impact shooting from his back through his entire body nearly shattered Tanga's consciousness. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and stared wide-eyed at the newcomer.

"It's, it's you!?"

True Monarch Liujing (4.1k)

Silver hair, blue eyes, a tall figure...

Those familiar traits immediately reminded Tanga of the silver-haired young man he had seen in Aurum Alley. Though he had only glimpsed him from afar back then, Tanga could still sense the terrifying strength he radiated. Now that the man was right before him, that suffocating feeling had become even stronger.

Tanga now felt nothing but boundless regret. If he had known this would happen, he would never have volunteered to accept this mission from the leader. Then he would not have ended up in this impossible situation.

He knew very well that there was absolutely no way he could escape from the man before him.

But that didn't mean he would surrender without a fight. On the contrary, a streak of crimson silently seeped into his palm. Vast vitality, like firewood, poured into his body and repaired all of his injuries from moments ago.

Tanga wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and slowly rose from the ground. A strange, entirely crimson blade appeared in his hand.

"An outward thorn from a crimson heart. Han Guang's sword..."

Bai Jun recognized the weapon at a glance and wasn't particularly surprised. He had seen this sword countless times in the notes handwritten by Huai Yan.

Han Guang had once been Old Master Huai Yan's prized disciple, and could be considered Bai Jun's senior brother, though they had never met. Unfortunately, driven by vanity and inspiration, he had ultimately fallen beneath his own creation. Many of his works had then flowed out of Zhuming, and Crimson Thorn was a sword he had forged in his early years.

It was three chi and three cun long, with a hilt but no guard or scabbard. The blade itself had no edge, its color like dark bluish iron. Sharp thorns grew across it, while near its tip protruded a spike resembling red-hot molten iron.

Its shape did not resemble an ordinary sword. Rather, it looked like a wooden staff with a long thorn extending from one end. At the core of its metal blade was a piece of bionic Ambrosial Arbor sprout, designed to kill Abundance abominations capable of rapidly healing their wounds.

When its tip pierced the flesh of a Long-lived species, Crimson Thorn would rapidly draw out the victim's vital energy, causing their body to wither away. It sounded mystical, but in reality, it merely injected toxins specifically designed to suppress the cellular activity of Long-lived species...

Many treasured swords from the Forge Palace had designs that appeared wonderfully mysterious on the surface but were actually nothing remarkable once explained.

However, Huai Yan's handwritten notes mentioned that Crimson Thorn itself could store vitality. Whenever its sharp thorns came into contact with living creatures, they would mercilessly suck away their vital energy and convert it into pure life force stored in the blade. That was probably why Tanga's injuries had healed so quickly just now.

"How do you know that... Could it be that you're from Zhuming too?"

Tanga heard Bai Jun's mutter and surprise appeared on his face. The smith who had forged Crimson Thorn had long since died, and the name of the weapon had never been recorded in any of Zhuming's registries of famous swords. He had only obtained it after great hardship in Zhuming, seizing it from someone else.

For this man to recognize Crimson Thorn at a glance was enough to prove that he was no ordinary person... Could he be from the Forge Palace as well?

Bai Jun did not answer his question. He simply drew the saber from his waist with an icy expression.

Seeing this, Tanga abruptly stomped forward, and his body instantly vanished from sight.

The oppressive presence disappeared along with his figure. Bai Jun calmly raised his saber hilt. The blade gleamed with cold light as it carved an arc through the air.

Clang—!

In the next instant, sparks burst from the empty air. The pale blade precisely caught the scarlet thorns that covered Crimson Thorn's knobby surface. At the same time, Tanga's figure appeared before him. Yet he showed no panic, instead revealing a bloodthirsty smile.

As the blades locked, Crimson Thorn burst open in midair, its scarlet spikes whipping around like a thorned lash.

Eyes, kidneys, spine, heart—fierce, merciless killing blows stabbed at Bai Jun's body from every angle as he remained locked in the stalemate.

Tanga was certain that Bai Jun would inevitably suffer some injury in this situation. As long as he took one strike, the thorns on Crimson Thorn would grow and attach themselves to him, piercing his body and stealing his vital energy.

He knew full well that he could never defeat Bai Jun, so his goal was not to kill him. It was to weaken his condition and find a chance to escape.

Yet Bai Jun's expression remained cold. Nothing Tanga did had caused even the slightest change in his face. Alarm bells blared in Tanga's heart, and instinct from the depths of his soul told him something was wrong. But the arrow was already on the string; he had no choice but to fire.

Before Tanga's horrified eyes, the pale longsword suddenly gathered a fierce radiance. The pale patterns faded, replaced by a crimson blade like flame and an erupting, blistering heat.

That terrifying temperature made Tanga immediately try to pull Crimson Thorn away. But the longsword, blazing with divine firelight, had already unleashed a storm of saber radiance like a raging gale. When the storm subsided, Crimson Thorn's spikes had all been severed, and the life force Tanga had painstakingly accumulated over many years vanished along with the damaged weapon.

