Chapter 61

“I cannot send them to their deaths!”

Yu Tianming’s expression twisted completely. He strode forward and seized the young man by the collar, lowering his voice.

“Be quiet!”

The restless crowd was swiftly forced back into place by the cold suppression of the knights. They huddled together, powerless.

Bai Mulin’s eyes burned with fury. His teeth were clenched so tightly that his cheeks trembled.

“If you do not wish to go, there are plenty who will. Out of respect for your father, I am giving you this opportunity. You…”

“Please let go.”

Yu Tianming suddenly felt a sharp pain surge from his wrist. He turned his head in shock. The black-haired, green-eyed boy was smiling as he firmly gripped the wrist that had been clutching the other man’s collar. The pain and surprise caused Yu Tianming to reflexively loosen his hold.

“I am Zhao Mei of the Cloud Soarers Squad. Tell us what happened. Perhaps I can help shoulder some of your concerns.”

The boy who introduced himself as Zhao Mei wore an expression and spoke words that could be described as courteous. However, his actions and bearing carried an irritating sense of dominance. Yu Tianming narrowed his eyes slightly, and at last recalled why this person felt so familiar.

That obstinate persistence which gave people headaches was strikingly similar to one of his former teammates. The foolish habit of overestimating one’s own abilities and meddling in others’ affairs was precisely the hallmark of the Cloud Soarers Squad.

Yu Tianming withdrew his gaze from Zhao Mei, clearly unwilling to respond.

“Yu Tianming, tell me. What exactly do you plan to do?”

Bai Muqing stepped closer. When her inhuman white pupils fixed upon a single individual, they unexpectedly carried an oppressive pressure.

Yu Tianming adjusted his glasses in a subtle attempt to conceal his unease. He could ignore the words of an insignificant nobody, but when facing Bai Muqing, he still lowered his voice and spoke.

“His Highness the Crown Prince was framed by a woman. He is now trapped in the man-eating forest across from us.”

Bai Muqing slightly raised her pale brows.

“We have encountered that woman.”

“Then you should understand how dangerous she is. Even Sykes’s ability was played with in the palm of her hand. Moreover, she is extremely familiar with this place. That forest does not even attack her.”

Recalling the scene from before, Yu Tianming’s agitation grew more apparent.

“I suspect she is not human at all, but a monster of this aberrant realm that has taken on human form. She cooperates with that forest, treating everyone in this aberrant realm as food laid out on a platter.”

“If we want even the slightest chance to confront this aberrant realm, we must gather all the strength we have. Miss Bai, if you are willing to help, perhaps we can turn the situation around.”

His words sounded righteous on the surface, yet the incitement beneath them was unmistakable. Bai Muqing pressed her lips together. She was not as sharp as Ye Zheng, but she was far from easily misled.

“The strength you speak of gathering includes dragging those ordinary people along, does it not?”

“Believe me, I do not wish for unnecessary casualties either.”

“Then go by yourself.”

Bai Muqing cut him off coldly.

Yu Tianming rubbed his forehead in frustration and led several people beneath a more concealed tree.

“You all know about the Blood Flower, correct?”

The moment he spoke, confusion flickered across the faces of Bai Muqing and Bai Mulin. They did not understand why he was bringing up the Blood Flower now.

Yu Tianming deliberately paused, sweeping his gaze over the three before him. That meddlesome unfamiliar boy had followed as well, which displeased him. This was not a matter a common brat should be privy to.

Yet the boy met his gaze directly and even offered a calm smile. That gentle demeanor inexplicably sent a chill through Yu Tianming.

“The Blood Flower? People say this incident is connected to the Blood Flower from ten years ago. Those children were most likely acts of revenge by the victims of that incident.”

Bai Mulin spoke in a low voice.

Yu Tianming shook his head. His voice trembled faintly.

“It is not revenge by the victims.”

“It is the Blood Flower itself that has returned.”

His words fell into the silent forest. For a long moment, no one spoke. Only the mournful wind passed through the depths of the woods, like distant, lingering cries.

“That is impossible.”

A slightly hoarse voice broke the silence.

“Was the Blood Flower not resolved back then?”

“The dead do not return to life. Can an aberrant realm truly resurrect?”

The boy let out a soft laugh whose meaning was difficult to discern.

“Please do not joke, sir.”

The Bai siblings both looked doubtful, especially Bai Mulin. As a knight who had confronted aberrant realms many times, he had never heard of one reappearing after destruction.

Yu Tianming had not intended to reveal this much, but the boy’s constant interference darkened the light behind his lenses. He silently decided that this boy would be sent first later.

“I have reviewed the archives from that time.”

“Do you know why it was called the Blood Flower? Because the moment the aberrant realm vanished, a torrent of blood poured forth, blooming like a flower.”

“Quite a vivid and romantic metaphor, is it not?”

The expressions on Bai Muqing and Bai Mulin darkened further. How could such tragedy be called romantic, even metaphorically?

“Yes.”

Someone unexpectedly agreed.

The boy leaning against the tree narrowed his eyes slightly. Illusory light shimmered within his green pupils, as though recalling something distant.

“What you said is indeed vivid. Please continue.”

“According to survivor records, the internal space of that aberrant realm was extremely small. There was only one enormous aberrant plant that fed on humans. At the time, no one could do anything to it. It devoured endlessly. Those outside, in order to preserve the greater picture, had no choice but to keep sending people inside.”

Yu Tianming grew vague toward the end, but everyone present understood the cruelty of the decision made back then.

