Light Fortress-Chapter 1485 - 206: Mortal Flesh (Part 3)

The hunched old woman, her arms covered in scars, could no longer run. Her persistence in moving forward was not driven by the will to survive... but by the sight of her "child" living on.

The girl’s name was Tao Yao.

It was a very sweet name.

But her life was bitter.

The life of every child in Sangzhou Cave was bitter.

Tao Yao glanced back with every few steps, her large, moist eyes fixed on the old woman behind her.

They were fleeing from West Cave...

Tao Yao’s parents died early; she had grown up relying on her grandmother and brother. The three of them survived the church’s ravages, but since the awakening experiments began, most urban areas of West Cave had fallen under the control of extremists.

The situation hadn’t improved much.

They still lived in great difficulty and hardship.

And this time, when the Transcendents of Light City descended, the extremists disappeared. Tao Yao initially thought her hard days were over... but she later realized she had oversimplified things.

The Transcendents of Light City were more terrifying than the extremists.

In just a few days, many "neighbors" had been brainwashed, donned the white robes of Sun worship, and disappeared.

Her brother had steadfastly refused the proselytization of Light City.

Soon, protests broke out in the city.

On the day of the protests, Tao Yao was hidden in the cellar by her brother. She couldn’t see what was happening outside, only knowing that the chaos went on for a long time, followed by a blistering explosion—

The sound nearly ruptured her eardrums, then came the intense heat!

Even hidden below, she felt the agony of "being scorched by the sun"...

Yet the heat didn’t last long.

Then came total silence; Tao Yao led her grandmother out of the cellar, seeing the city reduced to a hell on earth. She wanted to find her brother... but the bodies on the ground were already incinerated, many turned to ashes. She knew she could never find her brother again.

She began to flee with her grandmother.

Before he left, her brother told her to flee south, to flee south.

But south was truly too far...

She escaped for a long time.

Rain poured down; it was very cold on the mountains of South Cave at that moment.

But the girl felt searingly hot.

Every raindrop on Tao Yao’s skin brought pain that burned through to her heart... Her skin was covered in dark spots left by the sun’s "kiss."

These were marks left by a brush with death.

"Almost there, Granny, almost there... we’re almost there..."

Tao Yao’s lips were parched; she saw the elderly woman behind her couldn’t move, leaning on the thorns and gasping, hurriedly turning back to pull her a few steps forward.

In front, it was dark, but there was light further ahead.

She saw in the rain-drenched world outside, there were faint light beams and the sound of engines.

Her brother never lied to her; as long as she reached the south, she would surely find safety...

"Taotao... go on..."

Grandma forced a smile, rejecting the girl’s goodwill, extending her cracked hand to gently push her on, signaling for her to go first.

"I’ll rest... and catch up later..."

Her emaciated arm was also densely covered in black spots.

And much more than the girl had.

Because after the "sun" descended, as intense burning came, she instinctively held the child in her arms, bearing it all with her back... though it’s a mortal body, sometimes, it can bear unbearable weights.

But the sun’s weight was truly too heavy.

She couldn’t move anymore.

Grandma watched the girl as she kept looking back with every few steps, still smiling, instinctively maintaining a waving gesture.

Her vision slowly blurred, slowly blurred.

Her arm became very heavy.

Very heavy.

With a "thump," the old woman fell heavily to the ground, splattering a large patch of mud.