King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 277

“Really.” He nodded firmly.

"I want to know—the whereabouts of 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian." Asking this now isn't the wisest thing to do, but I don't want to miss any opportunity. The Azure Dragon Society is unlike any other alliance in history; its methods are very peculiar, so I suspect they possess many top secrets unknown to human society.

Like the "inhuman organizations" that previously roamed South America, North America, and Oceania, the Azure Dragon Society is a mysterious, low-profile, yet renowned group, almost a paradise for top martial arts masters. Masters always fear the loneliness of being invincible, but the Azure Dragon Society is a place where "there's always someone better," ensuring that masters never lack opportunities for honing their skills and growth.

Given Tiger's intelligence and his true identity as "The Bearded Stranger," his willingness to join the Azure Dragon Society demonstrates its immense allure. Without something truly unique, how could it have caused such a massive stir in both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds of martial arts in such a short time?

"That's an interesting question, but the answer is already in the 'Scripture of the Underworld.' As long as you're willing to join, finding him won't be a problem," the tiger laughed.

"Oh? Is that so?" I didn't react with the elation he expected and remained calm.

"You don't believe me? Our language experts can decipher any script in the history of Earth's civilization, Feng, I won't lie to you. Those materials are just a drop in the ocean of the scriptures, not the essence of them, so it's no secret to us."

After the tiger killed Situ Qiushi and Lei Aobai, its body immediately returned to normal. Just now, I even had the urge to tear off its clothes and see where those ugly arms were.

Another change occurred in the empty courtyard. The two figures suddenly separated, like projectiles released from a bowstring, flying into the north and south walls of the courtyard, causing sections of the walls to collapse instantly. Two figures, one golden and one gray, chased each other at lightning speed, heading south, smashing through all the small buildings in their path. All we could see were flashes of golden light, while the sound of shattered bricks and tiles crashing to the ground was incessant.

"Mr. Feng, we went upstairs to observe, and I feel that the Great God Tu Liehan is using some kind of trick!" Tang Xin was the one who was truly concerned about the battle, because it concerned her fate.

I took her arm and jumped to the rooftop. I could feel her heartbeat getting more and more frantic, and she was gradually losing her composure.

The tiger followed us up to the rooftop. Actually, I should have had a chance to slay the demon when it leaped up, but I hesitated for a moment. Just as Tang Xin hadn't killed Tang Qing initially, the tiger was innocently controlled and had no reason to die.

Looking down from above, the Great God Tu Liehan's escape became increasingly chaotic, almost to the point of panic and recklessness. He kept crashing through the walls of the small building and rushing in, only to escape from the other side. Alpha, on the other hand, simply held his sword with both hands, ready to strike but not yet unleashing it.

"His trick was merely to disrupt the intricate formations of the entire Epang Palace in order to neutralize the magic power of the Alpha Golden Sword. Little did he know that the power of the Golden Sword came from the crystal, and these strange buildings and portals were actually used to seal the Illusion Demon—" Tang Xin frowned and muttered to herself.

She didn't realize that the wisdom of the great god Tu Liehan far surpassed that of Earthlings, and that every step he took was carefully considered. It was only after Situ Qiushi and Lei Aobai died that I suddenly realized that their following me out of the spacecraft was a deliberate arrangement by the Saturnians.

I brought the "Azure Blood Night-Shining Toad" into the formation to save people, indirectly helping the Earth-Cracking Khan God clear a path. Upon closer examination, these interconnected events all have a certain inevitable causal relationship. So, what special significance did crashing the small building hold for him?

At this moment, Youlian and Sahan, who have not yet appeared, are the real ambush left by the Saturnians. As the first "mutation" target chosen by the great god Tu Liehan, Sahan's abilities are not to be underestimated.

"I understand!" Tang Xin's tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, and she exclaimed softly.

Part Three: Mirror Illusion

Chapter Nine

The final battle between the Square-Eyed Warrior and the Earth-Cracking God

I gave her a wink; at a time like this, even if we've grasped something, we shouldn't speak of it lightly. Before we fully understand the tiger's current situation, we must proceed with caution.

The buildings to the west of the empty courtyard have almost all been reduced to rubble. I can clearly see the main gate of the Epang Palace. At this moment, their war is directed towards us. It seems that the great god Tu Liehan intends to destroy all the small buildings so that Alpha will have no support in terms of Qimen Dunjia.

“I heard… a calling, wind, can you hear it?” The tiger slowly turned its head eastward, gazing in the direction of the cave.

Tang Xin was startled, but I stopped her with my gaze while replying in a deep voice, "I heard you."

"It wants us to go in, it wants us to remove the barriers erected by the ignorant, and the flames spewing from the earth's core to burn away all the cobwebs and dust. It will give us supreme glory, making us the masters of the world. Is all of this just a dream?"

