Dragon Girl Neues Kapitel

Kapitel 17

"right."

Horse Face and I exchanged information. It seemed there weren't any monsters or demons lurking on those artifact-like structures. But with my loose tongue, I often say things that seem out of place. What if there really were traps? Judging from the situation, it would be strange if there weren't any. In these kinds of situations, it's almost always a trap. Besides, nobody would be so idle as to do something reckless. Since these strange structures were built here, there must be a reason. Tripwires? Tiger traps? Poison needles? Or what?

Our group is in a pretty bad situation right now, we're at our last gasp, and we can't afford to act recklessly anymore. After thinking hard for a while, I put Ye Min on Ma Lian's back as well, "You wait here, I'll go scout around!"

I haven't volunteered like this in many years.

To be honest, I'm scared too, but even if we're going to break something, we have to do it with some skill. I don't want to hear people laugh at us one day when our "heroic deeds" are being publicized: "Why didn't they go and check first? They just rushed in headfirst, were they stupid?" You really think I can't think of that?

Lost in thought, I practically crawled towards the nearest magical spire. From about half a meter away, I began carefully examining the area within a nearly half-meter diameter centered on it: nothing but grass. No tiger traps, no silk threads, no hidden compartments or anything like that; the possibility of a trap on the ground was successfully ruled out. Then, I carefully observed the spire itself for a while.

Calling them towers is being too kind. They're not actually that big of a "tower." I could easily wrap my arms around their waist and hold their right arm with my left—of course, I didn't actually hug them to measure; I just estimated it visually. The "tower bodies" are all black, and with the rain soaking them, I couldn't see anything, but that didn't matter; I had no interest in them anyway. Only up close did I realize that these things have very tall, pointed tops, like antennas. They're not mountain peaks, yet they all stand out abruptly like them.

I looked around for almost a few minutes, but couldn't see anything dangerous. So I went back to the horse's face, nodded to him, took the dying Ye Min from his shoulder, and gave her one last worried look.

Section 145: The Meadowland in Turmoil (1)

"Walk!"

Since there is no danger, we will cross over.

Horseface and I walked forward with ease. We had been walking through the grass and woodland for most of the day, and we were used to how difficult it was. There were no snakes, so we didn't need to worry about anything. But now these magical, pointed objects had appeared in the grass and woodland. We didn't know what they were for, and they looked like they were not ordinary things. So we were inevitably quite afraid when we passed through them, and we walked relatively quickly and very cautiously.

With all this in mind, after I took Ye Min back and put her on my back, neither Ma Lian nor I said another word. We continued to keep quiet about them and the animals.

Sometimes, I really am confused.

Chapter Eighteen: A Shock to the Meadow

In my twenty-odd years of life, I have never seen such a breathtaking sight of swirling dark clouds and flashing lightning! I was so shaken by the power of nature that I stood there dumbfounded. Perhaps Horse Face sensed that I wasn't moving forward, so he turned around to see if something was wrong. As soon as he turned, I heard him utter a curse word, mixed with the word "thunderstorm."

1 Thunderstorm

2Ji Lei Temple

Chapter Eighteen: A Shock to the Meadow

1 Thunderstorm

After dragging our slightly weary steps past many spires resembling magical artifacts, I suddenly noticed something strange: why did it seem like the surroundings were constantly bright? Occasional flashes of light were normal, with thunder and lightning, but how did it suddenly turn into "daytime" without me noticing? It took me a while to realize what was happening, using this continuous light to see the path beneath my feet. Could it be…could we have encountered that same trouble that Lu Fang and the others went through?

Although I don't believe it, I'm still a little afraid. Living in this world, there are many things we feel we'll never be involved in, but who can say for sure what will happen in the future?

So I braved the rain and looked up, searching for the answer. But all I could see was grass, rain, water, and a tower; I couldn't find anything else that could serve as a light source. Then, I looked closer and realized that the shadows were appearing and disappearing in front of us, so the light source must be behind us. Before I could turn around, Horse Face called out to me.

“There’s shelter from the rain up ahead,” he said.

