Chapter 868: Chapter 633: Deadlock
Caught off guard, Yang Xiao collided with the Ancestor. In that moment, he understood everything. Xiang Fengchen, that old fox, had been acting all along, deceiving him into becoming the scapegoat. Now, he was the one targeted by the Ancestor, trapped inside a paper circle.
As he collided with the Ancestor, it felt like slow motion. As he moved closer ever so slightly, the now despairing Yang Xiao saw the Ancestor’s face clearly, and also something that looked like a chunk of meat in its mouth.
But that didn’t matter anymore, since his life had already reached its end.
However, the unexpected happened next. The moment he touched the Ancestor’s body, Yang Xiao’s body suddenly became translucent, like a holographic projection, and he passed right through the Ancestor, slamming heavily into the wall behind.
This scene dumbfounded Xiang Fengchen until his cloudy eyes focused on a light behind Yang Xiao.
It was a piece of incense, still burning and slanted behind him.
Yang Xiao, shaken, turned around to see the Ancestor still standing in the same spot, motionless, with its back to him.
Yang Xiao’s first reaction was to reach behind and grab the incense. He pulled it out and held it in his hand, confirming that it was still burning, and only then did he let his suspended heart settle back into his stomach.
Clearly, it was the incense that had saved him. Ironically, the Life Burning Incense had been procured by Xiang Fengchen himself with his skills.
In stark contrast to the narrowly escaped Yang Xiao, Xiang Fengchen’s situation was much more dire. Having failed in a single strike, he lost his last chance, and the only remaining piece of incense burned rapidly, its fragrance being completely absorbed by the Ancestor.
The paper circle around Xiang Fengchen was his protective talisman, but it also acted as a barrier that only allowed entry and no exit. Now, Xiang Fengchen was about to be trapped alive within it.
"Save me, if you don’t, you all will die!" Xiang Fengchen yelled heart-wrenchingly at Yang Xiao, like a gambler who was losing badly, "Swap lives with me, and I promise to get Nalan Shuo out, we’ll clear all past disputes!"
"Come here, hurry over here!!" Seeing the last piece of incense burning away, Xiang Fengchen was on the verge of collapse.
In the face of life and death, all promises are false, especially coming from someone like Xiang Fengchen. Trusting him, Yang Xiao felt, was even less reliable than trusting himself.
Without any cursing, blaming, or reveling in misfortune, Yang Xiao just coldly looked at him, then slowly stepped backwards and left.
To be fair, Xiang Fengchen had helped him quite a bit, and had taken good care of him previously, even though there were transactions involved. But for this, Yang Xiao still recognized the sentiment.
"Goodbye." Yang Xiao mouthed these words to the desperate Xiang Fengchen without making a sound.
"You won’t survive either without saving me! It’s a trap, a thorough death trap!" In such a situation, Xiang Fengchen, a contemporary Feng Shui Master, also left himself with a last bit of dignity. He stood up straight and shouted crazily at Yang Xiao, his face filled with a maniacal laugh, "I’m among Magicians, a rare genius; waiting for ages, for ages! I’ll be waiting for you, I’ll wait for you all down there, ha ha ha! I’ll be waiting!"
The next second, his laughter abruptly stopped. Xiang Fengchen, as if all life was drained from him, his complexion turned ashen, and his expression froze. His body stiffened and fell backwards with a "bang," crashing straight to the ground.
The piece of Life Incense before him extinguished, its last wisp of smoke sucked into the Ancestor.
Yang Xiao dared not hesitate, he turned and ran. He wasn’t intentionally lingering; he needed to witness Xiang Fengchen’s end himself.
It was important.
As Xiang Fengchen died, the environment around also changed. Grey mist quickly moved towards the study, as if pulled by an invisible suction.
With a cloudy mind and shaky steps, Yang Xiao could no longer stay upright, and even before he stepped out of the study’s threshold, he collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.
After who knows how long, Yang Xiao suddenly awoke, seeing light before him, though his vision was still blurred, and beneath him was not the cold ground, but a soft bed.
Moments later, as his eyes gradually adjusted to the light, Yang Xiao finally saw clearly; he was back in his original room, lying in his own bed.
He abruptly sat up, ignoring the soreness in his body, widened his eyes and looked around, and the next second, tears streamed down his face. Both Nalan Shuo’s and Xiang Fengchen’s beds were empty, leaving him alone in the large bedroom.
"Director..."
Yang Xiao flipped over, jumping out of bed. But his extremely tired body didn’t cooperate, his weak legs didn’t hold, and he fell straight to the ground.
Struggling to get up, he stumbled out of the bedroom into the hall, where he completely despaired. The hall was as usual, with a square table and four chairs, an incense burner on the table, and the Divine Turtle Shell also there, but no one else.
Just like Xiang Fengchen, Nalan Shuo was left in that eerie space. A sharp pain flashed through Yang Xiao’s mind, and he felt as if all his energy was drained, his vision darkened, and if he hadn’t reached out to hold onto the table, he would have collapsed.
Feeling a severe tightness in his chest, Yang Xiao felt the room spin, his stomach churning with a strong urge to vomit, and the next second, he braced himself against the table, retching continuously.
Nalan Shuo was dead.
This guide who had led him into the Apostle World, was now dead. After a full thirty minutes, Yang Xiao still couldn’t pull himself together.
Leaning back on the chair, with red-rimmed eyes, Yang Xiao wanted to cry out loud, but in extreme sorrow, one cannot shed tears, only letting them stream down his cheeks.
