Four Tolls of the Bell
A torrent of red threads surged out from the crack in the Grand Relief Gate, covering the ground beneath Yang Muquan and the others like a tide in the blink of an eye, and was still spreading towards the corridor behind them.
Yang Muquan and the others were startled and subconsciously retreated, making their feet avoid these torrents of threads.
"What is... this?"
Even as the Eighth Hall Master, Yang Muquan knew nothing about the situation behind the Grand Relief Gate. Seeing this scene at this moment, he was also somewhat puzzled... He tried to look towards the opened crack of the Grand Relief Gate, searching for the legendary Chief, but could only see a hazy mist.
"The Chief's awakening requires time," the Second Hall spoke calmly. "We should leave."
"Leave? Go where?"
"The Chief is reclaiming his Domain. The Red Dust Base is about to disappear."
Yang Muquan was stunned. He looked again at the wave of threads gradually covering the entire Red Dust Base and spoke in disbelief:
"Accurately speaking, it's not disappearing..." The Second Hall paused for a moment.
"But being with the Chief."
...
Red Dust Domain.
An illusory door opened high in the sky. Several figures flashed out from it one after another, plummeting rapidly downwards!
"To hell with his Floating Life Painting!! I knew he didn't have such good intentions!!" The howling wind brushed past Nine of Hearts' ears, and he immediately cursed out loud, "Opening the door so high! Is he trying to fall us to death??"
At this time, the Dusk Society members were almost level with the clouds. Falling from this height, any person would be smashed into meat paste. The Second Hall opening the door here undoubtedly harbored some scheming... He naturally knew this kind of petty trick couldn't kill the Dusk Society members, but it was absolutely fine to disgust them a bit.
Chen Ling naturally wasn't afraid of falling to death, but he didn't directly use Cloud Steps either, because he saw Jack of Clubs make a move.
In the crowd, Jack of Clubs pressed the brim of his Magic Hat with one hand and softly chanted something. Everyone's figures became as light as feathers, their falling speed rapidly decelerating, and eventually, they steadily landed on the ground one after another.
"Phew... finally broke out from the tiger's den." Jian Changsheng patted his chest, relaxing his entire body, his gaze sweeping around. "What place is this?"
"It's not the Red Dust main city, it should be a certain small town nearby."
Chen Ling looked around carefully. Although the buildings and roads were similar, this wasn't Willow Town either. It should be that the Second Hall casually opened a door and completely didn't care where he tossed them.
Just as everyone was still observing the environment, Nine of Hearts had already walked up to Chen Ling, staring at Eight of Clubs' sleeping face for a long time, and asked with a frown:
"What happened to this kid?"
"Nothing serious, he just fainted."
"But why does his face look so awful? He's also lost a lot of weight..." Nine of Hearts turned his head and shouted to Chu Muyun, "Corpse Shattering Chu, come over quickly and take a look at this kid."
Hearing the words "Corpse Shattering Chu", Chu Muyun's face turned green. Although he was extremely unwilling to acknowledge Nine of Hearts, he still walked straight over here.
He pried open Eight of Clubs' eyelids. The faint light of [Secret Pupil] flashed past the pupil, and then he said faintly:
"Neurasthenia, Spiritual Power overdrawn. It should be that he hasn't rested for too long... There's nothing else."
"Then why is he asleep but still looking so pained?"
"Unclear, perhaps he's having a nightmare."
"Tsk, are you capable or not, Corpse Shattering Chu? The child is still growing, you have to examine him carefully."
"Are you questioning my professionalism?" Chu Muyun swung the spiked hammer in his hand, a gleam of coldness flashing in his eyes under the Silver-Rimmed Glasses. "Also, stop calling me Corpse Shattering Chu every day... I've tolerated you for a long time."
"What, I didn't give you this nickname wrongly either. Which doctor treats patients by beating them half to death first?"
"This is called breaking before establishing, what do you know?"
Seeing Nine of Hearts and Chu Muyun confronting each other with equal harshness, Bai Ye, who was watching the show from the side, helplessly spread his hands and said:
"Why are you guys fighting again... Weren't we quite united just now?"
"Wasn't that to save Six of Hearts (Eight of Clubs)?"
The two answered in unison, then abruptly stared at each other, their gazes almost sparking in the void.
Chen Ling: ...
Chen Ling finally saw it. For the Dusk Society, unity was only occasional, infighting was the rigid demand... In such an organization full of all kinds of weirdos and lunatics, how could the members get along harmoniously? Not to mention anything else, just one Nine of Hearts could throw everyone into chaos.
It was also at this time that from the corner of his eye, Chen Ling saw the black-skirted young girl at the edge of the crowd stepping forward:
"Qingyan, thanks to you this time."
"It is my honor to be of service to the Lord," Liu Qingyan lowered her head slightly and spoke softly.
"Now that the Realm War is about to begin, the Red Dust Domain is no longer safe." Chen Ling glanced at the Dusk Society members who were still infighting. "You broke through the Red Dust Base together with us, so you can be considered one of our own... If you don't have urgent matters, moving with us might be safer."
Liu Qingyan was startled. She gazed into Chen Ling's eyes and suddenly asked:
"Lord, do you want me to join the Dusk Society?"
"No, I'm just giving you a suggestion so that you won't fall into danger temporarily... Whether you join the Dusk Society or not isn't up to me to say. This depends on the thoughts of the Dusk Society's higher-ups, and your own willingness." Chen Ling paused.
"However, I still have to remind you. You know the Dusk Society's reputation within the Human Domains too. The act of joining the Dusk Society itself means dancing with danger... Weigh the pros and cons yourself."
Liu Qingyan kept her head down, seemingly deep in thought.
Clang——!
A vigorous bell toll came from afar, interrupting her deep thought and the arguments of the other Dusk Society members.
At this moment, everyone froze for a moment, then simultaneously looked towards the direction the bell sound came from.
Clang——!!
The direction this bell sound came from was outside the small town, but the coverage area of the bell sound was enough to envelop over a dozen surrounding small towns. The moment they heard this bell sound, bewilderment surfaced in the eyes of the residents in the small town...
This was their first time hearing this kind of bell sound.
Clang——!!!
"Calamity Bell?" Hearing this familiar commotion, Jian Changsheng spoke somewhat surprised. "Why is it three tolls again... Is there another large-scale Calamity Invasion?"
"No, that's not right..." 10 of Diamonds' eyes narrowed slightly.
After a brief pause, the fourth Calamity Bell boomed like a thunderclap!
Clang——!!!!
Four Calamity Bells, each one more resonant than the last. The final toll overlapped with the lingering waves of the first three, exploding by everyone's ears!
"Since the establishment of the Calamity Bell in the Human Domains, a total of three situations have been defined. One toll represents a small-scale Calamity Invasion, two tolls represent a medium-threat Calamity Invasion, and three tolls represent an extremely dangerous, large-scale Calamity Invasion... Because in the concepts at that time, the greatest disaster humanity envisioned was Calamity."
"The fourth Calamity Bell has never been defined, but now it has happened, and it is even more dangerous than three Calamity Bells."
"Who would have thought that what brought this disaster wasn't Calamity..."
"But humanity themselves."