Mia was utterly terrified.
She never expected the companion she’d spent every day with just moments ago to suddenly turn on her—killing Sean without the slightest hesitation.
Under Mia’s horrified gaze, Li Xiaoming advanced slowly. Mia retreated like a startled rabbit.
“Y-you… don’t come any closer!”
“Corruption Artifact—Nightshade Thorn!”
“Don’t struggle.” Li Xiaoming glanced disdainfully at the conical Corruption Artifact in Mia’s hand and kept walking toward her, unhurried.
“Even at your peak, you were nothing but my punching bag. Now, gravely wounded—what makes you think you can fight back?”
A sharp glint flickered in Li Xiaoming’s eyes.
“Corruption Artifact—Agony Whip!”
A thick black whip bristling with thorns materialized in his grip. Before he could speak, it stirred on its own—as if alive—and slowly coiled around Mia’s wrist—
Then snapped tight.
“Aaaaah!!!” Mia’s eyes bulged. Her body convulsed unnaturally, screams tearing from her throat—raw, inhuman agony.
“No… please… don’t kill me…” she gasped, voice strained.
Li Xiaoming raised an eyebrow. “Fine.”
The Agony Whip instantly loosened and slithered back into his hand.
Mia panted wildly, trembling uncontrollably. The ghost of pain still clung to her nerves.
Li Xiaoming stepped forward, crouched, and smirked. “Staying alive’s simple. Obey me. Do exactly as this young master says—”
His hand brushed her cheek, slid slowly downward, and stopped at her chest.
Mia flinched violently.
“—and I might spare your worthless life.”
Mia lifted her head. Her eyes met Li Xiaoming’s gaze—laced with a faint, leering hunger.
She lowered her head again and gave a silent, trembling nod.
A sinister smile spread across Li Xiaoming’s face.
But before it could fully form, a cold, unfamiliar voice cut through the air from behind him.
“Perfect timing. Just in time to watch your little dog-eat-dog show.”
Li Xiaoming spun around, face icy. A figure emerged slowly from the shadows.
Ming Yi.
Gone was the fragile, shy college student. In his place stood something cold, rigid, utterly devoid of emotion—like a corpse. His dull eyes held not a flicker of life.
Li Xiaoming felt it—a terror so absolute, so alien, it froze his blood. He’d never sensed anything like it.
“Who are you?” His voice wavered, trying to mask fear. No reply.
“Were you the one who attacked Mia back then?” Still silence.
The air turned frigid. Li Xiaoming swallowed hard—only then realizing cold sweat drenched his entire body. A deep chill seeped into his bones. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“Whoever you are—you’re not leaving today!” he roared.
“Agony Whip!!”
He lashed the whip toward Ming Yi.
Ming Yi didn’t move. Before him, a single drop of blood hovered—then shot forward like an arrow.
It vanished on contact.
The whip froze mid-air, as if time itself had stopped.
Li Xiaoming went cold. The blood-deep bond to his Corruption Artifact—gone. Just like that.
He couldn’t control it.
This was the most horrifying thing he’d ever witnessed.
*He’s death itself. I should’ve run.*
He spun and fled.
Alas.
Before he took two steps, something coiled around his left leg. A brutal force yanked him upward—hanging him upside down.
He knew that grip.
Then—unimaginable agony erupted inside his skull.
“Aaaaah!!!” His screams echoed across the desolate ruins.
Nearby, Mia slumped, nearly fainting from terror.
Ming Yi walked slowly to him. His mouth twisted into a stiff, hollow smile—colder than death.
To Li Xiaoming, it was the grim reaper’s grin.
“Don’t kill me… please…” he begged, shaking. “I’m the Li family’s top candidate for Class SS… you can’t—”
Ming Yi leaned close, whispering hoarsely into his ear:
“If given another choice… would you spare this world?”
—
—
Time blurred. The screams ceased. Silence reclaimed the ruins.
Ming Yi shook his head, clearing the haze. The dullness in his eyes faded.
He stared at the hellish scene before him—and fell into a long, heavy silence.
After five minutes, he turned away, shook his head, and walked slowly toward the base.
—
—
*Gulp.*
Bailian swallowed hard. His usual icy composure had shattered.
He’d followed Sean’s directions north to the helicopter site—only to find emptiness. *Deceived.* Of course—Sean was a master of escape.
He doubled back, tracked Mia’s blood trail south, and arrived here.
Even with all his experience, his hair stood on end. Cold sweat soaked his clothes.
No intact bodies remained. Only three shapeless masses of flesh. He barely recognized them from torn fabric scraps.
Sean and the others.
What could reduce humans to unrecognizable pulp?
Honestly… being devoured by a Ravager would’ve been kinder.
Yet no Ravager was here. Only blood, gore, and a nauseating stench.
“God… was it you who turned this place into hell?” Bailian closed his eyes and whispered inwardly.
