Yao Queer paused, her voice turning complex. "Xinhai action officer Huai Shi..."
Before she could finish, a blood-stained face appeared on the live broadcast screen.
Countless comments flashed by.
"Awesome, the third one already!"
"They're starting early? Not even a heads-up! Good thing I finished in the toilet fast!"
"Wow, this guy's quite good-looking. Such a pity to die like this. Hey host, can you sell him to me? I'll give two Source Crystals!"
"Confirmed, it's a little brother!"
"Get lost, gay guy upstairs."
"Looking so flirty, is he a Cowherd from the Astronomical Society?"
"Hurry up, get it over with!"
Amidst the malicious stream of comments, Uncle Bian reached out and took the gun from Rod, cocking the slide. The burly man holding the whip yanked Huai Shi's hair, forcing him to face the camera.
Uncle Bian slowly raised the pistol and pressed it against Huai Shi's forehead. "Sorry, young man," he said. "I didn't really want to kill you."
"Neither did I."
In that moment, Huai Shi grinned, smiling at him.
Then, to Uncle Bian's astonishment, a hand suddenly clamped onto his wrist, twisted it, and crushed the fragile bones, completing a standard disarmament maneuver and snatching the gun.
Immediately after, he aimed it at the hand gripping his hair and pulled the trigger. A single shot.
Next, he targeted Uncle Bian's knees, firing twice.
Finally, rising from the ground, he crippled Uncle Bian's arms with a third and fourth shot.
With Uncle Bian on the ground and screaming, Huai Shi slowly rose. Clenching his teeth, he pulled the half-driven nail from his flesh and gazed down indifferently at the man's terrified face. "—And besides, I wouldn't do that."
Their biggest mistake was thinking that iron was enough to bind Huai Shi.
Even if it caused him intense agony.
For Huai Shi, this was all too familiar.
During the not-so-long confinement, those two nails, perhaps Border Relics, had long lost their effect under the disintegrating power of the Hand of Confinement and Alchemy Fire.
As the young man burst forth, all his restraints shattered.
Emerald flames ignited from the young man's body. From the crevice in his chest, it seemed as if endless toxic fire surged. Darkness spread like a tide, turning into a nightmarish mist.
In the dim mist, the Mountain Ghost stepped through pools of blood on the ground, slowly moving forward.
"Come on—"
The young man looked around at the shocked faces, mockingly beckoning them with his finger. "Let me see what Green Day is made of!"
In agony, the burly man with the whip roared. Electricity sparked on his whip as he lashed it towards Huai Shi's head.
Then Huai Shi aimed at his forehead and pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
Brain matter splattered.
"Idiot..." Huai Shi lowered the gun, retracting his gaze. "Next!"
Amidst the roar of gunfire, the iron door was kicked open. The Sublimators preparing to retreat sensed the situation inside, took out long guns and short cannons from their boxes, and aimed at Huai Shi.
In the instant the triggers were pulled, Huai Shi could even hear the crisp sound of the firing pins rubbing within the chambers as their index fingers moved.
Almost as if sliding, he suddenly moved three steps from his spot, raising his pistol to return fire.
Flames burst forth from the barrel.
After two loud bangs, the empty click of the hammer came from the gun.
No more bullets.
Huai Shi casually tossed aside the pistol, now a mere burden. It struck Rod, the hunched-over man in the corner, squarely on the forehead, knocking him to the ground.
Then, facing the three Sublimators rushing towards him, he raised his right hand.
From his palm, Brilliant Light burst forth along with steel, solidifying into the silhouette of a Long Spear. It was a weapon that had torn through four hundred years of wind and moon, pierced the vast distance from Rome to America. The Spear of Compassion manifested here.
With his swing, Dragon Blood splattered.
Wherever it passed, pure white Iris flowers silently bloomed from the floor.
So splendid.