Little Xuanwu looked at Qiu Shiliu for a long time without speaking, seemingly pondering something.

“Is it because you have ‘Immortality’ that you can’t kill yourself?” Qiu Shiliu asked again.

“No…” Little Xuanwu shook her head and said coldly, “I still cannot commit suicide now. I can only die from an accident.”

“Ha…” Cold sweat from Qiu Shiliu’s forehead flowed into her eyes. She painfully closed them briefly. “Come… let me hear what fucking reason it is this time.”

“Because of that person.” Little Xuanwu murmured. “He promised me I would no longer go hungry, no longer suffer pain, no longer have to hide. And as an exchange, I must guard the rules of this place for him.”

“Oh…” Qiu Shiliu leaned back, trying her best to sit up straight, then said, “Doesn’t sound like a good person either, letting you fall to such a state.”

“Yes, living like this is very painful.” Xuanwu said. “But he is another Bodhisattva. I cannot disobey a Bodhisattva.”

“That thing is probably Qinglong…” Qiu Shiliu said. “Where the hell does he look like a fucking Bodhisattva?”

“Everywhere except the eyes and brows.” Xuanwu said. “Neither male nor female, boundless magical power, transforming freely at will. Only his eyes and brows never look as humble as a Bodhisattva’s.”

“Ha… Bodhisattva Qinglong…” Qiu Shiliu smiled bitterly. “How ridiculous…”

After speaking, she turned her head to look at her severed right arm, which was still slowly bleeding. It seemed she could only hold on for a few more minutes.

“Ninth Sister.” Qiu Shiliu raised her voice. “This person has completely gone mad from guarding the temple. I’ll embrace her at the last moment and activate ‘Echo.’ The rest is up to all of you.”

After hearing this, Bai Jiu turned to look at everyone. At this moment, no one could come up with a better solution—they could only take it one step at a time.

Perhaps after Qiu Shiliu burned Xuanwu, Xuanwu would reveal a new weakness, but it was also possible…

“I have a question for Xuanwu.”

“Little Jiang Shi…” Bai Jiu looked at him. “What is it?”

“Xuanwu…” Jiang Shi spoke. “How did you become a temple guardian?”

Although he couldn’t see Xuanwu’s appearance, Xuanwu’s voice echoed in his ear.

“My mother was one. After she died, I am.”

After hearing this sentence, Song Qi slowly raised his eyebrows. “Little Jiang Shi… could you be thinking…”

“In other words…” Jiang Shi coughed a few times and continued, “If we can find you a ‘successor,’ you can kill yourself without worry.”

“Successor…?”

“Successor…?”

Both Xuanwus stopped their movements at this moment, tilting their heads to listen to this strange voice.

“That’s right…” Jiang Shi smiled. “Someone to guard the ‘rules’ for you, and someone to guard the ‘Bodhisattva’ for you… then you can go in peace, right?”

Both Xuanwus fell silent for a while after hearing this, then spoke in unison again: “That makes sense.”

“I’ve found one for you.” Jiang Shi said.

“Found one?” Little Xuanwu was stunned for a long time before speaking. “I can only acknowledge someone stronger than me.”

“Stronger than you…? Of course, much stronger than you.”

Jiang Shi reached out his hand and slowly covered his left eye, then said: “Everyone… once entering the battlefield, one’s heart breaks with sorrow; from then on, life and death become vast uncertainties. This humble general has a strategy that requires the full cooperation of all ‘Cat’ members. It will surely make that demon willingly submit.”

Then his mouth moved slightly as he slowly revealed his plan.

To prevent Xuanwu from understanding, Jiang Shi used ‘Echo’ to refer to names, replaced key words with ‘whistle sounds,’ and interspersed several lines of storytelling throughout, making his meaning precisely and accurately transmittable only to the ‘Cat’ members.

Everyone present, including Qiu Shiliu on the other side who couldn’t hear very clearly, widened their eyes after hearing this plan.

“Little Jiang Shi…” Bai Jiu said in a daze. “This plan of yours… might be the one with the greatest risk so far.”

“But this is the most reliable one.” Jiang Shi said. “I understand ‘legacy.’ Sometimes ‘legacy’ can be greater than life itself… Only this strategy can let her die in peace.”

“Little Jiang Shi is right.” Song Qi said. “If we delay any longer, Xuanwu will only continue to go berserk, and we’ll all die.”

Hearing Song Qi speak, everyone stopped raising objections, but their expressions all became grave.

“Execute according to this plan. Begin transmission.” Song Qi said.

Everyone nodded, and then various whistle sounds echoed between the low buildings.

Yun Shijiu had just heard the whistle sound when he turned to look at the street, only to be shocked by a chilling scene in the distance.

A withered old man was slowly walking toward them, killing everyone he encountered, causing continuous ‘combustion’ everywhere he passed.

It seemed he had already cleared out the people in the plaza and pursued them all the way here.

“This is bad…” Yun Shijiu turned and shouted. “Baihu has arrived! We need to avoid him! Seventh Brother!”

Song Qi raised his head toward him. “How far?”

“Three hundred… no, two hundred meters!”

“Two hundred paces, that’s enough. We won’t avoid him for now. Let’s stake everything on this…” Song Qi turned to look at everyone and said, “Execute immediately.”

Luo Shiyi heard the whistle sound and looked back at Bai Jiu, Song Qi, and the others in the distance, muttering in disbelief: “What the fuck kind of nonsense is this?”

“Eleventh Brother…” Ma Shier, the ‘Displacement’ user, was also stunned. “I thought I heard wrong.”

Wang Ba clutched his shoulder, half-kneeling on the ground, and said softly: “Baihu is almost here… just follow the signal they gave.”

Hearing Wang Ba say this, everyone stopped debating and quickly retreated from Xuanwu’s vicinity.

Their figures shuttled through the low buildings and soon disappeared from sight.

Xuanwu slowly tilted her head. From her perspective, everyone before her had fled in defeat, leaving only a short, fat man with a missing arm still half-kneeling on the ground.

“Audacious…” Xuanwu murmured. “Can’t kill me… so you want to escape?”

…

“Little Shiliu, are you in position?” Jiang Shi said.

“Just got in position…” Qiu Shiliu replied. “With only one hand, moving around is truly difficult.”

“Haha, nothing in the world is difficult for those who are determined.” Jiang Shi laughed.

“Tenth Brother, I apologize in advance.” Qiu Shiliu said. “Rest assured, I’ll accompany you in death.”

“No, no apology needed.” Jiang Shi said. “You’ve worked hard all this time, Little Shiliu.”

Everyone around Jiang Shi heard this sentence and retreated backward one after another.

The next second, a finger drilled out from Jiang Shi’s left eye. Then the finger, like a burning fuse, emitted a bright and dazzling firelight, instantly igniting Jiang Shi’s face.

This strange great fire began to spread wildly from Jiang Shi’s left eye, quickly reaching his neck and chest, then his entire body.

And from beginning to end, Jiang Shi only sat quietly without making any movement.