3 fois vol d'âme

Chapitre 24

Feng Shui was startled, as the incident happened so suddenly and unexpectedly. Yu Duotian quickly stood up, took off her clothes, and prepared to jump into the lake to save her girlfriend. However, she was caught by the quick-thinking boatman.

"Don't jump, it's too deep here!" the boatman said anxiously.

"Don't worry about me, I need to save Xiao Liu!" Yu Duotian shouted frantically, her eyes red.

"You two wait on the boat, I'm going down to rescue them," the boatman said seriously and cautiously.

Yu Duotian calmed down a little. She saw the boatman take off his shirt, revealing the strong and streamlined body unique to people living on the water. He then jumped into the lake with a graceful posture and dived down.

"Aduo, don't worry, Xiao Liu will be alright." Feng Shui came forward and hugged Yu Duotian's shoulders, comforting her.

Thirty seconds passed, and the boatman surfaced, but there was no sign of Xiao Liu. Climbing back onto the small boat, the boatman said with a helpless expression, "I'm sorry, the lake is too deep; we can't see anyone anymore."

"This is impossible, this is impossible, you're lying to me, you're lying to me, I'm going to save her myself!" Yu Duotian went crazy upon hearing this and frantically tried to jump into the lake.

However, it was tightly embraced by feng shui.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Yu Duotian shouted frantically, her eyes red.

"I'm going to rescue them. You wait here." Feng Shui looked at Yu Duotian with extreme composure, his voice unusually intimidating.

"You? Young man, even if you're a good swimmer, this place is sixty or seventy meters deep. Can you really manage?" The boatman asked, looking at Feng Shui in disbelief.

Looking into Feng Shui's determined gaze, Yu Duotian suddenly felt a sense of complete trust and reliance emanating from him.

"You must save Xiao Liu!" Yu Duotian said, her eyes red and her voice trembling with tears.

"Don't worry!" Feng Shui patted Yu Duotian on the shoulder and said seriously.

Feng Shui didn't even take off his clothes before leaping into the water in a rather unseemly manner and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Is he up to the task?" the boatman asked, looking at the auspicious location for launching into the water and gazing at the lake.

"I believe in my brother!" Yu Duotian was much calmer than before, her tone filled with absolute trust.

2004-12-08 14:37:00

Part Two: Cultivation Array

Chapter Two: The Secluded Lake

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The lake water was emerald green, cold and bone-chilling; even though it was still summer, it couldn't change the deep pool's original nature. Because the lake was so deep, the underwater world was impossible to see with the naked eye.

However, Feng Shui felt his consciousness becoming increasingly clear, able to analyze the water depth and the basic structure of the underwater world through the uneven surface of the lake bottom. Feng Shui's perceptive abilities grew increasingly sharp, as if he possessed a super-powerful infrared detector, along with cutting-edge sonar and GPS capabilities. The entire lake bottom was now fully contained in his mind, down to the movement of a single fish, the alternating currents, and the friction between the sandy surfaces caused by the water's impact. All of this appeared in Feng Shui's incredibly clear consciousness—it was simply astonishing. Feng Shui now felt like a creator god, with everything in the entire space within his control. However, he couldn't find Xiao Liu within this control. What Feng Shui didn't know was that this wasn't a problem with his consciousness, but rather a result of his own "spiritual awareness."

"Could it be that the big fish ate it?" Feng Shui wondered.

However, through the exploration and analysis of the entire lake, no fish large enough to swallow a large person was found. Instead, they unexpectedly discovered a cluster of naturally formed volcanic craters 60 meters directly below their own location on the lakebed.

"Could it be that I fell into the crater so quickly? Could I really be that unlucky?" Feng Shui was startled by his own thought.

Having determined the direction, Feng Shui, like a swordfish, swiftly swam towards the cluster of volcanic craters. But the closer he got to the craters, the more excited he felt. The cluster of volcanic craters appeared not far ahead of him, eight craters evenly interwoven. As Feng Shui drew nearer, he clearly saw that the cluster of craters naturally formed the arrangement of the Big Dipper, and he could faintly sense whirlpools and undercurrents formed by the lake's underwater currents near the craters. However, the eighth crater he had just seen was gone. Feng Shui thought he was seeing things; he had clearly seen eight craters, so why had one suddenly disappeared?

There was no time to think about anything else; saving lives was the priority. Feng Shui hadn't forgotten his purpose. Looking at the seven whirlpools at the bottom of the lake, Feng Shui understood that Xiao Liu must have been sucked into the undercurrent.

"A'duo's wife, it seems you are in grave danger," Feng Shui sighed inwardly.

