Wound of the Plane? A Stolen Life?

dark.

An endless, viscous, Blood One darkness.

Yun Jingheng had no idea where he was.

All he knew was that he was sinking.

A slow, unstoppable descent, like being swallowed by quicksand.

There was no ground beneath my feet, no sky above my head, and everything around me was the same color—red.

It's not the bright red of fresh blood.

It was an old, dried, dark red, like blood stains that had settled for thousands of years.

The air was thick with the smell of rust, so strong it made his stomach churn.

He felt nauseous.

"Where... is this...?"

He remembered.

That sword.

The blood-red sword pierced his heart.

Then it merged into his body.

Then--

He arrived here.

This blood-red Abyss.

"Yun Jingheng".

A voice came from behind him.

A deep, hoarse sound, like the slow dragging of a rusty knife on a whetstone.

Yun Jingheng suddenly turned around--

He saw someone.

White hair, red eyes, and... the exact same face as him!

"Or should I call you... Lin Yi?"

Yun Jingheng's pupils contracted.

How could he have known?!

"Who are you?"

"Me?" The man smiled.

"My name is Zhao Yunhong, and my title is Calamity Moon."

Yun Jingheng did not answer, his eyes fixed on him.

"Don't make that face."

Zhao Yunhong spread his hands, a gesture that carried a chilling elegance.

He took a step forward, but the blood beneath his feet didn't cause a ripple.

Confused?

Zhao Yunhong tilted his head, his scarlet eyes reflecting Yun Jingheng's pale face.

"Are you wondering why there's another you here? Why do I know your name?"

Yun Jingheng's heart clenched violently.

It wasn't just because of the eerie scene, but also because of the aura emanating from Zhao Yunhong.

"This body originally belonged to me."

Zhao Yunhong pointed to Yun Jingheng's chest, his fingertip lightly touching the heart.

"A thousand years ago, I perished. In order to survive, I had no choice but to reside within that pseudo-divine artifact, watching it drift with the current."

Yun Jingheng's breathing stopped.

"That sword is searching for a host, or rather, searching for its way home."

Zhao Yunhong's voice grew deep and somber, "The place where I fell, my body, eroded by the temporal disorder caused by my final blow, is slowly rewinding. It awaits the reshaping of my body, awaits the return of the ' Calamity Moon '."

He suddenly laughed, a laugh that was somewhat sinister.

"But you've come."

"You lost soul from another world, you've crawled into this body that's being rebuilt."

"You usurped my place, using my body and wielding my sword! Enjoying the love of Yun Ming and Ya Li for twelve whole years."

Yun Jingheng felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen.

What do you want to do?

"What do I want to do?" Zhao Yunhong scoffed.

"I want to return! I want to crush the false emotions of humanity! I want the palaces in the sky to fall!"

"Crush?"

Yun Jingheng raised a question.

What gives you the right?

"On what grounds?"

Zhao Yunhong's laughter echoed through the sea of blood, carrying endless mockery and sorrow.

"Because I am His creation, the last ' Core Flame ' He left in this world."

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the dome of this blood-red Abyss.

"Where do you think this is? Hell? The Underworld? No... this is the wound of the Douluo Plane, the place where He bleeds!"

As he spoke, the surrounding blood began to boil, and countless shattered images flashed through the blood mist—

He saw a vast starry sky, and a blue planet Entanglement with countless divine lights, like a prisoner bound by chains.

He saw a vague, indescribable, great being whose will was the law of heaven and earth, whose breath was the pulse of the world.

He is the Douluo Plane itself, the will of this planet, the true... Plane Master!

"The Divine Realm, those self-proclaimed gods and thieves, stole the origin of the world, stole the power of faith, and treated the Douluo Plane as their backyard, exploiting it at will!"

Zhao Yunhong's voice was filled with deep-seated hatred.

"He could not resist, for that would cause the world to collapse. So, with his last strength, He created me."

"I am His immune system, His scavenger, His final weapon created to eliminate cancer!"

"Calamity Moon Douluo... What a ridiculous title. It's not glory, it's a curse! It's a mission!"

"He is dead! His power was stolen by a shameless thief who seized control of the laws! He is dead too! All life in this plane will become the spoils of the Divine Realm!"

"And you... have taken over my body. Now, give it back."

"Give it back..."

These three words were like three red-hot iron nails, driven deep into the Soul Spirit of Yun Jingheng.

He felt his consciousness being torn apart, like a thin sheet of paper being fought over by two wild beasts, ready to shatter at any moment.

"No..."

He squeezed out the word through clenched teeth, his voice weak, yet carrying an undeniable stubbornness.

"For the past twelve years, I have not been Lin Yi... I have been myself!"

"The rainy nights my dad carried me on his back, every bowl of medicine my mom brewed for me, the sunshine at the Shrek Academy, the smiles on my friends' faces when they called my name... these are all real!"

"You call it false emotion? But it is precisely these falsehoods that have made me a human being, not a weapon that only knows revenge!"

Zhao Yunhong's pupils suddenly contracted, and a flash of fury appeared in his red eyes.

"What do you know?!"

He suddenly raised his hand, and a sea of blood surged. Countless scarlet chains shot out from the Abyss, coiling around Yun Jingheng's limbs and bones like venomous snakes.

"Can't you see the plight of the Soul Beast?! Can't you see the hypocrisy of the human world?!"

"Your so-called 'living' is nothing but parasitizing on the corpse of my fate, barely clinging to life!"

The chains dug deep into Yun Jingheng's soul, the excruciating pain nearly driving him to the brink of collapse.

He felt his memories being forcibly stripped away.

Yun Ming's rough hands caressed his cheek, Ya Li hummed a lullaby, Ye Xinglan smiled under the moonlight...

These images are twisted and shattered in the sea of blood, like sand paintings scattered by the wind.

"No--!"

Yun Jingheng let out a roar, not the sound of flesh, but the most instinctive resistance of his soul.

You're calling me a thief?

He opened his eyes, and those eyes, which had been stained with blood, now shone with a cool, silvery light.

"But this body, these past twelve years, every bit of growth, every heartbeat, is a testament to my living life in my own way!"

"You say you created this body? But the one who truly brought it to life was me!"

"You say I've usurped your place? But without me, this body is nothing more than a soulless puppet, a sword without a master!"

"You hate the Divine Realm, you hate fate, you hate everything... but have you ever considered that what you actually hate is yourself?"

"You treat yourself like a weapon, but weapons don't feel pain, they don't love, and they won't feel a warmth in your heart on a rainy night because of a simple 'come home for dinner'!"

"You are the one... the abandoned, lonely soul!"

Boom--!

The moment the words fell, a Moonlight suddenly burst forth, transforming into a silver blade of light that slashed fiercely at the blood chains binding him!

"Click--"

The chains snapped, and the sea of blood trembled.

"How is this possible?! This is my body! How dare you still use Moonlight?! How dare you--!"