Chu He looked at the Demon Lord with a hint of surprise, but he regained his composure almost instantly. “Are you a vampire bat? How can you smell blood from anywhere?”
The question was extremely impolite, showing his extreme displeasure. On a normal day, the Demon Lord might have retorted, but at this moment, he merely maintained his posture of leaning out from the void, sizing Chu He up and down before asking, “Have your injuries from last time healed?”
Chu He said, “If you want to make small talk, go find Zhou Hui. He shouldn’t be far. I’m disciplining my child, I don’t need your help.”
If one looked closely, they would see his grip on Maha’s hand suddenly tighten. But the Demon Lord placed his hand on Maha’s shoulder, staring at Chu He with a smile. “I’ve discovered you’re very good at using one person to intimidate another. Is this talent for playing both sides an additional skill that comes with your beauty? …Tsk, don’t look at me like that. I didn’t say you couldn’t use this extra skill. Speaking of which, if you were willing to remarry me, I’d treat both your children as my own. It’s nothing for a stepfather to lend a little hand, is it?”
Chu He frowned. “What are you trying to do?!”
The Demon Lord reached out and caressed his cheek, then with lightning speed, he grabbed Maha and shot up into the sky!
The Demon Lord Fan Luo was the only one in the Six Realms who could travel freely through the void. If he entered it, tracking his movements would become extremely difficult. Without a moment’s hesitation, Chu He grabbed onto Maha and roared, “Zhou Hui!”
The boulders blocking the cave entrance collapsed with a crash. The next second, a pure cyan long arrow tore through the air, grazing the top of Maha’s head. As the Demon Lord tilted his head back, the arrow pressed against his neck and embedded itself deep into the rock with a loud thud.
The Demon Lord said, “Little Peacock, your dad really doesn’t care if you live or die, does he.” As he spoke, he stretched out a hand, and a mass of black energy condensed in his palm, roaring out like a long dragon!
Once released, this hurricane-like airflow formed the character for “seal,” smashing down on the exit and triggering hundreds of violent tremors that completely blocked Zhou Hui outside. At the same moment, Chu He lunged forward, striking at the Demon Lord’s throat, but his attack was blocked in a flash of light. The Demon Lord laughed, “Commendable spirit, but a pity…”
Before he could finish, Chu He grabbed the Demon Lord’s blocking arm, used it as a leverage point, and leaped into the air, kicking the Demon Lord squarely in the chest and sending him crashing into the stone wall!
The move was incredibly clean and fluid, a textbook example of a perfect attack. If Chu He had possessed the same power he’d had in his “Extremely Vicious” form, the Demon Lord would probably be coughing up his lungs by now.
The Demon Lord coughed twice, the sound dull as if it came from deep within his chest. Even so, he kept one hand on the peacock and pressed the other to his chest, smiling. “I really can’t go easy on you at all, truly…”
Chu He cut him off harshly, “What exactly are you trying to do, Fan Luo!”
“Our kid wants to go to the Sea of Blood, didn’t you hear? Don’t be so rigid.” Fan Luo coughed twice more, then turned to Maha with a smile. “Little brother, your biological father doesn’t seem very reliable. At least I voluntarily helped you block the heavenly lightning. Isn’t that favor enough for you to call me dad?”
Chu He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger. He knew their current situation was like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He and Zhou Hui were at a great disadvantage; stopping Fan Luo was almost impossible.
—The Demon Lord Fan Luo could dispel heavenly lightning, a very rare ability in the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms.
Heavenly Tribulations and Heavenly Retributions were two different things. The former was a trial that everyone would face at some point. No matter how profound one’s cultivation or respected one’s status, unless they were a legitimate high god, they would experience it three to five times in their near-infinite lives. Heavenly Retribution, on the other hand, was only sent down by the host of gods and buddhas for committing grave sins. Not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry was qualified to be subjected to it. For instance, the human realm hadn’t seen a Heavenly Retribution in a very long time, because no matter how grave the sins of humans were, they weren’t significant enough in the eyes of the gods.
The purpose of a Heavenly Tribulation was to test, while a Heavenly Retribution was a fight to the death, with the latter being several orders of magnitude more powerful than the former. Furthermore, Heavenly Retribution had an elusive characteristic: for a very small number of extremely evil demon lords in the “Four Evil Paths” who had committed countless sins, the heavenly lightning would actually avoid them.
—The Demon Lord was one of them.
Chu He retreated a few steps. Likely due to extreme weakness from exhaustion, he leaned against the rock to catch his breath before saying lightly, with no lack of mockery, “You’re just trying to threaten me.”
