36: Chapter 36 The Silent Cicada Was Not Silent; She Sang Her Way to Death

The night was as dark as ink, and within the dead silent barrier, even the wind seemed solidified.

This was the third night the barrier had been stable, and it was also the most dangerous night.

Chen Fan sat cross-legged in the center of the Teahouse main hall. With every breath he took, even the slightest flow of energy was clearly reflected in his perception.

Suddenly, the system brand on his chest sent out a sharp, piercing pain!

[Warning!

Cooperative Perception System has detected abnormal fluctuations... Detecting high-frequency sound waves approaching rapidly!

Direction: Southeast, Distance: Eight hundred meters, Estimated contact with the barrier in thirty seconds!]

Almost at the same moment, Su Shuang, who had been feigning sleep by the window, snapped her eyes open. The only thing left in her alluring eyes was icy killing intent.

"It's the 'Soul-Searching Cicada's!'" Her voice was suppressed extremely low, yet it carried an bone-chilling coldness, "A running dog of the Order Alliance, something specifically used to locate and hunt down Bloodline Resonance bearers!"

Her gaze instantly shot toward the corner, where a thin figure was silently sweeping dust off the floor with a broom.

It was the Mute Cicada.

"You should go now," Su Shuang's voice was devoid of emotion, as if stating an established fact.

The Mute Cicada's movements paused, and she slowly turned around.

Her clear eyes looked at Su Shuang, then at Chen Fan, before she slowly shook her head.

She raised her slender fingers, first pointing to her ear—it was empty, bearing only a faint scar.

Then, she forcefully pointed to her own chest.

A silent action, yet it caused a massive shock in Chen Fan's heart.

He instantly understood—she wasn't born mute; rather, she had personally destroyed her own hearing to seal some terrifying power related to sound!

Su Shuang closed her eyes in pain, her eyelashes trembling slightly: "They are here. They will definitely set up the 'Sound Prison Array.' That formation will infinitely amplify the resonance in your throat and forcibly tear open your seal. You... won't be able to hold on."

However, there was no fear on the Mute Cicada's face.

She grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, her smile as pure as a child's.

Immediately after, she slowly and firmly made a throat-slitting gesture toward Chen Fan and Su Shuang.

Chen Fan's pupils contracted sharply.

He understood. The Mute Cicada wasn't planning to flee; she intended to use herself as bait to wipe out the pursuers!

"It's too risky!" he blurted out almost involuntarily. This wasn't the plan at all; it was gambling with her life!

"She is the last of the 'Cry-Fox' bloodline," Su Shuang's voice carried a trembling sorrow, "Her voice can directly interfere with the system's underlying judgment logic, throwing all electronic devices and system prompts into chaos. But... every time she uses it, she burns three years of her lifespan."

Chen Fan fell silent.

He looked at that thin yet stubborn back, his heart churning violently.

He had seen too many people resort to any means necessary just to survive, but this was the first time he had seen someone walk toward death so resolutely for the sake of protecting peace.

Finally, he took a deep breath, stood up, walked in front of the Mute Cicada, and said word by word: "I'll cover you."

The Mute Cicada nodded heavily toward Chen Fan.

That night, the ancient Teahouse extinguished all its lights, and even the moonlight was swallowed by thick, dark clouds.

Between heaven and earth, there was only pitch-black darkness where one could not see their hand in front of their face.

Only in the center of the courtyard, a lone windproof lantern swayed with a bean-sized halo of light in the dead silence, resembling a will-o'-the-wisp.

The Mute Cicada stood in this faint light. She took off her coarse cloth outer garment, revealing the black, tight-fitting combat attire underneath, suitable for swift movement.

She slowly closed her eyes, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and her entire being resembled a silent statue.

Suddenly, an extremely low-frequency hum emanated from her throat. The sound was not like one a human could produce; it was more like the pre-vibration of a massive bell being struck in an ancient temple—dull, oppressive, yet containing the power to shake everything.

[System Prompt: Detecting strong judgment interference... Initiating...]

The system interface on Chen Fan's wrist began to flash wildly, characters distorting before finally turning into static.

Buzz—!

Interference activated!

At the same moment, within the monitoring network enveloping the Dead City, the wristbands of countless New Players simultaneously malfunctioned.

Sharp alarms and intermittent system announcements echoed in every corner of the city:

"Warning... Warning... Coordinates... Lost... Hiss... Search... Failure..."

"Boom!"

With a loud explosion, the thick courtyard walls of the Teahouse were forcibly blasted open by three violent forces!

Amidst flying gravel and dust, three figures clad in standard combat uniforms rushed in.

Each held a strange, massive tuning fork wrapped with electric chains.

The leader grinned sinisterly, pointing his tuning fork at the Mute Cicada in the center of the courtyard, emitting a piercing resonance: "Sound source locked! Eliminate the anomaly!"

Facing the murderously charged enemies, the Mute Cicada advanced instead of retreating.

She suddenly opened her mouth, and a sharp, visible long cry, seemingly capable of tearing the air apart, burst forth fiercely from her throat!

"Screeeech—!"

That was not a sound; it was a weapon! It was a storm!

The sinister grin on the leader's face instantly froze. Under the impact of this sound wave, the tuning fork in his hand actually emitted an overloaded "crack" sound before shattering into pieces!

Now was the time!

Chen Fan's figure shot out from the shadows like a ghost. All his strength converged on his right fist; muscles bulged, veins stood out, resembling a cannonball fired from a barrel, slamming directly into the temple of the enemy on the left!

[Judgment Critical Hit × 3!]

