Birthday Homage, Knell of Bones

An illusion? When the laughter rang out, at the frontmost table, the commercial agent from the Ring of Taiyi looked grave. A sudden heat surged against his chest as an amulet began flashing with red light. His expression darkened instantly, and he abruptly stood up. Beside him, Uncle Lin, who had been dozing, snapped his eyes open, his gaze sharp as a blade as it swept across the entire hall. There was nothing unusual. Only the lights flickering. Once, then again, as if a mischievous child were toying with the switch, flashing on and off, disrupting the bustling atmosphere of the banquet hall. Just as everyone raised their eyes in mild confusion, a bizarre sound reached their ears as well. It sounded like the joyous laughter of a child. Yet also like the whimper-cries of some beast, deliriously excited. With another flicker of the lights, a chill spread. A shrine materialized out of thin air right in the center of the stage, under the gaze of everyone present... The pale shrine looked as though it were constructed from piled white bones, with wisps and ribbons of scarlet oozing from its crevices, dripping down. An uninvited guest had arrived in an instant! In a flash, screams of terror erupted. Inside the banquet hall, a Vodun man from the southern Thousand Islands was the first to react, his jet-black complexion turning ghastly pale as if he had seen a ghost. "Katunaha!" He shrieked, stumbling backward. "It's Katunaha!" The shrine shuddered faintly, and the two small sealed doors on it slowly swung open. Amid the spreading sea of blood, a high-pitched toll resonated. At the very peak of the gift pile, a bell of white bone appeared out of nowhere, tolling incessantly as foul, reeking blood poured down without end and darkness spread out like a long tail. Within the opened shrine, an eerie idol woven from withered bone and flesh was revealed before everyone's eyes. Like a sacred fox-relic woven of pale white and scarlet, upon its face, six eyes were clearly still closed, yet gave everyone the chilling sensation that it was looking down over the entire hall. The Fox Immortal pays birthday homage; white bones toll the knell of death. Amid the shrill fox cries and jubilant laughter, fear swept across the banquet hall like a tidal wave, plunging everyone into chaos. Katunaha, Envoy of the Dead, Spirit-Devouring Beast... A calamity beast spawned from past festival massacres, a terrifying scourge spreading like a plague through the Thousand Islands! It was the Mourner, the Celebrant, the Birthday Guest, and the Bloodthirsty Demon that frequented the eerie legends of the Thousand Islands! The sound of shattering glass rang out. The wine cup in Ling Shuo's hand was crushed to powder. His face was ash-gray as he looked back toward the Wild Gathering's table... Now, he finally understood what his cheap foster father was plotting! Amid the crowd, Ling Liu seemed stunned, mouth agape, appearing just as horrified and bewildered as anyone else. "Run, A-Shuo, run!" He was the first to react, crying out in alarm. His shout caused Ling Shuo to stiffen in place, frozen under the eyes of everyone in the room. Ling Shuo had naturally heard the legends of the Bone Beast, Katunaha. Among the tales of various calamity beasts, its nature was truly one of a kind—formless and intangible, neither existing nor living, it descended only on days of celebration and joy. It appeared at random across various festivals on different islands and during festive occasions. Every appearance was a bloody storm of indiscriminate slaughter, an utter catastrophe. Yet, except for the first few years, subsequent deaths caused by it were remarkably few. Because the Fox Immortal did not pursue. All one had to do was run. In fact, as long as the focal person of the festival or the host of the joyous occasion fled beyond its range before it finished its first feeding and Metamorphosis, Katunaha would have no way to affect reality and would fade away once more. Even if one could not fathom why it had appeared here or why it had chosen this precise moment, it did not matter. Just run—as long as they ran far enough, everyone would naturally be safe. In truth, the instant the Fox Immortal appeared, a large number of guests had already backed away instinctively, edging toward the doors and windows. But could he run? Ling Shuo stood in place, motionless. No! Anyone else could run, but not him! This was a day he had chosen himself, a venue he had selected himself, the coronation ceremony he had prepared for himself. If he abandoned everyone here and fled for his life... From this day forth, everything he had built would be completely ruined! "Run, President, get out of here!" someone blurted out instinctively, before quickly catching themselves and shouting to cover it: "I'll cover your retreat!" Yet before everyone's eyes, Ling Shuo didn't move. He stood right where he was, as if nailed to the floor. His gaze was locked onto the opened shrine and the bizarre monster behind it, whose eyes were lighting up one by one. He could feel the endless darkness and blood mist stretching toward him like long tails, choosing him as the blastocyst for its birth, the vessel for its incarnation into flesh. He had no choice. He still had a chance. As long as he held out, as long as he held out until Mr. Ji intervened... "Where is Mr. Ji?" Even earlier, Uncle Lin had already reacted, turning to Minkler's subordinate: "Quick, notify Mr. Ji..." Minkler's secretary's expression twitched, his face drained of color. The phone in his hand had completely lost its signal, its screen bathed in scarlet as if dripping with blood. Amid the panicking crowd retreating in terror, a hint of mockery surfaced in Abadesa's eyes. Five minutes ago, he had received the intelligence. Confirmed by eyewitnesses on the scene, the Seven Cities' ruler behind the curtain, Ji Jue, had already departed the Seven Cities and officially arrived in Tianshu. It was to answer a report received by the Association—the pretext being that products sold