Chapter 435: Chapter 165: Unbinding
Outside Meng Manor, Chen Chuan escorted Meng Shu and her group to the parking lot. "You should have a place to go," he said. "I assume Mr. Meng has made arrangements."
Meng Shu nodded. "Yes, Grandfather just told me to go to a safe house and hide."
"Then go hide there for now."
Meng Shu asked, "Aren’t you coming with us?"
Chen Chuan looked toward the manor. "I still have something I must do." With that, he gave a wave, then turned back the way he came, Snow Monarch Blade in hand.
Meng Shu watched his retreating figure as Yan Yi came to her side. "Miss?" Meng Shu spoke decisively. "We’re going to the safe house immediately. If we can’t help, we can’t be a burden."
Inside the main hall, Aunt Yu had already subdued the security guard Meng Huang had brought with him. With a single knife-hand strike, she shattered the bones in his throat. She didn’t kill him, however. Instead, she grabbed him by the collar and asked over her shoulder, "Master?"
Meng Lai gave a direct order. "Aunt Yu, you leave too. Go to the lower levels."
Aunt Yu nodded. But just as she started to drag the man away, she sensed something was wrong and immediately flung him aside.
Before the body even hit the ground, its skin burst open. A substance like molten wax flowed and splattered out, landing on the floor and walls.
Wherever the substance touched, it let out a HISS, corroding the sturdy floor and walls. It spread outward, instantly damaging the components of the ongoing ritual.
"It seems you also came prepared." Meng Lai understood at once. The man had looked normal on the surface, but Meng Huang had clearly tampered with him.
Meng Huang let out a deep, rumbling laugh. His body grew taller still, looking as if he would burst through the ceiling.
Meng Lai shouted urgently, "Aunt Yu, go!"
"You think you can get away?!"
Meng Huang had been rooted to the spot, but now he began to struggle. The illusory shadows on the walls suddenly solidified, blanketing the four sides of the sturdy room. CRACKING sounds echoed as fissures spiderwebbed across the walls.
The moment Meng Lai shouted, Aunt Yu was already trying to break out. But her repeated dashes toward the window and the door were repelled by the intangible shadows. They looked like nothing more than patches of darkness, yet they could inflict real harm.
Meng Huang knew Aunt Yu was Meng Lai’s most trusted subordinate and might have orders to carry out. Even if she didn’t, it was better to eliminate her now than deal with her later. With a twitch of his massive frame, a huge, twisting shadow limb on the wall suddenly swatted at her.
Aunt Yu took a deep breath, and as she did, intricate patterns of flowers and vines bloomed across her fair skin. Then, she raised a hand and pushed out.
Her fingers looked delicate, but the graceful motion met the ethereal limb with a loud THUD, stopping it cold. She then rolled one shoulder back, extended her other hand, and with a sharp twist of her waist, pressed it against the back of her first hand. The force of the combined block actually sent the limb reeling back. Seizing the opportunity, she lunged forward and struck Meng Huang’s chest with her palm.
The palm strike contained immense power, actually forcing Meng Huang’s colossal frame to stumble backward. Aunt Yu immediately dropped low, trying to slip through the newly created opening.
But as she reached the doorway, the ethereal limbs merged into an even larger appendage that blocked her path, sweeping toward her.
She threw up a hand to block, but the force was overwhelming—far more than any single person could withstand. She could only redirect the momentum, flipping backward in a graceful arc.
She dodged the blow but was forced to retreat. Calmly, she said, "Master, I might not be able to get away. But I can hold him off."
Meng Lai said in a grave voice, "You must leave."
He gripped the pocket watch he had been holding from the start. Just as he was about to open it, the door suddenly exploded. BOOM! The thick wooden panels, which had held firm even as Meng Huang expanded, were blown to smithereens. A ramrod-straight figure stood in the doorway.
Chen Chuan strode in, his eyes sweeping over the room before landing on the giant creature. "Looks like I got back just in time."
Meng Huang’s head snapped toward him, his main eyes narrowing. All over his body, countless other eyes seemed to blink in unison as his rows of tightly packed teeth ground against each other.
Though still some distance from the door and unable to advance, the room was crumbling around him. It wouldn’t be long before he broke completely free.
Meng Lai looked slightly surprised. "Mr. Chen, I didn’t expect you to return."
Just then, one of the giant shadow limbs lashed out at him, hugging the wall as it shot forward. Having felt its power firsthand, Aunt Yu cried out a warning, "Watch out!"
