--Stay true to your heart and be steadfast in your path to the future.
If one's "spiritual heart is shattered" in the future, all that one has gained today will vanish.
Su Cheng blinked, the crimson in her eyes coalescing, a tiny red dot floating in the center of her pupil.
She dug out the red dot of light and crushed it.
A thin mist instantly filled my vision, creating a hazy scene before my eyes.
A tall man wearing a red robe and a mask with sun patterns stood on the rooftop.
He opened a box, and tiny red dots of light flew out, drifting towards the crowd celebrating the New Year in the square.
The man in the red robe called these red dots " Calamity Seed."
The Calamity Seed burrowed into the residents' foreheads, and soon, arguments erupted in the square.
The argument escalated into a fight; the crowd resembled suddenly enraged wild beasts, finding only violence to vent their pent-up anger.
The laughter and commotion instantly turned into questioning, angry shouts, and screams of pain.
Blood sprayed into the air, hitting the colorful flags, and staining the carefully prepared balloons and flowers red.
The place of revelry turned into a slaughterhouse in the blink of an eye.
Every person who dies harbors resentment; their soul is locked within the corpse, unable to dissipate or be reincarnated.
The scene shifts to a group of people in white robes holding candles and chanting.
The man in the red robe was the most conspicuous figure in the group. He carried a huge sheep's head in his arms and walked step by step toward the high ladder made of corpses.
Those corpses were those of the dead in the square, and the souls within them were screaming and in agony.
The man in the red robe stood at the top of the ladder of corpses, knelt down in the posture of a sacrifice, and cut his own neck.
Blood splattered on the huge sheep head in his arms, but even in death he did not let go of the sheep head in his arms.
The sky suddenly turned red, tearing open a crack.
The gap widened, revealing a gigantic, bloodshot eye with a vertical pupil.
These are the eyes of a spirit.
They finally summoned it.
The people in white robes knelt down in unison, their chanting trembling with excitement.
Another crack appeared in the sky; it was the second eye of the evil spirit.
Before he could even open his second eye, a beam of white light shot out from the distant horizon and soared into the sky.
White light flowed through the cracks, like needle and thread mending torn fabric, rotating and pulling, forcefully closing the cracks.
He opened his bloodshot eyes, then let them droop slightly, as if unable to resist the drowsiness, and slowly closed them again.
The crack closed, and as dawn broke, the color changed from dark red to light blue, restoring everything to its original state.
The evil spirit was not fully awakened.
After the white thread stitched the sky together, it fell from the sky, swirling up the souls within the corpses. It carried all the blackened souls White Moon City.
The source of this beam of light is the stone gate stele of White Moon City.
A dozen or so people dressed in strange clothes stood in front of the stone gate—they were not residents of White Moon City.
The image faded, and Su Cheng blinked, her vision returning to normal. She had finally pieced together the connection between the New Year's Eve in White Moon City, the Calamity Seed, and the Sun God Cult.
The red light spot is named "Calamity Seed," created by the Sun God Cult. It does not harm the body; its function is to amplify the evil desires in people's hearts.
The Sun God Cult used Calamity Seed to massacre city residents on New Year's Eve, offering human souls and blood as sacrifices to summon evil spirits.
The survivors in the apartment forged a stone gate, interrupting the summoning ritual.
The stone gate incorporates supernatural artifacts, isolating the souls of those sacrifices outside the city.
The surviving residents of the city forgot what had happened overnight and continued with their lives.
Even after the survivors left, the Sun God Cult did not give up, continuing to commit murders to weaken the power of the stone tablet. The murders on the rainy night and at the Man Moon Hotel... were all their doing.
Those within the city who have been Calamity Seed will be sucked outside the city gates after death, becoming one of the many shadowy figures.
To return to the city, one must become a parasite on someone else's body.
Meanwhile, New Year's Eve is approaching, and the Sun God Cult will reopen its summoning rituals.
The task related to the New Year was a trap, and the participants were not divided into two camps at all.
To ensure the smooth running of the New Year's Eve party, it is necessary to prevent the Calamity Seed from disrupting the party.
Residents dislike the color red and warned against letting blood stain the square again.
All the content points to one ultimate goal: to prevent the arrival of evil spirits.
Just like sealing the memories of contestants in a crisis-ridden instance, the intentional misleading content of Mission 3 are all methods to increase the difficulty.
A ring landed at Su Cheng's feet.
It was thrown by Lu Heng.
Several dark figures were hanging on his body. Although he had drunk a lot of drugs to enhance his strength or restore his health, his face was still frighteningly pale.
"There's a thank-you gift inside that I didn't have time to give you."
Even though she Calamity Seed the chaos under the influence of the evil spirit, Lu Heng did not show much malice towards her.
If it weren't for his fierce demeanor towards Wang Tai, one might have thought he hadn't been affected by the Calamity Seed.
" Lu Heng, you coward..." Wang Tai couldn't help but mutter under his breath when he saw Lu Heng "give up."
Looking at the dark, deathly aura surrounding her, Su Cheng recalled a mental cultivation technique.