As he tried to turn his head away to mutter in his sleep, I saw again the outline of four restless arms beneath the back of his shirt.

"I heard it too," I repeated to myself, but in reality, I heard nothing at all. If the illusion demon's target was the tiger, then it could only speak to him and enter his own mind.

“Then, I went… to the pinnacle of light, to touch the heavenly fire from the universe, to uphold its majesty, I’m going… I’m going…” The four arms stretched out and tore his clothes apart with a “rip”.

This was the first time Tang Xin and I had seen those strange hands so closely. Two on the left and two on the right, each with the same ten fingers, joints, and nails. Of course, there were also bulging blue veins and blood vessels on the back of the hands. I could even see the pulse in each wrist throbbing. The four of them were 100% human limbs, but they shouldn't have appeared on one person's body at the same time.

I took a deep breath and asked, word by word, "How did you get through that sealed gate?"

Even during a sudden upheaval, I could calmly utilize this to search for a way to break down the door. From the perspective of the illusionist, opening the door was to release him; but from my point of view, it was an extremely perilous but necessary path to rescue Suren.

Faced with two evils, I choose the lesser. I would rather the tiger open that door and let me stand with Suren again.

"Arms...four arms inserted into those holes, and when the genes of life are perfectly aligned, the door will open...Come with me, come with me..." The tiger's panting grew louder, and its movements as it turned and walked became incredibly clumsy. Those four arms couldn't maintain its balance by swinging like human arms; instead, they became a strange burden.

"Mr. Feng, shall we do it?" Tang Xin asked in a low voice.

"Kill him? Is that the best outcome?" I haven't made a final decision yet.

Tiger is not an enemy. We have drunk, talked, and faced each other back to back nearly a hundred times. He is my best friend in this world besides Scalpel and Suren.

“If you can’t bear to do it, let me do it—” Tang Xin flipped and leaped out, assuming a kneeling firing position in mid-air. The crossbow cascaded with a “creak,” and four bolts were fired in quick succession. The poison coated on the arrowheads was extremely potent; the snowflakes that came into contact with it seemed to be soaked in the poison and turned black in an instant.

She has always stood by Alpha's side. No matter who tries to infringe on Alpha's interests, she will do everything in her power to stop them, even if that person is a tiger who once admired and protected her.

When the crossbow bolt left its sheath, it was only four meters away from the tiger's head. According to Tang Xin's martial arts skills, it should have been a one-hit kill at such a short distance. However, the tiger's arms on its back seemed to have eyes. With a wave of their arms in the air, a poisoned arrow appeared in each of its palms. The movements were uniform and without any hesitation.

"Here you go...here you go..." The tiger cackled, raising its four arms high and swinging them back. Tang Xin was skilled in using poison, but she was still made of flesh and blood; if she were hit by such a powerful poison arrow, the injury would be severe.

The blade of "Overreaching Blade" flashed again, slicing lightly across the tiger's back. As the severed arms, clutching short arrows, fell, the blade returned to its sheath. I stood there, showing no trace of having once drawn my sword to kill. To save Tang Xin, I had no choice but to draw my blade once more and sever the monstrous hand.

"You...you?" The tiger suddenly turned around, his confused and bewildered eyes instantly clearing. He bent down and picked up an arm, flicking the poisoned arrow from his palm with a "snap," and examined it carefully.

He woke up, and when I cut off the extra arms, it seemed I had also freed him from the illusion demon's control. It's a pity that if I had understood this sooner and cut off Tang Qing's four arms as well, perhaps she could have escaped her tragic end. Humans cannot be prescient, which is why every step leaves regrets.

"Tiger, you're awake?" I saw a long-lost wisdom in his eyes.

“Feng, you’ve saved me again. The Azure Dragon Society really needs a super talent like you. Come with me.” He stroked the strange hand, a faint sneer on his face. “These things are really strange. They can actually control a person’s mind. And I feel that it’s like a Thai snake tree. As soon as it gets close to me, it burrows its roots into every nook and cranny, reaching right up to my internal organs.”

"It's good that you're awake. I hope we can fight side by side again this time and get through this ordeal, okay?" What I want isn't gratitude, but some real help.

He waved his hand, and his severed arm drew a long arc in the air before falling into the depths of the buildings.

"We definitely can, and even more exciting opportunities await us, my good brother!" He slapped his chest and laughed heartily.

If the three of us can put aside our past grievances, the situation now would be no different from when we faced Tina and her hundreds of special forces soldiers together in the Egyptian desert. That time, Tiger successfully stole the book and escaped, and successfully reunited with Tang Xin. I believe we will have a chance to escape unscathed this time as well.

"Tiger, where is the scripture now? Mr. Feng helped us steal it, you'd better return it to him immediately," Tang Xin pressed, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Let's talk about it outside. The scriptures don't say how to defeat these extremely powerful enemies, so what's the use of saying it now?" The tiger used a little trick to easily evade the question.

