Chapter 1211: More Stars

Yao Qing's plea could not change anything.

Things Xiao Chunping decided would not easily change. She had walked from obscurity to where she was today all by herself, and had founded and guarded the Su Embroidery Museum for decades. She was never a weak-willed woman, but the indomitable Xiao Chunping. She loved Yao Qing very much, but she would not be swayed by his pleas.

Strands of embroidery silk flew from Xiao Chunping's fingertips, instantly wrapping around Yao Qing's body. The latter felt his whole body tighten, and he was frozen in place like a statue, unable to move even a fraction, no matter how hard he tried.

"My dear grandson, Grandma is leaving..." Xiao Chunping gently stroked Yao Qing's head and spoke softly.

"After Grandma is gone, don't be too obedient. When you encounter things, have your own opinions... The task of carrying forward our Su Embroidery is left to you."

After saying this, she took one last deep look at Yao Qing, as if to carve his image into her mind forever...

Then she turned and walked into the darkness.

"Grandma!!!"

Veins bulged from Yao Qing's neck, and tears gushed wildly from his eyes. He kept calling out to Xiao Chunping, but even when his throat became hoarse, that aged figure did not look back.

He only vaguely saw crystal-clear drops falling from her white-haired cheeks, vanishing without a trace.

Yao Qing had never been so broken. He had grown up under his grandmother's care, and now he could only watch Xiao Chunping go to her death while he could do nothing... This was the first time he truly realized how weak he was, so weak that he didn't even have the qualifications to stand beside the person he cherished.

The surrounding guests looked at the restrained Yao Qing with sympathetic eyes, but not one of them stepped forward to untie him... Perhaps in their hearts, they had already projected Yao Qing onto their own children; if it were their own child here, they would do the same thing as Xiao Chunping.

More and more people emerged from the 7012 underground project, rushing toward the passage leading to the surface.

……

"Quite a few people came."

Ying Fu's figure returned to the surface, and he spoke indifferently after glancing at the crowd rushing up from behind.

Chen Ling and Ying Fu had directly opened up an inclined tunnel from 7012 to the surface. After all, directly above the 7012 project was the mountain, so to return to the surface as quickly as possible, they could only go up at an angle... Moreover, Chen Ling had deliberately increased the slope of the tunnel, and given the long distance, one really couldn't make it up without some means.

This was a screening mechanism left by Chen Ling. The strength of those "White Hands" from Bureau 749 was uneven; if they couldn't even make it up this slope, there was no need to go find death at the hands of the Bitter Flesh Turbid Forest's calamities.

But what neither Chen Ling nor Ying Fu expected was that the recruitment effect this time was unexpectedly good...

Sun Bumian, Shen Nan, Han Xiang, Xiao Chunping, Zheng Zhiqing... not counting those who were already their own people, almost all the high-level combatants registered with Bureau 749 had followed.

Such a lineup was enough to support them in cutting through the Bitter Flesh Turbid Forest!

But...

"At least half of these people will die." Chen Ling's voice held a hint of regret.

His gaze fixed on Xiao Chunping, who was leaping over on an oriental dragon made of embroidery silk, and his eyes flashed with complexity... Xiao Chunping had been kind to him; if possible, he really didn't want Xiao Chunping to take risks at her age.

But this was Xiao Chunping's own choice.

She stood on the dragon's back, hands behind her back, her silver hair fluttering in the wind, her spine straight. Since meeting Xiao Chunping until now, Chen Ling had never seen her so spirited; the whole person seemed to have become a dozen years younger!

Boom—!!!

A deafening roar came from the direction of Wushan Town.

The crowd, filled with hot blood and having rushed out of the 7012 underground project, saw the scene in the distance and froze in place simultaneously...

Dozens of eerie gaps were suspended above the nuclear ruins, and the space within a radius of several kilometers seemed to have been stained with gray, white, and black, as dark as an ancient negative.

At the same time, thick things that looked like tree trunks, and also like tentacles, crawled out from those gaps. They coiled and entrenched themselves around the building ruins, with dense, wriggling roots extending from their ends and piercing into the ground...

These trunks were entangled with each other, and from a distance, they looked like a super flesh-and-blood heart parasitic on the nuclear ruins.

"Is... is that..." The Bagua successor felt his scalp tingle when he saw this scene.

"Wasn't it a nuclear strike? How could such a monster appear..."

"Is it a biochemical weapon developed by the Americans??"

"Such a terrifying aura... My heart started pounding wildly just by getting close!!"

"Is that one monster, or a group of monsters? Are we going to snatch people back from their hands?? Can we do it?"

"What kind of talk is that? Everyone came with the determination to die; even if we can't, we must do it!!"

"Mr. Sun, Mr. Han, Grandma Xiao are all here, plus those two mysterious Emperors... We will definitely succeed."

“……”

The vast majority of people were seeing a calamity for the first time, and it was an disgusting monster from the Bitter Flesh Turbid Forest, causing strong physiological and psychological discomfort... But since they dared to come, they were not ordinary people. After comforting and encouraging each other, they soon calmed down.

Chen Ling stared intently at the center of those calamities. A star was still emitting radiance, and that starlight seemed to have a natural suppression force on these plants. The large number of roots coiled on the surface did not quickly penetrate deep into the ground, but instead circled around cautiously... only releasing a few branches and leaves to test the edge of the starlight little by little.

But as time passed, that star began to dim, and the plants that were still cautious around it began to stir.

"It seems Lord Tian Shu won't be able to hold on much longer."

Ying Fu looked at the gradually dimming star, his tone extremely grave.

"The current Lu Xun's mental power is still too weak, and just relying on that one star, there's no way to protect everyone..." Chen Ling's brows were also tightly furrowed, as if he were thinking about how to break the deadlock.

"At this rate, they might not be able to hold on until we get there." Ying Fu paused for a moment, his mind beginning to deduce the subsequent developments. He didn't know which shelter Jiang Jiang and the others were in now, and apart from the one where Lu Xun was, the situation of the other shelters seemed quite dangerous.

"If only there were more stars."

Chen Ling's footsteps paused slightly.

Ying Fu looked back at him. "Chen Ling, what are you doing?"

"...There can be."

"What?"

"More stars."

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. "As long as... a second Lord Tian Shu can appear, that will be enough."

Ying Fu didn't seem to understand Chen Ling's words. He saw Chen Ling's eyes slowly close, and the whole person stood quietly in place, as if in meditation.