Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 295

We rushed to the crystal, but the ice had already blocked the space left by the broken crystal and was still rising. In this situation, both Suren and I immediately realized that the ice would block our only way out, sealing us forever in the world of the "Asian Gear," but neither of us was afraid and kept rushing forward.

Upon reaching the end of the passageway, I abruptly stopped, blocking Suren's way: "Don't panic, let's check the situation outside first—"

The gears on the mechanical body were still spinning, and an eerie frost shone on the metal walls. The white-robed man lay sprawled at the young man's feet. His combat uniform and bulletproof vest had been torn off, revealing his muscular upper body. He held a sharp knife in his left hand and a steel jungle machete in his right.

"This is a world of apocalyptic death, where everyone will fall amidst rivers of blood. Come on, come on—" He was a strong and burly man, but his voice was that of a woman, sharp and high-pitched.

"Tenshō Jubei, that Japanese female ninja." Suren whispered in my ear, her voice hushed to the extreme.

I understand, and I have personally witnessed her strange powers when she possessed Suren.

At this moment, Guan Nan Goro remained calm and composed, holding the lead box and standing proudly at the highest point of the mechanical body.

"Kill—" The young man charged upwards, his movements elusive. In this silver world, his dark skin resembled a randomly deforming and moving ink stain, covering wherever he went with a layer of dirty black. However, the two knives in his hands were white, their blades gleaming with a cold, grayish-white light.

“We don’t need to help either side, we just need to get that lead box, right?” I asked Suren for her opinion, after all, Guan Nan Wulang was her mentor.

“Yes, now I truly admire my elder brother’s foresight. He said long ago, ‘Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts.’ In the history of the Japanese, there has never been a person who could promote world peace and development. There will never be one now, and there never will be. Guan Nan Goro is just a fraudster who uses the guise of ‘maintaining world peace’ to actually ‘divide the world and pursue his own ultimate interests.’ Our goal is simply to wait for the outcome of the battle, and then rush in to reap the rewards of victory.”

Suren's expression remained tense and serious, but his tone was much more relaxed.

At least, this is a battle between Japanese people, a duel between top ninjas and the supreme ruler of the martial arts world.

Upon careful reflection, it's clear that the reason Scalpel and Brother Yang Tian were revered as heroes and leaders in the martial arts world was no empty boast. Their unique perspectives on major issues and crucial viewpoints were truly admirable.

The "clanging" sound kept ringing out. Guan Nan Goro stood on a high place and casually picked off the gear next to him and threw it down to block Tensho Jubei's upward charge.

The increasing number of gears on the mechanical surface that have stopped turning foreshadows a massive change in the outside world, with the ever-present danger of plane crashes and tsunamis. If the ancient zither is the only key to restarting the gears, it is now nowhere to be found.

"Brother Feng, only today did I realize how powerful his martial arts are!" Su Lun sighed, looking up from a concealed angle. Although Tensho Jubei's attacks were fierce like a storm, they remained within ten steps of Guan Nan Wulang, unable to get any closer. The latter controlled the situation with just one hand. It seemed that when he was pursued by the Tensho Jubei possessing Su Lun last time, his evasive maneuvers and lack of counterattack were intentionally concealing his true martial arts prowess.

“Even if all fifty-odd disciples were combined, they wouldn’t be a match for him alone. My elder brother said that in the whole world, only Yang Tian, the ‘King of Tomb Raiders,’ could rival Guan Nan Wu Lang. Whether in terms of cunning, courage, martial arts, or knowledge, they are the two top masters of the same era. Others are not worth worrying about at all.”

She turned to me again, smiling slyly: "Of course, Big Brother didn't take Master Qifu into account. To be able to teach such an outstanding disciple as you, Master Qifu's own martial arts skills must be limitless and endless, right?"

I couldn't help but smile: "Some people don't like being ranked by others. Fame and fortune are nothing but fleeting clouds to them. Even if they are forced upon them, they are just meaningless burdens."

In Master Qifu's value system, the most joyful life is one lived freely, without any worries or constraints. As for the question of who is the best or second best in the world, it's all just nonsense and is completely ignored.

Part 5: The Source of Energy

— Chapter 8 — The Final Battle Within the Frozen Leylines —

Unable to break through after a prolonged assault, Tensho Jubei suddenly leaped into the air, launching a downward attack. Kanan Goro also took to the air, and the two clashed in mid-air, their speed overwhelming the opponent. He was unarmed, forced to fight bare-handed—his left hand remained tightly gripping the lead box, refusing to let go.

Unbeknownst to me, the ice on the ground grew thicker and thicker, and the gears spun slower and slower, as if each gear was covered in a thin layer of ice. I could foresee that the ice would eventually engulf the mechanical body, turning it into a large, cold, hard ice ball. In this situation, my only option was to rush out first, eliminate Tensho Jubei, and then make any other plans.

