Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 154

The kite was very new, probably a spare kit that had never been used before, with a white, semi-transparent nylon rope trailing behind it.

Part 3: Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain

— Chapter 4 — Reunited with the Reborn (Part 2) —

The only notable find was the brown rope binding Shao Bai, about the thickness of a thumb, with two slip knots tied perfectly using the "Emra knot" technique. It was looped around Shao Bai's wrists, clearly the work of an old sailor who spent his days at sea. This kind of knot wouldn't easily come loose, nor would it tighten indefinitely with water, sun, or pulling, causing the binding to break off.

I cut the rope knot, arranged Shao Bai's body in a more comfortable position, and covered him with his clothes to hide the horrific wound on his chest.

Xiao Keleng had already taken out a small Sony camera and was snapping clear pictures of the corpse and the kite from various angles. Water was dripping from her knees down, and it would probably freeze soon, but she was so focused on her work that she didn't care about her disheveled state.

When her camera panned to the seemingly calm water, I suddenly felt I should say something. The suction was so powerful, comparable to the powerful exhaust fans in a large factory, and its nature was completely different from the undercurrents and whirlpools underwater.

"Xiao Xiao, you were sucked down just now, right? Did you feel anything unusual?" The water was so still that after all the disturbance brought by the kite and the corpse had passed, there was not a ripple on the surface of the water, and it became a stagnant pool.

Xiao Keleng put away her camera and stretched casually: "The feeling at that moment was like stepping into a swamp, with nowhere to exert any force. I once deliberately tried to feel the sensation of being sucked into a swimming pool's powerful drain, but it couldn't compare to the twisted attraction of the 'Well of Spirits' just now. The latter had a strong suction force of at least 150 kilograms."

We looked up at the walls and rooftops on all four sides, hoping to find sparrows to experiment with, but unfortunately we found nothing.

“This well is getting stranger and stranger, Mr. Feng. I even suspect that the kite was attracted down from mid-air. The murderer who committed the murder and moved the body would not have chosen this well as the destination for the body disposal—” Her suspicion was not unreasonable. According to the analysis of the murder scenes of Aum Shinrikyo that she had obtained before, the most common method of disposing of bodies by the cultists was to openly display the gruesome corpses on the altar of the village church to bring the greatest shock and fear to the kind residents around them.

If the wind were blowing from the northwest and extended in a straight line, it should land at the location of Xunfuyuan at the foot of the mountain.

Xiao Ke's face darkened: "Mr. Feng, it seems like they're targeting us."

I didn't rush to answer the question, because the Reborn don't kill indiscriminately, unlike typical cults that incite mass suicide for amusement. As a branch of the "Azure Dragon Society," the world's most mysterious and ambitious organization, the Reborn's goal is to amass wealth, seize treasures, and control the Earth's rare resources to the greatest extent possible.

Will the Xunfuyuan Villa have anything that reborn people need?

Xiao Ke took out her phone, bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke again: "Mr. Feng, there's something I might say abruptly, please forgive me for overstepping my bounds—Thirteenth Brother's ability to set up formations and engage in combat isn't outstanding, and Mr. Hawke's specialty is only urban hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, Xunfu Garden urgently needs an expert like you to lead everything. Mr. Sun Long also felt the same way, but after being rejected by you several times, he was embarrassed to force you to take action again in order to maintain his dignity. I think Xunfu Garden is an enterprise entrusted to him by Mr. Scalpel, and even if it's just to protect his image, shouldn't you do something?"

Deep within her eyes, two flames of expectation flickered and danced.

I gave a wry smile: "Regarding the issue of the Reborn, I have to admit that Sulen and I were defeated by them once in the Egyptian desert. The ambitions of the Azure Dragon Society are a chronic problem that both the European Union and the North American Alliance find troublesome. Our strength is not enough to contend with the Reborn. No matter how powerful and sophisticated modern military weapons are, they can never fight against illusory superpowers."

Xiao Keleng nodded: "I understand."

