Chapter 2: Huilong City
Chu Hengkong has seen a lot in his short career. He has fought wild beasts in the old forests on the northeastern border, and killed enemies in the maze-like sewers of Paris. He has risked his life in a fight with drug dealers' private soldiers in the alleys of South America, and has duelled with Aikido masters in ancient dojos in Japan.
Having experienced so many life-and-death situations, he gradually stopped caring about the notions of gods and demons. Although he couldn't be said to have been born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, he was still a staunch materialist. However, the firm worldview that had been consolidated over the years suffered a severe blow in less than five minutes.
The ceremony I just experienced...it must be supernatural, right?
He had been fishing happily at sea, and in the blink of an eye, he was "summoned" to this secret room. The movement was inexplicable. And this new left arm that appeared spontaneously was even more outrageous. Normally, people would get anesthesia when they go to the hospital to have a tooth pulled. Who would believe that an arm would turn into a tentacle in the blink of an eye?
"This is so weird." Chu Hengkong smacked his lips, then shook Alex's robe vigorously.
While his mind was pondering, his hands were busy too. Within three minutes, he had thoroughly searched the secret room for every fanatic. This plunder yielded several watches, tobacco of unknown origin, a few transparent beads, and a purple pendant. The final trophy was Alex's belongings. Chu Hengkong was certain the great wizard's agility wasn't enough to dodge the sweep of the tentacles, but after grasping the pendant, he acted evasively, as if forewarned.
Coincidentally, at that moment, the necklace emitted a faint light.
Chu Hengkong casually wrapped the pendant around his right wrist, hoping it would be of some use. Having now plundered the secret room for anything useful, he was unsurprisingly surprised to find that everything looked unfamiliar. The tobacco smelled like moldy bananas, the transparent beads contained swirling streams of water, and the "numbers" on the watch looked like beautifully drawn characters.
There were no newspapers or books around, so there wasn't much information available. The only clue they hadn't investigated yet was the large book the great wizard used when performing rituals.
Unlike the clutter in the room, this book looked exquisite and refined. The hardbound volume was half the thickness of a dictionary, its hardcover covered in a soft, silky pale white fabric. In its center, a single eye was embroidered in silver thread. The eye's composition was simple yet vivid, giving the illusion of being stared back at.
Chu Hengkong quickly flipped through the silver-eyed book and found that all the pages were blank. The wrinkled paper exuded a musty smell, as if it had been soaked in seawater for three to five years. The only handwriting was hidden on the title page of the book. An entire paragraph was blurred due to moisture, and only a few severely deformed words could be barely discerned:
"Knowledge...wisdom...eyes...touch...
Mysterious...Shendongjie..."
The word at the bottom was deliberately bolded, and the big bright red letters looked very tempting: "Summon"!
Chu Hengkong snapped the book shut, stuffed it into his coat, and walked out of the secret room without looking back. His expression was not very good, and even the most prudent person would have thought twice when seeing this scene.
This is definitely a token from some unknown evil god! Those idiots just had a look on their faces like, "You ruined the summoning ritual!" If this ritual actually succeeds, I'm afraid some giant tentacle monster dozens of meters tall will descend and feast on the deity. The first ones the gods will eat are idiots like you!
What made Chu Hengkong even more upset was that he effortlessly read these characters he had never seen before, reading them with a fluency almost like his native language. He decided to think about this in more detail when he had time. After all, there was a more important task than the newly acquired reading ability: figuring out where he was and whether this was still Earth.
Outside the chamber was a long staircase leading straight up. The environment was dim and unlit, and no sound of other people could be heard. Chu Hengkong's phone had no signal, so he couldn't use satellite positioning, so he had to rely on the environment to determine his direction. He tried to shorten his tentacles, using his right hand to support the wall and move forward. The clammy feeling in his hands and under his shoes reminded him that the ground and walls were covered with water droplets. The enclosed space was filled with a chill, and the humidity was so thick that it seemed to penetrate the skin and rust the bones.
