Chapter 124 Crematorium "The Nirvana Flame is a crematorium,"...
Zhou Yaren never expected that what they were igniting was the very fire He Yan had used to burn himself to atone for his sins.
Therefore, she kept the injustice hidden and refused to tell anyone. Having personally witnessed He Yan's self-destruction and self-immolation, how could she let him, who had forgotten his past, know, and make his already suffering life even more rotten?
If he hadn't developed a empathy with the Death Umbrella, he probably would never have known.
All the pain accumulated from her past and present lives weighed heavily on Zhou Yaren, making it hard for her to breathe.
But at this critical moment of life and death, he had no time to stop and grieve for He Yan's grief and hatred.
The smiling man leaped several feet, his Autumn Strike Blade cleaving through the wall of fire, the blade wrapped in billowing flames as it slashed down!
Zhou Yaren retreated hastily, and the long wind she stirred up formed a frost shield above her head, blocking the fierce blade flames.
The scattered light and shadow of the scriptures acted as fuel, ignited by sparks from the sundial, scattering like a rain of fire. The decaying wood and rotten vegetation in the mountains ignited instantly, billowing smoke, and the Buddhist flames climbed the trunks of ancient pines. The melted resin, like oil, fueled the fire, instantly enlarging it and licking at Zhou Yaren.
At the same time, the Yin energy of the Death-Reporting Umbrella in Zhou Yaren's hand surged, and frost covered half of his body. When the flames licked his body, they did not burn him, but instead covered his skin with a chilling cold.
“The Nirvana Buddha Flame is just a crematorium,” Zhou Yaren heard Bai Yuan say. “The one who should have been burned was never He Yan.”
Zhou Yaren instantly understood her intention, so at the same time Bai Yuan said, "Set this green mountain on fire and burn him to death," she held a folding fan to fan the flames and suddenly increased the fire.
Pine needles curled and scorched in the flames, old tree bark crackled and popped as it burned, and the Buddhist fire leaped up suddenly with the wind, whipping up flames several meters high to retaliate against the smiling man.
The smiling man ran headlong into the wave of fire, nearly getting his skin peeled off. He retreated swiftly, dodging and weaving, the flames scorching the vegetation along their path, spreading with the wind, the relentless fire line winding and snaking for dozens of feet!
The smiling man slapped out the fire on his clothes, his hair was half-burnt, and a wave of heat swept around him. In the blink of an eye, he was in a sea of fire.
The flames surged and roared like a python, engulfing withered branches and decaying leaves, and carrying a strong smell of burning!
The smiling man cleaved the scorched earth in two, tearing a gap in the ground, and felt as if he were engulfed in lava as he stepped on the scorched earth. He knew things were bad and he had to finish the fight quickly. He swung his sword repeatedly to cut through the fire blocking his path, and each time he tried to kill Zhou Yaren, a long gust of wind would stir up a raging fire that would engulf him.
The surrounding heat was intense, making the smiling man sweat profusely. If this continued, he would almost smell the aroma of meat. Even if he wasn't burned to death, he would be roasted alive.
The hilt of the knife was so hot he could barely hold it. The smiling man opened his palm and saw a string of blisters. He squinted at Zhou Yaren, who was protected by frost through the raging flames, and almost laughed in anger. So only he would be roasted into a dried-up corpse.
Despite the searing pain, the smiling man charged into the inferno. As his blade flashed, flames licked at its edge, sparks flew, and explosions produced crackling and booming sounds.
This strike cleaved through the flames and split the earth, the immense force sweeping Zhou Yaren away. Just as he crashed to the ground, a chilling aura extinguished the flames beneath him, condensing frost and ice onto the scorched earth. Far from burning him, it instead sent a shiver of cold air through him.
Zhou Yaren felt a dull pain in her chest and briefly couldn't breathe.
The smiling man, of course, didn't want to give him a chance to breathe, so he stepped on the burning broken wood and swung his knife to strike!
