Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 149

Behind every unusual event lies a far more shocking conspiracy; I've always believed that. Just as a gigantic, terrifying well lies hidden beneath the meditation hall, Tanino Shinshu's decision to abandon everything and live in seclusion there wasn't solely for the purpose of comprehending the highest realm of Buddhism.

Part Two: Ancient Temple Under the Dark Night

— Chapter 9 — The Dragon-Slaying Blade, the Extortionist (Part 2) —

The tycoon suddenly touched his nose and coughed softly twice, seemingly talking to himself: "Something's strange. Before Christmas, India's biggest arms dealer called me, asking if I wanted to buy a super weapon for self-defense. You know, I've never been interested in war or arms. Why would he suddenly contact me?"

"Is it 'King of Weapons' Chachai?" I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine.

"Yes, it's him, a short-sighted peddler who only makes his fortune from war." The tycoon sneered relentlessly.

As far as I know, Chatchai is not a street vendor, but a super arms dealer whom Americans both love and hate. The title of "King of Weapons" on his head was bestowed upon him by the combined efforts of the United States, the European Union, African warmongers, and the hegemons of the Arab world.

Because of his existence, the Soviet Union was able to continuously supply Afghans and Iraqis with "Duck" rockets, "Katyusha 9" light artillery, "Snake Kiss" sniper rifles, and the classic AK47 assault rifle, in order to counter the United States' joint counter-terrorism operations.

Similarly, he is also the largest direct buyer of American arms exports, clearing out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons inventory for the U.S. military every month and then reselling them at a higher price to various parts of the world, where they become the main tools on various military battlefields.

According to Pentagon statistics, Chachai has become the biggest beneficiary of arms trafficking since World War II.

The item being investigated and suspected to be a "super weapon" is likely to have immeasurable value and power.

"After I politely declined, I suggested he sell it to a few warmongers on the east coast of Africa, but he laughed on the phone, claiming that 'no one but a tycoon could afford it.' I didn't think much of it until I received the extortion call. Because Chatchai's asking price was exactly the same as the extortionist's, 1.5 billion US dollars, I suspected there was some strange connection between the two..."

I couldn't help but frown: "Excuse me for being blunt, but there aren't many things in the world that can be called 'super weapons' right now. If it were conventional weapons like attack ships or armed helicopters, although they would be very valuable, Chatchai wouldn't need to sell them to you. This proves that what he wants to sell is not a conventional weapon at all. Otherwise, those African warmongers would be willing to sell everything they own and scrape together their savings to get their hands on them."

"What do you mean?" The tycoon's eyes suddenly lit up.

I didn't answer immediately. I stretched out my arms and did several chest-expanding exercises to speed up blood circulation throughout my body and prevent cold air from invading my body.

The tycoon remained calm, pulled out a square, gold-plated cigarette case, and took out a large, brown cigar. Media reports described him as someone who loved alcohol, women, money, and gambling, especially in the latter two areas, where he could almost be considered a role model for wealthy men worldwide.

"Sizzle—" He struck a match and lit his cigar.

"Want one, young man?" The cigarette case was gently turned over in his hand, and the meticulously carved English signature on the lid gleamed.

I smiled politely and shook my head gently: "No need, thank you."

He was also a member of the martial arts world, but one spoiled by a life of debauchery, making him somewhat slow to judge and respond to dangerous situations. One can imagine what use a mountain of gold would be to someone who believes "money is everything, money can buy you everything," if suddenly stranded on a deserted island.

At least, he couldn't quite figure out Chachai's intentions.

In my mind, I had already connected the "super weapon" mentioned by the Indian arms dealer over the phone with the "weapon of mass destruction" mentioned by the Hashizu-ha ninja—a world map would show that anyone wanting to transport the "weapon of mass destruction" out of Iraq by sea would inevitably have to pass through Indian waters. As the "king of weapons," Chatchai couldn't possibly be indifferent to the situation in Iraq, so the movement route of the "weapon of mass destruction" would also be under his close surveillance.

Perhaps we can boldly hypothesize that the blackmailer desperately needs a huge sum of money to buy the goods in Chatchai's possession, since only a tycoon could afford them. In other words, only a tycoon could readily produce 1.5 billion.

Thinking about it more deeply, that item would be a "private good" that could only circulate in the underworld, at least it couldn't be publicly auctioned internationally like Chachai's previous business, revealing its true nature to the public.

As the "Pacific Police," the Americans have been secretly monitoring the global black market arms trade, guiding and managing this enormous "money pit" through the "unwritten rules" of the US military. Chatchai is a smart man and would never dare to offend the Americans, so the final conclusion is that this super weapon must be kept out of the Americans' sights.