Chen Chuan simply raised an arm. The limb smashed against it with a THUD that shook the entire room, yet he didn’t budge an inch.
He stood his ground, with enough composure to say in a steady voice, "Mr. Meng, you have what you need to do, and I have what I must do."
With that said, he threw a backhand punch at the shadow limb. The strike landed with a thunderclap, shattering the shadowy appendage and causing Meng Huang’s massive frame to lurch to one side.
A condensed wisp of mist swirled around his fist.
Aunt Yu gasped in surprise. "Cloud-Breaking Hand?"
Just then, the entire room began to shake violently. The surrounding furnishings shattered, and cracks appeared everywhere—from the walls to the ceiling and the floor.
Meng Huang finally broke free of his restraints. His power was now fully unleashed. Yet, he didn’t attack anyone. Instead, his body plunged downward.
As he did, a great RUMBLE shook the building. A huge section of the floor gave way, and concrete slabs and bricks rained down from the ceiling.
Chen Chuan casually batted aside a falling support beam and took two steps forward to peer down. The rumbling grew louder from below, the ground trembling violently under his feet. Meng Huang was smashing through the floors one by one, as if they were made of sand, plunging toward the building’s foundation.
He leaped directly from the ninth floor. He landed on the ground below with a THUD, a slight bend of his knees absorbing the impact and sending a ring of dust flying out.
By the time he landed, however, Meng Huang had changed again. He seemed to turn intangible, passing through the solid ground like a formless shadow and descending even deeper.
Aunt Yu followed, nimbly leaping down from the ruined floors above. When she saw what had happened, she said, "Follow me! There’s an entrance over here."
Chen Chuan glanced at the floor. "No need." He clenched his fist as the sound of a long, deep breath being drawn filled the air. After a moment’s pause, he slammed his fist straight down!
The ground buckled like a wave. With a thunderous BOOM, debris flew in all directions. When the dust settled, a crater large enough for two people to fit through had been blasted into the floor. Wisps of misty cloud coiled and rose from his fist.
Aunt Yu stared at him, aghast. ’Even with that kind of strength,’ she thought, ’how can he be completely unharmed by the recoil?’
Without a glance at her, Chen Chuan leaped down. He landed in a corridor some five or six meters high and ten meters wide—large enough to drive a car through. Farther ahead, the passage split in two, with each fork leading off into the darkness.
But there was no sign of Meng Huang. The Biological Domain he sensed was a chaotic mess; similar Domains seemed to permeate the area, making it impossible to pinpoint which way the creature had fled.
However, he closed his eyes, a muscle between his brows twitching. A moment later, his eyes snapped open, and he took off down one of the paths.
Aunt Yu landed just then. She was about to offer a suggestion, but when she saw he had chosen the correct path, she said nothing and simply followed.
Chen Chuan moved with incredible speed. Though forks in the path appeared frequently, he never seemed to hesitate, always choosing the correct way. He rounded corners without the slightest deceleration, a feat that seemed to defy the limits of his own joints, leaving Aunt Yu, who was struggling to keep up, completely astonished.
It wasn’t long before they entered a vast underground space that resembled a parking garage. Directly ahead was a massive, circular vault door. Half of Meng Huang’s enormous body had become a shadow plastered against its surface, apparently trying to force his way through, but so far without success.
Chen Chuan stopped. He could see the wall and the door were covered in a dense web of ritualistic symbols. He asked, "What’s in there?"
Aunt Yu arrived just behind him, taking a few steps to come to his side.
"That’s where the Master’s true body is resting. Meng Huang is trying to get to it."
Chen Chuan asked, "Is he just trying to kill Mr. Meng?"
"It’s mainly for the corporation’s Implant master key. And..." Aunt Yu trailed off.
When she didn’t elaborate, Chen Chuan didn’t press the issue. He focused his gaze on Meng Huang, who was undergoing another transformation. Wisps of black smoke began to pour from the fissures in his body. On closer inspection, it wasn’t smoke at all, but some kind of fusion of the real and the illusory.
Something unidentifiable writhed and churned within the smoke—an existence that defied all conventional understanding of the world. The sight of it was profoundly disturbing, causing not just a physical but a deep-seated mental revulsion.
He slowly raised the Snow Monarch Blade, holding it level in front of him. With a flick of his thumb, the Sword Scabbard slid off, revealing the gleaming blade within. He angled the edge forward and strode toward the colossal figure.
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