Xiao Feng's death was like a pebble thrown into a stagnant pond; on the despairing land of Longyan City, it didn't even cause a ripple.
People have long been numb.
People die every day—from hunger, from disease, from bandits.
He died at the hands of Blood Slaughter and his band of demons.
One more or one less makes no difference.
After enjoying the thrill of being the overlord of the western part of the city for a few days, Blood Butcher seemed to be getting a little bored.
As he looked at the large quantity of precious medicines he had seized from the aid convoy, a crazy and malicious thought formed in his mind.
He wants to hold a "drug auction".
The news once again caused an uproar throughout Dragonflame City.
For those whose families had seriously ill members and who had fallen into despair, a glimmer of hope was rekindled in their hearts.
They sold their possessions and scraped together all their savings, just so they could bid for a chance for their loved ones to survive at that auction.
The auction was held in the central square in the west of the city.
Blood Butcher sat high on a makeshift platform made of tables and chairs, like a king judging all living beings, looking down at the common people below who were like ants with a mocking expression.
He placed boxes of precious medicines on the table, including several crystal-clear "Ningbi Pills".
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my auction!"
Blood Butcher opened his arms, and his voice, transmitted through his soul power, resounded throughout the entire plaza.
"The rules are simple: the highest bidder wins!"
"Of course, if you can't afford it…" he changed the subject, a cruel smile spreading across his face, "then you'll have to become the raw material for my Bloody Mary."
Bloody Mary!
These four words, like a thunderclap, exploded in the crowd.
Everyone's face turned deathly pale.
This blood-based beverage, enjoyed only by the fallen, is most widely circulated in the Killing Capital, near the far western wilderness.
Dragonflame City is located in the west, so even ordinary people have heard of the rumors about Bloody Mary and the Killing City.
That is the holy land of all the fallen, a bloody hell where only killing is permitted and no rules apply.
To intimidate the crowd, Blood Butcher randomly grabbed a family from the crowd who were crying and complaining about their lack of money.
They were a young couple with a five or six-year-old child.
"No money, and you expect to live?"
Blood Butcher grinned maliciously and, in front of everyone, severed the man's head with a single stroke.
Blood gushed out, staining the woman's dress red.
The woman let out a piercing scream, picked up her child, and tried to run away.
Blood Butcher was faster. He grabbed the child and, right in front of the woman, tore him in half alive!
"No--!"
Witnessing this scene, the woman suffered a complete mental breakdown and charged towards Blood Butcher like a madwoman.
Blood Butcher impatiently kicked her to the ground, then stabbed her in the heart with a knife.
The entire process was smooth and seamless, without the slightest hesitation.
The square fell into a deathly silence.
You could hear a pin drop.
Everyone was stunned by the bloody and brutal scene; fear, like an invisible net, enveloped everyone.
Dongfang Jing stood at the edge of the crowd.
He witnessed it all firsthand.
He saw the lingering astonishment in the man's eyes as his head rolled to the ground.
He saw the woman's silent cry in despair.
He saw the child being torn open, the blood and internal organs splattering everywhere.
An unprecedented rage erupted from his chest!
This rage, like the most intense fire of the sun, instantly burned away all the confusion and struggle in his heart.
To clarify one's aspirations? To establish one's principles?
He possesses power not so that he can hide in a corner and contemplate life when darkness falls!
His purple eyes, which he had been deliberately keeping calm, suddenly blazed with fierce flames!
The flames were golden!
It is the blazing divine fire that can burn away all evil in the world!
He understood.
His path does not lie in seeing through all the darkness.
And it lies in...
With the mirror in my hand, I will pierce through this endless darkness!
He slowly raised his head.
Those eyes, burning with golden flames, pierced through the crowded throng and the pervasive stench of blood, locking onto the crimson figure on the high platform, who was reveling in the fear of the crowd.
The killing intent, as tangible as a physical force, soared into the sky!
...
late at night.
The night was dark and the wind was high.
Zhang Yong, dragging his still-healing, severely injured body, walked out of the room filled with the aura of death.
His face was devoid of sadness and despair, only a deathly stillness remained.
Xiao Feng has already been buried.
He was buried in that desolate sandy area outside the city.
There was no tombstone, only a small mound of earth.
He now has no more worries.
He held tightly the knife that Dongfang Jing had given him.
The blade reflected a cold, icy light in the dim moonlight.
He walked through familiar streets and knocked on tightly closed wooden doors.
"Brother Wang, my brother is dead."
"Uncle Li, I can't go on living."
"Zhao San, are you even a man?"
He didn't say much, but every word he spoke was like an awl, piercing hearts whose edges had long been worn down by fear.
One hour later.
Nearly a hundred men gathered beneath the dilapidated clock tower in the east of the city.
They were all the people in this city who still had a shred of courage left.
Some of them were husbands who had lost their wives and children, while others were sons who had lost their parents.
They were all driven to a dead end by the Blood Slaughter, with no way to retreat.
They knew they would die on this mission.
They also knew that with their strength, they were no match for someone like Blood Butcher.
But they still came.
Not for revenge, but for dignity.
So that, before he dies, he can stand tall like a human being and let out his own roar.
In order to fight for that slim chance of survival for those family members who are still alive.
Zhang Yong stood at the front of the crowd, raising his long sword high, the tip pointing directly towards the west of the city.
His voice was hoarse, yet full of power.
"Brothers! We may be ants, but even ants have the right to shake a tree!"
"Even if we die today, we will bite a piece of flesh off that demon!"
"For our wives and children! For our parents! For ourselves!"
"kill--!"
A roar echoed through the night sky.
Nearly a hundred men, like moths drawn to a flame, charged toward the western part of the city where Blood Butcher was located, with a sense of determination and tragic heroism.
Their footsteps echoed in the silent streets, like a desperate battle song.
Inside the blacksmith's shop.
Dongfang Jing put down the iron hammer in his hand.
He heard the roar and felt the resolute determination to die.
He walked to the door, watched the group of figures rushing towards death like a flood, and remained silent.
He did not stop it.
Because he knew that this was their last vestige of dignity as human beings.
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(End of chapter)