“Old Lu!!”
Aunt Tong snapped angrily, “How many times have I told you to stop this nonsense! I have the ‘Mother Goddess’ protecting me. Even if I die, it just means she wants to see me! I’m not afraid of death!”
“Bullshit!” Old Lu turned around, his filthy mask glaring at Aunt Tong before he grabbed her hand tightly. “Xiao Chan, I’ve never believed in any damn ‘Mother Goddess.’ I only believe in myself. I don’t know if she’s really protecting you, but I sure as hell am!”
“You—”
Without another word, Old Lu shoved Aunt Tong toward the door. “Go back inside! Xiao Chan, we have enough people here! You’re ‘Karma’—your life is more valuable than mine!”
Despite the force behind his push, Aunt Tong could see his entire body trembling.
“Old Lu… you’re scared…” Her voice shook as well. “You’re putting up a front… How can your ‘Hardening’ possibly hold against—”
“Shut up and go!” Old Lu’s voice cracked in desperation.
Aunt Tong knew her ‘Echo’ was useless in close combat, but she couldn’t just leave Old Lu here alone.
Was there any way she could help him indirectly?
A thought struck her—if Jiang Ruoxue could twist fate with her ‘Causality,’ maybe she could too.
Grabbing Old Lu’s arm, she asked urgently, “Old Lu! Tell me… have you ever done evil?!”
“What the hell kind of question is this now?!” Old Lu gritted his teeth. “This isn’t the time—”
“Old Lu!! Answer me! Have you ever done evil?!” she shrieked again.
“I…”
Old Lu clenched his jaw but remained silent.
“Say something!” Aunt Tong yelled. “Tell me you haven’t! If you admit you haven’t, ‘Karma’ will protect you!”
Amid the chaos, Old Lu quietly met her gaze through the mask’s eyeholes, his eyes filled with an unfathomable sorrow.
After a few seconds, he spoke:
“Xiao Chan… I’m sorry. I’ve done unforgivable things.”
“You—!” Anger flashed across Aunt Tong’s face. “Old Lu, have you lost your mind?! If even you believe it’s evil, ‘Bad Karma’ will come for you!”
Her fingers dug into his wrist, her knuckles whitening from the force, yet she felt utterly powerless.
“I can’t lie and say I’m a good man… My mistakes have haunted me all this time.” Old Lu shook his head. “So I’m really sorry.”
Despair filled Aunt Tong’s face. She never imagined that her first attempt to use ‘Karma’ to save someone important would instead condemn him to hell.
‘Karma’ had already taken effect on Old Lu—but this time, it was the long-accumulated ‘Bad Karma.’ Retribution was coming.
By admitting his evil deeds, he had affirmed his own ‘Bad Karma’—and under the influence of ‘Karma’ itself…
“Old Lu… you… you…” Aunt Tong trembled, unsure how to change this. Could she forcibly alter someone else’s morality?
“I’ve had enough…” Old Lu pushed her toward the door, then braced his hands against the frame. “Don’t worry, Xiao Chan. I might not be able to kill that ‘Zodiac,’ but as long as I’m here, this door won’t close or break…”
“Do you think I’m only worried about the door?!” she hissed. “This is the ‘Train,’ and you’re still a ‘Zodiac’… If you die here… then…”
“Xiao Chan!!” Though masked, she could tell he was smiling. “At our age… isn’t the only wish left to outlive the other? Well, this time I’m being selfish… I don’t want to watch you die.”
“Old Lu…”
“Listen to me! Go!”
With a final grin, he shoved her toward the stairs.
Aunt Tong caught a glimpse of the two ‘Earth-Level’ Zodiacs rising, attacking the nearby ‘Human-Level’ ones. She knew staying would only make things worse. Clutching Old Lu’s stiffened hand one last time, she turned and sprinted toward the ‘Cargo Hold.’
Any more delay, and not just Old Lu—everyone here would die.
She needed to warn Yan Zhichun immediately. Time was running out.
When Aunt Tong stumbled into the ‘Cargo Hold,’ the scene had already shifted drastically.
Though no stone had fallen, countless ‘Ants’ seemed to grow eyes, swarming toward an empty patch of ground.
Someone was clearly there, dodging as the ‘Ants’ adjusted their path.
Aunt Tong realized this must be the ‘auto-tracking attack’ Yan Zhichun had mentioned. She didn’t understand how it worked but hurried toward her.
“Aunt Tong!” Yan Zhichun, no longer directing the battle, looked at her with concern. “What’s happening outside?”
“It’s a long story…”
Aunt Tong quickly summarized—Luo Shiyi had lured away one ‘Earth-Level’ and several ‘Human-Level’ Zodiacs, while the human-pig under Old Lu’s command fought another group outside. The ‘Extremists’ who had followed them were also buying time. Now, it was only a matter of time before Tian Niu fell.
“It’s inevitable,” Yan Zhichun said calmly. “She can’t escape. Right now, she’s fighting hundreds of ‘Earth-Level’ Zodiacs alone. Her ‘Concealment’ and ‘Levitation’ are useless, and ‘Amplification’ doesn’t help in combat. There’s no way she can win.”
Aunt Tong followed the sound—the ‘Ants’ surged like a tide toward the invisible Tian Niu, who was clearly injured, struggling to evade. Blood rained from the sky; even her ‘Concealment’ couldn’t hide her wounds anymore.
Had Tian Niu realized yet? She’d issued orders in Qinglong’s name, so why was she still abandoned?
“If she doesn’t drop ‘Concealment,’ the ‘Ants’ will keep inflicting minor wounds until she’s slowly tortured to death,” Yan Zhichun said flatly. “Her best choice now is to reveal herself and let ‘Pickpocket’ end it quickly.”
“How is this even possible?” Aunt Tong stared at Tian Niu’s invisible form.
“Ruoxue and that old man combined their ‘Echoes’ on an eyeball,” Yan Zhichun explained. “That eyeball now carries both ‘Causality’ and ‘Tracking,’ silently hovering above Tian Niu—untouchable and undetectable. Ruoxue had to work hard to find this twisted logic.”
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