2025-04-21 23:48:09
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349: Running Is Also a Strategy
Behind them, furious voices echoed through the village streets.“COWARDS!”“RUNNING DOGS!”“COME BACK HERE IF YOU DARE!”“WATER TRASH...YOU’LL DIE EITHER WAY!”The Fire-plaque group hurled curses, rage thick in their voices, but Kai didn’t even turn his head. He didn’t slow down, didn’t react, didn’t bother throwing a single insult back.His legs kept moving until the familiar outline of the houses came back into view, and only then did he finally stop.The group stumbled to a halt behind him.The girls bent over immediately, hands on their knees, chests heaving as they gasped for breath. A few of them leaned against stones, sweat dripping down their temples, hearts hammering wildly in their chests. Abigail steadied herself with a deep breath, eyes sharp as she turned to Kai.“What the hell was that?” one of the girls demanded between breaths. “Why didn’t we fight them?”Another added, still panting, “You saw how arrogant they were! We could’ve...”Kai rolled his eyes so hard it looke
348: Rules Written in Blood
The group froze.Not because of fear alone, but because of the suffocating sense of being stuck.No matter how they shifted their feet, no matter how they tried to step forward, the invisible pressure remained, firm and unyielding, like the world itself had decided they were not allowed to pass. It wasn’t a wall they could see or touch, but it was undeniably there, pressing against their chests, their legs, and even their intent.For a brief moment, no one spoke.If they couldn’t move forward…If they couldn’t reach the other paths…If they couldn’t gather information…Then how exactly were they supposed to know what the hell this place wanted from them?One of the girls let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her temples. Another clenched her fists, irritation and unease mixing together.“So we’re just… stuck?” someone muttered.Kai didn’t answer. His brows were drawn together slightly, eyes narrowed as he studied the invisible boundary, his mind already racing through possibilities. Trap
347: A Trap Seen
The attack ended faster than anyone expected.One moment, screams and violent movement tore through the village and the next, there was silence.Bodies lay scattered across the stone road, some half-embedded in shattered walls, others twisted unnaturally on the ground. Blood pooled, steam rising faintly where it touched the cold stones.Kai straightened slowly, rolling his shoulders once as if loosening stiff joints. Jian stood a short distance away, calm and unmoving, fists relaxed at his sides, breathing steady as though he had merely finished a warm-up.Abigail and the girls rushed forward immediately, shock still written all over their faces.“What the hell was that?!” one of the girls shouted, eyes wide. “Why did you just kill them?!”Another spun on Jian, disbelief clear in her voice. “They were asking for shelter! Are you two insane?!”Abigail didn’t shout, but her brows were tightly drawn as she stared at Kai. “Explain,” she said firmly.Kai didn’t answer right away.Instead,
346: The Water Path
They stood before the towering gate, the five elemental symbols still glowing faintly when, without warning, the stone rumbled.A deep, ancient sound echoed through the space, and then the gate opened.Not outward.It split inward, the massive stone dividing cleanly into five separate passages, each one glowing with a different elemental hue.Clear blue light flowed from one path like a slow-moving river. Crimson heat shimmered from another. Green currents twisted in the air. Brown-gold earth pulsed with weight. Silver light gleamed cold and sharp.Above each route floated a single word.Water.Fire.Wind.Earth.Metal.No voice explained it.No rule was announced.It was simply… there.Kai didn’t hesitate.He glanced once at the plaque in his hand, then stepped toward the path glowing blue. The water route felt cool against the skin, a strange sensation like standing near deep ocean currents. Abigail followed immediately, then Jian, then the rest of the group falling in behind them w
345: The Massive Gate.
The moment the wooden statues finished rising from the ground, the air around the village shifted.They stood in a loose arc before the five gathered groups, each statue carved from dark, aged wood, their surfaces cracked and weathered as though they had stood through countless eras before being buried again.Their expressions were indistinct, neither smiling nor hostile yet something about them felt… aware. Like they were not merely objects, but watchers.Silence followed, a heavy, uncomfortable kind of silence.The girls frowned instinctively, eyes moving from one statue to another, unease crawling up their spines.There were no inscriptions or obvious formations. Just five wooden figures standing there like they were waiting to be chosen.“What… is this?” one of the girls muttered quietly.Kai didn’t answer and neither did Jian.Both of them were doing the same thing, watching the people, not the statues.Kai’s gaze drifted across the other groups, slow and deliberate. Seeing their
344: Five Is the Price of Entry
The man who stepped forward was tall and lean, his movements calm but deliberate, like someone who had already measured the room before anyone else even noticed there was a room to measure. He wore dark travel robes dusted from long journeys.“My name is Rovan,” he said, stopping a few steps away from Kai. His eyes were sharp, observant, the sort that lingered just long enough on each person to catalog strengths and threats. “And since you’ve arrived, we’re finally complete.”That sentence alone was enough to make Kai frown.“Complete?” Kai repeated, tilting his head slightly. “You talk like we’re ingredients in some soup. Care to explain before I decide whether I like that comparison or not?”Rovan didn’t react to the tone instead, he shrugged lightly, as if this was all obvious. “This village doesn’t allow progression unless five groups are present. No more, no less. Until that condition is met, everything ahead stays locked.”The air around them shifted subtly.The other groups sti
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