“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Each strike louder than the last, deafening!

The sound echoed relentlessly throughout the entire Poisonous Beast World!

This was no longer Liuguang merely striking the cliff face — it had become something closer to an all-out assault.

Though the strikes had slowed from their earlier rapid pace, coming now one at a time, agonizingly slow, the force behind each one was equal to hundreds of the earlier strikes combined.

With every impact of the dagger Liuguang, the entire Poisonous Beast World shook in response — from the mightiest mountain ranges down to the smallest blade of grass, every single thing trembled.

It felt as though even the sky itself was shuddering, as if the next strike might bring the heavens crashing down, the mountains collapsing, the earth caving in!

Not only that, but the already gloomy sky grew darker still.

The birds and beasts across the mountains, rivers, and lakes went into a frenzy, flying and crashing about wildly, filling the air everywhere with cries of desolation and terror, sobbing and wailing. Many lower-level poisonous beasts, unable to understand what was happening, were driven to panic and madness, biting and tearing at one another, turning on their own kind!

If this world hadn’t been sealed off, perhaps the beasts wouldn’t have reacted this way — they might have simply fled elsewhere.

But this world was closed off entirely, and with the whole realm shaking as though the earth itself were splitting apart, there was nowhere left to hide.

How could they not be terrified — driven mad with the fear of death?

Ziqing didn’t dare leave the little baby on the Big Dopey Bear’s back any longer; she held him tightly in her own arms, standing on the Great Beast Zizhu’s back.

Suddenly — “Boom!”

Liuguang struck the cliff face with a savage blow, instantly breaking off a massive slab of rock, shaking the ground so violently the sky itself seemed to tremble. A moment later came another deafening “boom” as the huge slab crashed into the lake, sending up a towering wave!

It felt like the end of the world had arrived!

Had they not been hovering in midair, even the Great Beast Zizhu, a top-tier poisonous beast, wouldn’t have been able to keep its footing — let alone Ziqing.

Ziqing gazed out across the land, seeing poisonous beasts pouring out of the forests from every direction, charging out in droves, all thrown into a frenzy, tearing into one another in a savage bloodbath.

She cried out, “Zizhu, go and calm the other beasts yourself — otherwise, before the seal even opens, the Poisonous Beast World will destroy itself first!”

The Great Beast Zizhu was hardly at ease leaving Ziqing and her son here alone — the Nine-Tailed White Fox had already gone off with Henggong and the Roaring Rabbit, but this upheaval had come on so suddenly that even they couldn’t calm the frenzied beasts in time.

“Master, I must stay here with you in case something happens!” the Great Beast Zizhu said earnestly.

“It’s fine, we won’t stay here either — we’ll go to the Big Dopey Bear’s hill, nothing bad will happen there!” Ziqing said firmly.

She needed to get away from above the lake, or if another surge of water erupted, there truly would be no escape.

The Great Beast Zizhu, worried about the other beasts, didn’t argue further and quickly carried Ziqing and the little baby to safety, handing them over to the Big Dopey Bear before taking its leave. “Master, please be careful, I’ll be right back!”

“Try to lead the beasts to open ground — from the look of things, once the seal really starts opening, it’s going to bring the whole world down!”

Ziqing said this seriously, feeling more and more that this seal was being opened in a far from normal way!

Just who outside was forcing the seal open, and who was giving Liuguang such immense power?

Was it Jun Beiyue?

Just as Ziqing’s mind began to wander, the little baby, who had been tucked obediently in her arms all this while, poked his little head out and said timidly, “Mommy, Zizhu and I will go…”

Before he could finish, Ziqing immediately pressed him back into her arms, too preoccupied to answer.

“Mommy…” the little baby called out, sounding hurt yet full of deep affection.

Ziqing still ignored him — at a moment like this, no matter what, she absolutely would not let her son out of her embrace!

How exactly the seal would open, and whether they’d be able to come and go freely once it did — it was all still unknown!

The little one in her arms was her everything, her treasure. Even if it cost her life, she would protect him first — how could she possibly let go of him now?

After the dagger’s strikes, once the earth-shaking tremors settled, there was always a brief lull.

Ziqing sat with the little baby on the Big Dopey Bear’s head, her brows knit tight, gazing far into the distance at that dazzling swirl of light hovering in the sky, waiting for its next, even more violent strike — waiting for the moment the cliff would finally be completely shattered, and the exit would appear!

Before long, the Great Beast Zizhu’s roar carried over from the distance, seemingly telling the other beasts not to panic.

The little baby crawled out from Ziqing’s arms, glancing around at their surroundings, and asked timidly again, “Mommy, can we really get out?”

“Of course!”

Ever since the little baby had begun to understand these things, Ziqing had always instilled in him this one belief — that they could get out, and that it would be soon!

“Mommy, is my daddy out there?” the little baby asked again.

Having learned the word “daddy,” how could he not have learned what it meant?

“Mm-hm, he’s out there. Once we get out, we’ll go find him.” Ziqing answered without hesitation.

The one and only time in her life she had truly agonized over her feelings was already behind her.

There was nothing left to hesitate over — confront Jun Beiyue, kill Bai Mengmeng — it was as simple as that. Love or hate, what was there left to struggle with?

A mother who never taught her child what a father was could hardly be called a good mother!

“Mommy, do you think daddy will be scared when he sees me?” the little baby asked very seriously.

“He will… once mommy’s asked her question, why don’t you go ask him yours?” Ziqing said just as seriously.

“Mother has a lot of questions for daddy?” the little baby asked, puzzled.

“And what questions do you have for your daddy?” Ziqing asked instead of answering.

The little baby immediately giggled with delight, spreading his five fingers wide. “Lots and lots, so many, but I won’t tell you! Me and daddy are gonna have secrets!”

Ziqing raised an eyebrow — this little brat hadn’t even met his father yet, and he was already playing favorites?

“Son, if… if mommy and daddy made you choose between us, who would you pick?” Ziqing asked teasingly. Though she wished more than anyone that such a choice would never come up, she felt she had to prepare the little baby for it just in case.

But at these words, the little baby was instantly on the verge of tears, his little face crumpling. “Can’t I… can’t I pick both?”

Could this simply be instinct?

He hadn’t even met his father yet, had never once been held by him — and yet he was already close to crying over it.

Ziqing’s heart ached faintly at the sight, and she was about to speak when, just then, another sudden “clang!” rang out.

This one, this sound, was completely different from before — not only deafening, but so intense it left everyone feeling something was deeply wrong!

Even the small hill they were on shook violently, as if the ground itself were in the grip of an earthquake.

Ziqing held the little baby tight, keeping a close watch on everything around them. She had assumed the shaking would settle after a while, but instead, far from stopping, the tremors only grew more and more violent!

The beasts that Zizhu had managed to calm now surged into chaos once more, completely beyond control — the entire world had descended into disorder!

Suddenly, the Big Dopey Bear rose without warning, roaring loudly toward what lay ahead. Ziqing quickly turned to look toward the lake, and drew a sharp breath of cold air — even the little baby, normally fearless of anything, burst into tears in fright. “Waaah… Mommy, run! Run!”