Zhou Yaren gritted her teeth and rolled on the ground, simultaneously unleashing a burst of fire that ignited anything that touched her clothes, forcing the smiling man into the ever-growing flames.
When gods fight, innocent bystanders often suffer. As the fire spread and burned, the pagoda was inevitably caught in the crossfire.
Sparks flew everywhere, igniting fires, and flaming pine logs crashed into the tower chamber one after another, but fortunately the boys were quick enough to dodge in time.
The pagoda burst into flames, and Li Liuyun shouted, "Run!"
"Where are you going?!" Lin Mu looked out and saw that the outside world was already a sea of fire.
"Let's go down the mountain!"
"But……"
"Stop dawdling, break out!"
Under the scorching heat, the air seemed to distort into waves.
Even now, Tingfengzhi is still stirring things up, and nearly half the mountain is ablaze. No matter where the Smiling Man jumps around, the fire snakes will inevitably swarm and encircle him, burning him in droves.
Zhou Yaren knew she couldn't hold on any longer, so she used all her strength to unleash a wind blade that attacked her opponent, forcing the smiling man into the depths of the sea of fire.
The latter raised his sword to parry, but the Autumn Decision Blade was so hot that it was almost red-hot from being heated in the Buddha's fire, making it impossible to hold.
With a "clang," the wind blade knocked Qiu Jue Dao away, nearly severing half of his hand.
The smiling man abruptly pulled his arm back, only to find that his burned skin had already stuck to the hilt of the knife. As the Autumn Execution Blade slipped from his hand, it tore off a layer of skin from his palm, causing excruciating pain.
That wasn't the worst part. The acrid smell of burning rosin was extremely pungent, and the thick, smoky smoke made it impossible for him to see his surroundings.
The smiling man was surrounded by raging flames and had nowhere to retreat.
Then, scorching waves of wind swept towards him, carrying red-hot charcoal. Even as he dodged repeatedly, sparks inevitably landed on him, hissing and smoking. The few strips of cloth that barely covered his body were charred and mottled, making him look as wretched as an ape fleeing a wildfire.
The smiling man finally realized he'd been tricked; he'd been tricked by the layer upon layer of Buddhist fire that the man had intended to burn him to death from the very beginning.
The swirling heatwave whipped up ash that formed a black mist, making even breathing feel like a burning, searing pain. The smiling man coughed, and the bursting flames scorched half of his mask, leaving behind teardrop-like drops of wax.
If the mask melted onto his face, he'd never be able to remove it for the rest of his life; otherwise, he'd have to tear off a layer of skin. He was extremely unwilling to be shameless, so he ripped off his smiling mask and threw it into the sea of fire, trudging through scorched earth and passing through a ring of flames, but…
The dry grass and humus on the ground formed a fire path, and the dense forest canopy became a floating fire cap. Pine cones and broken branches exploded in the fire, and the flames completely sealed off the mountain, leaving no way to escape.
The other teenagers, who also had nowhere to run, were completely dumbfounded. Did Tingfeng know that this indiscriminate incitement was meant to cremate them all?
Is this what Senior Brother Liuyun meant by the cremation ceremony? Are they going to "deliver" them all?
The pine cones on the ground crackled and popped incessantly, and if you weren't careful, they would hit you. None of the boys escaped unscathed, and they all suffered the consequences, not to mention the burning tree canopy above them, which was raining down fire.
Lin Mu kept patting the fire off his body and shoulders, burning several holes through his clothes and leaving a red, throbbing patch against his shoulder blades.
There was hardly any room to put their feet in the entire forest. They jumped around amidst the dense explosions, feeling as if the soles of their boots were being burned through.
"Hot, hot, hot."
Don't go that way!
"Miki, get over here right now!"
"This tree is going to fall."
With a "crack," the charred tree trunk toppled over, nearly crushing Yu Heqi. Wen Yi grabbed him by the belt and pulled him to his side. Then, a fireball rained down on Wen Yi's head, which Li Liuyun kicked away.
The teenagers ran around wildly, scrambling and panicking, practically fleeing in terror.
