Jiang Jianming was already weak, and feeling dizzy and unwell. Hearing such shouting outside the window, his heart felt like it was violently tugged, startling him into a cold sweat.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around him. Jiang Jianming opened his eyes, breathing slightly heavily, and met a pair of translucent green eyes.
“Aslan.”
The youth’s voice was gloomy and cold, “Don’t get up.”
“It’s okay, shh.”
Jiang Jianming propped himself up, casually brushing off the youth’s arm. “Stay in the house later, no matter what happens, don’t make a sound, don’t move.”
Through the gaps in the window, he saw dozens of unfamiliar faces moving outside, all dressed in black, releasing crystal bones from their wrists, whipping back and forth like whips.
It was still the dead of winter, and the poor were bleeding and crawling around on the ground, wailing pitifully.
In the blink of an eye, food, clothes, bedding, bowls, firewood… everything visible was looted.
An old man with graying temples burst into tears on the spot, crawling on the snowy ground, kowtowing like a slave from the old society.
“Daren, darens, this won’t do! Please have mercy on us, winter isn’t over yet… If you take all these things away, we’ll freeze or starve to death within three days…”
The next second, a crystal bone whipped across his face. The old man who was kowtowing couldn’t even cry out, his brains splattered, dying on the spot.
The leader of the black-clothed men was unusually fat for the wild zone, and when he smiled, his face was full of moving flesh, “Hmph, then I’ll be merciful and let you die early to be reborn early, so you don’t have to worry…”
He twisted his head to look, pointing his crystal bone in a certain direction. “That house over there, why hasn’t anyone come out yet!? Drag them out for me!”
All the refugees around were silent as cicadas in cold weather, lowering their heads with miserable expressions.
Seeing the black-clothed men about to walk over, a skinny young man stood up trembling. “Sir, you don’t know! That house has someone with chronic crystal disorder, he’s been nearly dying these past two days, sirs should be careful not to get infected…”
The leader spat viciously, raising his crystal bone again, “Bastard, you’ve got a loose tongue, did I ask you to speak!?”
“Ah…” The young man cried out miserably as he was whipped to the ground. He didn’t dare fight back, just used his crystal bone to shield his vital parts as he rolled around on the ground, blood splattering everywhere.
The door of the shack opened. A slightly hoarse voice called out. “Stop.”
Instantly, dozens of gazes shot over like arrows.
A black-haired young man stood there, supporting himself on the doorframe with his thin hand, his face pale.
Enduring his illness, he raised his eyes to look directly at this group of bloodstained exploiters, and said in a deep voice. “What do the sirs want?”
For a moment, there was no sound around.
In his haste, Jiang Jianming had only managed to put on his wristguard when he came out, without dirtying his face or even wearing that cloak. Now with the bright snow, several people stared blankly, dumbfounded.
“Well, well,” the fat leader muttered, shamelessly scanning Jiang Jianming from head to toe with his gaze, “I never thought a place like this could raise such a pretty slut…”
A lewd smile hung on that face, “So, little slut, what good things do you have prepared for us?”
Jiang Jianming said calmly. “We have no good things. We are the poorest and most lowly refugees, living worse than pigs and dogs. The food is rotten, the clothes are tattered. Do the sirs living in the territory need such broken things?”
This tone couldn’t be considered very harsh, but among a group of humbly begging refugees, it already had an effect far beyond standing out from the crowd.
Immediately someone anxiously gave him a look, telling him to shut up.
Jiang Jianming remained expressionless, bending down to pick up half a moldy piece of dry bread from the snow. “These things are of no use to you, but to us they are the hope of survival.”
“If the sirs plunder like this, what’s left for us lowly people is just a rotten life that can be thrown away at any time.”
“Hundreds of lowly people with nothing to lose gathered together, I dare not say how much trouble they can cause, but it would be a nuisance nonetheless, wouldn’t it?”
When Jiang Jianming first spoke, the leader was still smiling. Hearing the latter part, he finally reacted, his face darkening. “Little slut, are you threatening me?”
The black-haired young man held that piece of bread in his fingers, saying in a deep voice. “I know you are people from the ‘Sharp Horn’ territory, I know you draw water from the Great Sand River in the northeast, hunt alien creatures from the third to the seventh day of each month, and do three trades with black market merchants from the city area every year, passing through a small road full of shrubs.”
At this, not only the leader, but all the other dozens of black-clothed men changed color at once.
“You!”
“Boss, how does this guy…”
“I also know how to extract water-soluble toxins from specific wild grasses and insects, I know that some alien creatures go crazy at the sight of human blood, and that there is a hidden cliff above the shrub path where people can hide.”
“I once taught this knowledge to many people, and if anyone remembered, then they know too.”
“G-good… good boy,” the leader’s eyes bulged out, cursing like a fish blowing bubbles, “You damn audacious lowlife!”
Jiang Jianming said in a low voice. “We are lowly creatures, so as long as there is even a glimmer of hope for survival, no one would want to use an egg to strike a stone and offend their territory.”
“Please leave us a bit of a way to live.”