Just as I was about to discuss it with Suren, the two people in the midst of the fierce battle suddenly fell, landing right in the deep well in the center of the mechanical structure.

"Huh?" Suren exclaimed in surprise, then sprang out of the cave and rushed toward the metal stairs.

I followed closely behind, but still managed to glance around hurriedly. Ice was slowly seeping out of every hole in the metal wall, advancing step by step towards the machine. If this trend couldn't be stopped, the machine would truly become an ice ball, all the gears would be forced to stop turning, and no one could estimate how severe the consequences would be then.

The deep well of the earth's veins has no end. If two people fall in at the same time, they will surely fall into an abyss of no return, just like tigers. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

The situation took many twists and turns, and I could only brace myself and focus on dealing with the current crisis. The metal steps had become incredibly slippery, and the gears on both sides were rotating at a very rapid pace, currently around fifteen revolutions per minute; I could clearly see the approximate outline of the tooth tips.

Suren reached the top of the steps a dozen or so steps earlier than me. Looking down, she suddenly let out a long sigh of relief and slowly patted her chest: "Thank goodness, thank goodness."

"What's wrong?" I couldn't think of any reason why she would say that.

"Come quickly and see! It turns out the ley lines have been sealed by ice. They... they didn't fall straight down, but..." Before she could finish speaking, I had already leaped to the top of the stairs.

The once pitch-black well had been drastically altered. The walls were now covered with a layer of white ice, and thirty meters from the wellhead, the ice sealed off the earth's veins, forming a flat, pot-shaped surface. It was in this environment that Guan Nan Goro and Tensho Jubei fought their desperate battle. The lead box had slipped from their grasp and landed on a protruding ice platform in the middle of the well wall, roughly at the same height as the well's edge and bottom.

I suddenly made a decision: "Suren, I'm going to go and get the lead box back."

That's what Goro Kanami relies on to control the situation. If it falls into our hands, his plan to seize global dominance will certainly fail. We are Earthlings, and we have a responsibility to protect this planet from the control of warmongers.

“I’ve thought of that too, but it’s quite dangerous, Brother Feng. Perhaps we should reconsider.” Su Lun pondered, hesitant.

The height from the bottom of the well to the ice platform is fifteen meters. Given Tensho Jubei's agility, he's likely within her killing range. Frankly, my current physical condition is terrible; my fighting ability is insufficient to contend with her. The worst outcome of going down to retrieve the lead box is getting caught up in the battle, and then—

I believe Suren had considered this worst-case scenario, which is why she hesitated.

“‘A weapon of mass destruction’ that can tear the earth apart, right?” I sighed.

Every warmonger has a most mad side, and is most likely to make a desperate gamble when faced with a hopeless situation, detonating a "weapon of mass destruction." Therefore, regardless of whether Goro Kanan or Jubei Tensho wins the battle, Earth will face immeasurable danger.

The Americans' enormous investment of manpower, resources, and money in searching for this "super weapon" is not merely for the purpose of controlling global command. More importantly, they fear that this superweapon might become a toy for some ruthless individual, and that one careless mistake could reduce our planet to a pile of space debris, causing its complete annihilation.

"We only have one Earth"—this is an important topic that the United Nations Environment Programme has repeatedly emphasized for a long time. By extension, when all warmongers possess the weapons to destroy the Earth, it directly affects the interests of every one of us on Earth, leaving us no choice but to stand up and fight against fate.

“Brother Feng, I understand what you mean, but it’s too dangerous. You don’t want to lose me, and so do I.” She grabbed my arm, her long eyelashes instantly filled with tears, and her voice choked with emotion as she spoke the last few words.

My mood also became heavy, after so many life-and-death separations, I was faced with another choice.

"I know it's dangerous, but we have no way out." I had seen news reports about "weapons of mass destruction" in the newspaper many times before. I used to think it was far away from my life, but now it has suddenly come close to my eyes.

The lead box lay quietly on the ice platform, inconspicuous, like a brand-new pocketbook, only with an unusual black packaging.

"We must get it." I gave myself the order and hardened my heart, refusing to look at Suren's tears.

"Okay." Suren shook her head, and tears drifted down from her eyelashes.

I knew that Morari and his men must be carrying something like a lifeline, so I just patted Suren lightly on the shoulder, turned around, and dashed off towards the group of fallen white-robed men. With their martial arts skills, facing the Tenbei of the Celestial Phenomena was like trying to stop a tiger with a fence—it was laughable. Therefore, instant death was practically the only outcome.

I took a lifeline, five military smoke grenades, and a green oxygen mask from Morari, and stuffed them all into my pocket. He had a large hole in his chest, and blood was flowing out in a winding path across the sloping ground.

