Chapter 943: Celestial Pig

Before Tianzhu could finish speaking, Qinglong was already behind him.

"Qing... Qinglong... wait a moment..."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Qinglong's hand pressed down on the back of his head, slamming him forcefully into the table.

Bang!

The tremendous noise echoed through the room. Tianzhu didn't even have time to resist before his forehead struck the wooden surface. Though it was wood, it didn't shatter under Qinglong's strength.

The other Tianji turned their heads away, but their cheeks were still splattered with blood.

Tianzhu's head was pinned firmly against the table, his body structure clearly different from that of ordinary people. Although his scalp was torn open and the pain was excruciating, his skull didn't crack.

"Qing... Qinglong..."

Tianzhu groaned, saying, "Let me speak first... I have my reasons..."

"Why did you activate Kuilei?"

"I... this..."

Qinglong gave him no chance to continue, grabbing Tianzhu by the hair and yanking him up. Before he could catch his breath, Qinglong slammed him into the table again.

Bang!

Blood sprayed everywhere once more. Tianma reached out to cover Tianhu's eyes, while everyone else lowered their heads.

"Ah!!"

The impact was severe, and Tianzhu let out a scream, quickly shouting, "Qinglong... calm down... I... I had no choice..."

Qinglong grabbed Tianzhu's hair again and lifted his bloodied face, leaning in close to his ear to say, "What I asked was, why did you activate Kuilei?"

Without waiting for a response, he slammed Tianzhu into the table yet again.

Bang!

"Ahhh!! Damn it... Qinglong... you're not treating us like human beings at all!"

Tianzhu's muffled voice came from the table.

He mustered all his strength to break free from Qinglong's grip, springing up with a sudden "whoosh," ready to fight to the death.

The other Tianji looked up. Tianzhu's entire face was covered in fresh blood; a large chunk of skin was missing from his forehead, his nose was broken, and several teeth were gone.

At this point, he had no other options. Qinglong intended to kill him, so if he didn't fight back, he'd just be waiting to die. But if he did resist...

Qinglong raised an eyebrow at the sight and slowly stepped back.

"Oh..." He smirked slowly. "What now? Are you going to kill me?"

"I... I..."

Tianzhu wiped the blood from his face and said, "Kuilei was a task assigned to me by Tianlong... I couldn't defy either of you... What was I supposed to do?"

"Then I guess I'm sorry." Qinglong wiped the blood from his hands. "I didn't know what Tianlong told you. Maybe I misunderstood."

"Damn it..." Tianzhu pressed his lips together, his eyes burning with anger he could no longer contain. "Don't give me that 'misunderstanding' crap... You 'misunderstood' and turned me into this mess..."

"Then... what do you want?"

"I know I'm as good as dead..." Tianzhu said. "Tianlong did pass on a message; he ordered me to activate Kuilei... In the dream, he'd kill me, and in reality, you'd kill me. I had no choice, so I'm fighting back with everything I've got."

Tianzhu glanced around at the others in the room with his peripheral vision, desperately hoping someone would stand up for him.

But these people weren't under any immediate threat; they just kept their heads down, pretending nothing was happening.

They had all come here with passion once, but over the decades, they had truly become puppets.

"Everyone," Tianzhu said, "stand up with me and fight Qinglong. Even if there are casualties, some of us will survive. Otherwise, we'll be taken out one by one, and then we'll have no chance at all."

Only Tianshe knew Tianzhu was telling the truth, because he had seen the killing intent in Qinglong's eyes.

But rebelling against Qinglong was a ridiculous plan... He had Duo Xin Po!

This man could not only strip away sanity with a touch but also control others' actions. Even though everyone had exceptional physical abilities, how could they use their bodies against Duo Xin Po?

At that moment, Tianshe had only one thought—if the others stood up, he would too.

If death was inevitable, better to face it sooner than later.

The young woman Tianhou heard Tianzhu's words and thought they made perfect sense, but as she started to rise, Tianji pulled her back.

Tianhou looked at Tianji and saw him frowning and shaking his head. It was as if, for the first time in decades, they were at odds, their eyes filled with mutual bewilderment.

"Everyone... stand up," Tianzhu said. "You know I'm right... This is our last chance. The unchanging structure of the Tianji is starting to fall apart with people dying now. Don't you realize how serious this is?"

His lonely voice echoed through the dim room, but it couldn't wake those who were feigning sleep.

Until Qinglong burst into laughter, the only ones standing in the room were him and Tianzhu.

"Tianzhu, you're confused," Qinglong said. "Asking them to choose between you and me? Well, that's something. I haven't had a real fight in ages."

"You..."

"Come on." Qinglong beckoned with his hand. "I won't use Duo Xin Po. Let's have a proper brawl."

Tianzhu swallowed hard at those words, then removed his shirt, wiped the blood from his face, tore the shirt into strips, and tied one around his head to staunch the bleeding.

"Someone has to take the first step," Tianzhu said with a bitter smile. "Thinking about it, going back to reality isn't so bad. After all, in the dream, I'm already an old man on the brink of death."

He rolled his neck and shook out his limbs, which hadn't moved in decades.

"Seventy years already," Tianzhu's gaze grew firm. "Even if I could return to the real world... would my family still be waiting for me?"

"Who knows?" Qinglong replied.

"They've probably all died of old age by now." Tianzhu let out a cold laugh. "Going back would just be a burden to them."

"You're so noble." Qinglong laughed along. "I love watching people like you, so noble, die helplessly at my hands."

"I'll die, but not without putting up a fight."

Tianzhu gritted his teeth and charged forward.

Just as he reached Qinglong, his entire body suddenly emitted an intense burst of light, forcing everyone to shut their eyes.

Qinglong had just heard the echo of Bao Shan when a crash like a car accident erupted, and their limbs collided.

...

On the playground of Tiantangkou, a woman's corpse, long dead, shakily rose to its feet. Like a puppet on strings, it adjusted its limbs and then strangely began walking toward the school building.