The stench of blood surged upwards, dispersing the mist.

Zhang Rongfang's tall figure was also thrown off balance by the massive air current, sent flying backward, rolling several times on the ground before falling into the creek.

Roar!!!

At the site of the wooden house, countless streams of blood converged into a gigantic human figure, over ten meters tall, roaring angrily at the sky.

And in the surrounding mid-air, countless blue butterflies were swooping in from a distance.

The butterflies layered upon the blood-colored giant, devouring the blood while also being engulfed and consumed by it.

Blood red and blue alternated continuously on the giant.

The two were inextricably entwined.

One hundred meters away, Xue Tong stood gaping, staring at the scene above, at a loss for words.

He couldn't understand why this suddenly appeared demigod would start fighting with the Wish Girl.

And what a fierce battle it was...

However... this suddenly emerged mystic god might just...

A glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.

Having been trapped for so many years... if this opportunity could be seized to escape...

Beside him, Zhang Rongfang stood up from the creek, unscathed except for a slight dizziness.

Having thick skin proved beneficial at this moment. If it had been anyone else, their neck might have been broken from the intense impact.

At this moment, he also saw the exaggerated transformation over by the wooden house and was taken aback.

"So this is... a god!?"

He once thought he lived in a martial arts era, but this scene made him question...

"Don't be frightened." Xue Tong said beside him, his eyes fixed intently on the battle not far away.

The blue butterflies and the blood-colored giant continued to emit roars and the chaotic sounds of flapping wings.

"This place... is not actually reality." He turned his head and tapped Zhang Rongfang.

"Amidst the clouds of doubt, our environment is not the same."

With that tap, Zhang Rongfang suddenly felt a weight as if he had become much heavier.

But immediately, his body shook with energy, dispelling the sensation.

"Hmm? Your physique... is somewhat peculiar." Xue Tong squinted. "Never mind, I'm just telling you they're not as strong as they appear. Let's not focus on that; now, with the mystic god you summoned aiding us, we must resolve the Wish Girl's foundation here."

"How to resolve it? Can't the Blood God destroy her?" Zhang Rongfang retorted. He tilted his head just in time to dodge a mixture of butterflies and blood.

"A god cannot die," Xue Tong replied earnestly, "Remember this point."

He turned and swiftly moved towards the creek.

"Follow me."

With a few strides, he leaped forward, diving headfirst into the stream.

Though the creek wasn't deep, when he jumped in, he vanished completely, as if diving into a deep sea.

"??!" Zhang Rongfang glanced back at the Blood God and Wish Girl.

Butterflies multiplied, and the blood seemed endless; it was impossible to tell when the fight would have a winner.

He looked again at the creek into which Xue Tong had leapt.

"This cursed place...." This was his first encounter with so-called gods, and he had no desire to have a second.

Too annoying, too sinister.

Immediately, without hesitation, he leapt forward, following Xue Tong into the creek.

Plop.

The sound of bubbling water rose around him.

Numerous bubbles floated up beside Zhang Rongfang, resembling a string of silver wind chimes.

He looked down below.

Beneath the creek was not a shallow bottom but a vast, profound blue.

He looked around.

Every direction was a sea of dark blue.

As if with that leap, he had truly dived into a deep sea.

Zhang Rongfang looked down below.

In the depths, Xue Tong was beckoning to him from afar.

He immediately swam rapidly toward him.

The two met and began diving deeper into the dark blue water together.

One hundred meters, two hundred meters.

The water seemed to have no buoyancy, allowing them to keep sinking.

Finally.

The bottom of the water began to reveal itself.

Xue Tong swam to the bottom and dug through the white sand, revealing a pale red clock marred with peeling spots.

The clock's face had turned a yellowish-white, as if bleached by the sun for a long time.

The hour hand and minute hand were still slowly moving, pointing to eleven eleven.

Xue Tong picked up the clock and swam upward.

Zhang Rongfang closely followed.

The two ascended together.

In those dark blue waters, faint shadows swam back and forth now and then.

Uncertain if they were fish or something else.

Splaaash!

Soon they broke the water's surface.

Xue Tong placed the clock onto the grass.

"This is the Wish Clock, here, you break it! Only you can destroy it! I've seen her, I can't!" He stepped back, looking at Zhang Rongfang.

"Now that the Wish Girl is preoccupied, she has no time to care about this side, hurry!"

"Are you certain, senior?" Zhang Rongfang asked solemnly.

"Certain, only you can. She likely has specific intentions for you! Only now do I understand why my previous two attempts failed.

It's not my mistake. It's because she pays more attention to you than to me!" Xue Tong said quickly.

"I want to know why?" Since coming here, Zhang Rongfang had constantly felt like he was being led by the nose.

Now suddenly asked to break this clock, he was inwardly reluctant.