The Demon Lord laughed loudly, as if finding this family truly amusing. He turned to Maha. “I was just feeling sorry for you, a Wisdom King unloved by his father and mother. I take it back now… at least your real mom still cares about you, admitting you have value as a bargaining chip. Should I be a good sport and play along with him?”
“Do whatever you want,” Maha said. The wound left by the cyan arrow that had pinned him to the wall showed no signs of healing, and he was drenched in blood. His voice was as hoarse as if his throat were filled with gravel. “But once Zhou Hui gets in, using me as a hostage will be useless. Stop wasting time. If you’re going, go now!”
The Demon Lord said approvingly, “It seems you understand your father’s behavioral patterns quite well. Not bad.” Without looking back, he waved a hand. The void seemed to be devoured by invisible, sharp teeth, splitting open with a shrill hiss into a jagged black hole that expanded to a terrifying size within seconds!
An extremely powerful suction force emanated from the black hole. Even Chu He staggered a couple of steps, gritting his teeth and grabbing onto the mountain rock to steady himself. For a moment, it looked like he wanted to make one last attempt, his expression changing, but then the suction from the black hole intensified. The pile of rocks blocking the exit loosened, and stones half the size of a person began to rain down like hail. The last thing he could do was hold on tightly to a stone slab for cover and shout, “Maha!”
Maha looked at him deeply. He heard Chu He’s hoarse voice say, “If you regret this…”
Just then, with a tremendous boom, Zhou Hui finally smashed through the Demon Lord’s seal under the force of the powerful suction. But the moment he entered, he was nearly sucked in headfirst. He immediately started cursing, “F— your ancestors! How come you’re always here to hijack things!”
Fan Luo made a provocative gesture at Zhou Hui, grabbed Maha, and retreated into the black hole the next second. Almost simultaneously, the black hole distorted violently, stretched, and shot through the rock slab above their heads like a lightning strike, collapsing the grotto’s already crumbling structure. Amidst a rain of dirt and broken stones, they burst through to the surface.
The moment they shot out, ten thousand bolts of lightning struck at once. Many lightning rods in H-City must have exploded at the same time. Then, the sky full of lightning came to an abrupt halt above Fan Luo’s head. The Demon Lord transformed into a giant bird from ancient mythology that covered the sky. With a single flap of his sun-blotting wings, he charged directly into the thick, black clouds.
Chu He slammed his fist against the stone slab. Zhou Hui rushed over, grabbed his shoulder, and yelled, “Let’s go! This place is collapsing!”
They scrambled through the rubble that fell like giant hailstones. Countless stone blocks inscribed with great sealing curses fell from the ceiling, turning to dust upon hitting the ground. Zhou Hui shielded Chu He’s head as they stumbled through the rugged passage. The nine-tailed fox was waiting for them at a bend near the surface. It wrapped one of its two tails around each of them and powerfully flung them upwards.
With a thud, they both landed on the muddy ground in the rain. For several seconds, neither of them could move. It felt as if every bone in their bodies was fractured, and even breathing sent a fiery pain through their chests. The nine-tailed fox leaped out from a large, sunken fissure in the ground and instantly transformed into a human. She walked lightly to their side. Zhou Hui was sprawled on the ground, limbs spread wide, and said weakly, “Foxy, every time you spread your tails wide, I feel like I can see your butthole…”
Li Hu did something, and with a muffled sound, Zhou Hui’s voice was cut off.
Chu He struggled to his feet, feeling dizzy. His vision went black in waves, and his mouth tasted bitter and metallic, likely filled with blood.
He swallowed with difficulty and immediately began to cough hoarsely.
Clutching his throat, he looked around. The construction site was surrounded by police tape. Outside, a dense crowd of police officers had gathered, and many reporters were pushing forward with their cameras, trying to get past the police line to take pictures inside.
The downpour gradually lessened and then stopped, but the thick, dark clouds in the sky did not disperse. Clouds like these would likely linger over H-City for half a month. During that time, people would need to turn on lights in their homes during the day, and if the streetlights were off, it would be no different from night.
Chu He staggered to his feet. Yan Lanyu was leaning against a tree, coughing incessantly. He had clearly suffered internal injuries; each cough brought up a spray of bloody foam. Zhang Shun was sitting on the ground drinking water. He recovered the fastest. As soon as he saw Chu He, he stood up to walk over, looking mostly fine except for a slight limp.
“Brother…”
Chu He waved his hand, signaling him not to speak, and walked to the side of the building, toward a shallow pit blasted open by lightning.
