Formless

"Whoa, he's screaming so loud." As Little Niuma sped along in frantic flight, Ji Jue couldn't help looking back and remarking. On the rear seat, Xiao An nodded admiringly. "He's got great lungs." Sitting in the back, he was checking the iron plates previously stored in Little Niuma's hidden compartment, only to discover that not only his own plates, but even the guns and bullets Ji Jue had stashed inside looked brand new. Faint Sovereign Virtue insignias shimmered indistinctly in the dim light; their material, strength, and material properties had all been enhanced by Embers and bolstered by Desolate Ruins. Furnace Bro was truly Furnace Bro. Just a single turn in the furnace—since they were already in there, it casually ran a hand over them—and as a result, this batch of weapons was already bordering on alchemical armaments. Their stability and durability were far more than a little improved, and their durability was completely topped off! In this fundamental craft alone, its mastery was over a hundred times greater than Ji Jue's! "Ah, what a pity." Xiao An sighed dejectedly. "If I'd known, I would've put Dark Star in too." Dark Star was the weapon hidden in his sleeve. Unlike the other iron plates, it was about twenty centimeters long, of a translucent, turbid color whose material was impossible to determine. Faint red blood threads seemed to wander inside it, but when Xiao An held it in his hand, it lacked any of the hardness or toughness of steel; rather, it was unbelievably soft. Ji Jue hadn't even touched it. It wasn't that Xiao An was stingy, but that seemingly unremarkable edge could effortlessly slice composite steel to ribbons. If Ji Jue took it out to fiddle with and swung it near his neck a couple of times, that would be one hell of a disaster. Supposedly, people of the House of An routinely used such weapons; backed by throwing techniques, they could achieve incredible precision and effects. After all, working in the Wild Gathering these days, it was hard to get by without a couple of signature tricks, let alone making people obedient—one had to pack enough of a deterrent. "What's there to regret?" Without turning around, Ji Jue patted Xiao An's head. "Don't you still have me? Besides, if I can't handle it, I can always take it as homework to my teacher later!" That was the perk of being a student: anything beyond his professional capability could be solved by ringing up his teacher. "Oh right! Then I'll leave it to you, Brother Ji Jue." Xiao An beamed, harboring no doubts. His eyes gleamed in the rearview mirror, as if nothing could go wrong once Brother Ji Jue stepped in. This actually put quite a bit of pressure on Ji Jue. "Say, Xiao An... aren't your expectations of my abilities a bit excessive?" Ji Jue's expression twitched. "You're already a tier-five big shot, and I'm just a blank-slate rookie without even a matrix. I'm really not that impressive." "No, you are impressive! Uh, the very impressive kind!" An Ran shook his head flatly, saying earnestly, "Way more impressive than me." "You could beat up several of me with one hand, right?" Ji Jue smiled wryly. "Being able to kill people and fight doesn't make someone impressive. If winning fights made you the most impressive person, I wouldn't have argued with my sister and run away from home." Xiao An tilted his head back in the wind, gazing at the Border Realm before them. "Sister Wen is very impressive, Lao Zhang is very impressive too, and Sister Huahua is sometimes exceptionally impressive. But Brother Ji Jue, ever since I got to know you, you've always been impressive." "Why?" Ji Jue was almost amused. "Because you know what you want to do." The boy answered as if it were obvious. "When Sister Huahua told me about you, I knew you had to be super impressive—knowing what you want to do, knowing what kind of life you want to live, and moving forward without hesitation, opposing anyone who stands in your way, never bowing your head even if it means dying. I think someone like that is far stronger than me." "..." Ji Jue fell silent. After a long pause, he sighed. "That's all it is? Doesn't everyone have a life they want to live?" Xiao An shook his head. "I don't." "I don't know what I want to do in the future, nor do I know what kind of life is best. But I don't want to 'work' alongside my family, so that's why I ran away from home." Xiao An sighed. "Originally, besides my left leg, my sister was going to chop off both of my hands too, but my aunt pleaded for me. If I still haven't found what I'm looking for before I turn eighteen, I'll have no choice but to go back home and work. If things go bad—if I don't go back—my hands really will be chopped off." "...Don't you still have three or four years? Take your time looking." Ji Jue fell quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, "Don't worry, you have me. Even if you haven't found the life you want by then and can't figure it out, I won't just stand by and watch someone chop off your hands." "Mm, Sister Wen actually said that too." Xiao An looked at him earnestly. "Though, Brother Ji Jue, you can't beat my sister. You'd die." "..." Why was this brat so blunt? Annoyed, Ji Jue swatted his forehead again. "Then can't I just make you a pair of prosthetic hands?! I've read up on bionics three times over the past couple of days; when the time comes, it definitely won't stop you from playing the violin or the pipa!" "Oh, right!" Xiao An's eyes lit up again, and he tugged at Ji Jue's shirt hem. "Then I'll be counting on you, Brother Ji Jue!" *So you've already accepted that your hands are getting chopped off?!