Chapter 116 Yu Xing Sacrifices Herself, To Save Everyone, Yu Xing Sacrifices…

Chapter 116 Yu Xing Sacrifices Herself to Save Everyone…

Everyone followed Di Shensi back the way they came. Just as they turned, Yu Xing heard a sigh.

"Sigh..."

Yu Xing froze, stopping in her tracks, her eyes wide with shock and confusion.

The others sensed it too, stopping and turning back to see her.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Lan asked.

"I..." Yu Xing's gaze swept over the faces of the five people before her, confirming the sound hadn’t come from any of them. "I heard something strange."

Di Shensi's gaze sharpened. "Danger?"

"No." Yu Xing had a feeling. She turned toward the river's upstream. "There's... something there."

She'd meant to say "someone," but then reconsidered—whatever made that sound might not be human.

Di Shensi also studied that direction for a moment before saying, "That's the core area we're heading to."

Miao Yuanjin blinked. "That’s not the core of City 25, is it?"

"It's the core of the pollution," Di Shensi said. "The pollution core is in Zone B."

"Let's go." Di Shensi turned away. "We'll deal with everything tomorrow at dawn."

The group followed the trail left by the vehicle that had rolled down the slope, finally making it back to the spot where they had encountered the bees just as night fully fell.

Yu Xing composed herself, casting one last glance toward the source of the pollution before leaving, her heart heavy with regret. What a shame she didn’t get the chance to take...

Night fell completely, the massive trees swallowing the moonlight. Since arriving in this world, this was the first time Yu Xing had experienced such absolute darkness.

Fortunately, Di Shensi had the habit of carrying tools. He produced a flashlight from his pocket, illuminating their surroundings. No bees remained, replaced by a mess of footprints and tire marks.

After walking a short distance, they found a flipped vehicle.

Two tires on the right side were blown out. It was a cargo truck, with nobody inside.

Yu Xing remembered—during the bee swarm earlier, a soldier had reported to Di Shensi about a flat tire. Then, an Earth God's Chosen had suggested digging a pit to bury people underground to escape the bees.

This must be that truck. Yu Xing searched around but saw no signs of any pits.

Just as everyone grew disheartened at not finding anyone, Di Shensi took a few steps forward and stomped his foot.

He stomped in a specific pattern. Until a muffled voice came from underground. "Brother-in-arms! My dear brother-in-arms?!" Yu Xing wondered if his leg had gone numb.

Then the soil shifted, and a dirt-caked ponytailed head emerged.

"What the—" Yu Xing heard Da Ya’s shocked voice. "How did he even notice that?"

The moment the head emerged, it spotted Di Shensi and the others. Their face brightened with excitement. "Commander, you’re finally back! I didn’t dare come out until you returned!"

"Come out," Di Shensi said. "It's safe now."

The head nearly burst into tears. "My spirit energy's drained... I can’t get out."

In the pitch-black night, Yu Xing and the others crouched on the ground, digging like mad. It took them nearly half an hour to free the person—only for them to tremble and point at several other spots. "There... there... and there. More people are buried."

"..."

Even Di Shensi couldn’t suppress a sigh this time.

By the time they dug everyone out, it was deep into the night. Yu Xing was utterly exhausted, leaning against the truck, her eyes fighting to stay open.

The rescued Earth God's Chosen reported to Di Shensi: after his vehicle had rolled down the slope, the team had lost their heads. Her spirit energy could only handle burying five people.

"How is that so few?" Miao Yuanjin frowned. "Even a fresh Divine Chosen could bury more than five."

The Earth God's Chosen rolled her eyes. "While keeping them alive, breathing, and not crushed to death under the soil? Let's see a rookie pull that off!"

Miao Yuanjin fell silent, glancing at Yu Xing—only to find her already asleep.

"The rest scattered in different directions," the Chosen said. "No telling where they ended up."

The chaotic tire tracks told the story well enough of the panic that had ensued after Di Shensi’s disappearance.

Di Shensi, however, took it in stride. He knew the soldiers would return once they were safe—it was a matter of when, and how many would make it back.

Staying here longer only increased the danger. Hanging around waiting wasn't smart.

"Let’s find a place to rest first," Di Shensi said.

Turning, he found someone already fast asleep.

Miao Yuanjin was also exhausted, but thankfully, the overturned truck had ration packs, allowing them to eat their fill without starving. "Where're we supposed to rest here?"

Di Shensi paused. Nowhere was truly safe. Sighing quietly, he said, "We’ll camp here. All of you rest—I’ll keep watch tonight."

Everyone was drained, and Di Shensi was no exception. The ponytailed Chosen spoke up, "Commander, we should rotate watches. Three groups."

