Absolute Choice 10

by Pear Lands In The Autumn Spring

  But the degree of horror was enough to give people nightmares.

  Sunless, Liu Yu, and Feng Yuanlin managed to see the scene up close. The visual impact was unimaginable. No matter how horrifyingly Earthbound Yaksha cried, the silver-haired devil continued tearing its body apart like an unwavering machine. It ripped out portions that was once Earthbound Yaksha's body and threw them nonchalantly. It was as if it was not ripping apart a life, but a cheap blob of cotton.

  Liu Yu and Feng Yuanlin turned their heads away midway through the brutal scene. Only Sunless stared intently. She stood close by and focused on Earthbound Yaksha with a wary gaze. Even though it had been torn to bits, Sunless did not wish to let down her guard of it possibly hurting Shi Xiaobai before it died.

  The ten seconds that felt extremely long was actually very short. Almost in a blink of an eye, Earthbound Yaksha's massive body had transformed into a pool of bloody water.

  All it took for a complete body to turn into messy pool of bodily fluid that was void of any dregs was ten seconds.

  This was why the scene had such an impact.

  And after completing this 'trivial' task, the silver-haired devil charged straight for the frantic Shadow Wraith without even looking at the three humans.

  "He's not attacking us. Does it mean that Shi Xiaobai still maintains a bit of his consciousness even in this state? Or he would only attack targets that show animosity?" Liu Yu feigned calmness as he analyzed.

  "Latter." Sunless suddenly said. Her eyes were still locked onto Shi Xiaobai intently, but she had answered Liu Yu's analysis.

  "What are you basing it on?" asked Liu Yu.

  Sunless shook her head and whispered the word, "Hope."

  The latter was without any basis, but she wished that it was the latter.

  That was because if it were the former, it would be too cruel to an awaken Shi Xiaobai if he had even a tiny bit of consciousness regarding this matter.

  Shadow Wraith was being encircled by Dawn, Speechless, Pulp Farmer, and Mu Yuesheng. Its situation was much worse than Earthbound Yaksha, but it was able to use its massive body and extraordinary resistance to result in a stalemate with the four people without suffering too terribly.

  However, the silver-haired devil very quickly reached its devilish claws out toward it. It was much faster than it had expected. To be precise, the speed at which Field Marshal Awesomo and Earthbound Yaksha was torn apart and reduced to sludge was something it could not imagine.

  Therefore, its tragedy befell it. In front of the silver-haired devil, it was unable to put up the slightest bit of resistance. That unreasonable agility made its hundreds of tentacles useless, much less the strange energy that was ripping out chunks of its body in a nonchalant manner. It was like a natural executioner, one that was professionally trained to deliver death by dismembering.

  As its body was the largest among the three Level Lords, it had survived a few more seconds more than Field Marshal Awesomo and Earthbound Yaksha. But because of this, the misery it experienced lasted for a few more seconds.

  Those few seconds felt like a few lifetimes long. It was the cruelest punishment from hell that made it not even want to live for another second!

  The wretched howling and crying echoed inside and outside the basin. It made all the spectators turn silent. It made the rookies only dare to stop and stare from a distance.

  Only when Shadow Wraith's body was completely ripped to pieces, marking the deaths of the three Level Lords did the silver-haired devil stand in the pool of 'bloody sludge'. His body was covered in fresh blood, dirty bits of meat and foul sludge. It was silent, like a machine that came to a complete halt after finishing its mission.

  That moment of stillness extended to the voices and breathing of the crowd. It was as if the entire world had fallen into silence in shock.

  This continued to the moment when the blond girl, whose clothes were similarly blood-stained, suddenly took a step forward. With a leap, she pounced into the silver-haired devil's arms. Her arms wrapped around the devil's waist and she hugged him tightly.

  The robes she wore were originally white in color and were untainted in any way. Their original pure snow-white color had now turned into a dirty blackish-red.

  However, at that moment, she looked holier and purer than a nun dressed in white robes.

  "Sleep, it'll all be fine after you sleep."

  Dawn raised her hand as she gently caressed 'Shi Xiaobai''s silver hair while speaking as if she was delivering a somniloquy.

  Not far away, Sunless gradually slowed down her footsteps. Her calm expression and her dull eyes remained the same. No expression or emotions could be read from them, but one could clearly hear the sound of her footsteps coming to a halt and feel the slight tremble of her body.

  "Got beaten to it..."

  She murmured with an inaudible voice.

  Other than that, no one made a sound in an attempt to disturb the 'couple' embracing each other without a care in the world, despite being covered in grim innards.

  The matter was over. The three Level Lords were all dead. The plot that was machinated against them had been foiled. Now, all that was left was to wrap up the situation.

  The silver-haired devil, no, Shi Xiaobai had yet to be restored to his original state.

