Duality of Shadows-Chapter 984: Gentle Voice

The temperature was high, but everything was dark. A smell of mold filled the air, and the little girl suddenly woke up.

"Dad, Mom!" she screamed in a hoarse voice. Then, she swallowed hard and coughed. It was as if she hadn’t drunk water in days.

Her head was still dizzy, and she fell asleep again. In her dreams, she saw her mom and dad playing with her. Suddenly, the world around her darkened. She panicked and started crying, until she found her mom and dad again... but they were just their bloodied and disfigured bodies.

"This isn’t real. It must be a dream!" she screamed, waking up frightened.

Alm and Bruno watched her pain and suffering, letting out sighs of regret. That was just a dream, but it was based on something she had really lived through.

All of this was already a big change... in the original script, Ruri would’ve been captured as a luxury slave. Now, she was captured, but with completely different intentions. However, her suffering hadn’t diminished.

After crying for a long time, she realized she was locked in a cage that constantly swayed. A stronger movement of the cage made her head hit a wooden pillar. Blood began to flow.

Feeling the blood, she panicked. She was about to call out for her mom, but then remembered that her mom was already dead. Her dad too.

"Let me go! I want to find my mom and dad!" she shouted, gripping the cage bars.

The top of the cage was removed, and the scorching sunlight pierced her eyes, making her scream. She quickly covered her eyes with her hands.

"If you keep screaming, I’ll feed you to the wolves. If you feel helpless or scared, pray. Pray to the White Guardian God, and he will give you strength." A cruel voice sounded.

She didn’t have time to see who spoke before the tarp was put back. The cage went dark again.

Her stomach growled, but she bitterly endured, making no sound. After an unknown amount of time, when she was so hungry she could barely keep her consciousness, she felt the cage stop.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a man in white carrying her cage as if she were just a wild animal.

At the same time, she noticed other cages around her, each containing a pair of frightened eyes.

"I... ah!" A boy who seemed about seven or eight years old opened his mouth timidly to speak. But he could only say one word before being hit by a whip. His skin immediately split open, and he screamed in pain.

"No one said you could talk, so shut your mouths. Your lives now belong to the White Guardian God. If you want to live, remember that and follow the rules," a man said coldly.

The children, crammed into hundreds of cages, were terrified and didn’t dare make a sound. Even when their tears overflowed, they pressed their mouths shut, preventing their sobs from escaping.

A group of strong men quickly carried the cages. After a long journey, they were placed on the ground in an unknown location. A handsome man, who seemed to radiate a white, sacred aura, cast his gaze over them.

He announced coldly: "Your first mission is to survive for fifteen days here. You will have to find your own food and water. If you can’t find anything to eat, pray to the White Guardian God. But... human flesh is not poisonous and is not that hard to eat. Fight. If you win, it means the God approves of you and helped; the defeated ones were just sinners who didn’t receive the grace to live."

The group of children looked at him in pure terror. After these words, the cages were opened, and the adult men left without saying anything more.

Young Ruri looked around. It was already getting dark, and soon the night would fall completely. She felt an unprecedented loneliness. Thinking of her dead parents, she wanted to cry, but there were no more tears in her eyes.

"I have to live. I will avenge my parents," she murmured, clenching her fists. She was the first to leave the cage.

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The other children, seeing her, also left. They wanted to find something, anything, to relieve their hunger. But there were no fruit trees nearby.

As she walked, Ruri found a plant about 30 cm tall. She quickly bent down and started digging it up. Her hands, still sensitive, started bleeding, but she endured the pain and kept digging.

Finally, she unearthed something about the size of a fist. It was a potato. She remembered that she could eat it, as her dad had dug up some for her before.

Looking at the potato with joy, Ruri got ready to clean it and eat. But a boy ripped the potato from her hands.

"This is mine!" she screamed.

But the boy completely ignored her. Not caring about the dirt, he bit into the potato and ran off, disappearing.

Ruri stared at his back, while a cold and murderous light shone in her eyes.

