Chapter 110 - 110 109 Life and Death Are Unpredictable

110: Chapter 109: Life and Death Are Unpredictable 110: Chapter 109: Life and Death Are Unpredictable The air was tarnished with blood and dust, so foul that it choked the breath, with weak fires mingled with the last dying flashes of warning lights, casting a dark, unstable glimmer. The walls had been crushed by immense forces, damaged wires and mechanical structures sparkled with eye-piercing electrical sparks; fierce gusts blew from the depths of the pitch-black crater, hot and wild, emitting a heartbreaking ‘whistling’ sound, resembling the sobs from the Yellow Springs Hell. The battle between the Fengdu Guards and Black Market cultivators was not yet over; they had fought deep into the market, and now only the aftermath reached here, making the wild winds sweep and the ground quiver slightly, still carrying echoes of the calls and clashes from the fight. From a pool of blood and flesh constructed from the bones and semi-coagulated blood of the dead, a figure slowly stood up. Thick plasma dripped down from the edges of the douli cloak, and An Jing silently surveyed his surroundings, a nauseating desire to vomit churning in his stomach. The entire Free Trade Zone had been thoroughly destroyed, with mountains of corpses and seas of blood surrounding the emergency exits. That he had survived was mainly because he had run fast enough, taking shelter in a passage before the fight between the Black Market cultivators and Fengdu Guards fully broke out, avoiding a direct hit from the shockwaves, plus a little bit of his own defensive ability. Infused with Taibai Fiend’s Evil Qi, even a leaf was as tough as armor, a piece of paper sharp as a blade; his already sturdy Bulletproof Rain Cloak had played its part as a Body Protection Artifact, withstanding the brunt of the blast. But not everyone was so lucky. The corpses around An Jing were mostly shattered, but their skeletons still bore a human shape, while those outside the passage had turned into blackened charcoal, with no semblance of their former selves. These sights were not actually the most horrible; unless one looked closely, it was impossible to recognize that these blackened remains were once human. What was truly revolting were the bodies of those who had used their Body Protection Artifacts but still perished…. Their exteriors had carbonized, but bright red blood oozed from the cracks, revealing the tender red flesh within, swelling with the heat. Even wearing a gas mask, the thick scent of blood still invaded the nostrils. After calming down, An Jing silently checked the drone and various resources he had protected beneath him. He counted his resources while forcing himself to think. It’s true that those who came to the Black Market weren’t exactly law-abiding citizens, but as things stood, this Black Market seemed surprisingly formal; instead of a ‘Black Market’, it was more like an underground mall built by a major group. But then the question arose. If what the boss of Lucky Road had said was true and this Black Market was indeed backed by the Xuandu Group, given their strength and resources at the Primordial Spirit level, it shouldn’t be a ‘Black Market’ easily targeted for crackdowns. Unless…. “I seem to vaguely remember, among the resident powerhouses in Xuanye City, Xuandu’s name is not listed, right? The four Primordial Spirit Inheritances, Luofu, Shouyang, Xuandu, Lianshan… Yes. The third major group in Xuanye City is the Lianshan Group!” Not daring to make any noise, An Jing, having completed his inventory, quietly hid on one side, pondering in his mind and seriously observing his surroundings: “Xuanye City is a forbidden prize for the three major groups; Xuandu Group could not get involved through regular channels, so they set up the Black Market, which must also have been tacitly allowed by some of those groups, hence even the Black Market has to pay taxes for protection fees.” “But that’s only under normal circumstances; if a real conflict were to erupt, what’s tacitly permitted is still illegal, hence the direct deployment of the Fengdu Guards to sweep clean with total disregard for life and lim!” “There should be others who have survived, besides me. That Lucky Road boss probably didn’t die either.” Actually, by calming down a bit and listening, one could faintly hear struggling breaths and calls for help coming from below the emergency exit staircase—that was from those deeper in the Black Market. An Jing carefully observed and indeed did not see Lucky Road boss’s clothes—he seemed to have quite a number of talismans on him, likely a scion of some great family, blocking shockwaves wouldn’t be difficult. Indeed, no body of Lucky Road boss was among the corpses on the ground, and one could see marks of passage on the road leading to the upper exit, showing that those capable of moving had all left the Black Market at the fastest speed. But An Jing saw another familiar body. The young waitress who had guided An Jing during the drone test lay curled up, hugging her ears, hidden behind a partially-charred counter. She hadn’t suffered much damage, likely her internal organs shattered by the aftershocks, not scorched by flames, so the body was relatively intact, except that blood streamed from all seven orifices. An Jing silently watched the girl who had once been young and cheerful, earnestly working, filled with passion for the future, shyly pleading for a good review from him. Now, she was just a corpse. Looking up, An Jing scanned the entire second floor. Here, densely packed, covering the floor, steaming upwards, it was all blood and death. Is it really necessary? It’s clear that many people here have nothing to do with those major incidents and can easily be distinguished. Even if something crucial and important was really lost, wouldn’t it be possible to capture people and interrogate them one by one? Having overwhelming strength, a little more effort in questioning is all it would take… Must it be this way, only this way, it has to be this way… it has to involve killing! Senselessly killing like this! —Does it have to be so irrevocable?! An Jing didn’t show anger. Because being angry, questioning, would yield no answers, for those who would do such things would never consider such questions. Unless, they too fell to this state. They, too, became corpses. Committing the scenes before him to memory, An Jing reached out to close the young waiter’s slightly open, bloodied, and vacant eyes, and then he turned to leave. He headed toward the exit on the top floor. The second basement level was the Free Trade Zone, the third the exclusive shops area, and the first the common retail area, selling bullets, stimulants, various talismans, elixirs, and other necessities. Above that was the square entrance, not far away. But just as he took two steps upwards, An Jing’s heart suddenly sounded a loud alarm. He stopped in his tracks, listening with a sense of foreboding. —How could it be… so quiet? The Black Market below suffered a disaster, many died and few were injured, and the lightly injured had already left. Yet even so, there should have been many screams and wails. But above, it was too eerily silent, too quiet. An Jing had thought there might be Patrol Officers or even Fengdu Guards above, which is why he planned to approach and assess the situation before acting. But now, he didn’t dare get any closer. In fact, An Jing turned around, headed back, and walked briskly toward the third basement level. The third level, where the exclusive shops were, was where An Jing had bought Jade Cutting Steel. This area was filled with “brand” and “exclusive” stores much like Mount Xiao Zhe, visited by few ordinary people. Each store had its own fortified Art of Magic, which is why the devastation seemed less severe here. But in truth, in the face of the battle between Fengdu Guards and Black Market cultivators, those magical protections didn’t mean much. The third level was littered with ruins and debris, with corpses and bloodstains scattered about—just not as extensively as the first and second levels. An Jing activated the Tranquil Sword Manual and the Imperial Heaven Art. Now, he needed to stay calm. He quickly found a small shop that sold Talisman Pens and Spirit Ink, with a collapsed facade. Avoiding the ‘Paralysis Curse Ban’ indicated by the Sword Spirit, he slipped inside. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Then, taking out a drone glasses and controller from his blood-stained backpack. After fully equipping himself, he activated the ‘Six Qi Lotus Platform’. He input a tiny amount of Spiritual Power to initiate the authentication procedure, put on the drone glasses to link his vision with the Six Qi Lotus Platform, and the drone mother unit, shaped like a green lotus, silently rose up, whirling as it flew towards the higher levels.