Chapter 1219: Book Painting

Chu Changqing looked back blankly.

From the largest gray fissure, countless branches, leaves, and roots surged outwards, like more and more calamities crawling out. But the gaze fixed on him didn't come from them; it came from something behind them.

For some reason, the moment that gaze locked onto him, a chill crept up Chu Changqing's spine.

"What's wrong?" Su Zhiwei, carrying him, felt the leaves on her shoulder tremble slightly and asked, puzzled.

"...I feel like something is watching me."

"Where?"

"In there..." Su Zhiwei looked in the direction Chu Changqing pointed, her brows furrowing slightly. "Those are calamities. Isn't it normal for them to target us?"

"No, it's different... Ugh, I don't know how to describe it to you, but it seems to be watching only me?"

Su Zhiwei no longer had time to listen to Chu Changqing. Countless translucent, vein-like curtains fell from both sides, like a wave formed by clustered saprophytes, relentlessly closing in on the fleeing group, making the already tight escape route even narrower.

Because Su Zhiwei was carrying Chu Changqing, her speed was considerably slower than an ordinary person's. Although she was giving her all, the distance between them and the wave continued to shrink...

"Su Zhiwei, put me down," Chu Changqing couldn't help but say when he saw this. "If you carry me, you'll die too."

Su Zhiwei didn't speak. Or rather, she wasn't even listening to what Chu Changqing was saying. She simply gritted her teeth, running forward with all her might, beads of sweat dripping from her cheeks, her eyes showing only the resolve and persistence forged since childhood.

As the surging wave of saprophytes drew closer, and just as Chu Changqing grew increasingly anxious, a figure in theatrical robes, holding starlight, descended from the sky!

Bang—!!!

Chen Ling's starlight swept across, forcibly tearing a gap in the wave of saprophytes. His red earring swayed in the foul wind of the Bitter Flesh Mire, and his gaze was exceptionally sharp.

"Director Chen!" Su Zhiwei and Chu Changqing exclaimed simultaneously.

"Run! We can talk later when we're safe!"

As more and more calamities surged towards the group, both Chen Ling and Ying Fu were under immense pressure. Chen Ling had no time to say more to the two of them; dense, crimson papers extended from his body, and he charged towards the other side.

The red papers sliced through countless roots and stems, and Chen Ling forcibly cut a bloody path, only then seeing Shen Nan and Fu Kun, who were wrapped and entangled.

After the high-level calamities entered the fray, most people's combat power was no longer sufficient. If Shen Nan hadn't intervened, Fu Kun would probably have been torn to shreds. Even so, both of them were trapped together in the endless roots, unable to break free.

"Chen Ling!" Shen Nan's eyes lit up when he saw Chen Ling fighting his way over.

At the same time, purple lightning danced wildly, and Ying Fu's figure also burst out from the other side, approaching them.

"Your Majesty!" Fu Kun cried out gratefully.

Ying Fu opened his mouth, about to say something, when a low rumble sounded from ahead. Three colossal figures emerged from the expanding fissure...

They were three moving tree-like shadows, nearly a hundred meters tall. One bloomed with flesh and blood, bizarre and grotesque like a peach tree; another was a willow formed from millions of connected bone joints, swaying in the wind; and the third was an enormous, upright pine tree, its trunk covered in dense hands.

"What the hell... are these things?!" Fu Kun's mind reeled at the sight of the unhuman, untree-like monsters.

As the three giant trees approached, Chen Ling's brows furrowed tightly, and red clouds began to surge wildly around him!

His crimson eyes stared at that direction, and the aura of world-ending calamity swept forth!

"Get lost!!"

A visible wave of energy swept across the Bitter Flesh Mire. All the calamities, large and small, around them abruptly paused, as if awed by this aura. Even the three large trees froze in place, and the world fell silent...

The battling agents of Bureau 749, the fleeing civilians, and even Fu Kun and Zheng Zhiqing, all looked at Chen Ling in shock, their mouths involuntarily agape.

But the next moment, another world-ending aura erupted from deep within the fissure!

The entity within the Bitter Flesh Mire seemed to issue some command. The calamities, which had previously not dared to move, immediately resumed their assault, and vast waves of branches, leaves, and roots continued to surge towards the group!

"It seems the Mire Calamity doesn't fear you," Ying Fu said calmly.

Chen Ling turned his head to Shen Nan and the others. "What are you still looking at? Run now while you have the chance!"

Only then did Shen Nan snap back to reality. He immediately turned and sprinted outwards during the lull in the calamities' assault, with Ying Fu and the others, and Chen Ling, following closely.

Chen Ling had known all along that although he was a Mocking Calamity, his aura couldn't change anything when facing a calamity territory that also had a world-ending presence. Moreover, strictly speaking, this was already the domain of the Bitter Flesh Mire.

It was like barging into someone else's home and yelling at them; anyone with a shred of pride wouldn't take it lying down. Being able to delay them for even a moment was already quite good.

"No, more and more monsters are coming out of the fissure. At this rate, we'll be caught sooner or later," Fu Kun said, looking back as he ran, his face grim.

Just then, an embroidered dragon soared over their heads!

Chen Ling and Ying Fu paused, turning to look. They saw two elderly figures standing on the back of the embroidered dragon. In front of the three towering giant trees and the wave of saprophytes in the distance, their hunched figures seemed incredibly tiny.

"Han Shuzhi, it's not too late for you to go back now."

Xiao Chunping's silver-white hair fluttered in the wind. She glanced at Prime Minister Han beside her and snorted, "People still have to accept getting old. If we go any further, there'll be no turning back."

"You're the one who should go back, Teacher Xiao," Prime Minister Han said slowly. "Your dear grandson is still waiting for you at the underground project. If you're not there to teach him, in a couple of years, my students will have left him far behind."

"Even if a fledgling eagle isn't taught, it's still an eagle; it will eventually soar on its own wings."

Xiao Chunping paused for a moment, as if recalling something, and a hint of tenderness flashed in her eyes. "My dear grandson isn't just a pretty face; even without me, he'll definitely do very well."

"It seems neither of us will live to see the day they determine their victor," Prime Minister Han said, hands behind his back, letting out a long sigh.

"I told you, you can still turn back."

"You won't last long by yourself," Prime Minister Han said, glancing back. "His Majesty is still behind me."

"Calling him 'Your Majesty' every other word, old man, I think you've gone senile! He's just a lucky fellow who obtained the Imperial Divine Path. Why is he worth you risking your life for??"

"You don't understand..." Prime Minister Han shook his head. "You haven't seen His Majesty's true heart. He's no mere lucky fellow... He is the emperor destined to rule the human world, the hope of this world.

"I'm risking my life not just for him, but for the future of humanity that he represents."