[Target entering 0.8 second stiffening state!]

A string of system prompts exploded in Chen Fan's mind!

That enemy didn't even have time to react; his movements instantly froze, leaving only endless terror in his eyes.

"Bang!"

A dull sound of bone cracking rang out. Chen Fan's iron fist directly smashed the enemy's skull inward, splashing red and white matter. The corpse fell softly, killed instantly with one blow!

"Stop!"

Inside the window, Su Shuang's cold voice sounded like a curse.

The body of the captain whose tuning fork had shattered suddenly stiffened. His gaze instantly became hazy and vacant; he had actually been controlled by her power of enchantment!

Chen Fan did not linger in battle. He snatched the chained tuning fork from the second enemy's hand, his arm muscles exerted force suddenly, and the chain, crackling with electricity, wrapped around the opponent's neck like a venomous snake!

"Ugh..."

The man gripped the chain tightly with both hands but could not shake Chen Fan in the slightest. Strangled! Clean and swift!

Two of the three pursuers had fallen in an instant!

The last remaining person saw the situation was unfavorable. Extreme fear flashed in his eyes, and he turned to flee toward the darkness outside the wall!

"Don't even think about it!"

The Mute Cicada's small figure chased after him. She opened her mouth again, preparing to unleash a second fatal sonic shriek.

However, just as the shriek began, it abruptly stopped!

A wisp of blood overflowed from the corner of her mouth. Immediately after, pale golden liquid began to seep from all seven of her orifices—her eyes, nostrils, and ears...

The liquid carried a strange fragrance, yet it also drained away all her vitality.

The sound wave shattered, and her body shook violently, stumbling forward.

But in the final moment before falling, she still used all her strength to tightly grasp the intact, blood-stained tuning fork that had dropped from one of the dead.

"Mute Cicada!"

Chen Fan's eyes split in rage. He rushed forward in one stride and held her in his arms.

She was already breathing faintly, but she managed to lift her hand, using the last bit of strength to point toward the inner side of the tuning fork.

Chen Fan looked down and saw a line of small characters carved with an extremely fine needle tip on the inner wall of the tuning fork—Hall of Punishment · Secret Passage Coordinates.

"Silly child... Why didn't you leave... You shouldn't have stayed..."

Su Shuang also rushed out from inside the room, embracing the Mute Cicada's gradually cooling body. Hot tears fell like broken pearls, dripping onto her pale face.

The Mute Cicada looked at her, then at Chen Fan, her lips moving slightly. Using the last breath of her life, she silently mouthed three words.

Chen Fan understood her lip-reading.

She said: Listen... for... me... in... Spring.

The moment the words fell, her body suddenly emitted a soft golden light.

The next second, in Chen Fan and Su Shuang's arms, she transformed into wisps of brilliant golden smoke, slowly rising, eventually integrating completely into the Teahouse barrier.

She had used her life and soul to become the strongest cornerstone of this sanctuary.

Chen Fan tightly gripped the cold and heavy tuning fork, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Just then, the critical hit system on his chest vibrated violently again!

[Detected killing Order Alliance Elite Pursuers × 3!]

[Triggering Special Reward: Experience Acquisition Rate × 3 (Duration 24 hours, stackable)!]

[Level Up! Bronze Tier 10 → Silver Tier 1!]

An unprecedented surge of power flooded Chen Fan's limbs and bones, dispelling the fatigue after the battle, but it could not warm his icy heart.

What shocked him even more was that the Teahouse barrier, having absorbed the golden smoke from the Mute Cicada, now shone with brilliant golden light, like a small sun.

When the blue light from the monitor—which had always hung above the city like the Eye of Heaven—shone down, it was actually reflected back by this layer of golden light!

They were safe, for now.

Stone Skin walked out from the shadows at some unknown time. He silently took the tuning fork from Chen Fan's hand and embedded it into a damaged city map hanging on the wall.

The tip of the tuning fork pointed exactly to an area marked "Rusty Iron Factory" on the map.

"The secret passage leads to the 'Hall of Punishment Underground Vault,'" Stone Skin's voice was hoarse and low, "All New Players whose souls were extracted by the Order Alliance, turned into walking dead, are locked up there."

At the other end of the distant city, on the top of a skyscraper.

A man wearing a white mask slowly closed the holographic recorder in his hand. The screen finally froze on the image of the Teahouse barrier shining brightly.

"The Cry-Fox bloodline is extinguished, the Sound Prison Array is broken on its own... Interesting," he let out a low chuckle, his voice betraying no emotion, "The Fate Defier is starting to make waves."

The night wind blew through the dilapidated courtyard, stirring the broken roof beams.

Chen Fan stood silently under the beams, carefully tying a silver bell, found among the Mute Cicada's belongings, onto the eaves.

The wind rose, the bell rang.

Jingle, jingle...

The crisp sound echoed in the silent night, like a dirge without lyrics.

Chen Fan looked up and listened. There were no tears in his eyes, only a sheet of unmelting ice.

The flame of revenge burned in his chest, but it was firmly suppressed by reason.

He knew that anger solved nothing. Only power—absolute power—could completely crush those lofty existences underfoot.

The sky was about to lighten.

The faint light of dawn had yet to pierce the thick fog, but for Chen Fan, the new day brought not hope, but the sounding of a hunting horn.

His gaze swept over the broken courtyard walls, falling toward the direction of the Rusty Iron Factory, his eyes cold and resolute.

Hall of Punishment Underground Vault... he murmured the name softly. The coordinates on that blood-stained tuning fork were already deeply branded in his mind.