"Sigh..."

"Sigh..."

Sighs hung heavy in the air. Yu Xing, irritated beyond belief, snapped, "Enough! Let me sleep!"

The moment she shouted, the sighs stopped.

Just as Yu Xing thought the nuisance was finally gone, an elderly voice moaned, "It hurts... it hurts so much... too much..."

Yu Xing, at her limit, growled, "What hurts? Where does it hurt?"

"My foot..." The voice trembled in agony. "My foot’s rotting..."

The hell? Yu Xing rolled up her sleeves. She'd get to the bottom of this "rotting foot." If it was that severe, why hadn’t they seen a doctor? Waking her was a capital offense. Clenching her fists, she charged forward—

"Ugh—"

Yu Xing jolted awake with a kick.

Orange firelight flickered before her. For a moment, she was disoriented—had it all been a dream?

By the fire, Di Shensi and the Earth God's Chosen turned to look at her. The Chosen said, "Awake? Perfect. The commander’s been covering your watch. Now that you’re up, take over so he can rest."

Yu Xing blinked, her thoughts still muddy.

Seeing her state, Di Shensi said, "Go back to sleep. I can’t sleep anyway."

Yu Xing closed her eyes.

"Ugh..."

The never-ending sighing sound returned.

Yu Xing abruptly opened her eyes. Was this not a dream?

She recalled the dream she had earlier—every night, a child begged her for help. Today, it wasn’t a child but an old man moaning in pain.

Now she couldn’t sleep at all. She stood up, rubbing her stiff neck, and walked over to the firepit. Squatting down, she said, "Sir, you should get some rest. I can’t sleep either."

Di Shensi glanced at her, confirming she truly couldn’t sleep, then stood up and left the fire.

Yu Xing stared at the burning flames. As her body and mind gradually woke up, her senses returned.

"I need to pee," Yu Xing said.

"Where are you going?" The Earth God's Chosen, seeing her clutching her stomach and about to leave, quickly asked, "Want company?"

"No!" Yu Xing took off running.

Originally, Yu Xing just wanted to answer nature's call, but she ended up discovering a spot where the moonlight shone through sparse leaves.

Staring at the small patch of pale purple moonlight on the ground, Yu Xing was stunned. There was actually moonlight here?

Looking back, a bush conveniently blocked the view from the campsite. The gods must be smiling on her!

Yu Xing immediately fished out a compass from her spatial ring, squatted down, and dug a hole in the small patch of moonlight.

She wanted to test the compass again. If the needle still went crazy this time, it would mean the compass was truly broken. She’d have to find A Yuan and get a new one.

She dug a hole, filled it with water, placed the compass inside, then nicked her finger and let her blood drip into it.

Yu Xing kneeled beside it, watching as the compass absorbed her blood under the pale purple moonlight. Silently, she repeated three times in her heart, "Yu He... Yu He... Yu He..."

After the third call, the compass trembled slightly.

Yu Xing stopped breathing. Then, she saw the green needle move.

Green once more! Twice in a row—at least it meant Yu He was still alive, right?

The green needle spun gently on the compass before stopping at a direction.

Yu Xing: "?"

It stopped? This time, the needle didn’t go haywire?

She stared in shock at the direction the green needle pointed—completely opposite to the core area of City 25. So Yu He really wasn’t in City 25. Yu Xing felt ashamed of her earlier assumption that her brother could be in such a hellhole.

But the direction the needle pointed...

Yu Xing scratched her chin. She wasn’t familiar with this world at all. Where was that direction?

She dug the compass out of the hole and returned to the firepit, lost in thought, her hands covered in soggy mud. The Earth God's Chosen watched as Yu Xing, who had gone to the bathroom, came back with her hands smeared in damp dirt.

What had she been doing? The Earth God's Chosen put two and two together—bathroom, muddy hands, wet dirt...

The Earth God's Chosen sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Yu Xing in horror.

Yu Xing pointed a finger, pointing in a direction, her eyes unfocused, completely lost in her own thoughts.

Her state... The Earth God's Chosen wondered if she had been contaminated. Had she lost her marbles?

Just as she was about to call Miao Yuanjin to Purify Yu Xing, she heard Yu Xing mumble, as if talking to herself or asking a question, "Where is this direction?"

"Huh?" The Earth God's Chosen looked at Yu Xing in alarm, then at her mud-covered finger pointing somewhere. After a moment, she said, "That direction is... City Seven."

Yu Xing snapped her head around. "City Seven?!"

"Yeah." The Earth God's Chosen nodded. "That’s the direction of City Seven. I’ve been in the Exploration Corps for years—I’m good at identifying directions."

