64: Futile tenderness! We gave everything, just for her to sleep for a moment

Sorrow.

Fermented in silence.

Finally, it condensed into an iron-like resolve.

Ling Xi’s fingers dug into the scorched, cold soil.

Her knuckles whitened from the effort.

She slowly.

Stood up from this land steeped in endless grief.

She raised her hand.

Gently wiped away the crisscrossing tear stains and dirt from her face with the back of her hand.

The movement carried a decisive force.

In her eyes, once as gentle as water.

The eyes that held the warm sun of spring and fragments of stars.

Now, only an unshakeable determination remained.

She looked at An'an, who was curled up on the ground.

And said, word by word:

“We… can’t let her continue like this.”

Above Ye Qiong’s tightly clenched iron fist.

Blinding golden battle aura erupted.

The killing intent on his body vanished without a trace.

Replaced instead.

By a will to protect, strong enough to pierce the heavens.

“A child shouldn’t have to beg for love in this way.”

Gu Yanci took a deep breath.

His brain, slightly fatigued from processing too much information.

Was now clearer than ever before.

He looked at all the team members.

And issued the first and only command since entering this world, one that disregarded all consequences.

“Everyone, prepare. Our mission objective… has changed from ‘recovering emotions’ to…”

“Severing this curse in the name of love!”

No more words were needed.

The members of the Joint Squad instantly formed a formation.

Gently shielding An'an in the very center.

They no longer tried to understand the logic of the gods, nor did they care about the gains or losses of the mission.

At this moment.

They just wanted to do something “right” for this poor child in front of them.

“Buzz—!”

Five streams of primordial power, containing different laws.

Yet equally pure and warm.

Shot up from their bodies.

Intertwining into a brilliant pillar of light.

And slammed into this desolate, scorched earth!

Their power.

Like a sword of compassion.

Pierced into the foundation of the world.

Touching the invisible “chains of anger” buried deep beneath the laws!

The entire world roared violently!

Endless malice surged from beneath the ground.

Attempting to tear these mortals, who dared to challenge the creation of a god, into pieces.

The will of the Joint Squad was indestructible!

Their power transformed into warm currents.

Enveloping those monstrous chains.

Not to destroy them.

But to gently “unravel” them.

Finally, with their selfless efforts.

A node on one of the chains made a soft “click” sound.

It loosened.

And hell descended.

The moment the chain loosened.

A torrent of pure “suffering,” impossible to describe in any language.

Condensed from billions of reincarnations.

Rushed back into each of their spiritual seas.

Through their energy connection with the chains, at a speed transcending time and space!

“Ugh ah ah ah ah—!!!”

Ye Qiong, who bore the brunt of it.

Let out a heart-wrenching roar!

His eyes instantly turned blood red, and his muscles bulged.

Beneath his skin, black magma seemed to flow.

In his mind.

He saw himself being stabbed through the heart from behind by his most trusted comrades billions of times!

Each betrayal.

Each death with unclosed eyes.

The glory and indomitable spirit of a warrior were crushed into dust by this endless humiliation and resentment.

Ultimately, all that remained was the primal destructive fury, wanting to drag the entire universe into war!

“Woo…”

Ling Xi couldn’t even scream.

Her compassionate heart.

Was instantly filled with billions of heartbreaks.

She saw how every act of her kindness was met with the most malicious exploitation.

Every sacrifice became a laughingstock at others’ celebrations.

That ultimate love.

Was repeatedly tortured amidst endless malice.

Eventually turning into the deepest, coldest hatred for the entire world.

For all life.

Crimson blood slowly flowed from the corners of her eyes, her nose, and her mouth.

Her soul was emitting a broken wail, unable to bear the weight.

Even Gu Yanci, with the most resilient will.

Was facing an unprecedented crisis.

His wisdom, his strategies, his self-proclaimed ability to plan without fail.

Appeared so pale and ridiculous in the face of billions of “unsolvable dead ends.”

He saw himself exhausting all his intellect.

Only to watch everything inevitably head towards tragedy.

That ultimate despair of seeing everything clearly yet being powerless to change it.

Transformed into a cold, nihilistic rage, wanting to completely erase all logic and all causality.

His gaze began to scatter, and his proud mind.

Was constantly falling into the abyss of logical collapse.

They were being assimilated!

They were turning into “anger” itself!

This was the “residue” of an emotion that Su Ke Ke had casually discarded.

This was the boundless hell that An'an endured alone, day and night!

Just as all members of the Joint Squad were on the verge of spiritual collapse.

About to be completely devoured by this painful anger.

“No!!!”

A tearful, heart-wrenching scream rang out!

It was An'an!

She looked at her older brothers and sisters struggling and writhing in pain on the ground.

In her pure eyes.

For the first and only time.

A towering flame ignited!

But that flame was not directed at the squad, but at herself!

“Don’t… don’t you dare bully them!!!”

She spread her tender arms, not to attack, but to embrace!

She embraced the entire world full of malice.

Embraced those out-of-control, violent chains!

