Chapter 572: This Is a Misunderstanding

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Fijia's vision had turned blood-red; he could barely make out the approaching figure. He trembled as he reached down, only to find the area below his waist was empty. Fijia's pupils quivered, and he painstakingly turned his head, discovering his legs lying several meters away, completely severed from his torso. He hadn't even seen his assailant before being instantly cut in half by a single stroke.

Fijia considered himself a notable individual; after all, across the nine human realms, very few people reached the sixth tier. Yet, now he couldn't even discern how he was struck. This suggested that the white-robed figure, carrying an eight-foot calligraphy brush, was very likely also an eighth-tier expert. Another eighth-tier! To Fijia's knowledge, the entire Mortal Dust Realm had only three eighth-tier individuals. Now, two of them had been deployed simultaneously to apprehend him, along with a host of seventh-tier experts. He was merely an operative sent to the Mortal Dust Realm, yet, inexplicably, his mission had escalated to "Inferno" difficulty. Fijia was seething with frustration, silently cursing the ancestors of Red Heart 6 through eighteen generations, but he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.

With a surge of determination, he struggled to drag his body forward with his hands, inching closer to the teleportation array within reach. Crimson blood streamed from Fijia's severed torso, leaving horrifying long streaks on the floor. He vaguely saw the array was within his grasp and extended his hand towards it. The next moment, a streak of ink, like a sharp blade, flashed before his eyes. His wrist felt light, and his entire hand fluttered to the ground, severed.

"Ahhh!" Fijia's painful wail echoed.

The white-robed figure, holding the calligraphy brush, stood before him like an insurmountable iceberg. His lowered gaze emanated a suffocating pressure. "Did you... think I wasn't here?"

Fijia's eyes were filled with despair. With an eighth-tier expert blocking his path, Fijia knew he couldn't possibly leave alive. He watched his severed hand land on the array's surface, its flowing blood staining the patterns, and his remaining hand instinctively clenched.

The white-robed figure looked down at him coldly, his voice like an echo from the underworld. "Besides bombing the main city's high-ranking officials at the venue, what other plans do you have? How many more of your people are about to enter Mortal Dust?"

Fijia didn't answer. He stared intently at the blood-stained array, injecting wisps of mental energy into the floor beneath him. The next moment, a faint glow appeared on the array's surface! "Hm?" The white-robed man felt a disturbance behind him and his brows furrowed instantly. Before he could turn, Fijia was frantically dragging his body, desperately nearing the array!

He didn't attempt to enter it. Instead, he suddenly opened his mouth and yelled with all his might: "It's Red Heart 6..." Bang—!! The moment Fijia spoke, a streak of ink shattered his skull. His entire head instantly disintegrated into countless tiny bloodied fragments, splattering across the dim floor. Fijia's headless body thudded to the ground, lying motionless like a rag doll.

The white-robed man, holding his calligraphy brush, frowned as he looked at the corpse on the ground, his eyes still radiating coldness. "...Overestimating yourself." Though he didn't know what Fijia intended, it was clear the man was trying to activate the array, either to escape or transmit information. Regardless, he wouldn't allow it. Killing a Fijia with only half a life left was merely a flick of the finger.

The white-robed man glanced at the now completely inert array, re-strapped the calligraphy brush to his back, and turned to walk out of the ballroom. He picked up his comms device and said calmly, "Red Heart 9, eliminated."

Meanwhile,

Zhong Qi raced across the ground, almost flying, one arm carrying the unconscious Mu Chunsheng and the other holding the trembling, terrified Li Ruohong. "Damn it... How did things come to this? When did they plant the bomb?" Zhong Qi felt a terrifying aura emanating from afar, and his heart pounded.

The second before the bomb detonated, Zhong Qi reacted. He swiftly protected Mu Chunsheng first, then directly absorbed the blast's impact, breaking through the wall to rescue Li Ruohong from the adjacent room. Mu Chunsheng, at the time, was immersed in the euphoria of regaining his health and was too close to the bomb. Even with Zhong Qi's speed, he still suffered from the aftershocks and fainted on the spot. The good news was that, for now, his life didn't seem to be in danger.

"Z-z-z-Zhong Qi," Li Ruohong stammered, trembling so badly he almost lost control of his bladder, while held securely in Zhong Qi's powerful arm. "Am I still alive? This isn't heaven, is it?"

"Heaven, my ass! Don't you dare pee on me!" Zhong Qi glared at him disdainfully, speaking fiercely.

To be honest, Zhong Qi hadn't particularly liked Young Master Ruohong from the start. However, since Mu Chunsheng had personally killed his own son, Li Ruohong was now his only blood relative. Even in this situation, Zhong Qi couldn't abandon Li Ruohong and escape alone. "I... I can't help it!" Li Ruohong's voice was now tinged with a whimper. "Damn it!"

Seeing Li Ruohong's pathetic state, Zhong Qi couldn't help but curse aloud. With this guy's cowardly demeanor, how could he be Red Heart 6? Zhong Qi didn't know what was truly happening, but he was certain there was a misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, a massive black boulder streaked across the sky like a meteor. Director Wang Jincheng half-crouched on its surface, his thick black hair whipping in the wind. His gaze was fixed intently on Li Ruohong in Zhong Qi's arms, his eyes glinting with fierce killing intent. "Red Heart 6! Where do you think you're going?!" He leaped from the boulder's surface. As he raised his hand and clenched it in mid-air, the boulder instantly disintegrated into countless dense stone spikes, which shot after him towards Zhong Qi.

Zhong Qi, who was sprinting at full speed, saw this and his face turned grim. He swung his left hand back and forcefully threw Li Ruohong away, then freed his hand to make a grasping motion at his waist. A long ice sword suddenly materialized, which he powerfully swung towards the myriad stone spikes filling the sky. Buzz—!! After a low hum, the stone spikes were forcibly frozen in mid-air, resembling a fan-shaped cluster of frost, before plummeting straight to the ground.

Li Ruohong, having been thrown, tumbled twice on the ground, his body bruised all over. He scrambled to his feet, crying out in pain. "Get out! Go as far as you can!" Zhong Qi, gripping his ice sword, stared at the approaching Wang Jincheng, then turned his head to shout at Li Ruohong. "Ah... oh, oh!!" Li Ruohong snapped out of it and bolted, running wildly into the distance!

Seeing this, Wang Jincheng's gaze turned utterly cold. "Are you, the Beidou Consortium, going to shelter Red Heart 6?"

"Red Heart 6? What are you talking about?" Zhong Qi shook his head. "Director Wang, I believe there's a misunderstanding here..."