For a moment, it seemed even the north wind froze, and the cowering refugees were too scared to make a sound.
They had never seen a helpless refugee dare to confront dozens of territorial forces alone, let alone the fact that Dawn Aslan was a chronic crystal disorder patient.
They saw the leader’s face change several times, first with wariness, then suddenly calm again, letting out a burst of laughter.
“You almost really fooled me, boy!”
He cracked his knuckles loudly. The crystal bones quickly grew through his black clothes, piercing into the hard snow.
Instantly, agitated crystal particle tides surged in all directions, and the surrounding disabled humans all cried out in pain.
“…!” Jiang Jianming staggered violently, his whole body’s bones exploding with severe pain, his face deathly pale as he collapsed onto the snowy ground.
“A bunch of born lowlifes dare to be arrogant, today I’ll kill all you pigs and dogs, dry you into jerky and pickle you, see who can still be cocky?”
“Haha… Want to threaten the territory? Talk about it when you’re a ghost!”
Jiang Jianming propped himself up with his elbow, desperately trying not to fall down. He endured the salty sweetness rising to his throat, gritting his teeth. “There are many new humans here…”
Before he could finish speaking, he began to cough violently, blood dripping down through the fingers covering his mouth. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard the leader’s shrill cry. “Yeah, yeah, but who would stand up for you?”
The black-clothed subordinates seemed to have received orders, each revealing crystal bones of different colors. All around, cries of “Spare me” and “Help” rose and fell, and many disabled humans were already in so much pain they were banging their heads on the snowy ground.
“Now, on behalf of the merciful lord, I proclaim this grace – obedient lowly beasts can keep half their rations for the winter.”
The leader shouted. “Let me see, who are the obedient lowly beasts? Hands on heads, kneel down!”
The disabled humans who were in unbearable pain almost instantly put their hands on their heads and knelt down, all at once, like collapsing mud walls.
As soon as they knelt, the exploiters who had revealed their crystal bones left satisfied, walking towards those poor new humans who were staring with pale faces.
“…Don’t kneel.”
Jiang Jianming’s vision was darkening, he couldn’t stand up, could only gasp out with a voice as thin as a thread.
No one noticed that in the dim broken house behind the disabled humans, a figure had sat up at some unknown time.
Kaios…now also Ryann, was quietly leaning against the door in a visual blind spot, looking out.
Foolish.
Filthy.
A flash of disgust passed through those emerald glass-like eyes.
The situation couldn’t be clearer – if the new humans present joined forces to fight, even if they couldn’t achieve an overwhelming victory, they could at least scare away these territorial forces.
Otherwise, the leader could have just ordered killing and looting directly, why bother leaving half the rations? In fact, he had already been intimidated by Aslan’s threat.
After all, those who wear shoes fear those who go barefoot, and those who go barefoot fear those with nothing to lose. These black-clothed men who ate and drank their fill in the territory would never dare to fight to the death with lowly people.
But once they kneel… it’s like throwing away the only weapon called bloodiness.
However, everyone looked at each other, shrinking their necks cowardly.
How could they know the reasoning inside? They only knew that the exploiters had already shown mercy by returning half the rations, who would still stand up?
If one played the hero first, and others didn’t follow, wouldn’t they be beaten to death by the territorial forces?
The leader’s face was wild with excitement as he shouted. “Kneel down, kneel down! All of you put your hands on your heads and kneel down for me, let me see who still won’t kneel down?”
Immediately, four or five people directly put their hands on their heads and knelt. Next to them were those disabled humans wailing in pain, constantly kowtowing to the ground. “Lord, please spare our lives, please be merciful and spare us, they don’t know what’s good for them, it has nothing to do with us…”
“It’s all your fault, you’ve doomed us!”
Someone directly pointed at Jiang Jianming and cried out, “If you’re so capable, bring out your crystal bones to protect us!”
“A delusional sick person who only speaks empty words, angering the lord, causing harm to others!”
“…”
Jiang Jianming raised his face, blood staining the corner of his lips, his eyes as calm as a desolate snowy mountain.
His gaze swept over those faces one by one, those dirty, numb, emaciated…
Faces wrinkled by years of servitude.
They guiltily avoided his gaze.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from among the new humans. “Why are you kneeling! You, are you all content with this?”
It was the skinny young man who had initially tried to cover for Jiang Jianming. He glared angrily. “Kneeling for a lifetime, living on your knees, dying on your knees! Are we destined to kneel before others, to be called lowly beasts and things?!”
But no one responded to him. Everyone just looked on with panicked or shocked expressions, only looking.
The skinny man broke out in a sweat, “Everyone, say something!”
“Besides, over these years, Dawn has also… for us…”
The man stood there, lowering his head helplessly, looking around as if seeking help, his voice getting smaller and smaller, “…done so much…”
“I’m… I’m sorry!”
A woman closest to Jiang Jianming stammered, her gaze lowered and evasive, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“We also have no… no choice… I know you’re educated, but you have that disease, you’re going to die anyway…!”
The woman’s lips turned blue, nervously fidgeting with her fingers, “After you die, we still need to live, they’ll take revenge on us then…”
Stirred by the woman’s words, more people silently knelt down, covering their heads.
