Chapter 575: Farewell

A perfect match… Doctor Zhao smiled bitterly.

"Are you talking about us two?"

"Yes." Han Yimo nodded. "If we team up, we'll be unstoppable."

"But I don't want to kill anyone." Doctor Zhao shook his head. "Not at all."

"That's exactly why I say we're a perfect match." Han Yimo placed his hand on Doctor Zhao's shoulder. "You don't need to kill anyone… You just need to 'save people.' I'll be the main character, and I'll handle the killing."

"I 'save people'…?" Doctor Zhao struggled to keep up with the madman's train of thought, his mind going blank for a moment.

"You're a 'doctor,' so saving people is your role." Han Yimo laughed.

"But our goal is to extract the dead's eyeballs—how does saving people help with that…?"

"Who said you have to save those people…"

"Then what do you mean?"

"Once I feel fear, the Qi Hei Jian will slice through the air to my side and slaughter all the guilty ones…"

"But we're both 'guilty ones,'" Doctor Zhao said.

"That's why we need your 'separation'…" Han Yimo laughed. "You're my 'life-saving trump card.' I can kill everyone on my own, and you just need to save us when the Qi Hei Jian tries to kill us. Even if my Qi Hei Jian shatters, it doesn't matter—I can summon countless ones. We'll keep trying until we've killed them all."

Doctor Zhao sighed after hearing this.

"So, you just want me to save us two…"

"Exactly. That way, you won't have to lift a finger and still complete the mission. Why not?" Han Yimo smiled and winked at Doctor Zhao. "If you don't want to join Chu Tianqiu, you can join me."

Doctor Zhao found it all too absurd. How confident was Han Yimo, thinking he could stand toe-to-toe with Chu Tianqiu?

"I have nowhere else to go," Doctor Zhao murmured. "Even though I revive every ten days, I still need food."

"So, you're agreeing?" Han Yimo looked thrilled as he said, "It's perfect that we're hitting this deadly Tian Ma Shi Ke today. We can wait here, and eventually, those exhausted 'participants' will come back. That's when I'll go on a killing spree."

"What did you say…?"

"Sorry, my bad." Han Yimo chuckled. "That's when I'll go on a killing spree alone."

…

Chu Tianqiu left Tiantang Kou and walked alone down the streets covered in black lines.

At that moment, the black lines were gradually retracting into the sky, while the streets were littered with bodies cut in half, their blood splattered everywhere and their internal organs strewn across the ground.

Before coming to Zhongyan Zhi Di, Chu Tianqiu had no idea that human blood was so sticky.

When he stepped in it, it felt like walking on low-viscosity glue, with each step making a squelching sound and leaving faint red strings as he lifted his feet.

He wanted to avoid it, but there was no way around.

Blood covered everything, as if it were the true nature of the place.

Not only were there numerous participants sliced in two, but some wandering dian ren had also collided with the hair strands stretched across the streets and been cut in half without a second thought.

They were like sprinklers on this blood-red lawn in Zhongyan Zhi Di, quietly spraying fresh blood onto the streets until their bodies were completely drained, making the ground even more slick.

A few days later, their corpses wouldn't vanish with decay; instead, they would linger on the streets, adding to the suffocating stench and contributing their final essence.

This was Tian Ji Shi Ke.

If these Tian Ji wished it, all of Zhongyan Zhi Di would be filled with the dead, with the lives of tens of thousands hanging on a single thought.

Even those who had schemed their way through Di Ji games, relying on tactics and cunning to win time and again, wouldn't dare claim they could escape Tian Ji Shi Ke unscathed.

In Tian Ji Shi Ke, the unseen judges were nowhere to be found, leaving crowds to die alone, whether participants or dian ren.

The only difference was that participants were split vertically in two, while dian ren were split horizontally.

"What utter fools…" Chu Tianqiu looked at the locals on the ground and sighed. "It's got nothing to do with you, yet you all go to your deaths one by one…"

He trudged onward through the sticky blood, leaving black-red footprints from his leather shoes, which, combined with the retracting black lines in the sky, created an eerily bizarre scene.

At that time, everyone else was either dead or gratefully resting somewhere, yet one person walked calmly through the chaos, like a lone boat rowing against a storm.

After about an hour, Chu Tianqiu arrived at the entrance of a rundown convenience store.

The place seemed to have been affected by the black lines, as if some participant had fled inside, leaving deep gashes on the walls.

Chu Tianqiu pondered for a moment, pushed the door open, and after finding the store empty, went behind the counter and opened the door to the staff rest room.

An emaciated female clerk sat on the edge of the bed, mumbling something incoherently.

Seeing someone enter, she slowly lifted her head, her eyes flickering slightly.

"I've come to deliver goods," Chu Tianqiu said with a smile.

"Deliver goods…?" The female clerk paused, then shook her head. "No… you're not the one who delivers. You're different…"

Chu Tianqiu's smile carried an unmistakable sadness as he pulled a can from his pocket and quietly placed it by the female clerk's bed.

"But the goods I bring are the same," Chu Tianqiu replied. "Is it my appearance now that's scaring you?"

"You…" The female clerk looked up, examining the person before her closely.

Though her sanity was mostly gone, she could still sense the changes in him.

He wasn't wearing glasses, his hair was all combed back, there was a faint red mark between his brows, and he wore a strange necklace around his neck.

This was worlds apart from the gentle and refined delivery man of before.

"This might be the last time I deliver goods to you," Chu Tianqiu said, his voice choking up. "Once I step out that door, I won't be able to come back."

The female clerk nodded as if she understood, her expression vacant as she asked, "You're not coming back…?"

"Yes." Chu Tianqiu nodded and leaned down to grasp the female clerk's hand. "Qiao Yun, the only way I can think of to save you is to let you die here."