Zhou Xuan coldly said, "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?" He then used all his supernatural abilities to protect himself, Wei Xiaoyu, and Fu Ying, shouting, "Xiaoyu, hold me tight!"
Needless to say, Wei Xiaoyu had already clung to Zhou Xuan desperately. Thick mist swirled around the Nine Dragon Cauldron, its nine beads operating simultaneously with astonishingly rapid energy, and the nine dragon eyes even emitted blue light.
At that moment, Zhou Xuan's mind was only repeating: January 20th, 2011; January 20th, 2011; January 20th, 2011
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︴︴︴︴︴︴︴︴︴︴︴
︴The smallest︴︴small︴︴︴︴︴︴
︴New︴︴︴︴Say︴︴︴k︴
The most...
︴︴︴Fast︴︴︴︴︴︴て︴
︴︴︴︴︴︴︴︴︴n︴
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Volume One: The Lotus Seedlings Just Begin to Bloom; Volume Two: Emerging from the Cocoon; Chapter 403: Between Reality and Illusion
Chapter 403 A World Between Reality and Illusion
A bluish light emanated from the eyes of the nine dragons in the Nine Dragon Cauldron, making it appear even more mysterious. At the same time, molten lava in the deep pit erupted like a volcanic eruption, and the floodwaters instantly submerged the entire cavern.
Zhou Xuan could still sense that the three of them were still in the large hole and had not disappeared. He could hear An Guoqing's desperate cries again. Zhou Xuan did not pity him. Even though he had been wary of An Guoqing from the beginning, if An Guoqing had not killed Roger, Wolf, and Daniel, Zhou Xuan would not have been so ruthless towards him. He also thought that he would still take them all out with him.
There's a saying: "Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be escaped."
An Guoqing has sent himself down a path of no return. At this point, no matter how pitiful and tragic his cries are, Zhou Xuan will no longer come to his rescue.
The situation was extremely critical. The volcano and the flood erupted simultaneously. Just as Zhou Xuan had predicted, the collision between the flood and the volcanic lava immediately unleashed an even more intense heat.
An Guoqing was instantly swallowed by the molten lava flood, while Zhou Xuan used all his strength to protect the three of them, mentally recalling their destination, January 20th, 2011, while simultaneously urging, "Nine Dragon Cauldron, activate it quickly!"
In fact, the eruption of volcanic lava and floodwaters occurred later than Zhou Xuan had anticipated, at least ten minutes later. The energy ring at the water's surface did not disappear immediately after the Nine-Star Bead was removed; only the subsequent energy supply was cut off, while the original energy still sustained them for a few minutes. This bought Zhou Xuan and the others a few more minutes. Then, the energy ring could not withstand the immense pressure and immediately exploded. The floodwaters were almost like a flash flood or a large reservoir dam bursting from the bottom. What power did such a raging flood have?
The erupting magma, upon contact with the floodwaters, unleashed an intense heat akin to a nuclear explosion. Even in those mere seconds, Zhou Xuan felt as if struck by lightning, the pressure so intense it felt like his body was about to explode. His supernatural ability forced the magma and floodwaters to a distance of just one foot. In his utter despair, blood gushed from his nose like an arrow.
In that instant, the blue light surged, and the Nine Dragon Cauldron was finally fully activated. Then, with a deafening roar, a dark abyss seemed to tear open, instantly engulfing Zhou Xuan, Fu Ying, and Wei Xiaoyu. After the lightning subsided, everything returned to normal. Volcanic lava floods completely filled the cave, the gems extinguished, and the cave instantly became a living hell.
However, when Zhou Xuan and the other two could no longer bear it, they activated the Nine Dragon Cauldron to absorb energy into the space-time tunnel. As the pressure on Zhou Xuan's body eased, he could no longer hold on and fainted.
Zhou Xuan didn't know how much time had passed before he slowly woke up. The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was two stunningly beautiful faces – Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu.
Zhou Xuan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately recalled everything: the volcano, Hongshan, An Guoqing, the desperate situation... but what he cared about most were Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu.
She sat up abruptly and called out, "Xiaoyu, Yingying, wake up!"
In fact, Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying's energy expenditure was much lower than Zhou Xuan's. Zhou Xuan almost single-handedly bore the enormous pressure of the lava and flood. Although it was only for a very short time, the energy he lost was enormous.
Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu only felt dizzy for a moment, and woke up immediately when Zhou Xuan called out to them.
When Zhou Xuan saw that the two of them had woken up, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked around at the surroundings. After the Nine Dragon Cauldron was activated, Zhou Xuan was not only thinking about the time to return, but also about the details of the time.
The location was still Zhang Jing's country house. In the living room, Zhang Jing himself, two of his men, Ma Shu, Fang Dacheng, and Lin Shilong were all present.