  At that moment, he was like a machine that had stopped operating. He remained motionless, allowing Dawn to hug him. The golden vortices in his eyes that were constantly rotating had also stopped, and it looked more empty than they were before.

  However, he did not faint either. Such a state could not help but make others worry for him.

  Dawn called out a few times and realized that Shi Xiaobai was remaining motionless. As she thought about it, she pulled away from his arms and took a few steps back.

  "Are you not sleeping because it's too dirty? I'll help you shower?"

  It was unknown how did the girl come to such a conclusion. Furthermore, she immediately began taking action.

  She held her hands together in front of her chest and with her palms facing up like she was holding a ball, she quickly chanted, "By the Oath of Water, by thy name and by my body, Water Ball!"

  Blue light condensed in between the girl's hands. Suddenly, a ball of water about the size of a basket ball was raised up by the girl. The ball of water constantly expanded in size and when it was about two meters high, it suddenly sprayed forward!

  The large ball of water flew to a spot above 'Shi Xiaobai' and suddenly burst. It splashed down like a waterfall, drenching 'Shi Xiaobai'. The blood, dirt and flesh were cleansed away, but 'Shi Xiaobai' remained motionless despite the impact.

  "Is that magic?" Liu Yu asked Mu Lengxi using Telepathic Relay.

  "It's magic. Three thousand years ago, the psionic cultivation system was not mainstream. There was quite a number of people using magic. However, the Hero King at this age has very ordinary magic standards," answered Mu Lengxi.

  In that short period of time, Dawn had sprayed three balls of water at Shi Xiaobai. He was much cleaner than before so although there were still stains on his clothes, the dirt on his skin had been cleansed by the strong force.

  The face that had been cleaned finally revealed its true appearance.

  "Pss...That bastard is quite handsome after all."

  Speechless found his words problematic as he immediately said with a laugh, "But unfortunately, he's still slightly inferior when compared to This Emperor."

  The people present immediately ignored the second half of his sentence, but they nodded in agreement with regards to the first half of Speechless's sentence.

  The pale face looked better than before. The silver hair gave him a unique sinister charm. Although his eyes looked empty, it did not hinder itself from being a part of the set of perfect facial features. Shi Xiaobai's originally delicate but not handsome face looked very different due to a few tiny changes.

  Saying he looked like a 'hottie' was not accurate. To be precise, he had a beauty that was neu
tral-masculine.

  Dawn gave a satisfied smile. She walked forward while disregarding the gazes of everyone. She gently caressed Shi Xiaobai's face. If it was not done by a beautiful girl to a boy, it would look like a creepy sexual predator doing as he pleased to a motionless loli.

  No one made a sound to stop her because they realized that Shi Xiaobai was completely cleansed. However, Dawn was covered in dirt. She did not even send a drop of water on herself, as though she did not care about her hygiene.

  "Didn't history tell us that the Hero King was a germaphobe?" Pulp Farmer whispered into Liu Yu's ear.

  "We might have learned some fake history." Just as always, Liu Yu gave up pondering. He gave an answer that was of little research value so that there was no need to further investigate the truth.

  No matter what type of Hero King the historical Hero King was, the present Dawn Li resembled an unkempt and dirty female hooligan.

  She caressed Shi Xiaobai's face for nearly a minute before she suddenly retracted her hand. She said gently, "I'm leaving..."

  Leave? Where to?

  Everyone fell into a daze.

  However, Dawn continued,

  "I need to return to the place where I belong."

  "I have to return because the time is up."

  "After this separation, we might never meet again because we are people from two different worlds, to begin with. We might even not be in the same 'timeline' and we are people from different 'realities'."

  "But regardless of the case, I like you. I like you very, very, very much. Uh...What I'm talking about is the feeling between men and women."

  "This level of liking would never change no matter how much time has passed. So even though we are separating, even though we will not have a way to meet again, I'm already happy enough to have this many beautiful memories."

  "But, I have a regret..."

  "I still have no idea of what you think of me up to now. Do you..."

  "Hey, Shi Xiaobai, do you like me, even if it's just a tiny, tiny bit?"

  As she ignored everyone's looks, the girl boldly and passionately gave her confession before she left.

  A faint sadness and a rich sweetness permeated the air. This was probably the beauty of love.

  "This is probably what it feels like to be a bachelor," said Liu Yu.

  However, the cold machine did not begin to function properly because of the heartwarming words. Even the girl's beautiful farewell and passionate confession were useless.

  The silver-haired Shi Xiaobai remained motionless and unmoved.

  The girl sighed before she suddenly took a step back.

  "Do not forget me."

  She looked like she was pleading and her expression looked heart wrenching.

  "Then...farewell...my first love."

