He stared at the back of the figure standing off against the Scarecrow.
The despair in Guo Shuai's heart had reached its peak.
"Wolves ahead, tigers behind... No, monsters ahead and a terrifying Weiren behind..."
Guo Shuai gave a bitter smile. He figured he was definitely going to die here today.
But...
As he looked at the Man in black shirt, a strange glimmer of hope suddenly welled up inside him.
Although he had no idea how strong this "Weiren" was, if he could fight the Scarecrow to the death—
Or even kill it, then that would count as avenging Old Yang!
"Sound!!"
Summoning the last of his strength, Guo Shuai shouted at the figure's back:
"Its weakness is sound! It can't see! Don't make a sound!!"
But...
Neither the Man in black shirt nor the terrifying Scarecrow paid him any attention.
In the Scarecrow's eyes, burning red, there was only that man.
Or rather, only the little thing hanging from the man's waist.
It was his avatar, and the Beacon of Curse.
In its field of vision, Jiangnan was like a gigantic red lighthouse walking through the night, so dazzling it drove the Scarecrow into a frenzy!
"ROAR!!!"
The Scarecrow let out a roar that sounded nothing like a human's. Its three Withered Wood Arms slammed against the ground, and it shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
"PREY!!!"
Faced with the stench sweeping toward him, Jiangnan's expression didn't so much as flicker.
He stood quietly in place, watching the monster charge toward him.
He'd heard what the survivor had said just now.
If it wasn't blind, there could only be one reason.
This "souvenir" he'd brought back from the woods, hanging from his waist.
It was called something like Gaze...
"So that's why you've been staring at me?"
Jiangnan reached out and plucked the tattered Small Scarecrow from his waist.
"Since you like looking so much..."
He abruptly raised his arm and hurled the Small Scarecrow in his hand straight at the charging monster's face!
The moment the Small Scarecrow left his hand...
Jiangnan's right hand blurred. He stuck out his thumb and pointed his index finger forward.
Mozambique Drill.
It was the pinnacle of close-quarters Gun Fu.
Two shots to the torso, one to the head.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three shots rang out almost simultaneously!
The first and second shots struck the Small Scarecrow in midair and the monster's enormous chest!
Boom!
The Beacon of Curse shattered instantly!
The third shot ignored the monster's defenses and blew apart its head, stuffed with straw!
"Creak!!"
The Scarecrow hadn't even reached Jiangnan before it was blown to pieces in midair!
Countless withered yellow stalks spiraled through the air, like yellow snow falling from the sky.
"Huh?"
Guo Shuai, sprawled on the ground, was completely dumbfounded.
That was it... It was over?
The terrifying boss that had slaughtered all those people like chickens!
The one that had chased them until they had nowhere to run, not even in heaven or on earth...
It was as fragile as paper in front of this man?!
But...
The instant that thought crossed Guo Shuai's mind—
"Watch your back!!" His pupils shrank.
In the Wheat Field behind Jiangnan, countless Wheat Stalks writhed and intertwined, and in just one second—
They had re-formed into the towering Three-Handed Scarecrow!
It wasn't dead! It was the embodiment of the Wheat Field!
Though the red light had vanished from the Scarecrow's eyes, the fury of being humiliated had only made it more savage.
The lantern in its hand transformed into a huge Death God's Scythe, which it brought down hard on the back of Jiangnan's neck!
Guo Shuai was about to shout a warning.
But Jiangnan merely sneered. He didn't turn around.
He slowly raised his left hand, holding his index finger upright against his lips.
He made an elegant, forbidden gesture.
"Shh."
Buzz!
An invisible wave centered on Jiangnan instantly swept through a thirty-meter radius!
Word Spirit · Silence.
In an instant, the world's sound was switched off.
Guo Shuai opened his mouth to yell, only to find not a sound coming from his throat.
He stared at Jiangnan in shock. It was obvious that he had done this!
Behind Jiangnan, the Scarecrow was just as stunned.
It angrily swung its scythe, trying to cleave through the air, trying to hear the wind, trying to hear its prey scream.
But...
Nothing.
There was nothing at all.
It began waving its hands frantically, trying to summon the sinister wind.
Whoosh!
A fierce gale rose, making Jiangnan's shirt whip and the waves of wheat roll.
But within the Silence Domain, even a storm was mute!
Guo Shuai was drenched in cold sweat. He gestured frantically.
To him, Jiangnan might have been a terrifying Weiren, but if he could kill the monster, Guo Shuai was willing to sacrifice his life!
"Dodge! Hurry, dodge! It's right behind you!"
But Jiangnan didn't turn around at all. He didn't even move his feet.
The Scarecrow froze in midair, its scythe raised.
It had no idea where to strike!
Without the wind to guide it, without a heartbeat or footsteps to follow—
In this utterly silent domain, blind and stripped of its hearing, it was nothing but a complete waste!
The Scarecrow was at a loss.
Why was there no sound?
Where was my wind? Where was my hearing?
Jiangnan only stared coldly at the shadow on the ground.
The shadow of the figure holding up a scythe, stretched long by the moonlight, fell beside his feet.
"Sorry."
Jiangnan gave a scornful laugh in his heart.
"Whether it's the wind, the Wheat Stalks, or the entire world..."
"Within my domain, everything is stripped of the right to make a sound."
"Except... me."
Jiangnan slowly raised his right hand. Without even glancing back, he aimed the muzzle behind him at the shadow's head.
"Bang."
Boom!
An Air Bullet pierced straight through the Scarecrow's head.
Thud.
Its enormous body collapsed helplessly to the ground and turned into a pile of rotten straw.
Jiangnan lowered his hand, gazing indifferently at the wreckage beneath his feet.
