The shadow expanded recklessly, enveloping Yangshan Town in an instant and started devouring mortal lives.

Its method of devouring was extremely bizarre, first wrapping people, causing them to lose control, then gouging out their innards for tribution...

Afterwards, those who died from excessive blood loss became part of the shadow, accelerating its devouring speed.

The first to be affected were the young ones at the end of the line and Shen Donglin.

Once they died, the shadow directly burrowed into the mine, spreading rapidly through the narrow tunnels at an exaggerated speed.

The townsfolk were affected one by one, as if the shadow possessed some eerie power. Once it touched them, they would instantly lose control over their bodies, their gazes vacant, expressions manic... first trembling incessantly, then beginning to claw at their own abdomens.

The cramped mine shaft sometimes limited their movement... but it didn't matter, they would use the rocks beneath them to forcibly grind through their own stomachs... even turning around forcibly, crushing their own arms, then using the broken bones to cut open their guts...

Some townsfolk, slightly more clear-minded, noticed the horrifying and bloody scene behind them.

They staggered backward, lighting their clothes with torches and throwing them at their feet, attempting to use flames to halt the shadow's spread.

"Whoosh——!"

Initially, this method had a slight effect.

The pitch-black shadow seemed afraid of the firelight that could illuminate the ground, retreating several times when licked by the flames, hesitant to advance.

But this fear only lasted for about ten seconds.

When the shadow realized the flames couldn't actually harm it, it surged forward, like a black tidal wave, immediately snuffing out the small flames, devouring the desperate people along with it.

There was nothing left that could stop its advance.

In just a few minutes, the mine was littered with corpses.

Warm blood pooled into rivers, staining the rock walls scarlet.

The stench of bloody slurry wafted upwards with the breeze, sending chills down their spines.

Many townsfolk who had squeezed into the mine early realized the danger... driven by instinct, they disregarded order and scrambled upward!

But whether it was an illusion or some other reason, the long mine shaft, stretching tens of kilometers, seemed to grow steeper, increasing the difficulty of climbing.

Moreover, the narrow mine shaft was already extremely crowded, barely wide enough for two kids.

Previously, with orderly queues, passage was still possible... but now, with people panicking and squeezing, the mine soon became completely blocked.

People pushing against people, people trampling over people...

If Yun You were to look down now, she would see several "human balls" in the passage, hundreds of people pressed into a space only 10 meters long and less than 40 centimeters wide, forming immobile masses of flesh.

They wailed continuously, the grinding sound of bones breaking echoed, and their facial features were distorted from the pressure.

"Crack... crack..."

Many didn't even wait for the shadow; they died from the crushing of their companions.

Of course, more were eventually devoured by the shadow, becoming part of the black wave.

"..."

Aurora was the first in the squad to notice the mutation.

Positioned at the end of the line, she turned her head, smelling the thick scent of blood and the faint shadow.

At some point, Aurora's eyes turned back to their original golden color, and a hint of compassion flickered across her previously indifferent face.

She seemed to pity the deceased.

"What's there to pity?"

Suddenly, the double-headed bird pattern on the back of her neck lit up, and in a voice only Aurora could hear, it sneered, "Didn't I tell you long ago? Whether it's you or those mercenaries..."

"Everything you do is futile."

"From the moment you entered this [Sacrificial Altar], your fate was already sealed."

"As for those civilians... hehe, they've long been dead, what's left are just shells influenced by the [Taisui]."

"You've never saved them; you've only delayed their [death penalty]."

"In the end, these are calamities brought upon by irrational human nature."

"If that young king weren't greedy, the Taisui wouldn't have occupied his shell, gaining the first host."

"If Xie Kang wasn't greedy for fame and fortune, the Taisui wouldn't have grown to this extent."

"If you and those workers didn't crave immortality, Taisui would likewise not have had the chance to evolve."

"As for that group of mercenaries... hehe, they are interesting, able to ignore the allure of immortality... but unfortunately, Taisui has already grown to completion, even if they can stay rational, they cannot change the outcome of failure."

With that, the double-headed bird pattern chuckled triumphantly.

"Thus, I've always told you, that human nature is futile, absolute rationality is the only truth."

"You're quite clever, otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen you... it's just a pity, your father raised you too well before he died, hardly letting you see the wickedness of the world, instilling you with ideas like kindness, responsibility, bravery..."

"What a waste."

"..."

"Shut up!"

Aurora didn't indulge the double-headed bird, gritting her teeth, she cursed, "You have no right to comment on my father."

"You're just a conspirator hiding in a corner, unable to even show yourself, only knowing how to play tricks... whereas my father, even at his life's final moment, was thinking of how to help others as much as possible..."

"What gives someone like you the right to be compared to my father?"

"So your father is dead, isn't he?"

The double-headed bird retorted unreservedly.

"The good meet untimely ends, while the cunning scoundrels plague for millennia."

"Of course, I'm not so elementary as to be evil for evil's sake alone."

"I only wish for you to become a true strong one, maintaining absolute rationality, removing undue desires, kindness, responsibility... and weakness."

"The machinations are merely to pave the way for rationality, evil too serves to suppress unnecessary kindness... that's what I wish to see."

Its tone, as always, brimmed with mischief.

"Then just wish for it."

Aurora bit her lip, raising her head stubbornly, "I will never become what you say."

With that, the little girl ignored the bird, gripping the rocks and rivets on the wall, laboriously climbing upwards.

She wanted to quicken her pace, to reach Yun You's side and tell her everything she had learned from the bird.

Watching Aurora, putting in every effort, the double-headed bird laughed.

"Unyielding? I like it."

"It's just a pity, sometimes... one's fate is often not for them to control."

"You don't wish to, but it won't matter, because soon, it won't be up to you anymore."

As soon as these words fell, accompanied by a faint laugh, the black shadow suddenly surged upwards, like ascending flames...

Aurora couldn't react in time before the shadow completely enveloped her.

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