"This is... the world in Li Xiaotong's eyes?"

Chen Xiang allowed his spirit to merge with Li Xiaotong's body, peering through her peculiar left eye to observe everything around him. He saw dark flames burning on his own body, the illusions merging and transforming; he noticed countless lost souls swirling in the cracks around his wrist.

He perceived the essence of every object and event surrounding him, spotting a massive energy cluster deep within the bar. In that moment, his gaze penetrated through walls, revealing everything within ten thousand meters—he saw a stone on the street, instinctively knowing it was not just a stone, but the decayed skull of a seven-year-old calico cat, killed by a cruel child.

He noticed a bird flying in from the Sixth Ring, just one year old, its body harboring fourteen hidden wounds as it searched for food.

Information flooded in endlessly.

"What is that?" Chen Xiang gazed upward, where an enormous sphere of light hovered in the Eighth Ring, and at the center of the city, an even more radiant source of light—vast beyond measure, shining brighter than the sun.

He attempted to analyze and capture the information from these two spheres of light, but just then, Li Xiaotong inadvertently turned her gaze away, lifting her head slightly.

Chen Xiang had no choice but to follow her line of sight through the wall, where he glimpsed the half-set sun and the already risen double moons.

He realized the sunset wasn't merely a sunset—it was a terrifying being, emanating an overwhelming flow of information, pure light and heat!

The white moon wasn't just a moon; it was a dilapidated palace, both decayed and ancient yet infinitely majestic.

The red moon was not just a moon either; it represented a colossal yet faint giant, seemingly dead, yet still holding a remnant of consciousness, half-lidded eyes gazing down upon him.

It watched with joy, like a lonely child spotting their father coming home.

A sharp pang pierced Chen Xiang's heart as he yearned to decipher the information surrounding the sun, the white moon, and the red moon, just as he had with the bird and the cat skull. Yet, when he attempted to process that information, a wave of profound fatigue washed over his soul.

Suddenly, he realized his soul essence was too weak to sustain such an endeavor. In other words, a fragile soul could not contain information of such a high caliber.

As Professor Sulo had said, forbidden knowledge isn't merely knowledge; it's poison.

"This is the world in Li Xiaotong's eyes..."

"No wonder she never looks up at the sky."

Chen Xiang forced himself to endure the fatigue deep within his soul, casting one last glance at Wei Qingqiu.

[Wei Qi, Daughter of the Unknown]

Like those two blazing spheres of light, and akin to the half-sunken sun and the double moons, the essence of her soul was something he could not grasp.

With a determined heart, he willed his soul to withdraw from Li Xiaotong's body, his vision returning to normal as the chaos and madness faded away, leaving clarity in its wake.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He re-entered his own body and, after a brief moment to readjust, looked at the concerned faces surrounding him, waving his hand. "I'm fine."

"Huh??" Yi, who was about to inform their employer of the failed mission, turned back in shock. "You... didn't die?"

"Die? What are you talking about?" Chen Xiang chuckled. "I was just a bit disoriented. What were you saying?"

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

Some... disoriented?

Who would believe that?

They didn't press further, as all eyes in the bar turned towards them, security personnel closing in from every direction.

"Oh no!" Someone shouted, "Kill him!"

People from the dance floor echoed the sentiment, chanting, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him..."

"Kill who?" Guan Xue asked, confused. Beside her, the tense Man Mu murmured, "Who else could it be? It's Teacher Chen!"

"I don't think so..." Yuan Wanli gulped. "I get the feeling they mean... to kill us?"

As he spoke, more than twenty security guards approached, and drunken patrons from the dance floor raised their guns toward them!

For these wild revelers, heavy metal music, lust, and dance were insufficient stimulation; killing was the true peak of pleasure!!

"Ah..."

Er sighed heavily. "Welcome to Gash... let's run!"

Yi and Er supported Chen Xiang on either side, drawing their guns to take down the nearest security guards as they pushed toward the exit. Man Mu, Guan Xue, and the others also sprang into action. Although they were students, they had approached the level of Mystic Arts masters.

The bar descended into chaos.

"It's no use; there are too many of them..." Yi kicked a security guard away and shot a prostitute rushing at them with a broken bottle. "Mr. Chen, we can only take you out first! Night is falling, and once it does, we won't escape!"

Chen Xiang calmly surveyed the frantic scene around him, softly asking, "What happens when night falls? The indiscriminate bloodbath you mentioned?"

"No, it's not just that!" Er cautioned, shielding Chen Xiang. "The boss of the valley is a true extraordinary being, and very special; even Aunt and the Duke fear him!"

After a pause, he hurriedly explained, "Once the boss shows up, things will get really messy... Wait, what?!"

Before he could finish, Er spotted a grenade rolling at his feet, adrenaline surging through Yuan's body!

Chen Xiang bent down, scooped up the grenade, and pressed it between his palms.

*Bang!!*

With a thunderous noise, his hands turned red, the fire, shockwave, and shrapnel were all crushed into the narrow space between his palms, snuffed out!

Yi: ??

Er: ???

Chen Xiang shook his throbbing hands and glanced at the bloodthirsty crowd surrounding them, shaking his head.

"A bunch of lunatics."

In the next instant, under Yi and Er's stunned gaze, the young man who had just absorbed the grenade took a deep breath, his voice echoing throughout the bar.

"I'll count to ten; those who want to live, go out."

The lunatics exchanged confused glances.

"One."

"Two."

"Three..."

Some people fled the bar, but many surged forward, some popping pills while brandishing knives, others wielding guns alongside bottles.

Not everyone witnessed Chen Xiang's feat of extinguishing the grenade; it was too chaotic.

"Eight."

"Nine."

"Ten."

With a sigh, Chen Xiang shot forward like an arrow. What followed were sounds of collision, bones cracking, screams, and wails... In less than a quarter of an hour, everyone in the bar was down but them.

"Not everyone is dead," Chen Xiang wiped blood from his face and clapped his hands. "I'm afraid some didn't make it out... Well, I didn't kill those who were empty-handed."

Li Xiaotong turned her head, murmuring, "Out of ten Gash people, seven are evil."

Er quietly added, "Anyone who can come to the valley—one is as bad as another; not a good person among them... not including you, of course."

After a pause, he surveyed the carnage in the bar, listening to the moans of survivors, a bitter smile forming on his lips. "So, you invited us here to protect you, or are you protecting us?"

Chen Xiang glanced at them, chuckling, "My sister thinks I need protection, so I'll go with her." He then focused on the third floor, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You all need to leave... now."

The group sensed something was amiss. Yi and Er exchanged glances, quickly ushering everyone to escape.

"Since we're here..." A soft voice echoed from the third floor. A stunning woman, holding a glass of red wine, leaned against the railing, looking down at them. "You've killed all my guests. Tell me, what should I do with you..."

"Run!" Chen Xiang snapped.

The group bolted toward the bar's exit as the alluring woman drained her glass, then leaped down from the third floor.

"I said it," she swayed the empty glass, her lithe figure on full display, resembling a thorny rose. "I said, since you're here..."

*Boom!!!* Her delicate frame was crushed into the ground by a ten-meter-tall giant.