"The Wish Clock is the vessel of the Wish Girl's true form; breaking it, she will have no physical presence here! Battling the mystic god you brought will quickly lead her to lose!" Xue Tong's face showed some urgency.

"Hurry! If she discovers us, it will be too late!"

Zhang Rongfang took a deep breath, opened his status screen, and looked at the Wish Clock.

The Intuition Warning in the attribute panel reacted this time.

'Intuition Warning: This is a mysterious broken clock. When its hands point to two twelves... perhaps something bad might happen.'

"Break it...."

Zhang Rongfang paused for a moment.

Suddenly, he punched hard, hitting the clock face.

Bang!!

The entire dial dented, twisted, shattered, and broke inwardly into a big hole.

The gears inside were squeezed by a huge force, emitting countless snapping sounds.

"Is this enough?" Zhang Rongfang withdrew his hand. Suddenly, he felt something was amiss.

He turned his head to look.

The Blood God and Wish Girl, who had just been in a fierce battle, had disappeared.

The wooden cabin was still there, the grass gently swaying in the wind.

A Blood God Statue lay quietly on the ground beside the cabin, motionless.

There was no blood-colored giant, no blue butterfly, nor any traces of the previous battle.

It seemed as if everything just now was an illusion.

"Xue Tong, senior?" Zhang Rongfang looked around.

No response.

Xue Tong also seemed to have never appeared; there was not even a footprint left by him on the grass.

Zhang Rongfang looked at the clock on the ground; it was just a shabby old Western clock.

"No.... the fog is gone too!"

Suddenly, he realized.

All around was empty, a stream flowed behind him, the sound crisp.

Everything was peaceful and harmonious.

Zhang Rongfang was silent for a moment, then quickly walked towards the cabin.

He first stood in front of the door and picked up the Blood God Statue.

The statue had developed a clear crack, as if squeezed and cracked by a powerful force.

But the gaze of the statue remained kind and calm. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He exhaled gently.

Zhang Rongfang put it back in his pouch.

Then he looked at the cabin.

He reached out and lightly touched the cabin wall.

No response.

Then he stepped inside.

Inside was quiet, with tables and chairs covered by a thick layer of dust.

There was no white-skirted woman, only scattered wooden furniture growing green shoots.

A moldy iron pot, a moss-covered windowsill, and a wardrobe stained with a lot of thick black substance, among others.

"I guess, I'm out?" Zhang Rongfang seemed to understand something.

He recalled the previous warnings from the intuition.

He slammed his hand hard against the wooden wall of the cabin.

Bang!

The wooden wall broke with a large hole, wood scattered, and the cabin shook, seemingly about to collapse.

"Take the clock, find your subordinates.... go quickly!" Suddenly, a faint voice quietly entered Zhang Rongfang's ear.

The voice seemed like an illusion or maybe the wind outside.

He couldn't hear it clearly.

Though the voice wasn't Xue Tong's, Zhang Rongfang inexplicably believed it was him speaking.

Immediately, he picked up the clock and started to smash the cabin into ruin.

Under the loud sounds, the entire cabin collapsed in no time.

Only then did Zhang Rongfang rush toward the depths of the canyon.

Without the fog, he was much faster now.

Looking far ahead, his night vision penetrated over a thousand meters to see the view ahead.

Soon, at the edge of the forest in the valley bottom, he found Qingsu and the others collapsed.

Including Song Xinye, whom he had lost earlier.

But... half of them had forever lost their breath.

Their bodies were shriveled, as if they aged suddenly.

Zhang Rongfang sighed, lifted a corpse, preparing to take them out for a proper burial.

Suddenly, he noticed something and slightly shook the corpse.

"The weight is off."

He reached out, squeezing the arm of the corpse.

The bones were gone. The arm was soft like a squid, without hardness.

He opened the mouth.

Inside, all teeth had disappeared, leaving only a mouthful of black ash.

"Black ash...." Zhang Rongfang instantly recognized it as similar to the black ash left after the death of Silver String.

Hiss...

As he identified it, the black ash quickly evaporated like steam, disappearing mysteriously.

"Indeed."

The others were slowly waking after being fed an awakening potion.

"Sir... we...."

Qingsu rubbed her temples; all she remembered was the mass of black bees approaching.

The rest she couldn't recall.

"You were close to doom, now get up, take the bodies, and leave here!"

Zhang Rongfang commanded solemnly.

This time he underestimated the so-called god.

Thinking he could safely advance and retreat with the help of himself and the Blood God Statue, unfortunately....

The group didn't understand but seeing half the bodies dead around, they were shocked, quickly getting up, gathering belongings, and carrying the bodies a way.

"Song Xinye?" Zhang Rongfang suddenly asked.

"Sir... Song Xinye... is gone too...." an old Hunter replied solemnly.