Rigorous theoretical deductions, coupled with my extraordinary sixth sense, helped me arrive at the above conclusion. However, I did not want to reveal it to the tycoon, lest it embolden him.

Before I knew it, half an hour had passed since Guan Baoling's paintings were uploaded. The most recent one was a close-up of the knife that I was holding in my hand.

The door opened, casting Shao Hei's shadow. He leaned weakly against the door frame and called out in a hoarse voice, "Feng... please come over here for a moment, I have something to say..." His face was already dark, and he was standing in the shadows, so his expression was even more blurred.

I leaped over, sensing that something was amiss. When we surrounded the ninja from the Hashizu clan who had entered Xunfu Garden, I could sense that his internal strength was exceptionally profound, and that he followed a path of deep accumulation, steadiness, and gentleness, at least 80% comparable to Zhang Baisen's internal strength. But now he didn't even have the strength to speak coherently, and he was almost completely exhausted.

"My internal energy is about to run out, but down below... down there are even more bizarre things. I don't want to... give up, so I need your help... only you can..."

I nodded immediately: "Okay, just tell me what you want me to do."

With the shrine and the strange sword of the Yagami school as a foundation, I also became very interested in this mysterious underwater world.

“Please come in…come in…” He took a step back, but the tycoon rushed over and squeezed through the door ahead of me.

Shao Hei raised his hand to block, placing it across the tycoon's chest.

The tycoon growled anxiously in a low voice, "Get out of the way, she's mine—"

Shao Hei smiled bitterly: "You're useless coming in, you'll only...make things worse, get out of here, get out of here..."

From Shao Hei's side, I saw Guan Baoling sitting at the front of the table, still bent over, writing, but her movements were extremely slow, like a slow-motion video played at sixteen times the speed. Her long hair hung down, the tips falling onto the white paper in front of her. More than half of the original stack of over a hundred sheets of paper had already been used; if Shao Hei made any more discoveries, there certainly wouldn't be enough.

"Bao Ling, Bao Ling, Bao Ling—" the tycoon shouted, bumping into something with his shoulder, trying to force his way in.

He was very worried about Guan Baoling, and this genuine anxiety was revealed in an instant, which touched me a little. Regardless of who she ultimately belongs to, my, or the tycoon's, wholehearted love for her is beyond question.

Zhang Baisen, Shao Bai, and Xiao Keleng rushed out in response, each shouting, "Don't do anything rash, Mr. Ye!"

Having exhausted his internal energy, Shao Hei had no strength left to fight anyone, especially the tycoon who was once famous in the Hong Kong underworld for his "Thirteen Bodyguards' Horizontal Training and Iron Bones and Golden Bell Cover" when he was young.

I swiftly reached out and gripped the tycoon's left shoulder, gently deflecting his powerful thrust with my fingers. At the same time, I whispered in his ear, "Mr. Ye, don't be impulsive. Miss Guan is under moderate hypnosis. Blindly disturbing her will only make things worse." In front of others, I would give him face; otherwise, in this emergency, I wouldn't bother explaining to him and would have already tossed him three meters away.

In the face of crisis, I always adhere to the Chinese proverb "harmony is precious" and refuse to hurt the feelings of any of my own people.

The tycoon turned around and glared at me angrily. I stopped what I was doing, walked around him, and stepped over the threshold.

The door closed again, and the first thing I smelled was a strong sandalwood scent.

"Wind... transmit your inner strength... into my body. I want to see what's underwater..." Shao Hei trembled as he reached out and pressed his hand on Guan Baoling's back.

The painting on the table was half finished, and my eyes were suddenly drawn to it—"It's a submarine, absolutely no doubt about it, a submarine that's stationary!"

Guan Baoling's pen stopped at the middle part of the submarine. According to the regulations of various countries on the management of naval vessels, that position should be inlaid with a nameplate indicating the nationality, class, and number. Further down would be the submarine's engine room, which varies depending on the type of propulsion fuel used.

I gasped, suddenly doubting Shao Hei's remote sensing results. The Pacific Ocean, as the main battlefield of global naval warfare, was definitely the focus of attention for countries on both the east and west coasts. Therefore, the density of communication satellites in outer space monitoring this area was very high, and it was impossible for them to let a submarine hidden deep beneath Fengge Temple go unnoticed.

Guan Baoling sat upright like a puppet, breathing evenly, her eyelashes half-closed. She was probably at a medium to high level of hypnosis. If Shao Hei's "mind-reading technique" were to suddenly be interrupted due to internal energy depletion, it could very likely damage her brain nerves and cause serious consequences.

