Chapter Seventy-Seven: Not a Single Life Taken

Immediately, the group descended into a frenzy, battling each other with utter madness. Witnessing this, Bird could do nothing but shake her head in helpless despair.

She began to run, desperate to escape this place gone mad. Gradually, she reached the ship’s cabin reserved for rest. She believed that those hiding here might still retain a shred of sanity, and she was determined to protect the last few rational souls.

She stretched her senses to their limit, searching for any calm presence, and finally detected a relatively stable aura in one of the rooms.

“Is anyone there? Is anyone there?” she called.

From within, she seemed to hear a faint response. Without hesitation, Bird flung open the door, intent on helping whoever was inside.

But the scene that greeted her left her stunned.

Inside the cabin, a woman knelt on the floor, holding a fruit knife. In front of her lay two bodies, one elderly and one young. Upon Bird’s entrance, the woman did not hesitate, plunging the blade into her own body.

Bird reacted with lightning speed, reaching the woman at the last moment, trying to use her energy to stop her. But it was too late: the knife was already deeply embedded in the woman’s flesh.

Bird laid the woman gently on the floor, shocked. “You… why?”

The woman forced a bitter smile, a single tear sliding from the corner of her eye. “Isn’t it laughable? My husband and son, whom I lived with day and night, tried to kill me… cough…”

Blood welled from her lips as she summoned her last strength. “I accept the judgment of law, but I refuse the condemnation of morality.”

And thus, another “sane person” lost her life.

Bird’s expression hardened into cold indifference. She understood at last—there was no one left on this ship who could be called normal.

Her emotions spiraled out of control, unsettling the strange creature sealed within her, which now struggled violently to break free.

Enduring tremendous pain, she forced the creature down and set out in a single direction.

Along the way, she saw countless people harming one another, some even charging at her in a blind rage.

Step by step, she walked, leaving bloody footprints, feeling as though she had traveled for ages before reaching her destination.

Here, Wang Hui was feasting, devouring the delicacies on the table, his mouth slick with grease.

“You… what are you?” Bird asked through gritted teeth, glaring at the man opposite her.

Upon hearing her voice, Wang Hui paused, licking the oil from his fingers. After taking a long swig of wine, he smiled.

“Aren’t I a researcher of strange creatures?” he replied.

At that moment, Bird realized that everything happening was indirectly connected to her. It was her initial acceptance of Wang Hui’s identity as a so-called researcher that convinced the others on the ship to believe him, leading to this chaos.

She looked at the blood on her hands.

The guilt in her heart felt as indelible as the blood—no matter how she tried, she could not wash it away.

Was it all because of her?

Was it all because she clung to life out of cowardice?

Her slight frame trembled uncontrollably, terror gripping her for all she had done. Wang Hui approached her with a wine glass in hand.

“Isn’t it absurd? Aside from you exorcists, we haven’t killed a single soul. They all slaughtered each other.”

He savored another sip. “Humanity’s greatest fear has never been strange creatures.”

“What is it?” Bird asked, turning her head with difficulty, her voice cold.

“What is it?” Wang Hui echoed, then laughed. “Ha! Born as a human, have you never realized? Humanity’s greatest fear is always itself!”

“Shut up!”

Bird roared, her aura surging uncontrollably. The sealed creature within her erupted in turmoil, threatening to seize her body at any moment.

Veins beneath her skin began to darken, but she stood her ground, staring Wang Hui down.

Wang Hui shook his head, mocking her. “Do you even dare to do anything to me?”

His words were salt in her wounds.

If only she hadn’t been so weak.

If only she hadn’t been so weak, the worst that could have happened would have been the strange creatures killing those on board.

But now, it was humans killing humans, exposing the ugliest side of mankind—a fate far more terrifying than death.

“I… I did nothing wrong!”

She shook her head in denial, desperately trying to convince herself.

But Wang Hui would not let her escape. He approached slowly.

“Don’t blame yourself. Should you blame us instead? You must understand—the strange creatures and exorcists are mortal enemies. Killing exorcists is only natural, and besides, not a single ordinary person was killed by us.”

The more he spoke, the more pain Bird felt.

“Let’s do this. I’ll give you a chance for release.”

Wang Hui swept his hand, and a man appeared out of thin air.

The man curled on the floor, shivering, his face contorted with terror. He seemed completely paralyzed by fear.

“Fang Fei! How can it be you?” Bird gasped, recognizing him. She had thought he was dead, yet here he was.

The moment she spoke, Fang Fei looked at her, his trembling ceasing.

Though alive, Bird sensed that he now had no trace of energy left—he was nothing more than an ordinary man.

“Bird… Bird…” Fang Fei struggled but could not sit up. He crawled toward her, trembling as he spoke, “Kill me… please… kill me!”

Wang Hui commented from the side, “Kill him, and you live.”

Watching her leader crawl toward her, listening to Wang Hui’s words, Bird felt herself unravel.

Had she been her former self, she might have killed her leader without hesitation. But now, she was utterly changed.

Her gaze grew calm and unwavering as she stared at Wang Hui.

“The human heart may be dark, but where there is light, there must also be shadow. I choose to believe in humanity!”

With that, her aura exploded, and she hurled a fist at Wang Hui.

But her attack was caught effortlessly. Wang Hui’s eyes flared blood-red, releasing the aura of a B-class strange creature.

A chilling voice whispered, “Isn’t that boring?”

In the next instant, energy erupted within Bird’s body, destroying her in a flash.

She had hoped to use the final moment of her life to win Wang Hui’s respect for humanity, but her wish was nothing more than a vain delusion.

Now, the entire ship was shrouded in a sinister atmosphere. Countless corpses and the scent of death bore witness to the fact that this was a ghost ship in every sense.

Xiao Zi stepped out from Wang Hui’s body, standing atop the mast, gazing out at the boundless sea.

The blood-red aura on his body danced in the ocean breeze, and his ghostly presence resembled a death god freshly emerged from the gates of hell, as if holding dominion over all lives.

“We’re almost there.”