Many of the Pentagon's classified intelligence had already been passed on to Su Lun and Xiao Keleng through Yan Xun's channels. Therefore, even though Xiao Keleng was located in a remote corner of the island nation of Hokkaido, he was not in a situation of working in isolation.

“Xiao Xiao, I know what I should do. Later, you and Master Zhang will take the tycoon and Miss Guan back to Xunfuyuan Villa. Since Mr. Sun Long and the tycoon have already communicated, let’s use his influence to transfer a batch of advanced weapons from the US military base in Japan as quickly as possible. I will give you a detailed list and try to ensure that they are in place within 24 hours—dismantle all the things that Wang Jiangnan arranged earlier. The American counter-terrorism experts will come over to set everything up.”

Since the tycoon arrogantly called Sun Long to requisition troops, I could also openly use his connections to borrow American weapons and make sure the Xunfuyuan Villa was impregnable. I know that the weapons and equipment of the US troops stationed in Japan are more than four times more advanced than what has been publicly disclosed in the media; almost everything except nuclear weapons was deployed immediately.

"So, what about you? You're not coming back with us, you're going to stay here?" Xiao Ke's sudden display of genuine concern deeply moved me. If Guan Baoling could treat me like this, how wonderful that would be?

A wave of bittersweet feeling washed over me. I spread my arms wide and replied nonchalantly, "There are still some things to take care of. I need to wait for Tengjia to finish her meditation and retrieve the translated copy of the *Azure Heaven and Yellow Springs Sutra* that she kept in the safe. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Good people always have divine help—"

Xiao Ke let out a long, melancholy sigh, looking preoccupied.

A gust of wind suddenly swept by, lifting Shao Bai's shirt again, revealing an irregular blood hole more than twenty centimeters in diameter, resembling a large, jagged mouth.

"Mr. Feng, Sister Su Lun has always told me to advise you to never act impulsively and to remember the Chinese proverb, 'Where there's life, there's hope.' Although I am Korean, I have been passionate about Chinese culture since childhood and I am most fascinated by the chivalrous spirit and heroes of China. In movies and novels, heroes sacrifice so much for the public while showing little concern for themselves. I hope you take good care of yourself, for the sake of—Sister Su Lun."

Xiao Keleng's voice was noticeably lower, and his expression was sorrowful and pitiful.

"Sigh—" Another long sigh came from beside the moon gate. Zhang Baisen strode over, his voice preceding his arrival. His square face revealed barely suppressed extreme anger, and his short hair seemed to stand on end.

Shao Bai is already dead; that's an irreversible fact.

"Was it done by remnants of the Aum Shinrikyo cult?" Zhang Baisen murmured to himself, leaning down to stare at Shao Bai's face.

Like Shao Hei, Shao Bai also died with his eyes wide open, staring blankly at the sky, his mouth tightly shut, the muscles on his face twisted strangely. His hair was no longer disheveled; after being wet with water, it obediently tucked back, a layer of transparent ice crystals forming on its surface.

Xiao Keleng and I remained silent. The deaths of the Shao brothers were undoubtedly a huge and heavy blow to Zhang Baisen. As the head of the "China Supernatural Abilities Exchange Group," he had to give an explanation to the higher-level government regarding the deaths of the two men.

He took out a black-handled magnifying glass from his pocket and carefully examined Shao Bai's wounds, slowly controlling his agitated emotions. I knew he wouldn't find anything. When Gu Ye Shenzhi died, Su Lun had also carefully searched the wounds with a magnifying glass and could only conclude that they were "tearing marks like those of a wild beast," which was of no help in tracing the killer's origins.

Time passed second by second, and when I thought about how the fang-like marks on Guan Baoling's neck would continue to increase over time, I couldn't help but feel anxious again.

"Master Zhang—" Xiao Ke called out anxiously.

Zhang Baisen straightened up, holding the magnifying glass, and stared blankly for a few seconds before slowly turning to face Xiao Keleng. In that instant, I had a strange premonition—"He must have discovered something! Could he have more detailed information about the reborn murder case?"

My strange sixth sense only allows me to vaguely see some clues, but it can't reach the level of clear and unambiguous remote sensing that Shao Hei possesses.

