chsdbacks Chapter 193 concludes.
Chapter 193 concludes.
For a moment, a bizarre and comical scene unfolded in the square: Nie Lingfeng strolled leisurely, his figure elusive, and wherever he passed, the villagers and shadow tentacles that had been attacking him were instead caught off guard or "guided" by him, colliding, biting, and entangled in chaos. The attacks of the three ghost masters frequently missed their mark, striking their "own people" instead, eliciting a chaotic roar.
With his own strength, extraordinary speed, meticulous control of his movements, and precise grasp of the "momentum," he managed to "create" a chaotic "passage" leading directly to the cave entrance amidst the frenzied attacks of hundreds of enemies!
In the blink of an eye, Nie Lingfeng's figure, like a ghost, broke through layers of obstacles and appeared at the edge of the cave, which was burning with eerie green flames, constantly spewing dark green air waves and shadowy tentacles! The scorching, stench, chaos, and evil aura rushed towards him, almost solidifying into a tangible form.
"Found you." Nie Lingfeng lowered his head, his dark golden pupils seemingly able to pierce through the deep darkness, staring directly at the core of the twisted being at the bottom of the cave. He could feel that the thing in the cave was "watching" him, its gaze filled with greed, rage, and a trace of... barely perceptible fear.
"Outsider...powerful...perfect...vessel..." The inhuman voice echoed again from within the cave, this time seemingly tinged with a trembling excitement, "Come in...merge with me...and you will gain...immortality...and...supreme...power..."
The answer was Nie Lingfeng's slowly raised right hand, and a ball of dark golden flame suddenly rising from his palm.
This flame, only the size of a fist, was exceptionally condensed and restrained. Its center was a deep dark gold, while its edges flowed with crimson, ice blue, and pale gold light, as if it contained the power to create the world and the divine might to purify all things. The moment it appeared, the surrounding eerie green flames seemed to shrink back in fear, and the raging shadow tentacles, as if encountering a natural enemy, let out sharp hiss and frantically retreated.
"Noisy."
Nie Lingfeng uttered two words, and with a dark gold fireball in his palm, he gently pushed it towards the bottomless pit.
The fireball, detached from the palm, did not plummet rapidly. Instead, as if alive, it slowly spun and drifted towards the cave. Wherever it passed, the eerie green flames silently extinguished, the dark green shockwaves melted away like ice and snow, and the shadowy tentacles, like frost under the scorching sun, disintegrated and vaporized inch by inch before they could even utter a wail, turning into the most primal and harmless dark particles, which were then completely wiped away by the purifying waves emanating from the dark golden fireball.
"No--!!!"
From within the cave came a piercing scream of terror, rage, and disbelief! The entire cavern—no, the entire plaza, even the surrounding mountains—trembled violently at the sound! The rocks at the cave entrance began to crack and collapse, and the eerie green flames surged back frantically, attempting to stop the slowly descending dark golden fireball, but all in vain. The dark golden fireball, like a stabilizing force, like a divine punishment purifying all things, resolutely pressed downwards, downwards, illuminating the twisted, filthy cave walls below the entrance, covered with eerie runes and viscous black matter, and also illuminating… deep within the cave, that enormous, bloated, constantly writhing mass, extending countless shadowy tentacles, with the faint outline of a distorted human face at its center… an indescribable dark green mass of flesh!
That's the true form of the "Cave God"?! Or rather, it's some kind of evil entity that has been severely polluted and distorted by the aura of "external demons," and has bred by feeding on the beliefs and creatures of this place?!
"Phoenix True Fire - Burning the Heavens and Purifying the World!"
Just as the dark gold fireball was about to touch the fleshy mass, a clear and firm shout came from behind Nie Lingfeng!
Chen Duo had somehow managed to temporarily settle the girls in a relatively safe corner (drawing a circle with her true fire), while she herself, holding a peerless sword (though she didn't know how to use it, the sword seemed merely a medium at this moment), stood on the other side of the cave entrance. She was enveloped in unprecedentedly pure and blazing golden phoenix true fire, and behind her, a phoenix phantom with wingspans several meters, majestic and imposing, its entire body composed of golden flames, raised its head and cried out!
"Eh-!!!"
The clear, high-pitched cry of the phoenix, filled with sacred and purifying power, resounded through the night sky, temporarily suppressing the evil shrieks from the cave!
Chen Duo gripped the peerless sword tightly with both hands, pouring all the Phoenix True Fire energy within her body into the blade without reservation. Then, she thrust the sword fiercely into the cave, into the evil mass of flesh beneath the dark golden fireball! She didn't understand swordsmanship, and this thrust was completely haphazard, but it contained her pure and innocent heart, her desire to help Nie Lingfeng and purify the evil before her, as well as the Phoenix bloodline's most instinctive desire to reject and purify all filth and evil!
