High in the air, the magnificent peacock paused in a bizarre, unnatural hesitation.
Down below, Chu He’s entire body was wound so tight that it seemed the instant Zhou Hui let go, he would break free and charge straight up. His eyes didn’t blink for a single second as he stared intently at the peacock’s movements in the sky. Suddenly, he murmured in suspicion, “Wait, what is that?”
A black fissure suddenly split open in the air directly in front of the peacock, looking exactly like a spatiotemporal rift tearing open from the inside out.
“Did his barrier collapse?” Zhou Hui speculated.
The moment the words left Zhou Hui’s mouth, Yan Lanyu’s figure suddenly tumbled out of the rift, hurtling down toward the ground at breakneck speed!
“Maha!” Chu He cried out, losing his composure. “Catch him!”
The peacock plummeted down like a flash of lightning. Extending its sharp talons, it snagged the back of Yan Lanyu’s collar and hoisted him into the air, tracing an exceptionally beautiful U-shaped arc across the sky. Immediately after, it gave its magnificent plumage a violent flap, trailing a long stream of golden fire as it swooped down from the heavens toward Chu He.
“ROAR——!”
Behind it, the magic dragon was instantly provoked. It unleashed a earth-shattering roar before twisting its massive body to give chase straight toward the ground!
If Phoenix hadn’t been here, Maha might have simply lured the magic dragon down to the ground and flapped his wings to fly away, leaving his old man to fight to the death with the dragon. Maha would have been more than happy to watch either of them die; if they both ended up severely wounded, he might even sneak back to fire a cheap shot, committing patricide before slaughtering the dragon, and then graciously allowing his younger brother Garuda to have a piece of the dragon meat.
But his mother was currently on the ground.
After undergoing nirvana, it took several thousand years for a Phoenix to return to the absolute peak of their combat power. Strictly speaking, Chu He was still a juvenile Phoenix right now, and it was hard to say if he could face the magic dragon head-on.
Left with no choice, Maha abandoned this golden opportunity for patricide. Darting above everyone’s heads, he tossed Yan Lanyu down into the air and immediately whipped his wings to charge toward the shrine!
With a resounding clang, Zhou Hui caught his “third daughter-in-law” falling from the heavens. He turned back and roared at the top of his lungs, “Go get ’em, eldest son! Your old man believes in your ability to agro the boss! Next year’s Tomb Sweeping Day, I will definitely give you—”
Chu He barked sharply, “Watch out!”
Before his voice could even fade, the gloating Zhou Hui and the distant, teeth-gnashing Maha turned their heads simultaneously.
The magic dragon opened its cavernous maw. It actually ignored the Peacock Wisdom King, whom it had been fighting tooth and nail just moments prior, and lunged straight toward Zhou Hui!
The magic dragon’s offensive capability didn’t just lie in physical impacts; its demonic aura was boundless, unyielding, and highly toxic. Within the Four Evil Realms, the magic dragon held an incredibly high status. Legend dictated that the gates of hell were guarded by a deceased magic dragon, and the bronze doors of the four great hells indeed featured bone-white, skeletal dragon carvings, which was more than enough to validate the myth.
The magic dragon’s bloody maw looked exactly like a massive cavern, its hideous fangs resembling the interlocking stalactites and stalagmites within a cave. A massive torrent of deep purple, toxic demonic breath erupted from the depths of its throat, arriving right before them in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Hui: “#￥%&(&……”
Maha: “@#￥%&*￥%……”
Their respective expressions of gloating and teeth-gnashing inverted in a fraction of a second. Maha executed a flawless drift in mid-air, reversing his trajectory immediately.
Zhou Hui’s mind was entirely filled with a roaring “WHY?!”, but he threw Yan Lanyu toward Chu He’s direction anyway, drawing his long blade with his back hand!
In truth, from the very start of the battle, Zhou Hui’s sole goals were the third daughter-in-law plus the Kusanagi sword. Once he snatched them, he intended to leave immediately; the affairs of the Esoteric School had absolutely nothing to do with him, as those people were already reserved by his eldest son to be a New Year’s Eve feast.
