Chapter 1167: Bad News

Chapter 1167: Bad News

Inside the "Lieche", the Tianji room.

Not only had the entire "Zhongyan Zhidi" been thrown into chaos, but even the numerous "Tianji" were starting to panic.

This was because Tiangou had personally told everyone that he heard the sound of the "Ju Zhong" being destroyed.

Tian Shu grinned widely, his few remaining teeth sticking out awkwardly.

"Hey hey..." he said. "Let that woman Tian Niu think she's so clever... Now look what's happened. Everything below is in total disarray, and even the 'Renji' have abandoned their posts. Nothing got done right... Once Qinglong comes back, he'll go on a killing spree."

"You... say less..." Tian She said, his eyes darting around uneasily. "If something this big really happened, we're all responsible..."

"Where's my responsibility in this?!" Tian Shu said smugly. "That young woman Tian Niu has no savvy at all. She acts like she's never worked a day in her life. With something this huge, whoever handles it takes the blame."

The old woman Tian Ma snorted coldly. "Well then, when Tian Niu comes back, you can tell her yourself."

"Me? What does it have to do with me?" Tian Shu continued with his repulsive smile. "Whether you remember or not, I was strongly against Tian Niu's idea just now, but she wouldn't listen. When the time comes, we can just push all the blame onto her. One person gets punished, and we're all off the hook. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah... that's right..." said Dao, who had just woken up not long ago. "I... I opposed it too. It was Tian Niu being stubborn..."

Tian She kept his head down, his eyes shifting back and forth.

He had a feeling that this excuse would only make Qinglong even angrier.

If all the "Tianji" in a situation like this just defaulted to avoiding responsibility, then as Qinglong had said, it really was time for a major shake-up among the "Tianji".

But if only one or two of them stepped up to solve the problem, it might not actually fix anything.

The situation had fallen into a "Prisoner's Dilemma", leaving no one willing to speak up at that moment.

Tian Hou and Tian Ji stood up at the same time, saying in unison:

"We think the most important thing right now is to solve the problem, not to assign blame."

"Good, good." Tian Shu nodded. "When we see Qinglong, I'll go for the exemption from blame, and you all can figure out how to solve the problem. Heh heh... Let's see who ends up alive."

As they were talking, a strange aura suddenly descended, and Qinglong appeared abruptly at the door. His eyes were bloodshot as he stormed in.

Everyone was intimidated by this oppressive presence and fell silent, heads down—except for Tian Shu, who stood up and quickly approached Qinglong, laughing as he said:

"Oh, Qinglong... you have no idea, just now..."

Qinglong glared with his eyes and, without a word, swung his palm, sending Tian Shu flying.

"Get out."

Tian Shu crashed heavily into the wall, cracking it wide open.

"Cough..." He never expected Qinglong to attack without warning, feeling like several bones had been broken.

"You worthless thing, don't block my way."

Qinglong's eyes were bright red, and though he looked unharmed, his body was covered in blood. He ignored the others in the room and headed straight for the door leading to the "Chetou".

He paused at the door for a moment, then vanished on the spot and reappeared on the other side.

He scanned the empty room with his bloodshot eyes.

Everything was just as it had been before, with no changes in sight—only the throne, the great tree, and Tianlong.

But he felt something was off; he had clearly seen someone attack him here... If that memory wasn't an "illusion", what could it be?

He turned to look at Tianlong, who was still deeply asleep, as if nothing had happened.

"Dammit... what's going on..." Qinglong felt his beliefs being challenged like never before.

After roaming "Taoyuan" for so long, he had never experienced such confusion in his memories.

No matter how many people he killed or tortured, no one could shake his convictions.

He was the only true god in this space.

But what had happened now?

He narrowed his eyes, pondering his current situation, vaguely sensing that it had something to do with Qi Xia. But earlier, Qi Xia had been with him in "Cangjie Qi"—what could he have done?

...

"Cough cough..." Tian Shu finally managed to get up from the ground, looking disheveled as he returned to the table.

No one felt like mocking Tian Shu, because no one knew if they might be the next one attacked.

"This is so weird..." Tian Shu wiped the blood from his mouth and struggled back into his chair. "What the hell is going on? Why is Qinglong so furious?"

"It's probably because the Ju Zhong was destroyed..." Tian She said, keeping his head down. "Once the Ju Zhong is gone, I won't be able to use the displayed 'echoes' to help him find test subjects anymore. Theoretically, the 'Lieche's operation will be affected..."

"No way..." The plump Tiangou shook his head. "I just don't think Qinglong would get this worked up over something minor... After all, he has his own 'Lingwen'..."

"I also feel like Qinglong isn't just angry..." Tian She replied. "It's more like his rationality has been affected..."

The group chattered guesses back and forth, but no one knew exactly what had happened.

Tian She thought for a long time before slowly saying, "I don't know if it's my 'Xianfa' acting up, but it's affecting my rationality too... I just feel off."

"Off...?" Tiangou looked at him. "How so?"

"I remember being torn apart by something..." Tian She kept his head down, not meeting anyone's eyes. "It was like a dream, but I remember it so clearly..."

Tian Shu paused slightly upon hearing this. He had just had a fleeting sense of the same thing, but years of sitting around had driven his mind close to madness, so he hadn't dared to voice it.

"I think I had something like that too..." Tian Tu nodded. "I thought it was just from waking up, with some nightmare echoing in my head. I felt like my throat was bitten open..."

The others fell silent, their faces growing heavy, each lost in their own thoughts.

There was no way to spread the anxiety among them. After all, they were the "Tian", and even if something went wrong, Xuanwu and Zhuque would protect them.

After a long while, Tiangou suddenly lifted his head, his eyes bulging wide.

Tian She was drawn by his expression and unconsciously looked into his eyes, then opened his mouth in shock.

"What is it...?" Tian Ma asked.

"Xuanwu is dead..." Tiangou murmured. "Xuanwu has been killed..."

"What?!" The other "Tianji" exclaimed in unison. "Who did it?!"

"I don't know..." Tiangou slowly lowered his head. "When the sound came, all I could hear was someone mourning Xuanwu..."

Tian Ma and Tian Hu exchanged glances, both finding the situation utterly unbelievable.

Even if Qinglong had done it himself, it wasn't certain he could kill Xuanwu. What kind of being could pull off something so inconceivable?

Tian Hou and Tian Ji froze in place, whispering:

"Isn't Xuanwu supposed to be immortal?"

"What we need to think about now isn't that..." Tian She said, his voice trembling as he adjusted his glasses. "With Xuanwu dead... only Zhuque is left to protect us 'Tianji'..."