Chapter 177

Chapter 149: Chaos

The dark karma fire had long spread along the road and up the houses. Wooden beams and pillars were burned away, and massive stones and iron chunks melted into red-hot liquid, mixing with black mud that surged and flowed back onto the stone-paved streets, igniting a tree nearby that seemed to have stood for a hundred years, illuminating the originally dim and gloomy street.

Black smoke mixed with flying ash danced in the sky, casting an eerie crimson glow over the night.

Buildings continued to collapse with a “crackling” sound. A gray-furred hunting dog darted out from a burning patch of grass, dragging half of its scorched body, limping toward a direction where voices could be heard.

“Fire! Save the fire—!”

Voices cried anxiously from a distance on the street.

Others responded immediately, “Forget it! We can’t get close at all; it’s scorching even from far away.”

“The house has collapsed… I couldn’t take my silk cloth out. It’s all gone now… nothing left…”

“People are still alive…”

“It’s too terrifying… look at the color, it’s almost indistinguishable from human blood.”

“There are demons! I just saw demons… they’re fighting each other…”

At the other end of the street, several members of the Arbitration Corps wearing blue windbreakers with shield badges stood together, gazing at the raging karma fire before them, helpless and frustrated.

“Has the Sword of Canyon arrived yet?”

“No.”

“There’s a royal granary across the street, and beyond that is the Grand Cathedral of Camps… Can we think of something? This fire must be extinguished quickly.”

“It won’t reach there; there’s nothing left.”

“Don’t you see even stones are burning?”

“What kind of fire is this?”

“I don’t know…”

“Captain, we haven’t found any civilians injured by burns. But some corpses… no, pieces of flesh, you’d better come and take a look.”

“…Lead the way.”

No one noticed that at a corner of Alrik Street, about dozens of meters away from the flames, atop a building, a tranquil and beautiful young girl sat cross-legged, propping her chin with her hand, quietly observing everything below.

Her dress was stained with blood, even her hair was covered. The dried blood turned dark brown. If one looked closely, they might even find some… remnants or something else on her, which was nauseating.

But she didn’t care at all, a captivating smile still on her face. Soon after, her vermilion lips parted.

“How beautiful.”

Her soft voice, like melodious forest sounds, seemed to be speaking to herself.

No one knew what she meant.

The night breeze carried fine dust and ash, blowing against the girl’s flawless face, gently moving her hair, which was matted with blood.

There was something inexplicably eerie about the scene.

…………

It really is beautiful, I think.

Whether it’s the few houses wrapped in fierce flames below, the frightened and bewildered people, or the distant terraced pavilions. At this moment, the cool, thin night air, the refreshing breeze, the clouds rolling across the sky, the dimly lit crescent moons, everything is breathtakingly beautiful.

My lower abdomen still aches intermittently. The dress clings uncomfortably to my body. My fingertips brush against the stone, feeling cold.

There’s a strong stench of blood…

These are signs of life.

I don’t know why I think this way, but suddenly, everything looks different.

It’s hard to describe such changes. But… I understand that the fire below is becoming more intense, and if it continues, it will be very dangerous. And I… could easily put it out, but I don’t want to. It has nothing to do with me; watching is enough.

Maybe someone else will die… I know this, so what?

Worrying about these things is meaningless; countless people die every day. They die, I live, and I’m happy, and I’m glad to watch them die.

If I keep worrying about unrelated people, I’ll be exhausted.

…Something was off…

Strange… Was I like this before…? It didn’t seem so…

But now, I felt at ease, my spirits lifted.

I want to kill more people… I want to give back all the pain I’ve suffered…

All of it, every bit of suffering. All — of — it, returned… Returned to you… Damn it…

I can’t do that.

…Come to think of it, what pain have I endured?

I don’t know.

But I am Peyelo… Silviana is not my name… I am Peyelo…

My head hurts.

My vision started to blur again. I rubbed my eyes, and when I opened them, everything in front of me turned crimson.

The night, the floating clouds, the houses in the distance, the shadows below… Everything was shrouded in a blood mist.

The flames were even more vivid.

I stood up in panic.

What’s going on… What’s happening!

I rubbed my eyes desperately, but it made no difference. The color of blood deepened, and I felt my body sinking, as if I was adrift on a small boat in a sea of blood, punctured by something, sinking gradually amidst the interwoven blood and fire.

“Caw——”

A crow’s caw echoed by my ear. I turned my head and vaguely saw a black raven standing on my shoulder, tilting its head to stare at me.

Goat cheese…

Just as this thought emerged, countless crows’ calls resounded from the horizon.

I raised my head and saw an overwhelming flock of crows flying over me, too numerous to describe. The “goat cheese” on my shoulder suddenly spread its wings and flew towards the night sky, merging with those crows, vanishing without a trace.

Even the moon turned blood red.

My head felt like it would split open. I clutched my head tightly, trying to alleviate the tormenting headache.

In a daze, I heard a child’s voice, seemingly calling out to me.

“Sis… Did you hear… Sis…”

Who is it.

“Peyelo Sister—!”

Who are you.

“Peyelo Sister… Can you hear me… It’s me…”

The sweet voice of a little girl seemed to come from deep within my mind.

“I’m waking up,” she said.

“You are… who?” I asked through gritted teeth, my weak voice trembling.

But that voice seemed to be unable to hear me.

“You will come… to find me, right…”

“Who are you!”

Take a deep breath, take a deep breath… Stay awake. Peyelo, you can do this.

“You will… talk to me like before…”

“What?”

Like before, talk to you? Have we met before?

I… seem to remember.

I know you… No, I know this voice.

“You are — Yilushi.”

But she seemed really unable to hear me.

“Even… if we become like this…” The little girl’s voice had already become ethereal.

“Even if we become like this, you still have to find me.”

Click.

The scene froze. When I blinked again, everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

“Huff—— Huff——”

I breathed heavily, struggling to stand upright, my gaze fixed on the distant light of the fire.

At some point, the people of Kanli Sword had arrived on the scene, someone was using the Order of Water to extinguish the fire… No one was surprised, probably no one noticed the huge flock of crows flying overhead… Did the crows really fly past?

What I just saw, was it an illusion?

What’s wrong with me…

And that voice just now, I remember it was Yilushi, she is waking up… Wait, who is Yilushi?

Have I… ever seen her before?

Can’t recall.

My head was in chaos.

Drip.

Water droplets fell onto my feet.

Moments later, a heavy spring rain poured down.