163: Life and Death

Behind Luo Chen, a tall, handsome young man slowly emerged, as if walking out of thin air.

Hearing this familiar voice, Luo Chen, whose body had been stiff, slowly relaxed.

He secretly thought to himself, "With my cheap master's reputation, dealing with these Wild Rank Pets outside the city should be easy, right?"

Thinking of this, his mood lightened a little.

At this moment, the Jade Rabbit stared warily at the man who had suddenly appeared, its eyes filled with intense caution.

Its Moon Wheel behind it glowed brightly, enveloping its figure and the sacrificial stele behind it, causing their forms to gradually become ethereal.

Clearly, the Jade Rabbit had no desire to fight Zhuang Sheng upon his arrival.

Seeing this, Zhuang Sheng's lips curved slightly into a playful smile, and he said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. If you leave so easily, wouldn't that be too disrespectful to me?"

Before he finished speaking, a butterfly-like Star Beast quietly appeared above the Jade Rabbit's head.

This Illusion Butterfly gently flapped its wings, scattering a layer of colorful dust. Subsequently, the Jade Rabbit's gradually ethereal figure became clear again.

Luo Chen didn't know if ordinary domestic rabbits cried out, but the rabbit in front of him truly let out a startled cry.

However, despite its panic, it didn't forget to use its Skill. It pointed at the first moon that appeared in the field.

All the light on the surface of that moon converged, forming a thin beam of light that shot towards the Illusion Butterfly.

The Illusion Butterfly's figure flickered unstably, appearing in various places in the field, causing the seemingly extremely powerful beam of light guided by the Jade Rabbit to completely miss the Illusion Butterfly's figure.

Zhuang Sheng lightly stepped twice on the little one's back, coming to be level with Luo Chen's position.

Luo Chen was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, so Zhuang Sheng's palm could rest perfectly on Luo Chen's head.

The young man's slender fingers gently stroked the boy's head twice, as if smoothing Luo Chen's hair.

"Bai Ying, leave no Star Beast outside the city alive."

A Star Beast, with a human upper body and a spider-like lower body, appeared beside Zhuang Sheng.

It looked coldly at the Star Beasts outside the city, then gripped a white jade longbow with both hands, drawing it to a full moon. A powerful arrow slowly formed.

Then the arrow left the bow, instantly splitting into two, then four, and so on… By the time it reached the Star Beasts, it had multiplied into thousands.

Chaos erupted within the Star Beast horde. Various Star Beasts scattered and fled, but it was useless. No matter what kind of Star Beast, as long as it was below King Rank, if it was grazed by an arrow, it died on the spot.

The flying Star Beasts in the sky were the first to be attacked, falling from high altitudes like dumplings.

Swathes of Star Beasts lay dead on the ground. The city guards watched this dreamlike scene, realizing that someone truly could single-handedly hold off an army.

The Wild Rank Pets from the Colorful Moon Secret Realm, including the Pure Moon Imperial Envoy, were terrified. This level of Skill mastery was absolutely beyond what these Wild Rank Pets could achieve.

If it was a Star Beast, how could they possibly deal with it?

However, the White Jade Spider, having fired one arrow, had no intention of letting these wild beasts go. It extended its fair, tender palm, and fine spider silk enveloped the wild beasts in front of it.

Then, without exception, all these wild beasts were wrapped into cocoons.

Having completed these actions, Zhuang Sheng did not stop. A technologically advanced wheel appeared behind his head.

The surface of the wheel continuously rotated and shifted, as if calculating something.

The wheel came to rest above Luo Chen's head and slowly sprinkled something like a data stream. Luo Chen only felt a coolness between his eyebrows and eyes.

When Luo Chen reopened his eyes, he found that his vision had returned to normal.

Luo Chen looked at the young man smiling at him, and finally felt a sense of recognition for this master.

"Teacher, I…"

Zhuang Sheng waved his hand, stopping Luo Chen from speaking further.

"It's not your fault. If a Breeder makes a new discovery, and we humans just hand it over under duress from Star Beasts, where would our human prestige and dignity be? How would humanity develop in the future?"

The Illusion Butterfly seemed to have played enough. A dazzling, illusory light enveloped the Jade Rabbit.

Then, at some unknown point, the Jade Rabbit fell into a State of slumber. There was even a faint smile on its lips, as if it had fallen into a beautiful dream woven for it.