"Sorry. You may not be able to hear, but I'm not blind."
Guo Shuai was once again utterly stunned.
Too strong...
This Weiren was simply too strong!
His absolute control over the battle, his composure as he toyed with the boss in the palm of his hand...
If he were the boss here, Yang Wei and Guo Shuai wouldn't last five seconds!
They'd be killed the moment they met him!
But...
The battle wasn't over.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
The boundless Wheat Field suddenly began to shake violently.
The Scarecrow Lord was utterly enraged.
It was intelligent.
It realized that this human was the most terrifying enemy it had ever encountered!
His abilities were too strange!
But this was its territory!
Its world!
It would never allow anyone else to lay claim to it!
If it couldn't hear, it would bury him under sheer numbers!
If it couldn't see, it would grab him!
Rumble!
Countless Wheat Stalks sprang from the ground. One, two, ten, a hundred...
Dense ranks of Scarecrows clutching scythes emerged from every direction, sealing off the escape route to the woods!
If anyone touched even one Scarecrow, it would trigger [Gaze], and the Scarecrow Lord would regain its sight!
Guo Shuai felt the red dots of [Danger Sense] spike across his mind. His whole body trembled uncontrollably.
So this... was its true strength.
All along, it had been playing with them.
"Heh... Hahaha..."
Guo Shuai laughed as he fell apart. Though no sound came out, tears and snot smeared his face.
"Old Yang... So all our efforts were just a joke!"
"A joke!!"
He threw his head back and howled, his heart filled with hatred for this world.
Why give them hope?
Why let them see a glimmer of dawn, only to shove them into the abyss?
Faced with this hopeless dead end, Guo Shuai finally broke.
He crawled on his knees to Jiangnan and made a series of clumsy, chaotic gestures, pointing at his own neck.
"Kill me... Please... Just make it quick..."
"I don't want to turn into one of those monsters... I don't want to become a Scarecrow..."
But...
Jiangnan didn't pay him any attention.
For one thing, he couldn't understand those nonsensical hand signals. And for another...
He was annoyed.
Jiangnan folded his arms and looked at the Scarecrow Legion engulfing him on all sides, his brow furrowing slightly.
"What a troublesome monster."
"No wonder it couldn't enter during the day. So it wasn't that the Scarecrows had come to life..."
"It was this entire Wheat Field that had come to life."
As long as the Wheat Field remained, this monster was immortal and could reassemble endlessly.
Bullets were useless against it.
Silence could only buy them time.
"Since that's the case..."
Jiangnan sighed and glanced at the System Panel.
He'd meant to show off a little, but his opponent was playing dirty and insisting on a contest of reserves.
Then don't blame me for playing dirty too.
[Ding! It is now midnight, 00:00.] [Daily Settlement complete.] [Word Quota refreshed: +1 (current balance: 6338)] [Current location: Death Wheat Field] [Sign-in successful!] [Congratulations, host. You have obtained Word Spirit: Calamity Flame Time Ash (S-class)!]
Looking over the description of his newly acquired Word Spirit, Jiangnan's lips curled upward.
[Word Spirit: Calamity Flame Time Ash (S)]
Effect: Ignites the target's time itself, transforming it into Crimson-Black Tribulation Flame that coils around the target until its time withers away or burns out completely.
Trait: Affects a single target only. Ignores physical and magical defenses. Cannot be dodged. Immortal and indestructible.
Cost: 12 words.
Activation method: ...
"Ignite time, huh..."
Jiangnan smiled.
This skill was practically tailor-made for the "immortal" Wheat Field before him.
Although 12 words was expensive.
But how could he scrimp during a glorious S-class showing-off moment?
Jiangnan slowly stepped forward, ignoring the Scarecrow Army stirring restlessly all around him.
He raised his right index finger to his mouth and bit down hard.
Hiss.
That hurt a little.
A bright red bead of blood welled up from his fingertip.
Jiangnan's expression turned solemn.
He extended his bloodied finger and gently touched the nearest stalk of wheat.
It was part of this Wheat Field, and it was also the monster's true body.
Or perhaps every monster was its true body.
At that moment, the wind stopped.
All the scarecrows seemed to sense something. They halted instinctively, trembling.
Jiangnan looked at the stalk of wheat, his voice low.
"Let this be your candle."
"To honor the rest of your life."
"Burn... to ashes!"
Boom!!!
The instant the words fell.
The drop of blood did not fall. Instead, it instantly transformed into a Crimson Black fire lotus!
The flames had no heat.
They didn't even ignite the stalk of wheat itself.
But in the next second,
the Crimson Black flames were like a plague—no, like a fast-forward button for time!
Centered on Jiangnan's fingertip, a sea of Crimson Black flames erupted in an instant!
Whoosh!
The sea of flames, black as ink, swallowed everything within a hundred miles in an instant!
This was no ordinary fire.
This was Time Poison!
"Roar!!!"
"Creak!!!"
Countless scarecrows let out screams of unimaginable anguish!
Yet, bizarrely, the flames passed through Guo Shuai's body and Jiangnan's clothes without harming either of them.
They burned only one thing: the "lifespan" of this Wheat Field!
Under Guo Shuai's gaze, so shocked that he could no longer think,
the once golden wheat withered and blackened in the Crimson-Black flames!
Before their eyes, it crumbled into flying ash that filled the sky!
What a magnificent sight!
The entire world became a Crimson-Black purgatory!
The Scarecrow Army, so arrogant just moments ago, struggled wildly in the flames, their bodies rapidly aging and disintegrating.
One second, a thousand years!
This Death Wheat Field, which had survived for who knew how many ages, was being forced by that man to burn away the rest of its life—with a drop of blood and a single flame!
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