Chapter 56
Not far from the battlefield, the Xianzhou Yaoqing, which had not yet finished decelerating, turned around without slowing down. Its engines roared at full power as it rushed to aid the Cangcheng in distress.
No one could understand how the main ship had suddenly fallen into danger so soon after the General's departure.
Kanzaki Tomomu had barely landed on the Yaoqing with the surviving Cloud Knights when he rushed straight to the Sky-Faring Commission. He needed the Huangzhong Resonance System to learn the current situation aboard the Cangcheng.
What he discovered made his heart sink.
The Sky-Faring Commission of the Cangcheng had gone completely silent.
Across the entire Huangzhong Resonance System, no frequency from the Cangcheng answered any calls from the other Xianzhou ships.
Kanzaki Tomomu forced down the worry rising in his chest and spoke in a low, steady voice.
"Where is the Yaoqing's Helmsman? Please prepare the fastest star skiff for me at once."
The Xianzhou main ship was far too massive, and its top speed could never match that of a dedicated star skiff.
Even though the Yaoqing was the fastest vessel in the entire Alliance, it would still take days to return.
Kanzaki Tomomu's only family and his few close friends were all aboard the Cangcheng.
He could not simply wait aboard the Yaoqing while enduring the agony of uncertainty.
The Yaoqing's Helmsman understood exactly how he felt. Without hesitation, he arranged a star skiff for the Cangcheng Cloud Knights and assigned an escort unit to accompany them.
The Yaoqing Cloud Knights were no calmer than Kanzaki Tomomu about the fate of the Cangcheng.
By the time Kanzaki Tomomu and the Yaoqing's pilot unit reached the star sector, the Xianzhou had already become a scene of pure purgatory.
In the dark depths of space, a crimson demonic star named Rahu wailed and sang as it lunged toward everyone aboard the Cangcheng, burning mountains and earth in its wake.
It hung high above the ship's clouds, pulsing steadily like a beating heart.
Its rocky outer shell, laced with tendons and vines, slowly split open and spat out countless offspring.
It was like an insatiable predator feeding again and again, or a mother on the verge of giving birth.
With every lifelike pulse, another layer of muscle and withered vines peeled away, completely enveloping the entire hull of the Cangcheng.
On the long streets below, people screamed and writhed in the despair of an impending apocalypse.
Golden vines burst from their mouths, noses, and every orifice, devouring both people and objects alike.
"Save them!"
The Yaoqing Foxians were horrified by the sight. Though they had never witnessed anything like it, they still charged toward Rahu on instinct.
Under the nightmarish moonlight, their star skiffs darted like annoying mosquitoes pecking at an immovable giant god.
Yet with every breath Rahu took, it summoned countless Borisin beastships.
Under their pursuit, the dense swarm of star skiffs turned into sparks that vanished instantly in the void.
Rahu's environment was no different from the churning stomach of a giant beast, a living breeding ground of flesh and filth.
Every devoured Xianzhou citizen had only one plea left: death.
But the blessing of longevity from Abundance had become the most terrifying curse of all.
The Xianzhou people were repeatedly swallowed and spat out within that flesh-and-blood breeding ground, undergoing endless cycles of dissolution and reconstruction.
They could not die. They could only suffer.
Hanya stared at the purgatory before her, her mind completely blank.
She never could have imagined that just days after delivering news of the expedition's victory and nearly a million refugees, an apocalyptic disaster would erupt aboard the Cangcheng.
Countless comrades charged one after another into that horrifying flesh-and-blood breeding ground, only to become part of it.
She was afraid. She was terrified.
But there was no way back for any of them. They could only press forward.
"Sister, where are you?!"
At that moment, the flesh in the breeding ground writhed and condensed into a giant tree that walked across the ground.
The giant tree slowly approached Hanya in the middle of the battlefield, stretching out hundreds of arms that pierced through everyone in its path, including the comrades who had fought beside her.
Hanya gripped her broken sword, frozen in fear as the giant tree drew closer.
A smiling face suddenly bloomed on its trunk.
It was her sister's face.
"Little sister, it's me! Don't you recognize me?"
"No… you're not her…"
Branches and leaves rustled. The faces of her comrades grew like fruit along the limbs, letting out shrill laughter.
In a daze, Hanya saw flowers bloom on her sword, only to crumble into rusty dust within a few heartbeats.
Nimble branches swayed, placing a wreath of flowers on her head.
She let the branches and their sweet fragrance embrace her, just as those warm hands once had.
Meanwhile, not far from Hanya on the battlefield.
Xue Yi opened her eyes. Her pupils reflected thousands of familiar yet lifeless faces.
Her sister's face was among them, but she could not find her own.
"I can save her. I can save all of you. With just a wave of one of my many hands, I can make flesh grow back on bone and petals return to the pistil from dust. You know this well."
The strange tree with a thousand faces spoke to Xue Yi and to everyone at once.
It waved its branches, its trunk rooting deep into the ground.
"I am Shuhu. I am The Eternal. Starting from me, you will all obtain true longevity!"
Xue Yi wept as she closed her eyes. She no longer had the strength to resist.
At this moment she was nothing more than an insignificant fruit on this giant tree, unable to argue with any of its roots.
"Sever!"
A long shout rang out from the dark crimson sky.
A man clad in silver armor streaked across the heavens on a sword. With a thousand flying swords under his command, he sliced through thousands of Shuhu's branches in rapid succession.
At the same time, he severed the branches that bound Xue Yi and Hanya, shattering the illusions that had enveloped them.
"Oh, it's you again. I thought you wouldn't make it back in time."
Seeing the familiar man who had saved its prey, Shuhu's tone grew excited.
"I'm becoming more and more interested in you. Come… become part of me as well…"
More than a dozen branches pierced through space with teleportation-like speed, binding Kanzaki Tomomu and the other two in a single motion.
Sharp thorns sprouted along the branches, instantly piercing their limbs.
A thousand flying swords tore through the air, severing every branch at once and carrying the three of them away in a rapid retreat.
"Since you enjoy saving people, I'll swallow you first!"
In the direction the flying swords were fleeing, the ground suddenly exploded. Thicker branches shot upward and precisely entangled Kanzaki Tomomu, dragging him toward Shuhu's main trunk.
"Marshal Kanzaki!!!"
Xue Yi and Hanya screamed until their voices cracked.
Just then, a burning giant sword fell from the sky like a meteor, incinerating the branches and the sweet, sickly stench of rot in the air.
A burly man in heavy armor crashed into the battlefield and charged toward Shuhu with a furious roar.
Golden branches erupted violently, wrapping around their old enemy, only to be consumed by golden flames.
"Shuhu!!!"
Shuhu was not surprised by Teng Xiao's roar, which burned with endless rage.
Not long ago, Teng Xiao had been the first to leave the battlefield and rush back to the Cangcheng at full speed, leaving Wind of Evil behind.
Clearly, between killing Shuhu and saving the Xianzhou, he had chosen the latter.
Unfortunately, Shuhu had backup measures and could appear inside the Cangcheng with near-instantaneous speed.
"The destruction of the Cangcheng is already set in stone. Do you like the grand gift I've prepared for you, Teng Xiao?"
Teng Xiao ignored Shuhu completely. His voice echoed across the entire Cangcheng.
"All Cloud Knights, do everything in your power to search for and evacuate survivors! Save as many as you can!"