"The Azure Dragon Society?" This mysterious name resurfaced in my mind. What role does it play in the battle for the "Asian Gear" energy?

"Little...Little...Uncle-Master, save me, save...me..." Morari was actually still alive. He flipped over and grabbed my right ankle with both hands. He opened his mouth like a dead fish, but then a lot of blood and foam dripped from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, his lungs were severely damaged, and there was absolutely no chance of him surviving.

I pulled the first-aid kit from his pocket, but the gauze, only fifteen centimeters square, couldn't possibly cover the large hole. Left with no other option, I tore a white robe from another corpse and covered Morari with it.

"I want to go to... Japan, I want to... go to Hokkaido... go to Hokkaido... take me there..." This sentence came out of nowhere. Although I understood every word, I couldn't understand its meaning.

"What did you say? Go to Hokkaido, Japan?" I asked in a low voice, while elevating his head to prevent the bruising from flowing back into his brain.

“Hokkaido, yes…Hokkaido…go to find…find…” His pupils were slowly dilating, his voice gradually lowered, and the last English word he said was “touch,” which, when put together, formed the complete sentence “go to Hokkaido to find touch.”

"What does that mean? Going to Hokkaido to find someone? To find someone whose name starts with the word 'touch'?" I didn't have time to think it through. I pried his fingers off, covered his face with the white robe, and immediately returned to the steps.

This unexpected little incident didn't leave a special impression on me. After all, Morari and his gang came for money and died for money, so their deaths were worthwhile. Although I had promised him that I would give them some money and then leave the underworld—the underworld isn't some glamorous entertainment venue where you can enter easily but leave with little control; you have to leave something behind at least. Morari and his gang's departure came at the cost of seventeen lives.

The fierce battle continued, and Tensho Jubei's fighting power seemed inexhaustible, still unleashing fierce attacks and moving swiftly.

A two-inch-long, leaf-shaped dagger appeared in Guan Nan Goro's palm. Short and sharp, it forced the enemy to roll backward several times, and was no less powerful than the two swords of Tensho Jubei.

"It is said that he carries more than a hundred weapons on his person, ranging from extremely short to extremely long, from extremely hard to extremely soft, all kinds of them. Such a fighting scene is a feast for martial arts fanatics..." Suren sighed softly, quickly untied the life rope, and lowered himself down along the edge of the well.

The ice platform wasn't vertically positioned, but slightly downwards and to the right, about three meters horizontally. So, after I rappelled down, I needed to swing a bit to touch the lead box.

"Are you ready?" I grabbed the rope, stood by the well, and took deep breaths that went straight to my dantian.

Suren wrapped the other end of the rope around four metal rods, then around his waist, tying a tight knot, before making a "done" gesture. We each did our assigned tasks, like two machines working together, trying our best not to let personal feelings interfere. Only in this way could we guarantee final success.

“This time, it’s very similar to the last time I had to fall off a cliff to find you.” I smiled, my heart calm and without fear.

Last time, stopping my fall and entering Alpha's golden egg was the right choice. What about this time? Will going down be the right choice?

“I know.” She patted the knot at her waist. “It’s a dead knot. You have to come back, otherwise, this knot will never be untied, and we will be tied together forever.” These words expressed her determination to “die if we don’t succeed,” which was exactly what I was thinking.

“Of course I have to come back, and I’ll take you back to Cairo. Spring is coming, and those North African roses on the terrace of Villa Thirteen are waiting for us to come back and prune them!” I took a deep breath and slowly slid down the ice.

The temperature down in the well was extremely low. After only five meters, my hands were already numb with cold, and even the ropes were covered in frost. Beneath me, the sounds of weapons clashing and rapid breathing from two people locked in fierce combat created a buzzing echo that irritated my eardrums.

I kept my gaze fixed on the well wall, never looking down, and quickly descended to a height parallel to the ice platform. I touched the tip of my toes on a protruding icicle and swung rapidly to the right. These movements, which I usually performed with ease, were now stiffened by the extreme cold. On my first attempt, I only managed to touch the edge of the ice platform.

The well wall was too slippery. When I retreated, I couldn't keep my balance and spun around in mid-air seven or eight times before I finally managed to steady myself.

"Watch out!" Suren suddenly shouted.

Just then, my body swayed and spun ninety degrees again. A white light hissed past me and flew straight into the sky. It was Guan Nan Wulang's handprint; he had spotted me first and understood my and Su Lun's intentions.

"Hey, you two, don't mess around, don't touch that lead box—" he yelled. I looked up and down from his shoes; he had already taken another Emei dagger and continued to deal with Tensho Jubei's attacks, but distracted, he was being pushed back step by step by the enemy. Perhaps in his eyes, the "weapon of mass destruction" could only belong to him alone, a symbol of his own rights, and no one was allowed to touch it.