As for the magic dragon, it was a completely unforeseen variable that no one wanted to face head-on. First, its physical size was simply too massive, making it highly inconvenient to fight and making it easy to suffer collateral damage; second, regardless of which side made the first move, it would easily provide the other side with an opportunity to exploit.
Even Chu He felt deep down that this was a mess the Esoteric School had brought upon themselves, and it was only right that they cleaned it up themselves.
However, now that the magic dragon had come knocking on their doorstep, its frontal assault was completely unstoppable. Zhou Hui could only swallow his grievances and draw his blade to fight, resisting the invasion of the toxic demonic breath while remaining highly vigilant of Maha potentially firing a cheap shot from behind.
—At this absolute critical second, the magic dragon sharply lifted its head.
Zhou Hui’s blade edge passed cleanly right between its two largest fangs. Then, its colossal body rose, sweeping right over Zhou Hui’s head before reversing its direction to lunge straight toward Chu He!
Chu He froze for a moment.
“Get out of the way!” Zhou Hui reacted instantly. “Its target is Yan Lanyu——!”
Before anyone could think, Chu He grabbed Yan Lanyu by the lapels and threw him backward. The peacock arrived right on time, catching the youth in its beak with flawless precision mid-air.
Before Zhou Hui could even praise his eldest son, the peacock flapped its wings, crossed the battlefield, tossed the young mister Yan head-on toward Zhou Hui’s direction, and turned tail to flee!
Zhou Hui: “……”
Zhou Hui was practically at a loss for words. He immediately supported the young mister Yan with one hand while his other hand clamped firmly onto his hilt. Dense, crackling arcs of electricity surged across the entire blade, weaving together before exploding into a massive curtain of electrical fire.
The magic dragon violently whipped its massive tail, coming hurtling toward them amidst countless falling bricks and stones!
Zhou Hui let out a thunderous roar, meeting the attack head-on!
—Just as the two forces were about to collide, the whistling roar of helicopter blades suddenly echoed from the northwest.
The sound was almost entirely drowned out by the noise of the fierce battle on the ground and the collapsing buildings. However, it quickly drew closer from afar, arriving almost directly over everyone’s heads. Immediately after, the cabin door flew open, and a burly, aggressively built man leaned out carrying a rocket launcher. The barrel spun, and a green indicator light gave a sharp beep.
Whish——
BOOM!
A glowing missile soared across the sky, striking the magic dragon’s lifted head dead-on. A massive cloud of flying dust and fire erupted in the air.
In the next instant, a piercing, agonizing dragon shriek echoed across the landscape, shaking heaven and earth!
Zhou Hui gasped in astonishment, “Yu Jingzhong?!”
Aboard the helicopter, Yu Jingzhong tossed down the rocket launcher and turned to shout into the cabin, “Jump——!”
Several dark silhouettes leapt from the cabin doors on both sides simultaneously like a handful of dumplings dropped into water, burying themselves into the billowing smoke in an instant. The pilotless helicopter’s nose dipped down before the violently thrashing head of the dragon collided with it in mid-air. With a thunderous explosion, the rotors and the cockpit were instantly reduced to a blazing fireball!
Yu Jingzhong bore the brunt of the impact. Carrying the rocket launcher, he executed a tactical roll on the ground before snapping upright and bending his waist, flawlessly leaping over the barbed tail of the dragon that came rolling across the landscape.
“Brother!”
Zhou Hui was incredibly touched. He was just about to say, As expected of my best bud, how did you get here? when he saw Yu Jingzhong ignore him entirely, charging past to drop down onto half-knees beside Yan Lanyu. “Yan Lanyu! Wake up! What happened?!”
Zhou Hui: “……”
Having consecutively suffered malice from his son and a slight from his brother, Zhou Hui felt his inner world taking quite a beating.
Yan Lanyu’s condition was far from good. He was unconscious, and his head had somehow sustained a blow at some point; fresh blood was cascading down his temple, looking exceptionally horrific. Yu Jingzhong traced along his hair to find the bleeding source, quickly gauging the size and depth of the wound. He didn’t dare press any acupoints to force him back to consciousness, rapidly tearing off the hem of his shirt to staunch the wound before hoisting him onto his shoulder.
