Breakthrough!

The Ghost Divination Nuo Mask's divination was incredibly precise, and it was one of the few Forbidden Items willing to communicate normally with humans.

According to its own account, it had gained consciousness a thousand years ago and witnessed many changes throughout human history.

It had once used its powerful divination to help a village avert disaster, and was treated as a sacred object.

It had also been treated as an evil object and thrown into an ancient well.

Though it often spoke in riddles, there was no denying it.

Now, it was the aid everyone needed most. Its divination could help them find the Mobius Ring Diagram as quickly as possible.

So, after a brief rest, Li Yèlái and the others set off again.

Relying on the divination ability granted and enhanced by the Ghost Divination Nuo Mask, Shā Lì formed the Nine-Character Hand Seal, divined rapidly, and led the group swiftly onward.

"It's no use, fools! You don't have enough time to make it safely through the maze!" The mask continued to talk them down. "Go back! I can lead you out of the maze! Don't you have any will to survive?"

Shā Lì sneered. "Of course I know that. But we never said we had to make it safely!"

Then she pushed open the door to a containment room.

But beyond the door was no containment room, only a long corridor. From deep within it came the sounds of a fierce battle and angry curses.

Someone was probably trying to suppress the Concealment Scarf.

At the sight, the mask was clearly stunned.

Li Yèlái also understood at once.

This wasn't a safe route. They would encounter several dangerous Forbidden Items along the way!

But it was indeed the fastest route!

To save precious time, Shā Lì had abandoned the safe route and chosen the shortest path, straight through the activity zones of the Forbidden Items!

Only this way could they make it to the Mobius Ring Diagram in time.

Perhaps humans would never understand the mysterious power within the Ghost Divination Nuo Mask.

But, in the same way, the Ghost Divination Nuo Mask would never understand human courage and sense of responsibility!

Much less the Handlers.

They resisted disasters, suppressed Forbidden Items, and watched over the public. Sometimes, they even had to turn their blades on one another and send their former teammates off to their deaths.

They were the staunchest guardians of the human race, and sufferers struggling on the edge of life and death. They faced death to protect the living!

Li Yèlái had known this for a long time, but seeing Shā Lì's actions still filled him with awe and admiration.

"Support staff, stay behind and take the safe route to the left. Everyone else, follow me!" Shā Lì shouted, charging into the corridor first.

Li Yèlái didn't hesitate. He followed close behind Cheese into the corridor.

He still had Black Shadow as his trump card. How could he back down here?

Behind them, a support staff member tried to follow at once. "We're members of the Processing Department too. Don't look down on us—"

A colleague immediately dragged them away. "You can't keep up with them. Don't hold them back. Go!"

"Be careful!"

Meanwhile, five Handlers and one Iron Guard raced through the corridor at top speed.

"Up ahead!" Shā Lì's slightly hoarse voice suddenly rang out.

Li Yèlái looked up and saw tree trunks and branches spreading out from somewhere.

They almost entirely covered the ceiling.

A flock of strange, pitch-black birds perched among them, their talons sharp and their beaks pointed. Their blood-red eyes glowed conspicuously amid the foliage.

Human remains were scattered on the branches, too. Their bodies had been torn open, their entrails ripped out and fought over.

It was like a living hell!

They were the offshoots of the C-Rank Forbidden Item, the Falling Spirit Tree! They had emerged from its spreading branches after it went out of control, and begun hunting humans.

They had already killed many people.

Seeing the support staff's torn-apart bodies, Li Yèlái felt a surge of anger rise in his chest.

At that moment, the birds seemed to notice Li Yèlái and the others. Countless monstrous birds took flight and circled together, as though preparing for their next hunt.

"There are too many. Don't get bogged down!" Cheese suddenly called out. "Xiǎo Yè, Beast Speech!"

Beast Speech? Right, these birds were merely offshoots; they weren't even supernatural creatures!

Li Yèlái's thoughts stirred, and he immediately used Void Realm Beast Speech. "Scatter!"

He uttered the obscure words.

In an instant, the birds that had gathered above them scattered, clearing a path for the group.

But soon, some of the birds broke free of the Beast Speech command and began chasing them.

Li Yèlái could only speak again, using Void Realm Beast Speech. "Go back!"

A large number of birds landed again, though they broke free of the command a few seconds later.

By then, however, Li Yèlái and the others had already run some distance.

They could see a four-way intersection several dozen meters ahead.

Then Shā Lì, at the front, shouted, "There's something around the left corner. One person, stay behind and hold it off!"