Floating above the seven volcanic craters, Feng Shui hesitated, a strange excitement growing stronger within him. He felt a sense of familiarity about the location of these seven craters. As for Xiao Liu being sucked into the vortex of one of the craters, Feng Shui was completely unable to detect it through his consciousness.

Suddenly, the seven undercurrents near the crater began to move violently, converging to form a larger vortex that rushed towards Feng Shui's location. This change was completely unexpected by Feng Shui, leaving him somewhat bewildered. Moreover, after the undercurrents formed, the locations of the seven craters simultaneously began to faintly turn crimson.

"I can't be that unlucky, can I?" Feng Shui thought to himself in shock.

The crimson color at the crater grew increasingly vibrant, and at the same time, the entire lakebed began to tremble violently, like an earthquake. Feng Shui sensed that the surrounding water temperature was also rapidly rising…

The lake surface.

Yu Duotian anxiously watched the situation underwater. Feng Shui had been in the water for almost fifteen minutes and hadn't surfaced for air. Yu Duotian's heart grew increasingly cold. The boatman beside him, based on his years of experience, already knew that two more young people had drowned that day. Just as he was about to go over and comfort Yu Duotian, urging him to take heart, he suddenly noticed that the lake water was becoming increasingly murky, and the surface was violently and unnaturally shaking. After several waves, countless dead fish, their white bellies turned up, floated to the surface from the bottom of the lake.

An uneasy feeling sent a chill down the boatman's spine.

"No way, could it be, could it be...?" The boatman felt his scalp tingle, and a sense of unease quickly rose from the bottom of his heart.

Without thinking any further, the boatman quickly started the six high-speed Yamaha motors on the speedboat and sped towards the shore.

"What do you want to do!" Yu Duotian shouted frantically.

"If we don't leave now, we'll all be dead!" the boatman shouted anxiously.

The boatman's shouts were the cries of utter terror born from the deepest recesses of human fear at the moment of impending death. Yu Duotian was startled by the boatman's tone, sensing the fear he felt about the changes that had just occurred in the lake.

"What exactly happened?" Yu Duotian asked after calming down.

"The volcano is about to erupt!" The boatman's voice had changed, filled with boundless terror.

"No way! Aren't all the volcanoes in Snow City extinct?!" Yu Duotian was genuinely startled and asked, her whole body trembling.

The boatman had no time to answer his question. With all six high-speed motors running at full speed, they reached the shore in less than a minute. The boatman quickly jumped ashore, completely ignoring Yu Duotian, and ran off without looking back. At this moment, the lake returned to calm, but the number of dead fish increased, and a disturbing and oppressive feeling filled the air. Suddenly, Yu Duotian noticed that the lake water began to boil, and a faint tremor, like the stampeding of ten thousand horses, slowly emanated from the lakebed.

"Boom...!" A deafening roar shook the earth. In the middle of the lake, an enormous column of water shot into the sky, followed by crimson magma bursting out of the water, reaching a height of over ten meters.

Yu Duotian had never seen anything like this before. He was terrified and his mind went completely blank. But before he could even process what was happening, another equally deafening roar erupted, and an even larger column of water shot out from another part of the lake. Yu Duotian shuddered. The roar jolted him awake. He no longer cared about feng shui or Xiao Liu. Now, only one thought occupied his mind: to get out of this place that might kill him. Yu Duotian scrambled and stumbled, frantically climbing from the boat onto the shore, as if it were the end of the world, running like a madman towards the distant horizon.

Meanwhile, some tourists who were boating alone on the lake had no idea what was happening before they were affected by the underwater volcanic eruption. They were thrown into the water along with their boats and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, five more loud bangs and water columns echoed across the lake, each louder and higher than the last. All seven volcanoes at the bottom of the lake erupted, releasing thick black smoke, acrid volcanic ash, and the hysterical screams of people on the shore, along with the screams of tourists who hadn't yet managed to paddle to the shore. All of this was mixed together in a scene that resembled the end of the world.

The people on the shore were no longer able to rationally pay attention to the changes in the lake; they were all scattering and running for their lives. At this moment, everyone had only one thought in their minds: "I wish my parents had given me two more legs."

Suddenly, a figure burst from the lake, leaping swiftly out of the water and hovering in mid-air—it was Feng Shui. However, Feng Shui now seemed completely different from before; his eyes had turned a ghostly green, and a very strange feeling emanated from him. The author couldn't quite describe what that feeling was, as it was difficult to put into words and could only be felt by those present at the time.