* *Your family is seriously messed up, kid!* Ji Jue felt an urge to roast him with a thousand retorts. But just as he found a safe spot and was about to stop, he felt Xiao An's hand suddenly press onto his shoulder. "Careful." He said, "Something's watching us." Ji Jue froze. Following Xiao An's guidance, he looked over. In the distance, within a half-collapsed apartment building that had caved in not long ago, a figure flashed past behind shattered wallboards, peering over with utmost caution. Through the binoculars' magnification, that face was startlingly clear. It looked like a middle-aged man, scruffy-bearded and raggedly dressed like a vagrant, but his face was shattered and deformed—on the right side of his face grew several chaotic, blinking eyes. His arms too: two extra segments extended out, long, dragging along the ground. He peered over warily. Upon noticing their vigilant gaze, panic struck him, and he turned and fled. "Wait—" Xiao An raised his hand, aiming, only to be pushed down by Ji Jue, who let the figure run off and vanish into the distance. Xiao An withdrew his hand, looking at him blankly. "Brother Ji Jue, that wasn't human." "I know." Ji Jue recalled the look in that person's eyes—an indelible alertness and terror. Yet for some reason, he remembered the furnace's parting words: [If there is still a chance... please grant your mercy unto us once more.] At the time, Ji Jue had been completely bewildered, with no time to ask for clarification. Now, did it mean this? Grief for one's own kind—after being endowed with a soul, had the furnace felt sorrow and anguish over the plight of these puppets? "Forget it." He shook his head and twisted the throttle again. "Since he didn't mean any harm, leaving him alone doesn't matter. Let's find another campsite." Little Niuma disappeared once again into the crumbling, fractured city. Vanishing without a trace. *** Meanwhile, in an underground space elsewhere, only the shattered remnants of puppets remained amidst the shadows. The mutated monsters that had occupied this place had been ruthlessly wiped clean. In the vast interior, besides the supplies placed in the corner and a pot gradually coming to a boil on a portable gas stove, there was no other sound or movement. Several figures sat motionlessly on chairs, eyes hollow. Regardless of male or female, young or old, aside from breathing, they bore no breath of living beings. Until footsteps drew near and someone pushed open the door, carrying an enormous bundle with an easy, cheerful smile on his face. Nine people immediately stood up and went to greet him, helping him unload the bundle in coordinated, thorough fashion, opening it and sorting the tools, spoils, and even... captives within... During this process, the feigned smile on the newcomer's face vanished as well. Leaving only a hollow stillness. "A bunch of paupers, all of them." Ten people bent down, surveying the spoils on the ground, shaking their heads in unison. Their voices overlapped with an eerie tremor. Among the brought-back goods, the largest was a living person bound in bizarre bandages, unable even to struggle. All escaping spiritus had been sealed completely inside. When the bandages unwrapped, they revealed a pale face filled with terror. "W-wait, please..." Before the words finished, the ten people surrounding him took a deep breath. In an instant, the shrill scream was cut short. Crimson vapor rose from the person on the ground, flowing into their mouths—life, spiritus, and even the soul itself. Devoured with relish, gorged upon ravenously. On the ground, the previously struggling figure withered in an instant, turning into dry bones. Completely consumed. And the same crimson gleam surfaced in the eyes of those ten people, rising and converging. In midair, a hazy figure vaguely coalesced. Like a skinned corpse. The soul condensed into substance, wrapped in crimson, each wisp of red faintly discernible with squirming, incomplete faces. An unknown number of people's spiritus and soul fragments formed this avatar. The ten people instantly collapsed to the floor as if dismantled. Only the figure in midair remained, inspecting his hands and feet, sighing silently. "All ordinary fodder, hardly of any great use." The Shepherd of the Dragon Cult, known as Formless, sighed silently. Feeling the gaps in his soul, his expression carried regret. "Less than half made it in. This place really is strange." Originally, he had prepared thoroughly, splitting his soul and hiding the pieces within more than twenty people, never expecting that at the moment the Border Realm opened, less than half would make it inside. Even so, as a Celestial Chosen who had reached the Regeneration tier long ago, he had indeed bypassed the Border Realm's restrictions and entered this world by splitting his soul! Now that he was inside, he could take his time looking for opportunities to recover leisurely. Missing half a soul might be a fatal injury for other Celestial Chosen, but for Formless, who had immersed himself in Heart Pivot and Ascension for many years, it was no problem at all.