Yu Xing’s mouth fell open as she stared at her finger in disbelief. That direction was... City Seven?

The night passed relatively peacefully, likely because this was the bees’ territory. With two hive queens lost in succession, no other contaminants had filled the void yet, so the area remained temporarily safe.

After waiting all night, no soldiers returned.

When Miao Yuanjin woke up, she saw Yu Xing sitting by the extinguished firepit, lost in thought. She grabbed two bottles of nutrient pack and walked over, handing one to Yu Xing. "What’s on your mind?"

Yu Xing propped her chin on her hand and murmured, "Thinking about my brother."

Miao Yuanjin assumed she was upset about not finding him and comforted her, "Don't sweat it. Once the field training is over, I’ll definitely help you find him."

Yu Xing lowered her head. The mud on her hands had dried, crumbling away in chunks.

"I’ve been thinking about something," Yu Xing said as memories flooded in her mind—memories of the original owner.

Growing up with only her sickly grandmother and brother, her frail grandmother meant her brother was her protector. He’d get back at her bullies, even if it left him bloodied. He always gave her the best food.

One memory stuck with her: as a child, she was bullied by garbage-scavenging brats. Her brother kept quiet at the time, but that night, she woke to find him crouched by her bed, covered in wounds, smiling as he told her those brats would never dare bully her again.

They hugged and slept, feeling each other’s heartbeat, as if the whole world was right there.

Every time Yu Xing recalled these memories, her heart ached. That was why she was so dead set on finding Yu He. And yet, after a whole night of thinking, she still couldn’t understand—if Yu He was in City Seven, why wouldn’t he see his only remaining family?

"What’s the question?" Miao Yuanjin popped the cap of her nutrient pack with her teeth and turned her head. "Da Ya, come here! Xingxing needs to wash her hands!"

"You..." Yu Xing chose her words carefully. "If one day, you were in the same city as your parents but refused to see them, what do you think the reason would be?"

"Huh?" Miao Yuanjin didn’t expect to hear such a dramatic, teen drama question in the off-limits zone of City 25. "There could be lots of reasons. Like... they didn’t want me joining the Divine Chosen Team, or they froze my spending money, forced me to date some useless rich kids..."

As Yu Xing listened, she realized asking Miao Yuanjin was a waste of breath.

"I’m here, I’m here!" Da Ya hurried over. "I brought water. Don't drink it—wash your hands and face while you’re at it."

After a night of rest, Di Shensi decided not to wait for the scattered soldiers any longer. They were already close to the core area—they couldn’t afford to waste more time.

If possible, they could search for the missing soldiers after returning from the core.

He had everyone carry some nutrient pack. Unfortunately, the only vehicle had a blown tire, and they lacked tools to fix it. The rest of the journey would have to be on foot.

Walking had its advantages—no need to worry about road conditions. They dropped down a ten-foot drop and followed the slope down to the river from yesterday.

"Upstream is the core area," Di Shensi said, standing by the river and pointing upstream.

Then he turned to Yu Xing, who stood there, hands shoved in pockets, head lowered in thought. He gave a cough. "Yu Xing, yesterday you said you heard sounds upstream. What sounds?"

Yu Xing was startled, the dream from last night resurfacing in her mind once again.

"Is there danger?" Di Shensi asked again.

That sound... Yu Xing recalled the raspy, elderly voice in her dream that seemed to have athlete's foot. She frowned and said, "No... it doesn’t feel dangerous."

Seeing her like this, Di Shensi couldn't help but feel uneasy about the path ahead.

But worry was useless—they had come this far and had to keep going.

Over the years, so many people had died in City 25, not just for the sake of uncovering the truth. Everyone was afraid, terrified that the tragedy of City 25 would repeat itself in other cities. That was why they had to find the truth—only then could they prevent history from repeating.

"Let's move forward." Di Shensi fell silent and silently led the group onward.

As they neared the core area, the light grew dimmer, and even the sounds around them dwindled.

On the outskirts, they could still hear faint noises—birds flying, insects crawling, even the sound of wind through leaves. But here, the only audible sound was their footsteps.

Suddenly, Di Shensi stopped and raised his hand, whispering, "Don't move!"

Everyone froze in place as if struck by paralysis.

Di Shensi looked around and spotted a pile of crumbled debris not far away. The stones weren't natural but fragments of shattered concrete from buildings.

The closer they got to the core area, the more traces of human presence from the old City 25 they encountered.

He carefully led the group to hide behind the broken structures. Turning back, his grim expression swept over everyone before he covered his own mouth and nose—a wordless cue for the others to do the same.

