Chapter 263 - The Black March is Upon Us

"This can't be good," Seven murmured as he started walking backward. However, his back collided against something like another person was there. When he turned around quickly, the woman was already behind him. Her hair was black, and she was in a yellow hanfu. Her hands were dainty and candle-like, and she was holding onto a red handkerchief.

"What are you supposed to be, huh?" Seven only braced himself. He knew that he would never escape this encounter. There was simply no way that this thing wouldn't kill him.

The woman raised her face hidden behind that curtain of a fringe. Her red lips then smiled… and opened. To Seven's surprise, the mouth… was actually the eye. A single huge black pupil stared into his face from the distance. All of a sudden, Seven fell to his knees as if his energy was being devoured.

He then looked up at the eyes on the woman's mouth. Bang! Her hand actually struck at his neck, her clawed fingers severing the head very cleanly from the lower neck. Blood oozed, and the head rolled to the other woman in the hallway. The first woman turned around and picked up the head after she opened her mouth-eye as well. What's worse was that she held onto it like some trophy.

The two women walked towards each other, soon turning into just one. It seemed that the second one was just a mirror. She then continued to walk around, hoping to find another head to collect.

…

Qiao Shan forced her eyes open when she felt like a string snapped inside her mind. She felt the entrance of the Black March, and she was reminded that she was supposed to find her father. Moreover, she felt like she was wet all over. "Ah, I feel disgusting…"

The woman moved to sit up from where she was lying down, but she wasn't ready to see a lot of mutilated humans around her. It was as if some beast actually started a rampage on the floor.

She then looked down at herself and almost contained her scream in her mind. She was actually bathing in blood and atop some corpses. The princess got up in horror and hugged herself as she backed off. When she did, she actually tripped from the uneven ground. She tripped over someone's severed arm.

"What have I done?!" Qiao Shan grabbed onto her hair and remembered the sights that she seemed to have forgotten for a while. A hand shot to her mouth, but she couldn't contain her vomit. It didn't help that she continued to see a lot that she had done. "This can't be real.

"Father… right, Father will forgive me…" Qiao Shan looked around for anything she could use to clean herself. Since she was in the Lodging Hall, she could quickly find the nurse quarters and hop under the shower. Water was still running, and she took all the blood off of her skin and probably clothes since she didn't remove them.

It's just that… strange sounds started coming from the pipes. Something seemed to be traveling through the water. Whatever was moving through the pipes was making itself known by hitting the metal every now and then, letting the sound reverberating through the room,

Teng… teng… teng. The sound was sending fear to the depths of Qiao Shan's being. Her breathing became labored, and her hands began shaking. Qiao Shan opted to walk away from the active shower, but the sink and the other showers began to turn on as well. The symphony of rushing water laid waste on her confidence. 

Her nails dug into her palms before she prepared for a haunting. There was also so much that she could against this existence. It felt no weaker than her Hongfei, but she didn't want to underestimate the new trophy that she had gotten. Trophy? Tch, she only accepted Hongfei so she could have her revenge against Mo Xingli.

All of a sudden, the water just stopped running from the showerheads and faucets.

Bang! Qiao Shan suddenly ducked down, and a figure flew past her. The figure then laughed as if a little girl ridiculing her. Qiao Shan frowned at the semi-transparent ghost that seemed to be made of water. Red eyes showed up as the water demon began to turn into a human-shaped blob of washed-out blood.

"You think you can eat me?" Qiao Shan grew angry, Hongfei's red dress showing up behind her. Thinking about Hop completely dispelled her fear. "You can never stop me from meeting my father and Feng'er!"

…

"Something just came near…" Liu Xiaodan was inside Ruan Jin's room when he felt the Black March started. It was as if knowing exactly when another apex predator entered the jungle that he had made his own. However, the predator was more than one soul—there were many. Their presences were so thick and dense that Liu Xiaodan didn't have any problems finding where they had originated.

He then turned to Chuan Nayi who was tending to Ruan Jin who started to break into a fever. She was using a towel they found in the room to wipe down Ruan Jin's face. Liu Xiaodan then got up from his seat. "Nayi, I really have to leave you here. I can't promise your safety, and I can't leave Jin on his own."

Chuan Nayi wanted to argue, but the door actually opened. Jiu Yuanli walked in as if not caring about something else. He then smiled at the two in the room. His hand reached out and felt the burning temperature of the forehead. He then took out medicine and a water bubble drink from his dark cargo pants. Liu Xiaodan helped out in getting Ruan Jin to sit up.

"We lost contact with some of us. The last thing they reported? The Black March is upon us," Jiu Yuanli spoke after giving the water to Ruan Jin. "Radios had to be turned off, but the screen watches are still active. Let's just hope no ghost would try to mess with us through it."

"I'm going out there. I haven't found Feng yet." Liu Xiaodan looked up at the doctor. Jiu Yuanli only glanced at him before the doctor slowly lifted Ruan Jin's shirt. His body was hidden under a thick dressing of bandage. Jiu Yuanli then started to tamper with the bandage as he spoke again, "Help me out with this first."

Liu Xiaodan just thought that he was going to help the doctor strip Ruan Jin from all the necessary bandages in the body, but he was shocked to find things carved on his friend's skin. It looked like a seal, and it was giving off that feeling that no one could melt into the body of the young man. It was probably the reason why Ye Ling couldn't come back home to him.

Jiu Yuanli's voice spoke out again, "It's jarring, but I'm a doctor. Seals and spells are not part of my know-how. Can you do something about this?"