Annihilation

Jiang Fei sent Chen Yun's figure flying back once more, a wave of weakness surging into his heart.

He had already been ambushed earlier and sustained several injuries.

Furthermore, he had mastered no martial arts techniques specifically designed to counter anomalies.

I'm going to die here, Jiang Fei thought.

However, everything he had done would not be a meaningless sacrifice.

If he could delay this anomaly for even a little while, he didn't know how many lives he might have saved.

As for whether these people would eventually die sooner or later... that was beyond his control.

A familiar figure appeared before him, leaning in his direction—it was his childhood sweetheart.

Jiang Fei remained expressionless, slashing his sword toward her once again.

This anomaly did not have many methods of attack.

Illusions, direct mental assaults, and physical attacks using the possessed body...

Among these, due to the environment, the illusions were not very effective.

Because there was no one here but himself and her, how could someone close to him suddenly appear in this place?

Physical attacks were not very effective either; although the anomaly controlled Chen Yun's body, it lacked her memories and could not utilize the martial arts she had mastered.

All it relied on was the inherently formidable physique of a Fourth Realm martial artist and the energy within her.

The most troublesome aspect was the mental assault!

Jiang Fei did not know the rank of this anomaly, but he guessed it was likely Fourth Realm as well.

His head was already throbbing with needle-like pain, and his vision had begun to blur.

But in truth, that was not the most lethal part.

The most lethal part was that if this anomaly abandoned Chen Yun's physical vessel and chose to possess him instead... Jiang Fei was truly not confident he could resist.

In the midst of his torment, Jiang Fei saw Chu Yuan, who had left earlier, sprinting toward him.

He turned skillfully and slashed down with his sword!

"Damn it!"

Chu Yuan rarely cursed, but at this moment, he couldn't help but shout.

A sword qi, like a shooting star, came hurtling toward his face, making his scalp tingle!

He didn't even attempt to block it, instead pushing his Smoke-Drifting Steps to the limit to dodge.

The sword qi grazed past him, still tearing a chunk of flesh from his waist before slamming into the building behind him.

As the house collapsed with a roar, bright red blood began to gush from Chu Yuan's waist.

He hadn't been injured when fighting the killer who had impersonated him, and even in his previous clash with this anomaly, he had only suffered a slight internal tremor.

He never expected that the first substantial injury he sustained would be caused by a "teammate."

Seeing him bleed, Jiang Fei immediately realized he had struck the wrong person; this was not an illusion created by the anomaly.

There was no time to apologize, so Jiang Fei asked repeatedly, "Why did you come back!?"

"I came back to save you!" With his waist burning with pain, Chu Yuan replied while manipulating the spiritual energy within his body to stop the bleeding.

"...You should go. I can still hold her off for a while."

"Stop talking nonsense." Chu Yuan casually tore a piece of rag from his upper garment and wrapped it around the wound at his waist.

His shirt had already been shredded during his earlier fight with the anomaly, and after being slashed by Jiang Fei, it had finally met its end.

Chen Yun's figure appeared once more, hovering not far from Chu Yuan.

Her pitch-black pupils betrayed no emotion, but Chu Yuan could feel her staring fixedly at his wound.

He could even sense the greedy, fervent emotions radiating from her!

He had always heard that anomalies craved human souls, never that they had a taste for human flesh and blood... A thought stirred in Chu Yuan's mind: could it be that his spiritual energy not only harmed her but also served as a great tonic?

To verify his theory, Chu Yuan threw the blood-stained strip of cloth toward her.

He watched as she flickered, caught it in her hand, and swallowed it whole.

Afterward, she stared straight at Chu Yuan again, her gaze seemingly even more urgent...

"..." Chu Yuan couldn't help but take a step back and shouted, "Is there any way to trap her?"

"If I had a way, would I be in this sorry state?" Jiang Fei touched his left eye helplessly.

"..." Chu Yuan had nothing to say; the anomaly looked like it was impatient to start its meal.

Although she was wary of his ability to directly harm her, who knew when that wariness would be overwhelmed by her appetite...

"What about for a single instant?"

Jiang Fei didn't know what Chu Yuan was planning, but he said solemnly, "I will do my best!"

Chu Yuan hurriedly tore the cloth strip from his waist that was binding his wound, soaked it thoroughly in his own blood, and even channeled a massive amount of spiritual energy into it to coat the surface.

"Go!"

He threw the blood-soaked bundle directly forward, and the eerie figure immediately transformed into a phantom, lunging toward it!

"Now!"

Seeing the entity distracted by the bundle, Chu Yuan roared.

Jiang Fei disregarded the injuries within his own body and lunged through the air toward the entity, grabbing hold of it in a completely unadorned, straightforward manner...

"..." Chu Yuan was left speechless once again. He had assumed Jiang Fei would unleash some powerful martial art to temporarily restrain it, but he hadn't expected him to just bear-hug the thing.

But this was no time to dwell on such things.

Chu Yuan stepped forward as well, pressing his hand onto the entity's head, and immediately began pouring his spiritual energy into it as if it were worthless!

Spiritual energy without a controller might be a tonic for an entity, but spiritual energy under the control of a person... that was poison!

The entity instantly emitted a piercing sonic wave from its mouth, causing blood to spill from the noses and mouths of both Jiang Fei and Chu Yuan.

Jiang Fei took the brunt of the shockwave, leaving him in an even more wretched state... but he already looked miserable enough, so a little more didn't matter.

He simply mobilized every ounce of energy left in his body, holding onto Chen Yun's body with a death grip.

A slender hand tore through his abdomen, piercing straight through.

Blood gushed out, and Jiang Fei's eyes inevitably began to dim...

But Chu Yuan couldn't spare any attention for him right now.

Once his spiritual energy flooded into the woman's body, it immediately located a concentrated mass of cold, sinister energy.

He mobilized his spiritual energy, attempting to annihilate it!

Seeming to realize that disaster was imminent, her pitch-black pupils began to flicker.

On her pale face, streaks of dark green veins emerged...

Chu Yuan understood the entity's intent in an instant... it was trying to escape!

However, the spiritual energy filling the woman's body seemed to form a massive net, trapping it firmly within this vessel...

In the moment before Jiang Fei's consciousness faded, he felt as though the body he was holding... didn't seem quite as stiff and cold anymore?

"You're awake."

Jiang Fei opened his eyes abruptly, and blinding light poured down upon him.

His throat moved as he struggled to sit up, finally seeing the environment around him.

A dense crowd was packed into the area, all wearing expressions of fear and unease.

Only the area where he lay had been left as an empty space...

Jiang Fei immediately recognized his surroundings; this was a shelter.

He let out a slight sigh of relief in his heart and turned his head to look at Chu Yuan beside him: "Was it resolved?"

"Mm."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Half an hour."

"Half an hour..." Jiang Fei looked at the wound on his abdomen, where granulation tissue was already beginning to grow...