I sighed deeply, placed my palms on Shao Hei's back, and poured my internal energy into his body.

Shao Hei let out a soft "Thank you..." Guan Baoling's pen immediately began to fly again, swiftly sketching the entire submarine and clearly depicting the artificial platform where it was docked. Strangely, the submarine had no nameplate at all, and its appearance was very similar to the US Navy's "Nightcrawler" nuclear-powered submarine, which was currently in service.

I guess it's an American product, but someone has secretly hidden it here.

"I see a huge building below, but I can't see its entirety. My thoughts are drawn to two doors, look..."

Shao Hei pointed to the table, where Guan Baoling had mechanically switched to another sheet of paper and begun sketching the outlines of the two doors. Her right hand, strained from gripping the pencil for so long, had veins bulging erratically on the back. So far, she had drawn over seventy sheets; the physical and mental exertion she had expended was unimaginable.

The gate was very wide, embedded in the dark rocks, and of course, it was surrounded by dense wavy lines indicating the deep water area.

"Approximately how deep is the door?" I was concerned about this question, as the latest drawings no longer show detailed depth markings.

"I don't know, it must be very, very deep, unimaginable," Shao Hei replied, seemingly ignoring the question.

Part Two: Ancient Temple Under the Dark Night

— Chapter 10 - Light Crisis Unit (Part 1) —

I remember falling into the seabed with Guan Baoling when we were in that glass box, so I guess the bottom of the strange well is at most close to the sand bed here.

Each of the left and right door panels has a rotating wheel, just like the design of a heavy-duty security door in a bank vault. With such an access control structure, there should be two keys of the same size, which need to be inserted into the keyholes and turned simultaneously to unlock the "cross lock" inside the door.

"An underwater vault?" I muttered to myself.

The lighting was dim, but then Guan Baoling drew something strange under the rotating wheel on the right, which boosted my mental focus to 200%. I couldn't control the internal energy in my palm for a moment, and it surged outwards with great force. Shao Hei groaned in pain and quickly raised his hand away from Guan Baoling's back.

"Oh... Wind, be careful! It doesn't matter if I die, but it will cause Miss Guan to become a vegetable..." A layer of cold sweat suddenly seeped out on Shao Hei's forehead, and his body swayed a few times.

I forgot to apologize and stared intently at the painting—a lotus flower, a real and lifelike lotus flower. I had seen the same thing on the clock on the second floor of Xunfuyuan Garden, and also on the plague-themed arm tattoo.

"Lotus? Lotus key? So the key used to wind the bronze clock is related to the underwater structure?" Two doors and two rotating wheels should naturally have two keys, which explains why the plague has two keys of different colors engraved on its arm.

Guan Baoling stopped moving again, like a drawing machine that had lost its driving force.

Shao Hei caught his breath for a few minutes, then wiped the cold sweat from his face with his sleeve: "Feng, I'm at my limit. Miss Guan is too tired. If we continue, it might damage her central nervous system. Perhaps my remote sensing ability has reached its limit. No matter how hard I try, it will only end like this, halfway through. Forget it, let's end it here..."

He took two steps back, leaned against the wall, his chest heaving rapidly, and his breathing sounded like a bellows that had fallen into disrepair.

I snapped out of my shock at discovering the lotus key, grabbed his wrists, and whispered, "Don't stop! I need to know where that door leads! I have internal energy; I can hold out as long as I can. Let Miss Guan continue painting—"

You can imagine that my mind entered a state of extreme excitement and frenzy, because I was so eager to know what was behind those two doors, so eager to know what the mysterious underwater world under the meditation hall was related to the bronze clock in Xunfu Garden... Perhaps all the mysteries of the past could be answered behind those two doors.

Shao Hei smiled bitterly: "I really can't go on anymore. My mind is completely dark. I can't see or feel anything..."

He suddenly started coughing violently, pressing his hands to his chest, looking extremely weak.

"Ah—" Guan Baoling slowly stood up, the pencil in her hand falling to the ground with a thud. She raised her arms, striking what was perhaps the most perfect stretch in the world. I wasn't drawn to her expression; I immediately understood one thing: Shao Hei's "telepathy" had stopped.

"I'm sorry, Feng, I've done my best." Shao Hei's eyes were extremely tired, like a patient who hadn't slept for three days and three nights and was extremely sleepy.

I released his wrist, returned to the table, and looked at the painting that was only half finished.

"Feng, how's it going? Is everything going smoothly?" Guan Baoling's long eyelashes fluttered as she brushed aside the stray hairs on her chest. When she felt some discomfort in her right hand, she couldn't help but furrow her beautiful brows, her red lips hissing as she inhaled sharply.

