The room fell silent.
Shan Hai Qi Xia stared closely at Gu Qing Shan as if to discern the true intentions behind his words.
âAre you really willing to stand on our side?â
She couldnât help but ask again.
âThatâs an easy decision to make; after all, they almost killed meâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
Shan Hai Qi Xia recalled the hardship she had to go through to kill the monster, then couldnât help but ask: âWe had to plan it for many years, procuring every secret technique we could find, and only then, were we finally able to kill that monsterâââ how did you kill the Shaman?â
Gu Qing Shan drew two circles in front of his chest with his finger, casually answering her: âI stabbed myself with my swords, so when it tried to replace me, it was immediately stabbed to deathâ
Shan Hai Qi Xia froze when hearing that.
It wasââ
So simple?
She grabbed Gu Qing Shanâs upper garb.
âOiââ what are you trying to do?â Gu Qing Shan held his garb back, questioning her in a stern voice.
Shan Hai Qi Xia said: âYour swords are the strongest Soul Artifacts of the Abyssââ if you truly did use the Earth sword to stab yourself, the wound shouldnât have healed yet. I need you to prove that you arenât lying, only then can I trust you!â
Gu Qing Shan refused, keeping his hands on his clothes: âBe reasonable, youâre the one asking for my help, why are you trying to rip my garb open?â
Shan Hai Qi Xia insisted: âI canât afford to be deceived, please give me a reason to trust you. As long as you let me rip it, Iâll listen to your every order in combat!â
âDonâtââ-â
A ârippppâ sound was heard.
Gu Qing Shanâs 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: âWith blood as mark, war time recollection!â
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:
âItâs still bloody... as if when the wounds were about to close, they were violently opened up againâ
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 shouldnât have healed yet at the time...
Shan Hai Qi Xia bit her lip, then lowered her head: âIâm sorry, from this moment onwards, I will no longer doubt youâ
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 didnât 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, youâre the one who ripped my clothes, why are you acting sad?
He couldnât get angry at her, so he just shrugged, then changed into another set of clothing before telling her with an exhausted tone: âIn reality, since we both know each otherâs identities, thatâs already more than enough for mutual trust. After all, we arenât going to be revealing the other person to the monstersâ
After entering this Apocalypse illusion, Li San Langâs appearance had been increased by several years, so he now looked to be around 19-20 years old.
âââthis was the minimum age for taking the post as a city gatekeeper.
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit, then asked: âIf youâve already killed that monster, then what are you currently using as your form of combat?â
Having changed her attitude, Shan Hai Qi Xia answered him straight: âI obtained all of the monsterâs inheritance, but I canât exert the full power of the inheritance yetâ
âHm, as I thought, youâre the same as I amâ Gu Qing Shan nodded.
He took out a piece of bone, flipping it back and forth in the air.
âââthis 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?]
âDo itâ 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 couldnât keep relying on it all the time, so he needed to learn some basic fist techniques.
Shan Hai Qi Xia asked: âGu Qing Shan, what do we do now?â
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.
ââbut I donât even know what kind of Apocalypse this is supposed to be yet.
Gu Qing Shan stood up and said: âThe Apocalypse is coming. We need to take a look at what kind of Apocalypse it is before we can what to doâ
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 wasnât a single person to be found on the streets.
âHalt!â
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.
âMadam Shan Hai Qi Xia, and alsoââ guard Li Qiu Shan, itâs already so late into the night, where are you going?â the head patrol officer asked in surprise.
In a situation like this, Gu Qing Shan didnât 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.
âBe careful with your answer, remember, we canât do anything that goes against our identitiesâ 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 Shanâs hand, then answered: âYou canât tell? Weâre going on a dateâ
The group of patrols were all stunned.
Thatâs true.
Other than those in a romantic relationship, who would go outside in such cold weather?
Our armyâs rose!
Why did she get together with this Li Qiu Shan?
While everyoneâs hearts were shattered, Shan Hai Qi Xia had already pulled Gu Qing Shan to leave.
âWhere are we heading?â Shan Hai Qi Xia asked.
Gu Qing Shan pondered for a bit.
If this apocalyptic event is called âFall of the capital cityâ, thenââ
âLetâs head to the city gates, in case that the Apocalypse begins in the middle of the city, weâd have ample time to deal with it!â Gu Qing Shan replied.
âAlrightâ
âConceal your presence, donât let the monsters notice us, itâs not yet time to meet up with themâ
âUnderstoodâ
The two of them quickly reached the city gates.
The notification changed on the War God UI:
[Timeâs 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 Shanâs inner sight couldnât 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 Xiaâs expression changed: âItâs heading towards us!â
âItâs ok, it should fall a few hundred meters outside the cityâ 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.
âWhy a ship?â Gu Qing Shan couldnât help but mutter to himself.
Shan Hai Qi Xia told him: âDonât 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 kindâ
She pulled Gu Qing Shanâs sleeve, telling him: âWe should hide nowâ
âWe wonât be able toâ 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: âVice-captain of the Mage corps, please report to headquarters!â
Shan Hai Qi Xia glanced at Gu Qing Shan.
âOur identities as military personnel are probably our greatest shortcomingsâ she told Gu Qing Shan through telepathy.
ââmilitary personnel must follow orders.
âThis canât be helped. Just go ahead, weâll establish contact again later tonightâ Gu Qing Shan sent his voice.
âAlright, take care of yourself thenâ
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: âFollow me, we need a team of experts to scout out whatâs going onâ
âUnderstood, sirâ 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 officerâs gaze scanned through the soldiers.
âI remember that Li Qiu Shan and Wang Xiao Yi have had experience as scouts, then the two of you shall scout ahead, weâll follow you behind. Everyone, forward!â
âSir, yes sir!â everyone responded.
Gu Qing Shan sighed in his heart.
ââfollowing the order means having to scout; but not following the order means Iâll 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.