Chapter 64: Crisis
Even though Xu Zhi was acting like a fool, the woman still didn’t loosen her grip on her hand—not out of caution, but simply because she was ignoring Xu Zhi’s protests entirely.
They escorted Xu Zhi up the stairs, all the way to the top floor.
As she climbed, Xu Zhi couldn’t help but sigh. If it were her old self, she wouldn’t even have to consider escaping—just climbing eight floors alone would’ve been enough to kill her.
The woman escorting her didn’t look particularly strong, but she had no trouble at all sprinting up eight flights. Clearly, these fanatics had impressive physical endurance.
But… why the rooftop?
Xu Zhi watched curiously as the man opened the door to the rooftop. A gust of wind mixed with thick black mist rushed down the corridor, stirring her hair and carrying with it the scent of blood.
Then she saw six or seven cultists on the rooftop, either sitting or standing, and three unconscious, blindfolded people tied up in a corner. Blood was used to draw a ritual pattern on the ground—one Xu Zhi found hauntingly familiar.
Wasn’t this the same pattern as the one in the school cafeteria?
There were slight differences, though. The rooftop was smaller than the cafeteria, and the pattern, while smaller, was much more refined. Unlike before, there were no scattered limbs—only fresh blood tracing the symbol.
Xu Zhi felt a wave of vertigo just looking at it. Not strong, but she could sense a definite form of mental pollution from the pattern. Even the supernatural energy in her body began to stagnate and blur.
Only slightly, though.
“Cover her eyes. Don’t let her get tainted before the ritual starts,” one man—whose eyes looked normal, like the woman’s—ordered.
Xu Zhi didn’t resist. When someone approached with a cloth, she obediently let them blindfold her. Her hands were also tied with a rope.
“Quite obedient, unlike the others. Had to knock them out just to get them quiet,” the commanding man commented, a bit surprised. “Tie her up and throw her over there. How many do we still need?”
“Just one more,” someone replied.
To Xu Zhi, their method of imprisoning supernaturals was laughably careless. She could snap the rope binding her wrists with just a bit of effort. These people clearly weren’t worried about the captives fighting back.
Then again, even she had felt uncomfortable from just looking at the ritual pattern. Weaker supernaturals were probably affected even more. Blindfolding them removed their ability to resist. And considering there were enough cultists watching, the risk was minimal.
Still, before being blindfolded, Xu Zhi had seen the three unconscious supernaturals. She had no memory of them at all—and with her current memory, even someone she’d met once would feel familiar.
Which meant… she’d never seen them before.
Could it be… her little cabbages were already dead?
With that thought, Xu Zhi spoke up: “Can I ask what exactly you’re doing?”
Her question stunned the cultists. A few seconds of silence passed before someone finally said, “Just knock her out too?”
“Sure, you do it.”
…Seriously? That quick?
Wasn’t this the part in movies where the villain gloats?
Xu Zhi nearly broke character. She immediately snapped the rope binding her wrists and yanked off the blindfold. Then she shouted:
“Zhen! Kill them all!”
Even before she finished speaking, the moment her muscles tensed to break the rope, a figure like a white lightning bolt dove from above. With a single strike, it shattered the head of the nearest cultist.
By the time Xu Zhi finished her command, the corpse had already fallen at her feet.
“Smart one,” she praised with a grin.
She’d actually wanted to interrogate the cultists a bit—ask what the ritual was for—but things never went like the dramas. She felt a little disappointed.
The sudden chaos threw most of the cultists into panic, except for the man with the normal eyes. He shouted:
“Quick! Start the ritual now!”
He smashed a bottle of crimson liquid into the center of the ritual pattern. A blinding red light shot up from the formation. In response, rooftops on nearby buildings lit up with the same red glow. If Xu Zhi had an aerial view, she’d see the lights formed a pentagram, with this building at the center.
The older woman’s voice echoed: “Preparation incomplete… if it fails…”
“We don’t have time!” the man roared, voice twisted in agony.
The moment the red light erupted, Xu Zhi felt a violent mental corruption stab into her mind. She nearly vomited—but only for a moment.
The next second, a gray moth appeared in her vision, flapping its wings gently. Instantly, the distortion vanished, as if it had never been there. Only a lingering chill down her spine and cold sweat reminded her it happened at all.
Zhen had already returned to her side, alert. It seemed unaffected by the red light. Even the creature in her pocket poked its head out, curiously observing its surroundings.
Neither familiar showed any signs of harm.
Xu Zhi turned to check on the three unconscious supernaturals—and found their condition terrifying.
Blood poured from all seven orifices. Their blood soaked into the ritual pattern, as if an invisible mouth were devouring it. Even the cultists began bleeding, their blood feeding the formation.
This was a ritual that made no distinction between friend and foe.
So why was she fine?
In less than ten seconds, the three supernaturals were drained dry. The red light intensified, and with it, the “rational” cultist’s screams of agony.
No need to guess—her little cabbages were probably all dead by now.
Only two people remained standing on the rooftop: Xu Zhi, and the screaming man.
Without hesitation, she summoned her Tang sword from her inventory and ordered Zhen:
“Kill him!”
But what happened next surprised her.
Both her and Zhen’s attacks connected—but the man’s wounds immediately bled out a massive amount of blood that was sucked into the ritual pattern. Then, in less than a second, the injuries fully healed.
“What kind of monster…?”
Xu Zhi activated [Eye of Secrets], and the surge of energy it cost her showed something shocking.
A blazing red flame danced in the man’s chest. Countless red threads extended from the ground, linking to his heart, continuously feeding him the power of the [Cup]. The flame was slowly growing.
The creature in her pocket squirmed anxiously. If Xu Zhi opened the game device and checked its status, she’d see:
[Restlessness] was rising at an unprecedented speed.
Lv2 → Lv3 → Lv4…
Shouldn’t she first disrupt the ritual by destroying the pattern? Also with so many people on rooftops how did zhen miss them?