The One That Got Away

Life and death hung on a single instant. No one could save Lin Qiye.

At that moment, time seemed to freeze.

The hideous serpent face, the slit pupils brimming with hatred, the yearning to live...

Lin Qiye saw it all clearly.

You want to live? I want to live even more!

His blazing golden eyes flared to life. Before the Seraph's divine might, all things bowed.

The Nanda Serpent Demon's claws stopped at Lin Qiye's chest. The demon was stunned.

What was this indescribable power?

At that very moment, the Nanda Serpent Demon could think of only one thing.

God!

Certain death turned on its head. Lin Qiye stepped back and spun, his Straight Saber tracing a perfect arc.

Warm blood gushed like a spring. The serpent's head rolled to his feet, and a warm current flowed along the blade into Lin Qiye's body.

He gasped for breath, but felt only a little tired, thanks in no small part to Wang Quan's hellish training sessions a while back.

"The Nanda Serpent Demon is dead. The threat has been eliminated!" Lin Qiye switched on his headset and reported.

"Good work!" Wu Xiangnan's voice rang out. "Withdraw immediately!"

"How are the captain and Wang Quan doing?" Lin Qiye asked.

Wu Xiangnan fell silent for a moment before saying slowly, "There's a boundless realm Mythical Creature on the southwestern border. A battle like that is beyond us. All we can do is trust Wang Quan and the captain!"

"Holy shit!"

"Boundless?!"

"You've got to be kidding!"

Zhao Kongcheng cried out in shock. In all the years since his transfer to Cangnan, the most powerful Mythical Creature he had seen was the Ghost Face King, which had only recently kicked the bucket.

"It's true!"

"Did you think that shaking just now was an earthquake?"

"That was only the shock wave from Wang Quan's fight with the Mythical Creature!"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

Lin Qiye gazed at the clear blue sky, unable to stop himself from worrying. He remembered that White Hair was in the sea realm. What if he couldn't win?

He crushed the thought the instant it arose, then murmured inwardly, Damn you, White Hair. Don't actually die!

As he turned his head, he saw Hongying pressing her palms together, praying with a look of utter devotion. "Please, heavens above, let Wang Quan and the captain come back safely!"

"Wang Quan, please don't die!"

Half an hour later, the once-noisy campus grew quiet.

Lin Qiye took one last look at the collapsed teaching building, then turned and walked out of the [Boundless Domain].

In an unnoticed corner, a manhole cover trembled slightly. A moment later, a pair of large eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge peered through the gap.

The boy pushed aside the manhole cover and crept over to the ruins.

His name was An Qingyu. He was a top student in every sense of the word, and someone whose desire to uncover the truth of the world bordered on obsession.

Now, the Nanda Serpent Demon's head lay at his feet. Yet there was not a trace of fear on his face, only burning curiosity. He picked up the head and carefully examined its nauseating features.

"How wonderful!"

"To think such marvelous creatures exist in this world. I..."

An Qingyu paused, his breathing growing heavy. "I want to dissect it so badly!"

"The truth of the world is in here!"

Brimming with joy, he placed the serpent's head in his schoolbag, handling it with care, as though it were a priceless treasure.

He looked around and, only after confirming that all the surveillance cameras were broken, returned to the sewer with peace of mind.

In the dark, damp sewer, the stench followed him like a shadow, almost suffocating him. An Qingyu endured it silently, still clutching his schoolbag tightly to his chest.

Just then, a lilting melody rang out across the campus. His pupils suddenly contracted, his eyelids grew heavy, and drowsiness washed over him.

Gradually, his body began to sway. He was unbearably sleepy.

Those people could do this too?!

No!

I will not fall asleep!

A fascinating world is still waiting for me!

An Qingyu struggled desperately, like a fish out of water.

Suddenly, a strange power surged from within him. His mind cleared at once, as though a cool spring had flowed through it, washing away the whispers that lulled him to sleep.

An Qingyu slowly raised his eyelids. His bright eyes shone in the sewer's darkness.

A faint gray glow swirled deep within them.

"Me?"

He looked at his palm. Every muscle, every bone, every inch of skin, every blood vessel...

With a single glance, he understood its structure.

Now, his body was a precision instrument. He could see how every component worked.

Belatedly realizing what this meant, An Qingyu hurriedly opened his schoolbag and tipped out the serpent's head.

At a glance, the head seemed to break down into a screw, a wire, a gear...

This Mythical Creature, which modern science could not explain, took on a different form in his eyes.

The only pity was that he still could not see through it completely.

He took out a fruit knife and prepared to dissect the serpent demon.

He plunged the knife into the hideous serpent head and began cutting with difficulty...

At last, he opened a small slit. He was desperate to understand what lay inside.

The incision grew wider and wider, and the boy trembled harder and harder. In the filthy sewer,

There was a grotesque serpent head, a fruit knife, a scrawny boy, and a burst of crazed laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

"How wonderful!"

"How fascinating!"

"What a delight!"

"I understand!"

"Hahahaha!"

Inside the black van, Wen Qimo switched off the player and said with a smile, "That should take care of anyone who slipped through the cracks!"

"Why not play it again?" Zhao Kongcheng suggested. "There are a lot of people at the school, after all."

"Uncle Zhao, you're worrying for nothing. People will only remember a terrorist attack!"

"All right, let's pack up and go home!"

Zhao Kongcheng turned toward Lin Qiye and the others as he spoke with a smile.

"Uncle Zhao, can I go to the border and take a look?" Hongying asked, her beautiful eyes full of worry.

"Absolutely not!"

"We'd only get in Little Wang and the captain's way. We're their teammates. We have to trust them!"

"That's right. Trust them!"

"Big Devil is really strong!" Si Xiaonan smiled, revealing a pair of small dimples. "And the captain is super strong too!"

"All right!"

"All right!"

Hongying reluctantly settled back into the rear seat. She glanced over and found that Lin Qiye had already fallen asleep.

Little did she know that he was busy torturing the Nanda Serpent Demon in the psychiatric hospital.

With a roar of its engine, the black van drove away.

Peace returned to the city, serenity filling the warm sunlight.

At the border, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. The thunderous crashes sounded like a symphony of the apocalypse.

Chen Muye sat cross-legged on a mountaintop, his Straight Saber planted before him. Within a ten-mile radius, this was the only mountain still standing, a solitary peak.

As he gazed into the distance, he saw that the once-unbroken mountain ranges around him had undergone a staggering transformation, as though an invisible giant hand had kneaded them at will.

The peaks that had once towered into the clouds were all gone. In their place lay bottomless ravines, like enormous wounds torn into the earth, a horrifying sight.

Crater after crater of varying sizes pocked the remaining mountains, stark and jarring.

Just then, a hundred-meter-tall mountaintop came flying from the distance, completely blocking his view.

With the mountain looming before him, he showed no sign of panic. He merely let out a soft sigh.

"What a shame to see such beautiful land ruined!"