Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 289

"How about we make an equal exchange?" Before Guan Nan Wulang's words had even finished, her fierce offensive had already begun, and I was thus freed and able to retreat safely.

In the art of martial arts, the highest level is to seek speed, ruthlessness, accuracy, poison, and cunning. But her attack at this moment achieved all five of these. With her fingers flying, she aimed at Guan Nan Wulang's vital points, namely his eyes, temples, Adam's apple, and heart.

That kind of fierce attack was something even Su Lun couldn't reach in ten more years of training. If I were Guan Nan Wulang, I would only dodge and retreat, avoiding the brunt of the attack for the time being.

Guan Nan Wulang leaped into the air, took fifteen steps back, touched a spinning gear, and then flew up again with a flap of his arm.

She did not give up on her goal and gave chase. Although she gave Yesak an opportunity to draw his bow and shoot when she passed over his head, the gap was too short. He only had time to move his arms upward before the enemy disappeared from sight.

"Hey, *** this is really evil—" Yesak gave up on the pointless aiming, slowly loosened the taut bowstring, and uttered a curse helplessly.

A man in white robes quickly approached, glanced at the guqin in the wooden box, and bowed to Yesak, asking, "Mr. Ye, I think destroying this guqin is the key to controlling the situation, isn't it?" He stretched out his short, thick hands, grabbed the guqin, and stared at the vermilion seal for a long time.

Yesak frowned: "Destroy the zither? Wouldn't that ruin Master's important matter?"

The man in white shook his head vigorously: "What I mean by destroying the zither is to destroy this vermilion seal. Just now, I saw that it was Miss Su Lun's blood that dripped onto the seal, causing the current change. If someone else were to drip blood onto the seal, it would inevitably trigger other ghostly spirits hidden within the zither. My master once said that the zither is adept at hiding ghostly spirits and demonic souls. The more varied and intricate the sound of the zither, the more souls are hidden within it. A thousand sounds, a thousand souls; ten thousand sounds, ten thousand spirits. Please give the order, Mr. Ye."

While Yesak was still pondering, the man in white robes had already drawn a short knife and pressed it against the wrist of the man holding the lyre.

"Morari, let's wait and see how the battle unfolds." Yesak was not a calm and decisive person. After all, this massive operation was personally commanded by Guan Nan Goro, and no one else could make the decision.

“Mr. Feng, what do you think?” The man in the white robe, Morari, turned to look at me.

He had a pair of light blue eyes, which made it clear that he belonged to the northernmost race of Northern Europe.

“What you said makes a lot of sense.” I nodded. Although I didn’t know who his master was, I agreed most with the theory of Qin Yun Cang Yao.

"No matter what, I'm going to give it a try." He smiled, his thick beard on his lips, cheeks, and chin trembling.

This time, Yesak didn't insist on stopping them, because the situation remained unchanged during the intense chase: it was always Guan Nan Wulang dodging while she was rapidly pursuing him. Several times, her fingertips almost touched the back of Guan Nan Wulang's clothes, but missed by a hair's breadth.

Morari nodded to the men on his left: "You three, come here and drip blood."

The other three stepped forward without hesitation, extending their left arms. A flash of light, and a faint smell of blood rose in the air. Morari's knife strike was swift and elusive, cutting their skin precisely, drawing only a single drop of blood.

He looked at me again: "Mr. Feng, are you sure my method is correct?"

There seemed to be some unspoken understanding between us. If I hadn't wanted to preserve one last means of rescue, I might have chosen the path of dripping blood on the vermilion seal. I nodded again, using tacit agreement instead of a reply.

"We can begin," he murmured to himself, moving the guqin under one of the people's wrists.

A sharp whistling sound of projectiles rang out, and without thinking, I lunged forward, striking with both hands simultaneously to catch a gear that was being fired at Morari. When it landed in my palm, its immense spin hadn't completely dissipated, so I could only propel it forward, sending it hurtling towards the distant metal wall with a series of clanging sounds.

Immediately afterwards, seven more gears flew over in a chain, creating a deafening roar.

She abandoned her pursuit of Guan Nan Wulang and swooped down towards them, kicking gears at the white-robed man. When I caught the seventh gear, my palm burned; I seemed to have suffered a minor injury. Morari had already retreated with the white-robed man, tightly protecting the guqin to his chest.

His idea was indeed correct, but it was precisely this action that angered her.

“Give it to me.” She landed in front of Morari, stretched out her hand, and stared down at him.

The seventeen Qi cultivators were powerless against a true master and could only watch helplessly as she took the zither from Morari's hands, not daring to make any rash moves.

