Chapter 57: Choice

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

---

Chu Yunsheng examined the red-eyed monster, turning it over and over, even stomping on it a few times, but he couldn't squeeze out the mist he wanted.

Could the mist disappear when the red-eyed monster dies? Chu Yunsheng thought for a moment, took out the Essence Absorption Talisman, and tried to absorb the monster's essence.

In no time, the Essence Absorption Talisman showed a faint ice pattern, only about one-fifth of its capacity. A red-armored beetle could provide a flame pattern of essence, indicating that the red-eyed monster's essence was far less than that of the red-armored beetle.

Chu Yunsheng speculated that this might also be one of the reasons why the red-eyed monster's defensive capabilities were much weaker than those of the red-armored beetle. Although, in general, ice energy has stronger defensive capabilities than fire energy at the same level, the difference was too great. Moreover, the red-eyed monster lacked a hard shell for protection.

However, he still couldn't find the mist. The Essence Absorption Talisman only absorbed pure ice or fire energy, showing no reaction to other aspects.

Chu Yunsheng put away the Essence Absorption Talisman, had a sudden idea, and released the Battle Armor Talisman outside his body, trying to refine the red-eyed monster's corpse into the armor.

The armor showed no reaction; this armor, completely refined from insect shells, had no intention of absorbing this rag-like thing. Instead, the Thousand-Cleaving Sword rose and rotated, extracting a few blue mists from the red-eyed monster, which was exactly the mist Chu Yunsheng had been looking for.

The dead red-eyed monster didn't have much mist. Chu Yunsheng released all the red-eyed monster corpses and let the Thousand-Cleaving Sword extract the mist, but it was only a few wisps, which made him somewhat disappointed.

Inside the red Thousand-Cleaving Sword, faint blue ripples appeared, very few, and if not observed carefully, they couldn't be noticed.

The Essence Storage Talisman had ready red-armored beetle corpses. Chu Yunsheng tried to cut the beetle's shell with the Thousand-Cleaving Sword, but there was no change or improvement in its sharpness. It seemed that these blue mists could only break through the essence defense layer. However, he couldn't find a red-armored beetle to experiment with.

Chu Yunsheng glanced at Yao Xiang, who was dozing off, and ultimately decided not to use him to test the sword, fearing he might accidentally hurt Yao Xiang if he couldn't control the force.

Thinking again, the Thousand-Cleaving Sword hadn't absorbed much mist, and the experimental effect might not be significant. He decided to wait until he could get more red-eyed monsters.

However, thinking about the swarm of red-eyed monsters, Chu Yunsheng didn't have much courage to provoke them.

At this moment, footsteps sounded outside the door. Chu Yunsheng quickly put everything on the ground into the Essence Storage Talisman, not even activating the armor, and saw a group of men and women surge in, all of them stunned to see Chu Yunsheng and Yao Xiang.

Yao Xiang, who had been startled awake, immediately sprang up from the sofa, assuming a combat stance.

There were nine people in total, five men, three women, and a child around ten years old. Four of them held long iron rods, and the other four, two people each, held a red-armored beetle's shell as a shield. The child carried half a dead puppy.

Chu Yunsheng gave a friendly smile. From their appearance, they seemed to have been living here for a long time. At least one of them had "Urban Management" clearly written on the back of his cotton jacket.

He and Yao Xiang wanted to find some locals to understand the situation, as Kuncheng, shrouded in green mist, was too bizarre.

These people were very wary of Chu Yunsheng and Yao Xiang, immediately holding the beetle's shell in front of them and pointing the long iron rods outward, seemingly hesitant to leave.

Chu Yunsheng pointed to himself and Yao Xiang, smiling awkwardly, and said, "We're just passing through, resting here for a bit. This is my friend."

Now, Chu Yunsheng and Yao Xiang had no special weapons. Chu Yunsheng's armor wasn't activated, and Yao Xiang was always bare-handed.

Given their not particularly menacing appearance and Chu Yunsheng's proactive explanation, these people slightly relaxed, but they didn't put down their weapons.

One of the women raised her head and said coldly, "If you're just passing through, let's not interfere with each other. You stay on the left, and we'll stay on the right."

In the middle of the café was a round stage with a piano, dividing the space into left and right.

Chu Yunsheng nodded, wanting to continue the conversation, but the others had already retreated to the right side of the stage, seemingly unwilling to communicate with Chu Yunsheng and his group.

Exchanging a glance with Yao Xiang, he smiled helplessly. Now, human nerves were extremely fragile and sensitive, and it was too normal to be wary of each other and guard against food theft!

They clearly had half a dead puppy, so they naturally didn't take the two strangers lightly.

However, Chu Yunsheng didn't want to give up. They urgently needed to understand the situation and then follow Du's team.

Glancing at the food on the table, he picked up the half-bag of cookies and two pieces of saffron cake that they hadn't had time to clean up. Chu Yunsheng planned to use food as an exchange, which was probably the most effective method now.

Just as he stepped onto the stage, the café door was kicked open with a bang. A disheveled man, wielding a red-armored beetle's leg, charged in with a fierce icy energy, followed by two women.

Thud, thud... Several gray shadows shattered the windows and rushed in, their red eyes particularly prominent.

Chu Yunsheng was greatly alarmed, immediately retreating and instantly activating his armor, drawing the Thousand-Cleaving Sword, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Yao Xiang!

The nine people who had entered earlier quickly set up their shields, extended their long iron rods, and rapidly retreated, showing their experience.

The red-eyed monsters didn't immediately attack the disheveled man but charged around, scaring one of the older women into panicking and running backward.

One of the red-eyed monsters suddenly accelerated and pounced on the woman, wrapping her up and flying her to the left side. The man was shocked and immediately pulled the other woman, jumping and running, shouting, "Mom!"

At that moment, the other red-eyed monsters also began to dive down, wrapping around the younger woman. She only managed to cry out, "Ah Yu! Husband!" before being carried away, instantly separating from the man.

The man, who had already run halfway, was stunned on the spot!

One world on one side!

Even though Chu Yunsheng had seen countless human-insect battles, he was still stunned. A false proposition from the Sunlight Era now vividly appeared before him, real and cruel!

The red-eyed monster's mist could quickly kill the wrapped person, and the disheveled man had to make an extremely painful choice in an instant:

Save his mother or save his wife!