Chapter 91 The Tide of Destiny
Ten minutes later, at the Huilong Temple.
A major war criminal, Fan De, was thrown into a rat cage awaiting his fate, while his own eyes loudly protested the shabby living conditions within. Chu Hengkong, who had just woken up, was tightly surrounded by the crowd. He lay shirtless in the formation, his body covered in a circle of strange, unidentified relics, as if he were undergoing an electrocardiogram from another world.
"Relax your body and focus your mind." Youyou's eyes were as sharp as a knife. "How do you feel now?"
"It's better than ever." Chu Hengkong moved his arms back and forth. "I feel like I can beat three of my past selves."
Ji Huaisu was full of curiosity: "Are we going to attack together or in a round-robin battle?"
"It's not that detailed... Miss Ji, I'm warning you not to touch it. It's very dangerous."
Ji Huaisu got behind him and furtively poked at the exposed bone. Her fingertips just touched it and bounced back as if they had been electrocuted. Imperceptible ripples flowed across the surface of the bone, and her green fingertips suddenly turned bright red.
Ji Huaisu held his finger in his mouth, tears welling up in pain: "The bone is biting!"
"The kinetic energy reflex armor that comes standard with the Ultimate True Mechanical is so painful the more force you apply." Ji Qiufeng smiled. "This thing is too much of a burden for you. Can you turn it off?"
"Let me try..."
Chu Hengkong moved his back muscles. He didn't know if he could command this bone - the immortal machine that had died long ago should not have the ability to receive commands - so he used the basic posture among the three thousand sets and made fine adjustments with the technique of manipulating bones.
Stop, he thought. Rest.
The ripples on his back dissipated. Ji Huaisu cautiously poked him, finding it harmless. She then began to scratch him with her claws. Chu Hengkong quickly put on his coat and said, "Mind your image."
"You're not in pain, so what's the harm?" Ji Huaisu said confidently, "Master Youyou, what's your analysis?"
"No abnormal information exchange, independent thought fluctuations, no abnormal limb deformities..." Youyou looked up from the pile of jade tablets. "For now, there are no signs of external contamination. However, this is unprecedented, and you will inevitably be affected by the real device. Afterwards, you will enter a period of observation. Monitoring, protection, and precautions will be carried out to the highest standards to ensure that you don't become a crazy killing machine."
"But he has been one for a long time." said Jie An, who was watching.
"That's the problem," Youyou hissed. "Typically, unfortunate individuals contaminated by true machinery become cold, expressionless, taciturn, prone to violence, and fond of bizarre mechanical gadgets. But he's usually like this; I can't tell the difference."
Chu Hengkong protested as best he could, racking his brains to come up with a rebuttal: "I still play games and go fishing!"
"I think the situation is okay. At least he still knows how to talk back." Ji Huaisu smiled evilly.
Everyone gathered around him and joked around for a while, their laughter mainly focused on his new bones. Ji Huaisu then excused himself, claiming he needed some sleep. Youyou took the rat cage to interrogate Fan De, while Jie An busied himself with preparing medicinal food. Chu Hengkong ignored the distant plea for mercy and stretched his muscles. Ji Qiufeng stared at his back, his eyes flickering.
"What do you think of going out?"
"The world is big, and I am small." Chu Hengkong patted his shoulder. "You have a far-sighted vision."
Bone Tempering Technique, Qi-Severing Strike, and most importantly, One Qi, Thousand Years. Without Ji Qiufeng's three months of grueling training, he wouldn't have even seen the Immortal Machine and would have died long ago in the desolate mountains of the Divine Kingdom. Everyone said the Dragon God was a master of divination, knowing the future beyond belief, but after experiencing it all, Chu Hengkong felt that a warrior's vision wasn't necessarily inferior to the Dragon God's.
"This has nothing to do with vision, but more to do with 'fate.'" Ji Qiufeng smiled. "There's a widely accepted theory called 'the tide of fate,' which says that human fate is like a stream, and the destinies of all living things converge into the ocean. The direction of fate is always changing, because some streams are strong, and some are weak. Strong streams will assimilate weak tributaries, guiding them in directions they shouldn't be.
In the ocean, knowing is equal to possessing, and possessing is equal to touching. Once you know the existence of the rapids, you reach into them, and from then on your fate is dragged by them, helpless. Therefore, if you don't want to be swept away by the strong current, you can only live in a corner, not explore, not touch.
"However, there are also those who are born with abnormal trends. Some people are different from others. They don't want to be unknown and silent, and they love to go into complicated places." Ji Qiufeng tapped his shoulder. "People say that such people have a dark fate. They are like walking misfortune, and wherever they go, trouble follows them."
Chu Hengkong shook his head helplessly: "What bad luck..."
"The people of the swamp call you the Son of Trend, and for good reason. If you don't practice martial arts quickly, how will you ever get through any trouble you encounter?" Ji Qiufeng said, "Think positively. There are many unlucky people in the world, and you are not the only one."