  It was as if she was bidding him farewell forever with a plangent voice.

  The girl took another step back and took a deep breath. Looking up slightly, it was as if she was about to leave immediately.

  At that moment, the golden vortices in the pair of empty eyes suddenly began spinning.

  A fair hand raised stiffly.

  Everyone stared with widened eyes as though they had seen a miracle.

  Dawn widened her eyes as well. After a moment of surprise, she hurriedly stretched out her hand to hold Shi Xiaobai's raised hand.

  "I...I...I..."

  Suddenly, Shi Xiaobai opened his mouth.

  It was still that familiar voice, but it was like a broken radio that was stuck with the word "I".

  But at that moment, everyone patiently pricked up their ears.

  Dawn felt that her pounding heart was racing faster and faster.

  "I...I..."

  This repeating but staccato 'I' continued on for a full minute, but just as everyone was about to lose their patience, the second word was squeezed out of his vocal cords.

  "I...I...Like..."

  A single "Like" syllable instantly made Dawn rejoice in tears.

  As long as there was no fucked up reversal, the words Shi Xiaobai wanted to finish was definitely—I like you.

  Just this sentence was enough.

  That was on Dawn's mind.

  Yes, the joke had gone far enough.

  Things like she having to leave or that her time was up? Of course, none of that was actually true!

  She had planned on pretending to leave in a hope to let Shi Xiaobai, who had 'hung', recover his consciousness. However, she never expected to receive such great rewards!

  It completely exceeded her expectations and all she felt was satisfaction.

  "Actually..."

  Dawn was about to explain the joke because she found it sinful to continue experiencing the bliss through the use of a joke.

  But at that moment, a strange voice resounded in her mind.

  The sound alarmed Dawn. She immediately turned flustered as she raised her head to survey her surroundings as she shouted, "What does forceful expulsion mean!?"

  "I was just joking!"

  "No! I'm not leaving!"

  "I don't want to leave!"

  "I don't want..."

  Everyone watched in astonishment as Dawn began shouting at an unknown entity. Suddenly, at the moment Dawn shouted "I don't want", she vanished without completing her sentence!

  She had disappeared into thin air!

  She had vanished in front of everyone's eyes instantly!

  "Like...Like."

  The voice that sounded like a broken radio truly broke at that instant.

  The moment Dawn vanished, 'Shi Xiaobai''s voice came to a sudden halt. The golden vortices in his pair of black eyes began to spin out of control. The speed was that of a rapidly spinning top!

  Everyone was shocked as well. Suddenly they felt a heavy pressure billow towards them, causing them to feel stifled.

  "Soul...Suppression?" Speechless frowned deeply. Although he had experienced 'resistance training', he was unable to withstand the pressure of the Soul Suppression which came from 'Shi Xiaobai'!

  Dawn Li's sudden disappearance had clearly pushed 'Shi Xiaobai' to the brink of raging!

  Strange streams of black energy suddenly began to surge towards Shi Xiaobai. The golden vortices in his eyes spun at high speeds while his pale skin gradually turned pitch black. His silver hair gradually grew longer and the intensity of Soul Suppression grew stronger. Even Speechless could not withstand it as he was completely immobile!

  At that moment, even the world seemed to experience an odd phenomena.

  "Who...can stop him..." Speechless uttered those words with great difficulty, but his heart was filled with wry smiles. Even he could not move from the Soul Suppression, so who else could prevent the enraging Shi Xiaobai.

  However, Speechless's pupils constricted slightly because he saw an azure-dressed girl slowly walking towards Shi Xiaobai despite the overwhelming suppression.

  Sunless!

  Even under such immense suppression, Sunless was still able to proceed forward. Step by step, she approached the enraged Shi Xiaobai.

  "All...All the best..." prayed Speechless.

  Sunless did not disappoint him, or it should be said that Sunless never disappointed anyone.

  Even though Speechless had been crushed till he was adhered to the ground in the end, Sunless was still walking. Even though it was a turtle's crawl, she finally managed to touch Shi Xiaobai's cheeks gently with her hand.

  "Came late..." Sunless said softly.

  The last time, someone had taken the first opportunity away from her.

  This time, she had come late.

  It didn't sound like there was a great difference, but she had managed to touch his face for a second time...

  At that moment, the quaking ground came to a stop. The darkening skies lit up with a glimmer of light. The Soul Suppression that had crushed people to the ground vanished suddenly and the black energy that constantly surged into Shi Xiaobai's body instantly dissipated...

  But a shocking thing
happened at that moment!

  'Shi Xiaobai', who had his face touched, suddenly stretched out both his hands to press down on Sunless's shoulders. He pounced and immediately pushed Sunless to the ground. Sunless moaned, as though she was in pain. She was pinned down to the ground by 'Shi Xiaobai'.