I steadied myself, leaped to the right a second time, landed with bent knees, and stood on the half-meter square ice platform, the lead box between my legs. This was the safest way; if I had just swung in mid-air and reached out, I would likely have knocked it down instead of getting it. I bent down with difficulty, picked up the lead box, stuffed it into my clothes, and then stiffly straightened up, preparing to retreat.

With a whoosh, Tensho Jubei leaped up, his greatsword slashing fiercely two meters below the ice platform. The platform snapped with a crisp crack and began to fall. My body lurched downwards, then jerked back up, as Suren pulled the rope first, stopping my descent. At that moment, my body was almost stiff, and my strength was severely depleted. I could only cling tightly to the rope, letting Suren pull me up little by little.

Finally, I returned to the top of the mechanical body, collapsed to the ground, and couldn't move at all.

"I told you I would come back." My smile must have been very stiff, but I was still able to smile, having once again successfully overcome a desperate situation.

"Brother Feng, I believe every word you say, from the past to the future, at any time." Su Lun's face was streaked with tears and sweat, making her look slightly disheveled.

I took the lead box from my pocket and stared at this "weapon of mass destruction" that had enraged the Americans. I also recalled the storm war that had been raging in the Middle East for so long. Now, it was in my hands. It was truly a "Pandora's box" that would shock the world. Once opened, it would cause five thousand years of civilization on Earth to burst like bubbles and disappear into thin air.

“The people who discover it, produce it, and use it probably never think about the harm it causes. Suren, what should we do with it? Should we hand it over to the Americans?” I had never thought about how to deal with it.

Suren was stumped: "Americans? Why them? Perhaps it should be handed over to a neutral third party, for example—"

We are Chinese, and our roots will always be in China. What Su Lun didn't say is something that every Chinese person can understand.

“Now, I’ll take you out.” I held out my other hand to her, but she first bent down to untie the knot at her waist. The knot, a series of twists and turns around the neck, was an ancient method used by Spanish pirates; it was easy to tie but difficult to untie.

"It's all over. Let them fend for themselves down there." I stretched, and the thought of finally escaping with my beloved girl instantly brightened my mood. (16 online reading platform)

Suren's nimble fingers danced across the knots, and just then, a white shadow appeared behind her. Before I could react, the shadow landed, a hand grabbing Suren's throat, hissing, "Give me that thing! Give it to me!"

I can't imagine how Guan Nan Wulang jumped up there, but the worst fact now is that he has Su Lun under control.

"Give it to me, Wind, and hand it to me obediently, or my good disciple will be the first to go to the Western Paradise—" he sneered, his white suit covered with fine ice shards, and his sleeves and hem stained with specks of blood, whether his own or Tensho Jubei's, it was unclear.

He reached out his hand to me with a ferocious smile on his face, a far cry from the composed scholar he once was.

The lead box was heavy; at this moment, it directly held the key to Suren's life. We were only seven steps apart, but it was the distance between life and death.

"Feng, I admire you, and Suren is my most prized disciple. You two could easily become my right-hand men, working together to complete this game of dividing the world. Look, with us joined forces, what power in the world can stop us? The American army swept across the Middle Eastern deserts, trying to find that box, but in the end, it's still firmly in our hands. Now, the Pentagon is compromising with me—"

Suren suddenly sneered: "Compromise? Master, what do you think they're stalling for? They're not considering meeting your conditions, but rather seeking how to destroy this mountain along with it. The 'weapon of mass destruction' is not omnipotent, as you and I both know. No one would kill themselves and become the first victim when the planet is destroyed."

Behind them, wisps of cool air rose from the bottom of the well, enough to prove that the ice layer was growing at a rapidly accelerating rate.

I was in a very difficult dilemma, but in the end I made a decision that I could hardly believe myself: "Fine, here you go, give Suren back to me."

They were both taken aback, seemingly surprised that I would suddenly make a decision in such a short time.

"Alright, alright! Feng, you're really a smart man. To show my sincerity—" He released the hand that was gripping Suren's throat. Suren coughed a few times and quickly fled from his side.

I tossed the lead box to him and caught Suren as he leaped towards me.

Actually, this might have been a mistake, because I didn't know what he would do next, or whether he would unleash a deadly weapon in a short time. In an instant, my hand slipped into Suren's pocket, found the pistol, and without hesitation, turned it around and pulled the trigger repeatedly through his clothes.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Six bullets struck Guan Nan Wulang's abdomen without mercy. The spent cartridges clattered to the ground just as he grabbed the lead box.

In my calculations, unless he was wearing a full-body bulletproof vest under his clothes, six bullets would be enough to turn his abdominal organs into a mushy mess.