Everyone covered their mouths and noses, and for a moment, the only sound was their heartbeats.

"Thud, thud, thud..."

In such silence, even the smallest noise stood out. So when the sound of footsteps emerged, everyone's eyes widened.

Especially Miao Yuanjin and the other two—this was their first mission outside the wall, and they had never imagined hearing footsteps in a place like this.

Could it be the scattered soldiers?

Just as everyone stayed dead still, a figure appeared in their line of sight through the bushes.

It was a female soldier in tattered military uniform, her shoulder-length hair so sparse that bald patches were visible. Her exposed skin was shriveled and darkened, and only one eye remained in its socket—the other was missing.

At the sight, everyone's eyes widened, their hearts seized with dread. This was clearly not a living person.

The dead soldier wandered aimlessly, unaware of their presence.

Miao Yuanjin and the others didn't know what this was, but even if the rest hadn't seen it before, they had heard the legends of the pilgrims.

Why were there pilgrims here?!

Luckily, the pilgrim hadn't noticed them. If it walked away, they would be safe.

But things took a turn. Just as the female pilgrim moved further off, more footsteps echoed in their ears.

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Under their horror-struck stares, a large group of pilgrims emerged.

They wandered aimlessly, occasionally muttering.

"I want to go home..."

"Can someone tell me which way home is..."

"Home..."

Di Shensi despaired. Their destination was so close, yet this short distance now seemed like an impossible gap.

The appearance of these pilgrims shattered all of Di Shensi's hopes. Forget the rescue mission—even abandoning the task and leading everyone to safety now seemed impossible.

Everyone except Miao Yuanjin and the other two understood: they might never leave this place. Perhaps one day, others would come here and see them, now pilgrims, wandering aimlessly.

Yu Xing crouched at the back, knowing she had to act—or everyone would die here.

Not caring about exposing herself, Yu Xing suddenly spoke.

"Sir," she said, "I'll lure all the pilgrims away. You go complete the mission."

In the silence, her voice was piercingly loud. Instantly, all the pilgrims stopped and turned toward their hiding spot.

Everyone stared at Yu Xing in horror, even forgetting to breathe.

"I'll lead them all away," Yu Xing said, holding his gaze with Di Shensi. "This is the only way now."

Di Shensi bristled. "You're breaking protocol—" he began angrily.

Before he could finish, Yu Xing shot upright, and all the pilgrims turned to her.

"Shh." Yu Xing raised a finger to her lips. "No one make a sound. Don't let my effort go to waste."

With that, she leaped out, shaking off Miao Yuanjin and Zhao Lan's reaching hands.

Yu Xing bounded out into the open, moving straight into the crowd of pilgrims. To make sure she had all their attention, she wove in circles while singing loudly.

"I send you far away, beyond a thousand miles, without a word, without hue~ In this silent era, perhaps love shouldn't be so distant..."

Di Shensi dug his fingers tightly on Miao Yuanjin and Zhao Lan, while Earth God's Chosen and the other soldiers watched Yu Xing with eyes brimming. To them, she was sacrificing herself to give them a chance to survive—she was just an intern, still two months shy of adulthood...

"I send you far away, beyond the edge of the world, are you still there..."

Yu Xing kept repeating the same two lines—she had never bothered to memorize the lyrics, so she only knew the catchiest lines of the chorus.

After running in circles long enough to be sure all the pilgrims were locked onto her, Yu Xing chose a path and tore off, throwing glances back as she ran. "Come chase me~ Come on, chase me~ Catch me if you can..."

Yu Xing ran off, disappearing into the hazy gloom ahead, the pilgrims following her.

Silence returned. Those left hiding in the ruins were safe, but no one felt relief at surviving.

"What the hell were those?" Miao Yuanjin asked, seeing the despair on their faces. "What will happen to Xingxing?"

Earth God's Chosen lowered her head, recalling how she had kept watch with Yu Xing by the fire last night—how she had even been annoyed by her then.

"We’re out of time," Di Shensi said, staring at the massive trunk of the giant tree ahead, wide as a fortress wall. "We can't afford to waste any more."

Yu Xing led the pilgrims far away, darting and weaving. These pilgrims didn't attack—they only latched onto people, disorienting them. But this had no effect on Yu Xing, who felt completely unaffected.

Finally, when they were far enough, Yu Xing stopped, gasping for breath. She turned around, tightening her grip on her magic staff.

Yu Xing gave a thin smile, ready to act.

Then she remembered the pilgrim she had encountered outside the wall before—she had taken a photo before eliminating it.

After a moment's thought, she pulled out her device. If they yearned so deeply to go home, at least their photos should return to their families.