Chapter 59-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The gentle current flowed around the girl's neck, which was covered in fine, bloody pores. The youth's brow furrowed deeper.
"I was still too late... I'm sorry."
Ye Zheng touched the girl's pale, cold, and damp face, closing her vacant eyes. Together with Bai Muqing, she carried the body away from the eerie red mangrove forest and placed it in a desolate cavern, at least allowing the girl to leave this world with dignity.
"May the God of Hope protect you, and may you have a happy afterlife."
Bai Muqing closed her eyes and murmured softly.
After a Demonic Domain disappears, no one knows if these alternate spaces truly vanish or are merely driven out of this world. In any case, those who die within a Demonic Domain disappear along with it, their families never even getting to see a body—
The only exception was the Demonic Domain from ten years ago. The moment it vanished, a sea of blood poured out.
The youth suddenly turned, taking a silver necklace from the girl's body. It was still stained with blood. She thought she should at least leave behind a trace of the girl's existence.
Tucking the ordinary but precious necklace into her clothes, Ye Zheng suddenly thought of that blonde girl who also clearly came from the lower district.
In the manga spoilers, she had said she held a grudge against her for ten years. It could only be because of that incident... Ye Zheng still couldn't figure out the reason for the grudge. Perhaps she would get an answer after meeting Sierra again here.
"She just mentioned Sykes. It sounds like even he has met with misfortune."
Bai Muqing said.
"That's troublesome. If even Sykes can't handle this Demonic Domain, then unless a Person of Destiny on par with the God of Hope appears, we're in trouble."
Bai Muqing noticed that Ye Zheng's tone didn't sound particularly worried. When she spoke of a Person of Destiny, it didn't seem like a joke, but rather held a calm certainty.
Ye Zheng didn't think anything would happen to Sykes. He was one of the most important characters in this manga. If he were trapped, there was only one possible plot development: Sykes had to make way for the true protagonist of this world.
[You guessed it!]
The System's voice suddenly popped up.
[Sykes's Conceptual Ability is a bit of a game-breaker. The creator couldn't figure out how to let Percy solve the Demonic Domain and get the biggest moment to shine while Sykes was also present, so they could only temporarily nerf Sykes.]
It sounded like Sykes's treatment wasn't that great either. But compared to her, a heroine whose role was as fragile as a porcelain vase, Sykes was, at least, an indestructible vase studded with diamonds.
As dusk fell, the two youths walked cautiously through the dense forest that blocked out the sky. They circled the edge of the eerie, pale-red forest, observing it. Both of them tacitly believed that the core of this Demonic Domain must lie deep within that forest.
"It's getting late. Let's find a place to rest first."
The youth suddenly suggested, her pair of phantom-like green eyes appearing especially deep in the night forest.
Bai Muqing was stunned for a moment by Ye Zheng's words, her long white eyebrows knitting together. "I thought you wanted to end this quickly."
The most direct way to save her brother and the others was to destroy the core of the Demonic Domain. Once the domain disappeared, they would naturally be safe. This was the best plan Bai Muqing could come up with.
Ye Zheng didn't speak for a moment. She told Bai Muqing to stay put and walked alone into the normal part of the forest, returning with a wild rabbit.
She tossed the rabbit into the red mangrove forest, which seemed to breathe. The rabbit hopped a few times, approaching a pale-red tree. A branch suddenly extended, slithering silently toward the rabbit like a snake.
The branch wrapped around its body, coiling and writhing around the rabbit. The branch's color seemed to slowly darken as it pulsed with satisfaction. Suddenly, the rabbit was forcefully pulled out by an invisible line of water and placed safely into a warm embrace.
"It's not surprising that they attack living creatures."
Bai Muqing stared expressionlessly at the rabbit in Ye Zheng's arms, stroking its furry body. "It doesn't seem to be anything special."
Ye Zheng circled the rabbit's ears with her fingers, stroking it relaxedly. "Nothing special, so why would Sykes meet with misfortune?"
"He might not be dead. The word 'misfortune' isn't quite appropriate."
Bai Muqing corrected her, adding, "He must have gone deep into this forest and encountered something more dangerous inside."
Ye Zheng shook her head. "That girl said before she died that Sykes couldn't escape either. I think it's very likely she saw Sykes before she was caught, which is why the memory was so vivid even as her consciousness faded."
"She was an ordinary person. The places she could reach are about the same as this rabbit. She was probably caught at the edge of the forest."
"Are you saying Sykes was captured before he even went deep into the red mangrove forest?"
Bai Muqing's usually cool voice rose slightly, sounding a little incredulous.
"With his power, that's impossible."
Bai Muqing would believe it if there was an exceptionally powerful creature hidden deep within the forest that could suppress Sykes. But here on the outskirts, a place where even Ye Zheng could easily rescue a trapped rabbit, how could Sykes possibly fall in a place like this?
"There are indeed no powerful Demonic Domain creatures here yet."
"But what if there's an exceptionally powerful ability user who wants him dead?"
As Ye Zheng's words fell, Bai Muqing subconsciously parted her lips and then pressed them tightly together, suddenly remembering why Sykes had entered the Demonic Domain in the first place.