Her lips parted slightly, and she raised her hand to form a hand seal. Pure black yin energy entered her body on its own, mixing and condensing with the White Qi to become a grayish-white chaotic aura.
Su Cheng channeled this energy into the Fire-Attracting Art, and in an instant, the blue flames suddenly blazed brightly, their light even more intense than before.
After becoming Immortal Celestial Master, her Qi Drawing Mental Technique were no longer limited to White Qi.
Yin energy can also be transformed into life energy; the energy of all things can be used by her.
The flames scorched and gnawed at the shadowy figures of Lu Heng and Wang Tai, briefly rescuing them.
Su Cheng strode to their side, drawing a circle of blue flames beneath her feet, instantly reversing the passive situation.
Before they could speak, she grabbed Wang Tai first.
Wang Tai struggled in terror, "What are you doing?! I knew you were up to no good... Ah! Lu Heng, why are you holding me down? You think she'll let you go just because you're helping her?!"
Su Cheng looked at Lu Heng, who was holding Wang Tai down tightly, with surprise. He didn't say anything and didn't know what Su Cheng was going to do, but his meaning was clear: let her do whatever she wanted.
Su Cheng reached into Wang Tai's eyes, dug out the Calamity Seed, and crushed it.
After letting out a painful scream, Wang Tai's violently contorted face went into a daze.
Su Cheng held out her hand to Lu Heng, "It's your turn."
"... Okay." Lu Heng released Wang Tai and stared at Su Cheng without moving.
From the moment Su Cheng dug out the red dot of light from Wang Tai's eyes, he knew that something was indeed wrong.
His disgust for Wang Tai came on too strong. No matter how much he disliked someone, he wouldn't be so blind as to want to kill them, but he just couldn't control that complex emotion.
Unlike Wang Tai, Lu Heng did not suffer as much pain. When the Calamity Seed was dug out, he let out a muffled groan from his chest, and then quickly drank the healing potion.
Su Cheng: "Did you see anything?"
Lu Heng shook his head in confusion.
It seems that only by regaining consciousness and digging out the Calamity Seed can one see that scene.
Seeing that the two were out of danger, Su Cheng turned to look at the group of dark figures outside the circle of fire, who were fearlessly drawn to the flames like moths to a flame. She continued to circulate her inner energy to absorb death energy and unleash a large-scale skill to Deliver All Sentient Beings.
A soft, pale golden light emanated from her body, carrying a peaceful power that spread like a gentle breeze, lightly brushing past every shadow.
The blue flames died down, but the shadowy figures stood frozen in place, their angry and resentful roars abruptly cut short.
The light shone so brightly in the darkness.
They raised their heads to feel the breath, their nostrils flaring as if they could smell the warmth of the sun.
The black mist receded from their bodies, and flesh and blood grew back from the sunken holes, restoring their original appearances.
Each face is unique, capturing the happiest moment of their life.
Some souls embraced each other, tears falling from mid-air, clear and untainted by any trace of red.
"We've been trapped here for so long, it's time to be free," Su Cheng said softly.
Strands of souls transformed into white specks of light, dissipating into the world. There was no resentment, no obsession; they found release while their memories remained at their most beautiful moments.
The skill of Deliver All Sentient Beings consumed far more energy than Su Cheng had imagined. She had to transform almost all the black mist surrounding the city before she could deliver all the vengeful spirits.
After the black fog dissipated, a wasteland was revealed.
Su Cheng took a deep breath and turned to meet three pairs of eyes staring at her blankly.
Lu Heng and Wang Tai.
And beyond the stone gate... the Yan Xing?
Su Cheng looked at the heterochromatic eyes. Although she hadn't seen the person for a long time, she wouldn't mistake them.
" Yan Xing?"
Yan Xing opened her eyes wide, and after a long while, she seemed to suddenly realize and said, "I didn't mistake you, it really is Su Sister Cheng."
Being able to recognize her, Yan Xing had clearly regained her memories.
Now that he has regained his memories, Yan Xing's visit to the city gate was definitely not because he was deceived, but because he was looking for clues.
But Yan Xing arrived too late; the shadowy figure had already been completely purified.
The area outside the city is now deserted and safe; there isn't even a ghost in sight.
Yan Xing rubbed his eyes, quietly took half a step back, and said with a grin, " Su Sister Cheng, your aura is much more terrifying than before. I could hardly see your face anymore."
Su Cheng remembered that Yan Xing had a special Perception of the supernatural. In Yan Xing's eyes, she, who had just absorbed death energy, was probably shrouded in black mist.
Are you here looking for clues?
"No, that's not it." Yan Xing shook her head, spreading her hands regretfully. "I came here to take Mom and Dad back, but as soon as I got here, their presence suddenly vanished."
The memories that Yan Xing received in this instance were not much different from those of the other participants: a child with both parents, working hard away from home, and living an ordinary life.
At first, Yan Xing didn't notice anything unusual, and even enjoyed her parents' nagging, making her the most obedient child.
Without realizing it, he took out the gadgets from his Smart Bag and smuggled his two relatives into the city.
But not long after, she noticed that her parents had suddenly changed their attitude and seemed to love her less.