Who wants to become a god? Aren't you all forcing me?

Li Chenqiu stepped forward, his eyes sweeping over the crowd with blatant disregard. Those who met his gaze lowered their heads and avoided him, retreating timidly, wary of his sharp edge.

Horse-Face turned his head, intending to say something to his subordinates, but all that met his eyes was empty air.

"Huh?" Horse-Face turned his head in a dumbfounded manner, only to see his loyal subordinates retreating ten meters away, staring at him with innocent expressions.

"What are you retreating for? What's there to be afraid of? I'm still here, aren't I?!" Horse-Face shouted in exasperation.

But his words had no effect. Instead, a hint of doubt appeared on the faces of the awakened.

"What do you mean? Get back here!"

Under Horse-Face's strong urging, the members of the Underworld reluctantly returned to his side, with the thickest-skinned among them being pulled in front of him.

Shen Yuanguo's side was slightly better; at least he didn't pull people in front of himself as shields.

After stabilizing the situation, the two turned their gazes back to Li Chenqiu.

"Li Chenqiu, it seems you don't want to leave here alive!" Horse-Face's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he drew his broadsword from his waist.

"I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the two keys," Shen Yuanguo said, narrowing his eyes as the knuckle dusters on his hand gleamed with a cold light.

Instantly, an aura of murderous intent spread through the air.

"How familiar!" Li Chenqiu smiled, as if he had been transported back to that afternoon.

Surrounded by people, treated like a fish on a chopping board. Although everything was similar, one thing was different: time had changed, and the roles of predator and prey had been reversed.

"With so many of you, you must have other keys on you. I'll give you a chance to live. Hand them over."

As he spoke, Li Chenqiu kicked a stone on the ground, sending it flying into his hand.

Horse-Face smiled in astonishment. "Are you not clear on your…"

"Five seconds." Li Chenqiu held up five fingers, lowering them one by one as time passed, causing everyone's heart rate to accelerate.

Especially those awakened who were just trying their luck, cold sweat poured down their faces, and their legs trembled uncontrollably.

"Arrogant! Do you think…"

Li Chenqiu smiled brightly, interrupting Horse-Face. "Time's up. Pray you don't catch my eye!"

In the next second, radial cracks exploded from Li Chenqiu's feet, and his figure flashed in front of an awakened in the blink of an eye.

"Don't…"

Bang!

Before the person could finish speaking, Li Chenqiu directly smashed his head with the stone, the red blood splattering on the faces of the other awakened like ink.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before the other awakened could react, Li Chenqiu clenched the stone and, like a bloodthirsty butcher, smashed the heads of several more awakened in succession.

"I surrender! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"How can we possibly deal with this monster!"

"Run… Run!!!"

"Calm down! He's exhausted. Let's attack together!"

"Calm down, my ass! If he's exhausted, why don't you attack!"

"Bastard! Who do you work for? How dare you speak to me like that!"

"I'm your father!"

Someone cursed amidst the chaos, leaving Horse-Face standing in place with a livid expression.

Under Li Chenqiu's unrestrained slaughter, the fear accumulated in the hearts of the crowd completely erupted under the encouragement of death. One by one, they ran in other directions like madmen, no matter how Horse-Face and Shen Yuanguo tried to stop them.

Although what Horse-Face and Shen Yuanguo said made sense, and the other awakened agreed with their words, it didn't mean the other awakened weren't afraid of death.

The impact of death was far more effective than any rhetoric. No one could face death without fear.

The moment Li Chenqiu killed the first awakened with a stone, the psychological defenses of all the awakened had collapsed.

The scene became increasingly chaotic. Horse-Face and Shen Yuanguo, standing in the crowd, exchanged a glance, then turned and ran into the dark mountain forest.

"Boy, you better stay holed up in here for the rest of your life! Forever!!!"

Horse-Face began his routine of spouting harsh words.

"Did I let you leave?" Li Chenqiu's deep gaze locked onto Horse-Face, and he rushed forward like a ghost.

When Horse-Face turned his head and saw Li Chenqiu's face, he almost collapsed to the ground in fright.

To save his own life, Horse-Face grabbed two awakened running in front of him and threw them behind him, slowing down Li Chenqiu's pace.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Horse-Face narrowly escaped, plunging into the darkness without daring to look back.

Seeing this, Li Chenqiu did not continue to pursue him, but stopped and turned around.

The moment Li Chenqiu turned around, the sharpness in his eyes quickly dissipated, and his eyelids seemed to be weighed down by a stone, ready to fall at any moment.

However, although his face was haggard, Li Chenqiu's back did not waver in the slightest.

He walked with a relatively normal gait to He Lu's side, squatted down directly, and placed his hand on He Lu's abdominal wound, pretending to examine the injury.

"Hmm…" He Lu groaned in pain and looked up at Li Chenqiu.

When he saw Li Chenqiu's constantly trembling pupils, his heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously reached out to support Li Chenqiu.

"Don't help me. They haven't gone far yet," Li Chenqiu whispered.

"Oh… Okay." He Lu nodded and retracted his hand, then asked with concern, "Are you alright? How can I help you?"

Li Chenqiu weakly raised his head, his voice as faint as a mosquito's hum. "Let me lean on you, just squat quietly for a while… I'll be fine after a while…"

Li Chenqiu's voice grew softer and softer, and by the end, he had closed his eyes and was motionless.

In the previous battle, Li Chenqiu had been holding his breath, and at this moment, he finally released it completely.

The pain in his body flooded his mind at this moment. If it were someone else, they might have been in so much pain that they would have passed out.

But Li Chenqiu endured it silently. Compared to the pain of breaking through the second seal, this pain was nothing more than a scratch.

One minute.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

The surroundings of the Palace of Doubt had returned to silence, and Li Chenqiu opened his eyes at this moment, with no more signs of exhaustion in his eyes.

He Lu looked at Li Chenqiu in surprise. "You… You've recovered?"

Li Chenqiu shook his arm and nodded. "Almost. I'll be fine after a while."

He Lu's mouth opened slightly, not knowing what to say for a moment.

He himself had a lot of problems even standing up with his injuries, but this kid had recovered in ten minutes after such an intense fight. Was this reasonable?

Li Chenqiu rubbed his eyes, which were a little blurry, and looked at He Lu. "You were sent by the An Unification Division to clear the disaster waters…"

Suddenly, Li Chenqiu's ears twitched, and his voice stopped abruptly.

Pat, pat, pat…

A series of wet footsteps approached from afar.