Chapter 1138: The Unattainable Heart

Although Officer Li was filled with doubts, he still raised his hand and plunged the wooden stick into Xuanwu’s heart several times in succession.

Each time it was pierced, the wound simply turned into an endless black void, not a single drop of blood flowing out.

Officer Li and Song Qi beside him stared at the heart in their hands for a long time, each already calculating their next move.

Song Qi knew this wouldn’t be so straightforward. Xuanwu’s “Undying” likely had similarities with Jiang Shi’s—when unharmed, they appeared ordinary, but when injured, their wounds would be replaced by an inky, starry void.

This blackness allowed the “Undying” bearer to evade all fatal damage until the effect wore off. At that point, if the wounds remained, all the accumulated lethal injuries would erupt at once, instantly killing them.

But would Xuanwu’s “Undying” ever fade?

“I’ve taken this heart out… yet I’m powerless against it.” Officer Li’s eyes dimmed slightly. “I don’t even know the meaning behind my persistence anymore…”

“Don’t overthink it,” Song Qi said. “Fourth Brother, none of us here can do this—except you.”

“Me…?”

“Have you noticed?” Song Qi lowered his head, gazing at Xuanwu again.

“What?”

“Everything Xuanwu has, we have too.” Song Qi said. “‘Undying,’ ‘Pickpocket,’ ‘Forget Sorrow’—we’re no weaker than her. The only thing we lack is ‘Leap,’ but Xuanwu wants to die, so she won’t move. Neither she nor we need ‘Leap.’”

“What does that prove…?” Officer Li shook his head. “I don’t want to dampen morale, but the things I ‘pick’ can’t affect her, while what she picks can kill us instantly. We’re not even on the same level.”

“Fourth Brother…” Song Qi hesitated. “Don’t lose heart. Xuanwu’s heart is already in our hands—how can there be no way forward?”

“You have…?”

“Piercing it like this is useless. Let me try.” Song Qi slowly extended his hand. “I have an idea. Maybe it’ll work.”

Officer Li nodded slightly and handed the heart over to Song Qi.

Black spots now dotted the heart, remnants of the repeated stabbings.

Taking the heart, Song Qi closed his eyes. All he needed now was enough conviction—then he could perform the strangest explosion imaginable.

But this time, infusing belief into the heart proved difficult.

Convincing himself that an object was a bomb wasn’t hard for Song Qi. The problem was that this heart still pulsed warmly in his hand, unmistakably alive.

Truly believing a living thing was an explosive… the odds were unimaginably low.

Yet once before, he had achieved something similar. Who said something warm and beating couldn’t become a bomb?

When cornered, even an ordinary person could unleash an “Echo” beyond belief.

He remembered snapping off his own fingers and throwing them at a burly Earth Rabbit. Back then, hadn’t those fingers exploded? That was the power of “Conviction.”

He still recalled the warmth of those fingers…

If his own flesh could become a bomb, why not Xuanwu’s heart?

Compared to that time, the stakes now were much lower.

If ordinary stabbing couldn’t harm Xuanwu or her heart, then they’d just have to blow it to pieces.

Song Qi clenched the heart in his hand for a long moment before slowly opening his eyes. Sparks now flickered across its surface.

“Song Qi… you…”

“Xuanwu!” Song Qi shouted from above. “Face your heart!”

With that, he hurled the heart straight at her.

Xuanwu felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Not long ago, she had done the same—thrown Qinglong’s own heart at him.

But Qinglong had dodged. Should she do the same?

Before she could decide, the heart twisted midair, sparks erupting and spreading through the surrounding space. The “Cat” team reacted instantly, those nearest to Xuanwu quickly retreating.

Dazed, Xuanwu reached out with her left hand—just as the heart detonated.

A violent “Deflagration” engulfed her entire body in an instant. Since they were in an open space, Song Qi could pour all his belief into the blast, making it far larger than ever before.

Whether from pain or shock, a scream tore from Xuanwu’s throat within the flames.

There were countless ways to die in this world—but who could be killed by their own beating heart?

The others shielded their eyes as the shockwave dissipated. Only Su Shan kept hers wide open, scrutinizing Xuanwu’s body through the rippling distortions, searching for a weakness.

Xuanwu’s entire body was supposedly wrapped in “Undying,” yet the heart Officer Li had extracted clearly hadn’t been protected—the starry blackness only appeared after it was attacked.

Su Shan, with her years in forensic analysis, tried to apply her expertise to the anomalies of the “Land of the End.”

Did this mean “Undying” only enveloped Xuanwu’s exterior? That all her internal organs remained unprotected, vivid in color and capable of sending searing pain through her in an instant?

“In other words, ‘Undying’ is like armor that manifests to protect its bearer,” Su Shan murmured. “But this ‘armor’…”

As the blast faded, Xuanwu reappeared—but her appearance had changed.

Hunched over, her left hand clutched her chest as if enduring unbearable agony.

The next moment, she plunged her hand into her own ribcage, searching for something.

The pain was excruciating, yet her heart felt impossibly distant.

This sensation was different from before.

The pain was close, but her heart was far.

Her arm delved deep into the starry void of her chest—yet no matter how far she reached, she couldn’t grasp the source of the pain.

The others watched in silence. Who in this world could reach into their own chest? And even if someone could—

Who could do so without their arm piercing out the other side?

Xuanwu’s grotesque, tragic, trembling, and helpless form left the entire scene in stunned silence.