“Let’s go back. Don’t keep the tycoon waiting.” His voice became hoarse as he turned and left, ignoring the corpse on the ground.

Xiao Keleng immediately turned to look at me, her face full of questions, but we couldn't say anything more. We followed Zhang Baisen out of the small courtyard.

Just after passing through a few corridors, the monk suddenly appeared from the side, hurriedly calling out, "Mr. Feng, please wait a moment, I have something to report." Ignoring the surprised expressions of Zhang Baisen and Xiao Keleng, he grabbed my sleeve and forcefully pulled me around the corner.

I pulled my hand away from his and asked in a low voice, "What is it? Stop pulling and tugging!"

The monk had just shaved, his chin was ashen, and his face was radiant; his appearance had changed dramatically.

“Early this morning, my disciples came to report that all seven doors of the Scripture Pavilion had been pried open, and the scriptures on the shelves were in disarray. I ran to check, and it was indeed a burglary. The worst part was that the safe that Master Shenbi used to store important books had also been smashed open, and his diary was scattered all over the floor. You haven't seen those materials yet, so I didn't let anyone touch them. I locked them in an iron box and placed them separately in the Marrow Cleansing Hall, where six disciples with outstanding martial arts skills were assigned to guard them carefully…”

He gestured wildly and talked non-stop, a stark contrast to his usual taciturn and composed demeanor.

Could Master Shenbi's diary reveal the many strange things happening in Fengge Temple? I always felt that beneath the peaceful and tranquil surface of the temple lay many strange secrets, not just about the Tower of the Dead, the Well of Spirits, the Undersea Tomb, or the Meditation Hall. It is very likely that there are some kind of strange connections between people, between the monks and the royal family. Otherwise, how could we explain why important figures would linger in the desolate mountains and ancient temples amidst their busy schedules?

“You did a great job, but there’s one more thing. Go and investigate Shidao’s background and see if there’s anything suspicious.” I still felt uneasy about Xiao Lai’s report because Shidao was the only person who had seen the plague resurrected. It was a real pity that this faint clue had been lost.

The monk touched his shiny bald head and smiled wryly, looking troubled: "Ishijima? After he jumped off the cliff, he scared all the disciples in the temple into a daze, especially the people who shared a room with him. They kept their distance. We asked them dozens of times, but we didn't get any useful information. He was an orphan from the countryside of Sapporo who wandered here and was raised by the temple. He was honest and had no bad records."

As he spoke, he shook his head in confusion, his bald head gleaming brightly.

Part 3: Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain

— Chapter 5 — Retreating to Advance (Part 1) —

The resurgence of the plague, amidst countless fragments of history, lit a guiding light for me. It was his appearance when I first arrived at Xunfu Garden that drew my attention to the special nature of the lotus key, and before his death, he revealed the two lotus tattoos on his arm, seemingly a deliberate attempt to awaken me.

"Could it be that the plague knew that Ishijima had revealed his whereabouts and deliberately killed him to cover it up?" This inference is barely tenable; otherwise, how can we explain why Ishijima would jump into the sea for no reason?

"Could we send someone down the cliff to check? Or perhaps he didn't perish at sea?" I still held onto a sliver of hope.

The monk stroked his livid chin and shook his head without hesitation: "Impossible. The area below the cliff is riddled with jagged reefs. If someone falls in, their body will be pierced through and then devoured by the sharks in the near sea, leaving not even bones. I think it's better not to waste our energy."

I feel that his tone of voice is getting stranger and stranger, and his wording is very fluent. Could it be that after taking on the role of the host, he has deliberately improved his interpersonal skills?

There's a detail I'd never noticed before: Monk Elephant's ten fingers were unusually long and smooth, with a distinctly feminine quality. When Master Xianyun and Zhang Baisen stormed into Fengge Temple, the four monks—Dragon, Elephant, Lion, and Tiger—along with Master Shenbi, all fought against them. I felt he must have practiced a powerful and domineering external martial art; how could he possibly have maintained his fingers to such an extent?