Hmm? I wiped the rainwater that had formed streams on my face and looked up. Oh, it really was. I could barely make out a row of rooftops in the distance. I suddenly thought: Ah, as long as there are rooftops, it doesn't matter if there are no houses. As long as there are rooftops, I can still find shelter from the rain... Hey, compared to Horse Face, my eyesight is much better. How did I see him when I didn't even see him? After thinking about it, I secretly glanced at him. This guy really has unlimited potential.

Section 146: The Meadowland in Turmoil (2)

Just as I was about to get a closer look, everything went dark again, and before I could even utter a sound of surprise, it lit up again... What dared to play tricks on me like this? I was about to explode with anger when a sudden rumble of thunder silenced me. But then I remembered I had to see what was going on, so with Ye Min on my back, leaning against a magical spire beside me, I half-rested and half-exploredly peered back.

What happened after that first glance was earth-shattering and unforgettable.

Not far behind us, beneath the clouds, accompanied by thunder, besides the thick, cotton-like cumulonimbus clouds, were streaks of lightning that stretched and contracted unpredictably. However… those lightning bolts were somewhat different from the lightning I usually see on rainy days… Not to mention on rainy days, even on television, I've never seen lightning flash like that… a swarm!

My God!

Beneath the thick cumulonimbus clouds, lightning no longer struck as it was commonly believed—a single bolt splitting into several branches before disappearing in an instant. The lightning behind me, striking at once, consisted of at least five or six bolts connected in close proximity! Suddenly, they all struck together, then split into countless branches, like a screen—no, a lightning net! A gigantic lightning net!

In my twenty-odd years of life, I have never seen such a breathtaking sight of swirling dark clouds and flashing lightning! I was so shaken by the power of nature that I stood there dumbfounded. Perhaps Horse Face sensed that I wasn't moving forward, so he turned around to see if something was wrong. As soon as he turned, I heard him utter a curse word, mixed with the word "thunderstorm."

I didn't know what a "thunderstorm" was, but Horse Face definitely did. This guy used to travel the world doing business when he was young; as the saying goes, "A person who has traveled three provinces has seen a lot," and that's very true. Before I could even ask him what a "thunderstorm" was, I saw him cursing and carrying Lü Fang as he started running. He was actually running?

Why are you running? It's not like it'll hit us. According to the map, we're not far from Xishuangbanna. Xishuangbanna in Yunnan is a wonderful place; it not only boasts the only large-scale tropical rainforest in the country, but it's also home to over 5,000 species of rare plants and hundreds of rare birds and animals… I mean, I've never heard of thunderstorms happening here. So, speaking of which…

This is a natural wonder that only happens once in a century!

Section 147: The Meadowland in Turmoil (3)

The horse-faced man's unusual behavior puzzled me. Just then, another clap of thunder sounded, and several spires resembling magical artifacts came into view. Looking at these pointed things around me... it suddenly occurred to me...

Ah! How could I not have thought of that! I quickly realized that I had made a very serious mistake. The open field, the barren forest, the storm, the lightning, the spires... all these things... this place... this place is a complete lightning rod!

Although I always thought that lightning rods were placed wherever they were highest, now is the time to run.

Nature is far more efficient than humans; we hadn't run far when a large cumulonimbus cloud, crackling with lightning, drifted in. Then, a network of orographic thunderstorms, formed by interconnected lightning bolts, began to strike the numerous lightning rods in the grass and woodlands, unleashing a deafening barrage of thunder. The scene was truly breathtaking and awe-inspiring.

Attracted by the spires in the lightning rod array, lightning strikes them, and the powerful current is then conducted to the ground through these ancient lightning rods, where it is dispersed through new media, thus achieving neutralization.