The weasel lay quietly inside, the blood on its fur already coagulated.
Chu He walked over to it, sat down cross-legged, and cradled the weasel in his arms. He remained motionless for a long time before finally raising a trembling hand and beginning to comb through the blood-and-flesh-matted fur, stroke by stroke.
He repeated the motion mechanically, as if by this action he could clean the weasel back to its usual lively, sleek-furred state. Zhang Shun watched his back, a figure so thin it was almost sharp, so thin that every time his arm lifted, the movement of his shoulder blade was clearly visible through his clothes.
His head was lowered, his blood-and-mud-stained hair sticking to his ears and neck. The bone at the nape of his neck protruded starkly, a very obvious part of the descending line of his neck. It was an arc so solitary it seemed it could break at any moment, yet most of the time, it was hard enough to be indestructible.
Zhou Hui stumbled over, smiling at Zhang Shun as he passed but saying nothing. He knelt beside Chu He.
“Don’t be sad,” Zhou Hui said.
Chu He didn’t answer. After a long while, he said softly, “Easy for you to say.”
Zhou Hui patted his shoulder, seeming to want to say something but holding it back.
Chu He continued to stroke the weasel, finally cleaning the last bit of blood and dirt from its fur. He lowered his head and stared at its lifeless body without blinking for a very long time before whispering, “I don’t have many friends. One of them is lying here…”
Zhou Hui turned his head to look at him. “You are so strange.”
“…”
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone from the Thirty-Third Heaven, a proper Wisdom King no less, who considers a demon a friend. I thought the only thing in the Six Realms more lowly than a low-level demon like a weasel was a hungry ghost.” Zhou Hui repeated as if he found it amusing, “You are so strange.”
Chu He didn’t reply, as if he hadn’t heard Zhou Hui at all. He slowly buried his face in the weasel’s cold fur. After a moment, his shoulders began to tremble slightly. He gripped the weasel so tightly that his fingers began to cramp, his knuckles turning a pale, bluish-white.
“No one… no one respects it. It’s just a weasel. Even Daoist priests… it’s afraid of even ordinary Daoist priests…”
You are so easily startled, so worried and fearful, you’re afraid of even ordinary Daoist priests. Why, at that moment, were you not afraid of Maha?
Why did you try to pull him away?
Why didn’t you dodge?
“You don’t know…” Chu He coughed, each one a muffled sound that seemed to vibrate directly from his chest. He continued in a broken, hoarse voice, “You don’t know how timid it is, you don’t know how hard it tried…”
Zhou Hui turned his head away so Chu He wouldn’t see the expression on his face.
The weasel’s tail twitched.
Chu He didn’t notice, but then the weasel’s leg kicked, and then kicked again.
“…Boss… Boss Chu,” after several more minutes, the weasel’s muffled voice finally came from above his head. “…You’re crushing my lungs…”
Chu He’s head snapped up, his expression at that moment indescribable.
The weasel looked at him cautiously, trying to curry favor. Blood bubbled from the corner of its mouth whenever it moved, making its speech gurgle. “I… I’m so moved, Boss Chu. Do you really see me as a friend? Glug glug… So you really are the Heavenly Dao Wisdom King. Does you acknowledging me now mean I can become an immortal too? Glug glug… My wounds hurt so much—so much, glug glug—”
Zhou Hui’s entire body was twitching strangely. After a moment, he could no longer suppress his laughter. “When a Phoe-Phoenix transforms into its ancient divine beast form, its tears are a rare sacred healing artifact! The weasel hadn’t breathed its last yet, and your tears nearly gave it a full bath, hahahaha… I just brought it up and gave it some emergency treatment, hahahaha, hahahahahaha—!”
Chu He looked as if he’d been struck by lightning, frozen like a stone statue. His blank expression made the weasel a little nervous. It cautiously waved a paw in front of his eyes. “Boss… Boss Chu? Boss Phoenix? Your Highness Wisdom King? …Are you okay?”
Chu He suddenly shot up, grabbed the weasel, and slammed it to the ground, giving it a sound thrashing!
“Ah! Ah, help! Help me, ahhh—!” the weasel shrieked. Zhou Hui pounded the ground with his hands, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Chu He ignored the screams, his eyes red as he grabbed the weasel by the scruff and lifted it, looking like he wanted to give it the same treatment he’d given Maha. But after raising his hand high, he ultimately didn’t strike, instead just tossing it onto Zhou Hui’s head.
