Chapter 12

The withered grass was stained with blood, spreading out in an irregular pattern around Xiaolan's body.

His fingers moved, and he felt his consciousness gradually returning. The pain from the short spear piercing his chest intensified. He heard voices in the distance, the language of the barbarians.

He had never understood the language of the barbarians before, but now he could hear and understand it.

The voices were loud, rapid, and filled with anger.

The vague gist was brutal, involving a woman and death.

Xiaolan's "corpse" suddenly trembled, and his closed eyes snapped open, dull, lifeless, and still.

The barbarian squad was preparing to leave; they had completed their mission. However, one of them paused for a moment, intending to retrieve his weapon, as the short spear that had pierced the small rabbit was still embedded in the corpse.

He walked over, his eyes lingering on the naked female corpse with a hint of reluctance. Perhaps if he had been more careful earlier, she wouldn't have died. If she hadn't died, there would have been more opportunities to play.

The barbarian turned his head, seemingly regretful, but his expression of regret quickly turned to surprise. He saw the small rabbit's corpse, which he had pierced, slowly stand up.

Xiaolan stood up, like a target, with the short spear still piercing his chest.

He grabbed the front end of the spear with one hand, slowly pulling it out. His movements were gentle yet bloody.

He seemed to feel no pain from the extraction, or perhaps the pain had numbed him, and he was stimulating his own pain.

"Do you want it?"

The time it took to pull out the spear felt both long and short.

Xiaolan looked at the nearby barbarian and smiled, a chilling smile.

"Then I'll give it to you."

As he spoke, the short spear pierced through the barbarian's eye, creating a round hole.

No one knew what the barbarian felt, for he was already dead.

He died in shock, his face still bearing the initial expression. He didn't understand why time seemed to have paused, and before he could think any further, he was dead.

Xiaolan laughed, his laughter loud, echoing through the sky. If the sky had feelings, it would have felt the madness.

Karam noticed the abnormality. They were already on their horses, and the unexpected death of their companion caught them off guard. However, anger soon took over, and they drew their weapons, charging forward.

Karam didn't move, for he didn't need to. His subordinates would kill the mad youth.

Xiaolan continued to laugh, feeling stronger than ever. At that moment, he thought that if there were gods in this world, he could kill them.

But there were no gods in this world, and he couldn't kill them, so he could only kill the barbarians before him.

The barbarians' horses charged forward, wind whistling past them. Their weapons were raised, and their target was clear.

As they approached, their weapons struck, passing by him in a standard cavalry attack. But they didn't succeed, for they and their horses became clumps of blood flying through the air.

If time could be frozen, this scene would be a graceful yet cruel painting.

Karam was stunned. In the next moment, he felt cold, the cold of fear and death.

For the youth was within three steps of him, looking at him with a bright, sunny, and terrifying smile.

He didn't see how the youth had reached him, nor how he had cruelly killed his subordinates.

It was blurry, faint, but he seemed to see the silver flash of a sword, for the youth held a sword in his hand.

Karam tried to turn his horse, but he couldn't move, not out of fear, but because his body was truly immobilized, as if bound by countless ropes.

What kind of power was this? Who was this person?

Karam didn't know who this strange youth was. A moment ago, he was as weak as a lamb. Now, he was as powerful as a god, or perhaps a demon.

Xiaolan didn't give him an answer, but he gave him a sword.

Karam still didn't see how the sword attacked. When he and his beloved horse were split in two, his fear turned to himself, for his eyes, his consciousness, saw the other half of his body.

He wanted to open his mouth, to scream in pain, but he no longer had the ability to do so.

For the first time, he felt that time was moving very slowly. The last thing his eyes saw was the youth's smile, still smiling at him, a smile that made him die.

Time was indeed very slow, only a brief 30 seconds.

But these 30 seconds became the last moments of these barbarians' lives.

Xiaolan fell to his knees again, clutching his head.