"There's no way out! Where can we escape to?!"
Thick smoke obscured the sky and the road ahead was engulfed in flames.
The scalding smoke choked their throats, causing them to cough and their eyes to water.
The air that filled his nostrils was thick with the burning heat mixed with ashes, scorching his lungs. Lin Mu was already having trouble breathing. He mumbled "Senior Brother" and then plunged headlong into the sea of fire.
Lian Zhao grabbed him and just as he hoisted Lin Mu onto his back, a wave of heat suddenly crashed down from above.
Lian Zhao was caught off guard and stared wide-eyed in horror at the erupting fire.
Just when everyone thought they were doomed, a sudden gust of wind and frost swept over them, colliding with the raging fire.
The frost and snow slammed down, instantly extinguishing a section of the fire beneath their feet. The sudden chill seeped into their clothes, causing the boys, who had been enduring the scorching heat, to shiver.
"You'll know if you listen to the wind!"
Zhou Yaren, draped in frost and holding a folding fan, cleared a path through the wind and snow: "Let's go."
Without saying much, ice and fire collided, and the wind and snow tore a hole in the flames, carving out a path to survival. The boys were overjoyed, as if they had seen a savior, and immediately followed him.
Only after they ran out of the inferno, the wind and frost clearing the way stopped, and the frost covering their bodies gradually evaporated and faded, did Zhou Ya feel the burning heat on her back as she faced away from the wildfire.
Coming from the raging flames that could incinerate everything, even the young people suffered burns to varying degrees, but Zhou Yaren was completely unharmed.
He knew perfectly well that Bai Yuan was protecting him, protecting him so thoroughly that not a single spark could reach him.
This is the Buddhist flame from which He Yan once immolated himself; it almost burned He Yan to ashes.
Therefore, now that this fire has been reignited, Bai Yuan will never allow it to burn Zhou Yaren, not even a single hair on her head.
Having escaped the raging inferno, Zhou Yaren walked slower and slower until her knees were so stiff and painful that she could no longer lift them or move her feet.
He suddenly stopped.
The boys escaped the inferno and, panting heavily, exchanged glances. Their faces, blackened as the bottom of a pot and filthy like monkeys emerging from a pile of ashes, looked so ridiculous that they couldn't help but burst into laughter.
As they laughed, the dusty-faced boy realized someone had fallen behind them. They turned around and saw Ting Fengzhi standing there, swaying precariously, his back to the raging fire, tears streaming down his face.
The boys were all taken aback.
Zhou Ya only realized what was happening when tears dripped onto the back of his hand, which was tightly gripping the umbrella.
"The dust and smoke are too thick..." he added, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible.
He wanted to wipe away his tears, but he was too tired.
He was too tired.
"Listen to the wind and you'll know—"
The boys' expressions changed, and they rushed forward to catch Zhou Yaren as she fell to the ground.
"Is he dead?" Zhou Yaren didn't speak, but asked in his mind, knowing Bai Yuan could hear him. "Did I burn him to death?"
The one who should have been buried with the deceased was never He Yan, but Xu Zhangfang. Bai Yuan replied, "Perhaps."
The raging fire has sealed off the entire mountainside, making it impossible for even a bird to escape.
The charred wood collapsed with a deafening roar, and the ashes rose into the air amidst the surging heat, turning into billowing dust that blotted out the sky.
Trapped in such a "crematorium," with endless red flames filling his eyes, Xu Zhangfang would have no chance of escape even if he had wings.
Zhou Yaren was exhausted and closed her eyes, saying in her heart, "I can't."
"What?"
"I won't end up like He Yan."
I am guilty, and I will atone for my sins. Since the punishment I suffer is the karmic retribution I must endure, I will repay it through countless lifetimes. Lifetime after life, I will repay it until death. I will not, like He Yan, end up self-immolating in a cremation.
However, none of them saw a person engulfed in flames burst out of the sea of fire from the north side of the mountain and, without the slightest hesitation, leap off the thousand-foot cliff with no way to escape.
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