“Why are you here? Who did you bring with you?” Zhou Hui asked loudly amidst the deafening noise.
“A few guys from Team 2! Wu Bei is here too!” Yu Jingzhong shouted back to him as he ran. “This dragon was brought out by the Esoteric School, leave it alone! Let the Japanese digest their own mess! Let’s move!”
Not far away, several Team 2 members rapidly neutralized the sorcerers inside the shrine, barely clearing out a path through the thick layer of rubble that blanketed the ground. Further away, the dragon’s body was twisting frantically against the night sky. Its head and thick neck had been burned into a horrific, scorched black by the sacred ash; scales, bone fragments, and muscle tissues were raining down continuously.
The group ran rapidly down the mountain path. As they ran, Zhou Hui asked, “What on earth is going on? Did you get an field assignment permit?!”
“No——! None of the team leaders in Beijing can get out! I sent a coded message to Wu Bei, and he brought a few guys to cross the border directly from the northeast…” Yu Jingzhong slid down the snow-covered mountain path with a swoosh. Ignoring the snow covering his head, he scrambled back up and continued running forward. “Hurry, hurry, hurry! Wu Bei managed to secure a vehicle ahead to cover us, let’s go meet up with him!”
Zhou Hui said in wonder, “Why the rush? Er, to be honest, I could actually defeat this dragon if I fought it out, it would just take some time…”
“No, don’t waste time!” Yu Jingzhong finally spoke the truth. “Wu Bei alerted the Self-Defense Forces when he crossed the border, and the Esoteric School caught wind of the news as well. They are currently on their way here right now!”
Zhou Hui turned his head to exchange a look with Chu He.
“Chief… Chief Zhou, don’t blame our Team Leader!” A young guy from Northeast China serving in Team 2 took off his jacket as he ran from the heat, revealing a dragon tattoo on his left arm and a white tiger on his right, as well as a tank top printed with the words “Northeast Blue Dream Hair and Beauty Vocational Technical Academy.” Panting heavily, he said, “Deputy Chief… Deputy Chief Yu said he needed sacred ash. When Team Leader crossed the border, he took us to a Japanese temple and grabbed a golden statue of a living Buddha…”
“How on earth did buying a Buddha statue alert the Self-Defense Forces?” Zhou Hui wondered.
“Stop talking! It was stolen!” Yu Jingzhong snapped in rage. “It was the consecrated golden body of a living Buddha that the temple was actively worshipping!”
The corners of Zhou Hui and Chu He’s eyes twitched violently at the same time. The young hair salon guy from the Northeast was still arguing, “There was no other choice, the monks refused to sell it. Team Leader also had his difficulties…”
The group thundered down the mountain path, plunging into a dense forest in an instant.
The forests of Ise were highly renowned, referred to by locals as the Shrine Forest. It covered a vast expanse and possessed a natural landscape that largely maintained its primordial environment. It was easy to lose one’s bearings even during the day, let alone on a freezing night like this.
Zhou Hui looked back several times. While they were on the mountain path, Maha had still been trailing far behind the group, not daring to get too close due to his wariness of the sacred ash; however, after entering the forest, he must have lost his direction, vanishing from sight very quickly.
Right then, a bright glare erupted in the distance, followed immediately by the roaring of tires drawing closer. An SUV hacked through the waist-high thickets, executing a flawless fishtail before stopping firmly in front of the group.
Wu Bei leaned his head out of the driver’s seat, barking, “Over here, over here! Get in, quick!”
Zhou Hui pulled open the car door with a whish. “Not bad, kid. Where did you score this ride?”
Wu Bei replied serenely, “Oh, the foot of the mountain is swarming with the Self-Defense Forces. I just hijacked one at random…”
Zhou Hui was practically speechless. The group rapidly piled into the car. Before the door could even be closed after the last person climbed aboard, the SUV shot forward like an arrow, speeding bumpily through the forest and instantly sending everyone tumbling over one another.
Yu Jingzhong placed Yan Lanyu down on the back seat. He peeled back his eyelids to observe his pupils, checked his temperature and pulse, a look of deep anxiety flashing across his eyes.