"Buzz—!"
Infused with the Phoenix True Fire, the peerless sword's heavy, black blade faintly glowed with a dark red light, as if briefly awakened by this sacred flame. A condensed, almost tangible, golden pillar of fire, about a foot in diameter, shot from the sword's tip, catching up with Nie Lingfeng's dark golden fireball and... merging with it!
Gold and Dark Gold, Phoenix True Fire and Qilin True Fire (fusion version), two sacred flames born from the same source but with their own unique characteristics, resonated and amplified at this moment!
"boom--!!!"
The fused flames instantly transformed into a terrifying pillar of light, over ten feet in diameter, with its interior interwoven and swirling with gold and dark gold, radiating a power capable of purifying all evil and filth in the world. Like a fiery spear hurled by a god, it slammed into the depths of the cave with unstoppable force, completely engulfing the bloated, writhing, screaming dark green mass of flesh!
"Aaaaaaahh ...
An indescribable groan, a mixture of endless pain, resentment, and a hint of relief, erupted from the bottom of the cave! The dark green mass of flesh twisted and swelled wildly under the burning of the two-colored divine fire, and then... like a punctured balloon, it exploded with a bang! The viscous, foul-smelling dark green liquid and the shattered tissue, before they could even splatter, were instantly vaporized and purified by the scorching, pure divine fire!
At the same time, the countless shadowy tentacles and mental connections that extended from the lump of flesh and controlled the entire village withered, broke, and dissipated instantly, like vines whose roots had been severed!
"Splash!" "Splash!" "Splash!"
In the square, the hundreds of villagers who had been attacking frantically collapsed to the ground, unconscious, as if their strings had been simultaneously removed. The controlled frenzy emanating from them quickly subsided, and the faint dark green veins beneath their skin faded rapidly, though their faces remained pale and their breaths weak.
The three mutated ghost masters also shuddered violently, the eerie green flames in their eyes instantly extinguished, and they let out a short, shrill scream. The disgusting mutated tissue on their bodies rapidly withered and dried up as if dehydrated, and they collapsed limply, as if all their life force had been drained away, their fate unknown. The evil bone artifacts in their hands also shattered into dust with a few "cracks".
At the cave entrance, the blazing, eerie green flames, as if deprived of fuel, quickly dimmed and went out. The nauseating stench and chaotic, evil atmosphere within the cave dissipated rapidly, like the receding tide. The strange chanting also ceased abruptly.
Only the pillar of divine fire, interwoven with gold and darkness, continued to burn in the cave for a moment, thoroughly purifying the last trace of evil and filth before slowly shrinking and extinguishing.
The entire square fell into a deathly silence. Only the howling of the night wind through the empty space and the faint, uneven breathing of the villagers lying haphazardly on the ground could be heard.
The green campfire went out, and the moonlight seemed to brighten a bit. The cool, silvery light spilled onto the messy square, onto the unconscious villagers, and also onto Nie Lingfeng, who stood proudly by the cave, and Chen Duo, whose face was pale from exhaustion, and who was leaning on her sword, panting slightly, but whose eyes were still clear.
ended.
The so-called "Cave God," that twisted and evil aggregate, was completely annihilated by the combined attack of the Qilin True Fire and the Phoenix True Fire, leaving not even a trace behind.
Nie Lingfeng walked to Chen Duo's side, supporting her swaying body. A gentle, mellow internal energy flowed through her, helping to calm her turbulent blood and nearly dried-up meridians. "Well done, Chen Duo," he praised softly, his eyes filled with undisguised approval. That attack just now—the timing, the determination, the power—were all perfect. Without her Phoenix True Fire, although it could have been resolved, it would never have had such a clean, decisive, and thorough effect.
Chen Duo leaned against him, feeling the familiar and warm internal energy. A faint, relieved smile appeared on her pale face. She whispered, "It... stinks, it's so disgusting. It feels so good to burn it all away." (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
Nie Lingfeng chuckled, ruffled her hair, then glanced at the messy square, his brows furrowing slightly.
The source of the evil has been dealt with, but the mess it left behind is enormous. Hundreds of villagers are unconscious, their fates unknown; the three ghost masters appear to be in grave danger; and then there are the girls chosen as sacrifices… Moreover, the village has been corrupted by this evil force for so long; the earth's veins, the feng shui, and even the damaged souls of the villagers all require a long period of recuperation and recovery. This is not something he and Chen Duo alone can handle.
He took out his communicator, ready to contact Xiao Yang and the Guizhou branch, asking them to immediately send people in for rescue and aftermath.
However, the moment he pressed the call button, something strange happened again!
It did not come from the cave, nor from the villagers on the ground.
