From the end of the world

Chapter 640 Destructive Storm
The place I've moved to now appears to be a Western fast food restaurant selling hamburgers and fries, or at least it used to be. But now it presents a scene of utter devastation, as if it had been ravaged by gunfire. Overturned tables and chairs, pitted floors and walls, shattered decorations... everywhere are pools of blood and bloodstains, and the air is thick with the stench of decay.

That being said, there wasn't a single corpse to be found here, not even a trace of flesh or severed limbs. If I weren't so incapable of distinguishing real blood from fake, I might have suspected this chaotic scene was some kind of staged prop. Or perhaps the corpses and remains that should have been here were all cleaned up and collected by someone?
I raised my right hand and extended my fingers. Then, a "firefly" nimbly flew out from under the broken, overturned chair in the corner. It was only when I made this movement that I belatedly noticed that my body was undergoing an unusual change.

I actually shrunk down and became the same boy I was in junior high school.

Fireflies fluttered and landed on my fingertips.

After thinking about it, I decided to put aside the matter of appearance for the time being and focus my attention on the "fireflies" in front of me.

This is the "firefly" that accidentally followed Xiao Qiao, a junior student, into the southern city... or something like this.

The problem is, I looked left and right, but I couldn't find any trace of Xiao Qiao. Logically, this "firefly" was programmed with the command to "follow Xiao Qiao," so as long as Xiao Qiao is alive, it should follow her no matter where she goes.

Even if Xiao Qiao were dead, the "fireflies" would still follow her body closely.

However, upon closer examination, this instruction seems to have some flaws. For example, what if Xiao Qiao not only died but was also torn apart? Which part of Xiao Qiao's body should this "firefly" follow? If it follows the location of the head, then if the murderer also dismembered the head, which part of the brain tissue should it follow? Even if it follows not the flesh and blood body but the soul, there is still the possibility that the soul has been torn apart.

Of course, the purpose of this "firefly" is to sound the alarm when Junior Sister Qiao is in danger. If Junior Sister Qiao were to become like that, then it would naturally lose its purpose... I just didn't expect to be swept into the afterlife halfway through. Now the situation is special, and I have no way of knowing where the other party is.

Judging from the current situation, Xiao Qiao's chances of survival are slim. But she's Zhu Shi's friend; we need to see her alive or dead. I think I should try my best one more time.

Fortunately, this "firefly" also has the default ability to record and save what happens around it. I tried to connect my consciousness to the "firefly" and investigate its historical records.

A flood of information rushed into my mind, all of which were images and sounds recorded from the first-person perspective of this "firefly".

A second later, I grasped the general outline of what had happened.

Just as I had previously speculated, the "firefly" that remained with Xiao Qiao was kept by her as a talisman.

She didn't notice the "firefly" at first. It was Zhu Shi who discovered it after the Peach Blossom Village missionary incident, after which I had forgotten to retrieve it, and then reminded Xiao Qiao. When Xiao Qiao learned that I was secretly monitoring her with the "firefly," she was very surprised, but not angry, since it was a form of protection.

Zhu Shi didn't retrieve it for me, but let the "firefly" remain with Xiao Qiao. Perhaps it could save her life if she encountered danger in the future. Many people in Luoshan also recognized the "firefly's" origin, and might be able to help her in the future.

Xiao Qiao, a junior student, actually carried it with her at all times, using it as a kind of emotional confessional, idly recounting the good and bad things that happened in her daily life to this "firefly." Most of the conversations were about mundane family matters, but she skipped over the rambling parts and focused on what came next.

About twenty days ago, she went to visit relatives in a southern city. Unfortunately, before she could even see them, the city was sealed off by a massive barrier, preventing its inhabitants from making any contact with the outside world, let alone traveling outside. Traffic was thrown into chaos, and the city descended into panic and turmoil.

Before long, tens of thousands of monsters appeared in the city.

According to the images recorded by "Firefly," this monster resembles a freak, possessing a head as ugly and terrifying as an adult Damascus sheep and a strong body, yet it walks and runs on all fours. While its speed and strength lag behind those of freaks of a certain level, it still possesses magical powers and muscle strength far exceeding that of humans. Its size and movement speed are comparable to that of a car, and it can smash through walls with its flesh and blood.

They will attack humans without hesitation and tear them apart and devour them—in other words, they are clearly there specifically to hunt humans. Ordinary humans are as helpless against these monsters as a small monkey encountering a powerful lion or tiger.

Even more horrifying is that these monsters reproduce rapidly. After consuming a certain amount of human flesh, their bodies undergo a cruel and terrifying transformation, splitting from one monster into two. Then, the two newly emerged monsters will each hunt humans again, leading to four, eight, sixteen more...