Zhou Hui rummaged through the back trunk, finding a bottle of water to hand to Chu He.
Chu He took a couple of sips before saying to Yu Jingzhong, “It’s fine, don’t worry.” As he spoke, he bit into his index finger, letting a drop of blood fall into the water bottle to dilute it. He then held down Yan Lanyu’s hair, carefully pouring the mineral water over the wound.
“This…”
“True Phoenix blood is far too potent for humans and might cause burning, but it will staunch the bleeding in a few minutes once diluted. Actually, my tears are more effective, but… I simply can’t cry at a moment’s notice.”
“Then will he wake up?”
“It’s best if he doesn’t wake up right now. Currently, only his Yin world soul remains inside his body; his Yang world soul is wrapped together with the mirror heart, and it’s anyone’s guess where they went…” Chu He suddenly experienced a moment of realization, lifting his head to look at Yu Jingzhong in suspicion. “Did he give the mirror heart to you?”
“What?”
“The heart of the Yata-no-Kagami! Did he place something inside your soul?”
Yu Jingzhong wore a completely baffled expression, only to be abruptly pinned down by Zhou Hui, who reached out and plunged his hand directly into his chest cavity.
Yu Jingzhong watched helplessly as a hand submerged into his own chest. Anyone with a weaker constitution would have been frightened out of their wits by now. After groping around for a moment, Zhou Hui withdrew his hand as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, saying to Chu He, “It really is inside his soul. Both the Yata-no-Kagami’s heart and the young mister Yan’s Yang world soul are there. This makes things much easier.”
“What soul of Yan Lanyu is inside my body?” Yu Jingzhong asked in astonishment. “What are you guys talking about?”
“It’s a long story, we’ll explain slowly once we get back. To put it simply, the young mister Yan died once before, which is why he possesses a dual soul inside his body. The soul that plays the dominant role wanted to protect you from being harmed by the Yata-no-Kagami, so he used it to wrap around the mirror heart and placed it inside your soul. Why did he do that? Probably because he knew he would be hunted down by the Esoteric School, so he wanted to keep the Yata-no-Kagami’s heart within the Bureau…”
Chu He interrupted Zhou Hui’s words, saying, “—No, because Deputy Chief Yu also possesses an unyielding soul.”
“Ah?”
“Deputy Chief Yu possesses the conditions necessary to drive the Yata-no-Kagami. However, without a Yang world soul to act as protection, the Yata-no-Kagami acts like a double-edged sword that causes the user’s soul to scatter and perish.” Chu He tapped Yu Jingzhong’s forehead with his finger, saying, “The more pure, unyielding, and unbending a soul is, the more it can unlock the maximum power of the Yata-no-Kagami, while simultaneously increasing the likelihood of suffering a backlash. Your soul possesses a high degree of potential in this regard. If your Four Pillars of Destiny also matched, it’s not impossible that you could have been refined into a dual Yin-Yang soul as well.”
The cabin was incredibly bumpy and noisy. Yu Jingzhong didn’t fully comprehend the explanation; just as he was about to ask further, the entire vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Everyone was instantly thrown forward, and objects scattered all over the floor with a loud clatter.
Zhou Hui straightened his body. “Second child, what’s wrong?”
The SUV had already broken out of the forest. The open clearing at the foot of the mountain was brightly lit, tightly packed with a dense row of large vehicles. Members of the Self-Defense Forces dressed in camouflage attire surrounded the clearing three layers deep. At the absolute forefront stood several rows of Onmyoji clad in hunting attire, waiting in battle formation—those were the disciples of the Esoteric School.
“There are roadblocks, the tires are blown.” Wu Bei pointed toward the fine white smoke slowly rising from the front of the car. “There are caltrops buried underground.”
A Self-Defense Force official stood before the large vehicle’s headlights, holding a megaphone as he shouted loudly in Japanese: “Everyone exit the vehicle! Exit the vehicle immediately to accept inspection! Otherwise, we will open fire!”
Everyone pressed a hand to their foreheads simultaneously.