The illusory light, like a leash, was tied around the Jade Rabbit's neck, and the Illusion Butterfly brought it to Zhuang Sheng's side.

Luo Chen stood up from the little one's back and looked at the scene outside the city. Seeing the ground covered with Star Beast corpses, his eyes were filled with sorrow.

He then turned to look inside the city. This time, it wasn't purely Star Beast corpses; there were also the bodies and severed limbs of Beast Masters mixed in.

There was a large amount of blood from inside the city to outside. Luo Chen could hear wails coming from within the city, not knowing if they were for loved ones, friends, or Star Beasts they considered family.

Luo Chen could see a young boy, who looked quite small, crying uncontrollably while holding a Wind Feather Bird that had lost all its limbs.

Some children even held the bodies of their parents, who had firmly protected them, softly sobbing, while those bodies had already become completely cold. Luo Chen could see intense worry or regret still lingering on the faces of the young couple.

Too many scenes flashed before Luo Chen's eyes. For a moment, he even wished his eyes hadn't returned to normal, so he wouldn't see, and wouldn't feel this lingering guilt.

Luo Chen could only force himself to keep his eyes wide open, looking at every scene, one by one. This was his punishment for himself.

Deep in his heart, something called conscience was constantly tugging at him. He kept asking himself, what did he do wrong?

The fault lay in creating this sacrificial stele. The fault lay in his low combat power and inability to protect certain things. The fault lay in not being able to bring the dead back to life.

Luo Chen's eyes were slightly red. "Teacher, I want to go down and walk around."

Zhuang Sheng did not stop him. "Go."

Luo Chen slowly walked along the blood-soaked streets. When he saw injured people, he summoned Fragrant Lily of the Valley from the little one's Star Beast space to treat them.

Luo Chen's figure moved continuously through the streets, pulling out pot after pot of Fragrant Lily of the Valley from his space without hesitation.

Then, every so often, he would place a plant on the street.

Among them, those with severe injuries would slowly have their wounds stopped under the treatment of some King Rank Fragrant Lily of the Valley.

Luo Chen also summoned a large number of Starlight Stone Spirits to search through the collapsed houses in the streets, finding the ordinary citizens trapped underneath, one by one.

And various water-elemental Star Beasts. Luo Chen alone had practically become a professional rescue team.

Luo Chen came to the side of the boy who was crying while holding his Star Beast, his eyes filled with unbearable sorrow, and then he said in a gentle voice,

"Can I introduce you to a new friend? It will take the place of your original friend and guard you."

The boy looked at Luo Chen with tears in his eyes. "But Ah Xin was the only thing my mother left me."

Luo Chen squatted down, took out a handkerchief, and carefully wiped the blood from the boy's face. "But Ah Xin protected you. It must be very happy, and it also hopes that you can have a new companion to continue protecting you in its place."

Luo Chen summoned a bird-type Star Beast, a Xi Guang Ling Sparrow, from the little one's space. This kind of bird, which can bring warmth and light, should help him get out of his pain faster.

Luo Chen earnestly instructed the Xi Guang Ling Sparrow, then slowly turned and left. Some pain can only be healed by time.

Finally, Luo Chen came to the little girl who was silently guarding her parents, softly sobbing. She looked very well-behaved; even when crying, she tried not to disturb others.

Luo Chen sat quietly beside the little girl, feeling a dull ache in his chest. He wanted to offer comfort but didn't know where to start.

Helplessly, he could only take out a sunflower Star Beast from his spatial ring and gently place it behind the little girl.

Then he took out a Purple Sky Goddess Butterfly and had it guard the little girl. These two Star Beasts would take on the role of her parents and protect her.

As for whether he was guilty, Luo Chen felt a bit confused at this moment.

He walked up to the city wall, squatted down, and looked at the scene inside the city with vacant eyes.

At this time, his originally light-colored clothes were already stained with blood from an unknown source, changing their original color. His hands and face were also somewhat crimson, making him look even more tragic than the Beast Masters who had participated in the battle.

Zhuang Sheng remained in mid-air, looking at Luo Chen's somewhat fragile figure on the city wall, a sigh flashing in his eyes.

He silently thought: This is the first lesson I'm teaching you. Many times, you can't save everyone.