Chapter 122: The Human Skin Drum (26)

Tang Mu had no time to answer.

The battlefield was merciless. Particle beams rained down upon them like a summer downpour, striking with such intensity that they could shatter fully armored mechs and tanks.

"Look out!" Xingwen’s voice rang out near Tang Mu’s ear. Before she could react, he surged toward her and pulled her back.

Tang Mu saw Xingwen knit his brows. Although he was suppressing it, his reaction made it clear to Tang Mu that he had been wounded.

"If you're hurt, you should go back. War is blind; this is no place for you."

Tang Mu truly had a talent for pushing people to the brink of rage when she wanted to be infuriating. The brat was even parroting his own words back to him.

Seeing that Tang Mu genuinely intended to leave him to his fate and continue recklessly charging into the fray, Xingwen turned pale, his body sagging with feigned exhaustion. He deliberately exposed his injured back for Tang Mu to see.

"The wound is too deep; I don't think I can make it back," he said, clutching the injury. When he pulled his hand away, it was stained with blood. "Although this holographic battlefield cannot harm a human's physical body, the damage to one's mental capacity is lethal..."

"Tang Mu, I fear I cannot accompany you any further. I hope that in the days ahead, without me, you can still be happy every day..."

As he spoke, Xingwen deliberately coughed twice, appearing weak and fragile, as if he might draw his last breath at any moment.

Tang Mu was naturally unwilling to give up. She did not want to lose her chance to earn merit, but she also could not afford to lose Xingwen. She hesitated.

"But I... I have so few chances left to surpass him, to crush him. This is my only opportunity... Xingwen, can you understand me? After all these years of torment... I must kill him! Only by killing him can I find release!"

"..."

Watching Tang Mu, who was on the verge of madness, driven to despair by her inner demons, Xingwen sighed, his eyes filled with helplessness and indulgence.

"I will help you," he said softly.

"Once my wounds heal, I will help you build a new kingdom. In that kingdom, I will be the king, and you will be the queen. Everyone will worship the Goddess Athena, who represents wisdom. Death, failure, despair, and faith will be the threads woven through their entire lives. As long as their faith is widespread enough, the person you hate will inevitably be immersed in this hollow kingdom, tormented by desire and death forever."

"Isn't that much simpler than working yourself to death, risking your life for some merit?"

***

"Ha." Tang Mu suddenly laughed at herself. "He’s a liar."

"He didn't do it at all!" Tang Mu erupted into a frenzy. "He lied to me time and time again! And I was such a fool to believe him, over and over! In the end, even when I stood right in front of him, he didn't even recognize me!"

She glared at Xingwen in fury. The scene before the woman’s stone statue continued, but Xingwen’s gaze flickered with evasion. Seeing that evasion, Tang Mu mocked herself even more bitterly.

"That is why I don't need a man who doesn't remember me. I don't like unequal relationships; that is exactly why I didn't intend to acknowledge him in this instance!" Perhaps due to the time gained or the woman’s attention being diverted, Tang Mu felt the suppressed energy within her body begin to stir once more.

She did not strike at the woman, however. Instead, she lunged directly at the belly of the stone statue!

"Bang!" Tang Mu kicked the stone belly, shattering it.

*Crash!*

At the same time, a foul-smelling, dark purple liquid poured from the stone stomach.

The moment the liquid flowed out, the volcanoes and the scorching heat of Luomen Village vanished without a trace. A cool breeze returned, and the landscape became refreshing. She hadn't found the village charming before, but now it felt unexpectedly welcoming.

Having her formation’s core broken, the woman was livid.

"Damn you! It seems you really aren't afraid of me killing him!" The woman’s sharp fingernails elongated, poised to pierce Xingwen’s neck.

Tang Mu remained indifferent. "Go ahead, kill him."

"Watching a monster kill a monster—this is truly a first for me."

Though Tang Mu spoke nonchalantly, she was actually signaling to Xingwen that he, too, was a monster. With the woman’s power weakened by the destruction of the core, this was the perfect opportunity for Xingwen to break free from her control.

"I need help," Xingwen suddenly said, out of the blue.

"Why should I help you?" Tang Mu’s tone was flat.

"Because you and I were once lovers."

"You know as well as I do, that was in the past."

"Do you two even see me?" The woman was furious; the pair was openly ignoring her! As an A-rank monster who had lived for so many years, no one had ever dared to show her such disrespect!

"Then let me see what you’re capable of." Tang Mu’s spiritual power expanded. Unlike these monsters who relied on dark powers to control the dungeon levels, Tang Mu relied solely on her own mental energy. When the magma was present, its heat had suppressed her output, but now that the suppression was gone, she was unrestrained.

"Crimson thread, dark-bound, puppet-master’s command. By the ancient decree, go!"

Thousands of red threads surged out, coiling around the woman to assault and bind her. The woman, caught between holding Xingwen’s throat and fending off Tang Mu’s attacks, found herself overextended.

With the magma and heat gone, Qiao Yuan and the others no longer hesitated to leave the pavilion. Within minutes, they rushed to the temple and joined Tang Mu in besieging the monster boss.

Faced with a sudden onslaught, the woman could no longer focus on Xingwen, and her control over him weakened. Xingwen, being quick-witted, seized the opportunity to escape her grasp and rushed toward Tang Mu.

Seeing him flee, the woman was enraged. Her fingernails grew rapidly, and just as they were about to pierce Xingwen’s heart, he was yanked away by several red threads, pulled clear of the combat circle.

However, Xingwen’s neck was wounded—a mark left by the woman when she used him as a hostage.

Three claw marks. Pale tissue was exposed, and black monster blood continued to seep out, leaving Xingwen’s vitality far less vibrant than when Tang Mu had first entered the dungeon.

"You dare to hurt my person? You’re courting death!"

Tang Mu, fueled by rage, transformed into a vengeful Asura. The red threads in her hands flowed out recklessly, as if they cost nothing. Millions of threads hardened into steel, striking the woman like the relentless particle beams of the battlefield.

In mere seconds, the woman’s body was riddled with countless needle-sized holes.

The woman was indignant. "Didn't you claim you didn't care if he lived or died? You wouldn't yield during the fight, yet you come to settle scores afterward? Even a common street thug isn't as unreasonable as you!"