“You are very clever, knowing that the vermilion seal is the key to the guqin. Therefore, clever people must die, the sooner the better.” She stretched out her right hand and slowly pressed her five fingers onto Morari’s head.

This was the perfect opportunity for Yesak to strike, and he realized this as well. Without hesitation, he drew his bow, nocked three arrows, and fired them all at once. The two were twenty paces apart; given the speed of the arrows, it would only take a tenth of a second to pierce her body.

I couldn't stop Yesak from firing her arrows; after all, when she unleashes her fury, no one is spared. At this moment, the only way to save everyone is to eliminate her at any cost. If Suren were to be shot and killed under such circumstances, it would be a tremendous tragedy for both of us. How similar this fate is to the death of the scalpel six months ago!

With a hiss, the silver arrows, before even touching her body, suddenly stopped in their tracks, and then each arrow was split into four pieces, hanging in mid-air.

“You, you deserve to die!” She turned and abandoned Morari, lunging at Yesak.

I could only step in front of Yesak and say, "Stop killing! I'll go with you." Every additional death would add to her sins. Even if Suren were alive, she would feel uneasy, since someone else had used Suren to take lives. Regardless of whether the seventeen Qi Refiners of the Azure Dragon Society were righteous or evil, I didn't want them to die at the hands of "Suren."

The fragrance of "Thousand Flower Bird" faded. She stared at me and asked, word by word, "Come with me, really?"

Before I could answer, she suddenly turned her head towards the cave entrance and muttered to herself, "What? What?"

I was only a step away from her, and I clearly saw her body tremble violently once, then slowly raise her hand to her forehead, murmuring again, "Who is it? Who is it, and where is it?"

Whether it was an illusion or reality, I felt the ground beneath my feet tremble with a "boom," as if something extremely heavy had fallen from a great height.

Guan Nan Goro stood at the highest point of the mecha, looking down at everything from afar. He was no match for Tensho Jubei either, so even if he rushed down recklessly, it would be to no avail.

"Put down the guqin, let's go." I knew that the guqin was key to the great task that Guan Nan Wulang was going to accomplish. If I sacrificed myself so that he could complete the task of adjusting the "Asian Gears," it would be a great deed for the future of the earth.

She tossed the zither, and Yesak leaped up to catch it. Then, she grabbed my sleeve and led me toward the cave entrance. When she exposed the flaw on the back of her head, I felt no urge to kill her. In my eyes, she was "Suren," and I could not possibly harm "Suren," not even a lifeless body.

We walked forward more than a hundred steps, and she revealed a weakness more than a dozen times, sometimes above her head, sometimes at a vital spot on her waist, almost all of which were good opportunities to kill her with one blow.

"You don't want to kill me?" she asked with a cold laugh as she stood below the cave entrance.

"Why would I kill you?" I sighed. The dramatic changes had taken a sharp turn for the worse, leaving me physically and mentally exhausted. I had just found Suren, but in the blink of an eye, I was caught in another intractable dilemma.

"It's clear you like this body, but perhaps life isn't always enough—"

I didn't want to say anything more. I leaped into the cave entrance and stood in the deep passageway. The recent tremor had instilled a deeper sense of crisis in me, and I instinctively hurried forward until I reached the top of the massive crystal dome. Thankfully, nothing much had changed. The flames, which had appeared in leaping forms, remained sealed, motionless. Beside them, the large shadow was still there, its shape unchanged.

"What's that?" She was standing right behind me.

If she were "Surren," she would understand what we said when we passed through here before, but now she is the famous Japanese ninja Tensho Jubei.

“That’s the shadow of the illusion demon, but it’s sealed away for now,” I replied casually. Only after those two sentences left my mouth did I vaguely sense that something was wrong. She was standing to my side and slightly behind, staring down intently with a focused and anxious expression.

"Shall we go?" I texted, reaching out to grab her sleeve, but she waved me away.

"Feng, I want to take this crystal away and open it, okay?" She bent down and strained to look into the depths of the shadows.

The "Overreaching Blade" hidden in my arm began to tremble again. If I could be ruthless enough to strike, she would be beheaded with a single blow.

The passageway was extremely dark, with only a small area illuminated by the firelight offering decent visibility. I began to suspect yet another aspect of her identity. Tensho Jubei was already a historical figure, so what was her past like? How could she be so persistently entangled with Fujika's soul?

"I know who you are—" Despite the chill running down my back, I calmly stated my conclusion, taking a large step back and preparing to draw my sword at any moment.

