In the courtyard, a Black-Robed Man repeatedly thrust his sword at the monk's Golden Alms Bowl barrier.
Two other Black-Robed Men watched the churning red mist inside the house, their expressions grave.
The Daoist Mude and the monk Zhixuan huddled inside the Golden Alms Bowl barrier, its golden light steadily dimming, despair written on their faces.
Whenever cracks appeared in the barrier, Mude cut his palm with a dagger and formed a spell talisman to repair them.
He could squeeze out less and less blood, and his face grew paler and paler.
With another strike from the Black-Robed Man, cracks appeared in the Golden Alms Bowl barrier once more.
Mude swayed on his feet, but helplessly forced himself to form another spell talisman to repair the barrier.
The Black-Robed Man outside sneered. "Let's see how much blood you have left for those spells."
Mude's pale face had taken on a dark cast. He had already been thin, and now he had lost another couple of pounds... He could not help turning to look at the fat monk beside him.
The corner of Zhixuan's mouth twitched, but he still said, "It's all right. I still have blood."
"Your blood... is useless!" Mude said helplessly.
Feeling belittled, Zhixuan immediately protested, "Why? Is your blood somehow nobler than mine?"
"Can you cast this Repair Spell? You can't... Since I'm casting it, I can only use my own blood," Mude explained.
Zhixuan sighed in relief, took out a Bronze Sword, and handed it to Mude.
"What's this for?" Mude stared at the Bronze Sword Zhixuan offered him, unable to make sense of it for a moment.
Zhixuan spoke earnestly.
"Use the Bronze Sword to cut your palm. It makes a bigger cut, so you'll bleed faster..."
Mude drew a deep breath... If I get out of here alive today, I'm definitely cutting ties with this damned fatty.
Another crack appeared in the barrier. Mude could no longer squeeze any blood from the cuts on his palm... He could only make another cut with his dagger, let the blood flow, and cast a spell talisman to repair the barrier.
Watching from the side made the fat monk's teeth ache. He could not help saying, "Is this why you're so skinny? Your sect's Daoist arts really wear a man down..."
"Shut up!" Mude finally lost his patience.
"All right, all right..." Zhixuan agreed, but he still curled his lips as he watched Mude work... Being a monk is better after all.
After letting more blood and casting another spell talisman, Mude's face turned deathly pale, and he slumped to the ground.
"I... did everything I could..."
"Life and death are in fate's hands!" Zhixuan sat beside Mude and supported him, giving a bitter laugh.
They had exhausted every means and had no options left.
Unless justice descended from heaven at this very moment and struck these three foundation establishment late stage Black-Robed Men dead.
Unfortunately, this heaven... held no justice!
The two of them were trapped here by three foundation establishment late stage cultivators. Besides, only one foundation establishment cultivator had attacked so far. The other two foundation establishment late stage cultivators had yet to make a move and were studying the red mist nearby.
And Benefactor Su was still underground, entangled with the Great Calamity!
Today... they would probably die here.
Forget it... in a world like this.
Zhixuan and Mude exchanged a smile. At that moment, they actually faced their fate calmly.
Just then...
Crack... crack...
Strange sounds came from the red blood mist inside the house.
Crack... crack...
Hearing the disturbance inside the house, the two Black-Robed Men studying the blood mist immediately retreated several steps. They stared warily at it, seemingly ready at any moment to deal with whatever abnormality might emerge from the roiling mist.
The Black-Robed Man attacking the Golden Alms Bowl barrier also stopped and looked toward the blood mist inside the house. While watching the mist, he also kept his guard against the two men inside the barrier to prevent them from escaping.
Crack... crack...
The sounds drew closer and grew clearer.
A figure slowly emerged from the blood mist.
Su Mo stepped out of the blood mist and through the doorway...
No expression could be discerned on his youthful face; he merely kept his head lowered. He was soaked through, and wisps of lingering blood mist drifted behind him.
Head bowed, Su Mo slowly walked out of the house. His left hand swung with his steps, while his right seemed to be holding on to something...
"Benefactor Su!" the monk exclaimed from inside the Golden Alms Bowl barrier.
"Something's wrong with Benefactor Su!" Mude had also spotted Su Mo, but when he looked at Su Mo's right hand, he could see nothing there. That made the position of Su Mo's right hand seem exceedingly strange.
Su Mo's right hand moved as though he were holding something, yet they could see nothing.
The three Black-Robed Men flashed over to Su Mo and blocked his path with their swords. One of them said coldly, "Who are you, and why were you inside the house?"
Su Mo simply kept his head lowered and stopped walking, giving no answer to the Black-Robed Man.
His black clothes were soaked through, his hood hung down his back, his tied-up hair looked neat, and his black crossbow gleamed coldly. Yet there were no fluctuations of spiritual power around him.
He looked like an ordinary mortal, yet seemed profoundly eerie.
"Older Brother will take you home..." Su Mo looked toward his right hand and spoke in a low voice filled with tender sorrow.
The Little Girl was clutching Su Mo's hand tightly, her expression anxious, as though letting go would mean she could never find this kind stranger she called Older Brother again.
"But... they're blocking us. It looks like they don't want us to leave," the Little Girl's wandering soul said worriedly.
"They'll let us leave..." Su Mo gave a low chuckle, its sound eerie and terrifying.
The monk and Daoist watching nearby felt their hair stand on end. At that moment, they sensed an utterly terrifying aura from Su Mo.
The Black-Robed Men's expressions changed. They, too, now sensed something amiss in his aura.
Fixing their eyes on Su Mo, one demanded ominously, "Who exactly are you?"
Su Mo still did not answer the Black-Robed Man. Instead, he crouched down, gently stroked the Little Girl's head, and then picked her up.
Yet this simple gesture looked profoundly eerie to everyone else.
There was clearly nothing in his arms, yet his movements were so convincing, as though he truly were holding a child.
"Older Brother will take you home..." Su Mo said softly as he held the Little Girl.
"Okay!" The Little Girl wrapped her arms around Su Mo's neck and buried her face in his chest.
She felt that this Older Brother was a good person. His embrace was especially warm, far more comforting than that pitch-black world...
"Enough of your tricks!" The Black-Robed Man had waited and waited for Su Mo's answer, only to see him keep making incomprehensible gestures and saying things he could not understand. Furious, he immediately barred Su Mo's path with his sword.
"Ah... they really don't want us to leave!" Su Mo looked at the sword and the three Black-Robed Men blocking his way and murmured to himself.
"But what should I do? I promised to take you home..." Su Mo began to laugh eerily. As he laughed, he broke into tears, laughing and crying at once, his expression deranged and chaotic.
"Hahahaha... You only have this one tiny wish. How could Older Brother refuse you?"
At that moment, something was terribly wrong with Su Mo. He was nothing like the refined Provincial Graduate Su, and instead resembled a madman. After being possessed by the Great Calamity, Su Mo was no longer truly Su Mo; he was more like the Great Calamity itself. Every movement had even taken on a trace of the Great Calamity's bewitching eeriness.
An ordinary mortal facing three foundation establishment late stage cultivators showed not a trace of fear. Instead, his face twisted with mocking, scornful laughter and tears.
"G-G-Great Calamity!" Staring at the deranged Su Mo, the Daoist suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted, dumbstruck, "Benefactor Su has the Great Calamity's aura!"
"That Great Calamity has seized Benefactor Su's body!"
"This isn't Benefactor Su. He's that Great Calamity!"
Beside him, Zhixuan's hair stood on end.
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