The weasel and Zhou Hui both cried out as they tumbled to the ground in a tangled heap. Zhou Hui was still laughing hysterically and reached out to pull Chu He down too, but Chu He coughed a few more times, clutched his chest, and staggered to his feet. Without looking back, he limped away.
The weasel lay on the ground, spitting up blood like a running faucet. “Is… is Boss Chu okay? Should I go apologize?…”
Zhou Hui pounded the ground. “He’s fine, he’s fine, hahahaha—! Don’t mind him. Baby’s upset, and baby’s heart is bitter, hahahaha—”
The group was rushed to the hospital. Thanks to Zhou Hui’s help, the weasel managed to transform back into Mayor Huang just as the reporters broke through the barricades. The sight of him, covered in blood and looking half-dead, was captured by countless cameras simultaneously. It was bound to be the front-page headline for all of H-City’s newspapers the next day.
Mayor Huang was very worried, but Zhou Hui said it was fine; they had special ways of handling this. Sure enough, the next day, as Mayor Huang lay in his hospital bed with bandages on his head and his leg in a sling, he read the newspapers. All the news reports said that a group of Japanese spies, under the guise of an investment opportunity, were gathering intelligence. After being discovered, they hijacked Mayor Huang and fled into H-City’s underground tunnels. The provincial police quickly organized a force to encircle and suppress them. Mayor Huang actively cooperated and outsmarted the hijackers, and finally, the Japanese spies were all captured, and the mayor himself was successfully rescued.
As for the lightning and storm, they were mentioned only in passing. The meteorological department just repeatedly emphasized that citizens should reduce outdoor activities recently, avoid working at heights, and ensure water and electricity safety.
No one knew that the first thing Mayor Huang did after arriving at the hospital wasn’t to get an emergency blood transfusion, but to cry and scream for a bath. He insisted on washing in a basin, and after he was done, he wanted the water stored in a refrigerator and not thrown away.
Zhou Hui was extremely curious and tried to trade a protective talisman for the reason, but just like the time he tried to sell a talisman to Young Master Zhang for 8,800 and was disdainfully rejected, he was refused again. Finally, Zhou Hui resorted to threats and forced the chubby Huang to sheepishly tell the truth. It turned out there might still be remnants of Phoenix tears on his body. Such a miraculous treasure of heaven and earth naturally had to be preserved. What if another accident happened in the future?
Everyone found this logic deeply compelling and was left speechless. However, given that there was only one ancient Phoenix, and tears from its phoenix form were a once-in-a-millennium sight, the shelf life was truly uncertain. It might even lose its effect upon exposure to air.
This encounter in H-City with a genuine Peacock Wisdom King, where two team leaders got into trouble together, and especially the discovery of the long-lost Phoenix Four, caused a huge stir within National Security. The next day, people were sent from Beijing. After many trips to the H-City hospital, they finally took both Yan Lanyu and Aita away.
To everyone’s astonishment, Aita had not died. It was said that National Security’s special “cleaners” found him in a hidden crevice in the underground tunnels while clearing the area. At the time, he was on the verge of death from blood loss. After emergency treatment, he was put on a plane to Beijing under the charge of espionage. How he would be dealt with after that would depend on the balance of interests within National Security.
As for Yan Lanyu, the news from Beijing confirmed he was seriously injured. As soon as he got off the plane in the capital, his psychological support collapsed, and he fainted on the spot, scaring the special agents escorting him out of their wits. He was immediately sent to the ICU.
Perhaps because they had been through a life-and-death situation together, Zhang Shun felt an involuntary concern and asked about his condition several times, but received no definite answer. Zhou Hui only told him that the young man was one of the special individuals National Security needed to retrieve from overseas, but a rescue mission in Japan had been delayed until now due to complex political reasons.
And Zhang Shun himself, a second-generation rich kid who couldn’t carry anything heavy, had miraculously only suffered minor injuries after his brush with death. Aside from severely scraped hands from moving rocks and the rather tragic loss of half a front tooth, the doctor soon declared he could be discharged.
The day of his discharge was a miserable one for Young Master Zhang. When other patients were discharged, they were met by parents, siblings, or their wife and kids. But there was no sign of Young Master Zhang’s brother, nor any of the social butterflies who flocked to him for his money. Only the old butler and two maids stood at the door of his hospital room. Zhang Shun looked at the man in the next bed sipping bone broth his wife had made, while ordering his son to peel him an orange and cut up an apple. A sour feeling welled up in his heart, and it was not a pleasant taste.
