The room fell silent.
Shan Hai Qi Xia stared closely at Gu Qing Shan as if to discern the true intentions behind his words.
“Are you really willing to stand on our side?”
She couldn’t help but ask again.
“That’s an easy decision to make; after all, they almost killed me” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Shan Hai Qi Xia recalled the hardship she had to go through to kill the monster, then couldn’t help but ask: “We had to plan it for many years, procuring every secret technique we could find, and only then, were we finally able to kill that monster——– how did you kill the Shaman?”
Gu Qing Shan drew two circles in front of his chest with his finger, casually answering her: “I stabbed myself with my swords, so when it tried to replace me, it was immediately stabbed to death”
Shan Hai Qi Xia froze when hearing that.
It was—–
So simple?
She grabbed Gu Qing Shan’s upper garb.
“Oi—– what are you trying to do?” Gu Qing Shan held his garb back, questioning her in a stern voice.
Shan Hai Qi Xia said: “Your swords are the strongest Soul Artifacts of the Abyss—— if you truly did use the Earth sword to stab yourself, the wound shouldn’t have healed yet. I need you to prove that you aren’t lying, only then can I trust you!”
Gu Qing Shan refused, keeping his hands on his clothes: “Be reasonable, you’re the one asking for my help, why are you trying to rip my garb open?”
Shan Hai Qi Xia insisted: “I can’t afford to be deceived, please give me a reason to trust you. As long as you let me rip it, I’ll listen to your every order in combat!”
“Don’t——-”
A ‘ripppp’ sound was heard.
Gu Qing Shan’s upper garb was ripped by Shan Hai Qi Xia, revealing the bloodstains and wounds on his chest.
Shan Hai Qi Xia then took out a small purple bell, ringing it as she chanted: “With blood as mark, war time recollection!”
A bloody light appeared out of thin air, displaying the scene of Gu Qing Shan using the Earth sword and Six Paths Great Mountain sword to stab himself.
This recollection disappeared very quickly.
Shan Hai Qi Xia observed it all from beginning to end, but was still confused and muttered to herself:
“It’s still bloody… as if when the wounds were about to close, they were violently opened up again”
She then thought of something.
When the apocalyptic monster attacked the School of Shan Hai, it was him who stepped forward to kill that monster.
And his injuries shouldn’t have healed yet at the time…
Shan Hai Qi Xia bit her lip, then lowered her head: “I’m sorry, from this moment onwards, I will no longer doubt you”
Gu Qing Shan had been through many things in life, but this was the very first time he had gotten his clothes ripped by a woman, so he really didn’t know what to say.
He observed the woman in front of him.
She was lowering her head; the corners of her eyes seemed a bit moist.
What the hell, you’re the one who ripped my clothes, why are you acting sad?
He couldn’t get angry at her, so he just shrugged, then changed into another set of clothing before telling her with an exhausted tone: “In reality, since we both know each other’s identities, that’s already more than enough for mutual trust. After all, we aren’t going to be revealing the other person to the monsters”
After entering this Apocalypse illusion, Li San Lang’s appearance had been increased by several years, so he now looked to be around 19-20 years old.
——–this was the minimum age for taking the post as a city gatekeeper.
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit, then asked: “If you’ve already killed that monster, then what are you currently using as your form of combat?”
Having changed her attitude, Shan Hai Qi Xia answered him straight: “I obtained all of the monster’s inheritance, but I can’t exert the full power of the inheritance yet”
“Hm, as I thought, you’re the same as I am” Gu Qing Shan nodded.
He took out a piece of bone, flipping it back and forth in the air.
——–this was one of the pieces of bone Zhao Qiong gave him before, which recorded many types of fist techniques.
Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:
[Comprehending all fist techniques from this piece of bone will require 105,000 Soul Points in total, would you like to spend it?]
“Do it” Gu Qing Shan replied.
A warm flow emerged from the piece of bone and followed his hand into this body before settling into his Thought Sea.
[Ethereal] consisted of Divine Skills, so it required Soul Points to use. In the follow-up battles, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t keep relying on it all the time, so he needed to learn some basic fist techniques.
Shan Hai Qi Xia asked: “Gu Qing Shan, what do we do now?”
Gu Qing Shan glanced at the War God UI.
A few lines of glowing text was resting at a corner of the War God UI:
[7 minutes until the arrival of the Apocalypse]
7 minutes left.
——but I don’t even know what kind of Apocalypse this is supposed to be yet.
Gu Qing Shan stood up and said: “The Apocalypse is coming. We need to take a look at what kind of Apocalypse it is before we can what to do”
Shan Hai Qi Xia thought that to be reasonable, so she nodded in agreement.
The two of them left the room and walked along the path of the residential area to leave.
It was already quite late into the night, so cold wind and snowflakes were blowing against their faces.
Other than the night patrol officers and guards, there wasn’t a single person to be found on the streets.
“Halt!”
Someone called out.
When they looked back, they found that it was a group of patrolling soldiers who came from the corner of the street.
