149: Chapter 149 Rescuing People from the Fire, Snatching Lives from Under the Hammer

As the Crimson Flame poured down through the cracks in the dome, a mechanical voice suddenly exploded in Chen Fan's ears.

[Main Fire Pillar Collapse · 12 Seconds]

He tasted metallic sweetness in his throat, but this prompt made him instantly straighten his spine.

His blinded eyeballs trembled in the bloodstain—the memory of Su Shuang being chained by fire to the southwest corner of the altar was clearer now than ever before.

"Shuanger!" He roared until his chest ached, the veins in his hand gripping the hammer bulging.

The guard whose knees he had shattered was still groaning, but he charged past like a maddened bull, stepping over the scattered rubble.

In his hearing, the copper bells of the Soul-Guiding Banner jingled wildly as he knocked into them, and the floating sparks 'popped' as they fell to the ground, resembling shattered glass crushed underfoot on a construction site.

"I didn't want to... I didn't want to..."

A hoarse whisper wrapped in dust and smoke drilled into his ears.

Chen Fan stopped his steps—it was the remnant soul of the Echo Sacrifice!

That semi-transparent shadow was drifting out from behind the collapsing rock mass, the tear stains at the corner of its eyes flickering in the firelight.

He suddenly recalled what the Mysterious Lady had said about the 'God Descent Ritual,' recalling the children's voices from the Soul Lanterns that had been sacrificed, and a sourness suddenly welled up in his throat.

"Damn your mother's God!" He cursed fiercely, but did not stop.

The roar of the flames chased after him, the 'hissing' sound of the seven-pronged tongue scraping the ground was like a dull knife: "Catch him! The Holy Fire cannot be extinguished!"

Chen Fan could even hear the friction sound from where the monster's ribs had broken—that critical hit earlier hadn't managed to take its life.

But he didn't care.

Su Shuang's location grew clearer in his hearing; the crisp sound of the fire chains clashing was just three steps ahead.

He swung the hammer of the thunder god, his muscles twitching from being overly tense: "Break for me!"

[Equipment Critical Hit × 5.1]

The moment the system prompt exploded, the dull thud of the hammer colliding with the chains numbed his hand until his tiger's mouth tingled.

Amidst the crisp sound of the chains snapping, he finally touched Su Shuang's wrist—it felt like touching an ice prism, so cold it made his fingertips tremble.

"Shuanger?" He called out in a trembling voice, reaching out with his other hand to touch her face.

When the pad of his finger brushed across her unfocused pupils, his heart skipped a beat.

Su Shuang's body temperature was still dropping, like a block of ice melting, but her breathing was so light he could barely hear it.

"Quick... she is locked by 'Heart-Sealing Fire' in her blood vessels..." The Quiet Fire Child's voice crept up from his feet, laced with a sob.

Chen Fan then noticed that the little guard child had climbed to his feet at some point, handing him a stone glowing with a faint blue light. "Only by extinguishing the Main Fire Pillar can she be saved..."

"I know!" Chen Fan pressed the Cooling Stone onto Su Shuang's chest and lifted her into his arms with one hand.

Her head drooped in his arm, the jasmine scent in her hair tainted bitter by the smoke and fire, strongly resembling the cup of cold tea she had handed him the first time he met her at the Teahouse.

"Priest! If you don't kill him, the God will bring down punishment!" The roar of the flames grew closer; Chen Fan could even hear the sound of its claws scraping the ground.

He turned his head, and though blind, accurately smashed the hammer to the left—with a 'crack,' the monster's seven-pronged tongue was smashed into a rock crevice, its painful howl vibrating painfully in his eardrums.

But when he looked up again, the sound of the Mysterious Lady's footsteps suddenly entered his hearing.

The woman in the red robe was no longer on the high platform; the 'swish' sound of her hem brushing against the rubble was clearer than ever.

Chen Fan could even hear the light chime of the Soul Lantern in her sleeve, and the almost crushed sigh from her throat: "If I had dared to charge like this back then... would Little Ying still be alive?"

"Mysterious Lady?" He subconsciously called out, but Su Shuang in his arms suddenly coughed lightly.

That faint cough was like a needle, pricking his eyes until they ached.

"Go away!" The Mysterious Lady's voice was choked with tears, but the next second, Chen Fan heard the 'snap' of a beam cracking—she actually turned and struck the supporting beam of the Main Fire Pillar with one palm!

The fire suddenly intensified, the Crimson Flame licking the edge of her red robe, but she acted as if she felt no pain, delivering another blow: "If the God wants to punish, let Him punish me!"

The countdown in Chen Fan's ears suddenly jumped to [3 Seconds].

He gritted his teeth and charged into the fiercer wave of fire, his back burning from the licking flames, but he held Su Shuang tighter.

The handle of the hammer of the thunder god was still stained with blood; he groped and jammed it into a fissure in the ground, the residual lightning current surging through the hammer's grain into his palm—it hurt so much his whole body trembled, but he smiled when the system prompt exploded:

[Chain Critical Hit × 6]

A massive explosion enveloped by a heat wave rushed towards him.

Chen Fan was thrown by the air blast against the rock wall, but he held the person in his arms tightly.

Amidst the sound of the fire pillar exploding, he heard the roar of the Heart-Burning Altar collapsing, the light 'puff' sound as the Soul Lanterns extinguished, and the Mysterious Lady's final, indistinct incantation.

"Ding—"

The tremor of the critical hit system was clearer than any other sound.

Chen Fan gasped for breath, flecks of blood spattering into Su Shuang's hair: "Sensory Resonance Deepening... Infinite Multiplier... Preload 70%..." he muttered, his fingers unconsciously stroking her icy earlobe, "Shuanger, wait for your old man to tear this damn system apart..."

"To save her... go to the depths beneath the Shadow Pavilion... there is the 'Reverse Fire Pool'... it can restore the soul..."

The remnant soul of the Echo Sacrifice had drifted to his ear at some unknown time, its voice as light as a snowflake.

Chen Fan, though blind, nodded heavily toward that direction: "Thank you."

As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, Chen Fan realized the ground beneath him was empty.

Amidst the roar of the ground collapsing, he fell while holding Su Shuang, the wind howling loudly into his ears.

He couldn't see, but he could hear the sound of flowing water below, the howl of wolves in the distance, and his own violent heartbeat—one beat, two beats, overlapping with Su Shuang's almost vanishing heartbeat into a single rhythm.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered against the top of her head, "Even if I go blind, I will smash the sky for you again."

When he finally touched solid ground again, the night wind was drilling into his blood-soaked collar.

Chen Fan stood on the broken wall of the Yun Clan ruins, using his hearing to capture the movements around him—a crisp sound of rolling rubble to the east, the 'rustling' sound of a wild mouse running past to the west, but the night sky that should have been studded with stars above was now as black as an inverted pot.

He closed his blind eyes and pulled Su Shuang closer to his chest.

There was a scorched smell in the wind, mixed with a faint, elusive jasmine scent.

Chen Fan sniffed, took out the remaining half piece of Cooling Stone from his embrace, and pressed it to her chest: "Shadow Pavilion depths... Reverse Fire Pool..." he muttered, then lifted his foot and walked out of the ruins, "Wait, I'll take you there right now."

The night wind lifted the corners of his blood-stained clothes, making the wild grass on the broken wall rustle.

Chen Fan's footsteps echoed in the empty ruins, each step as heavy as a hammer strike—he couldn't see the moon or stars, but he could hear a more violent heartbeat waiting for him in the darkness ahead.