Her thirst for blood was palpable, making Alm and Bruno swallow hard. Ruri had changed completely. She now seemed like someone walking toward becoming a ruthless villain, without any scruples.

The two sighed. They and Ruri always got along really well. Of course, that wasn’t by chance. In fact, they were very alike.

Alm noticed a pair of eyes watching Ruri, hidden in the top of a tree. It was a girl, seemingly older than most of the young ones brought here. She held a small dagger and stared at Ruri with a dark look.

She probably saw Ruri as an easy and valuable prey, waiting for the right moment to attack and kill her. Alm snorted and calmly approached. Bruno had his turn, now it was his time to help his wife.

Meanwhile, Ruri found a sharp stone that fit perfectly in her hand and smiled excitedly as she held it. She was immersed in dark thoughts about how she would hunt down the boy who had stolen her potato. The thought of splitting his head open with that stone filled her with pleasure.

’Steal what’s mine? Let’s see how long you can live...’ she thought.

Then, a gentle voice broke her thoughts: "Sis, I have two worms here. You should eat them quickly!"

Ruri turned around and saw another girl, a few years older than her, holding two worms in her hands.

"Older sis, you..." Ruri stammered, unsure how to react.

The girl gestured for her to stay quiet, and, looking around, pulled her behind a rock. "Eat quickly. These worms are edible," she said, handing the worms to Ruri.

Ruri was starving, but her desire to hunt down the boy was still stronger. Even so, looking at the worms, she swallowed them directly.

For some reason, as she looked into the other girl’s eyes, Ruri immediately felt close to her, as if she could trust her completely. All the dark thoughts she had quickly dissipated.

The other girl commented softly: "The taste might be weird, but..."

"Sorry, I ate your food. And you?" Ruri interrupted her, anxious.

"I already ate three. This way, we won’t starve for now. How about we search for food together? My name’s Almia. What’s yours?"

"Huuya," Ruri replied.

Alm snorted when he heard that, ignoring Bruno’s taunts, and said, "All of us here had our families killed. We’re all the same. If we want to survive, we can only trust ourselves. Don’t think about anything else, just focus on finding food and water with me."

He pulled Ruri further away, looking for resources.

Ruri was speechless, feeling something different stir in her chest. Almia had a maturity and firmness that seemed far beyond her age. However, something in her eyes seemed... off.

’Such a strange female body... it would’ve been better to choose a younger one,’ thought Alm, disturbed. Almia, at 14, already had the body of a woman in full bloom. This was just an illusory world, but still, the discomfort felt real. Meanwhile, Ruri, in turn, felt something strange flowing inside her.

"Try to keep your distance from the bigger ones. Otherwise, they might steal your things or even kill you to eat your flesh," warned Almia.

The two didn’t prioritize food at that moment; they focused on finding water. Surrounded by wild mountains, there were no visible rivers. Still, Almia managed to squeeze a few drops of water from plant stems, temporarily soothing their dry throats.

"Sis, how are you so amazing?" Ruri asked in admiration.

"My family was made up of hunters. We survived from that. When we’re severely dehydrated, we can’t eat too much, or we’ll die quickly. So, before looking for more worms, we need to find water," explained Almia as she guided Ruri deeper into the vegetation.

The two managed to squeeze out a few more drops and ate some worms. When night fell, they returned to the camp and sheltered in their cages, made of extremely sturdy magical wood. These cages served as protection from the nocturnal beasts. The other young ones, naïve, didn’t realize their true purpose.

At dawn, the sunlight revealed a terrible scene: many bodies of young people were scattered around the center of the camp. Among them was the boy who had stolen Ruri’s potato.

"He ate too much without finding water. That’s what killed him," Almia said coldly.

The two decided to move further away, searching for a larger water source. The small amount obtained the previous day wasn’t enough. In the search, Almia found a small, wilted tree.

She broke off a branch and turned it into two sticks. Then, using a stone, she sharpened one side of each stick, grinding them until they formed two wooden daggers.

"Sis, what are you doing?" Ruri asked, intrigued.