Initially, it was supposed to be a simple matter of grabbing the person and leaving. As it turned out, they had burned someone else’s Buddha statue, destroyed someone else’s shrine, and now alerted their military to come lock them down… The frustration within Zhou Hui’s heart was beyond expression. He could only exchange a glance with Wu Bei, pushing open the car door to step outside together.
The rest of the group filed out behind them. In the clearing, the Self-Defense Force members immediately raised their firearms, stepping forward one step at a time, approaching them with extreme caution.
“In a moment, take Team 2 to handle these military guys, while Feng Si and I deal with the Esoteric School,” Zhou Hui whispered to Wu Bei. “Deputy Chief Yu needs to protect the young mister Yan, be careful not to let him be exposed…”
Wu Bei gave a nod that was barely perceptible to others.
The first few Self-Defense Force members closed the distance, pointing their firearms at each individual. Furthermore, two gunmen stood before Zhou Hui and Wu Bei respectively—who appeared to possess the highest combat capabilities—pointing weapons at their heads from the left and right, while several other individuals stepped forward to conduct a body search.
Zhou Hui gave Wu Bei a nod.
Wu Bei’s blade-like eyebrows narrowed. Just as he was about to make a move, a sudden, completely unforeseen explosion erupted behind them—BOOM!
This blow arrived far too abruptly. In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. Everyone stumbled and fell, and a Self-Defense Force member’s firearm even went off by accident. With a loud bang, everyone crouched down to shield their heads.
Zhou Hui looked back, exclaiming in wonder, “Holy crap?!”
Within the mountain forest behind them, a colossal dark shadow reared up. Wrapping itself in countless snapped branches and a rancid wind, it unleashed a long shriek. The resulting air current instantly whipped everyone’s garments backward.
It was actually the magic dragon!
The magic dragon’s entire head had been melted away by the sacred ash, exposing its grotesque, skeletal structure. All of its fangs were completely exposed to the elements, and its front claws were reared high in the air, a single swipe causing half of an earthen hill to collapse into dust.
The Self-Defense Force members were utterly dumbfounded. They cried out as they backed away in panic, many of them falling once more amidst the violent vibrations after taking only a couple of steps. Several officers roared as they charged forward to open fire on the magic dragon. However, the bullets struck its body like tiny pebbles. With another swipe from the magic dragon, the earth violently split open, forming countless dense, interlocking fractures.
Chu He caught a stray bullet that had grazed past his side when the firearm went off. “Zhou Hui!”
Zhou Hui said in sorrowful rage, “I knew it! I knew I wouldn’t be able to slack off today! Damn it, this broken Esoteric School…”
Chu He shouted loudly, “No! I’m talking about Maha——!”
A sharp gust of wind lunged from behind. Zhou Hui immediately bent his frame; within a split second, the peacock shot past. Had he been a mere half-second slower, his son would have stabbed his father straight through.
The peacock reversed its trajectory, folding its wings as it touched down, transforming into Maha in an instant. He carelessly tossed a person covered entirely in blood onto the ground.
That person turned out to be Aida Yoshihide, lying motionless on the ground, his status between life and death unknown.
The reason Aida Yoshihide appeared here was likely because Maha was still fixated on the offerings he had promised, as well as the grand cafeteria that was the Esoteric School. He had actually doubled back to the shrine midway through, dragging him out from the ruins—from this perspective, he was actually quite responsible.
The corner of Zhou Hui’s mouth twitched slightly. After a long pause, he tightened his grip on his hilt, turning around to say, “Long time no see, hope you’ve been well, son? Your old man really missed you. I heard the scenery at the Sea of Blood in hell is quite nice lately, your old man will send you right back to play in the mud…”
Maha countered lazily, “I think it would be better to simply turn you into a permanent fixture of that Sea of Blood scenery. What do you think, ‘Father’?”
The father and son locked eyes across the empty space, the atmosphere tightening instantly.
At that very moment, several more thunderous explosions erupted from the mountain forest not far away. Trees were uprooted one after another, and the magic dragon’s body snapped into several segments amidst the impacts!
