Chapter 68: Chapter 69: Memory or Illusion?
Even though it was less than two feet away, the thing was still shrouded in a black shadow, its shape completely indistinct. It was impossible to tell what kind of monster it was, but four red flames lit up within the shadow, looking like eyes.
Those four eyes alone were enough for Hee Lingchuan to know this was no human. And then, it shot out a long, slender limb, plunging it straight into his chest.
The movement was so fast that Hee Lingchuan couldn’t even make out its claws before he let out a scream of agony.
The pain was soul-deep, utterly unbearable.
He wasn’t one to take this lying down, but the hard punches he landed on the shadow seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
Suddenly, the scene before him felt strangely familiar:
A few months ago, on Gourd Mountain, this body’s previous owner had been tackled off a cliff by a Sand Leopard. Both had perished!
That was it. This was the exact scene.
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, everything around him sharpened into focus. Above him was a deep blue sky, swaying green trees, and a cliff that grew more distant with every passing moment.
The creature on top of him was none other than the pale yellow, spotted Sand Leopard!
The Sand Leopard’s jaws gaped open, ready to sever the main artery in his neck.
There was no escape. He would either be mauled to death or fall to his doom.
Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but curse aloud, "Fuck off! This has nothing to do with me!" This was what the body’s previous owner had seen and suffered before his death; it had absolutely nothing to do with him!
The moment he cursed, the scene blurred again.
The blue sky, white clouds, and cliff vanished. The surrounding light became a bizarre spectacle, a chaotic jumble of points, lines, planes, and a painter’s palette.
And then, he slammed heavily onto the ground.
A concrete surface.
The sky was dotted with stars, but it had probably rained earlier, as the ground wasn’t completely dry, and small puddles had formed in the potholes on the road.
Hee Lingchuan crashed right into a pothole, and the resulting splash of dirty water sprayed all over the Sand Leopard’s head and face.
The monster seemed a little baffled as well. It looked around, its grip on its prey subconsciously weakening.
The aroma of savory crepes drifted through the air, and Hee Lingchuan froze as well.
’This intersection is spookily familiar... isn’t this the path I always took on my way home from work?’
He glanced to the side and saw the savory crepe stand on the corner. The sign—"Two Dollars Each"—was written in bold capital letters with a marker, the handwriting as ugly as ever.
’Wait, could it be... that night?’
He turned his head further to the left and, sure enough, saw a little girl in a dress. The girl’s mother was buying something by the roadside, completely oblivious to her daughter chasing a rolling coin all the way into the middle of the street!
Just then, a car came speeding over.
’Such a familiar scene.’
’This is the memory I’m supposed to have.’
’If everything played out the same way, I should be grabbing the girl and dashing across the road, saving her from this sudden calamity.’
But now, things were different. He and the Sand Leopard were positioned between the car and the girl.
He was lying down, but the Sand Leopard had propped itself up and was looking around, clearly bewildered by the scene.
In the next instant, the car ran them over.
Actually, to be precise, it ran over him. As for the Sand Leopard, it was hit head-on by the front of the car, then sucked under the tires with a clear, crisp BANG!
Afterward, the car swerved to the side of the road, only coming to a stop when it crashed into a wall.
Hee Lingchuan scrambled to his feet, panting heavily. He felt himself all over. ’Huh? I’m not hurt?’
Smoke rose from the front of the pickup truck as its engine died.
Hee Lingchuan scratched his head. He remembered it being a sedan that had hit him, but this was a pickup truck with a high chassis. ’Did I remember wrong, or is this place wrong?’
A car crash had happened in the middle of the street, and a crowd was slowly gathering. The little girl picked up her coin, smiled at him, and ran to her mother’s side.
Hee Lingchuan shook his head and walked to the wall. Under the wheel, however, was not the Sand Leopard, but clearly the black shadow he had seen first.
Pinned and unable to move, it reached a claw toward Hee Lingchuan resentfully. Of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to stay put and immediately took two steps back.
Soon, the black shadow shrank into a small ball and vanished.
"What in the world was that thing?" Hee Lingchuan muttered. Then he saw, within the plaster the car had broken off the wall, a mark glowing with a cyan light.
He tried to get a closer look, but suddenly the world spun, and everything went black again.
...
Hee Lingchuan blinked, not yet fully conscious.
’Something in my vision is zooming in... are those four... giant fangs? Two upper and two lower?’
Even in the dim light, the sharp teeth seemed to glow.
Suddenly, a round object flew over, struck him in the stomach, and sent him flying more than thirty feet away.
The colossal mouth snapped at empty air, bit down on the battlements, and then slowly lifted its head again.
It was the Black Flood Dragon.
’Looking up from this angle, this thing is fucking huge.’ Hee Lingchuan pointed at it and cursed, "How can you be so cruel? Turning your back on me after you’ve had your way! And to think I helped you... with the fireworks!"
He couldn’t curse with much satisfaction. His chest and stomach had taken a heavy blow, and every attempt to draw a breath made him feel vexed and nauseous.
The Black Flood Dragon ignored him and turned to chase the white light in the air.
Hee Lingchuan then remembered that the thing had smashed into his face earlier. He figured it must have invaded him somehow—how else could he explain those bizarre, disjointed scenes?
Zeng Feixiong came over and helped him up. "Eldest Young Master, please forgive me. I was the one who threw the rock. Are you all right?"
"You saved my life—HIC—I’ll reward you handsomely later!" Hee Lingchuan could also see clearly now that what had sent him flying was a boulder from the top of the city wall, only slightly smaller than a millstone. It was meant to be used in a catapult, but Zeng Feixiong had hurled it to save his life.
But the force behind it was real. Thanks to Hee Lingchuan’s strong constitution, if Hee Yue had taken such a blow, he probably would have suffered internal injuries and been bedridden for over half a month.
’I have to handsomely thank and reward the guy who injured me. Everything happening here is just one surreal thing after another.’
After escaping Hee Lingchuan, the white light finally remembered to find Nian Songyu.
It was extremely agile. The Black Flood Dragon tried to intercept it several times, but its body was too large, and the light repeatedly slipped through its grasp.
Sunx Fuping noticed the white light’s movement and quickly picked up Nian Songyu to meet it. The Black Flood Dragon whipped its tail again, sending him flying.
But Sunx Fuping was quick-eyed and nimble-handed; he had already tossed Nian Songyu toward the white light a step ahead.
The two finally met in mid-air, and the white light dove directly into the mouth and nose of the Captain, whose eyes were shut tight.
Just before being swallowed by the Black Flood Dragon, Nian Songyu finally woke up.
He took a long breath, a red light flashed in his eyes, and the phantom Giant behind him reappeared, now twice as large as before.
Correspondingly, its two Illusion Blades also doubled in length, reaching a staggering eighty-plus feet!
Nian Songyu raised the Long Saber, aimed for the Black Flood Dragon’s abyssal maw, and delivered a diagonal slash from bottom to top!
The onlookers on the wall witnessed what looked like a flash of moonlight, like mercury spilling across the ground. The Black Flood Dragon’s head was cleaved in two, its lower jaw crashing heavily to the ground.
"You’ve got to be kidding me!" Zeng Feixiong jumped in shock. "Was it that useless? All that size for nothing."
’The Black Flood Dragon is dead. So what about us? Are we supposed to be its funeral sacrifice?’