He was in pain, his whole body aching, his head feeling like it was about to explode. A vague voice in his subconscious told him what had happened, intermittently, piecing together the truth.

He suddenly thought of something, something ominous.

This was important, for it was what had kept him going. He was in agony, but he wanted to know.

Struggling to move, he saw the naked, twisted body of Mrs. Lisa. Her expression was one of pain, her eyes rolled back, and she exuded a strong sense of resentment, anger, and despair. She was dead.

Xiaolan's eyes suddenly throbbed with pain.

He continued to walk until he stood before the hell he had created, the withered ground scattered with countless body parts.

He knelt down, for he understood the ominous thing, and the strength that had kept him going was gone. His eyes, now red with tears, overflowed.

Before him was Lorna's head, her eyes closed.

Just the head.

He had killed her, along with the barbarians.

He remembered something, something ominous.

Before he closed his eyes, Lorna was hanging on a horse.

He remembered the prompt from the system that gave him power.

"Prompt: After activating Death Desperation, the host's consciousness and behavior will become chaotic and uncontrollable when unable to control the FerNu law of this world. The host's safety is the top priority."

Unable to control... chaotic... uncontrollable...

Yes, how could a weakling like him control this, how could he!

He had killed Lorna.

He had promised to protect her, to protect her and her daughter, but he had failed. In the end, he had killed Lorna with his own hands.

He wanted to laugh.

He had let down Uncle Aubur, Lorna and her daughter. He couldn't even protect himself, let alone protect them. It was beyond his capabilities.

"Ah......"

On the withered ground, a figure let out a painful, sorrowful howl, like a beast, a beast with a heart of ashes.

His face, twisted with grief, was dirty with tears and snot. He held Lorna's small head in his hands.

The tears seemed endless, even bringing on a fit of coughing.

This face, the closest person to him in this world.

Gently caressing her swollen, small face.

"Little Lorna, be good, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."

He whispered, as if she could hear him.

But she couldn't hear him; she was dead.

The sky gradually turned yellow, dark, and the shadow of the person on the withered grass grew longer, longer...

Stars, purple moon.

The eerie scene remained frozen.

He suddenly stood up, searching among the scattered blood clumps like a lost child.

Morning.

Someone was digging in the ground.

Noon.

The figure continued digging.

Dusk. Xiaolan carefully arranged the blood clumps in the pit, the clumps of Lorna's body that he had cut. He searched all night, piecing her body together. Now, he was burying her.

The incomplete body became whole, and beside her was her mother.

Before the pit, Xiaolan looked at them, like a dead man, soulless, but he could only look at them.

"Prompt: Everything has a beginning, everything has an end. When everything ends, the beginning restarts."

The mechanical voice in his mind suddenly appeared, like a ghost.

What does it mean? What does it mean?

No one gave him any more hints or answers.

A glint of light suddenly appeared in Xiaolan's dull eyes.

System! System! Show yourself!

(Host) Name: Delan Xiaolan

Occupation Level: Apprentice Swordsman (5)

Health: 12/50

Talent: None

Abilities: Basic Swordsmanship, Death Desperation

Quest: ...

Xiaolan's hands suddenly clenched. He didn't know what this thing was, but he thought of something. Perhaps this thing could fulfill his wish!

To bring Lorna and the others back to life!

Coming to this world was already absurd enough, and he could accept even more absurd things, for he was used to it, numb to it.

Night fell.

Before Lorna and her mother's grave, Xiaolan stood quietly, his lost soul seemingly returning to him, for he now had a spark of life.

The life of a living person, a spark of life.

Little Lorna, your brother makes a vow here. No matter what the future holds, whether it's thorns or fire, temptation or confusion, I will not stop. I don't know what the end is, but there you are, alive. I will walk on until...

Death.

He left the grave, for he had a grave in his heart.

He was on his horse, riding under the stars and moon.

He accepted a quest, an endless quest.

These quests were segments of a path, a path he was paving, constantly leading to the grave in his heart.

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