The Iron Guard immediately raised his Heat Gun and answered, "I'll do it!"

Yes, this was the safest option.

One person would hold off the Forbidden Item while the others hurried past.

But facing a Forbidden Item alone carried obvious risks.

They would be using their own life to clear a safe path for their companions—a path that could save more people!

But it wasn't time for that yet!

Li Yèlái's heart pounded violently. He spoke quickly. "All of you go. I've got a trump card! Don't look back!"

"Don't do anything reckless!" Cheese barked.

"Trust me! Keep moving, and close your eyes!" Li Yèlái shouted. He sped up at the same time, reaching the intersection first and charging straight to the left.

Behind him, his teammates gritted their teeth, closed their eyes, and raced through the intersection. In the end, they chose to trust Li Yèlái.

As Li Yèlái rounded the corner, he saw a black stone statue as tall as a person, sculpted entirely from black stone. It had wings and sharp fangs. It was a demon statue.

At that moment, the statue was covered in blood, moving freely as though it were alive. It flew toward the intersection at tremendous speed.

Like a demon hunting humans.

The C-Rank Forbidden Item, the Black Gargoyle.

Its effect was to produce a piece of black stone every so often, one of the materials used to make Psychic Weapons.

After going out of control, it became a living creature and began hunting humans.

Even if its body was smashed apart, it could quickly reassemble.

Its strength was roughly on par with a three-time-awakened psychic.

To suppress it, they had to shatter its head and keep its body from approaching for a period of time.

With abilities like that, even if Li Yèlái called out the Dual Blade Knight, the two of them wouldn't be able to hold it off. The Knight would probably be killed in no time.

But Li Yèlái wasn't afraid of it now.

Or rather, it was the one that should be afraid!

As the gargoyle approached, Li Yèlái took a lock of hair from the cloth pouch at his chest. A gentle, girlish fragrance lingered on the strands.

But the moment the Black Gargoyle saw that lock of hair, it fell from the air in terror, struggling as if it had seen a ghost.

It crashed heavily to the ground, then scrambled backward on all fours in a panic.

It was as if its prey had become its natural enemy!

This was the trump card the Doll had left Li Yèlái: hair that still carried part of her curse.

It was also one of Li Yèlái's trump cards, and one only he could use.

Only he could wield it without fear.

There was no better way to hold off the Forbidden Item.

Li Yèlái left the lock of hair there, then sped up to catch up with his companions.

Until the curse on the hair wore off, neither the gargoyle nor the birds would get past the intersection!

"What was that?" one of the Handlers shouted, noticing Li Yèlái catch up.

"The Doll's hair!" Li Yèlái replied quickly. "My curse resistance is high, so it doesn't scare me. But it sure scares Forbidden Items!"

"That's slick!" The Handler looked stunned, but there was no time to gossip.

Cheese glanced back at Li Yèlái too, but said nothing.

"Almost there, keep going!" Shā Lì shouted. "Just a few more corners!"

As they rounded the first corner, they saw another group of Handlers and Iron Guards hurrying toward them in the distance.

The other group was clearly searching for the Mobius Ring Diagram as well.

At that moment, Li Yèlái and his team weren't the only ones doing their utmost. Many teams had found the Mobius Ring Diagram's location through Forbidden Items or their own abilities. All of them were racing toward it with everything they had.

Unfortunately, those others had been held up.

They were under attack from both the Concealment Scarf and a large group of Prairie Cavalry.

Or rather, the Prairie Cavalry were attacking both the scarf and the humans.

The three sides clashed and chased one another in a fierce battle.

The Iron Guards' sturdy powered armor was riddled with arrow holes and blade marks, and every Handler was injured.

They fought as they retreated, steadily closing in on the Mobius Ring Diagram.

When they saw Li Yèlái and the others, their eyes filled with joy. One of them immediately spoke—but not to ask for help.

"We'll hold them off here. You hurry on! Go!"

The speaker was a young man. As he spoke, an arrow pierced his shoulder.

He wasn't afraid in the slightest. As though he couldn't feel the pain, he snapped the arrow in half with his left hand.

With his right, he grabbed a spear and smashed an onrushing cavalryman and his horse into the air with one blow.

The rest of his team also gave up trying to reach their destination.

They immediately turned around and joined the seemingly endless Prairie Cavalry and the Concealment Scarf, which moved like a giant python, in battle.

After seeing their teammates ahead, they resolutely abandoned their advance and turned back to cover the others.

They entrusted their hopes to their comrades.

Li Yèlái watched a Handler get his arm chopped off, and the fire inside him burned even brighter.