To Zhou Xuan's surprise, apart from him, Wei Xiaoyu, and Fu Ying, who were able to move and talk, everyone else in the hall was frozen in place, as if they had been frozen in place by a spell.
Looking at Ma Shu's expression and actions, and then at the actions of the others, Zhou Xuan immediately realized that this was precisely the moment after Ma Shu attacked him, when the Nine Dragon Cauldron was about to activate and shoot out white light—the crucial moment when both sides were severely injured and had transmigrated back to that time more than a year ago.
Upon seeing this, Wei Xiaoyu immediately understood the situation. Remembering what Ma Shu had done to her and Zhou Xuan, she was filled with shock and fear. She quickly said to Zhou Xuan, "Zhou Xuan, make him...make Ma Shu disappear, quickly!"
Zhou Xuan's greatest fear was Ma Shu. Ma Shu not only possessed mind-reading abilities but had also acquired Zhou Xuan's special powers. Moreover, Ma Shu was deliberately opposing him, almost torturing him to death. Zhou Xuan's escape over a year ago was also thanks to Ma Shu. Now that he had this opportunity, he naturally wouldn't let him go. However, when he tried to use his special powers, he discovered that the energy depletion was extremely severe, with very little remaining.
But Ma Shu, this major threat, cannot be left unresolved. They don't know how long the Nine Dragon Cauldron's energy can last; they fear that once the cauldron's energy disappears and Ma Shu awakens, he won't let them off the hook.
Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth, exerted all his strength to gather a sliver of energy, and then transformed and devoured the brain marrow in Ma Shu's brain. Then his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.
At this moment, the Nine Dragon Cauldron stopped glowing and fell to the ground in front of Zhou Xuan with a tinkling sound. Wei Xiaoyu quickly picked up the Nine Dragon Cauldron and put it in her backpack. At the same time, the people who were still in the hall also started to move.
Only Ma Shu moved, but he fell backward into the hall and never moved again.
Boss Zhang Jing seemed to have done nothing, and the others had the same expression as him, as if it were perfectly normal. Zhou Xuan knew that during the time freeze of the Nine Dragon Cauldron, the person whose time was frozen knew nothing. From the time freeze to the end, the person whose time was frozen felt as if it had happened in the blink of an eye.
Everyone had returned to normal. Zhang Jing's two men quickly stepped forward to help Ma Shu up, but Ma Shu was so weak that he collapsed again as soon as they helped him up, and they couldn't let go.
One of his men checked Ma Shu's breath with his finger, then suddenly gasped, "Boss, Mr. Ma is dead!"
Zhang Jing asked in surprise, "He was perfectly fine just now, how could he be dead?" He stepped forward and checked Ma Shu's pulse. After testing it, he found that Ma Shu was indeed dead. His heart had completely stopped beating, but his body was still warm, with a body temperature like a normal person. It seemed that he had just died suddenly. Judging from his expression, he probably died of a heart attack. There wasn't even a trace of pain on his face.
Zhang Jing was also quite surprised. After thinking for a moment, he instructed, "This matter... we should first report it to the police station, file it as a case, and prove that it has nothing to do with us."
After saying that, he turned to Zhou Xuan and the others and said, "Mr. Zhou, I'm sorry, this unexpected incident has happened today. I think our business negotiations can't continue. Let's cooperate again in the future."
Zhou Xuan nodded and replied, "It's alright, everyone understands. Mr. Zhang, if your guest needs witnesses, please contact us. I can testify for Mr. Zhang."
Because Zhang Jing's actions were shady, if a police report were to be filed, he needed to quickly prepare the place. The police would only come to conduct an autopsy on Ma Shu's death, and couldn't be allowed to find any clues related to cultural relics or antiques. Therefore, Zhang Jing knew that nothing else could be done today, and all the guests had to be seen off. He was worried that if they remained present, the police might find something amiss.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Zhou. But please go back now. I'll call you again if I need anything." Zhang Jing thanked him and gestured for him to leave. With such a large business, he naturally had many dealings with officials. His network of connections behind the scenes was extensive. He had a clear conscience about Ma Shu's matter, and even if there was a real investigation, there would be no problem. That's why he dared to do this. Of course, even if he was the one who killed Ma Shu, he would have a way to make it look like he died of natural causes. But since he died of natural causes, he had even less reason to fake it.
Zhou Xuan smiled and nodded.
He said that only to create a facade, to get on good terms with Zhang Jing, and to gain an advantage while pretending to be innocent.
They arrived in Lin Shilong's car, and naturally they would return in his car as well. Fang Dacheng continued driving, while Zhou Xuan, Fu Ying, and Wei Xiaoyu sat in the back.