The Human Heart Was a Monster

"Phew."

Fei Shan woke up, sweat streaming down his forehead.

He glanced at Tang Long, who was still asleep beside him, and his expression darkened.

He saw that Jiang Yan had woken before him, but said nothing. He had even less to say now.

Still, he followed suit and stuck a Blazing Flames Talisman to his blade. A faint light flickered in the pitch-black room.

Outside, beneath that faint light, all sorts of fearsome, illusory figures appeared, wailing and shrieking without end. Yet they seemed to be blocked by some strange rule and couldn't break in.

The figures were terrifying, but they couldn't get inside. Jiang Yan watched them for a while, then lost interest.

Outside, the world was a chaos of darkness, the aura of doomsday pressing in from every direction. The tiny, abandoned house was but a speck in the ocean, yet it stood firm as a rock.

"Mm..."

Tang Long woke up too. Seeing that Fei Shan and Jiang Yan were already awake, his face filled with relief. "I nearly died in there."

The room was tiny, and Sheng Fuwu wasn't there. But when Tang Long thought of how Sheng Fuwu had left the three of them behind and fled ahead, a chill settled in his heart.

Tang Long had no reservations. "That Chief Fu sure was decisive—and ruthless." His words carried a chill.

Fei Shan replied coolly, "You've spent all these years in the Dahe Gang, and it's all been wasted on you. You're still so naive. Do you think that if he could've used your life to escape the Black Tide, he wouldn't have killed you on the spot?"

Jiang Yan lowered his head, eyes cast down, as though he hadn't heard a word the two men said.

The Black Tide came as quickly as it went.

Jiang Yan stepped out of the house and looked up at the sky. It stretched far and wide, the wind gentle and the clouds light.

"Let's go. We'll look around and see if we can find Chief Sheng."

"We'll give it at most a quarter of an hour. If we still can't find him, we'll head back."

Not far away, over a small patch of ruins, a dozen or so intact houses stood clustered together.

Turning in that direction, the group headed straight for them.

The Black Tide was terrifying. Sheng Fuwu couldn't have gone far; he was likely hiding there.

Before they could get close, suddenly—

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Loud, thunderous blasts rang out.

The houses ahead, already teetering on the brink of collapse, shook as though struck by a violent earthquake.

They crashed down in a roar, dust scattering in every direction as countless fragments shot through the air.

A roar rang out.

Sheng Fuwu burst from the dust, his face twisted with fury, fear still lingering in his eyes.

He now leaned on his saber to hold himself upright.

His left arm had been severed at the root, and blood had spilled across the ground.

Thud, thud, thud.

A monster charged out.

Jiang Yan needed only one glance to recognize it as their target.

The Shepherd Monster.

"Sh-shepherd..."

Man and monster clashed once more.

Jiang Yan and the other two swiftly drew their weapons.

"Not good. Chief Sheng is about to lose."

Sheng Fuwu was furious and alarmed. When the Black Tide struck, he had fled in panic with Sheng Lunxin.

He hadn't expected his nephew, whose aptitude and temperament were both outstanding, to fail the Black Tide's test of the mind.

His soul had been annihilated outright.

Grief-stricken and disappointed, Sheng Fuwu had intended to bury Sheng Lunxin on the spot. The wilderness was too dangerous; even he might not have been able to bring his nephew's body back.

Just as he stepped out of the house, before his eyes had adjusted to the sudden change in brightness—

A monster had ambushed him without warning. Caught off guard, he'd lost an arm on the spot.

Then he'd started fighting the monster.

With his strength, even with an arm gone, he could still kill the monster as long as he landed a hit.

But the Shepherd Monster was incredibly fast. After fighting for a while, it was unscathed, while his Inner Qi was nearly exhausted.

His body was weak, and he felt as though all the blood in him was about to run dry.

Now, even if he managed to land a blow on the Shepherd, he wouldn't be able to kill it.

In his despair, he suddenly spotted Jiang Yan and the other two standing not far away out of the corner of his eye.

An idea stirred. A cold glint crept into his eyes.

Then he deliberately took a heavy hit from the monster. Blood gushed from his mouth, several ribs snapped, and he paid that price to catch the Shepherd off guard. Though weakened, he hurriedly struck its forehead with a palm.

Then he ran toward Jiang Yan and the others.

Jiang Yan and the others had just seen that Sheng Fuwu was losing when he decisively took a hit to break free of the Shepherd Monster and raced toward them.

Jiang Yan had already decided to run. If Sheng Fuwu couldn't beat it, charging in would be suicide.

Whether they could escape was another matter. They couldn't just stand there and wait to die.

Sheng Fuwu rushed over.

He shouted, "The three of you, surround it and create an opening for me!"

At his words, the three exchanged a glance and took out their Bodyguard Talismans.

Jiang Yan lowered his sword toward the ground, pressed a Blazing Flames Talisman onto the blade, and tensed every muscle.

Sheng Fuwu reached them.

Jiang Yan and the other two started forward.

Then the unexpected happened. Just as Sheng Fuwu passed them, he suddenly turned around and struck with his palm. The blow wasn't powerful; it was a deft, glancing push.

Tang Long and Fei Shan seemed to have been on guard. They leaped aside, dodging the blow.

Jiang Yan hadn't expected it. He had just slapped on his Bodyguard Talisman when a force suddenly shoved him in the back, sending him head-on toward the charging Shepherd Monster.

Furious and shocked, he saw from the corner of his eye that Sheng Fuwu had shoved him forward, then fled without a moment's hesitation.

Sheng Fuwu's eyes were utterly indifferent. He was incredibly weak now. How could he possibly keep fighting?

That would be suicide.

He felt as though he'd nearly bled dry.

As for using Jiang Yan and the other two, he'd planned it out long ago.

All three were Martial Apprentices. They could hold the monster off for at least a little while.

Besides, monsters generally weren't very bright. They were dim-witted and knew only how to kill. Maybe it would get full after killing the three of them.

Better their deaths than his.

Tang Long and Fei Shan had been wary of Sheng Fuwu from the start. They'd weathered decades in this world and understood its people better. They'd always been ready to assume the worst of others.

Sure enough, Sheng Fuwu had intended to use the three of them as cannon fodder.

They dodged Sheng Fuwu's trap.

After exchanging glances, Tang Long shook his head.

The two of them sprinted off in different directions.

The three of them definitely couldn't kill the Shepherd, and Jiang Yan alone would be no more than a lamb to the slaughter. But the two men had no intention of dying alongside him.

They split up and ran.

After the monster killed Jiang Yan, the two of them would have a two-in-three chance of escaping its pursuit.

As for whose luck would run out and who the monster would chase down first, they'd leave that to fate. It all came down to luck.

The three men fled for their lives. Set up by Sheng Fuwu, Jiang Yan was left alone to face the monster.

In the blink of an eye, countless images flashed through his mind.

Those possessed by monsters had their blood essence drained until they were withered, their faces shriveled like dried corpses.

Those possessed by monsters became neither human nor ghost.

Betrayed by his own people, left alone to hold off the monster, his death would buy them their lives.

All-consuming fear and fury settled into calm.

A cold smile tugged at his lips.

"This world is full of monsters..."

But people's hearts... were the most changeable monsters of all.

The human heart was a monster!

He closed his eyes, then opened them.

His gaze was utterly indifferent, and his whole bearing turned cold.

Crack.

It was as if something had shattered completely.

Ever since he'd crossed over from Azure Planet, an invisible shackle around his heart had held him back. Now it dissolved without a trace.

At last, his heart had fully become one with this cruel world.