Through the transmission of these lightning rods, the areas struck by them experience voltages exceeding tens of millions of volts. Contact with a person or livestock would be utterly fatal. Furthermore, although the current and voltage being diverted gradually decrease, they still far exceed the maximum voltage the human body can withstand. Therefore, even if one were incredibly lucky and escaped immediate electrocution, being struck by lightning would almost certainly result in death or permanent disability. Thinking of this, words like vegetative state, paralysis, high-level amputation, and extensive burns flashed through my mind—each more terrifying than death. Of course, a person can't outrun lightning, but even so, I felt as if I had already been electrocuted, carrying Ye Min on my back and wailing as I ran forward with great strides.

run!

Time was of the essence. Tears and snot streamed down my face, and I didn't even know what I looked like mixed with the rain. I've never done anything wrong in my life, at most I've toyed with the feelings of a few girls. And for this, I'm going to be struck by lightning? And die in such an exaggerated thunderstorm? This is just too inhumane!

I reckon Horse Face wasn't in much better shape than me. Actually, the area where the lightning had already struck was quite a distance from where we were now, practically a great distance. Otherwise, we would all have been lying on the ground when those lightning bolts struck. Of course, I didn't pay attention to obvious "details" like our distance from them, the speed of the water flow beneath our feet, or whether the houses in front of us were conductive. With the chilling weather and Horse Face's unusual behavior, I didn't have time to notice any of those things.

Section 148: The Meadowland in Turmoil (4)

Horse Face ran ahead of me. As we ran, glowing objects would whiz by with a "whoosh" as they flew past us and overhead. The light wasn't very bright, so I could catch a glimpse of them occasionally, but I couldn't quite place what they were. The shapes of the glowing objects were mostly circular, but there were also round, elliptical, and semi-elliptical shapes.

Fireball or lightning? When I realized it might be a fireball, my scalp felt like it was on fire. At that moment, I wished I could run faster and be thinner. If I were hit by these things, I wouldn't survive.

In popular science books, these things also have a very good scientific name: ball lightning.

The rapidly passing ball lightning stunned Horse Face. After one of them collided with a lightning rod in the grass and woods, causing an explosion not far from him and Lü Fang, Horse Face did something I never expected—

He didn't stop running, but simply abandoned Lü Fang in the grassy woods.

By this time, we could clearly see the situation under the eaves of the houses not far ahead. The path leading to the houses was also changing; the weeds were gradually thinning out, and we seemed to have reached the edge of the lightning protection zone. The number of towering spires had also decreased significantly. Although there was hope ahead, the thunderstorm behind us was not so forgiving. In the blink of an eye, it had already advanced more than half a mile.

I should have known long ago that Horse Face wasn't the kind of person you could entrust anything to, but I never expected him to actually abandon the unconscious Lü Fang. I saw him transform into a loose arrow, silently shooting straight towards the distant eaves.

I knew perfectly well that shouting, condemning, or even cursing at this point would have no effect on Ma Lian; he had already run quite a distance away. However, the unconscious Lü Fang was located some distance from me.

When I thought of Lü Fang, I mostly thought of the Swiss Army knife in my pocket… but to be honest, I really wanted to rush over and take him with me. But time and circumstances wouldn’t allow it—the ball lightning was getting more and more frequent, the thunder behind me seemed to be almost upon me, and Ye Min’s faint breath was still on my neck… I hesitated for a full second before following closely behind Ma Lian with a huge sense of guilt.

Fragility is sometimes not limited to life itself.

Section 149: The Meadowland in Turmoil (5)

2Ji Lei Temple

As they drew closer to their destination, Ma Lian's heart pounded even harder. The geckos on the thick tree trunks had certainly startled him, but they wouldn't pose any direct harm to humans. However, he wasn't initially sure; geckos that grew to that size might have long since evolved from herbivores to carnivores. It wasn't until he was bumped by them that he dismissed this thought. Mutated creatures could indeed terrify people, but how could they possibly frighten a seasoned traveler like him, who had traversed the south and north? Upon reflection, given Yunnan's fertile climate, the mutation of plants and animals wasn't surprising—when he first arrived in Yunnan, working with local tea farmers deep in the mountains dealing in tea, he had personally witnessed enormous mountain mosquitoes, those large, brightly colored mosquitoes almost the size of an adult's clenched fist.