The old butler took the opportunity to earnestly advise, “This is why you should find a good girl, get married, have a few children, and carry on the Zhang family bloodline…”
Zhang Shun thought to himself, Better not. What if I have one like Maha? Who knows if he’d be peeling apples for his old man or peeling his old man’s head off with a knife in the middle of the night.
The old butler was still rambling. Young Master Zhang couldn’t help but interrupt, “Where’s my brother? Why didn’t he even come for my discharge?”
The old butler said, “The young master hasn’t been home for a long time. Isn’t he on a business trip? Oh, and Second Young Master, you mustn’t hold grudges against the young master over small things like you did when you were little. You’ve called him ‘brother’ for so many years, and the young master has always been very good to you…”
A chill ran down Zhang Shun’s spine. He quickly found an excuse to send the old butler away and found a quiet place to call his brother.
When he was first hospitalized, his mind was in turmoil. At night, whenever he closed his eyes, he suspected that his thrilling ordeal underground was fake. The Buddha’s bone, the phoenix, the Peacock Wisdom King—they were all just a particularly twisted and bizarre dream from playing too many computer games. Probably because of this escapism, he had deliberately not sought out Chu He, and Chu He had not actively contacted him either.
He now realized it had been over a week since he had seen his brother.
But as soon as the call connected, it was hung up. He tried twice more, and it was hung up again. Like a little girl abandoned by her lover, Young Master Zhang, with pearly tears in his eyes and teeth clenched, channeled the unyielding determination he had found while moving rocks in the tunnel and made seven or eight more calls. Finally, Chu He’s slightly hoarse but very calm voice came from the phone. “Hello, Zhang Shun.”
Young Master Zhang shouted angrily, “Where are you?!”
“Busy.”
“Busy with what? I’m being discharged today and you’re not even here?! Everyone else’s family comes to pick them up! Where are you?!”
There was a long silence on the other end, only the static of the signal. After a while, he heard Chu He sigh.
“Ah Shun, I have to leave for a while,” he said. “I plan to return the position of company president to you.”
Young Master Zhang was stunned, standing in the hospital corridor without reacting for a long time. When he finally came to his senses, before he could even speak, he heard his brother say, “That’s all for now. I’ll be in touch.” Then he hung up.
Young Master Zhang stood in the corridor, feeling none of the joy of having a multi-million-dollar fortune dropped on his head, only the bewildered and furious despair of a girl who had been callously dumped by a heartless man and compensated with money.
For the next week, he truly couldn’t contact Chu He again. His brother didn’t go to the company and didn’t come home. His documents were all there, but his phone went unanswered. Just as he had appeared out of nowhere without any ties, the man had once again disappeared from his life, floating away just as unattached.
While tidying up at home, Zhang Shun found an old photo album. He opened it and saw a photo of himself and Chu He as teenagers. In that instant, he felt a dazed sense that this person he had called ‘brother’ for more than a decade might have really been nothing more than a long, vivid dream.
Young Master Zhang felt a kind of maladjustment similar to what one feels after the intense pressure of college entrance exams suddenly gives way to idleness. He felt so psychologically unbalanced that he thought something was wrong with him. This state continued until half a month later when he went to the hospital for a check-up. In the corridor of the ward, he happened to run into Mayor Huang and Li Hu.
Mayor Huang was still in a hospital gown, with a bandage on the back of his head, strolling slowly down the corridor. Li Hu walked beside him with her arms crossed, wearing high heels. When she saw Young Master Zhang, she first froze for a moment, then immediately turned to leave.
Zhang Shun didn’t even have time to greet Mayor Huang. He took a single stride and blocked Li Hu’s path. “Stop!”
His voice was so sharp it was almost a shriek. Several doctors and nurses in the corridor turned to look at them curiously.
Li Hu stopped helplessly. “Long time no see, Second Young Master. I suddenly need to use the restroom…”
But Zhang Shun stood motionlessly in front of her. In that instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind—how should he start? What was the most efficient way to pry this woman’s mouth open? Several ideas came to him, but they were all quickly dismissed. With people as cunning as these, if he didn’t hit their weak spot right away, he would easily be pushed back with evasive answers, just like when he had questioned Zhou Hui.
After all, Zhang Shun was no longer the clueless, rich kid he once was. His mind, which had been in a brief state of chaos, calmed down immediately. He stared straight into Li Hu’s eyes and said, “I have a question for you.”
Li Hu glanced around, wanting to say something, but Zhang Shun didn’t give her the chance. He asked directly, “—You tricked me into going down into the tunnel to have Maha kill me, didn’t you?”
Li Hu instantly froze.
Zhang Shun could even feel a cold sweat slowly beading on her temples.
