Young Master System: My Mother Is the Matriarch-Chapter 57: Blood Sky

The wind howled like a vengeful spirit as Li Wei and Leng Yue staggered from the ruins of the grand hall, their robes soiled with ashes of Zhou Mu's dying fury. Above them, the blood-red pillar from the Shen Clan residence pulsed like an open wound in the sky, casting the land in an eerie crimson glow.

"Tch." Leng Yue spat a mouthful of dust, her silver blade still humming with residual qi. "You call this 'better'? That sky looks like the gods slit their own throats." As a female, Leng Yue paid particular attention to her appearance and hygiene. With a swift flick of her wrist, the shrewd girl opened up her storage pouch and began fishing through it.

Li Wei tilted his head, watching as distant crows scattered from the scarlet light. "Ah, but think of the stories common folk will tell.... 'The day Grand Master Li Wei outsmarted death itself'—has a nice ring, doesn't it?" His grin was all teeth, but his knuckles whitened around the hilt of waist.

The duo were admonishing themselves under a darkening sky that was growing more menacing as time elapsed, they were fully aware that the battle against the forces of darkness had only begun.

A thunderous 'CRACK' split the air as the ground beneath them trembled. "AHAHA!! HAAA!!!" From the direction of the Shen Clan, a chorus of screams rose—human, but twisted, as if the voices themselves were unraveling.

The Zhou clan had forge ties with forces beyond their comprehension, it seemed the Shen clan had followed suit. However, the severity of this force seemed several times greater than the existence that possessed Zhou Mu.

Leng Yue's eyes narrowed. "Whatever's happening over there, it is due to a vile artifact that lusts for pandemonium" She shot Li Wei a look sharper than her sword. "You heard it too, didn't you? That thing in the astral tear didn't just want any soul. It wanted yours."

Li Wei's laughter was light, but his gaze flicked to the horizon, where the blood glow thickened. "A minor detail! Besides—" He patted his chest, where the blank parchment had once rested. "—I've got a feeling our Reaper friend may find a more lucrative opportunity will present itself soon."

"Wha-" Before Leng Yue could question him further, another tremor shook the ground beneath them. Closer this time. The buildings outside the Zhou residence crumbled, as if they were made of glass, their tiles and foundation withering to ash midair.

"Enough games." Leng Yue grabbed his wrist, her fingers ice-cold. "That sky isn't just a coincidental occurrence. It's an omen—and we're right at the heart of it."

A new sound cut through the wind—a low, wet 'gurgle', like a river of viscera churning underground. The earth between them split open, and for one heart-stopping moment, something pale and many-jointed crawled out of the surface before vanishing.

Li Wei's smile finally faded. "...Well. That's new."

Leng Yue yanked him backward as the fissure erupted in a geyser of black fluid. " GET BACK! THAT LIQUID WILL KILL YOU!" And as the blood sky wept its warning, they fled—toward the Zhou Clan's crumbling gates, toward the eye of the storm, toward a foe neither of them could ignore.

Somewhere behind them, the shadows slithered and crawled.

it sounded like laughter.

The stench hit them first—a cloying, rotting sweetness that clung to the back of the throat like spoiled honey. Crescent Moon City's market square, once bustling with merchants hawking spices and silks, had become a nightmare tableau. Stalls lay splintered, their wares trampled underfoot by shambling figures that were no longer human.

Leng Yue's nose wrinkled. " This is like Hell's cesspit. Those fissures didn't just bleed darkness—they bred it."

Before them, the infected warriors lurched forward, their forms grotesque parodies of the cultivators they'd once been. Black goo pulsed beneath their skin, stretching features into melted wax grotesqueness. Their mouths gaped soundlessly, tongues dissolved into viscous sludge.

Li Wei cracked his knuckles. "Ah, look alive, seems like we're the uninvited guests at a banquet of filth." His grin was sharp, but his eyes tracked the way the creatures' fingers dripped, each drop sizzling where it struck stone. "Try not to let them hug you."

The first three lunged in unison, their movements eerily synchronized. Li Wei met them with a deft strike from close range

[Yang Yaksha Ten Forms - Demon-Sundering Palm]

His right hand blazed golden as he struck—not flesh, but the air itself. The shock wave ripped through the creatures, torsos bursting like overripe fruit.

SPLOTCH!

Black acid geysered upward—only to meet Leng Yue's evasive maneuvers.

[Frost veil Steps]

The young maiden's footwork weaving a glimmering barrier of frozen Qi. The droplets hung suspended in jagged ice before shattering harmlessly.

"TCH. Predictable." She spun, her blade with a delicate twirl

[Silent Moon's Kiss]

The chrome edge of the blade carving a silver arc. Two more monsters fell, bisected at the waist—but their bubbling lower halves *twitched*, fingers clawing toward her ankles.

Li Wei's boot crushed one skull with a wet 'CRUNCH'. "Persistent little roaches, aren't they?"

A hulking brute, its body swollen with unstable yin energy, barreled toward them. Li Wei sidestepped, but the creature *detonated* mid-lunge—

KABOOM!

A tidal wave of acid surged outward. Leng Yue's sleeve caught a stray droplet; the fabric hissed, eaten through in seconds. She cursed, severing the contaminated cloth with a flick of her dagger. "They're sacrificing themselves!"*

Li Wei wiped black sludge from his cheek, his skin reddening where it burned. "Ah. So that's their game."His smile turned savage. "Let's play rougher."

[Mad Mantis Eight Claws - Thousand Cicada Storm]

Li Wei's hands became a blur. Each strike sent razor-sharp qi ribbons slicing through the horde, limbs shearing off in gouts of black ooze. One creature, split vertically from crown to groin, collapsed—only for its halves to *writhe*, reforming into two smaller abominations.

Leng Yue's eyes narrowed. "Persistent is an understatement." She sheathed her sword—and unleashed a harrowing blow.

[Frozen Lotus Ascension]

As her palms striking the ground. Ice spider webbed outward, encasing six monsters in glacial tombs. A snap of her fingers—

SHINK!

The frozen statues shattered into glittering dust.

The last monstrosity, its body bloated like a drowned corpse, staggered forward. Li Wei lunged—but Leng Yue yanked him back by his collar.

"Watch out! Its core's about to—"

BOOOOM!

The explosion sent them skidding backward. Li Wei coughed, spitting out a mouthful of soot. "...Well. That was rude."

Leng Yue hauled him up, her grip iron. "Save the commentary. The Shen Clan's gates are right there—and I'd rather not meet whatever else this black tide has vomited up.

Above them, the blood-red pillar pulsed, its light staining their faces like fresh wounds. Somewhere in the distance, "Yes come closer", a shadowy figure laughed.

Li Wei dusted off his robes. "Onward, then. The night's still young—and I do not want to keep our hosts waiting."

Leng Yue's sigh could have wilted flowers. "You're a real handful."

But as they sprinted toward the Shen Clan's crumbling gates, neither mentioned the way the shadows at their heels seemed to twist—as if something, somewhere, was watching.

And hungry