“The records state that the aberrant plant was a flowering tree. At first it was light red. As it fed, the color deepened, and more branches sprouted. This is exactly the same as the current forest.”

“Most importantly, no one eliminated it back then. It seemed to self-destruct after reaching its limit. With that destruction, the aberrant realm disappeared.”

Bai Mulin spoke in disbelief.

“I have never heard of a destroyed aberrant realm descending again.”

“Perhaps it never truly perished.”

The boy lowered his gaze and calmly analyzed.

“When an aberrant realm is destroyed, everything within it disappears as well. Yet that day, when it vanished, blood rained from the sky.”

“It may have merely fallen into an extremely weakened state and escaped, wandering until it descended upon this land once more.”

“Like a curse.”

Silence followed once again. Bai Mulin spoke with difficulty.

“If it truly is the Blood Flower from back then, the one that left the entire empire helpless, and it has now grown even larger… do we really have a way forward?”

“Of course we do.”

Yu Tianming’s tone became fervent.

“His Highness Sykes is our hope. He is a SSS-class genius who appears only once every five hundred years.”

“His ability, Destruction, can erase anything.”

“If not for that strange woman, we would have already escaped!”

At the mention of the blond girl, Yu Tianming’s expression twisted with rage.

Under the tree’s shade, Bai Muqing listened without expression. Then she nodded.

“What you say is reasonable.”

“As long as I go find Sykes, this matter can be resolved.”

Yu Tianming stared at her as though she had gone mad. Bai Mulin hurriedly grabbed his sister’s shoulder, trying to dissuade her.

“Muqing, it is too dangerous. This is the Blood Flower that buried countless lives in blood!”

“Our Cloud Soarers Squad will go as well.”

The black-haired, green-eyed boy gently brushed aside the knight’s hand and placed his own on Bai Muqing’s shoulder. The two young figures, firm and resolute, seemed to silently mock the cowardice of the others.

Bai Mulin released his grip in a daze.

Yu Tianming forced out a disdainful laugh, as if mocking fools.

“You all… ah!”

He was suddenly slammed by the throat against the rough tree trunk, reduced to producing a choking, humiliating sound. The usually mild-tempered boy leaned close to his ear and spoke softly.

“I advise you not to even consider that option.”

“Do you intend to repeat what was done back then? Walk the Pope’s path? Believe me, you would be the first sacrificed for Sykes.”

“In recent years, riots in the lower district have not ceased. The empire doesn't want another Blood Flower scandal. But if you, the noble aide, are the first to die, this might even become a touching tale.”

The boy’s smile widened as if increasingly pleased with the idea. His grip tightened excitedly. Yu Tianming could not even gasp. His glasses fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back, stripped of all noble dignity.

Bai Mulin instinctively tried to intervene, but Bai Muqing blocked him. For the first time, he realized how strong his sister’s slender arm truly was.

“You are unwilling? I can make you willing. Your ability poses no threat to me. If I sacrifice you, who would avenge you?”

“Your competitive Yu family? The Crown Prince you loyally serve? The imperial family? The church? You know better than anyone. If you were truly that important…”

Ye Zheng released Yu Tianming’s throat, seized his right hand, and cruelly ground her fingers against his mutilated finger. The ugly wound swelled, congested with blood.

“If you were truly important, this finger would have been healed long ago.”

The final note of her voice rose slightly, laced with merciless mockery.

Once released, Yu Tianming gasped desperately for air. The moment pain surged from his finger, even his frantic breathing paused. Then, after a heartbeat of silence, he screamed.

No one had ever dared mention this wound before him, let alone mock it openly. How could this commoner dare look down on him?

“Do you understand now?”

“Even If you attempt that path, the next Wen Jian will not be you.”

“It will be me.”

Yu Tianming raised his head. Meeting the boy’s gaze, filled with both mockery and pity, he finally understood that the other was correct.

As the prime minister’s son, he appeared noble, but within his fiercely competitive family, he held no real authority. The knights followed him only because he served Sykes.

If the boy chose to imitate the Pope of old and offered Yu Tianming as the first sacrifice, everything would be justified. His relatives would immediately replace him. Sykes would deem his death deserved. The empire would praise the sacrifice, and the true instigator would be rewarded.

He would surpass Wen Jian entirely.

Yu Tianming’s teeth chattered with cold.

Bai Mulin, who had witnessed everything, stood frozen. He stared at Yu Tianming collapsed on the ground, utterly stripped of his earlier arrogance.

His rigid thoughts struggled to comprehend what kind of background this boy possessed, to dare threaten the prime minister’s son and the Crown Prince’s closest aide so brazenly.

“Do not worry. I will not do that.”

The black-haired, green-eyed boy smiled warmly and even extended a hand to help Yu Tianming up.

“Listen to me. I will ensure everyone leaves safely, including you.”

“As long as you obey me.”

Without his glasses, Yu Tianming stared blankly at the blurred face before him. The world felt distant and unreal. Only the boy’s clear, commanding voice echoed in his ears.

A strange relief washed over him, as though the boy were an unquestionable god who could resolve everything.

Amid the chaos of his thoughts, the scene felt eerily familiar. A figure from memory almost overlapped with the boy before him, but oxygen-starved consciousness dragged him back into confusion.

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Authors Note  

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Zheng possesses a strong desire for control, though she herself remains unaware of it. After all, wanting to reshape the world according to one’s ideals is inherently arrogant and rooted in control.