Chapter 402: In the Shadow of Death Flowers

At this point, Lu Xin had already smashed four or five Death Flowers, his body marked with countless scars.

Yet he wasn’t the least bit wary, as if those wounds hadn’t really been inflicted on him.

His face lit up with excitement as he dashed forward.

It was akin to the rough act of cracking a walnut—the satisfying moment when, after three forceful hits, the shell finally split.

“Heehee…”

His sister was delighted, her eyes sparkling and her smile brimming with excitement.

“Hehehehe…”

Their father laughed too, clearly satisfied with the sensation of unstoppable destruction.

Only Mom gave a resigned, gentle shake of her head.

“We’re almost there…”

Lu Xin was now less than ten meters from the Forest of the Dead, with only two Death Flowers still standing in his way. His pulse quickened as he prepared to make a final, all-out dash into the forest to find that person.

But just as he stepped forward, an unexpected tremor shot through his limbs.

A sharp, piercing pain suddenly struck him, as if he had stepped on a nail.

The abrupt pain jolted him upward, sending him flipping before he stabilized on one foot.

Glancing down, he discovered his foot was unscathed, with no wound to be seen.

In his momentary bewilderment, more Death Flowers drifted in around him, their slender petals curling ominously toward him.

“Is this just an illusion?”

Surprised, Lu Xin quickly rolled to evade a flailing Death Flower petal, stepping onto an adjacent slope. Gathering all his strength, he readied himself to surge once again into the Forest of the Dead.

……

Deep in the Forest of the Dead, an old man observed his foot—already impaled by silver nails—without the slightest change in expression.

He deliberately and slowly selected a pair of pointed pliers.

Changing his grip to a more comfortable position, he then slowly placed them in his mouth.

……

Lu Xin plunged into the Forest of the Dead, driven by nothing but raw speed and momentum.

He couldn’t afford to slow his pace; any moment of hesitation would let more Death Flowers sprout around him, undoing all his effort. But that sudden pain in his left foot had indeed momentarily stalled him.

In that split second, additional Death Flowers floated to the forefront of his path.

Yet if it were only a handful, there might still be hope.

He gritted his teeth and surged ahead, but then a sudden, buzzing pain surged in his head, and his lower left molar throbbed fiercely. The agony fractured his focus, and he immediately lost balance, disrupting his tandem with his sister.

“Swish, swish…”

Three or four slender, humanoid petals appeared in front of Lu Xin.

These humanoid mental entities, with mouths silently contorted in pain, latched onto his left shoulder, right chest, waist, and thigh.

Underneath their icy touch, a torrent of strange emotions flooded Lu Xin’s mind. Alarmed and disoriented, he summoned his remaining control to retreat rapidly, managing to shake off the petals that had surged toward him.

“Brother, are you alright?”

His sister inverted herself, hanging from a power line, and peered down at Lu Xin with evident surprise.

“My tooth hurts…”

Lu Xin, holding his left cheek, waved dismissively, “Rest a moment.”

“How can you have a toothache?”

Indignantly, his sister crossed her arms and retorted, “You always crush crab shells when you eat them—you’ve got some strong teeth.”

“Is this really the time to talk about that?”

Lu Xin, still clutching his face, longed to know if this pain was truly real.

Yet the more he considered it, the more real it seemed, as if the pain were a seed beginning to take root.

Soon, it had spread to his throat, cheeks, and even his forehead.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

Ahead, the Death Flowers pressed forward, their white petals writhing like tentacles.

He had planned to dash toward those humanoid petals, but his frazzled mind forced him to back away swiftly.

His demeanor grew one of bewildered suspicion.

What on earth could be causing this sudden pain?

Yet his foot was uninjured, and his teeth were pristine, despite the searing pain.

The agony was so overpowering that he couldn’t focus at all.

……

“It’s time to finish this.”

Deep within the Forest of the Dead, the Pale-Haired Old Man, with blood smeared across his mouth, maintained an eerie calm. Nodding at the Red-Haired Woman, his eyes scanned over a box before finally resting on several bottles. He slowly extended his hand and retrieved one bottle filled with a clear liquid, its label emblazoned with the letters “H2SO4”.

Taking a deep breath, he unscrewed the stopper and poured the liquid straight into his mouth.

He even smacked his lips afterwards.

……

……

Lu Xin seemed to have materialized amidst a tangle of blossoms.

The pain in his foot and teeth felt like electric currents surging through his mind, scattering his focus.

Around him, an increasing number of flowers—formed from fused pale souls—floated in gracefully like enormous dandelions, carpeting the sky. Each was born from hatred and agony, determined to ensnare every person within its grasp.

Unable to synchronize with Lu Xin, his sister was already having difficulty keeping him moving.

Their pace clearly slowed as they were gradually encircled by the pale blossoms.

These pale Death Flowers—or, in other words, mental monsters—did not exhibit formidable offensive strength.

After all, while they harbored an awe-inspiring psychic magnitude, they were made up of the fragmented consciousness of countless people.