Almia smiled slightly and didn’t answer, focusing on her work. Shortly after, she finished the daggers and tested them by swinging them, satisfied with the result.

"Here. These will be our ’weapons.’ If anyone threatens us or tries to steal our food, we’ll kill them," Almia said calmly, then showed a real dagger hidden in her clothes. "We should always hide our true strength to surprise and secure our victory."

Soon after, the two began climbing a steep mountain. They were already several kilometers away from the camp, a great distance for two young girls to travel alone.

This was also extremely dangerous. With such a long journey, they were exhausting their energy and the little water they had left.

However, as soon as they reached the top of the mountain, they started shouting with excitement. They spotted coconuts growing on a tall coconut tree.

There were more than ten coconuts. Inside, there was a lot of that valuable liquid, and they drank until they were completely satisfied. Ruri suggested taking one back, but Almia stopped her.

Although they had drunk to their heart’s content, their bodies were still very weak. Just one meal wasn’t enough for full recovery. If someone saw them, they could even be killed for their food. For safety, they decided to head back.

On the way, Almia taught Ruri how to survive. Days passed, and eventually, the two were noticed by the other survivors. It wasn’t hard for that to happen... in fact, it was exactly what Alm had wanted.

They seemed healthy and unscathed, while the others were in tattered, blood-stained clothes.

A group of boys immediately moved in with malicious looks in their eyes. Ruri wanted to confront them, but Almia made her wait and pretend to be unaware.

When one of them was about to reach them, Almia’s wooden dagger pierced the boy’s heart.

His body stiffened and slowly collapsed. The attack was brutal, scaring the other boys and leaving them pale.

Almia swung her dagger, still covered in blood, at them. The boys, now terrified, froze. At first, they thought the two girls were easy prey, but they didn’t expect to encounter such cruel girls.

With a cold look, Almia slowly stepped back, pulling Ruri away. Once they were far enough, the boys fled.

Bruno scoffed dryly but said nothing. This was not the real world. But still, those boys were children, and Alm had a weakness for that. If they had been adults, he would have killed them all without mercy. But in this situation, he gave them a clear warning and a second chance.

But this wasn’t just emotional; there was a reason behind it. The goal was to help Ruri stabilize her mind and focus on the right path. If she kept going down the villainous path, her Dao Heart would be stained with blood, and she would never move forward in this trial.

On the morning of the third day, only half a dozen youths were still alive. The two walked among the bodies as if they had already become numb to the sight.

All the survivors had to find food and water. Eventually, they met, and the fights among them became more intense.

That pair of girls was always treated as easy prey, but Almia showed her cruel side. The wooden daggers touched blood several times. Afterward, she killed and tied the boys’ bodies in a circle around the trees near where they slept. This macabre scene intimidated everyone; but it helped prevent them from killing any more.

After a while, no one dared to even look at them. It didn’t take long before they started finding sources of food and water. In the end, there was nothing they could rely on except themselves. They couldn’t trust anyone, only their own will and intelligence to survive.

"Being alone and following a path of revenge... has its advantages. But if you look around, you’ll always find good people. Don’t let the evil of the world completely consume you," Almia said somewhat awkwardly, looking at Ruri. "You must fight to protect these people. Only seeking revenge in any way will make you become like those who did what they did to you. If you follow the righteous path, you’ll eventually have a chance to take clean revenge."

Ruri nodded, staring directly into the young girl’s eyes.

The fifteen days passed. Originally, there had been hundreds of young people, but now only three were left. The last survivor was a boy covered in scars and blood.

The handsome man dressed in white returned. He took them with him, and three days later, they arrived at a place resembling a sect. Tens of thousands of children stood in a square.

In the center of the square was a giant statue reaching the clouds, depicting a humanoid male figure covered in shining armor. Alm and Bruno stared at the image of that God coldly.

A voice echoed shortly after: "You have all been blessed and approved by the White Guardian God. You are now officially his followers. Everything you have belongs to your God, including your bodies and souls."