"Who am I? Fujika, Suren, Tensho Jubei, which identity do you prefer?" She turned her face, half of her face red and half black in the firelight, like a peculiar combination.

"I don't like any of them." I laughed in the darkness. Now, I was no longer nervous, only filled with the immense courage to fight to the very end. A warrior leaves himself no way out, just as the ancients said, "In a narrow encounter, the brave shall prevail."

"Why?" She straightened up and moved closer to me.

“Because you are not any of them. You are someone else, with a different identity, from another planet. Martian? Illusion Demon? Which of these two names given to you by Earthlings do you prefer?” My voice slowly turned cold. Behind me was the passageway leading to the Epang Palace, but that no longer mattered to me. Failure meant death; perhaps this was my last chance for a passionate battle. Unfortunately, my enemy was “Sulun,” just as my enemy at the foot of the Tuli Khan Pyramid was “Scalpel.”

She looked up and smiled: "It's a good name. What I like is—"

The firelight seemed to flicker, and our shadows cast on the stone wall flashed and instantly merged together. In that instant, I embraced her, channeled all my inner strength, bit my tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood, maximizing the power of the "Disintegration Technique."

"Heavenly thunder to purify me, earthly fire to burn my heart, ice god to form my soul, killing god to claim my life, so be it!" That was not a sound coming from my throat, but from the depths of my heart, the root of my soul. It was the limit of my lifelong cultivation, the "Samadhi True Fire" that only Qi cultivators could obtain when they reached the highest realm.

A blazing flame erupted from my dantian, carrying a dazzling light, shooting upwards to the Tanzhong acupoint, then shooting to the Baihui acupoint, before bursting into flames and engulfing us both. The entire passageway transformed into a horizontal chimney, and as far as the eye could see, there was a sea of fire on all sides.

"Ah—" she cried out, twisting her body in an attempt to break free from me. But that time, I had gathered all the martial arts skills and techniques I had learned. Every joint, ligament, muscle, and bone in my body was engaged in the attack with all my might, like an octopus that had seized its target and would not easily let go until it achieved its goal.

"Let go, let go, let go!" she screamed menacingly, revealing her white teeth as she opened her mouth to bite my Adam's apple.

"I won't give you another chance." I dodged to the side, then twisted my neck and pressed it tightly against hers, and the two of us became a tightly locked entity.

After two muffled booms and cracks, a sharp bolt of lightning streaked into the cave, striking her on the back of the head without hesitation. Only now do I realize that lightning can be so beautiful. When the light flashes, my mind becomes clear and carefree, without any worries, as if this way of dying is the ultimate pursuit of my life.

"Sulun, Sulun, I'm here. Don't be afraid. Let's embrace each other and walk towards death together..." Another gentle voice emerged from the depths of my heart.

Time vanished, leaving an indescribable vacuum in my mind. Of course, I could feel her struggling desperately to escape the inferno, but I held her fast, using my last vestiges of consciousness to continue this task.

"Lock, lock, lock, lock..." It sounded like someone else's voice, and it sounded so familiar.

"I will transform my own life into a ten-thousand-year-old lock, using my life's cultivation to imprison the wandering soul. The lock is another form of our existence. If I can save my life with this, what regret is there even if I become a worm or a piece of amber in a thousand-year-old crystal? I will use my destiny to save you, to take your place, so that you can enjoy the beauty of this planet. Brother, wake up, wake up..." He was calling me, calling me gently, lovingly, and affectionately.

"Brother?" I suddenly realized it was my eldest brother's voice. Yes, it was my eldest brother.

Part 5: The Source of Energy

— Chapter 2 — The Illusion Demon in the Crystal —

My mind slowly cleared, and I clearly felt a strong current of air rushing out from above her head, swirling and circling around us like a long, hesitant snake.

The flames still burned fiercely; they were the "Samadhi Fire" I had unleashed with all my might. If they still couldn't save Sulun and me, we would be forever trapped in this world of depravity.

"Big brother, where are you—" I shouted, while continuing to hold the person in my arms tightly.

No one answered me, but after swirling around several times, the air suddenly plummeted, plunging into the crystal. I looked down and saw a hole about the size of an egg in the crystal, leading to the deepest part of the shadows. At that moment, she let out a painful groan, arching her back forcefully, trying to break free from my embrace.

