Chapter 71: Memory or Illusion? Even with less than a meter between them, the thing above He Lingchuan remained shrouded in black shadow. Its outline was obscured entirely, so he could not tell what it was whatsoever. Within the shadowy darkness, however, he did see four red, glowing flames that looked like eyes.
It has four eyes? It’s definitely not human then. Then it extended long, thin limbs, razor-sharp appendages that pierced straight into He Lingchuan’s chest.
The motion was too fast for him to see the claws clearly. All he could do was scream in agony.
The pain pierced his very soul, thereby making the pain raw and unbearable.
Of course, he was not about to die without a fight. He threw a few solid punches at the shadowy mass, but it was like striking smoke. His fists did not affect it at all.
Then, suddenly, something about the scene felt... familiar.
A few months ago, on Mount Hulu, the former He Lingchuan had been thrown off a cliff by a sand leopard, and he had died with it.
Right, so this is exactly like back then. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, everything around him became sharp and vivid. Above him was a clear blue sky, the swaying canopy of green trees, and the cliff edge shrinking in the distance.
Pinned to his chest was the sand leopard.
Its jaws were wide open, poised to tear into his carotid artery.
He had no way out. He would either be torn apart or dashed to pieces below.
He Lingchuan could not help but curse. “Fuck off! What the hell’s this shit got to do with me?!”
This is the death scene of the former He Lingchuan! It shouldn’t be mine, too! The moment he swore, the scene blurred again.
The blue sky, white clouds, and cliff disappeared. His surroundings fractured into bizarre light and color, like a swirl of lines, planes, and a painter’s palette had all been mashed together.
Then, he slammed hard into the ground.
He instantly knew that he was on concrete.
The night sky above twinkled with stars. Seeing that the ground was wet, he realized that it should have rained not too long ago. He could even see small puddles that had formed in cracks and dips in the pavement.
He had landed right in one of those puddles, splashing dirty water all over the sand leopard’s face.
The beast blinked, clearly bewildered. It glanced around, loosening its grip on him slightly in the process.
𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 The scent of freshly fried jianbing wafted through the air. He Lingchuan froze.
The intersection he found himself in was hauntingly familiar. Isn’t this the street I passed every evening after work? He turned his head, and sure enough, there was the jianbing cart on the corner. The “Three Yuan Each” sign was still written in giant, bold strokes with a water-based marker. The handwriting was just as ugly as he remembered.
Wait... is this from that night? He turned his head further, and there she was. He saw the little girl in a skirt, not far away. Her mother was buying something by the roadside, paying no attention as her daughter chased a rolling coin right into the middle of the street.
At that very moment, a car came barreling toward her.
So familiar. This, this really is from back then. This is from my memories. If everything went as before, he would dash onto the road, scoop the girl into his arms, and avert a tragic accident.
But this time, something had changed. He and the sand leopard were already in the middle of the street, right between the car and the girl.
He was on the ground, but the leopard had risen slightly, warily surveying its surroundings. Clearly, this scene was unexpected even for it.
Then, in the next instant, the car ran them both over.
Strictly speaking, the car did not exactly run him over but drove right over him. The sand leopard, on the other hand, took the full brunt of the impact head-on, getting slammed by the car’s grill, then dragged under its tires with a crisp, sickening crack.
The car finally skidded sideways and crashed into a wall, coming to a smoking halt.
He Lingchuan rolled onto his side and sat up with a gasp, chest heaving. He ran his hands over himself. Wait, I’m completely fine? Steam curled from the pick-up truck’s hood, the engine sputtering to a stop.
He Lingchuan scratched his head. In his memory, the vehicle from that night had been a compact sedan. Yet, the car before him right now was a high-chassis pick-up truck. Had he remembered it wrong... or had something in this place changed?
A crowd began to gather around the scene of the accident. The little girl picked up her coin, gave him a cheerful smile, and scampered back to her mother’s side.
He Lingchuan shook his head and made his way toward the wall that the car had crashed into. However, when he looked under it, there was no sand leopard. Instead, it was the same dark, shadowy mass he had seen before.
Crushed beneath the wheel, the shadow writhed feebly, one clawed limb reaching for him. He Lingchuan was not about to play dumb. He immediately took two steps back.
Soon, the shadow shrank into a tight little ball and vanished without a trace.
“What the hell is that thing?” he muttered. Then, through the cracked wall where the truck had struck, he spotted a mark glowing faintly with an azure light.
He leaned closer to inspect it when the world suddenly flipped upside down for him. It started as a violent spin, then a rush of vertigo came over him, followed by utter darkness.
* * *
He Lingchuan blinked. His mind had not fully caught up yet, but something massive loomed in his field of vision. It was four enormous, gleaming fangs, coming closer and closer.
Even in the dark, those razor-sharp teeth seemed to glow.
Thud! Something round and heavy struck his stomach, launching him ten meters through the air.
The gaping jaws missed, crashing into the battlement wall before slowly rising again.
It was the black flood dragon.
From this angle, looking up at it, it was absurdly huge. He Lingchuan pointed at it and cursed, “You ungrateful bastard! We fire one volley together and suddenly you’re back to pretending we never met?!”
However, the insults did not come out clean. His ribs ached from the blow, and every breath made him nauseous.
The black flood dragon ignored him and turned to chase after the white light.
Only then did He Lingchuan remember that it had flown right into his throat earlier. Had it possessed him? Was that what triggered all those surreal visions?
Zeng Feixiong ran up and helped him sit upright. “Young Master, please forgive me. I was the one who had thrown that boulder. Are you alright?”
“You saved my life, urgh... I’ll see to it that you’re well rewarded!” He Lingchuan groaned.
He finally saw what hit him. It was a boulder just slightly smaller than a millstone. It should have been loaded into a catapult, but Zeng Feixiong had hurled it by hand to save him.
And that throw had been full force. Good thing He Lingchuan had a tough body. If it had been He Yue, he would definitely be coughing blood and bedridden for half a month.
Yet here he was, promising a hefty reward to the guy who practically crushed his guts. Everything happening here was one surreal moment after another.
Meanwhile, the white light, having exited He Lingchuan, finally seemed to realize that the host that had been prepared for it was Nian Songyu.
It moved with uncanny agility. Despite the black flood dragon’s repeated attempts to block it, its massive frame only gave the white light more gaps to slip through.
Sun Fuping, sensing the shift, quickly scooped up Nian Songyu and ran to intercept the white light. The black flood dragon lashed out with its tail, hurling Sun Fuping into the distance.
But in a final, desperate motion, Sun Fuping flung Nian Songyu into the air, right into the path of the white light.
The two finally met midair. The white light streamed directly into the unconscious commandant’s nose and mouth.
Before the black flood dragon could devour him, Nian Songyu finally woke up.
He let out a long breath, then his eyes opened, red light flashing within them. Behind him, the giant phantom reappeared, and it was now even larger than before.
Its twin blades, too, had grown. Now, each one was about twenty-eight meters long!
Nian Songyu raised his changdao and, with a sweeping upward slash, sliced the black flood dragon’s gaping maw from below.
The swing of his blade was so fast and brilliant that, to those watching from the city wall, it looked like a sudden flash of moonlight and a silvery stream of mercury. With that slash, the black flood dragon’s head was cleaved in two before it crashed to the ground with a deafening thud.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Zeng Feixiong gasped. “That’s it? Was that thing all bark and no bite?”
The black flood dragon was dead. So now what? Did that mean they were next? Were they going to join it in death?