After finishing hot pot, the two hurried home. As soon as they arrived, they received a text saying their forum rank had been upgraded.
"It's finally here." Lin Yue immediately checked out the newly unlocked features, while Chen Xi went straight to the Advanced Forum.
The forum they'd seen before was only the surface-level area for beginners to talk, and its censorship was extremely strict. They couldn't find a single post about Evil Flower.
Sure enough, as soon as they opened the Advanced Forum, the homepage was almost entirely filled with posts about Evil Flower.
There were also many recent pleas for help, most of them posted from Tianhai City.
Chen Xi skimmed through a few posts and felt that the Spark Federation was on the brink of collapse. Apart from the dozen or so cities at its core, people in the dozens of other cities were all living in fear.
Outside the encirclement around the central cities, the Evil Flower organization had even set up squads to hunt down fleeing Transcendents.
Whenever the Tier 6 Transcendent stationed there showed any sign of movement, they scattered in every direction, only for their main force to continue devouring the cities under the Spark Federation's control.
In this way, Evil Flower and the Spark Federation maintained a strange balance.
This left the Spark Federation in an incredibly bizarre predicament: the central region was all song and dance, while the western border was engulfed in flames of war.
Chen Xi sorted the posts by date and found that all this had started three months ago.
"So that's how it is?!" After reading everything, Lin Yue finally understood why no help had arrived.
The Spark Federation could barely even protect itself.
"Chen Xi, what do we do?" The blonde girl looked close to tears.
She'd just dealt with Wu Xin, and now another mess was waiting for her—a mess she had no way to clean up.
Lin Yue finally understood why Lu Shaoqi had said the other teams had something wrong with their heads.
At a time like this, they were still fighting over some stupid Vampire.
Chen Xi remained calm. "What can we do? Run."
"I've already posted a bounty." As she spoke, she showed Lin Yue the forum's backend.
[Bounty: 5,000 Spark Points]
[Required ability: Second Rank Transcendent, with an escape-type ability (must be able to carry two people)]
[Bounty task: Take two people from Tianhai City to Chaoyu City]
Chaoyu City was the closest of the fifteen safe zones to Tianhai City.
There were always brave souls tempted by a generous reward. Although the Spark Federation was in dire straits, with the Tier 6 Transcendent Dragon Girl holding the line, no one truly believed this mighty tree would fall.
It wasn't long after the bounty was posted before a Transcendent with the ability to fly at high speed accepted it.
[Wing: Where and when?]
[Xi: Happiness Cafe, seven o'clock.]
[Wing: Got it.]
"That's it? We're all set?" Lin Yue exclaimed as she looked at their chat history.
Chen Xi remained composed. "For now. After that, I just have to kill Zhu Li."
"Let's get to bed early tonight and save our energy for tomorrow."
The next day, as soon as she woke up, Lin Yue let out a long sigh.
"Ugh, today's the day I start my life on the run."
"Stop groaning. Eat breakfast, then we'll discuss the plan."
Their plans had been completely derailed.
Chen Xi had originally planned to rest for three days, kill Zhu Li, then hunt wild Legends to increase her Legend Degree.
Given the situation, hunting Legends would have to wait until they reached Chaoyu City.
"As long as we're careful and don't run into a Third Rank Transcendent, our escape plan should work."
After reviewing all the information, Chen Xi mapped out the lowest-risk route and sent it to Wing.
Wing asked about their abilities, then agreed that the plan was sound.
As long as they didn't run into anyone above the Evil Flower High Priest's rank, the three of them should be able to handle ordinary Second Rank Priests.
And so, after an anxious, restless wait, the time finally reached 5:40 in the afternoon.
"Let's go." After gathering their important belongings, the two left Chen Xi's home.
In the stairwell, Chen Xi called for a car and asked Lin Yue, "Did you bring a power bank?"
Lin Yue shouldered the bulging backpack and rummaged through it. "Yep."
"Tissues, a spare phone, a flashlight—I brought everything."
After all, this wasn't a short trip. It would take at least two days to get from Tianhai City to Chaoyu City.
With Evil Flower interfering, people were stationed at all the transportation hubs that could take them across city lines, keeping a constant watch for anyone who slipped through.
"Hey."
They had barely made it downstairs when a voice—both unfamiliar and familiar—rang out in front of them. In perfect unison, they looked up.
