C10 He Escaped Death

"Damn it, he got away again!"

The men in black who had just leaped through the window turned back, their faces twisted with rage, staring in the direction Jing Chong had escaped, their voices tinged with frustration.

"Big Brother!"

The other four men dashed to the doorway, their gazes fixating on the fallen comrade in black. They called out to him anxiously, their eyes wide with shock as they took in the bloody scene.

"Roar! Roar!"

After struggling to breathe, the injured man in black finally managed to open his eyes, teeth clenched. His knife clattered to the ground, and he clutched at his chest, letting out a scream of agony.

"Ah! That monster, he... he's brutalized me again! Unforgivable!"

Barely able to utter these words, the man in black could not sustain himself any longer and once again lost consciousness.

"Big Brother!"

One of the men surged forward to support the injured man, slowly opening his black shirt to reveal a nauseating sight that shocked everyone present.

"What on earth did this kid do? He's torn away half a kilo of muscle from Big Brother's chest!"

One of them, frowning deeply, examined the wound and spoke with a shudder of fear.

"Thank goodness Big Brother is tough; his life is spared!" another man remarked with a sigh of relief.

"It's all that old man's fault. Even chopping him into mincemeat isn't satisfying enough!"

No sooner had he spoken than another man, wielding a steel knife, took out all his fury on the bent corpse of Uncle Li.

Meanwhile, Jing Chong, driven by fury and stripped of his reason, still knew deep down what he needed to do—run for his life.

The image of Uncle Li's death, coupled with the horrific memory of his parents' demise, relentlessly tormented his nerves. He felt as if every blood vessel in his body was on the verge of bursting, and with an inexplicable surge of strength, he moved with the agility of a Blood Wolf, effortlessly scaling walls twenty feet high.

Tormented by inner turmoil, he felt fear and dread, realizing that there seemed to be no safe haven in this vast world.

Quickly, his nimble body traversed the rugged mountain path and passed through the village. Heading west, he vanished into the pitch-black forest in an instant.

Driven by malaria and sustained by sheer willpower, he ran relentlessly throughout the night.

With his berserk pace, he managed to cover nearly a hundred miles of mountainous terrain in a single night. Yet even the strongest of bodies has its limits, and he was, after all, just a child of eleven or twelve. The extreme exertion had long since drained him completely.

As his consciousness sharpened, his eyelids grew unbearably heavy, his head felt foggy, and a suffocating weight settled in his chest. It was as if a block of ice-cold iron had been lodged inside him, both heavy and chilling.

He had no desire to think or act. Suddenly, his head felt like lead, and he collapsed to the ground. His last ounce of strength spent, he could no longer cling to consciousness, and darkness enveloped him.

Time passed indeterminately before Jing Chong, who had been unconscious, perceived a flash of green light in his mind, bringing a splash of color to his otherwise gray sea of consciousness. The sensation was refreshingly cool, like a gentle spring breeze, endlessly nurturing every cell in his body. They seemed like joyful little birds soaring freely in the sky, lulling Jing Chong into a blissful haze.

In the midst of the tranquil sea of consciousness, a sprout appeared, bathed in green light, following a cheerful sound. This new sprout, though insignificant in the grand scheme of things, sparked a glimmer of life in the desolate world.

Jing Chong gazed intently at the sprout, longing to touch it but fearful of causing harm. So, he could only admire it from a distance, filled with yearning.

As the sprout basked in the green light, it grew rapidly, competing with time itself. In an instant, it transformed into a blade of green grass, which breathed with exuberance. Swaying in the breeze, it resembled a child without a care in the world.

Upon closer reflection, Jing Chong realized the grass was smiling at him. A surge of warmth flooded his heart, and his nearly lifeless heart gave a faint throb.

"Thump-thud!"

Never underestimate the power of a faint heartbeat. Guided by that sound, the once sluggish and murky sea of consciousness began to transform with the swiftness of a spring thaw.

Beneath the freshly sprouted tender grass, a small bud poked out its tip, mirroring the scene that had just unfolded. A cluster of greenery enveloped the earlier sprout, and with the caress of the wind, it was embraced, no longer solitary.

The little grass laughed with even greater joy, inspiring the surrounding blades to join in a chorus of laughter, rustling in the breeze. Their collective mirth resembled the playful banter of mischievous children, infusing the once silent world with the first notes of natural harmony.

"Thump! Thud!"

The sound of a heartbeat echoed again, and the spread of the small grass took on a life of its own. Like a wildfire sweeping across the plains, it blanketed the world in an instant, transforming the dull earth into a vibrant tapestry of green, teeming with life.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The heartbeat grew more rhythmic, the rise and fall of his chest almost visible to the naked eye.

"Huff!"

With the mounting pressure inside his body, his throat quivered with a rumbling sound. Suddenly, a breath laced with impurities escaped his nostrils. His body shuddered, and the breaths that followed grew increasingly steady.

At this juncture, Jing Chong's sea of consciousness, already a lush green expanse, had experienced a radical transformation. Enveloped in an ethereal mist, the air was alive with birdsong and the scent of flowers, with bizarre rock formations and meandering streams. Immersed in this setting, one's heart swelled with joy, and the spirit found unparalleled peace.

Without realizing it, Jing Chong began to recognize this environment. It bore an uncanny resemblance to a scene he had seen depicted on the ancient beast skin scroll.

But why had it suddenly manifested in his sea of consciousness? Was this truly the fabled heaven, the perfect world he had longed for in his dreams?

No sooner had this thought surfaced than the tranquil world began to quake intensely.

Suddenly, the sky was ablaze, the clouds above churned into an ominous red. Through this crimson veil, Jing Chong caught sight of several familiar silhouettes. Though they appeared indistinct, their forms were unmistakably etched into his vision.

"Whoosh!"