I cannot answer that the entire exploration process stopped at the most crucial point.

Guan Baoling looked down at the two last paintings she had left behind, and asked in bewilderment, "Did I paint these? What are they? Where did the submarine and the gate come from?"

A person under hypnosis cannot know what they have done. Fortunately, this prevents her from experiencing unspeakable fear again as her thoughts wander in the endless depths of the ocean. With her limited imagination, she cannot comprehend why there would be a bottomless, strange well beneath the meditation hall, so there's no need to explain it to her in detail. Sometimes, revealing the whole truth is not the wisest course of action.

I let out a sigh of relief and nodded casually toward the door: "Someone's waiting for you outside; maybe they can give you a surprise—"

Guan Baoling raised her eyebrows in surprise, her long eyelashes fluttering. "Who is it? Is there really a surprise?" She kept flexing and extending her right hand, making my heart ache. But at this moment, wouldn't the tycoon know better than I how to cherish her? Her surprise would be a sharp blade piercing my heart, impossible to dodge.

I took a step back, opened the paper door, and the tycoon shouted, "Baoling—"

Guan Baoling cried out with delight and glided out like flowing water. I quickly closed the door, trying my best not to think about their tight embrace. Unfortunately, the paper door was too thin and couldn't block out her joyful laughter.

A strong sense of depression welled up from the bottom of my heart, all of it accumulating in my chest and forming a huge, cold lump.

"Feng... don't push yourself too hard. The future... the future will be bright..." Shao Hei struggled to lean against the wall and sat down on the single sofa in the corner, curling up into a ball.

Without Guan Baoling, I have no future, no light. I'd rather throw all my passion into the dark, lonely seabed. I picked up the pencil Guan Baoling had left on the ground and turned to Shao Hei: "Tell me, what's behind the door? My drawing skills may not be as good as Miss Guan's, but at least I have boundless imagination. Or perhaps your 'telepathy' will be more effective!"

He gave a helpless, bitter smile, too lazy to even open his lips, only managing a painful twitch at the corner of his mouth: "It's no use, Feng. The ancients said, 'Even a spent crossbow cannot pierce silk.' Now, with my remaining strength, I can't even guarantee breathing oxygen or blood flow, how can I possibly..."

"Wait, my body contains Master Bumenlu's 'Yin-Yang Divine Power' accumulated over a hundred years, which can be endlessly poured into your body. Please give me a chance to see—"

Shao Hei shook his head again: "It's my ability... that's reached its limit. That place is too deep, too far away. Even if I were to be shattered to pieces, I still wouldn't be able to see it clearly. This is the will of Heaven; mortals cannot defy Heaven..."

In my excitement, my fingers unconsciously tightened, snapping the pencil in two with a crack.

The most straightforward way to find out what's underwater is to storm the meditation hall and explore it yourself. Unfortunately, such an exploration would be extremely time-consuming and laborious, and there's no guarantee of success.

"Is there really no way? What about Mr. Shao Bai or Master Zhang? Could they use the 'Mind Transmission Technique' to at least give me a chance to try? At the same time, flames rose from the Dantian and Tanzhong acupoints, and a rolling heat wave was flowing rapidly through the eight extraordinary meridians. I felt like a fish in a pot of boiling water, about to be cooked by endless anxiety."

Shao Hei shook his head again, completely shattering my hopes.

I gritted my teeth and sighed deeply, my pent-up frustration shooting straight to the top of my head. Suddenly, I swung my right palm and slammed it hard into the chair that Guan Baoling had once sat on. The sturdy catalpa chair shattered with a crash, sending splinters flying everywhere.

The lotus key may be related to the eldest brother, Yang Tian. The eldest brother built the uniquely laid-out Xunfu Garden at the foot of Muwanzhou Mountain, which must have a profound meaning. And the lotus key's magical appearance on the seabed, could it mean that "someone once carried the key that belonged to Xunfu Garden to the seabed"?

Xunfu Garden was built by my elder brother, and the strange bronze warrior statue was also left by him. This inevitably makes me connect his adventures with the two doors at the bottom of the sea.

"What's behind the door? An underwater tomb? Or some unknown underground chamber? Since the lotus key is in the door, could it be... that Big Brother is inside?" As soon as this crazy thought popped into my head, I immediately grabbed Shao Hei's collar, took a deep breath, and shouted, "When can I use 'telepathy' a second time? I must know what's behind those two doors!"

Shao Hei's head hung limply, swaying back and forth as I shook it.