They were like a disordered horde, incapable of uniting their mental energy for a concerted assault.

But what made them truly fearsome was the corrupting aura of pain and despair they carried.

Simultaneously, a macabre brilliance of death shone through their sorrow and agony.

They incessantly affected everyone in their vicinity.

If it were only one, Lu Xin might endure its effect with little harm.

Yet if he were entirely enveloped by Death Flowers, the mingled taint and overwhelming psychic assault would be terrifying.

“Hmph…”

From the dark shadows, Father emerged.

He cast a disdainful look at Lu Xin—trembling, clutching his face—and at his sister, who was desperately dragging him. His expression was one of severe disapproval.

He snorted coldly, and his shadow dispersed, flowing outward like a tide of inky darkness.

Even now, with his anger unabated, he planned to utterly obliterate the Death Flowers that had rushed in toward him…

But just as the black shadow surged outward, the pain-wracked Lu Xin let out a muffled groan, his face paling drastically as heavy beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. His strength abandoned him, and he sank to the ground.

The intense psychic assault also took its toll on Father.

An unseen force constrained the shadow, rendering it scattered and diluted.

Instead, the psychic fluctuations radiating from the Death Flowers forced the shadow to compress around Lu Xin.

“What are you doing?”

Father looked utterly dismayed, his blood-red eyes burning with fury as he glared at Lu Xin.

Lu Xin could not muster a response; all he felt was a searing, fire-like pain in his belly.

He found it impossible to articulate the agony.

It felt as though his intestines were being severed piece by piece and his nerves roasted inch by inch, leaving him completely powerless. If not for his usually restrained nature, he might have crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach in agony.

His sister looked on pitifully, remarking, “It seems he’s got a stomachache…”

Father, still seething, snapped, “Can’t you hold on? Get through this and then find a bathroom…”

Lu Xin weakly lifted himself, managing a slight shift in position.

He could hardly explain to his sister and father that this pain was far beyond what a bathroom break could alleviate—it was a torment that burned his nerves inch by inch, causing his limbs to twitch and his mind to go nearly blank.

People are far more fragile than they imagine.

When you’re pain-free, you can never fathom what agony truly is.

Lu Xin even sensed a torment akin to that experienced by dead livestock…

Roasted intestines, stir-fried intestines, and even tripe hotpot—he vowed never to eat these dishes again.

……

In the distance, within the Forest of the Dead, the Pale-Haired Old Man exuded a sharp, burning odor from his mouth and nostrils.

His pupils shimmered with a jade-green hue.

His skin was extraordinarily pale, so unhealthy it nearly appeared lifeless.

At that moment, his body trembled uncontrollably.

His abdomen was already drenched.

An unknown fluid oozed from his abdomen, scorching his red robe into a crumpled ruin. Every muscle in his face quivered uncontrollably, as if the excruciating pain might obliterate him at any moment.

Yet, inexplicably, he managed to remain lucid.

“Divine Knight…”

The Red-Haired Woman, watching him intently, felt a chill run down her spine as she trembled and asked:

“Do you always endure this kind of pain whenever you use your abilities?”

The Pale-Haired Old Man gave a slight nod and replied:

“It’s precisely because I’ve grown used to bearing this pain that I trust only in the guidance of truth.”

“…”

The Red-Haired Woman swallowed hard and looked toward the area in the center of the Forest of the Dead where the Factory Building stood.

There, even though Lu Xin’s limbs had grown weak, he continued to stagger onward.

But his movements no longer possessed their former agility.

He stumbled and faltered, as if being dragged by another force, completely at the mercy of his own weakening body.

The potent psychic force surrounding him, though initially fragmented, appeared to be coalescing forcefully.

It sent a chill through her—could that monster be invincible?

Could such agony truly not be enough to break his spirit?

She almost felt a twinge of pity, yet she murmured softly, “He’s still fighting…”

“Really?”

The Pale-Haired Old Man’s eyelids trembled, and his voice came out hoarse. He stretched his hand toward the box, as if to grab something, but even he hesitated, slowly retracting his hand as he whispered:

“If this hurt isn’t enough, then I’ll make sure he suffers a kind of pain he’s never known before.”

The Red-Haired Woman paused in shock: “What?”

The Pale-Haired Old Man replied, “You’ve felt this pain… twice.”

The Red-Haired Woman instantly snapped to attention, her face draining to a ghostly pallor.

Amid her pallor, there was a subtle, inexplicable thrill.

“…”

“Are you done playing yet?”

At the moment Lu Xin was about to collapse under a barrage of indescribable pain, the Death Flowers in the Forest of the Dead had reached their final, rampant bloom.

Thin, delicate petals began to spread from the deepest parts of the Forest of the Dead, resembling white vines nearly obscuring the entire sky. These vines stretched into endless human contours, their surfaces lined with countless mouths seemingly screaming in unison.

Yet, at that moment, Lu Xin’s body could barely sustain itself.