Seeing that I remained silent, the monk coughed awkwardly a few times, bowed, and asked, "Mr. Feng, if there are no further instructions, I shall take my leave?"

I nodded, and he hurriedly walked along the long alley toward the Marrow Cleansing Hall.

Xiao Ke suddenly appeared and stood beside me, observing the elephant monk's departing steps together. She asked, puzzled, "Mr. Feng, have you also noticed something? Although the elephant monk deliberately controlled his movements while walking, he still displayed the characteristics of a top-tier master of lightness skill. Whether lifting his foot or stepping down, he was as light as a cat catching a mouse—I know that the martial arts of the Fengge Temple school follow a fierce and wild path. Every disciple, upon entering the school, must first establish a solid foundation in lower body strength. Their research on lightness skill is not even 'ordinary,' so how come the elephant monk's foundation in lightness skill is so superb?"

I nodded, expressing my appreciation for Xiao Keleng's thoughtfulness.

Elephant Monk is the number one master after Master Shenbi. If Fengge Temple were to choose a new abbot, he would be the only one suitable. I hope that Xiao Keleng and I are just being overly suspicious; otherwise, Fengge Temple will have no one else capable of taking on the role.

Zhang Baisen had already returned to his courtyard; after a series of setbacks, his spirits had become very low. With few help to begin with, and the successive losses of the Shao brothers, I was once again fighting alone.

After returning to the courtyard, the tycoon and Guan Baoling still stood hand in hand in the yard. It seemed that once they were together, they completely forgot their fatigue and remained in high spirits.

As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, I felt a gloomy cloud hanging in the sky, blocking out most of the bright sunshine, and my mood immediately became depressed.

“Mr. Ye, I’d like to get straight to the point and discuss a few things with you. Do you have some time?” I walked up to the tycoon, deliberately controlling my gaze to keep Guan Baoling out of sight, but the fragrance emanating from her wafted into my nostrils, inescapable.

The tycoon patted Guan Baoling's hand lightly, and she knowingly withdrew her hand, turning and walking back into her room. This gesture is something only men and women who are together every day, intimately connected and intimately in tune with each other, could do. At least, she and I aren't that close yet.

"Speak," the tycoon subconsciously raised his chin, as if preparing to listen to his subordinates' reports.

I secretly sneered inwardly, but kept a straight face: "Mr. Ye, I have been entrusted by Mr. Sun Long to take full charge of the daily affairs of the Japanese branch of the Divine Gun Society. Now, we have all been notified to serve you temporarily, so I hope that we can work together sincerely and do a good job in everything we do next."

In terms of wording and tone, I consistently used "you" instead of "you (formal)." Since we are not under the tycoon's command, our status in the underworld is equal, and there is no need for me to belittle myself. On the other hand, by recruiting Wang Jiangnan, Hawke, and others, he will only continue to be besieged by powerful enemies. Not only will he not be able to escape his predicament, but he will also ruin the victory that was within his grasp.

The tycoon nodded arrogantly with his chin: "Go on!" He hadn't slept all night, and gray stubble had appeared on his chin. Although he didn't look overly tired, I could tell that he was just barely holding on.

Three years ago, when he first appeared on the Forbes Rich List, his publicly stated age was 51. Today, everyone in public refers to him as a "senior." In the rapidly changing landscape of the 21st century, once someone is labeled "old," it means they are about to be ruthlessly abandoned by the relentless wheels of time.

Suddenly, a strange sense of pity crept into my hostility towards him.

An old man, no longer young, will inevitably face death, no matter how unwilling he is. Furthermore, he has been cruelly cursed by "dark magic." For a gangster, what does "ED" represent? It represents the complete loss of male dignity. What use are hundreds or thousands of beautiful women then?

I imagine my expression at that moment must have been incredibly complex and strange, causing the tycoon to widen his eyes in suspicion and stare at me intently. When I looked down at the top of his head, I saw that the hair on the top of his head was very sparse, and the newly grown hair roots were all silver-white.