The flames began to die down, and I finally couldn't hold on any longer. I released my right hand, and then my left hand and legs completely disengaged, finally abandoning my grip on Suren. The words my elder brother had spoken in my hallucination rekindled my hope: "He must be alive, in some hidden space, locked in a stalemate with the enemy. I must find him, I must find him—"

I fell to the ground, gritting my teeth as I crawled to the small round hole. The fragrance of the "Thousand Flower Bird" still wafted into my nose, but this time it came from the distant depths of the crystal.

"Brother Feng?" Suren called out.

I turned my head with difficulty and saw her gently pressing her tearful eyes against mine.

"Suren, I... I've never hugged a girl this tightly before, and I never will again... never again..." As I spoke, a liquid with a metallic taste slid down my cheeks. After excessively using the "Disintegration Technique," my physical strength had dropped to almost zero, and I couldn't move at all.

“Brother Feng, thank you for saving me. Actually, I could feel you fighting and talking with Tensho Jubei, but my thoughts were suppressed and I couldn’t answer—” Su Lun said, then suddenly looked up and cried out, “No, Brother Feng, we’ve fallen!” She reached for her gun, but just as she put her hand in her pocket, she suddenly stopped, like a puppet with its strings cut.

The "Samadhi Fire" had gone out, but I could still feel the heat emanating from my side. At the same time, the surrounding scenery became clearer and brighter. We entered a strange stone chamber, the side walls of which were covered with red talismans, all written in cursive script in seal script, not a single character of which was recognizable.

Ten steps away, a tall, muscular man was crouching with his knees bent, motionless.

To me, it seemed he was about to leap, but an accident happened at that moment, so the movement could only go this far, like an athlete frozen in time. Around his body, there was a faint, almost imperceptible flow of air, which, upon closer inspection, was also completely still.

I tried to stand up, but my arms were so numb that I couldn't even make the slightest movement.

"Stop dreaming. You can't move an inch here. We're all inside a crystal. Think about it, what does a fish locked in ice look like? That's what you look like. Before, I was the only fish here. Now that there are you all, I finally have some companions."

He was speaking, and in a mocking tone.

I couldn't move at all, not even my eyes; I was just like a dead fish frozen in ice.

"Who are you? Illusion Demon?" I tried to compose myself. Even in the worst situation, I had to remain calm. And for now, everyone seemed to be inside the crystal, so there was no immediate danger. This "mental voice," spoken without uttering a sound through my throat, was precisely what helped me regulate my breathing and heal the damage caused by the "Disintegration Technique."

"Illusion Demon? That's a bad name. It's a derogatory nickname imposed on me by the ancient Egyptians. In the beautiful East, I have other names: 'Multi-Armed God,' 'Six-Winged Flying God,' 'Six-Armed Immortal'... any of them sound better than 'Illusion Demon,' right?" He was quite interested in the debate about the name, which was very similar to the personality traits of Earthlings.

Regardless of his name, he is a Martian, that much is undeniable.

Suren and I fell into the crystal at the same time, and things didn't look good. This enormous crystal that imprisoned the illusion demon was actually a special transparent object, perhaps a creation of Alpha. At least I could breathe freely and wasn't really turned into frozen seafood.

When I realized this was the first time I'd faced a Martian, and not a puppet he controlled, I felt a slight surge of tension: "What is your purpose in coming to Earth? To kill all Earthlings, to conquer the planet? Or something else?" If I could stall for time and wait for Guan Nan Wulang and the others to catch up, perhaps I could find a plan to rescue Su Lun and me.

"Plan? Why should I tell you? Soon, when I acquire more energy, I'll be able to fully open the crystal and break free. With a technological and civilizational level hundreds of millions of times lower, do you think Earthlings have any power to retaliate?" Even when he was motionless, he exuded a powerful aura of oppression. Unfortunately, I couldn't turn my head to observe him more closely.

"And I, Tensho Jubei, will forever be a follower of the 'Multi-Armed God,' and will be proud of it for the rest of my life." Tensho Jubei's voice also chimed in. She always existed in the form of wind, but after entering the crystal, she became the air currents surrounding the illusion demon.

"Hehehehe... I like the sight of so many people together in the crystal, but then again, I still want to kill you all, leave no one alive, until this entire planet becomes a desert. In short, the longer I am imprisoned, the longer it will take for you to get your revenge."

His wicked laughter blended with Tensho Jubei's cold sneer, making my heart race.

"Unfortunately, no matter how much you like going to Mars, you're only carrying an Earthling's body. Oh, I forgot, you don't even have a body, just a soul. Now, you can't say who you are, neither Earth nor Mars, how embarrassing—" Suren seized the opportunity to retort.

She was to my side and slightly behind; I could only see her shadow cast on the ground.