Chapter 126: Spatial Rift
Before heading out, Xu Zhi first confirmed that the game console was still under maintenance. She had a strong feeling it wouldn’t be up and running again until everything was resolved.
She put on her cloak, tucked the Little Aberrant creature back into her pocket, and let Yi coil quietly around her wrist. The black cat turned into a wisp of green smoke and followed at her side. Using the cover of night, Xu Zhi blended into the swarm of aberrants.
However, the first aberrants that rushed toward the rift didn’t gain any advantage. The moment they approached it, their bodies were shredded piece by piece by invisible, razor-sharp blades. One even remained frozen in the action of extending its “hands” to try and pull the moon from the rift, though its body was already in pieces.
The masses that followed met the same fate.
Xu Zhi stumbled slightly, buffeted by the sheer number of aberrants. She knew now wasn’t the time to try sneaking her way to grab that “moon,” so she pushed sideways through the horde and climbed up a wall with great effort, finally breaking free of the frenzied crowd.
And the moment she did, Xu Zhi witnessed something horrifying.
Every aberrant that got close to the rift was torn apart, yet the ones behind them didn’t seem to notice the pile of corpses—they kept charging forward mindlessly.
Xu Zhi could almost hear mocking laughter seeping from within the rift. At the same time, she noticed something else: the strongest aberrants, the ones who’d previously claimed the best positions, were now just watching from elevated vantage points, coldly observing, as if waiting for something.
It seemed the weaker aberrants weren’t being killed by whatever lurked inside the rift. Those stronger beings were simply watching—waiting, maybe even hoping. But they weren’t in a hurry to reach into the rift themselves.
The moonlight remained as pure and gentle as ever, seemingly devoid of danger.
So was it the rift itself that was killing them?
Xu Zhi was worried but didn’t act rashly. The slaughter went on for nearly half an hour. The entire plaza turned into a mountain of aberrant corpses and a sea of blood. The stench of iron practically dyed the air red. When the “full moon” was buried under piles of dead bodies, the carnage stopped.
At that moment, one aberrant had nearly reached into the rift. Xu Zhi even sensed the eager gaze of whatever hid inside, a longing so intense it almost became tangible.
It was as if they were also waiting for that moment.
From their mocking anticipation, Xu Zhi could tell—this probably wasn’t a good thing.
Like opening Pandora’s box, touching or taking this full moon would unleash something terrible.
But Xu Zhi needed it. Even if it would unleash horror, she would still choose to go through with it.
Of course, things wouldn’t go so smoothly.
That aberrant never did manage to touch the moon—its claw was crushed by another aberrant that had silently appeared at its side.
The strongest aberrants who had been watching from the sidelines had finally made their move.
Xu Zhi didn’t panic. She kept observing carefully.
It seemed that while each aberrant wanted the moon for themselves, they were also guarding against others. It looked like they’d be fighting for a while.
Xu Zhi mentally calculated. Her cloak reduced her presence but didn’t make her invisible. With how tightly the aberrants were guarding the moon, any attempt to approach it would surely be noticed.
How was she supposed to break through the battle lines of these powerful aberrants and snatch the moon?
The situation was oddly surreal. All around her were inhuman creatures packed shoulder to shoulder, and yet Xu Zhi stood alone among them, hidden. She could hear the low breathing of the tall, vicious beings, could sense the danger radiating off their bodies. It kept her nerves taut—but her mind had never been clearer.
She knew: the next step she took could be her last.
As midnight approached, Xu Zhi sensed that all the surrounding aberrants slowed their breathing and leaned forward slightly, as though bracing for something. This heightened her already razor-sharp nerves; her heartbeat quickened.
When the clock ticked past 12:15, a sound like turning clock hands echoed in the pitch-black sky. A strange energy rippled outward from the center of the plaza like waves across water. As the ripple passed through Xu Zhi, her face suddenly twisted in discomfort.
That energy… was the aura of Midnight.
In an instant, Xu Zhi felt as if she were back in that pitch-dark forest. But instead of aberrants, what surrounded her now were towering black trees piercing the sky.
Then the feeling vanished as quickly as it came. The ripple moved past her, continuing to spread outward.
But even so, Xu Zhi couldn’t relax.
Because she could sense it—Midnight hadn’t disappeared. It lingered just beyond some kind of membrane, and the eyes hidden within the forest were watching, hungrily, through that veil.
They couldn’t pass through directly—but they were very, very close.
That malicious gaze wasn’t focused on Xu Zhi. It seemed to be watching this land itself, and she was merely caught within it.
What was going on?
Why couldn’t Midnight descend directly here? Why was it being blocked—and why did it feel so close now?
Xu Zhi’s sense of danger surged again. If only she knew what was truly happening… but she knew too little.
Before she could dwell on it further, something changed. Right where the full moon had been appearing, a rift suddenly tore open in the center of the plaza.
It looked as though space itself had been ripped apart. Silver light spilled from the crack—at first no wider than a centimeter, but growing rapidly as the light flared.
The rift expanded until it was painfully bright, like a silver eye opening in the sky.
Xu Zhi could hardly look at it directly.
When the rift widened enough, the full moon appeared within it.
And with it, countless malicious forces surged out from the gap between the moon and the rift, along with a faint mist.
That… was the breath of Midnight.
Xu Zhi finally understood—this rift was the border between Midnight and the plaza.
But why did Midnight appear this way here?
Was this form of Midnight different from the one she’d seen before?
The rift wasn’t stable—its edges flickered constantly, threatening to close at any moment. Both inside and outside, the creatures began to grow frantic.
At that moment, one aberrant took a step toward the rift—and as if a signal had been given, chaos erupted throughout the city center.
The howls of countless aberrants rang out, making Xu Zhi’s eardrums throb. The once-silent city square was suddenly engulfed in madness. Aberrants, seemingly having lost all reason, charged at the rift with wild abandon.
Caught in the frenzy, Xu Zhi was swept forward with the mob, carefully avoiding the mindless, indiscriminate attacks of the frenzied aberrants.
