Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
The three of us climbed up the unfinished concrete stairs. Every five floors, Fatty had to stop and rest. By the fifth break, we had reached the twenty-fifth floor, and Fatty's ankle had swollen to the size of a bun.
"I’m Kong Xuan. Can’t you just turn into an ice block? It would be nice to ice Fatty’s ankle!" I suddenly suggested.
"Do you think I can just perform magic? Sure, I can use a Spell to freeze or heat objects, but that’s based on harming the opponent. It might end up crippling Fatty's foot," Kong Xuan said while stroking his stubble and chuckling. "My Spell is just like your Book of Life and Death; it can hurt people!"
I laughed and took out the two boxes of the Book of Life and Death from my pocket. "Fatty, give it a try! Professional military doctor, treats sprains, sugar-free!"
Fatty sat on the ground, visibly trembling, and shouted, "Don’t joke around! I can still walk!"
Kong Xuan looked at me in astonishment. "You carry that thing around with you? Aren't you tired?"
"What else should I do? Leave it on the bedside table?" I rolled my eyes.
"You could have Lou Wei keep it for you. If you collect five or six boxes in the future, are you going to carry them all? You’ll need to buy a big waist bag like the Ticket Seller, haha." Kong Xuan laughed. "Actually, you can merge these two pages of the book into one."
"Is that possible?" I couldn't help but feel delighted; having this thing on me was quite cumbersome.
"I'll teach you when we get back." Kong Xuan looked up at the remaining few flights of stairs and reached out to pull Fatty. "Let’s deal with that guy upstairs first."
"Are you here to deal with me?" A cold voice suddenly came from above us. The voice was not only cold but also very eerie, like a venomous snake slithering over you, sending chills down your spine.
Looking towards the source of the voice, a figure slowly descended from the stairs. From feet to head, he gradually appeared: black dress shoes, faded jeans, a red shirt, and a scruffy face—Gong Ping'an. However, this Gong Ping'an looked different from the one we had seen before; he lacked that righteous aura and instead wore a chilling expression, with his eyes showing an enchanting sapphire blue.
"Weren't you on the rooftop?" I asked foolishly.
Gong Ping'an sneered coldly, "You traveled all this way to kill me; shouldn’t you come down to welcome me?"
As he spoke, he walked directly in front of us without any fear, as if we were long-lost friends inviting him to play Mahjong for five yuan a round.
I glanced uncertainly at Kong Xuan, who was also scratching his head while looking at Gong Ping'an with disbelief. "You fool! You haven't even completed your fusion yet and you're running over here to seek death?"
"Are you sending me to my death? Not necessarily." The blue in Gong Ping'an's eyes swayed like the tides of the sea.
"Oh, it seems you have some tricks up your sleeve!" Kong Xuan circled around Gong Ping'an, constantly sizing him up. Finally, he stood beside me, saying, "So what are we waiting for? Let's start the battle!"
"If you want to fight, then let's fight!" Gong Ping'an said in a chilling tone. His grand declaration echoed with an unsettling coldness.
Kong Xuan shouted loudly, rubbing his palms together. Black smoke began to swirl in his hands. What was that spell called again? These mystics always have so many names for their tricks. Just get on with it; why all the flashy nonsense? He would definitely shout some slogans later.
Sure enough, Kong Xuan yelled, "Dark Mist Binding Spell!" The smoke started to take shape.
I suddenly felt worried. This spell must take some time to cast, right? Nina was lying down, allowing Kong Xuan to set up so calmly. But now this Deceptive Spirit was standing right in front of us; how could he let Kong Xuan cast his spell without interference?
I quickly recited Transforming Illusions into Reality in my mind. As soon as Gong Ping'an made a move, I would step in to protect Kong Xuan. I held two boxes tightly in my hands, not even having time to put them away. If things went south, I could still use the boxes to hit someone!
However, Gong Ping'an showed no intention of launching a sneak attack. He simply stood there watching us, a mocking smile on his lips.
What does he mean by that? I stared at Gong Ping'an without blinking, my body tense, fearing he might suddenly strike.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Wait a minute! When Kong Xuan used the Dark Mist Binding Spell against the Purple Fiend Spirit at Emperor Club, it didn’t take this long! What’s going on?
I couldn’t help but glance at Kong Xuan and froze in place. I could hardly believe my eyes and instinctively blinked rapidly twice. No, I wasn’t mistaken.
Fatty had tightly gripped Kong Xuan by the back of his neck. Kong Xuan was completely immobilized, his face flushed red with various expressions of surprise and disbelief as he looked at me. Clearly, he had guessed who was behind him.
Behind Kong Xuan, Fatty's eyes gleamed with golden light as he smiled smugly. Leaning close to Kong Xuan's face, he licked his earlobe and chuckled softly, "Sorry to interrupt your spellcasting; do you hate me now?"
"Fatty, what are you doing?" I shouted angrily.
"You fool! Can't you figure it out?" Fatty lifted his head suddenly, a sinister grin spreading across his face as the golden light in his eyes intensified.
A flash of realization struck me, and I exclaimed, "You, you, you are Devouring Soul!"
"That's right, now you're showing some spirit. Otherwise, if I were to face a fool, I would think I'm a fool too." Fatty licked his lips and tightened his grip, causing Kong Xuan's face to turn purple.
"What are you going to do?" I shouted.