Feng Shui hovered in mid-air, his eyes fixed on the lake surface, his hands clasped in front of his chest, rapidly making various strange hand gestures. At this moment, a faint figure gradually emerged from the bottom of the lake—a young woman, none other than Zhou Feiliu, Yu Duotian's girlfriend who had fallen into the lake—Guizi Liu.

However, Xiao Liu looked completely different from before. Her entire body was like water, without substance; only her relatively attractive face remained, allowing people to still recognize her gender. The moment Xiao Liu emerged from the water, the hand gesture performed by the feng shui master suspended in mid-air was completed. If a high-ranking Buddhist disciple were present, they would recognize the difference in this gesture, as it perfectly matched the incomplete Buddhist scriptures passed down from ancient times.

2004-12-08 14:38:00

A black lotus-shaped Dharma wheel appeared from the hand seals made by Feng Shui, rapidly expanding to a range of over ten meters before striking towards Xiao Liu, who had emerged from the lake. Xiao Liu, however, wore a sinister, disdainful smile. His water-form body emerged completely from the water, becoming a solid entity floating on the surface. The instant Xiao Liu's physical form floated on the water, Feng Shui's lotus-shaped Dharma wheel appeared above his head.

Xiao Liu's body suddenly vanished like steam, while the lotus-shaped Dharma wheel, having lost its target, struck the water's surface. However, the transformation was not over. The lotus-shaped Dharma wheel rapidly split into countless small black lotuses, scattering across the 500-meter-wide lake surface beneath Feng Shui. From the air, these black lotuses formed a swastika pattern on the lake's surface.

"I don't know what you are, but if you dare to take over her body, I'll kill you!" Feng Shui didn't open his mouth to speak, but his voice was like that of a loudspeaker at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, distant and vast, covering the entire lake area, and his tone was so cold that it made people shiver.

"Are you sure you can do it, young man?" A girl's voice, as clear as a silver bell, also came from somewhere in the lake, its reach no less impressive than that of a feng shui master.

"Don't speak to me in Xiao Liu's voice. I want to hear your true voice. What are you?" Feng Shui recognized the voice as Xiao Liu's, but could not pinpoint its location.

Feng Shui tried to probe the lake with his spiritual sense, but found that the entire surface was sealed by some unknown force, and his spiritual sense couldn't penetrate it at all. However, Feng Shui was certain of one thing: the thing occupying Xiao Liu's body was still in this lake.

"You'll know what I am once you come in, won't you? This girl's body is perfect for me. If you want to go back, let's see if you have the ability. Hehehe..." The voice occupying Xiao Liu's body said provocatively.

"You son of a bitch, don't try to pull this on me. If you piss me off, I'm capable of anything. You've sealed off this lake, and I'll seal you off too. Even if you want to get out of the lake, it's impossible! Hahahaha!" Feng Shui cursed angrily.

"You little brat, you're really ruthless! But you probably don't know, there are many underground channels connecting this lake to the nearby mountains. Even if you seal off the entire lake, I can still get out through other channels. Hahahaha, I'll make you furious!" Xiao Liu's voice provoked Feng Shui.

"You fucking bastard, you're ruthless! What exactly do you want?" Feng Shui asked in a fit of rage.

However, Xiao Liu's voice did not answer him again and disappeared. Moreover, the lake surface that the thing occupying Xiao Liu's body had restricted was also opened, leaving only the Feng Shui "Qiankun Fuyi Sealing Magic Wheel Curse" still restricting the entire area of the lake surface.

"What exactly do you want?" Feng Shui's tone softened somewhat.

But still no one answered him.

"Actually, there's no point in you restricting this place like this, because she's already escaped." At this moment, a man's voice came from behind the feng shui.

Feng Shui quickly turned around and saw a man with a pimple-covered face, three Japanese samurai swords at his waist, a black silk cloth wrapped around his head, and wearing a T-shirt printed with "Not seeking the best, but seeking the most expensive," floating cross-legged in the air behind him.

"Who are you?" Feng Shui asked in surprise.

"Hehe, you're a feng shui master, right? I didn't expect you to reincarnate so quickly. It seems a master is a master indeed. I admire you." The man said with admiration.

"Do you know me?" Feng Shui asked curiously.

"There are only a handful of people in this world who can use such a sophisticated sealing array, and you are one of them—Feng Shui. Judging from your foul language earlier, it's clear you've been reincarnated as a delinquent youth. You also carry some of Jiang Yao's aura, and only Feng Shui possesses Jiang Yao's aura, because Jiang Yao is not someone anyone can just touch. In conclusion, you are Feng Shui, Jiang Yao's boyfriend, who forgot his past life's memories after reincarnation but inherited the cultivation techniques from his previous life. Otherwise, you couldn't possibly use such a sophisticated sealing array." The man rambled on for a long time.

