Chapter 212: Rampaging Dusk

Song Yao screamed for her life:

“Help! Please! Help me!”

A few of the thugs panicked slightly:

“What do we do, boss?”

“This… what about that guy? He saw us!”

A murderous glint flared in Huang Mao’s eyes. He gripped Song Yao’s neck tightly and pointed at the distant figure:

“Tough luck for him! Kill him!”

Some of the thugs pulled daggers from their bags, while others picked up bricks from the roadside. They surrounded the man with vicious expressions.

But when they got under the flickering streetlight, they all froze.

Their steps faltered, their bodies went rigid, and then—they slowly backed away.

Huang Mao frowned. “What’s wrong?”

No one answered.

“Useless!” Huang Mao cursed and looked up himself. The next second, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

That person…

Something was squirming on his forehead.

As if alive, it rippled beneath the skin.

It was an eye.

An eye that was about to open at any moment!

The man had his hand over his forehead, pressing down hard, as if afraid it would open.

But the thing was relentless, pushing against his palm again and again, trying to force the eyelid open.

Evil, bizarre, grotesque.

And… terrifying.

‘Is… is this a walking urban legend?’

Entering dreams was usually an easy task for Daji.

But the dreamscape of the Left Eye of Deceit and Treachery was too profound, and it had drained too much of her strength.

After a vicious battle with the Evil Qilin’s Joyful Buddha Body, she was at the end of her rope.

By the time she reached the skies above South Sea City, she could no longer hold on. She transformed into a streak of fluorescent light and fled into the Nine-tailed Demon Core.

Jiang Chaosheng’s consciousness was perfectly clear.

It was just that after he consumed the eye, his illness had grown worse.

Indifferent, devoid of emotion.

He had fallen into a cold, nihilistic state—as if all warmth had been drained from him.

Even if someone were to curse him to his face right now, he wouldn’t feel the slightest emotion.

He only wanted to follow his own intentions and execute his next objective.

Aside from those who blocked his path, he felt no positive or negative emotions toward any person or thing.

Jiang Chaosheng walked forward and said softly:

“Move.”

It was just a single, ordinary word, spoken plainly.

But it carried a suffocating coldness from the depths of the Underworld.

The very air seemed to drop in temperature.

The thugs were too terrified to move, standing there dumbly.

A trace of impatience flickered in Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes.

The rust-covered scythe in his hand transformed rapidly, becoming a Giant Scythe engraved with profound Runes!

Jiang Chaosheng swung it casually.

In an instant, the heads of more than a dozen thugs were severed from their bodies.

No blood flowed.

Only a faint black mist emanated from the severed necks.

Jiang Chaosheng withdrew the Scythe of Death and continued walking forward.

In a panic, Huang Mao yanked Song Yao up from her chair and pressed a dagger to her pale neck:

“Stay back! Or… or I’ll kill her!”

He shrieked, his voice cracking.

His hand was shaking, his words trembling.

Jiang Chaosheng raised his hand. His fingers twitched, then instantly transformed into a jet-black snake.

The Primordial Desire Snake was too fast for the naked eye to follow. It pierced the air, leaving a faint sonic boom as it punctured Huang Mao’s forehead.

Jiang Chaosheng flicked his fingers, and the hand that had become the Primordial Desire Snake returned to normal.

Song Yao stared at Jiang Chaosheng in horror, then fell to her knees with a THUD, tears streaming down her face.

‘Did I… did I just personally experience an anomalous event?’

Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze was indifferent as he looked at Song Yao blocking his path. He slowly raised the Scythe of Death.

Even he didn’t notice that the purple eye on his forehead was slowly opening.

Sobbing, Song Yao shook her head:

“No, I have a child! My son is waiting for me to come home…”

Jiang Chaosheng’s hand abruptly froze.

A faint, human glimmer finally appeared in his eyes.

Jiang Chaosheng slammed his hand back onto his forehead, covering the eye that was about to open. The corner of his mouth twitched:

“Get out.”

“Okay, okay!”

Song Yao scrambled away as if she’d lost her mind, not even bothering to grab her bag.

Jiang Chaosheng glanced at Song Yao’s fleeing back and muttered to himself:

‘I can’t let this continue. I don’t know how many people will die.’

