Chapter 156 Full Liability

Sun Xiaoqiang stood firmly by his conviction. After all, if his deduction turned out to be false, wouldn't that just prove he was a fool?

The two of them argued endlessly over this.

The rest of the onlookers stared blankly, watching in silence.

A flicker of imperceptible annoyance crossed Gu Wei's eyes as she secretly glanced around, seemingly contemplating her next move.

"I have a way to prove right now that she is a monster," Sun Xiaoqiang said seriously.

"What way?" Chen Ming asked.

"Just let me punch her and we'll find out, won't we?" Sun Xiaoqiang replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Chen Ming hurriedly spread his arms, blocking Gu Wei's path.

"Don't you dare do anything reckless! You don't know your own strength when you punch—you'll end up killing an innocent person!"

"Step aside!"

"I won't! If you want to hit her, you'll have to kill me first!"

"That works too."

"..." Chen Ming felt a vein throbbing on his forehead.

As their argument grew louder, it drew the attention of those outside, who gathered around in droves, packing the room tighter and tighter.

Gu Wei glanced around with her clear eyes, sensing that the situation was turning sour. She took a subtle step backward, showing signs of wanting to flee.

At that moment, a young girl emerged from the crowd. She had blunt bangs, large eyes, and an expressionless, breathtaking face.

"Hey, what are you all arguing about?"

"Luoyi, you're here! Sun Xiaoqiang actually had the nerve to say Gu Wei is a monster!" Chen Ming blurted out anxiously.

Cheng Luoyi scanned the surroundings. "Then what are you doing?"

"I'm protecting Xiaowei, of course." Chen Ming thought to himself that Gu Wei had already favored him to begin with; if he showed enough sincerity now, wouldn't he win her over in no time?

*"If we love, let us hold hands until we grow old; if we miss each other, let us keep each other safe."*

"Did you say that?" Cheng Luoyi asked curiously.

Chen Ming shook his head. "No, Haruki Murakami said it."

Cheng Luoyi tilted her head. She didn't read much and had never heard that name before, but by observing Gu Wei, she was now inclined to believe Sun Xiaoqiang's judgment.

Even a fool could see through this; it couldn't possibly be a baseless accusation.

With a swift *shing*, she drew the long blade from her back.

"Haruki Murakami takes full responsibility."

"Uh..."

***

The people around them were startled, not expecting the situation to escalate to such a knife-edge confrontation.

Doubts began to creep into Chen Ming's mind as well. He hadn't believed Sun Xiaoqiang, but he hadn't expected Cheng Luoyi to say the same thing. Even with his better judgment clouded by lust, he sobered up considerably at that moment.

Turning his head slightly, he cast a sideways glance at Gu Wei.

"Um... would you mind taking a slash to prove yourself?"

"Ugh—"

Gu Wei's wronged expression abruptly morphed into one of fierce malevolence. She let out a roar, realizing the truth could no longer be hidden, and abandoned all pretense. With a swift sidestep, she tried to make her escape through the window.

Having coiled his energy and waited for this moment, Sun Xiaoqiang had been longing to punch her.

He immediately surged forward, delivering a heavy blow straight to Gu Wei's face.

"Bang!"

Sun Xiaoqiang packed quite a punch. His strike sent Gu Wei's head spinning a full three hundred and sixty degrees. Her entire body lifted off the ground, spun around in mid-air a few times, and then crashed heavily onto the floor.

Gu Wei lay there motionless, her displaced head forming a bizarre angle with her body.

"Is she dead?"

"Sister Wei really is a monster?"

"How terrifying!"

"..."

The crowd turned pale with shock, feeling a lingering sense of dread just looking at the scene.

Yet, a crackling sound echoed as Gu Wei's head on the ground suddenly began to turn.

Using her hands for support, she slowly dragged herself up from the floor. The moment she stood to her feet, her head rotated completely back into its original position.

