Klasse 0 der 10

Kapitel 33

The two immediately went downstairs, got into Qin Ge's car, drove out of the small street, turned onto the main road, and headed east.

This is a long and narrow city, with the city center about 30 kilometers from the seaside town. Since neither of them had been to Xingxiutai, Qin Ge, despite it being past 5 a.m., called a friend who works in folklore while in the car. His friend, though annoyed, couldn't do anything about it.

Knowing the location of Xingxiutai, Qin Ge drove very fast, speeding towards the seaside.

Chapter 21

Ge Hua, a police officer in charge of household registration, had long coveted Yang Mei. He began harassing her at Yang Zheng's photography studio in a back alley, eventually escalating to standing outside her apartment building late at night and constantly making harassing phone calls. Driven to desperation, Yang Mei had no choice but to hide away from home. Ge Hua searched everywhere for Yang Mei but couldn't find her, and at one point vented his resentment on Yang Zheng, even physically assaulting him.

Now, suddenly, the household registration police officer finds himself in the same room as Yang Mei. What will he do?

Everyone has their own logic. Perhaps this police officer truly fell in love with Yang Mei, and because of love, he had to have her. In Ge Hua's logic, it was as simple as one plus one equals two. Therefore, Yang Mei's avoidance hurt him, and now he finally had the opportunity to question her about why she did what she did.

Therefore, filled with anger, he walked aggressively towards Yangmei step by step.

Watching the images on the television, Yang Zheng trembled violently, his eyes blazing with fury. But he was utterly powerless to change what was happening. Fire burned within him, power coursed through his body, but in this empty room, what could he do to suppress the erosion of his inner demons? Besides, perhaps he no longer even wanted to suppress them.

Yang Zheng suddenly collapsed heavily, his eyes still wide open, staring at the scene on the television. His body began to convulse, and a trickle of blood slowly seeped from the corner of his mouth.

His inner fire was too intense; he could no longer bear it. It was like a martial arts master in a wuxia novel who went mad from practicing internal energy cultivation.

The television screen continued showing the police officer apprehending Yang Mei and seemingly yelling at her. Then, he forcefully threw Yang Mei onto the bed.

The camera focused on the face of the household registration police officer, whose face had become unusually ferocious.

Like a vicious wolf, he pounced on Yangmei on the bed.

A crimson light seemed to spread before Yang Zheng's eyes, staining the warm sea of his dream red. He saw Yang Mei struggling outside the sea, her vibrant color gradually turning gray. Yang Zheng also seemed to see that snowy morning, Yang Mei standing under the plum tree in the courtyard, the tree's white blossoms and scattered red plum blossoms contrasting against her fair face. How beautiful the girl was then, sorrow had become a landscape, deeply etched into her beauty.

Is sorrow her destiny, foreshadowing the disaster she is about to face?

Yang Zheng, lying on the ground, slowly curled up. He didn't even want to open his eyes to see the scene of Yang Mei's humiliation. His ears were ringing, and fragments of light danced before his eyes. The drumbeats pounded against his heart, each beat feeling like it was about to explode. Large beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and even his consciousness grew increasingly blurred.

On the television, Yang Mei struggled desperately, which seemed to arouse the wildness of the household registration policeman. He whipped the girl beneath him, ruthlessly ravaging her and crushing her into a flower in the mud.

Yang Zheng lay motionless on the ground.

The police officer in charge of household registration stood up, satisfied, leaving Yang Mei lying on the bed crying.

Yang Zheng remained motionless, even his convulsions had stopped.

Time passed, and the door suddenly opened softly. A middle-aged man entered, with dark skin, thick eyebrows, and piercing eyes. The strangest thing about him was his hairstyle; the hair around his neck was completely shaved, leaving only a short section in the center. Also, his eyes had a pair of blue pupils.

Blue-green pupils are a hallmark of the Ba people.

Therefore, the middle-aged man who came in must be one of the Ba people brought by Ba Qi.

Presumably, since Yang Zheng had been lying on the ground for so long, Ba Qi or that mysterious man were worried that something might have happened to him, so they sent someone in to check on him. This Ba man was burly, with calloused palms and bulging veins on the backs of his hands; one could sense his strength at a glance.

He walked to Yang Zheng's side, bent down and turned him over. He first reached out to check Yang Zheng's breathing, and perhaps sensing that Yang Zheng's breathing was steady and that he was alright, he straightened up, took out a palm-sized ceramic bottle from his pocket, opened the lid, and placed it between Yang Zheng's noses. But just as he bent down again, he suddenly felt a heavy blow to his lower abdomen, and his body immediately fell backward.

Yang Zheng, who had been unconscious just moments before, suddenly stood up.