That matter could be hidden from ordinary people, but not from nobles like them. Everyone in the upper district was worried. Just what kind of powerful person could sneak into Sykes's room without a sound and openly provoke an SSS-rank powerhouse?
Such a person was present in this Demonic Domain. She had actually overlooked this equally fatal danger.
Ye Zheng's gaze swept around. She was walking around the area not just to observe the eerie forest—anyone who wanted to break through this Demonic Domain would have to approach this forest. So, if that person's goal was to kill all the ability users who entered...
Sykes's ability was very powerful, but if he lost his ability, he was nothing.
Ye Zheng knew this well. Therefore, she was wary of him but wouldn't consider him a real threat worth specifically guarding against.
The wind howled, and a curtain of blood hung high in the sky. Bai Muqing had never been so tense. A vicious human heart and cruel otherworldly creatures were eyeing them like prey.
A hand patted her stiff shoulder. Ye Zheng's slightly hoarse voice softened. "So, why don't we find a place to rest first."
Listening to Ye Zheng's voice, Bai Muqing felt inexplicably more relaxed, but then immediately felt a trace of shame for it.
How could she relax just because the person beside her was strong enough? Ye Zheng was very smart and vigilant. Even though she already knew Ye Zheng's true identity, Ye Zheng still maintained a modified voice in front of her.
The white-haired, white-eyed girl wore a solemn expression as she followed behind the tall youth. Her white pupils became even more vacant, silently gathering power.
Ye Zheng found a spot, near the river and relatively flat, then took out a long, rectangular bag she had prepared.
Bai Muqing's gaze was fixed on the ethereal depths of the forest, yet the images transmitted to her brain were exceptionally broad. [Divine Domain] didn't need to be consciously activated; it was integrated into her body like a naturally beating pulse. Through [Divine Domain], she could even "see" her surroundings in three hundred and sixty degrees, albeit in a somewhat blurry form.
Therefore, when she saw Ye Zheng take out a strange, long object, she couldn't guess what it was at all.
Ye Zheng noticed that Bai Muqing's usually cold face seemed to carry a hint of confusion and took the initiative to explain, "This is a sleeping bag. I heard it's quite useful in the wild."
Actually, the System had told her. There were no so-called sleeping bags in this world. She had someone custom-make it based on the System's description.
Made of down and other highly compressible synthetic materials, it could provide them with some warmth during the forest nights when the temperature dropped sharply. Although ability users generally had better physical constitutions, considering they might have to stay for several days, Ye Zheng felt it was necessary to bring such a thing.
"...Your bag is really full of strange things."
Seeing Ye Zheng pull out another one from her bag, Bai Muqing's expression became even stranger. she asked, "Why did you bring two?"
Ye Zheng thought that she had considered that Lucy probably wouldn't be able to afford to custom-make such a thing, so she brought an extra one. But answering that it was for Lucy now didn't seem appropriate.
"It's always good to be prepared."
Ye Zheng tossed the long bag to Bai Muqing. The other girl caught the sleeping bag. Suddenly, Bai Muqing's face became even stiffer, her white pupils staring straight ahead, exceptionally sharp.
The black-haired, green-eyed youth suspected she might have violated one of Bai Muqing's taboos. She took a few steps toward Bai Muqing, then suddenly paused as if sensing something.
"What an interesting thing! Give me one!"
Ye Zheng turned her head. A pair of crimson eyes, so red they rivaled the bloody light curtain, were thrust right in front of her face, blinking at her.
Two pairs of strangely colored eyes confronted each other in the dark night, like two leaping flames.
The youth suddenly curved her green eyes, leaning her body slightly forward, unbothered by getting closer to the suddenly appeared blonde girl.
Her green eyes were exceptionally patient and gentle, but a closer look revealed her pupils were tightly focused, like a seasoned hunter finally waiting for prey to jump into hunting range. "Alright, if you don't mind squeezing in with me."
The blonde girl suddenly jumped back, her voice filled with obvious disgust. "Who wants to squeeze in with a stinky man!"
"How dare you harass me!"
Ye Zheng quietly waited for the water in her palm to dissipate. Their last encounter was too brief, and she hadn't figured out Sierra's ability at all. It was impossible for Sierra to nullify an opponent's ability just by wishing it. There had to be a trigger.
However, the blonde girl in front of her stomped her feet angrily and started cursing the "stinky man" before her. Ye Zheng got an earful, and then realized her ability was surprisingly still active.
A faint trace of confusion appeared in Ye Zheng's eyes. Was it because Sierra didn't want to nullify her ability, or was distance not the key trigger?
She shifted her eyes slightly, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of Bai Muqing standing in place. Her face was now exceptionally pale and grave—
Bai Muqing's ability seemed to have been nullified.
Ye Zheng's gaze locked onto the cursing Sierra, finding the girl before her increasingly hard to understand.
Fortunately, her ability was still there. They were close to the river, so she could maximize her power.
The water at her fingertips was about to silently pour out when Ye Zheng suddenly withdrew her ability, and [Stream] completely concealed itself.
No, before she figured out Sierra's ability, it was best to conserve her own.
Author's Note:
Being called a man is the worst scolding Zhengzheng has ever received...
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