The Dark Nascency made its final choice. Xiang Nuan, deeply embedded in the head of "The Past," was drenched in blood. The confusion in his eyes had vanished. With a roar, he reached out with everything he had toward Building A of the Jinhua Residential Complex, where Wen Qing stood.
"The Past's" massive body was dragged along, blotting out the sky and tearing apart the earth.
Perhaps it knew it had only one chance to strike, so it poured everything into launching the most terrifying blow at the Faceless Doctor.
The Faceless Doctor from the Cursed Hospital couldn't comprehend the Dark Nascency's choice at all. They had been investigating the Dark Nascency for over a decade, knowing everything about it.
In his view, the Dark Nascency would never do something like this.
"Why?"
The Faceless Doctor had already spotted Wen Qing hiding on the rooftop. The faces on his blood-soaked robe darkened, then twisted into manic grins. "The more you care about her, the more I'm going to seize her!"
Countless fine black threads drifted from the Faceless Doctor's body as the faces on his blood robe vanished one after another.
With each face that disappeared, a figure composed entirely of curses materialized beside him.
Each figure was nearly as powerful as the Faceless Doctor himself, and significantly faster.
At the critical moment, the Faceless Doctor unleashed his ability. He was determined to capture Wen Qing.
"As long as I capture Wen Qing and control her with curses, I might even be able to use her as leverage against the Dark Nascency!"
While the Faceless Doctor clashed with "The Past," Zhang Ya stood atop its massive heart, her pale, slender fingers pressing against its hideous outer shell.
Her five fingers pierced through the hardened shell with ease, and a tide of blood and black hair surged through the breach into "The Past's" heart.
Zhang Ya wanted to destroy "The Past's" heart, but before long, countless curses and restless souls emerged from within it, weaving together to form a hard, scab-like layer over the heart's surface.
The wounds of the past, the pain and despair once endured, had become the shield that now protected its heart.
Zhang Ya tried several methods but couldn't crack the scab. Her expression slowly changed, her pale fingers gradually clenching tighter, and the sea of blood beneath her feet surged into waves.
Buildings that had been hidden beneath the blood sea began to emerge with clarity—they didn't seem to be projections, but rather something truly real.
The boundless black fog was shaken apart, and an indescribable aura of terror radiated from Zhang Ya.
She gazed at "The Past's" heart and slowly raised her fingers.
Rising along with those slender fingertips were building after blood-red building from the sea of blood!
Chen Ge, who was climbing up Building A, witnessed the sight as well, his mouth hanging open in shock.
The ability Zhang Ya was using now was similar to the talent Xiao Bu had just employed—except Xiao Bu had summoned the phantom of Liwan Town, while what appeared beneath Zhang Ya's feet was an entire blood-red city!
"Xiao Bu can summon the blood projection of Liwan Town because she is Liwan Town's Gatekeeper—they exist in symbiosis. Zhang Ya has used the same ability as Xiao Bu, but what she summoned is the projection of that blood city! In other words, Zhang Ya has a deep connection to that blood city!"
Having reached the rooftop, Chen Ge looked toward Zhang Ya in the distance. "Zhang Ya's most fundamental ability is controlling black hair. Beyond that, she can wield the abilities of numerous vengeful ghosts—including those she has devoured and all ghosts connected to me. Xiao Bu just used her talent, and Zhang Ya was able to replicate it. This seems to be her true ability."
The appearance of the blood city's phantom stirred up the entire world behind the door.
Countless vengeful ghosts and lost souls wailed within the blood city as the black fog was forcibly dispersed. Zhang Ya used that blood city to crush toward "The Past's" heart!
At the same time, the Faceless Doctor finally reached the rooftop of Building A of the Jinhua Residential Complex, with "The Past's" gaping maw directly above his head.
"Wen Qing! Get out of there!"
Chen Ge shouted toward Wen Qing, who stood at the edge of the building. The rooftop was bare, with no cover whatsoever, and Wen Qing didn't seem to have any intention of hiding.
Her eyes were fixed solely on Xiang Nuan, embedded deep in the top of "The Past's" head. Neither the Vicious God nor the sky-blocking monster could make her retreat—she kept calling out Xiang Nuan's name.
In truth, before a Vicious God, hiding was futile for an ordinary person. The Faceless Doctor closed in rapidly, with several shadows trailing behind him—each one bearing a face torn from his coat.
Boom!
"The Past" split its head open, and its deformed maw swallowed the Faceless Doctor whole. Tormented souls shrieked. Both sides wielded curses as their specialty—black threads danced through the air like blades, shredding the black raindrops.
"The Past" was ultimately still somewhat concerned about Wen Qing. It would rather take extra damage to swallow the Faceless Doctor.
Only by swallowing him inside could it rest easy—for a Vicious God to kill an ordinary person was far too easy.
The Faceless Doctor's curses dug into "The Past's" flesh. Shards of memory tumbled free, and black blood sprayed, but "The Past" didn't care in the slightest.
Xiang Nuan, who had long since placed life and death in second place, would never have cared about such wounds.
His blood-streaming eyes locked onto the Faceless Doctor. The black threads that had pierced through his lips snapped free as he let out a furious roar—and "The Past" mimicked his every movement.
"The Past's" massive mouth tore straight from its head down through its abdomen, black blood dyeing the building red as it swallowed the Faceless Doctor and all his ghostly shadows in a single bite.
The jaws clamped shut—the scene was utterly staggering. But before anyone present could recover, a shrill laugh rang out from the edge of the building.
"No!" Though Chen Ge wanted to destroy the Dark Nascency, he had no desire to harm Wen Qing. He bolted toward the edge immediately, but he was already a step too late.
A cracked face was plastered against the wall beneath Wen Qing's feet—someone had torn it off by force, its underside still stained with fresh blood.
The Faceless Doctor had split off countless ghostly shadows, each one staggeringly powerful. Just when everyone thought that was his trump card, he had actually held something back—secretly tearing off one more face without anyone noticing.
No one knew when he had torn that face off, and no one had seen it crawl to Wen Qing's feet.
By the time everyone realized what had happened, the cracked face had already crawled onto Wen Qing's body and fused with her leg.
An eerie, horrifying cackle emanated from the surface of Wen Qing's skin as thread-like strands, like black thorns, grew out of her flesh!
Wen Qing's face went deathly pale, and her entire body burned as if pierced by needles.
"Release my body, or I'll make her die in the most agonizing way right in front of you." The cracked face had fused onto Wen Qing's body. A Vicious God's methods were things no ordinary person could resist—the Faceless Doctor now had Xiang Nuan by the throat.
Painful screams echoed across the rooftop as Wen Qing endured agony beyond imagination.
The bloodstains at the corners of his eyes hadn't even dried yet, and Xiang Nuan's face was already contorted beyond recognition.
The cage had been set, but inside it was his only family.
The black rain intensified abruptly. Xiang Nuan stared at Wen Qing as shards of memory continued to fall from "The Past's" body. He seemed to want to pry open the maw that had already clamped shut.
"Don't worry about me!" Wen Qing, enduring the curse, lay on the ground. Suddenly she looked up and shouted at "The Past": "I don't need you to take care of me! I don't need you to become anything! I just want you to live—healthy and happy!"
Veins bulged along her neck, and black threads writhed beneath her skin like tiny serpents. Wen Qing's fingernails, digging into the ground, had already cracked. She glared at Xiang Nuan—who now looked like a monster.
Xiang Nuan, embedded deep in "The Past's" head, trembled from head to toe, the wounds on his body multiplying.