Bright Sword Chapter-Dream

"The only places left are the islands near the Pacific. Ming An's inspections were pretty halfhearted, so let's go check them ourselves!"

"Okay, then the three of us will go. Ye Ming, let Huang Ming and the others know. Once we've checked the last area, we'll head back to base!"

"Got it, Yaming!"

"It's been a month. Do you think he's still alive?"

"Are you kidding? How could he be dead?"

"Exactly. Like Kuo Ming said, no one is tougher than he is, or better at surviving in a desperate situation!"

"Yeah... that's true. How could he just die so easily? Ha ha, sorry, I was worrying over nothing!"

Lonely Island was completely blanketed in a red glow, a strange kind of beauty—the beauty of death...

"Ha ha ha ha! I don't know what happened, but I'm the only survivor on this island now! Ha ha! Night of Demons, Night of Demons, here I come!" A man covered in dirt raced toward the center of the island. He clearly wasn't used to moving so quickly, but for some reason, he kept going until he saw what he was looking for.

The altar at the island's center flickered like an illusion, appearing and disappearing. Red liquid seeped slowly from within it. No ordinary human would like such a bizarre thing, but demons were different. They were born to love this sort of thing: blood, terror, the grotesque, despair...

"It's here, it's here..." The man reached a spot not far from the altar. His face had become so grotesque that it was sickening to look at. Just as he was about to press on, a gleaming silver arrow struck his head and pierced straight through. Black blood burst out. He couldn't even scream before he collapsed to the ground...

"Then this should be over, right? All of it..."

In the sky above Lonely Island, two women stared in shock at the forms in their hands. "Butler, they've all been wiped out. Was it that Chinese man? This is ridiculous! The Council's elites were killed by an ordinary human!!!"

"Don't rush, Witch Sally Philp has a revenge-type soul puppet. I only need to sacrifice a little dark energy to bring her back to life. First, let's find that Chinese man!"

"Understood, Butler!"

Thirty minutes later, the two elegantly dressed women spotted their target on the beach, doing who knew what. He clutched a silver sword tightly in his hand and kept his eyes shut, as if waiting for something.

"I see. He's been afflicted with Witch's Love, and most of Sally's energy is inside this human. That explains how he managed to kill everyone else. But a human is still just a human. Ha ha! That woman Sally should be back to life soon, shouldn't she?"

"Should we kill him, Butler?"

"Yes. Before anyone finds out..." As she spoke, the woman raised her left hand. A sinister orb gathered there and slowly grew...

The woman didn't sense the person behind her at all. The instant the orb finished forming, an immense force engulfed her and tore her to pieces. Her companion suffered the same fate. This kind of death left no trace behind.

Of the three who had hovered in the sky, only one remained. She slowly descended to the ground and made a noise, hoping to rouse the person lost in thought.

"Are there any more of them? Damn it!!!" The boy in thought suddenly turned and charged at the source of the noise, but when he saw who was standing before him, he dropped his weapon...

"N-no... no... impossible. What are you doing here?" The boy stopped in his tracks, unable to believe what he was seeing. The person before him absolutely shouldn't have been here.

"You're not seeing things. It's me, your Yaming!" Yaming said as she walked toward him.

"Yaming? It's really... really you?"

"Yeah, Ming Jian. I'm sorry I came so late..." By then, Yaming was standing right in front of Ming Jian. He had grown much thinner than when she'd last seen him six months ago. His long hair was a complete mess, and his clothes were filthy, caked with dirt and blood. But none of that frightened Yaming. She wrapped her arms tightly around him...

"If you want to cry, then cry. That's what makes us human, and lets us move one another..." Yaming stroked Ming Jian's head and softly said what little she could.

"Waaah... sob... waaah..." Ming Jian's crying was loud, like a newborn baby who couldn't control his emotions.

An hour later, on the beach.

Yaming leaned against Ming Jian's shoulder as they gazed at the still ocean together...

After crying, Ming Jian had stayed silent for a long time. At last, he spoke.

"Sorry for getting your clothes dirty..."

"It's fine. I can change them."

"Something feels strange to me!"

"Why's that?"

"Why are you here?"

"It's simple. Because... you're here."

"If this hadn't happened, I wouldn't have believed you'd suddenly appear."

"I'd originally planned to tell you sooner, but Kuo Ming said we should surprise you. So you're the only one among us who doesn't have this power yet."

"Power?"

"Yeah, a power that belongs to us alone!"

"Okay, Yaming. I don't want to talk about anything that happened on this island. Could you tell the others for me later?"

"Of course."

"Thanks..."

"Let's wait a little longer. Someone should come pick us up soon."

"Yeah. Could you hold me again..."

"Of course. I'm your Yaming!"

After that, the two said nothing more. They simply held each other in silence until the ship appeared.

Only fourteen people remained on the ship. Ming Jian looked at the others, feeling a little better, and said, "All right, can you tell me now? What happened to you?"

Yaming nodded. "I'll explain!"

"A year ago, we got a black orb. For no apparent reason, it gave the thirteen of us our powers. It had prepared one for you, too, but you weren't there at the time. We planned to surprise you at the end of this year. That's all there is to it."

"Those with powers now are me, Ye Ming, Ming An, Kuo Ming, He Ming, Lian Ming, Shen Ming, Jiao Ming, Jing Ming, Huang Ming, Jun Ming, Jue Ming, and Yu Ming. You're the only one left. An Ming wasn't chosen either. I could give him power directly, but there's a fundamental difference!"

"Will you accept it or turn it down?"

Ming Jian didn't answer Yaming directly, but gave a slight nod...

It was still night. The island's only survivor was heading toward the altar. She wore no clothes and moved slowly, but a smile still lingered on her face...

At last, the month on the island had ended. Food without oil or salt, water of uncertain quality, a forest that made it impossible to sleep peacefully, and lonely nights—everything on the island was over. From now on, it would be nothing more than a nightmare...

(The only person to benefit from this was Witch Sally Philp. She completed the Night of Demons and was directly promoted to Butler of the Holy War Council. She didn't reveal anything about Ming Jian to the Council, indirectly helping Tail of Jet Black with its later plans.)

(The fourteen current Special Elites of Tail of Jet Black were the result of later changes. Before Ming An's betrayal, An Ming wasn't a Special Elite. Only after Ming Jian killed Ming An did An Ming become one of the Special Elites at Ye Ming's request. Of the three independent meetings before Tail of Jet Black was formed, Ming An attended the first, and An Ming attended the second. Ming An was already dead by then. Ming Jian only appeared near the end of the third independent meeting. Later, Ming Jian also hid his identity within Tail of Jet Black for a while. As he put it, it was necessary...)

(The Ming Jian arc ends here. If you'd like to learn about the others' pasts, you can also contact me. The group number for this book is �. If you're eloquent enough, I'll write another special chapter right away. In the end, all I can say is this: as long as even one person reads this, I'll keep writing. Thank you all for supporting Tail of Jet Black.)