He wasn't sure whether it was the influence of the Heart of Slaughter.

He wanted to go help them, to cut through the cavalry.

"We—" Li Yèlái reached for the cloth pouch at his chest. There was still about half of the hair inside. It should be enough to scare those riders away!

"Don't go. There's no time. Keep moving! Hurry!" Shā Lì's eyes were bloodshot, but she didn't dare stop for even a moment. She continued leading the team forward!

The farther they went, the more battles they saw.

They even saw the bodies of several Handlers. When the gravely wounded Handlers saw them, their eyes lit up. They had seen a glimmer of hope.

So they held off the Forbidden Items with their lives, buying Li Yèlái and the others more time.

Li Yèlái spotted White Poplar, the Night Watchman who had earlier wanted to swear brotherhood with him!

At that moment, White Poplar was locked in a life-and-death battle with a Void Realm Creature.

It was the bounty hunter from the Forbidden Item, the Scarlet Wanted Order!

The Void Realm Creature was no weaker than a Fourth Awakening and wielded two kinds of strange Psychic Weapons!

Even an elite Night Watchman like White Poplar couldn't take him down easily.

White Poplar's greatsword flashed again and again, cutting through even a metal gate with one blow. But he couldn't cut through the Void Realm Creature's dagger.

When White Poplar saw Li Yèlái and the others, he laughed maniacally, his greatsword swinging more fiercely than ever!

"Don't look back! Don't look back!" he roared, laughing.

He abandoned all defense and attacked the Void Realm Creature wildly, preventing it from advancing even a step.

"Almost there! The last intersection is up ahead, just three hundred meters—aaah!"

Shā Lì's eyes were bloodshot, and her voice was hoarse. She had seen the bodies of several of her friends.

She had also seen several colleagues who needed help.

But she couldn't stop. She could only leave her colleagues behind and keep moving!

However, just beyond that final corner, hundreds of Prairie Cavalry were charging toward them.

They, too, were searching for the Mobius Ring Diagram, and they had run into humanity's last group!

At that moment, everyone in the group felt despair.

There wasn't enough time. Even if they could withstand the charge of so many cavalrymen, they definitely couldn't reach the corner in time at their current speed.

But in the next instant, the charging cavalrymen crashed to the ground. The horses behind them couldn't stop in time and trampled them to pieces.

Then more cavalrymen and horses panicked, forcibly halting the charge of the entire cavalry force.

It was Li Yèlái!

At the very back of the group, he had taken every strand of hair from the cloth pouch.

The Doll's curse of fear threw the oncoming cavalrymen into a panic.

It gave everyone one last glimmer of hope, allowing them to race ahead of the cavalry and round the corner.

"Good! It's just ahead, two hundred meters! Damn, there's another Forbidden Item up there—the last one! Hold it off! I'll go break the Mobius Ring Diagram!" Seeing a beast-shaped Forbidden Item appear ahead, Shā Lì shouted with tears and laughter, like a madwoman.

"It's just one. We only have to hold it off!" another Handler shouted excitedly. "Great work, Night General! Thanks, Doll! Thanks, Night General! You're both heroes!"

But they didn't hear any reply from Li Yèlái.

Cheese, preparing to fight, felt her heart lurch. She whipped around.

But the figure who had been following right behind her was nowhere to be seen.

All she saw at the corner were the Prairie Cavalry gathering in the distance.

And a lone figure with a blade, standing in front of the cavalry.

Had the Doll's curse worn off?

At that moment, Cheese felt a crack split her heart.

"You bastard! Why are you trying to play the hero?" Cheese roared. She turned, grabbed a handful of sugar substitute, swallowed it, and faced the last Forbidden Item blocking their way.

Wait for me. I'll be right there to save you!

Light shone in Cheese's eyes. "[Word Spirit: Burst Flame]."

Meanwhile, Li Yèlái held his blade and watched the approaching cavalry. He lowered the already-useless strand of hair and took out the summoning bell, giving it a slight shake.

The Dual Blade Knight materialized at his side.

Trying to play the hero? No, he didn't count as a hero.

Unlike the other Handlers, he dared to take risks solely because Mr. Shadow could cover for him and foot the bill.

What kind of hero did that make him?

How could he possibly compare himself to them? He was merely a despicable imitator.

But.

At least now, he could avenge those heroes.

Avenge them and settle the score!

Thus, the terrifying Double Pupils looked down upon the army, while the Heart of Slaughter beat furiously!

Today, he would break the enemy formation!

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone.)