Only, her once warm and welcoming expression had vanished, replaced by an intensely chilling glare. Murderous intent burned in her eyes as if she were about to devour someone alive.

"Hiss..."

The crowd gasped in unison and instinctively stepped backward. Horrified by the bizarre spectacle, they drew their weapons and braced themselves in defense.

Cheng Luoyi didn't hesitate. Brandishing her long blade, she slashed straight ahead.

"Slash!"

Gu Wei jerked her head to dodge, but the sharp blade still sliced from her right shoulder down to her chest, tearing open half her torso.

Bizarrely, not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound. Instead, countless tentacles slithered out from the cut, lunging at Cheng Luoyi like venomous snakes.

Cheng Luoyi immediately crossed her arms in a horizontal block.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The tentacles slammed into her body with dull thudding sounds, tearing through her flesh and nearly shattering her bones.

Blown backward by the impact, Cheng Luoyi crashed heavily onto the ground.

At the sight of this, the crowd's eyes split with fury.

"Everyone, charge together!"

"There are plenty of us, don't be afraid!"

"Hack her to pieces!"

"..."

The Awakened ones in the sanctuary had survived this long; none of them were pushovers. Once they snapped out of their shock, they prepared to rush forward.

Chen Ming had been standing the closest, staring in stunned silence.

He never imagined Gu Wei was truly a monster...

Sun Xiaoqiang had actually been right!

However, just as he stood frozen in place, a tentacle whipped toward him with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, it wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling him forward with immense force.

"Nobody move! Or I'll kill him!"

Gu Wei barked viciously, her face twisted like a wounded beast as she glared around with paranoid vigilance.

The tentacles writhing from her shoulder tightened their grip. Chen Ming's flushed face turned iron-blue; his neck felt as though it was about to be snapped in two.

"Uh, this..."

The crowd exchanged glances, weapons in hand, momentarily paralyzed and out of options.

Just then, Cheng Luoyi slowly rose from the ground. Numerous wounds marred her arms, and a bloody hole gaped at her shoulder. As she shook her neck, her joints popped and cracked all over her body, as if her skeleton were on the verge of fracturing.

A searing wave of pain whipped her nervous system into a frenzy, electrifying every cell in her body, yet her face remained entirely expressionless.

Paying no heed to Chen Ming's fate whatsoever, she raised her blade and marched forward.

"Stay back!" Gu Wei issued another warning. With a flick of her tentacle, she drove it straight into Chen Ming's shoulder with a wet *squelch*, instantly sending a fountain of blood spraying across the floor.

Agony racked Chen Ming's body. On the verge of fainting, a crushing wave of suffocation washed over him as his vision darkened.

Yet Cheng Luoyi's pace never faltered. Her dark, hollow eyes fixed on the scene.

"Why... are you rewarding him?"

"Huh???"

Even in her monstrous form, Gu Wei was stunned. *What is wrong with this human?* she thought. *She acts like she's out of her mind—even more deranged than I am...*

Chen Ming's eyes bulged in absolute horror as he desperately thrust one hand forward, conveying the depths of his despair.

The surrounding onlookers broke out in a cold sweat for him.

"Is Uncle Chen begging for his life?"

"No! Uncle Chen means for us to kill the monster and ignore him!" Sun宇航 (Sun Yuhang) analyzed with narrowed eyes.

"..." Chen Ming felt a torrent of sweat. He deeply regretted his actions now. True to the saying, a blade hangs above the lustful mind. He had been utterly bewitched, and now he was paying the price—on the brink of death.

Right at that moment, blinding arcs of lightning crackled along the blade in Cheng Luoyi's hand, blazing with intense brilliance. With a single flash, she dissolved into a streak of electricity.

Her extreme speed instantly shattered the limits of human visual perception.

A flashing arc swept through the air, cleanly severing the monster's tentacles before plunging seamlessly into her neck, slicing her head clean off...