Gurgle.
The head of the King of Masked Men fell to the ground.
Zhao Kongcheng's body swayed, and he fell straight down.
Lin Qiye was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and he caught Zhao Kongcheng's body steadily. Only then did he realize how bad Zhao Kongcheng's physical condition was.
Scratches, bruises, fractures... In Lin Qiye's mental perception, his body was densely covered with wounds. Blood gushed out, staining most of the muddy puddle of rainwater beneath him red. He had at least five or six broken bones. Lin Qiye couldn't imagine how Zhao Kongcheng had managed to stand up with such serious injuries.
Most alarmingly, Lin Qiye could clearly sense that Zhao Kongcheng's body was deteriorating rapidly. His vitality was like the dying embers in the ashes, getting weaker and weaker...
Lin Qiye sat beside Zhao Kongcheng in a daze. "Your body..."
"Cough! Cough! Cough... It's nothing. Just the aftereffects of forcibly bursting out my potential."
"If this goes on, you'll die."
"I know."
"Is it okay to die?"
"Hehe, hehe..." Zhao Kongcheng tried to laugh, but halfway through, he coughed up blood again. "It's not a loss. At least I experienced a Forbidden Ruins before I died. And..."
"And what?"
"And I did it. I drew my sword towards the abyss and stained the sky with my blood." Zhao Kongcheng shakily reached out his hand, touched the mud beneath him, and his hand came out covered in blood. "With this amount of blood loss, even if I can't stain the sky, I should be able to stain the ground."
Lin Qiye was stunned. "But there were no thousands of people behind you. Except for me, no one saw your efforts. Is it still worth it?"
Zhao Kongcheng smiled but didn't answer.
"Do me a favor."
"Go ahead."
"There's a pack of cigarettes in my pocket. Light one for me."
Lin Qiye groped in Zhao Kongcheng's chest pocket for a while and took out a cigarette soaked by the rain. Then he took out a lighter from his pants pocket.
He put the cigarette in Zhao Kongcheng's mouth. Lin Qiye stretched out his hand to shield the lighter from the rain and pressed it several times.
Chacha, chacha... Chacha!
A wisp of flame ignited, lighting the cigarette in Zhao Kongcheng's mouth.
He took a deep puff and let out a long sigh, as if he felt completely relaxed.
Zhao Kongcheng held the cigarette in his mouth and looked at the gray sky. The rain fell on his face and slid down his cheeks...
"Lin Qiye."
"Hmm."
"I cut off the head of the King of Masked Men with one strike. Did you see it?"
"I saw it."
The corners of Zhao Kongcheng's mouth couldn't help but rise. He was very happy.
Lin Qiye nodded and was about to say something when he suddenly trembled all over.
He stiffly turned his head and saw that in the distant mud, a tall and burly headless corpse was slowly getting up...
On its body, a pale and strange ghost face was crawling rapidly like a parasite, from the legs to the back, from the back to the front...
Finally, it grew on the chest of the King of Masked Men.
And on the head that had just been cut off beside it, the pale ghost face had disappeared without a trace.
Lin Qiye's pupils suddenly contracted!
The King of Masked Men... wasn't dead yet.
The rain was still falling.
Zhao Kongcheng was looking at the sky, still savoring what had just happened, and didn't notice the change in Lin Qiye's expression.
"Damn it, the guy that even the Captain couldn't kill was killed by me... Lin Qiye, do you think I'm amazing?"
Lin Qiye was silent for a moment, then looked down at Zhao Kongcheng in his arms and nodded heavily.
"Yeah, amazing!"
"I've made such a great contribution. If I can survive, I should be able to become a general, right?"
"You definitely can." Lin Qiye's eyes were full of certainty. "You have to live!"
"Hehe."
Zhao Kongcheng seemed to have imagined some scene, and his face was filled with satisfaction.
However, the light in his eyes was gradually dimming.
Lin Qiye's hands trembled slightly. He shook Zhao Kongcheng's body and whispered sternly:
"Zhao Kongcheng! You haven't become a general yet. You can't die!"
Zhao Kongcheng seemed to no longer be able to hear Lin Qiye's voice. His eyes gradually became blurred... He opened his mouth, and his voice was as soft as a mosquito:
"Was I... handsome just now?"
"Handsome!" Lin Qiye's lips trembled, and he nodded firmly.
"Very handsome! More handsome than anyone I've ever seen!"
The corners of Zhao Kongcheng's mouth curved into a slight arc, his eyes slowly closed, and his body relaxed.
Zhao Kongcheng was dead.
Crash...
Lin Qiye sat there in a daze. The rain blurred his eyes, but his gaze still didn't move away from Zhao Kongcheng.
Until... the heavy footsteps sounded again.
Lin Qiye pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and slowly sat up from the ground...
He turned around and his gaze fell on the headless body of the King of Masked Men in the distance. There seemed to be a blazing sun burning in his eyes!
He took two steps forward,
And pulled out a straight knife that was stuck obliquely in the ground!
That was Zhao Kongcheng's knife.
Lin Qiye held the knife and walked step by step towards the King of Masked Men. The rain soaked him through, but it couldn't extinguish the anger in his heart!
And those blazing golden eyes!
The ghost face on the body of the King of Masked Men twisted, as if howling silently. Its steps became faster and faster, and finally, like a staggering giant beast, it charged towards Lin Qiye!
The headless King of Masked Men, which had already had its right arm cut off by Zhao Kongcheng, could only use the sharp claws of its left hand to launch a violent attack!
Lin Qiye held the knife and could always predict its attack trajectory as if he had foresight, and then nimbly dodged the attack.
He was like a butterfly at midnight, swaying in the fierce wind, yet never getting touched.
His terrifying dynamic vision combined with the speed bonus of the Starry Night Dancer made Lin Qiye seem like a ghost at this moment.
Lin Qiye dodged the King of Masked Men's attacks more than ten times in a row. Expressionless, he raised his hand and swung the knife violently!
This time, his target wasn't any vital part of the body, but the pale ghost face that was attached to the chest of the King of Masked Men's body!
If he wasn't mistaken, this ghost face was the true body of the King of Masked Men.
Although Zhao Kongcheng had cut off the head of the King of Masked Men before, he hadn't injured this ghost face, so the King of Masked Men could come back to life!
Lin Qiye's body danced in the gaps of the King of Masked Men's attacks. The straight knife in his hand was swung repeatedly, striking the ghost face again and again.
Although he had a five-fold strength bonus, he still couldn't cause any substantial damage to the King of Masked Men, only leaving a shallow blood mark.
But that didn't matter.
If one strike couldn't kill it, then he would strike ten times, a hundred times!
This time... he was going to cut the King of Masked Men until its soul was completely destroyed!
One strike, two strikes, three strikes...
The King of Masked Men couldn't touch Lin Qiye, but Lin Qiye could strike the King of Masked Men. Gradually, there were more and more wounds on the ghost face on the King of Masked Men's chest, and it became bloodier and its expression more painful!
Soon, the King of Masked Men's attack slowed down.
Lin Qiye's eyes flashed with a murderous intent. Seizing the opportunity, he held the straight knife in his hand with his backhand!
He used all his strength and stabbed it into the ghost face!
A shrill and ear-piercing howl resounded through the sky!