Yang Zheng hadn't actually lost consciousness; it was just that in the moment he collapsed, he suddenly realized the executioner's intentions. The executioner had kidnapped him, arranged for him to meet Yang Mei, and then forced him to witness her humiliation—all clearly meticulously planned. Initially, Yang Zheng couldn't fathom the executioner's purpose, but as he fell, he suddenly understood that the executioner's sole aim was to transform him into a different person.

The criminal investigator had spoken to him on the phone from his room at the Duguang Hotel. He knew Yang Zheng's situation very well, including the inner demons that had plagued Yang Zheng for years. He even used this analogy: Yang Zheng's struggle with another self deep within him was like controlling floods—either he used methods like Gun's (using dams and filling) or Yu's (using dredging) methods.

Now, all he's orchestrated is simply to enrage Yang Zheng, causing him to lose control. At that moment, another part of his being will inevitably seize the opportunity to take over his consciousness.

Although he guessed the executioner's intentions, Yang Zheng still couldn't control his anger. He knew that there was a deep swamp ahead, but he had no choice but to fall into it.

The only thing he could do was to remain motionless and pretend to be unconscious. This was the method the executioner called "filling the sump," which would surely cause the flood to rush out uncontrollably. Yang Zheng was simply trying his best to buy time.

As the Ba people opened the door and came in, Yang Zheng took advantage of the moment when he bent over and kicked him in the stomach.

Yang Zheng stood tall and proud, his fists clenched, his eyes already bloodshot, as if they were about to bleed. The Ba man opposite him was not to be outdone, of course. Although he was in excruciating pain in his lower abdomen, he was in excellent physical condition, and Yang Zheng's kick could not truly harm him.

The two men immediately pounced on each other.

Meanwhile, Ba Qi, in another room, had already witnessed what was happening. He wasn't worried; Yang Zheng was currently facing one of the tribe's ten shamans. The ten shamans were named Wu Xian, Wu Ji, Wu Pan, Wu Peng, Wu Gu, Wu Zhen, Wu Li, Wu Di, Wu Xie, and Wu Luo. In ancient mythology, they were originally shamans sent by the Heavenly Emperor to Mount Wu to communicate between humans and gods, traversing heaven and earth. The Ba tribe inherited their names, and each generation's leader would select ten strong children from the tribe to receive instruction from the Grand Shaman. Upon reaching adulthood, they would formally become shamans through a ceremony, each with their own specific duties: gathering herbs and refining elixirs, practicing medicine and exorcising plagues, summoning spirits and exorcising demons, and performing prayers and sacrifices. These ten shamans also shared a common trait: they were skilled in combat, as they, along with another tribal leader known as the "Night Wanderer," bore the heavy responsibility of protecting the tribe.

The "Night Wanderers" in mythology were originally sixteen divine beings, each with small faces and red shoulders, their arms linked together, guarding the night for the Yellow Emperor. They were named for their ability to disappear during the day and only appear at night.

Unfortunately, when Batu led his people out of their ancestral lands, sixteen "Night Wanderers," along with six of the ten shamans, followed him and died in the labyrinth on Peach Blossom Mountain. Baqi had only been the leader for half a year when, on this trip away from the ancestral lands in search of revenge and treasure, he brought the remaining four shamans with him.

Now, the one who entered the room and fought with Yang Zheng was Wu Luo.

Wu Luo was the strongest of the four witches, possessing superhuman strength; ordinary people, even two or three, couldn't get close to him. Although Yang Zheng was also tall and large, he looked somewhat thin, and having grown up in the city, he must have lacked physical training. Therefore, when Ba Qi saw Yang Zheng kick down Wu Luo and suddenly stand up, he wasn't worried.

Yang Zheng and Wu Luo were fighting, but the battle didn't last long before someone fell.

The one who fell was actually Wu Luo.

Baqi wore a ferocious bronze mask, so his expression could not be seen, but he suddenly gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly with both hands, showing how shocked he was by this unexpected outcome.

In the scene, Wu Luo's head was a bloody mess. Just moments before, Yang Zheng had held it in his arms and slammed it against the ground dozens of times. Wu Luo could never have imagined that this seemingly frail person could possess such immense power. Now, this ancient tribal shaman lay on the ground, his limbs still twitching, but death was clearly imminent. His empty eyes revealed a deep regret—was he already regretting leaving his tribe?

The wheelchair moved forward, and Baqi's trembling hand grasped a walkie-talkie. The trembling wasn't from fear, but from sadness.

"Han Shan! Han Shan!" he called out a name softly.

There was no response from the walkie-talkie, but then he heard a knock on the door. Ba Qi turned his wheelchair to the door, opened it, and there stood the mysterious man who had just left, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand, looking quite relaxed.

"You were looking for me?" he said casually.

It turns out that Han Shan is his name.

"Did you send Wu Luo to find that person?" Ba Qi asked sternly.