violated Association agreements, possessing excessive internal alchemical technical content that had not been declared to the Ring of Taiyi. Although it had already been proven to be caused by unauthorized modifications by the buyer, to immediately lift the Association's sales ban and restrictions, he had to go to Tianshu in person to complete the procedures and use his authority as a master to cut short the bureaucratic process right away. And right now, even if he received word, returning from Tianshu's Leyline Basin would take at least fifteen minutes. In other words, during these fifteen minutes, everything happening in the Seven Cities was entirely beyond his reach! The shrill laughter grew increasingly piercing under the flickering lights, laden with an untold wealth of joyous blessings and cheers, yet sending shivers down everyone's spine. The White Bone Fox opened its maw and shrieked at the top of its lungs. Clang! Sword resonance erupted as Lihen cleared its scabbard. The blade, clear as water, flashed across the air, tearing through the void as it thrust forward—only to pass futilely through a phantom, incapable of making contact. Before the Fox Immortal fully descended, to anyone other than its locked target, it simply did not exist! In that instant, the laughing, singing White Bone Fox, Katunaha, opened all of its eyes. Boundless blood and darkness converged, surging toward Ling Shuo, who stood resolutely where he was. And at that very moment, a thunderous roar erupted. Aogao. The dead-drunk Aogao had opened his eyes at some point. There was no time to hesitate, no time to think. At a time like this, a choice had to be made: would he be dragged half-willingly onto the same ship and form a united front with them? Or would he draw the line, proving he had no part in this, and avoid truly becoming locked in a fight to the death against the Seven Cities?! In the spark of a flint, he moved without a shred of hesitation. He did only one thing. He grabbed Meng Sang—who was still dazed beside him, debating whether to keep pretending to be drunk—swung him up, and hurled him right in front of Ling Shuo! The sound of rushing wind broke out. Dizzy, retching, and screaming bloody murder, Meng Sang flew through the air, spinning and shrieking as he landed between the Fox Immortal and Ling Shuo. Fast—it was too fast. So fast that Meng Sang didn't even have time to form a question mark in his mind. He only had time to cast one desperate glance back at his uncle. Unfortunately, no accusation would do any good. Even if his biological father, William, were here to see it, he would nod in full agreement: Yes, yes, exactly right! That's how this damn son of mine ought to be used! Aogao, you fucking did great! Time was too short and opportunity too precious for careful deliberation. And with certain matters, regardless of the consequences, merely doing them, merely making that display, was enough to prove where one stood— Even if it was utterly fucking useless— Explosions crackled incessantly as the jade pendant around Meng Sang's neck detonated with a flash of white light, which was swiftly snuffed out. A life-saving talisman gifted to this son by William did nothing more than stall the roaring dark tide of blood for the briefest sliver of a second. Immediately afterward, the tail-like shadows passed right through the bewildered Meng Sang like a phantom, knocking him off his feet. He was not within the Fox Immortal's marked target range at all—at least, not yet. After that momentary pause of a split second, the tail-like shadows—an ever more frenzied darkness and scarlet—split into thousands of strands, erupting toward Ling Shuo once more. In midair, countless shadows intertwined and tangled together, outlining the savage, monstrous white-bone visage of a beast, snapping its jaws shut to devour him! Boom! In a flash, it was all over. Ling Shuo, who should have been torn to shreds and devoured down to the bone, remained standing right where he was, dumbfounded. He had no idea what in the world had just happened. He had merely, purely by instinct, thrown a punch against the terrifying force rushing at his face... Wait, thrown a punch? A punch! When he looked down in dazed confusion, he saw a savage blood-red radiance erupting from his fingertips, swirling and expanding like a vortex. That dark-gold ring he carried close to his body had, at some unknown point, appeared on his index finger! As if clutching an entire sun in his hand, boundless light and heat burst forth from the ring, scorching flesh and soul. The ferocity of the White Stag and the brutality of Entropy converged into one, transforming into formless flame that incinerated the blood and darkness. Reaching even further, it burned the White Bone Fox's shrine and body, making them sizzle and hiss, screeching in outraged fury. Roars erupted, swelling ceaselessly, as if the dormant calamity beast had been provoked into opening its eyes, channeling even more power into this place. A giant hand cobbled together from countless skeletons and faces thrust out from the shrine, clawing downward toward Ling Shuo. Nowhere to dodge, nowhere to run. Yet Ling Shuo was flustered no longer. Because a distant voice rang out in his ear—lofty and indifferent, calmly analyzing everything taking place as it silently operated. [Threat infringement confirmed.] [Evaluation: Ruin- to Extinction-rank.] [Analysis complete, comparison verified. Calamity Beast No. A-221: Katunaha (Unincarnated).] [Internal purge module activated.] [Extinction Mode: Damocles. Target locked.] And so, amid the long night, light and flame raged. In the pitch-black night, amid the heart of the Seven Cities and Seven Islands, amidst the churning waves, the silent, towering lighthouse suddenly erupted with fierce light. Like a pale eye slowly opening, it looked down from a thousand li away upon that distant place. The workshop spirit cast her eyes down, gazing at everything that had transpired with disdain and disgust. Wretched fiends, so utterly contemptible. She spoke: [Kneel!]