The black-haired girl greeted them with a peace sign.
"Qianqi Weiming?!"
How could this be?!
The High Priest of the Evil Flower organization had appeared right in front of them.
Chen Xi's heart lurched. She hurriedly signaled Lin Yue to activate the Shadow Armor.
"You two sure made me work to find you. You even killed the little darling I left here for you."
The little darling she meant was, of course, the Butcher at the school. Qianqi Weiming summoned a katana and waited leisurely for them to finish their little preparations.
"Killing it would've been bad enough." Her gaze turned dangerous as she fixed it on Lin Yue behind Chen Xi. "But how did you cleanse the Church's Gospel?"
"Attack!"
The Shadow Armor finished weaving itself together and appeared on both of them in an instant.
Chen Xi poured in most of her magic power and launched their strongest combined attack—Explosive Water Blade.
The water compressed, then burst from the Shadow Armor's nozzle, striking straight at Qianqi Weiming's neck at nearly the speed of sound.
"Clang—"
The weapons collided with a piercing ring.
The Armored Skeleton appeared around Qianqi Weiming again. It was the one that had raised its blade to block the attack, which had been terrifyingly powerful.
The high school girl glanced at the white mark on the skeleton's greatsword. She dropped her contempt and took another look at the two of them.
"Wow, you really are something. If it weren't for Ah Wu, I actually might've been hurt."
"In that case, I definitely can't let you live."
As if she had a third eye, she swung her blade toward a blind spot behind her. A vivid red blade of energy shot out, and Lin Yue, who had tried to ambush her, had no choice but to activate Shadow Form and flee back to Chen Xi.
"It's an automatic defense mechanism. That skeleton will intercept all our attacks."
Chen Xi analyzed the situation, but something still felt wrong.
Why was she... flying?
Shock and grief still clouded Lin Yue's eyes as the girl's head quietly rolled away, blood staining her vision.
Chen Xi was dead.
Lin Yue gasped for breath, forcing herself to calm down and analyze her opponent's abilities.
Qianqi Weiming strolled toward her, blocking off every escape route.
"Any other tricks?" she asked indifferently.
The next second, an invisible slash cut toward Lin Yue's chest.
Lin Yue spat out a mouthful of blood and clutched the wound.
"Now that she's dead, I can take my time playing with you. Run all you like."
Qianqi Weiming continued toward her, unhurried. Lin Yue turned into shadow and fled.
"Why is it raining?"
Zhu Li had just left the flower shop. She looked up at the drizzle, frowning slightly.
In her hands, she held a blue bouquet made of Forget-me-nots.
After thinking for a moment, she bent over and shielded the bouquet from the rain.
As she gazed at the Forget-me-nots below her, her thoughts returned to that afternoon.
She'd originally planned to buy roses...
But now, she finally understood why her heart had stirred that day.
It wasn't love, but she didn't know what it was either...
She had never met anyone so interesting, who could also understand how she felt.
Someone who asked whether she wanted to use her left or right hand to express herself, who asked where that song had come from, who chatted with her face-to-face using their phones...
So in the end, she had chosen Forget-me-nots.
That way, at least one person would remember she had existed after she died.
Zhu Li stopped in front of a shop window and looked at her reflection.
Her red hair blazed like fire, and the white dress she wore made her skin look like snow. Her gold earrings swayed with her movements, and her black high heels shone brightly, reflecting her poised, striking figure.
The rain fell harder. The red-haired girl walked briskly toward the cafe.
She pushed open the door and scanned the people seated inside.
"She's not here yet."
Zhu Li murmured to herself and chose a seat by the window.
That made sense. It was only 5:50, and with the rain, she was probably stuck in traffic.
Time passed. From time to time, customers came in, and each time, Zhu Li looked up expectantly.
Not her. This one wasn't her either. Neither was the next...
The red-haired girl stared at the entrance, waiting in vain, until she finished her coffee. She checked the time; it was already seven in the evening.
She wouldn't... She had promised me...
Zhu Li trembled, her eyes unfocused.
She borrowed a phone from a passerby and dialed Chen Xi's number.
No one answered...
The rain fell harder and harder. The red-haired girl clutched the pale blue bouquet tightly, waiting for a future that would never come.
Before you continue