But he himself did not expect that in such a subtropical region, in such a season, he would encounter a thunderstorm.

He spent some time on Hainan Island when he was young, where the aquaculture industry was very developed, and he once thought about making a fortune in it. Later, when the rainy season came, Hainan Island experienced thunderstorms. That was the first time he witnessed the wrath of nature: countless lightning bolts simultaneously discharged at extremely close range, accompanied by powerful whirlwinds. The surging sea and the rolling thunderclouds in the sky seemed to be connected by these lightning bolts, and the horizon was completely black.

In addition to these effects, thunderstorms often bring about other more severe weather conditions, such as heavy showers or downpours, hail, and sometimes even tornadoes. Furthermore, thunderstorms can produce fireballs or ball lightning of varying sizes. Most of the time it's just fireballs; the extremely mysterious ball lightning appears only very rarely. But whatever it is, its power should not be underestimated—fishing boats anchored in the bay without time to take cover are often destroyed by them.

The power of nature is something that human beings cannot resist.

It's probably because someone dug up his ancestral graves back home, bringing him eight lifetimes of bad luck. Now, in this place where lightning rods are everywhere, he's caught in a thunderstorm carrying ball lightning. He doesn't even have time to escape, let alone take that kid with him. It's better for one person to meet the King of Hell than for two. If that guy surnamed Yang wants to play the hero, fine, give him a try.

Section 150: The Meadowland in Turmoil (6)

As Ma Lian thought this through, he took off running. The ground beneath his feet had changed from being covered in weeds to being covered in jagged rocks, just like he had seen at the entrance when he got off the bus. And the houses that had been vaguely visible before were now clearly visible.

Before me stood a solitary, dilapidated temple.

The temple was dilapidated, but not in the way one would expect from repeated storms. Outsiders wouldn't notice, but Ma Lian knew perfectly well. The high walls surrounding the temple, and the scars on the temple gates and pillars, were entirely the result of the thunderstorm, fireball, and even ball lightning.

It seems that the weather here is strikingly similar to that of the Bermuda Triangle.

In his frantic run, he took a moment to glance at the large plaque hanging above the temple gate. The plaque was pristine and new, which seemed quite out of place compared to the otherwise severely damaged temple. The three characters in clerical script written horizontally on the plaque were also quite intriguing.

Zhilei Temple.

Lightning struck the earth, but stopped before the Buddha? Ma Lian didn't quite understand the mystery, but at least there was a place to hide. Being exposed to this open space for a long time, even if he was lucky enough to avoid those unpredictable and strangely powerful ball lightning, what if hail came? Wouldn't he be riddled with holes?

The temple door was ajar. When he pushed it open, he noticed that the door knockers were made of stone. What did he care? Turning around, he couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end—Yang Guocheng's son, carrying his employee Xiaomin on his back, was rushing towards him angrily. Behind them, thunder roared and flames danced, and countless spheres of all sizes hurtled towards him like falling meteors.

A wicked thought formed in his mind due to the fear of the thunderstorm. Ma Lian rushed into the temple, and the first thing he did was slam the door shut behind him. He wanted to slam it shut. Die, die, die! You bastard who dared to "usurp power" and "overthrow the government," how dare you mock, criticize, and order me, the company's general manager, all the way here! You're petty and ruthless, I'll make you pay! I'll let you taste the thunderbolts!

I realized that old scoundrel Horse Face really was trying to kick me while I was down! He must have known that if I managed to escape unscathed with Ye Min on my back, I would definitely use Lü Fang's situation to my advantage. In fact, that was exactly what I planned. I never expected that this cunning old fox Horse Face would be prepared to strike first the moment he abandoned Lü Fang. At this moment, I'm filled with regret. I should have just let him end it all in that cramped little hut; keeping him around has only brought endless trouble!

Section 151: Obvious and Clear (1)

"Trying to kill me? Not so easy!" The veins on my forehead bulged, and my strength suddenly increased as I carried Ye Min on my back, allowing me to run at lightning speed. But as I ran, I also realized that we were in a very unfavorable situation.

