Chapter 409: The Former King

"Even if he becomes a Shen, he still can't get out...?" Yunyao confirmed.

Baihu nodded. "On the day Qixia becomes a Shen, the Four Divine Beasts will lead all the Shengxiao together, along with every Canyu zhe in this place, to face destruction. That's our destined fate."

"Then aren't you being incredibly selfish...?" Zhang Chenze said. "We're all running around here. You tell us to come, and we come; you tell us to be destroyed, and we are. That doesn't seem fair to Qixia either. He strongly wants to return to real life, yet you're forcing him to become a Shen against his will?"

"We told you to come...? We're selfish...?" Baihu sneered. "I'm just kindly reminding you to actively forget all this. How can mere mortals like you understand our feelings? Qixia's own obsessions can't compare to ours."

Zhang Chenze thought this was utterly ridiculous. Everyone had their own obsessions, yet these higher beings only cared about their own.

"Do you think we'll just give up like that?" Yunyao frowned and said. "You're with the Shengxiao, and you're speaking from their perspective. The more we forget, the more times the Shengxiao can kill us, so I can't trust you."

Baihu nodded. "You have a point."

"So we'll keep going," Yunyao said. "I'll continue killing all the Shengxiao and completely cripple this godforsaken place. Once you can't even create a Shen, will this place still mean anything to you?"

After hearing this, Baihu sighed deeply. "It's been so long since I've communicated with any Canyu zhe... I didn't realize you've become this aggressive now... Your state reminds me a bit of that woman from back then..."

"What?"

"What was her name again...?" Baihu stroked his chin. "A long time ago, she caused a huge uproar here and eventually got the punishment she deserved. What was it...?"

Everyone waited for a while before Baihu slowly said the name.

"It was something like Qiao Yun..." He patted his forehead. "Ah... It's been too long; that was years ago. You can go check it out yourselves."

"Go check it out ourselves...?"

Baihu pointed a finger toward a nearby street. "There's a convenience store over there. Go in through the door, and you'll see that once-glorious 'leader'. Now she's living worse than death, surrounded day in and day out by rotting food and her own waste, like a walking corpse."

"What...?" Linqin was slightly startled.

"What a perfect example?" Baihu said. "You're all just ordinary people, yet you dare to challenge the divine with human bodies... Wouldn't it be better to live honestly here? That woman named Qiao Yun was your pioneer. She killed Shengxiao, became a Shengxiao, and ended up like that... It's proof that all paths lead nowhere."

The group stared at Baihu in silence, their minds in complete turmoil.

"I feel like Qixia is walking the same old path as Qiao Yun..." Baihu said with a sigh. "In every generation of yours, a 'leader' awakens. Qixia disappeared for a few years, probably already passed the second stage... Now he's heading toward his own end..."

Baihu looked at the group again. "So... all you can do is wait. If you keep adventuring, all the walking corpses here will be your examples."

With that, Baihu slowly floated into the air and vanished in an instant.

Zhongyan Zhidi had always been like that.

These beings came and went as they pleased, killed when they wanted, saved when they felt like it.

Qin Dingdong had been crushed to death by Tian She for some absurd reason, and whatever unfinished business she had would have to wait for her next rebirth.

Zhang Chenze felt something off about himself. Even though two teammates had died in a row, as long as he remembered they could revive, he wasn't worried at all. This mindset was clearly unhealthy.

If one day they returned to reality with this attitude, they'd subconsciously think "death solves everything."

Unfortunately, humans weren't computers waiting to reboot—death solved nothing.

"What should we do next...?" Li Xiangling whispered from behind.

"Xiangling..." Yunyao turned to her. "You take Linqin to get her injuries treated. Have Tiantian and Lawyer Zhang go with you. I want to check on that female clerk."

"No... I want to see that female clerk too," Linqin said. "Take me with you. This wound of mine doesn't need treatment; I won't last much longer anyway."

Yunyao hesitated for a moment, then nodded, leading the group toward the convenience store.

The giant clock was close to the convenience store. Even though Linqin was having trouble walking, they reached the door in a few minutes.

Before they even entered, the putrid stench of rot wafted out, making everyone wrinkle their noses after just a whiff.

On the first day Linqin teamed up with Qixia, they had stumbled into this convenience store by accident and seen that person cooking their own child.

"I should have realized it earlier..." Linqin murmured. "Back then, she dragged Qixia into the room, and even three big guys couldn't stop her... Her body must have been enhanced..."

"Have you encountered her before in your team?" Yunyao asked, glancing at Zhang Chenze and Tiantian.

"I don't remember," Tiantian shook her head.

"Neither do I..." Zhang Chenze sighed.

Yunyao didn't press further. She pushed the door open, and the four women behind her peered inside cautiously.

The room was empty, but the smell was overwhelming.

On the floor lay a shriveled, blackened corpse crawling with maggots.

"Is anyone there...?" Yunyao asked bravely.

Soon, rustling sounds came from inside, and after a few seconds, an extremely emaciated woman pushed open the inner door and walked out.

She looked severely malnourished—her cheeks were deeply sunken, and her skin was as dry and wrinkled as old tree bark.

"Hmm...?" She stared blankly at the group, then forced a smile, revealing yellowed, decayed teeth. "Welcome... Please feel free to browse..."

Yunyao surveyed the store's environment, blinked helplessly, and walked straight toward the clerk.

"Qiao Yun...?" Yunyao called.

The clerk showed no reaction to the name, just stared blankly at her and said, "Please select the items yourself."

"We're not here for items; we're looking for Qiao Yun. Are you Qiao Yun?" Yunyao asked.

She had interacted with locals before, and many could remember their own names, but this woman seemed to have been insane for so long that "Qiao Yun" meant nothing to her.

Or maybe... Baihu had been making it up?

"We don't have anything called Qiao Yun here..." The female clerk opened her mouth. "All the items are on the shelves. If you can't find what you want, you can try another store..."