Chapter 1197: The Death Knell

Song Qi's eyes slowly dimmed at that moment, and he stood rooted to the spot like a statue.

A few seconds later, he slowly lifted his head, a crazed smile on his face.

"What is this thing...?" Song Qi said with a laugh, "I thought you had some ability... turns out it's nothing special?"

The forced "Hun Qian" could almost directly kill the original owner of the body. Zhu Que lowered his head and looked at his own palm.

At that moment, he was Song Qi.

Unfortunately, this body had entered a countdown; otherwise, he would certainly make good use of this trustworthy body to completely slaughter the remaining few rats.

Zhu Que knew that his "Hun Qian" into Song Qi's body was only to ensure his true death.

Whether he placed "Bao Ran" on his own original body or Song Qi's, Zhu Que could not allow Song Qi to survive.

Anyone who dared to anger him must not even leave behind fragments.

"After your body shatters, I'll select a corpse and blend into the 'Lieche.'" Zhu Que's crazed smile appeared again. "I'll make you all understand... things in this world aren't achieved through 'unity' alone. If the first 'Bao Ran' doesn't kill me... then none of them will."

Zhu Que noticed that fragments of Song Qi's memories still lingered in his mind.

He smiled as he examined them and discovered that this young man's memories truly contained quite a few schemes.

For example, constantly provoking him with words to trigger "Duo Xin Po," seizing his sanity, and then launching the largest-scale "Bao Ran" in a state of mental confusion.

In all the memories, Song Qi had left no backup plans.

His scheme ended once he triggered the explosion on himself.

What a tragic and pretentious plan?

It seemed that all the earlier provocations were just bluffing, and even Song Qi himself had doubted whether he could unleash such a massive "Bao Ran."

The more Zhu Que thought about it, the funnier it seemed—these insignificant mortals actually tried to slaughter a "Shen Shou."

"What a pity... though your calculations were clever, the enemy won't play by your rules."

Zhu Que laughed as he lifted his head, quietly waiting for the fireworks to arrive.

The next second, he suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder.

He whipped around abruptly, but behind him was empty—nothing there.

He was slightly stunned, a sense of foreboding flashing through his mind.

Then, another hand patted his shoulder, and Zhu Que instantly felt his scalp tingle.

He turned around fiercely again, only to find the space in front of him still empty, though on a nearby rooftop stood an elderly figure.

The two locked eyes from more than ten meters away, their expressions complex.

"One 'Bao Ran' is certainly not enough..." Bai Hu said hoarsely, "But this group of young people has earned themselves a second one."

"You..." Zhu Que asked in disbelief, "Old thing... you're also planning to kill me?!"

"No." Bai Hu shook his head. "Don't falsely accuse me. The one casting 'Bao Ran' is that kid named Song Qi—I'm just here to amplify his 'Bao Ran' a bit. I have no grudge against you."

"Bai Hu... you're freaking crazy..." Zhu Que said, "Do you still want to return to the 'Lieche'...?"

"Me, crazy?" Bai Hu shook his head. "Zhu Que... it's you who's crazy. I'm here to wake you up. Everything you're experiencing now isn't the life you should be living."

Zhu Que slowly took a step forward, intending to lash out, but he felt his hands and feet gradually stiffening, and the form he had shrunk into in Song Qi's throat was becoming harder to move.

"Wake me up...?" He laughed angrily, "Don't act all high and mighty from your so-called sober perspective... Our hands are both stained with blood—who are you to lecture me?"

"I won't deny that I've killed many people." Bai Hu said, "'Taoyuan' fully awakened the 'evil' in our hearts. Our three abilities tower over most here, which makes us lose ourselves in slaughter. Even if you think you're still sane, you're now completely deranged."

"What a nice way to put it..." Zhu Que kept walking forward. "So, not wanting to lose yourself is why you suddenly left the 'Lieche'?"

"Yes, we're all crazy. To stop the killing, we must stay away from the 'rules,' so I left." Bai Hu sighed deeply. "Zhu Que, among the three of us... maybe only Xuan Zi, who seems the craziest, is actually clear-headed."

"Don't kid yourself..." Zhu Que said, "Xuan Wu went mad before anyone else—she's just a killing machine. I'm ten thousand times stronger than her. Have you not only aged overnight but also lost your mind?"

Hearing this, Bai Hu slowly lowered his head, revealing a look of regret and loss.

"Yes... you all noticed I aged in one night, but didn't realize how serious the problem is." Bai Hu gave a bitter laugh. "Because in 'Taoyuan,' anything incomprehensible isn't surprising, right?"

"Otherwise?" Zhu Que looked at Bai Hu coldly. "Should I offer you some sympathy?"

"So be it—this shows everything has its fate; what should happen will happen, and what should return will return." Bai Hu said, "Zhu Que, you're free now."

"Don't act so self-righteous with me..." Zhu Que trembled all over, feeling his body expanding rapidly, so he quickly spoke, "I don't want to be 'free'! Old thing... this place is my paradise! What gives you the right...?"

"So I said you need to wake up." Bai Hu said, "Return to who you once were."

"You're asking for death... Bai Hu... you... "

Song Qi's body had swollen to an absurd extent, even his throat completely blocked, so Zhu Que could no longer speak, and his taunts were stifled.

Zhu Que had never imagined that having "Bao Ran" infused into his body by Bai Hu would leave him immobile, forcing him to stay trapped in Song Qi's throat, unable to move.

"Give me... a reason..." Zhu Que said, "Why...?"

"Because Xuan Zi pointed to you."

Bai Hu turned away, no longer looking at Zhu Que, and then vanished from the spot.

No matter who witnessed this, they would think Song Qi was the one who killed Zhu Que—Bai Hu seemed to have never been there at all.

This was Song Qi's well-deserved honor, as well as "Mao"'s.

Boom—

A massive explosion spread across the area.

Nearby corpses, the game field of the "Di Zhu," and the surrounding low buildings were instantly reduced to fragments and blown away by the wind.

The entire "Zhong Yan Zhi Di" trembled from this violent blast.

This was "Bao Ran" cast upon "Bao Ran," the death knell for Zhu Que.