Before he could even grieve, Tanga followed the momentum and pulled Crimson Thorn free. Just as he thought he could escape, a longsword burning with firelight pierced through his body, pinning the Sower to the wall and leaving him unable to move.

The ground shook violently. The surroundings had been scorched into pits and craters by chaotic, raging flames, while Tanga's heavily wounded body hung high against the wall like a strip of torn cloth. Having barely survived, he clutched his chest and coughed up mouthfuls of blood mixed with large clots, his eyes filled with shock.

Crimson Thorn's blade had been damaged, and damaged with exquisite precision. The blade itself had not been completely destroyed, but all the precious life force he had painstakingly accumulated over years had been drained away. Moreover, there was nothing nearby for him to draw vitality from. Even if he wanted to recover from his injuries now, he couldn't.

Where are my teammates? Where are my teammates? Help me!

He had no time to think further. The wound in his chest was constantly being scorched by flames, and bone-deep pain surged over him like a tide, nearly making him pass out.

"Unbelievable. Why do you know Crimson Thorn's abilities so well? And even the Luofu's Cloud Cavalry Vanguards could never possess power on your level... Who the hell are you!?"

Blood flooded back into his lungs, making him vomit another great mouthful of blood. Amid the agony of being burned by blazing flames, Tanga's fading consciousness suddenly connected this to a legendary tale he had once heard by chance in Zhuming.

In only three years, from knowing nothing of swordsmanship to sweeping through the Flame Wheel Eight Leaves overnight, then effortlessly earning the title of Hundred Refinements Master that countless craftsmen dreamed of...

It sounded like something no one would believe even if it were written into a novel. But as though possessed, Tanga exhausted all his strength and roared, "You, you wouldn't happen to be True Monarch Liujing, the foremost of Zhuming's Flame Wheel Eight Leaves, would you?"

"The Flame Wheel Eight Leaves are ranked only by age. I'm not the foremost, and don't call me by such an embarrassing title." Pinching his chin with slender fingers, Bai Jun's attitude toward the matter was rather perfunctory.

"Heh, I thought that old storyteller was just talking nonsense again. I never expected it to be true..." After receiving his answer, Tanga's breath grew weaker and weaker, yet he couldn't stop the bitter smile on his face. In the end, it turned into a relieved sigh. "Fine. At least dying by your hand wouldn't be unjust."

"I controlled my strength. You won't die this quickly. Go repay your sins in Prison of Deep Seclusion." Bai Jun merely responded with that light remark, then slowly walked toward the wall, preparing to take Crimson Thorn.

Knowing better than anyone the Xianzhou's brutal methods of dealing with heretics, Tanga would rather die here than become a prisoner.

Like a madman, he gripped Crimson Thorn's blade in his palm. Amid a shrill scream, all the vitality in his body was absorbed by Crimson Thorn. His arm gradually shriveled like a dead branch, while red light shone from his hollow eye sockets like a vampire's.

The entire sequence was too mad and too swift. Though Bai Jun immediately seized Crimson Thorn, he was ultimately one step too late.

"Tch, this lunatic... I should've shot through all four of his limbs with Heavenly Fire first."

Already full of resentment over the Aurum Alley incident, Bai Jun immediately grew furious at the sight. Had he known this would happen, he wouldn't have held back just to spare the man's life. Rather than dying so pathetically, it would have been better to let Bai Jun vent his anger.

Bai Jun wore a helpless and disappointed expression as he looked down at the silent Crimson Thorn in his arms.

"Brother, I'm done on my side. How's it going over here... Whoa, what the hell is that?"

After dealing with the other Medicine King's Legacy followers, Boothill hurried over upon hearing the loud commotion from this side. At a glance, he spotted the dried corpse nailed to the wall. The gruesome scene made him feel a little physically sick.

He swallowed and asked tentatively, "Brother, did... did you do this?"

"What are you talking about? I don't have that kind of sick hobby..."

Bai Jun sighed and pulled the longsword from the wall. He ignored the dried corpse falling to the ground and cleanly smashed Crimson Thorn's sword body apart, taking only its sword core to send back to Zhuming.

The demonic sword could drive those around it mad. To avoid any accidents along the way, Bai Jun could only destroy it. This was the safest and most reliable method.

"Thank you both so much! Without your help, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Backstage at the concert, Guinaifen had just finished a two-hour performance. After hearing what had happened, she rushed over before she even had time to remove her makeup, bowing apologetically to Bai Jun and Boothill.

"Haha, don't be like that, big star. I only followed brother's lead during this operation. If you want to thank someone, thank him instead. Right, brother?"

"Don't listen to his nonsense. This was simply our duty, and your security team provided plenty of help as well, so there's no need to worry about it."

Boothill laughed carelessly and threw an arm around the shoulder of the man who had truly done the most. Bai Jun rolled his eyes, shoved the approaching Boothill away with his elbow, and gave Guinaifen an embarrassed smile.