The Main Hall was frighteningly quiet.
Heavenly Might had withdrawn, but the lingering shock of "nearly being erased entirely" still churned deep in everyone's bones.
Xie Changsheng braced his hands on his knees and stood up, the color yet to return to his face.
Zhou Yan had even forgotten to pick up his folding fan from the floor.
Luo Qingyin leaned against a pillar, breathing somewhat rapidly.
Lu Hong and Lin You, who had been mere bystanders throughout, supported each other, their eyes holding the bewilderment of survivors of a catastrophe.
Black Mountain and Red Wind lay on the ground, not daring to move for a long while.
"Was that just... the sky, the sky falling?"
This time, even the fur on Red Wind's tail stood on end. Red Wind said nothing and even forgot to cover the bald patch on the rump.
Everyone looked toward the center of the Main Hall.
Hui Ming lay at the edge of the open space.
He was not dead.
But he was close enough.
Si Chen did not look at the others.
He walked over to Hui Ming and crouched down.
Red Bean jumped off his shoulder and stood beside him, head tilted.
Hui Ming's eyelids stirred, barely opening a crack. His vision was so blurred that he could only make out the outline of a figure in blue-green.
But he knew who it was.
"You..." He opened his mouth, his voice horribly hoarse.
Si Chen looked at him, a slightly apologetic expression appearing on his face.
"Sorry."
Hui Ming froze for a moment.
"This was not my wish," Si Chen added earnestly.
Hui Ming understood.
He was not apologizing for killing him.
He was apologizing because... that final blow had not come from his own hand.
As the person involved, Hui Ming