There was a thunderous roar behind me; I could tell without even turning around. With Ye Min on my back, I couldn't possibly kick open the temple door that the horse-faced man had closed with all my might. But I didn't have the time or the ability to put her down either; if I did, she would definitely be doomed like Lü Fang.

The spot where Lü Fang was lying was now hidden amidst the lightning and thunder.

As I drew closer to the temple gate, still unable to devise a good strategy, I grew increasingly anxious. The temple's main gate opened outwards; anyone outside would have to pull it open to get in. In other words, even without carrying anyone, I couldn't possibly kick it open by brute force. Extending from either side of the gate were towering, damp walls, impossible to climb. Even if I could, what would I do with the drowsy Ye Min on my back?

Just as I was in a state of panic, another fireball suddenly flew past me. This time, it was terrifyingly large. The fireball continued forward and crashed into the high wall to the left of the temple gate. The light from the explosion blinded me, and when I opened my eyes a moment later, ha, Horse Face, you're fucking dead!

The fireball had really hit the high wall, creating a gap in it. That's what they call "Heaven hasn't forsaken me, so how could I dare to perish?" I didn't even have time to be excited; I quickly changed course and ran straight towards the gap.

The gap wasn't too big or too small, and there were still many charred and broken stone bricks around the edge. Without thinking much, I tightened my grip on Ye Min on my back, letting her head rest against my back. After making sure she wouldn't be hit, I closed my eyes and rushed straight through.

Chapter Nineteen: Obvious

Just as we were embracing and weeping, a figure suddenly burst in from outside the temple, panicked and panting. I was so startled I almost dropped Ye Min from my arms. Had the horse-faced corpse come back to life?!

1 Fierce Battle

2. Bare face

Chapter Nineteen: Obvious

1 Fierce Battle

"Whoosh—"

Some loose, burnt bricks fell down as I forced my way through, injuring myself in the process. My face and arms were covered in dark scratches, which soon oozed bright red blood. But I had no time for such minor pains. Once inside the temple, the first thing I did was glance at the entrance. "Trying to harm me? I'll make you regret it so much you'll wish you'd never been born!"

Section 152: Obvious (2)

At a glance, I noticed that the horse's face was no longer there. Following my gaze, I noticed that the folding wooden doors of the Cabinet Hall were open.

Having temporarily escaped danger, my suppressed anger suddenly surged up. I put Ye Min down from my back and let her lean against a pillar outside the temple for a while before I quietly slipped into the darkness inside the temple.

Horse Face, where are you? Come out, there's no use resisting.

The temple was extremely dark, its condition barely better than the dilapidated temple gate outside. Incense burners and other offerings were scattered in pieces on the filthy floor. Several long banners, their original colors indistinguishable, hung in the hall, black and dirty, making it difficult to determine whether they were for attracting wealth and blessings or for summoning spirits. But these were minor issues. Even the statue of the Great Thunder God, enshrined in the very center of the temple, was cracked and broken, lying to one side. If the devout men and women who built the temple had witnessed this scene, they would surely have cried out words of sin and blasphemy, bowing and kowtowing in deep remorse, begging for forgiveness.

The occasional flashes of lightning outside the temple could provide a little illumination through the mottled window openings, but the light was brief and extremely limited. I searched for a long time but couldn't find the horse's face. Could it be that it could burrow underground?

As I was wondering what was going on, a sudden force surged from the darkness, attacking me violently. A sharp pain shot through my body; the unexpected attack caught me off guard, and I stumbled and fell to the ground. Before I could react, a large, dark figure pressed down on me, another wave of excruciating pain washing over me. Before I could even cry out, the figure began to unleash a flurry of punches, striking me from both sides!

Horse face!

Realizing I'd fallen into his ambush, I desperately protected my face and head, simultaneously thrusting my right knee forward. I heard Horse Face cry out and fall to the ground. I followed up with a powerful backhand punch, landing squarely on his face. Then, with a quick roll, we switched places. My fist, fueled by rage, swung down with a furious roar.