Chu Hengkong smiled, finding a sense of familiarity in this unfamiliar environment. This was the look of the southern regions of our motherland. The secret room had no windows, and the stairs leading straight up from the door indicated he was most likely in a basement. Then he thought about the books that smelled of the sea, and the fanatical followers of the evil god...
A dilapidated village, a fishy sea breeze, and superstitious locals—mostly small coastal villages. He'd destroyed at least double-digit numbers of such shabby places on previous missions, and now he felt even more confident. After a few breaths, he reached the end of the long staircase. The door wasn't vertical, but rather opened at the top like a skylight. Undeterred by this unusual appearance, Chu Hengkong pushed it open and poked his head out of the basement.
A shrill wind howled, so strong it could have blown away trees. Chu Hengkong had just leaped from the passageway with the swiftness of a scallion, but before he could even take in his surroundings, he was sprawled on the ground like a salted fish. A cold light, carrying a murderous aura, slashed towards him, tearing through the air above his head.
The cold light vanished without a trace, its speed so swift, as if blown by the wind. Then, a similar sound of wind echoed, and streaks of cold light followed one after another. Chu Hengkong subconsciously sensed something was wrong. He squinted his eyes and looked intently. As he adjusted to the light, the surroundings gradually became clearer, and the reality made his mind go blank.
That wasn't light at all; it was a rusty mass of weapons! Axes, long swords, spears, sharp swords... countless weapons whistled past in the fierce wind, transforming into a torrent of death above the secret room's exit. And the wind wasn't really wind; it was a tsunami-like surge. Thousands of tons of seawater swept through the air, carrying the weapons with them. The current was so close to Chu Hengkong that if he leaped, he would fall into the water.
Chu Hengkong swallowed, carefully leaning forward, crawling under the tide of weapons. After crawling about fifty meters, he found a gap where he could barely stand. Chu Hengkong stood up cautiously and tried to look around.
He found no safety, only more weapons dancing through the air like flocks of migrating birds in autumn. The tide of war was everywhere, and the entire sky was filled with this mad spectacle. No, there was no sky; the colorless tide formed a thick curtain of water; it was the "sky" here!
As he stood up, his vision widened, and Chu Hengkong's eyes took in more and more. He saw a forest of dilapidated buildings beneath the water curtain, layer upon layer like a mountain city. From the tops of the tallest buildings, white lines pierced the water curtain, "fishing" weapons and armor away like fishhooks. Countless ancient buildings hid in the shadows of the tall buildings, and the lights behind the windows seemed like flames, illuminating the dark night.
And where the mad curtain of water surged, a slender white shadow, like a snake, danced. Chu Hengkong tried to grasp the purple pendant, and the relic's enhanced perception activated at this moment, allowing him to see the white shadow's true appearance.
It was a dragon! A white dragon as long as a ladder to heaven! Its length glided through the water, treading alongside weapons without a scratch. Its eyes shone like stars, their gaze visible even from a thousand miles away. The white dragon rode the swirling currents, like a guardian angel embracing a capital city beneath the tide.
Chu Hengkong was completely stunned. The worldview he had cultivated over the past 22 years was shattered by those few seconds of looking down. He moved his lips and made a dry sound.
"Holy shit...did I really travel through time?"
"That's right. Welcome to Huilong City, the place where destinies intersect and the ancient dragon migration capital." A clear female voice sounded behind him, "Now please turn around slowly so we can see you clearly."
Chu Hengkong slowly turned around with an uncanny calmness. Ten meters away stood a beautiful young blond girl, holding a gleaming golden shield. Ten burly men wearing strange masks stood behind her, each heavily armed and loaded with guns. Each one looked like a fierce, unparalleled fanatic.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Chu Hengkong's left arm, staring at the shiny silver tentacle. The blonde girl showed her ID and grinned, her small fangs reflecting a dangerous light.
"I am Ji Huaisu, captain of the Resurrection Corps. Unfortunately, you have been arrested due to your involvement in the demon summoning ritual."
(End of this chapter)
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