The skinny man could only stand there like a puppet, his face growing increasingly panicked. “I, you all, I…”
The men in black started to shout like they were watching a show, urging everyone to kneel.
The fat leader walked towards Jiang Jianming, his face once again wearing that smug and lewd smile.
“Come, first tie up this courageous little trash and take him away with us!”
Jiang Jianming closed his eyes briefly, swallowing the blood in his mouth. He knew… there was no way out now.
Whatever would happen to him after being taken to the estate aside, these refugees had already given up the path to self-salvation.
Jiang Jianming looked at the skinny man who had tried to speak up for him, and said in a low voice, “If Lin Ge comes back, please help me tell her that I’ll find a way myself later, tell her not to… Mmph.”
Suddenly, the disabled human’s black eyes widened.
An arm-thick crystal bone reached out from behind him, gently covering his mouth, preventing him from speaking.
In front of him, whether it was the men in black or the refugees, their faces all changed dramatically, as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
A cold light flashed across the ground, snow dust flying to both sides. The fat leader had vanished from his spot, and a scream came from above!
“Boss!!”
“What is that, crystal bone!?”
Someone screamed. “Up there!!”
Amidst the chaotic shouts, Jiang Jianming didn’t look up. He pulled down the crystal bone in front of him and turned to look back.
“…Ryann.”
As expected.
The platinum-haired youth stood there like a specter.
Outside the door was the sunlight reflected by the snow, inside was darkness. Ryann stood at the boundary, his expressionless features obscured by the contrast.
Golden crystal bones extended from his slender back, rising like giant trees.
The shadow fell, casting a patch of darkness on the disabled human’s pale face where sunlight couldn’t reach, hiding his shocked expression.
And that fat leader was now held by the crystal bones dozens of meters in the air.
His eyes were bulging, snot and tears streaming down his face, his legs kicking frantically. His mouth was stuffed full with true crystal, only able to make muffled sounds, blood flowing from his chin to his chest.
A prolonged scream erupted, coming from one of the men in black.
“Monster!! What is this thing, is this kid an alien?! It can’t be human, it’s a monster—monster!!”
It was too big.
No one had ever seen crystal bones this enormous.
As the force tightened, the fat man’s entire face rapidly turned red, his tongue sticking out, his eyeballs rolling upwards repeatedly.
He used all his strength, futilely striking this golden expanse with his own crystal bones.
But just a few seconds later, the fat man’s face turned purple, his eye sockets filled with bloodshot whites, his widely opened mouth drooling.
The bones inside his body made sounds of unbearable fracturing, blood falling in strings, mixed with the filth of involuntary defecation.
Someone began to vomit, it seemed a child had fainted from fright, and several men in black, overcome by fear, began to flee.
And that beautiful youth-like little monster silently extended another crystal bone towards the disabled human.
Jiang Jianming’s head was pressed down by Ryann’s crystal bone, his eyes only able to see the snowy ground, unable to see any other scenes.
The next moment, the sound of bones cracking came from the sky, along with the splashing sound of liquid pouring down, and the thudding sounds of severed limbs and chunks of flesh falling.
More screams arose, dozens overlapping, coming from those men in black who had tried to flee.
“Help, help, spare us, we were only forced to—Aaaaah!!!”
“Don’t come, don’t come near, monster!!”
“Eeeeek!!!”
The screams of humans on the brink of death echoed across the snowy ground. Jiang Jianming’s chest tightened from the shock, he hoarsely shouted. “Ryann!”
“I’m here.”
The youth’s eyes were cold, but he looked at him carefully.
“That’s enough,” Jiang Jianming struggled to raise his head against the force on the back of his skull, “You don’t need to…”
A woman’s shrill scream interrupted him.
Jiang Jianming’s scalp tingled, he remembered this voice.
He couldn’t care anymore and suddenly straightened up with a jerk. Ryann’s crystal bone loosened involuntarily, and Jiang Jianming twisted his body around, his pupils suddenly contracting.
That woman.
That poor woman who had just timidly apologized to him, saying “we still need to live”, now had a face as yellow as gold paper, her eyes staring blankly at him.
A crystal bone as thick as a bowl had pierced through her chest, its tip still twisting, dripping blood.
In just a few short minutes, he, who the woman had said was “going to die anyway”, hadn’t died, but she could no longer live.
Ryann flicked the crystal bone, and the woman fell face-first into the snow, her hands still twitching.
And another refugee who had been kneeling with his head covered, his head had vanished, the headless corpse slumped next to a large rock, blood gushing out.
A chill ran from the base of his spine to his neck, and Jiang Jianming instantly understood the situation before him.
This beautiful youth with extraordinary crystal bones before him was not satisfied with just torturing and killing the evil leader, but wanted to kill everyone present—
Whether they were the coerced accomplices, the cowering refugees who knelt down, or perhaps even the few hesitant ones who hadn’t knelt but also hadn’t resisted.
“It’s necessary,” Ryann said coldly.
All of them.
“These people, it’s all necessary.”
To kill—