"Heh, defeat them? I hope so." Tang Xin coldly turned her face away, no longer glancing at the tiger.

The speed of the great god Tu Liehan slowed down noticeably. Alpha's golden sword was almost aimed directly at his back, but it was always narrowly avoided. In front of some small buildings, he chose to dodge rather than recklessly charge straight at them.

"The battle is almost over," the tiger concluded casually.

He flicked open the Velcro holster, calmly gripped the Desert Eagle's grip, and simultaneously pulled a handful of black bullets from his pocket, loading them one by one into the magazine.

"These highly corrosive chemical warheads contain foreign bacteria that can rapidly fibrose the respiratory system of living organisms, within a tenth of a second. I still have a glimmer of hope: to capture them alive, since dead people can't provide any useful information. Feng, it's been a long time since we played with guns together. How about you try it first?" He clicked the magazine into the magazine and made a shooting motion towards the distance.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself: "Tiger's imagination is really too rich. He actually thinks he can conquer Alpha and the Great God Tu Liehan with just a few bullets? He saw Tang Qing easily grab the bullets a long time ago. Hasn't he woken up yet?"

There is no doubt that firearms and bullets are only effective against humans.

"No need." I shook my head gently. After getting used to the feeling of "the blade beyond distance," I trusted it more wholeheartedly. The feeling of "man and blade as one" was something no other firearm could give me.

The snow had been falling for far too long, and our little building seemed like a lonely island in a vast sea. To the west were large expanses of rubble and snow, and behind us, an endless expanse of white snow. The small buildings standing there were like lone fishermen fishing in the cold river, draped in silvery raincoats and hats, standing alone.

Tiger suddenly raised his spear upwards, his movements swift, precise, and steady—a true display of his martial arts prowess. At that moment, directly above the three of us, two shadows flashed past, the sound of wind mingling with the clash of Egyptian scimitars and crystal swords. Each time the clanging sound reached my ears, I could see golden sparks explode in the air.

Tang Xin adopted a low, bow-legged stance, tightly locking the crossbow box on her left shoulder with both arms, her eyes following the two shadows.

In this round, both she and the tiger wanted to make a move, but the shadow moved too fast, and they couldn't seize the opportunity. The shadow drifted towards the cave, then suddenly plunged from the air to the ground, crashing into a triangular building and then disappearing without a sound.

Tiger slowly lowered his gun and let out a long sigh: "Wind, that definitely can't be considered light-footed skill, right?"

Within our knowledge, "walking on snow without leaving a trace, crossing water on duckweed, and riding the wind" are the highest levels of light-body skills. But the battle between Alpha and the great god Tu Liehan that we are seeing now, with them sometimes soaring into the sky and sometimes flying through the wind, is an action scene that is unimaginable to humans.

"Next time, I'll seize the opportunity. Be careful, what about you?" His expression as he looked at Tang Xinshi was no longer humble and gentle.

"I can too," Tang Xin replied coldly, staring motionlessly at the spot where the shadow had disappeared.

Downstairs, the bodies of Situ Qiushi and Lei Aobai were mostly covered by snow. The tragic end of their lives was in this world outside of time, and their lives were truly unbearable to recall.

I still doubt whether what they saw in the mirror was really Guan Baoling and me. Why didn't Guan Baoling's mysterious disappearance lead her into the Tang Dynasty world inside the mirror, but to another strange underwater space? Just a dozen minutes ago, I even thought about taking them back to the mirror, helping them leave, letting them go back to the past, and starting over. But even in an environment detached from time, everything unfolds in sequence. The process of death seemed to be pre-arranged, unfolding step by step, and no one could escape it.

"Then, what is the fate of Suren and me?" I suddenly felt exhausted and wanted to lie down on this white snow and have a quiet sleep to temporarily escape these endless, vicious cycles of life and death.

"Be careful, why does the Tang Clan of Shu refuse to join the Azure Dragon Society? Isn't unifying the world your ultimate dream?" In this brief calm before the storm, Tiger seemed to prefer using conversation to ease his inner tension.

Tang Xin relaxed her body, pulled the trigger of the crossbow casket once again, and stared at the poisoned arrows that were already in place.

“That’s their dream, not mine. From the beginning, I knew I didn’t belong among them.” Her voice grew colder and colder.

"But before you asked me to steal the 'Blue Heaven and Yellow Springs Scripture,' you clearly said that you would use the clues in the scripture to find the 'Pandora's Box' that the Tang Clan of Sichuan was desperately seeking, to gather the original mother of all the poisonous insects in the world, so as to revitalize the Tang Clan and become unparalleled in the world. Were you just lying to me?" Tiger's voice was also calm, without any shouting or yelling after being deceived.