“Madam Shan Hai Qi Xia, and also—– guard Li Qiu Shan, it’s already so late into the night, where are you going?” the head patrol officer asked in surprise.
In a situation like this, Gu Qing Shan didn’t have the authority to answer.
Since Shan Hai Qi Xia was acting as the superior between them, she had to be the one to make the call.
“Be careful with your answer, remember, we can’t do anything that goes against our identities” Gu Qing Shan silently sent his voice?
Shan Hai Qi Xia understood.
In the middle of a cold winter night, where the sky was getting dark, what kind of excuse would best explain this situation?
Shan Hai Qi Xia held Gu Qing Shan’s hand, then answered: “You can’t tell? We’re going on a date”
The group of patrols were all stunned.
That’s true.
Other than those in a romantic relationship, who would go outside in such cold weather?
Our army’s rose!
Why did she get together with this Li Qiu Shan?
While everyone’s hearts were shattered, Shan Hai Qi Xia had already pulled Gu Qing Shan to leave.
“Where are we heading?” Shan Hai Qi Xia asked.
Gu Qing Shan pondered for a bit.
If this apocalyptic event is called ‘Fall of the capital city’, then——
“Let’s head to the city gates, in case that the Apocalypse begins in the middle of the city, we’d have ample time to deal with it!” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Alright”
“Conceal your presence, don’t let the monsters notice us, it’s not yet time to meet up with them”
“Understood”
The two of them quickly reached the city gates.
The notification changed on the War God UI:
[Time’s up, the Apocalypse had descended]
Descended?
Where?
Gu Qing Shan looked around.
In the snowy wind, other than the large metal city gates, there were only guards who were on shift.
Suddenly, Gu Qing Shan looked up.
In the night sky, a gigantic object appeared.
It was a ship!
A large wooden cruise ship!
Even Gu Qing Shan’s inner sight couldn’t penetrate the invisible barrier around the ship.
Only the naked eye could observe that the deck of the ship was practically crawling with something blurry.
The falling ship seemed almost like an asteroid streaking towards the capital city.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of the emergency bell rang from the top of the bell tower unceasingly.
Shan Hai Qi Xia’s expression changed: “It’s heading towards us!”
“It’s ok, it should fall a few hundred meters outside the city” Gu Qing Shan calmly said.
He affixed the metal gauntlets on his fists one last time.
Shan Hai Qi Xia also held a small purple bell in her hand, silently waiting.
Thud!
The ship crashed into the ground several hundred meters outside the capital city, causing a thunderous commotion.
Sand and dust were kicked up by the impact drifting all over.
“Why a ship?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
Shan Hai Qi Xia told him: “Don’t let your guard down. We of the Tomb of Myriad Beasts have seen many Apocalypses, but those that can manifest specific solid objects had always been the troublesome kind”
She pulled Gu Qing Shan’s sleeve, telling him: “We should hide now”
“We won’t be able to” Gu Qing Shan smiled bitterly.
Shan Hai Qi Xia was surprised.
Suddenly, a loud and clear military call was heard from atop the city wall.
A gathering call.
All officers and soldiers were to stop resting and immediately gather to receive their orders!
Gu Qing Shan and Shan Hai Qi Xia were both restrained by their identities as military personnel, so they must gather at the military call, unable to escape.
If they violated this rule, they would be considered to have done something unsuitable with their identities, then directly thrown into the Apocalypse.
A communication soldier hurriedly made his way from the gate to relay the orders to officers around the city.
As he saw Shan Hai Qi Xia, he immediately called out: “Vice-captain of the Mage corps, please report to headquarters!”
Shan Hai Qi Xia glanced at Gu Qing Shan.
“Our identities as military personnel are probably our greatest shortcomings” she told Gu Qing Shan through telepathy.
——military personnel must follow orders.
“This can’t be helped. Just go ahead, we’ll establish contact again later tonight” Gu Qing Shan sent his voice.
“Alright, take care of yourself then”
Shan Hai Qi Xia turned to leave.
At this point, the officer responsible for defending the gates also arrived.
The officer saw Gu Qing Shan standing there and said: “Follow me, we need a team of experts to scout out what’s going on”
“Understood, sir” Gu Qing Shan replied.
He looked at the fallen ship.
A cluster of black fog had already begun to emanate from the vessel, completely covering the point of landing and continued to spread in all directions.
The officer walked ahead, picking out guards with ample combat experience to form a small squad of soldiers.
The officer’s gaze scanned through the soldiers.
“I remember that Li Qiu Shan and Wang Xiao Yi have had experience as scouts, then the two of you shall scout ahead, we’ll follow you behind. Everyone, forward!”
“Sir, yes sir!” everyone responded.
Gu Qing Shan sighed in his heart.
——following the order means having to scout; but not following the order means I’ll be thrown into the very center of it all.
Scouting is the better choice.
He and another soldier exchanged glances, then started heading towards the direction of the fallen ship.
Very quickly, the thick black fog swallowed their figures.
