The instant the word "Pioneer" rang out, a deathly silence fell over the scene. Only Nightmare Hand's terrified panting remained.
Luo Zhiwei, who had been lying in a pool of blood on the verge of death, suddenly opened her eyes!
Her whole body jolted, as though someone had resuscitated her with an automated external defibrillator.
She was alive!
The air around Du Jingzhe seemed to freeze, and his expression froze with it.
Even the flesh and blood gushing uncontrollably from him went still.
That name, which had haunted half his life like a nightmare, had surfaced again.
At that moment, his mind went blank.
The West Continent, the Ten Hands, that bullshit All-Beings Divine Path... the word "Pioneer" drove them all out of his mind.
A closer look would have revealed that Du Jingzhe's pupils were already losing focus, his terror so intense it had numbed him.
Rotting Hand frowned slightly. The name sounded familiar, as though he had heard it after coming to the East Continent.
"Who?"
No sooner had he asked than an utterly terrified, uncontrolled roar followed.
"WHO!!!!?"
Rotting Hand and the others jumped at the cry.
"You old bastard! You're at death's door. What are you screaming for!?"
Du Jingzhe seemed not to hear Rotting Hand's abuse. His aged, clouded eyes were bloodshot like the crimson eyes of a fiend from hell, fixed unblinkingly on Nightmare Hand.
"Who did you say was here?"
His voice trembled involuntarily.
Nightmare Hand's voice carried the same tremor. "The Pioneer! The Pioneer is hunting me down!!
"He... he isn't human! I only summoned his projection in a dream, but then..."
Nightmare Hand swallowed in terror, his eyes brimming with utter horror, as though recalling something dreadful.
"He actually appeared!!"
He clutched Rotting Hand's bright red sleeve and babbled in panic,