These monsters possess extremely keen senses; they can detect even those hiding inside sealed-off buildings, then smash them open like cans before preying on humans with incredible speed and strength. Cities, already densely populated areas, are now completely inescapable after being sealed off by the barrier. In addition to the more than 20 million permanent residents, there are over 10 million transient residents, bringing the total population of 30 million to a mere mortal—all becoming prey and breeding grounds for these terrifying beasts.

I've witnessed the destruction of coastal cities in the east before, so this isn't the first time I've seen mass extermination and slaughter of ordinary people. But seeing so many humans being brutally torn apart and devoured alive from an ordinary person's perspective is a completely different kind of shock. Even I felt this way, and my junior classmate, Xiao Qiao, who witnessed it firsthand, was pushed to her mental limit. She ran away like a madwoman, narrowly escaping death from the monster's gaping maw several times.

All of this was undoubtedly the work of Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village.

The unseen blockade and destruction of southern cities have caused immeasurable damage and upheaval to the secular social order. This explains the rampant doomsday theories and the fear and despair people feel at the sight of strange phenomena. The destruction of eastern coastal cities has further jeopardized social order. If everything that has happened here were to be fully exposed, the already fragile order might completely collapse, and true chaos would descend.

We will not analyze why he would do such a thing for now, as there are too few clues.

The existence of the barrier prevents external forces from providing assistance to the inside. There should be quite a few demon hunters from Luoshan stationed here, and possibly some ordinary armed forces inherent to the government. However, since this horrific event was instigated by a murderer at the level of the Great Impermanence, those forces could not possibly have stirred up even the slightest ripple from the beginning.

Xiao Qiao, a junior student, managed to escape the initial massacre thanks to good luck, but it became increasingly difficult for her to continue. Occasionally, she would see scenes of fierce clashes happening in the distance—one group of people, like the Peach Blossom Village missionaries she had encountered before, would transform into strange forms. They were probably Peach Blossom Village monks responding to the call of Meng Zhang, the leader of Peach Blossom Village, and carrying out mysterious activities in this destroyed city.

The other group consisted of people she didn't recognize. She reasoned that since they were enemies of the Peach Blossom Spring cultivators, they were likely from Luoshan. She wanted to find an opportunity to contact them for protection, but she couldn't find a safe chance to approach and communicate with them.

Although she herself could not sense the fluctuations of magical power, according to the historical records preserved by the "Fireflies," the other group of people did not seem to be entirely the demon hunters of Mount Luo.

Their magical energy fluctuations had a similar feel to Xuanming's, but their intensity was far inferior. If I'm not mistaken, those people should be the Xuanming believers mentioned in the intelligence I had previously gathered. They had heard beforehand that this southern city had a large concentration of Peach Blossom Spring cultivators, so they spontaneously came to suppress them.

Besides these, it seems there are some local demon hunter factions struggling to survive. Little Qiao herself is unaware that the "Fireflies" can frequently receive magical fluctuations from all directions. And those signals are rapidly decreasing and weakening.

After an unknown period of running and hiding, Xiao Qiao, the junior student, was finally about to give in. Just then, another change occurred in the city. Judging from the fluctuations in magical energy, Xuan Ming had forcibly entered the interior of the barrier using his secret methods.

As for how he did it, I speculate it might be the power of the Divine Seal fragments—while Xuanming can no longer use the power of the Divine Seal fragments as a Void Realm Apostle, he can still use it through formations and other technical means, just like Fazheng and Ying Lingyun. Perhaps he couldn't use it flexibly when fighting other Great Impermanences, but against such a massive, immobile target as the Great Barrier surrounding the Southern City, he could use it with ease.

The fragments he obtained from robbing Fu Hongchen and Ming Zhuo, the fragments from attacking the Luoshan branch base where Jian Feixian was stationed, and the fragments from intercepting and seizing the divine seal left behind by Shen Zhao when the Void Realm was destroyed... In my calculations, he possesses at least eight divine seal fragments. With so many divine seal fragments, let alone invading this barrier, he could probably even forcibly traverse between the two realms and invade the afterlife.

Then, Xuanming had an extremely fierce conflict with Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township.

When two powerful beings—especially two top-tier beings among the powerful beings—clash in this place, the fate of this city is predictable.

At the time, Xiao Qiao was hiding inside the fast food restaurant. She only saw a bright light from an explosion in the distance, bright enough to blind the human eye. Before the shockwave could arrive, the extremely destructive heat radiation hit them first, instantly burning Xiao Qiao to death.

Countless streets, including this fast food restaurant, are burning and melting. Survivors hiding indoors have nowhere to escape, while monsters roaming outdoors are also facing the same fate.

Then, a devastating storm engulfed everything, and the city met its premature end...

Seeing this, I couldn't help but raise my head and look at the scene around me.

(End of this chapter)