129: Chapter 129 A Strike to Win Hearts Back: Silence Speaks Louder Than Words

Stone Skin's refined iron shield shattered into dust within the white light.

Chen Fan was slammed back against the stone wall, his lungs feeling as if they had been crushed by a heavy hammer, and a metallic taste of blood surged in his throat.

But he ignored all that—he stared at the person before him.

Half of Stone Skin's right shoulder had been sheared off by the white light, exposing the stark white collarbone. Corrupted black blood mixed with fresh red droplets flowed down, dripping onto Chen Fan's hand and burning him until he trembled.

"The shield... wasn't wiped clean enough," Stone Skin grinned, his teeth stained with blood. "Yesterday, I said I wanted to borrow your newly quenched refined iron oil, and you said wait until we leave the Shadow Pavilion to treat me to some 'Burning Saber' liquor..." His fingers trembled as he reached for the wine pouch at his waist, but they dropped before touching the leather strap. "Boss Chen, drink a sip for me."

Chen Fan's fingers dug deeply into Stone Skin's back, his nails almost sinking into the flesh and blood.

He could feel Stone Skin's body temperature draining away, like a piece of iron that had its heat removed.

"Damn your mother!" he roared until his throat ached. "I'll go buy 'Burning Saber' right now, you damn well hold on for me!"

"Old Cripple!" Black Crow's shout echoed through the dome.

Only then did Chen Fan see the battle group member who always hunched his back. The rotten flesh on his right leg had rotted down to the knee, leaving black-red trails on the ground with every step he took.

Old Cripple held a concussion mine emitting a sizzling blue smoke in his arms, the veins on his neck bulging like a hemp rope about to snap.

"Shadow Skin's Glazed Casket!" Old Cripple gritted his teeth, his lame leg suddenly pushing off, and his entire body lunged toward the floating Glazed Casket.

The instant his fingertip brushed the casket's body, the concussion mine 'clicked' as the safety pin was released.

Chen Fan saw Old Cripple's face contort in the white light. He remembered this man three days ago, squatting by the bonfire, gouging the rotten flesh from his leg with a rusty iron awl, saying, "This life was given to me by the battle group; I have to pay it back."

"Boom—!"

The blast wave lifted the corner of Chen Fan's clothes.

He squinted and looked over. Fragments of the Glazed Casket rained down like drops, and dozens of human skins curled into black ash in the fire.

Shadow Skin's scream pierced the eardrums. That white shadow plummeted from the air, bounced off the Echo Wall, and fell back to the ground, only half of its face still twitching.

Thousand Faces' massive visage suddenly expanded, covering the entire Echo Wall.

Countless mouths opened and closed simultaneously, the sound grinding like rusted gears: "The struggles of ants are merely footnotes to nothingness." Only then did Chen Fan notice that the blood spattered by Stone Skin on the wall illuminated the names—Xiao Lin, San Kui, Aunt Chun, and his own 'Chen' character, which was only half-visible—all glowing with a warm yellow light.

"Get him out of here," Chen Fan shoved Stone Skin into Black Crow's arms.

His voice was very light, light as a feather, but Black Crow looked up as if struck by lightning.

The eyes of Chen Fan were burning with blue flame, but the flame did not spill outward; instead, it retracted deep into his pupils, shrinking into two faint blue stars.

"Don't let a single one fall behind."

Black Crow opened his mouth, finally just nodding heavily.

As he turned away holding Stone Skin, Chen Fan saw the hairs on the back of Black Crow's neck stand up—he was the most alert hunter in the battle group, sensing the danger of an approaching storm.

Thousand Faces' massive visage moved a bit closer. Chen Fan could even see the expression on every face: fear, despair, numbness, and... his pupils constricted—it was Su Shuang.

Su Shuang, who had been shattered by a fireball in the illusion, was now looking at him through a gap in the massive face, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"As long as the name isn't burned away, the person can't die," Chen Fan suddenly laughed.

He remembered the first time during the Naming Ceremony, Xiao Lin holding the carving knife and saying, "You have to carve the name deep; the system can't wipe it clean"; he remembered Aunt Chun stuffing a warm flatbread into his hands, the calluses on her palm brushing against the back of his hand; he remembered the temperature of the blood streak when Silent-Faced Child scratched 'Fire Seed Container = Su Shuang' onto the ground with his bloody fingernail.

The energy inside him surged.

The heat flow of critical hit experience, the sharp gleam of critical hit equipment, and the thunder of critical hit skills—the three forces twisted together in his Dantian, sizzling and emitting blue smoke like iron thrown into a furnace.

The critical hit core thumped, each beat causing pain in his ribs—that wasn't a warning before overload; it was the sound of his heartbeat.

"Final Word Judgment!" Thousand Faces' roar shook dust from the dome.

Chen Fan looked up. The entire Echo Wall was pressing down on him. The names on the wall twisted into countless hands, trying to peel off his face and press it into the wall.

Instead of retreating, he advanced. His right fist slowly drew back to his chest, and the blue flame condensed into a vortex in his palm, as if trying to swallow all the light.

There was no explosion, no blast wave. The instant Chen Fan's fist touched the wall, the world suddenly fell silent.

A thin crack split the Echo Wall from the center, and spiderweb-like fissures spread at a visible speed.

A Thousand Faces disintegrated in the silence, like paper ash scattered by the wind.

Shadow Skin's Glazed Casket shattered into powder with a 'click,' not even dregs remaining.

Thousand Faces' massive visage let out a piercing shriek, which finally turned into a sigh: "You... finally understand the power of silence."

The wall collapsed.

In the instant the dust rose, a pitch-black token slowly floated up.

Chen Fan saw no writing on the token's surface, only blurry human figures flowing within, like souls sealed in amber.

The system announcement was delayed by three seconds before exploding, hurting everyone's eardrums: [Player Chen Fan has obtained the "Shadow Pavilion Pass Token," Authority Level: Starlight VII]

"It's the Fire Seed," Black Crow's voice trembled.

He didn't know when he had returned to Chen Fan's side. Old Cripple had already taken Stone Skin from his arms—Old Cripple's right leg was rotted down to the bone, yet he was still feeding Stone Skin hemostatic medicine with movements lighter than a seamstress threading a needle.

"This token isn't a key; it's... it's the fire that can burn through the system."

Chen Fan reached out and took the token.

The moment the token touched his palm, he heard countless indistinct voices shouting his name, washing over his ears like a tide.

He tucked the token into his chest, pressing it close to his heart.

Su Shuang's half-jade pendant was there, and at this moment, it was heating up along with the token, making his eyes sting.

"critical hit system update complete," a mechanical voice sounded beside his ear. "[Infinite Multiplier Critical Hit Protocol—Loading Complete]."

Chen Fan looked down toward the lowest level of the Shadow Pavilion.

In the shadows there, Su Shuang's remains still lay, the illusion shattered into gold dust floating around her, like a golden snow had fallen.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and the blue flame reignited in his eyes, brighter than ever: "Shuang, I'm here. This punch is just the beginning."

The dust had not yet settled.

Chen Fan suddenly bolted toward the center of the altar, his boots crushing the wall fragments with a crisp 'crunch.'

He heard a voice from the deepest part of the Starlight Tower in the distance, bound by chains, softly uttering his name—the voice was light, yet it struck like thunder, stirring ripples within his critical hit core.