"Hehe, first, throw away those two boxes." Fatty pointed at the Book of Life and Death in my hands, clearly wary of it.
I casually tossed the two boxes aside, and they clattered on the Cement Floor, rolling around. One of the boxes opened during the roll, and a page from the Book of Life and Death slowly rose up, hovering about a meter high and gently undulating. I couldn't tell if it was the Xuan Ju Men Scroll or The Scroll of the Greedy Wolf, as they looked identical from the outside.
"You fool, you really are a fool. You've thrown away the only thing that could threaten us. What are we afraid of now?" Fatty relaxed his grip and then delivered a chop to Kong Xuan's neck. Kong Xuan let out a muffled groan and fell forward with a thud; it seemed his face hit the ground first. I winced at the thought of blood splattering everywhere.
Could I defeat both of them after Transforming Illusions into Reality? I felt uncertain; it seemed like my chances were slim. Fatty seemed to sense my thoughts and sneered, "Don't embarrass yourself with your little Kung Fu. Without Kong Xuan, you're nothing."
"Since that's the case, don't let me become a wronged ghost. Can you explain the situation to me?" I aimed to buy some time; surely Kong Xuan wasn't dead from Fatty's strike? Once he woke up, everything would be fine.
"Buying time, huh?" Fatty limped over to Gong Ping'an, pointing at the unconscious Kong Xuan with a grin. "Feel free to buy all the time you want; he won't wake up for at least an hour. I'm quite confident in my strength. Didn't you say my strength was great? Isn't An Ran's future bright? Hahaha..."
Was this creature possessing Fatty, or was it the other way around? Why did its words sound so brutish?
Gong Ping'an looked at me with a mocking smile that showed no signs of fading. I finally understood what that smile meant; he was mocking us for not realizing that Fatty was actually Devouring Soul. I understood now, but unfortunately, it was too late.
He sized me up and said, "Our Spirit clan originally had no quarrel with humans or ghosts; we had our own place in the realm of yin and yang. However, due to humanity's endless deforestation and mining, we are now squeezed out of even our basic living space. You don't need to look at me so surprised; our living space consists of the most fundamental elements in nature: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, along with chaotic Origin."
Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, plus chaotic Origin? What on earth was going on? Could this be how the six types of Spirit originated? I asked hoarsely, "So this is how your six types of Spirit came to be?"
"Exactly. Frenzy belongs to metal, Purple Fiend belongs to wood, Black Shadow belongs to earth, Dual-Faced belongs to water. I'm a Trick Spirit, belonging to fire; Devour represents chaotic Origin." Gong Ping'an tilted his chin toward Fatty, giving a cold smile as if harboring deep hatred for me. "Because of your unrestrained mining activities—destroying soil, polluting water flows, extracting minerals, cutting down trees—our population was already small and has now dwindled down to just six of us left. It's because of you! You have made it impossible for us to survive!"
I was left speechless. Although I hadn't participated in these exploitations myself, they were actions taken by humanity as a whole; I was part of that humanity too. It wasn't entirely unjustified for him to harbor such hatred towards me.
"Even so," he continued, "we don't intend to do anything against you. We just want to inhabit six human bodies and then transform into ghosts to seek out space for survival in the Underworld. If we can't provoke you into action against us, isn't that enough? Yet here you are thwarting us at every turn! What have we done to you? You even killed all our kin—what did we do to deserve this?" The volume of Gong Ping'an's voice grew louder until he was almost shouting by the end.
I was taken aback and asked, "The six people you possessed all have families, wives, and children. Did they provoke you?"
"Bah! There are so many of our kind left, and now it's just the six of us. We were forced into this path. What about you? Who have you wronged?" Gong Ping'an spat.
I fell silent for a moment before sighing, "What can we do about it? Positions determine factions; there's no right or wrong in this. By the way, why did you choose to become Masks?"
Gong Ping'an and Fatty seemed stunned by my question. It was like two people fighting with swords when one suddenly asked the other, "Have you eaten yet?" The contrast left anyone bewildered.
Fatty took a while to recover and laughed, "This idea came from our Dual-Faced. Humans live in different Masks, and if we lurk within a Mask for a certain period, we can grasp its essence. This way, when we possess humans, it would be much easier. Unfortunately, something went wrong somewhere; we always hit a final hurdle when trying to possess."
Gong Ping'an interjected, "I once found someone carrying the Book of Life and Death in a taxi. Without hesitation, I snatched it away to see if this ancient treasure could help us succeed in possession, but it was useless because I couldn't even touch it. It's ridiculous that that guy wasn't even my opponent but came to Moon City to seek death."
"Why did you have to come to Moon City?" I asked in confusion.
"Because our entry into the Mask started from Moon City. We wanted to find the root cause of our inability to merge, but unfortunately, we had no clues." Gong Ping'an's anger flared as he spat again, "Damn it! The Dual-Faced has been killed by you guys; it seems we'll never succeed in merging now. Great, neither human nor ghost."
"At this point, it doesn't matter! If we can't be ghosts, then let's be humans! I've been lurking here without Fatty knowing for so long and found that being human isn't so bad after all." Fatty shook his head and sighed loudly, "Alright, I can finally deliver a classic line: Zheng Nan, you know too much; it's time for you to die!"
With that, Fatty lunged at me. Just then, something surprising and unexpected happened.
Comment 0 Comment Count