Countless ghostly creatures had been pouring out continuously, numbering in the tens of thousands from the beginning until late into the night. The streets of the Seventh District were littered with corpses, and Su Ze was covered in blood.
"Death to those who enter Huaxia territory without permission!"
"Those who dare to transgress... must die..."
Shen Qingsheng's voice was weak as he dragged his battered body through the muddy pools of blood. His wounds kept bleeding, and his head was spinning uncontrollably.
Watching Su Ze fighting in the tide of ghosts, he collapsed helplessly against a street corner wall.
"Damn it... am I really going to die? I don't want to be a martyr... I want to be... *cough cough*... a hero... the kind that gets prize money... not the kind where my family gets condolence money..."
With a bang, the door of the house he was leaning against opened.
"Quick! Hero, come inside!"
Several people stood in the doorway, urgently calling out to Shen Qingsheng. They had been watching the battle on the battlefield, feeling grateful and awed by these heroes who were only seventeen or eighteen years old - while their peers were in school, these young warriors were protecting the lights of countless homes.
"Thank you," Shen Qingsheng showed no intention of going inside, because on the battlefield, his country was at his back, and he had nowhere to retreat.
"Do you have any gauze or bandages? Could I get a bottle of water?"
They seemed to understand and quickly brought several bottles of water and a medical kit, holding umbrellas as they delivered them to Shen Qingsheng through the bloody light.
Shen Qingsheng gulped down the water and wrapped numerous bandages around his wounds to apply pressure and stop the bleeding. As he treated his injuries, he spoke with a trembling voice:
"Please don't worry... nothing will happen to you tonight. I am a Huaxia Pioneer, a soldier of the people."
"The teacher said... that the people's soldiers will never betray the people..."
"Please don't worry... please don't worry... please don't worry..."
Feeling the pain from the tightening bandages, he spoke shakily yet excitedly, trying to use a soldier's mission to ease the pain, pretending to be a fearless warrior. But the constant pain from his wounds caused this soldier, not yet eighteen, to shed tears drop by drop.
Only now did he understand those iron-willed, honor-bound soldiers he had seen in TV dramas, who would grit their teeth through their injuries and still fearlessly charge at the enemy.
Back then, he thought soldiers couldn't feel pain and weren't afraid of death, thinking how cool they looked protecting their homeland.
That's why he wanted to join the army, but he worked too hard, unlocked his genetic lock, and became a superhuman, becoming a different kind of soldier but with the same mission.
Now he truly understood that soldiers feel pain too. They protect their homeland and fight bravely, but they're not fearless of death - they actually fear it too.
But the responsibility and mission they carry can help them rally their spirits.
The young man stood up, leaning on his sword against the wall. He was humming a song, though tears kept falling, as he staggered a few steps, steadied himself, took a deep breath, and charged into the ghost tide surrounding Su Ze.
"You beasts, grandpa's here!"
Watching this scene, everyone's hearts clenched, their eyes turning red.
For these two days, hardly anyone in any household had slept. They hid from the bloody light, watching the fighting on the streets through their windows. On the first day, that handsome young man had held back all the terror at everyone's doorstep.
On the second day came a new youth who feared death and pain. Their peers at this age were all studying, preparing for college entrance exams.
They should have been living that life too, but they couldn't.
Because for students to take their exams in peace, the nation needed these warriors to stand guard.
05:00:00
Dust City, Sixth District.
Under the flickering bloody light, Meng Xingyao stood atop a tall building, her expression stern and her black hair dancing in the wind, before leaping down toward the ghost tide below!
Her straight sword cut through waves of ghosts, trailing long ribbons.
Suddenly, countless ghosts were sent flying from afar, suffering heavy casualties.
She paused in surprise - there was supposed to be only her guarding the Sixth District, so who else was fighting?
Soon, she saw who it was.
It was a girl with sharp horns on her head, orange hair, and ghostly energy swirling around her.
Uesugi Chigenki!
She was decimating the ghosts with her bare hands, shattering a larger ghost with one punch. Fighting her way to Meng Xingyao's side, she asked:
"Where did you find me?"
"I picked you up from the river."
"..." Uesugi Chigenki was speechless. This woman must have negative emotional intelligence - she definitely doesn't have a boyfriend!
"I need you to take me to that river. I have to find my sister!" Uesugi Chigenki had been wandering for several hours but couldn't find the forest where her sister was in this vast, unfamiliar Dust City.
Moreover, she kept being hunted by the guards of other districts who mistook her for a ghost.
Her heart had sunk to the bottom. During these two days of the blood moon, with her sister being so naive, could she have been killed by the guards here?
"I'm busy now. Help me hold out until the blood moon ends, and I'll help you find your sister." Meng Xingyao's figure flashed through the ghost tide like lightning, countless ghosts dying under her blade.
Uesugi Chigenki suddenly rushed over, shattering surrounding ghosts with a palm strike, and pinned Meng Xingyao down. "Now! I want you to take me now!"
She was almost breaking down, tears dripping onto Meng Xingyao's calm, beautiful face.
Meng Xingyao remained unmoved, even speaking somewhat roguishly, "Whether you want to find your sister or pin me down to do whatever, if you want, I'll let you have your way with me after the blood moon ends, but not now. Right now, you have to listen to me."
"Help me get through tonight, and I'll take you to find your sister as soon as morning comes." Meng Xingyao pushed her away. "You have no choice but to listen to me."
After speaking, she rushed toward a ghost that was trying to break into a house.
Uesugi Chigenki also stood up and charged into the ghost tide. "Just until dawn? Don't underestimate me!"
Indeed, she had no choice. She couldn't find her sister on her own, and she couldn't kill Meng Xingyao, let alone get these Huaxia organizations guarding their territory to help her search.
Even if she forcibly took someone to help find her sister, after the blood moon ended, she and her sister would be eliminated by these fanatics.
Among international organizations, the most dangerous to provoke was the infamous Huaxia Ghost Officers.
They would annihilate an entire organization rooted in a chaotic city just to avenge one fallen brother.
When other powers learned that an organization had provoked the Huaxia Ghost Officers, everyone would avoid that organization, fearing that the Ghost Officers' revenge might accidentally involve them and lead to their destruction as well.
Orange warmth rose as the bloody horror subsided.
When light showered upon the land of Divine State, countless surviving ghosts were sucked into the spatial rifts opened by the blood moon.
In that moment, the entire nation erupted in celebration.