Chapter 1216: Conspiracy

Han Xiang held one hand behind his back and lightly touched the character with the other. The next moment, an invisible slash, hundreds of meters long, swept forth, cutting all the thin vines in its path into pieces, forcefully carving a path through the turbid forest of suffering and flesh! With this dragon and slash, most of the surrounding calamities were cleared. Survivors, slowly crawling out, stared blankly at the scene, their eyes filled with shock.

Rumble—"Still watching?"Amidst thunder and lightning, a figure wearing a Nuo dance robe and a fierce mask drifted down from the sky. Dull drumbeats echoed in the void. Shen Nan, carrying a black flag, gently swept it, and a bolt of lightning scorched the nearest flesh-and-blood tree. He turned to the crowd and calmly said, "Hurry up and go... soon, more calamities will come."

"...Go? Go where?" The survivors looked bewildered.Shen Nan raised his hand and pointed to the sky."The stars will guide your way."

Everyone looked up and saw a figure strolling amidst the starlight. As he lightly flicked his sleeve, the surrounding starlight intertwined into a dazzling river of stars, flowing in a certain direction... At the end of the starlit river was the Half-Mountain Hotel. This dreamlike scene made the survivors feel like they were dreaming... nuclear strikes, flesh monsters, mysterious figures flying and burrowing, a river of stars flowing to the horizon in the dark clouds... In these short 12 hours, their worldview had been repeatedly shattered, and they were now almost numb. It wasn't until the roaring sounds of battle resumed in the distance that they suddenly snapped back to reality and hurried along the path guided by the starlit river!

"Who are you??" Among the survivors, someone couldn't help but stop and ask.Shen Nan, wearing the Nuo mask, was silent for a long time. Answers flooded his mind, one after another... Were they the White Hands of Bureau 749? Divine Path holders? Successors of ancient cultures? What would future generations call them? Finally, he shook his head:"It no longer matters."Whether it was Shen Nan or the other inheritors who came to rescue people, none of them were there for fame or fortune. Having dedicated themselves to their respective fields to the extreme before embarking on this path, how could they care much for worldly reputation? They came, they saved people; that was enough.

More and more survivors were rescued from the ruins. They sprinted along the vast river of stars, emerging from despair, occasionally looking back at the flames and explosions raging in the writhing forest, as if to engrave this scene forever in their hearts. But at that moment, no one noticed that at the war boundary where the crowd battled the turbid forest of suffering and flesh, two ghostly figures were silently watching.

Both were dressed in white, floating in mid-air with their eyes tightly closed, their cinnabar marks on their foreheads conspicuously striking. One had a cold, solemn expression; the other's eyes curved like a crescent moon, radiating joy. They were like specters detached from the world, gazing down upon the battlefield below.

"...It's a mess, everything's a mess," Su Xi's voice echoed as if from the underworld. "These people were all supposed to die...""I told you long ago, that variable would change everything," Kong Wang replied indifferently."Do you think you're the only one who discovered the variable?"Su Xi gazed at Ying Fu, who was engaged in battle, while Kong Wang's eyes fell upon Chen Ling amidst the starlight."They shouldn't be here... now they've changed the outcome, and everything is heading towards the unknown.""No, they haven't changed yet." Su Xi paused for a moment. "As long as those who are supposed to die, die, and those who are supposed to live, live, there will be no difference...""You mean..."

"Cough, cough."Just as Kong Wang and Su Xi were speaking, a deliberate cough sounded from behind them. Kong Wang and Su Xi whipped their heads around, only to see a figure wearing small round sunglasses, sitting cross-legged on the back of a burning lion dance costume, watching them with a subtle expression."Long time no see, gentlemen," Sun Buming's lips curled into a smile. "What are you two plotting here?""Sun Buming?"Their expressions immediately darkened. "What do you want?""The key isn't what I want, it's what *you* want." Sun Buming's smile slowly faded as he pulled down his small round sunglasses from his nose. He spoke calmly, "Everyone is risking their lives to save people right now; don't even think about causing trouble...""Sun Buming, do you know what you're doing?" Su Xi sneered. "This town shouldn't have any survivors. Now, because of those two, everything is going to change...""The Ancient Treasury of Ghostly Paths can predict death; I've experienced that before, but so what?" Sun Buming said dismissively. "I've tried defying fate more than once. Do you think I'll be scared just because you're trying to bluff me?""You...""Besides, what do your Ghostly Path Ancient Treasury's inconsistent records have to do with me? It brings me great joy to see you frustrated!""Sun Buming, you're asking for death!!"Faced with Sun Buming, this unreasonable rogue, the two envoys of the Ancient Treasury of Ghostly Paths were somewhat enraged. The temperature around Kong Wang and Su Xi rapidly dropped, and the next moment, they charged at Sun Buming like two bolts of white lightning! Sun Buming, however, showed no fear. The colorful awakened lion immediately clashed with the two, and roaring explosions continuously erupted.

"Lu Xun, how are you doing??"As the calamities around the shelter receded, Su Zhiwei immediately stepped forward and asked. Lu Xun, who had been pale from overexertion, began to regain his color after Chen Ling reciprocated his spiritual power through the shared starlight. He immediately waved his hand:"I'm fine. Where's Chu Changqing?""I'm fine too... mostly."

Su Zhiwei and Lu Xun turned to look, seeing Chu Changqing, now a treeman, laboriously pulling his root-like legs out of the ground inch by inch, then slowly and clumsily moving towards them."Can't you change back?" Lu Xun asked, puzzled."It seems... no?" Chu Changqing's voice was bitter. "I still can't control the limits of this ability well; I haven't found a way to change back...""So you can't just be a treeman forever, right?" Su Zhiwei raised an eyebrow.Chu Changqing's wooden face seemed on the verge of tears.

As the group spoke, the surrounding survivors, having narrowly escaped death, finally regained a bit of vitality, recovering from the shadow of death that had just passed. Some of them cautiously stepped forward,"Um, Heavenly Pivot Lord...""What should we do next?"When he first heard the three words "Heavenly Pivot Lord," Lu Xun paused, seemingly unaccustomed to this new name. After a moment of thought, he spoke: "Next, quietly await rescue.""Rescue?" A questioning voice came from the crowd. "But outside, it's all monsters now. Who would come to save us?""They will."Lu Xun looked up at the starlight. "They'll be here soon."