It turned out that when the magic dragon was fighting to the death with the Peacock Wisdom King, its dragon form had already been severely scarred by the peacock’s golden fire, relying solely on its powerful demonic aura to keep its skeletal frame from breaking apart. After being struck dead-on by the sacred ash, the surging, vast power of the living Buddha’s golden body acted as the natural antithesis to demonic aura. It had peeled away its scales and incinerated its demonic energy almost instantly. After traversing the mountain forest to get here, it could ultimately no longer support its heavy frame.
The Self-Defense Force members mistakenly believed that their attacks had yielded results, immediately swarming forward to open fire in a frenzy.
However, creatures of the dragon and serpent kin were like centipedes that refused to die even when broken. The mangled head of the dragon opened its maw to unleash a massive torrent of toxic breath, instantly melting the handful of Self-Defense Force members crowded at the very front alive!
That horrific sight caused everyone to erupt into screams. The scene dissolved into absolute chaos. Yu Jingzhong immediately hoisted Yan Lanyu onto his back and began to retreat, barking, “Wu Bei!”
“Deputy Chief!” Wu Bei crowded over with his men.
“Let Zhou Hui deal with his son! Everyone get in the car, we’re leaving first!”
Wu Bei gave a nod. Turning around, he saw two Esoteric School disciples rushing toward him holding talismans. Extending his hands left and right, he snatched the burning talismans, crushing them into paper balls within his palms before tossing them aside carelessly. Immediately after, he delivered a front kick directly to the chests of the Esoteric School disciples, sending them flying several meters away.
“Uh-huh,” the soul poet Wu Bei withdrew his foot with elegant poise, pulling open the car door to leap inside, rapidly starting up the off-road vehicle.
Yu Jingzhong threw a hand signal to Chu He across the crowd before turning around to sprint toward the off-road vehicle.
At this moment, there was hardly anyone in front of him. His distance from the car door was no more than a few meters. Just as he was a single step away from reaching it, he suddenly felt a movement on his back, followed immediately by a vicious wind targeting the back of his neck.
Yu Jingzhong turned around instinctively. At that exact moment, a sharp pain arrived without warning, instantly causing his vision to go black!
“Yan…”
The Deputy Chief dropped to half-knees in dizziness. Forcing his eyes open against the agony, he saw that Yan Lanyu had already slid down to the ground, standing firmly after taking a staggering half-step.
“Yan… Yan Lanyu!” Yu Jingzhong had already realized what was happening, his voice rising into a distorted roar: “Don’t go over there! Come back to my side!”
Yan Lanyu merely looked at him quietly. The howling wind whipped up his hair, and the reflection of the blazing flames danced within his eyes with a terrifying intensity.
“Don’t leave! —Wu Bei! Wu Bei! Someone help!”
Wu Bei lunged out of the car. Clutching the back of his neck, Yu Jingzhong stood up shakily.
However, Yan Lanyu suddenly flashed a brief smile. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a shiny object and flashed it toward him, a deep sadness permeating his smile.
Yu Jingzhong’s pupils contracted instantly.
It was unmistakably the lighter he had carelessly left behind in the car when he fled in a panic after his confession back then!
“Yan… Yan Lanyu…” Trembling slightly, Yu Jingzhong took a step forward. “Come back…”
Yan Lanyu pressed the lighter to his lips to plant a soft kiss upon it, before turning around resolutely to charge straight toward the direction of the magic dragon!
Wu Bei was a mere sleeve’s length away from grabbing him, but within that split second, he was struck by a flying Self-Defense Force member who had been tossed through the air, causing him to stagger back several steps. Within that brief distraction, Yan Lanyu had already sprinted dozens of meters away, his silhouette flashing against the night curtain.
Wu Bei gasped in astonishment, “What is he trying to do, commit suicide?!”
“No… No,” the Deputy Chief panted violently. “He wants to bring an end to all of this. He has a way to drag those people down to hell with him…”
Yu Jingzhong violently rubbed the back of his neck, swallowing a mouthful of hot, metallic saliva laced with streaks of blood.
In the next second, he abruptly leapt onto the vehicle, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. He stomped the gas pedal all the way to the floor, locking the steering wheel tightly. The off-road vehicle roared as it executed a sharp turn amidst the crowd, speeding like a bolt of lightning straight toward the direction of Yan Lanyu!