Even amidst the pain, he had been straining to work with his sister to barely evade the onslaught.

But then, without warning, a new pain gripped him.

He snapped his gaze downward.

He sensed an indescribable pain surging like a tidal wave from his lower abdomen.

It accumulated and kept swelling, as if forcing his body to stretch open like a grinding millstone.

His head throbbed as if about to split, and his limbs went numb.

Lu Xin wondered what could be causing this agony, his eyes widening in disbelief.

At that moment, he was on the brink of surrender—enough was enough, the agony was unbearable…

“What is this now?”

Father’s eyes widened in anger as he glared at Lu Xin, “After all this time, you still haven’t gotten used to it?”

While laboriously dragging Lu Xin along, his sister glanced up at him and remarked, “It seems the pain has changed again…”

Father inquired, “What is it this time? It seems even more severe than before.”

His sister frowned as she looked at Lu Xin, troubled yet unable to identify the cause.

Mom, too, stared intently at Lu Xin; as she watched his anguish, her eyes slowly grew wider.

Then, suddenly, she clutched her mouth and laughed, as if genuinely pleased.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—I just didn’t expect this ability to be so bizarre…”

His sister and father, along with the agony-stricken Lu Xin, all shot her resentful looks.

None of them appeared to grasp what this pain truly was.

Meanwhile, countless Death Flowers finally amassed around Lu Xin, clustering together. Their slender, tendril-like appendages slowly stretched out, and one by one, pale mental entities emerged, their mouths agape.

“Ah…”

They suddenly detected a piercing scream echoing from every direction, converging on Lu Xin.

In an instant, it was as if innumerable steel needles had pierced his mind.

At that moment, Lu Xin’s torment soared to a new peak, one of the most intense he’d ever felt…

……

“Sigh…”

But then, a gentle sigh was heard as Mom gracefully materialized in front of Lu Xin.

The pale petals that had been falling from the air were instantly halted by her intervention.

Though her frame was slender, once she stood there, not a trace of psychic energy could breach a meter around Lu Xin, and the light in the area softened remarkably.

In that instant, the pain that had tormented Lu Xin evaporated completely.

It struck so suddenly and then dissipated just as quickly, making Lu Xin wonder if the pain had been a mere hallucination.

“Phew…”

Lu Xin released the longest exhale he’d ever had, then raised his head in a mix of relief and lingering fear and asked, “What kind of power is that?”

“There are many things that can bring disaster,”

Mom smiled and replied, “There are unrealistic fantasies, sudden illnesses, uncontrollable emotions, and curses emerging from the shadows—what you feel is nothing more than what ordinary people often suffer.”

“Illness?”

Lu Xin suddenly understood, “So, it’s an ability that makes you feel pain?”

Mom nodded gently, smiling as she commended, “Your mind is clearer now than it used to be.”

“Then that means…”

Lu Xin, trying to hide it but with a hint of grievance, said, “It would’ve been better if you had helped me earlier…”

If Mom had helped, maybe the fight would have already been won.

“Ouch…”

Mom shot him a sharp look and said, “You’re all grown up and still expect me to bear your pain?”

“Besides, doesn’t this kind of pain seem almost entertaining to you?”

“…”

Lu Xin was at a loss for words; clearly, he wasn’t immune to it.

But her words were beyond dispute.

He even suspected that maybe, after snapping at her earlier, she was taking this chance to get revenge.

Earlier, he had thought she hadn’t been affected by the music, but now, it appeared she was.

No—wait, she really wasn’t affected. It’s just who she is!

……

“Actually, you needn’t be in such a hurry to run away.”

As Lu Xin grumbled to himself, Mom laughed and said, “Isn’t this a perfect chance for you to learn more about yourself?”

“Remember, during the family meeting, you promised us…”

“…”

Lu Xin was momentarily taken aback, finally grasping Mom’s meaning.

……

“What’s going on?”

At the same time, in the Forest of the Dead, the Pale-Haired Old Man and the Red-Haired Woman, poised to unleash their powers to finish off Lu Xin, suddenly observed an unforeseen change around the Factory Building.

Their onslaught had been landing effectively, but suddenly, all activity below ceased.

“Has he passed out from the pain?”

The Red-Haired Woman broke into a cold sweat, exclaiming, “Or does he have some hidden power?”

“Either way, we must kill him!”

The Pale-Haired Old Man, his expression shadowed, clenched his teeth and said, “The rest of the plan is unfolding perfectly.”

“We cannot afford any slip-ups on our side either.”

“…”

Amid a roar, whether born of pain or exhaustion, more and more Death Flowers drifted into the pit.

Amid the dense cluster of blossoms, Lu Xin, still defiant, retrieved his communicator.

“Must we start learning right now?”

Clinging to his last sliver of hope, he said to Mom, “This doesn’t seem like the right time for lessons.”

“Then you’re wrong.”

Mom replied very earnestly, “You need to have a proper attitude towards learning!”

“Any time is a good time to learn.”