"You speak so eloquently, it sounds quite plausible, but I really don't know this Jiang Yao you're talking about. And what you're talking about, cultivation techniques and array formations, I don't understand. That '卍' symbol made of lotus flowers below was just something I subconsciously activated automatically, I don't know how it happened. Also, I want to ask again, who are you?" Feng Shui asked, somewhat confused.

"Looks like you've lost your memory again. But that's fine, it shows you're someone who keeps up with the latest trends, because these days, playing the amnesia card is all the rage, hehe. My name is Li Zhanghao, nice to meet you." The man who called himself Li Zhanghao said with a smile.

However, the feng shui master felt that Li Zhanghao's smile looked awkward because the bumps on his face really affected the overall visual effect of the smile.

"Oh, so you're Korean. You're the younger brother of Korean Go player Lee Chang-ho, right?" Feng Shui asked curiously.

"I'm not Korean, Lee Chang-ho has nothing to do with me. Actually, I'm someone you knew before, but not a very close friend. You might not recognize me now, but that doesn't matter, because I know you," Lee Chang-ho said enthusiastically.

"It seems you really enjoy making friends. By the way, how did you know she wasn't in this lake?" Feng Shui asked curiously.

"It's actually quite simple. The demon possessing your friend's body is no match for you, and your '卍' Demon-Sealing Array is far too powerful. It's too wasteful to deal with a demon whose main energy source is water molecules. She also knows she's no match for you, so she first used provocation to distract you, and then used the restricted lake surface to prevent you from rashly entering the lake to find her. So she took advantage of the moment when she was chatting with you to slip away. The restriction created by the demon can only disappear when the demon leaves the restricted area. In fact, everything is very simple. If it were you in your previous life, you would definitely see through these illusions. However, it seems that you haven't fully integrated the cultivation techniques from your previous life yet, but that's okay. Because people can only improve through constant training and learning. If you integrate everything at once, it will actually affect your cultivation progress." Li Zhanghao explained at length.

"So what should I do now?" Feng Shui felt that Li Zhanghao's analysis made a lot of sense.

"Of course we'll continue tracking it down, find that little monster, and rescue your friend. We're on the side of justice; we won't wrong an innocent person, and we absolutely cannot let a bad person go free," Li Zhanghao said with a righteous expression.

“I feel like I’ve heard that before. But the monster that possessed my friend’s body has already escaped. How am I supposed to track it down?” Feng Shui asked.

“It’s simple, because I have a register of all the demons in this realm and their detailed information. And, hehe… while you were chatting with her, I found her location and placed a tracking spell on her. Now let me find her location.” Li Zhanghao said with a sinister smile.

"Impressive," Feng Shui said admiringly.

Li Zhanghao took out a small device from his pocket that resembled a business communication device, but it looked much stranger. It was only the size of a mobile phone, and the screen was a three-dimensional projection image. This three-dimensional image showed a three-dimensional real-world map of Snow City at a size of one ten-thousandth. A small blue dot was constantly flashing somewhere in this three-dimensional real-world map, and it was moving at an extremely fast speed.

"Found it. Hehe." Li Zhanghao said proudly, pointing to the blue dot on the 3D image.

"What is this thing of yours? It looks quite high-tech," Feng Shui asked curiously, looking at the instrument in Li Zhanghao's hand.

"Hehe, this thing is called the NMDGPS system. But I've improved it again, making it even better than the original version," Li Zhanghao said with even more pride.

"Your mom's GPS system looks pretty good," Feng Shui said admiringly.

"…Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. It seems this monster is quite fast; let's hurry and chase after it. Otherwise, if we're late and it completely refines your friend's body, there won't be any way to save her." Li Zhanghao heard the feng shui assessment.

2004-12-08 14:40:00

"Okay, then I'll follow you." Feng Shui felt that Li Zhanghao seemed much more reliable than before.

"By the way, do you know how to use a teleportation array to instantly teleport?" Li Zhanghao suddenly asked.

"No, I only just learned that I have some unique abilities, but I haven't fully understood my supernatural potential yet," Feng Shui said helplessly.

"Never mind then. Only immortals can use teleportation arrays. I think we should use a flying sword instead. By the way, do you have your own flying sword?" Li Zhanghao asked.

"Flying sword? I don't have one," Feng Shui said, even more helplessly.

"Without a flying sword, you can't achieve long-distance, high-speed flight. I remember you had a black short blade in your previous life. Look for it on your person." Li Zhanghao suddenly remembered the black short blade that Feng Shui used in his previous life.

"I only have so much space on my body, where am I supposed to look for it?" the feng shui master said, looking troubled.