It came from...the heavens.
In the night sky, the moon, which was originally obscured by clouds and only showed a hazy, clear light, now had its surrounding clouds stained with an eerie, dark blood color! This blood color was not uniform, but rather like a tattered cloth soaked in dirty blood, slowly spreading and writhing around the moon, exuding an extremely ominous aura.
At the same time, a will far more subtle, deeper, and more... vast and evil than the "Cave God" from before, seemed to spread silently from an extremely distant and incomprehensible spatial dimension, like ink dripping into clear water, enveloping this world!
This will is not directed at any particular person, but rather seems to be "observing," "confirming," and... "marking."
Nie Lingfeng abruptly looked up, his dark golden pupils contracting to needles! The power within him instantly surged, warning signs ringing like frantically blaring alarm bells! This will… he had “sense” it before! In the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley, the aura that the “administrator” had vaguely revealed before his death, belonging to “that person”! Deep within Lingyun Cave, the aura of the “external demon” that had seeped into the earth's veins and corrupted the remains of the Fire Qilin! Same origin! Absolutely the same origin! Only, this will permeating the moonlight before him was more “complete,” more “higher,” more… indescribable!
Was it the destruction of the "Cave God" that alerted its "master"? Or was this entire "anomaly of ancient god worship" event part of a grand plan, with this place merely a "node"? Now that the "node" has been removed, it has attracted the "watchful eye" of the "mastermind"?
"Chen Duo! Step back! Get behind me!" Nie Lingfeng pulled Chen Duo behind him, raising his strength to the limit. Dark golden Qilin True Fire burned fiercely on his body, forming a solid protective shield that enveloped the two of them. He stared intently at the blood-red moon in the sky, his Snow Drinking Blade already half an inch unsheathed, emitting a clear and alert hum.
Chen Duo also felt the evil will that made her soul tremble instinctively. Her face turned even paler, but she did not back down. Instead, she stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Nie Lingfeng. Her hands once again ignited the golden phoenix true fire, which, though weak, was exceptionally firm.
"Interesting... ants... actually managed to... destroy my... nursery..." An indescribable "voice," seemingly affecting the soul level, more grand, more indifferent, more... inhuman, resounded directly in their consciousness.
The voice was devoid of any emotional fluctuation, showing no anger or surprise, only a superior "curiosity" and... "assessment," like a human observing an ant carrying away a crumb of bread.
"You... are good. She... is good too. It's a pity... the time... hasn't come yet."
The voice paused, as if the "gaze" lingered on Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo for a moment, especially on the dark golden flames on Nie Lingfeng and the phoenix phantom behind Chen Duo, taking a second look.
"The seed... has been planted. The game... continues. We... will... meet again."
As soon as the words were spoken, the crimson stain on the moon in the sky rapidly faded, the clouds closed again, and the moonlight returned to its cool clarity. The vast and malevolent will that had enveloped heaven and earth receded like a tide, vanishing without a trace, as if it had never existed.
Only the lingering night wind and the unconscious villagers in the square proved that the momentary stagnation and terror were not an illusion.
Nie Lingfeng slowly pushed the Snow Drinking Blade back into its sheath, and the dark golden flames on his body gradually subsided. His gaze was extremely solemn as he looked up at the night sky, which had returned to normal, and remained silent for a long time.
That brief "eye contact" made him clearly realize the terrifying existence he was facing. It was far beyond the reach of the Lingyun Cave Fire Demon or this cave-dwelling "false god." It was a truly incomprehensible being, perched atop the food chain, viewing all living beings as pawns, ants, or "nurseries."
"That person"... or "that being"... has the game only just begun?
"Nie Lingfeng..." Chen Duo gently tugged at his sleeve, a trace of fear still lingering in her emerald eyes, but more so with worry for him. "What...what was that just now? It was so...scary."
Nie Lingfeng withdrew his gaze, looked down at Chen Duo, and a gentle smile returned to his face, though his eyes remained serious.
"A... a very bad 'guy' lurking in the shadows," he explained, trying to keep it simple. "But we've chased him away for now. Don't worry, I'm here."
He picked up the communicator again and this time successfully connected with Xiao Yang.
"Xiao Yang, bring people in, including all medical and logistical personnel. The problem at Luodong Village... is temporarily resolved. But we need a lot of aid here. Also..." He paused, then said in a deep voice, "Notify Chairman Zhao that the mission is initially complete, but... a 'big guy' has shown up. We need support, and... higher-level information."
After hanging up the call, Nie Lingfeng looked at the village, now in a state of chaos but also "peaceful," and slowly exhaled a long breath.
The game in southeastern Guizhou has been broken. But a larger chessboard and a more formidable opponent have already revealed their sinister side in the darkness.