Chapter 10: Strange Dream (March 29, 2025)
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Li Ye slowly lowered his head and waved a hand. He felt nothing.
He sniffed again. There was no scent.
“So it was a dream.”
“Sister Bodhisattva, you’ll protect me, won’t you?”
Li Ye silently began to pray.
Once a materialist who loved mocking every ghost, demon, god, Buddha, and monster under heaven, he had been reborn into a fervent believer in the divine.
Having finished clutching at the Bodhisattva’s feet, Li Ye began observing everything around him.
A towering, godlike mountain that seemed to reach from heaven to earth stood in the far distance, majestic and immense. Pale mist veiled most of its slopes.
A black, elongated creature drifted in and out of sight above the sacred mountain, swimming through the mist.
This was a world of chaos and madness.
Counting the years of his previous life, this was the first time he had ever felt so astonishingly insignificant.
Even when he had faced that terrifying black dragon at the very end of his previous life, he had never experienced such a feeling.
From every direction, a thick, viscous energy suddenly appeared, churning ceaselessly through this sea of chaos like mud.
Li Ye stopped scanning his surroundings, his pupils contracting.
“Is that... a corpse?”
A flawlessly formed naked body hung upside down in the center of the sea. Two iron hooks extended from the void and pierced the ankles of the dead woman.
A single glance at that corpse stirred the most primitive desires buried deep within Li Ye’s heart.
“What happened here? Where is this?”
Along with the appearance of that mudlike force came a dazzling golden radiance that surged up from the chaotic waters.
The power of order contained within the golden light gradually drove away the chaos lingering throughout this world.
In the far distance, the black creature coiling across the sacred mountain suddenly released a roar that shook the entire realm.
Even Li Ye’s formless body was rocked by the tremendous sound.
His consciousness instinctively curled in upon itself, until the golden light filled the heavens, enveloping him and drawing closer—until it finally reached his face.
Li Ye’s insubstantial left arm rose instinctively. At that moment, the dark pattern of the Chosen, resembling a birthmark, radiated a gentle warmth and became entangled with the golden light of order just inches away.
“Boom... boom... boom!”
It was the sound of his heart beating with vigorous force.
Wrapped in the golden light, Li Ye’s shapeless body gradually gained substance. A mighty power that obeyed his every thought settled into his hands.
He now resembled a divine warrior clad in golden armor.
The golden radiance grew ever more intense, until a long sword shaped like a key materialized before him.
...
The second day of the apocalypse.
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When the first ray of sunlight passed through the window and fell upon Li Ye, he opened his eyes at once and instinctively sat upright.
He stared strangely at the dark pattern on his left arm.
“Was it a dream? The dead woman, the key-shaped sword, that long creature... What exactly were they?”
Li Ye murmured to himself. The dark pattern on his left arm remained dim, without the slightest change.
He sighed in disappointment.
The sensation of possessing such effortless power the night before had intoxicated him.
After exhaling a breath of stale air, he opened the window.
“This red mist doesn’t seem to be the same kind of thing as the mist around that sacred mountain.”
Li Ye carefully sensed the red mist surging into the warehouse, subconsciously comparing it with the mist he had seen around the sacred mountain in his dream.
If the red mist still belonged to the realm of physics, then the mist in his dream had been more like the celestial aura seen in films and television dramas whenever the heavenly palace appeared.
Frowning, he closed the window.
Today was the second day of the apocalypse. Countless survivors were still hiding in every corner of the city, struggling desperately to stay alive.
Yet within this oppressive red mist, few ordinary people could hear the whisper of its end.
Under the pressure of various zombies and mutated creatures, quite a number had also chosen to take their own lives in despair.
Li Ye raised his fists and began practicing at an unhurried pace.
“It’s only the second day. By the fifth, the second wave of mutated creatures should appear.
“I just don’t know how many beasts are buried beneath the ground in the eastern suburbs. Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to the military district today.”
How could the creatures buried beneath layers of earth all awaken within a mere half day?
By the fifth day, as the red mist grew denser, those creatures buried deep underground would also crawl out and begin roaming through a world that had once belonged exclusively to humankind.
At that point, a corelike substance known as blood crystal marrow would condense in the backs of the heads of all zombies and mutated creatures.
And blood crystal marrow was precisely what could enhance the strength of a Chosen One’s supernatural ability.
“If I want to make a real fortune, I really can’t do without the people at the military district.”
The corner of Li Ye’s lips curled into a sinister smile.
Sensing Li Ye’s movements, Lu Xue Ning and the others quickly got up as well.
Still dazed, they touched the red mist around them, clearly not yet accustomed to it.
Su Hao scratched his stomach and carefully examined both his arms.
“Leaf! My forearms are a little itchy. Is that divine selection pattern about to appear?”
Li Ye’s lips twitched. “No. You just need a bath.”
Ignoring Su Hao’s wails, Li Ye turned his serious gaze toward Lu Xue Ning and Aunt Lu.
“Stay here in the warehouse today. I’m going out for a while. If that group outside starts causing trouble, wait until I get back.”
“Understood.”
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Lu Xue Ning obediently nodded, an unusual sight.
Satisfied, Li Ye turned and left. When he opened the warehouse door, he saw the middle-aged man who had wet himself the day before standing guard outside.
The other workers who had remained at the processing plant were huddled behind him.
Hearing the door open, they eagerly turned toward Li Ye as he stepped out of the warehouse.
“Young man, do you know what the world outside has become? Could you tell us about it?”
Yu Chen rubbed his palms awkwardly and gazed at the young man before him with hope.
When everyone at the factory woke that morning and discovered that the red mist had not dissipated at all, they had panicked.
Even the old bald man who had nearly gotten Uncle Chen killed on the first day was frightened.
He had also remembered several old friends who had encountered mutated creatures shortly after venturing outside the day before. The oppression and terror had driven him almost to the verge of collapse.
Only this youth, whom Yu Chen regarded as practically divine, could offer him even the slightest sense of security.
Li Ye shifted his gaze toward Yu Chen. His indifferent eyes cooled the man’s burning hope considerably.
After a moment, Li Ye slowly said, “This is the apocalypse. The only thing you need to do is survive.”
“If you truly have nowhere else to go, head to the military district in the southeastern suburbs.”
With that, he strode away, paying no further attention to the few people left gaping behind him.
Before the red mist appeared, they would have laughed mercilessly at such words.
But the piercing, horrific screams of their companions from the previous day still seemed to echo in their ears, impossible to dispel.
...
...
Along the way, Li Ye relied on the vision of a first-tier Chosen One to avoid countless zombies and mutated creatures. He also skirted around numerous groups of survivors gathered together before finally reaching the suburbs southeast of Jiangning.
The largest military district in the surrounding cities was stationed there.
Unlike the urban area and every other place, this area was practically overflowing with people.
Even at a time like this, the clever still outnumbered the foolish. Many had thought of coming to the military district for help.
Weeds already grew waist-high along the roads, leaving ordinary people with a field of vision of barely five meters.
The tide of corpses sweeping through the entire city had terrified countless people.
At least here, near the military district, they could feel somewhat safer.
Looking at the dense, shadowy crowd, Li Ye cast a solemn glance toward the city.
“Is this place... really safe?”
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