Rose Blood

Bai Youyou immediately turned to defend herself, but it was a step too late; her chest took a heavy blow, and splattered blood clouded her vision as dark red crystal clusters grew rampantly from the wound on her chest, piercing out through her back.

Bai Youyou was slightly dazed as she looked at her chest, soaked crimson by fresh blood, while the world swayed in her sight.

The blood toxin had long since corroded her mind, and the price of her lowered psyche value was not just the power of her mental skills, but also their precision; her ultimate skill had not actually landed on Jason, and everything before had been merely her hallucination.

"Got you, little rabbit," Jason said, a twisted smile of loathing surfacing on his face.

Next, he only needed to pull with force to split the girl's body in two, hacking her in half.

"Did you think I really had no way to hurt you?"

To his surprise, Bai Youyou suddenly gave a soft chuckle, her calm voice suppressing a certain fanaticism.

Jason was stunned, and what happened next made his eyes widen slightly; Bai Youyou abruptly raised her hand, physically grabbing the sharp axe that had hacked into her chest.

The sharp axe blade sank deep into her slender fingers, making a faint cracking sound as it scraped against the bone, while thick blood dripped from the girl's fingertips.

Fresh red crystal clusters grew densely from the wound, covering the surface of her body as she wore a fanatical expression, her ruby-like eyes staring directly at him.

Jason immediately felt that something was wrong; ignoring his desire to kill the girl, he released his grip on the weapon and tried to retreat.

"Harmonious Synchronicity," Bai Youyou said coldly.

The moment her words fell, a deep, bone-deep blood trail similarly exploded across Jason's chest, and dense wounds manifested all over his body, as if an elegant pair of hands were using a carving knife to replicate the girl's injuries onto him one-to-one, and the effects of the blood toxin conversely corroded his mind.

No, this superficial pain was not even worth mentioning compared to the unbearable agony that followed immediately after.

"Aaaah!"

With a face of madness and resentment, Jason knelt on the ground, clutching his head and letting out a shrill wail.

The pain the girl experienced at every moment almost drove him insane, making him desperately attempt to end his own life to escape such extreme suffering.

Countless gorgeous red roses grew from every inch of his flesh, rooting themselves deeply into his meridians and drawing on his blood and flesh for nutrients; he could only watch helplessly as his body rotted like the soil where roses had bloomed, a torture as harsh as any the world had ever seen.

Bai Youyou calmly watched Jason as he gouged at his own chest, trying to dig his heart out from the inside.

The same injury appeared on her chest, and her heart was suddenly gripped by an invisible hand, its beating stopping abruptly as if it were being torn from her chest.

The two minutes of time were not long for her; throughout her past life, she had endured the torment of Rose Blood at every moment, for such was the price of order and judgment.

She silently watched Jason as he repeatedly tried to kill himself during these two minutes to strip away his own consciousness.

He frantically slammed his head against the sharp edges of the train's fixtures until his head was broken and bleeding, covered in mangled flesh; he stabbed sharp iron skewers into his eye sockets and crushed his own heart to no avail, then used electric currents to pierce his brain, yet even that could not kill him.

Bai Youyou did not understand why mere simple wounds from blades and axes would cause Jason such a massive reaction; this skill was not an inherent ability of a mind inquisitor, but something she had spontaneously realized after traveling through many hive cities and witnessing the liberation of sentient beings from suffering.

Before this, she had never used this skill on anyone.

Jason experienced the most agonizing and longest two minutes of his life; by the end, his body could no longer even respond to the pain, leaving only his soul to struggle in despair amidst the morbidly wilting rose bushes until the effect of Harmonious Synchronicity ended.

He remained like an unconscious puppet, kneeling on the ground with his eyes completely blank.

As time ticked by second by second, Jason slowly regained his senses; his figure vanished instantly from the spot as he delivered a heavy punch that sent the girl flying.

Bai Youyou collapsed against the wall, hot blood flowing from her brow into her eyes, though her dust-covered face remained peaceful.

She lifted her heavy eyelids, took one last look at Jason, and then slowly closed them.

Seeing the girl appear unconscious, Jason did not even dare to think about finishing her off; he would let this rose wither slowly in the corner, for anyone who tried to approach her would be hurt by the thicket of thorns. Previously, he had only one thought in his mind, and that was to get away from her, the further the better!

"Hey."

Just as he turned to leave to chase the other girls, Bai Youyou's raspy voice reached him.

"What was it that made you suffer so much before?"

"Was it those injuries I caused you?"

"Answer my confusion. If not, then shake your head."

Recalling the previous pain, Jason suddenly felt a chill and a wave of lingering fear; seeing the black-haired girl watching him with indifference, he shook his head repeatedly out of instinctive dread.

"So that's how it is..." Bai Youyou slowly closed her eyes.

"Exactly five minutes."

At the front of the train, Xu Xiaoyou, who was being carried by Anya as she sprinted forward, noticed that a 'comatose' effect had been added to Bai Youyou's status bar.

"Youyou has lost consciousness."

"We hoped she would stall for five minutes, and she really did stall for exactly five minutes, not a second more or less."

She recalled the words she had spoken to her before the third chase began.

She had intended for her to hold Jason off for five minutes, provided she prioritized her own safety and reduced the pressure on her and Anya during the subsequent pursuit as much as possible; the girl had said nothing after hearing this, agreeing with a silent nod.

She hadn't held much hope originally; asking a grade 3 to hold off a pseudo-grade 5 was a complete fantasy. She had originally thought that gaining a minute or two before she safely retreated would be best; of course, exceeding five minutes would be even better, as every second was of immeasurable value to them.

"Is that so? Why didn't Jason finish her off?" Angelina said.

"Can you not be so cynical, Anya?" Xu Xiaoyou said helplessly. "I've always believed we should get along harmoniously."

"You've misunderstood me," Angelina sighed. "I was just asking the question, with no other meaning. She can bring me quite a bit of fun, and besides, her disappearing brings no benefit to me."

"Oh, you've grown up," Xu Xiaoyou nodded with relief, causing veins to pop on Angelina's forehead.

"It seems something happened that made Jason not dare to finish Youyou off, even though she's already unconscious," Xu Xiaoyou judged. "The silver lining in this misfortune is that the team has lost a member; I'm afraid things will be more troublesome later."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear; less than thirty seconds after Bai Youyou lost consciousness, Jason arrived, appearing at the edge of their vision in the rear carriage, his bulging muscles twisting as a low growl rolled from his throat.