Hearing this, Chu Hengkong fell silent for a moment. He thought of the many dead souls in Yingshi Town, and of the "past" he had witnessed in the mist. A once-thriving nation had perished, ravaged by the drastic changes in the sea, by the advance of the True Machines. Yet the Ultimate True Machines did not regard them as enemies; they simply advanced, obliterated, and disintegrated, leaving only the dead souls weeping in the wasteland.
Compared with the remnants of the Kingdom of God, he is much luckier.
"Mr. Ji, what kind of place was the Kingdom of God in the past?"
"A very, very good place." Ji Qiufeng smiled slightly. "Huilong City is too far away from Longquan Township. Back then, the Netherworld God was our strongest support. Huilong City's golden age was inseparable from its blessing. He personally guided Youyou in building the city, and his kingdom is also happy to trade with us. We have reunited many times under the cherry trees, listening to the locals sing ancient poems and long songs."
The man closed his eyes, hiding the deep sadness in them.
"It's all gone," he whispered, "like poems and songs gone by."
Chu Hengkong sat quietly. He found it hard to believe that the Divine Kingdom could be destroyed so easily, but he sensed Ji Qiufeng's sadness and gave up trying to delve into the matter. He brought up something that concerned him: "How are Qi Su and the others?"
"Their situation is special. I'll think of a small solution." Ji Qiufeng patted his shoulder. "And you should care about yourself first rather than others. You look like a little heretic now. In the old kingdom of God, you would have been crushed to ashes."
"What now?"
"We are still more open than the Kingdom of God." Ji Qiufeng turned around, "Be careful, Ganggu, and get some rest."
His footsteps faded, leaving only one person sitting in the temple. Chu Hengkong sat quietly, thinking nothing. Normally, he would have jumped up to ponder his new bones or to review the gains and losses of the battle, but today, he didn't think so. Those past stories, like a thin layer of dust, covered his heart. He didn't feel too much sadness, but realized that he was really tired.
He left the temple and descended the stairs, many of his teammates greeting him along the way. He overheard his brothers discussing "an epic battle in a distant mountain range," a story that had only just begun to surface after some gossipy person had leaked. After leaving headquarters, he wandered for a while, sitting on the curb, watching the city's strange vehicles and the people of various clans rush about.
He suddenly felt all this was far away, as distant as the scenery on a screen. A chill crept up his spine, and his vision turned blood-red. The speeding cars slowed, from the shadows of their taillights dragging on to nearly motionless blocks of color. The pedestrians also slowed down, and all they could see was the varying shades of blood, as if the streets were smeared with blood.
The chill stabbed through his skin, like an icy insect crawling on his back. A voice within him whispered that with a single touch, he could wipe the redness from his eyes.
"Not now." Chu Hengkong said to himself, "Let's talk about it next time."
Then the bright red faded, the chill dissipated, and the steelworm shrank back into its bones. He felt a little cold and tucked his clothes in. At this moment, he felt a sticky touch on his ankle. Chu Hengkong lowered his head and met a pair of stupid eyes.
"Dude, you just acted like a dumb schoolboy," Vander drawled. "No. Maybe next time. I need to find a better time to destroy the world."
"screw you."
He grabbed Finder with one hand and placed him beside him. The Eye Demon sighed, "You ungrateful fellow! I was interrogated for half an hour! That snake nearly ate me!"
"She is actually a dragon." Chu Hengkong corrected, "A swirling dragon."
Fander's eyes turned pale: "...Is this true?"
"real."
"A dignified ancient dragon prophet of Sephiroth 5 is pretending to be a snake." Finder said with a sad look, "I understand your temper. You guys are all the same crazy from top to bottom."
Chu Hengkong smiled. The Eye Demon was like a sly little hair dryer, able to dispel the gloomy and ominous chill with just a few words. He stretched lazily. "How does Youyou plan to exile you?"
"'After this, you will enter a period of observation. Surveillance, protection, and precautions will be carried out to the highest standards.'" Finder imitated her tone perfectly, and then screamed, "Why is a harmless beholder like me being treated as a suspicious individual and monitored?!"
"Ask yourself, do you really think you're not suspicious?" Chu Hengkong said, "Think positively, I feel the same way."
Fander clicked his tongue and shook his head: "Now we are in the same boat. I really don't treat you as one of my own."
In reality, this was too much of a personal connection. Just because Ji Qiufeng hadn't mentioned it didn't mean he wasn't aware. It was hard to say which was more sinister: a whole bone from a true machine or an unidentified creature capable of transplanting it into a human. Anyone would have to weigh the risks involved, and Ji Qiufeng intended to keep this a secret.
"They've been too nice to me." Chu Hengkong smiled bitterly, "I'll have to work overtime now..."
"I've been wanting to say you're addicted to work."
"I've always been dedicated to my work." Chu Hengkong stood up. "Where are Qi Su and the others?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you." Finder pointed several tentacles toward the sky. "You missed a big event while you were unconscious, something worth noting."
Chu Hengkong looked up. A slightly larger black shadow appeared in the archipelago above Huilong City.
(End of this chapter)
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