I had a strange feeling that they were all calmly dissecting their relationship, each word as cold as a surgeon's scalpel, devoid of any personal emotion.

"I'm sorry, I lied to you. But you can't deny that all the kindness you showed me was an act. You were actually using me to get back here, weren't you?" Tang Xin's voice finally revealed a hint of heartache.

The tiger fell silent, removed the magazine, and silently counted the bullets.

Many writers and scholars have asserted that men and women in love are blind and foolish, believing only sweet words and failing to see the other's true feelings. Even if they are deceived into bankruptcy and despair, they will never regret it. Tiger and Tang Xin's experience completely shattered this notion. To outsiders, they were a couple in love, but their inner worlds were constantly filled with wariness and suspicion.

After a long silence, Tiger replied with a sigh, “That’s right, we have no choice but to borrow your destiny.” He turned to me, “Wind, I also lied to you. This scheme has lasted for quite some time because we need the best people to overcome all kinds of obstacles and, while forging ahead, cover up the truth for us.”

I gave a wry smile, taken aback: "So that's how it is? But you're my only friend, how could this happen?"

I never imagined that the tiger's mind was so well hidden, but then I thought, since he was able to spend decades accumulating strength on the distant ancient sea and then wait for the right time to advance into the Central Plains, why couldn't he continue to endure and hide in the real world and wait for the right opportunity to appear?

The example of "King Goujian of Yue" has always been a model for ambitious people around the world. Those who achieve great things are always good at enduring hardship, and the longer they remain low-key, the more intense their outbursts tend to be.

"Tiger, no matter what, I admire you very much." This was a sincere statement.

Tiger smiled: "Now, the period of needing to hide is over. The Azure Dragon Society has risen to power and will soon shock the world. Besides, that sealed gate is not a problem for us; someone—"

A dozen or so deafening explosions rang out, and at least twenty small buildings near the cave simultaneously shattered, sending bricks and tiles flying into the sky amidst the snow. Two figures flew back one after the other, stopping right above our heads, and an even more intense round of sword fighting sounds followed.

"Between people, there is always mutual deception and self-deception. There is never anyone worthy of trust. Therefore, the only thing I believe in is my own destiny, which is right here, right now—" Tang Xin waved her hand to turn on the switch of the crossbow box and pointed upwards.

The great god Tu Liehan hovered more than ten meters above our heads, just outside the range of the crossbow bolts.

At this moment, they were both spinning rapidly, similar to the propellers of a helicopter. The gray robe of the great god Tu Liehan swirled into a gray cloud, presenting a cruel yet poetic scene against the backdrop of falling snow.

Tiger slowly raised his gun, pointing it at Alpha, but then slowly turned it towards the Great God Tu Liehan. In his value system, both sides in a fierce battle must die; it didn't matter who went first or last. He simply wanted to eliminate the stronger party first, making the situation simple and clear. This was the principle of "when two birds fight, a third party benefits." While Alpha and the Great God Tu Liehan were locked in a fierce battle, it was the perfect opportunity for other forces to launch surprise attacks.

"Then what about the illusion demon sealed by Alpha? Won't it be even more restless?" I was vaguely worried.

When he first approached the sealed gate, he attacked me with flames in a hallucination, but was defeated by the illusion left by his elder brother Yang Tian, and retreated back to the gap in the middle of the passage. This time, with the Epang Palace destroyed and Alpha preoccupied with its own problems, he naturally had the opportunity to break out again.

I saw more and more golden sparks slowly falling, intertwining with the snowflakes.

"Perhaps we should stop the tiger? To prevent the situation from getting worse?" I was having a fierce internal struggle.

“Wind, a truly skilled warrior doesn’t charge into battle like a raging bull, but rather enters without leaving any gaps, choosing the enemy’s weakest point and striking without mercy. Now, watch me direct a great show for you—” His hand, raised in the air, was as steady as a steel sculpture, his index finger about to snap.

Those chemical bullets are the latest technological products from the United States, and they do indeed have the destructive power he described.

"Tiger!" Tang Xin shouted, and with a sudden movement of his shoulder, he fired a volley of ten short arrows, all of which struck the tiger's open chest, burying the arrows deep into its fletching.

This was actually a predictable outcome. She didn't want to see Alpha wounded by Tiger's gun. If someone had to die first in this battle, she chose Tiger.

Upon hearing the snapping sound of the spring returning to its original position, my first thought was, "Tiger is dead." The poison on the arrowhead was so potent that Tiger's white shirt, worn close to his skin, had turned charred black and was rapidly corroding in both directions. I even felt a pang of regret, because I could have completely prevented this tragedy.

"You can only die in this world, because that is your destiny." Tang Xin walked to the tiger's side with a gloomy expression, looked down at him, and kicked the Desert Eagle away.