Chapter 1211: More Stars

Yao Qing's plea changed nothing. What Xiao Chunping decided would not easily change. She had come from obscurity to prominence on her own, single-handedly founded and protected the Su Embroidery Museum for decades. She was never an indecisive woman, but rather Xiao Chunping, a pillar of strength. She loved Yao Qing dearly, but his pleas would not sway her.

Strands of embroidery silk flew from Xiao Chunping's fingertips, instantly coiling around Yao Qing's body. He felt his entire body tighten, becoming rooted in place like a statue, unable to move an inch.

"My dear grandson, Grandma is leaving..." Xiao Chunping gently stroked Yao Qing's head and spoke softly. "After Grandma is gone, don't be too obedient. Have your own opinions when faced with challenges... The task of promoting and expanding our Su embroidery falls to you now."

With that, she took one last, deep look at Yao Qing, as if to engrave his image permanently in her mind... Then she turned and walked into the darkness.

"Grandma!!!" Veins bulged from Yao Qing's neck, tears streamed from his eyes, and he repeatedly called out for Xiao Chunping. But even as his throat grew hoarse, the elderly figure did not look back. He only vaguely saw crystalline drops fall from her white-haired cheeks, dissipating without a trace.

Yao Qing had never been so distraught. He had grown up under his grandmother's care, and now he could only watch Xiao Chunping go to her death, utterly powerless... This was the first time he truly understood how weak he was, so weak that he didn't even have the right to stand by the side of those he cherished.

The surrounding guests looked at the restrained Yao Qing with sympathetic eyes, yet not one person stepped forward to free him... Perhaps in their hearts, they had already imagined Yao Qing as their own child, and if it were their child in his place, they too would do the same thing as Xiao Chunping.

More and more people emerged from the 7012 underground project, rushing toward the passage leading to the surface.

"Quite a few people came," Ying Fu remarked blandly as he reappeared on the surface, glancing at the crowd quickly arriving behind him.

Chen Ling and Ying Fu had directly opened an inclined tunnel from 7012 to the surface. Since the 7012 project was located directly beneath a mountain, the fastest way to reach the surface was via an incline... Moreover, Chen Ling had intentionally increased the tunnel's gradient and made it quite long, meaning that without some skill, one truly couldn't ascend. This was Chen Ling's screening mechanism; the capabilities of the white hands from Bureau 749 varied, and if they couldn't even manage this slope, there was no need for them to go to their deaths against the disasters of the Bitter Flesh Mire.

However, what neither Chen Ling nor Ying Fu had anticipated was that this recruitment effort would be unexpectedly successful... Sun Bumian, Shen Nan, Han Xiang, Xiao Chunping, Zheng Zhiqíng... not counting those who were already on their side, nearly all other high-tier combatants registered with Bureau 749 had followed. Such a lineup was enough to allow them to fight their way through the Bitter Flesh Mire!

But...

"At least half of these people will die," Chen Ling said with a touch of regret. His gaze fell on Xiao Chunping, who was soaring toward them atop an Eastern dragon made of embroidery silk, his eyes showing a flicker of complexity... Xiao Chunping had shown him kindness, and if it were possible, he truly didn't want her, at her age, to embark on such a perilous venture. But this was Xiao Chunping's own choice.

She stood on the dragon's back, hands clasped behind her, her silver hair fluttering in the wind, her spine ramrod straight. Since meeting Xiao Chunping, Chen Ling had never seen her so spirited; she looked as if she had shed a decade or more!

*Boom—!!!*

A deafening roar echoed from the direction of Wushan Town. The crowd, filled with fervent determination, who had rushed out of the 7012 underground project, froze in place at the sight of the distant scene...

Dozens of bizarre fissures floated above the nuclear wasteland. The space within several kilometers appeared stained in grayscale, dim like an ancient photographic negative. Simultaneously, thick, trunk-like or tentacle-like growths emerged from these fissures. They coiled and twisted around the architectural ruins, their ends extending into a dense network of writhing roots that burrowed into the ground... These trunks intertwined, and from a distance, they resembled a colossal, fleshy heart parasitically attached to the nuclear ruins.

"Th-that's..." The Bagua successor felt his scalp tingle at the sight. "Didn't they say it was a nuclear strike? How could this kind of monster appear..."

"Is it a biochemical weapon developed by the Americans??"

"What a terrifying aura... Just getting close makes my heart pound wildly!!"

"Is that one monster, or a group of monsters? Are we supposed to rescue people from them?? Can we even do that?"

"What are you talking about? Everyone came here prepared to die! Even if we can't, we have to try!!"

"Mr. Sun, Mr. Han, Grandma Xiao are all here, and those two mysterious emperors... We can definitely do it."

Most people were seeing a disaster for the first time, and such disgusting monsters from the Bitter Flesh Mire at that. Both physically and mentally, they felt intense discomfort... But since they dared to come, they were not ordinary people. After reassuring and encouraging each other, they quickly calmed down.

Chen Ling fixed his gaze on the center of the disaster. A single star still emitted a glow, its light seemingly possessing a natural suppressive power over the plant-like entities. The vast network of roots coiling on the surface had not rapidly burrowed deep into the ground but cautiously encircled the area... Only a few branches and leaves extended, tentatively probing the edges of the starlight. But as time passed, the star began to dim, and the once cautious plants around it started to stir restlessly.

"It seems Lord Tianshu can't hold on much longer," Ying Fu said, his voice unusually grave, as he watched the gradually dimming star.

"Lu Xun's psychic power is still too weak right now, and one star simply isn't enough to protect everyone..." Chen Ling's brows furrowed tightly as if he was pondering how to break through the situation.

"At this rate, they might not hold out until we get there." Ying Fu paused, his mind beginning to deduce the subsequent developments. He didn't know which shelter Jiang Jiang and the others were in, and apart from the one where Lu Xun was, the other shelters seemed to be in considerable danger. "If only there were more stars."

Chen Ling's steps faltered slightly.

Ying Fu turned to him. "Chen Ling, what are you doing?"

"...There can be."

"What?"

"More stars."

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. "As long as... a second Lord Tianshu can appear, that's enough."

Ying Fu seemed not to grasp Chen Ling's words. He watched as Chen Ling's eyes slowly closed, and the man stood quietly in place, as if entering a trance.