With her fragile will.

In a self-destructive manner.

She forcibly pulled all the out-of-control anger and pain.

Back into her own body, even more savagely!

“Pfft—!!”

The weight of the entire world, stemming from anger, pressed back down.

An'an suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Her tiny body, like a kite with a broken string, fell heavily to the ground.

Meanwhile, the terrifying pressure on the members of the Joint Squad.

Suddenly vanished.

They collapsed on the ground.

Gasping for air like drowning people given a new lease on life.

Every face was filled with the horror of having survived a catastrophe.

When they looked up towards the source of the sound.

They only saw the small girl curled up not far away.

Trembling violently, the light of her soul dimmed to the extreme.

Yet, she still used her last ounce of strength.

To give them a pure smile, uglier than a cry.

“Brother… Sister… An'an… is fine…”

An'an’s “I’m fine.”

Was like the sharpest blade.

Piercing through all the members of the Joint Squad’s.

Already shattered pride.

They were the strongest at the pinnacle of their respective worlds.

Yet, at this moment, they were pulled back from the edge of hell by a dying child.

Through her self-sacrifice.

This mountain-heavy “kindness.”

Transformed into endless self-reproach and shame.

Suffocating them.

“Woo…”

Ling Xi looked at the poignant smile on An'an’s lips.

And saw her body constantly trembling from pain.

Ling Xi could no longer hold back and let out a suppressed wail of grief.

Ignoring the needle-like sharp pain emanating from her soul.

She propped herself up with her hands on the ground, in an almost disheveled manner.

Crept little by little towards the small girl curled up on the ground.

Her movements were slow, each shift making her face a shade paler.

But her gaze was incredibly focused.

As if at this moment, between heaven and earth.

Only that child, who needed to be embraced, remained.

Finally, she crawled to An'an’s side.

She stretched out her trembling hand and gently held An'an’s cold little hand.

Then, she used her most primordial life force.

Transforming it into a negligible warm current and passed it over.

She said nothing, only using her other hand.

Gently, carefully, wiped away the bloodstains from An'an’s mouth.

This simple action was like a command.

Waking up the other two men who were in a daze.

Ye Qiong’s tall body trembled violently.

He looked at Ling Xi and An'an.

This iron-willed man’s eyes instantly turned red.

He strode forward, saying nothing.

Only silently knelt down.

Using his mountain-like body.

To shield them from the cold malice of this world, which constantly encroached.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting.

But in the end, it only turned into an incredibly clumsy, yet heavier-than-Mount-Tai promise.

“Don’t be afraid… With us here, no one… will ever bully you again.”

Gu Yanci propped himself up on the ground and slowly stood.

He looked at the scene before him.

For the first time, an unconcealed look of self-reproach appeared on his face.

“I was wrong…”

His voice was hoarse, filled with exhaustion and enlightenment.

“We were wrong from the start. We tried to analyze emotion with logic, to counter pain with strength… How arrogant, how foolish.”

He raised his head, gazing at the dark red sky.

A deep sense of awe and horror flashed in his eyes.

This wasn’t even the ‘anger’ itself that Su Ke Ke stripped away… It was merely the shallowest ‘echo of pain’ that had settled over billions of years of reincarnation… Just an echo was enough to utterly destroy us… Then what kind of terrifying monster did Su Ke Ke personally sever back then?

This thought sent shivers down his spine.

But he quickly reined in his thoughts.

His gaze once again became sharp and gentle.

“We cannot take her out of hell… But at least, we can build a reflection of heaven for her.”

He looked at Ling Xi and Ye Qiong.

And proposed a brand new plan.

“Give all our mental power. Don’t resist, don’t analyze, just ‘give’.”

“Weave for her a dream… where there will be no more pain, using the most beautiful memories in our hearts.”

Ling Xi and Ye Qiong nodded without hesitation.

The three of them joined forces again.

This time, there was no earth-shattering energy explosion.

Only three broken, yet incredibly pure streams of mental power.

Like trickling streams, gently intertwining.

Ling Xi contributed a valley of blooming flowers and the warm sunshine of an afternoon.

Ye Qiong contributed the golden sea of his hometown’s wheat fields and the joyful laughter of comrades around a campfire.

Gu Yanci contributed the quiet afternoon in the library and the fresh scent of ink on book pages.

They carefully blended the most cherished, warmest fragments of their hearts.

Using their last ounce of strength.

Weaving them into a small dream bubble that emitted a soft glow.

The bubble slowly floated down, gently enveloping An'an.

Under the embrace of the dream.

An'an’s body, tensed from the intense pain.

Finally, for the first time, relaxed.

Her tightly furrowed brows slowly smoothed out.

A truly peaceful and sweet sleeping expression appeared on her face.

She curled up.

Like a tired infant finally returning to its mother’s embrace.

Watching this scene.

The three members of the Joint Squad.

Could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

They succeeded.

But they also failed.

They used all their strength.

Only to buy her a moment of peace.

But dreams, after all, eventually wake.