‘If only… I could use Cloud Formation and Rainfall.’

Although he was already very close to Antique Shop Zero.

There were still three streets to cross.

Walking and killing like this, there was no telling how much chaos he would cause.

He raised a hand to the sky, trying to gather the storm clouds himself.

WOO~

A fierce wind instantly kicked up!

The corner of Jiang Chaosheng’s eye twitched.

Without having gone through the Opening the Spiritual Aperture, he shouldn’t even be able to gather a tiny rain cloud.

‘But…’

‘What’s happening now?’

Jiang Chaosheng’s hand, aimed at the sky, clearly tensed with more force.

BOOM! RUMBLE!!!

Bolts of lightning as thick as water vats bombarded the sky. Thunder boomed, and lightning rolled!

The entire sky over South Sea City was a web of lightning, like the end of the world.

Jiang Chaosheng’s hand suddenly clenched, as if grabbing at the ground.

The downpour began in an instant!

At the same time, the dark clouds in the sky formed a black staircase, descending layer by layer until it reached Jiang Chaosheng’s feet.

Jiang Chaosheng stepped onto it. The black staircase, like a mall escalator, swiftly carried him up into the storm clouds. Within seconds, Jiang Chaosheng had vanished from the alley.

…

「South Sea, Antique Shop Zero.」

Jiang Chaosheng walked into the back room.

As he walked, he tried to remove the eye.

As for how, the only way was to dig it out of his own living flesh.

It was guaranteed to hurt.

But Jiang Chaosheng possessed that kind of ruthlessness.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the eye off.

If he couldn’t remove the eye, he wasn’t sure if it counted as successfully containing one of the Taboo Items.

This thing seemed to grant him immense power, but it also worsened his illness.

Jiang Chaosheng was unwilling, and more than that, he refused to be manipulated by an eye.

He changed direction and pushed open the door to the basement.

Step by step, he descended the stairs into the depths of the basement.

Red silk banners fluttered, and ghostly flames flickered.

The Taboo Sculpture sat upon the Golden Throne, still holding the small, jet-black box in its hands.

Jiang Chaosheng walked up to the Taboo Sculpture, sat down, and spoke:

“Help me.”

There was no pleading in his tone, only an unquestionable, command-like authority.

CREAK, CREAK…

The White Jade Skull slowly raised its head, its upper and lower jaws parting slightly:

“Deceitful… and… Wily.”

Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes narrowed.

In his emotionless state, he was exceptionally sensitive to the emotions of others.

The White Jade Skull’s tone was clearly mechanical, like the sound of its throat bones and jaw scraping together.

But Jiang Chaosheng acutely detected the White Jade Skull’s emotions within it.

Regret, indignation, remorse, self-blame.

Jiang Chaosheng guessed that something must have happened between this White Jade Skull and Deceitful and Wily.

‘He remembered the Last Human Emperor saying that he had died because of Deceitful and Wily.’

‘Could it be that this Emperor, designated 0-01, was the Last Human Emperor?’

‘No, that can’t be right. The Last Human Emperor is already dead.’

The figure before him couldn’t be the physical body of the Last Human Emperor.

Because this White Jade Skull had emotions, it must have a soul. It was definitely not just the physical remains of some being left behind after death.

“You have not opened your Spiritual Aperture, yet you possess a Divine Acupoint. I wonder… if this is yet another scheme.”

Hearing this, Jiang Chaosheng looked up at the White Jade Skull.

This was the first time the Taboo Sculpture had spoken such a long sentence.

He knew what a Spiritual Aperture was.

Daji had taught him the Spiritual Concentration Divine Art precisely to prepare for the future Opening the Spiritual Aperture.

Once the Spiritual Aperture was open, one could absorb Spiritual Qi, temper their spirit, and use Magic.

‘But…’

‘What is a Divine Acupoint?’

‘He’d never heard of it.’

Before Jiang Chaosheng could ponder it further, two plumes of black flame erupted from the White Jade Skull’s empty eye sockets.

The flames danced. A surging energy exploded within the small basement, sending the red silk banners into a frenzy and making the candle flames flicker before extinguishing.

The basement was plunged into darkness.