"He's old, or as most veterans in the martial arts world say, when a person's status in the martial arts world reaches its peak, old age follows closely behind, until it drags him into the abyss of decline and death." I suddenly thought of the scalpel in the Egyptian desert, who resolutely went to his death, unwilling to be controlled by the shadow of the illusion demon, and ultimately abandoned his life.

The life of a surgeon is a clear process of struggle, rise, peak, decline, and death, which can serve as a reference for future generations to navigate the world.

“Wind, keep going, stop speaking in riddles.” The tycoon laughed heartily.

“Mr. Ye, I would like to request that you provide a batch of elite weaponry to equip Xunfu Garden as a temporary fortress. At least until the extortion case is over, I hope to ensure everyone's safety.” I changed my tone because I had realized how cruel and boring it would be to use a tycoon nearing the end of his life as a hypothetical enemy. His death was already clearly achievable, while I was at the height of my power and prosperity, with a bright future ahead.

He noticed my change in attitude and his eyebrows twitched: "Is it that serious?"

I nodded in response: "It's more serious than we thought. Shao Bai's death was most likely the work of the 'Reborn' organization, which is affiliated with the Azure Dragon Society."

The tycoon masked his shock with a smile, clapped his hands lightly, and gave a noncommittal "Oh." He turned to look at the doorway Guan Baoling had just entered, as if he had made up his mind, and whispered a phone number.

“Make a call. You can call the other person ‘Blue Albatross.’ Just tell them what you need.” His tone began to sound less relaxed.

I obediently took out my phone, dialed the number, and the other party answered almost immediately, but remained silent.

"Blue Albatross?"

"Yes." The other person was a middle-aged man with a Scottish accent.

"I need to equip a two-story villa, approximately 700 square meters, with ammunition and surveillance equipment. The firing intensity should be comparable to that against light armored vehicles and attack helicopters on the ground, with a circular defense radius of two kilometers. Please provide top-tier counter-terrorism deployment experts and deliver them to the Xunfuyuan Villa at the foot of Mount Kiwan in Hokkaido within ten hours." I quickly stated my requirements into the microphone. These measures were mainly intended to counter various forces from both the legitimate and criminal worlds.

There was no response, and the other party hung up the phone.

“Feng, if it’s just dealing with an extortion case, it seems unnecessary to make such a fuss, doesn’t it?” The tycoon showed a hint of unease.

I laughed. He dared to go into danger alone; who knows how many backup he had arranged behind him, they just couldn't reveal it publicly. As for publicly recruiting members of the Sharpshooter's Guild by phone, that was just a smokescreen, a show for the blackmailers lurking in the shadows.

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The strategy of "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass" is a common trick used by martial arts masters.

“I know it’s unnecessary—but then again, when you’re frequently engaged in global business activities, you wouldn’t only buy one insurance policy, would you? Miss Guan has already disappeared twice, and no one wants to see her in danger a third time, would they?” I emphasized the word “disappeared.” He was a sensible man and would surely understand my subtext.

During those days inside the glass box, Guan Baoling belonged to me, and had nothing to do with the tycoon. At that time, we were just an ordinary man and woman trapped in dire straits. As for each other, she was neither a dazzling superstar nor I was an invincible warrior renowned in the Egyptian desert.

"Hehe, thank you." The tycoon smiled faintly, ignoring my words.

Ten hours isn't too long, and I'm confident the American counterterrorism experts will deliver satisfactory results. All I need to do is stay here alone, without any worries, until things take a new turn.

The cold kept getting worse, and even though Daheng was dressed much less warmly than me, his face turned pale from the cold.

The snow dripping from the eaves gradually froze into icicles. The outdoor temperature must have reached minus five degrees Celsius or even lower. Even the square brick ground under our feet had thin ice flowers on it.

Actually, we could all go into the room at the same time. The radiators in the temple's guest rooms are quite effective, so there's no need to freeze outside. But since the tycoon didn't suggest it, I wouldn't bring it up either. Judging by my ample internal strength, even if I were to freeze for over ten hours, I wouldn't suffer any harm.

Xiao Keleng had already entered the room, and it was believed that she and Zhang Baisen would have more opportunities to communicate.