The Sacred Ruins

Lin Naoi paced on like a celestial otherworldly being with a crystal-clear body, enshrouded in a hazy halo of light. She faded into the distance, gathering with her own people.

After a beckon of hand to her underlings, Lin Naoi boarded the helicopter and left the site.

Chu Feng watched the chopper sailing into the distance before turning around, strolling back to the yard.

All those frivolous laugh and unruly play was to cover his own identity as the cold-killer of many men; but despite his conscious effort in attempting to cover up his trails, Lin Naoi’s intelligence and quick-wittedness might have already allowed her to see through his cover.

Chu Feng recollected his composure and calmness; those skittish behaviors were no more. Instead, he started to attentively contemplate something.

The words spelt by Lin Naoi had great values; Chu Feng was almost certain that there must be some secret information hidden in those seemingly innocent words.

He asked for details about the Buddha disciples, but his enquiry was greeted with a blatant digression to something else. Instead of answering, Lin Naoi began to talk about Mu’s brother.

“Twenty-one years ago...” Chu Feng pondered over Lin Naoi’s words.

Chu Feng went a step further in order to make sure something that had aroused his suspicion. He searched on his communicator, and the news and reports that had been written and published many years ago immediately topped the search results.

“So this is how it is!” Chu Feng nodded.

In this post-civilization era, many mysterious sequences of upheaval had occurred in the span of the past few decades. For most people, the cause of these upheavals remained as a myth unresolved even today.

There had been one that only just occurred twenty-one years ago!

During those years, the geomagnetism of the Earth went awry, causing all kinds of communication signals to be disrupted and endless earthquakes to ruin the world. The ramification of this upheaval spread worldwide, causing tremendous disturbance to the world’s economics.

Many regions around the world were also troubled by the blinding aurora as a result of the disturbance to the Earth’s geomagnetism.

These, however, were only some of the most superficial phenomenon brought about by the events; what else were changed and altered during those troublesome years were anyone’s guess. The truth was still mostly hidden to the public even today.

“Perhaps there were only a few mutation-inducing fruits growing back then. Some people mutated, but the number was obviously much more insignificant compared to today,” Chu Feng murmured.

Mutants might have been existing for twenty-one years, but of course, it was rare to find them since only so few had managed to find the fruit to catalyze their process of mutation.

Lin Naoi did not divulge fully about what she knew about the so-called Buddha disciple; instead, Chu Feng was given indirect clues to make conjectures on his own.

The true identity of that self-acclaimed “Buddha disciple” who fought the White Snake this morning was in fact a mutant.

Lin Naoi mentioned Mu’s brother to Chu Feng as an indirect answer to his question, because both of them belonged to the mutants from that period of time!

But at the same time, she was also warning him to be cautious about Mu’s brother.

This was why, therefore, Chu Feng had conjectured that Lin Naoi must have seen through his cover and must be aware of his identity. She might have already known that he was, in fact, “Angel Ox” himself, and that it was also him who killed Mu.

Night finally made way for morning to come. As soon as the first ray of light of the early morning sun shone through the clouds of the sky, casting onto the windows of the house, Yellow Ox woke from its slumber. It darted into the yard and gazed at that wooden bucket with a face full of hope and expectation.

Chu Feng also strolled his way over to the bucket; he was more expectant than Yellow Ox.

“Moo!”

Yellow Ox was quite annoyed, because there were still no buds to be seen. The calf was rather disappointed and indignant.

One day... Two days...

In the twinkling of an eye, four days had come and gone. A lot had happened in the world outside: military started marching towards the Mountains of Taihang; horrifying firearms of all sorts had been transported over to terrorize the region with strong military presence.

Obviously, these were set up to fight against the White Snake!

However, the White Snake had not been seen ever since. Rumor had it that after the bloody fight, the snake had ducked underground; many said that the snake was slithering along the underground river bed, heading towards somewhere unknown to the world outside. This made the residents of towns and villages nearby rather anxiety-ridden.

The carnage of war would soon ensue should the snake suddenly re-emerge somewhere again.

For the past few days, the internet had been blown up by news and reports that focused around the bloody battles that had been fought between the mutants and the beasts inside the mountains of Taihang a few days back. Many details regarding the fight had been divulged by mutants that had made it out alive.

For instance, Mu had been killed!

Mu was an important figure for Deity; his death was definitely not something trivial.

There was even a footage that recorded the last moment of Mu before his eventual demise. The video recording itself was not the clearest in definition, but it vaguely showed a sword-wavering man cold-bloodedly beheading Mu without the slightest hesitation. The murder was brutal but cleanly done.

Angel Ox suddenly became a household name after this one battle in the mountains of Taihang.

He dared to kill Mu and challenge Silver Wing.

The fact that he could penetrate the trunk of that very mutant who stood on the pinnacle of the pyramid with just his arrows had definitely caused a worldwide sensation!

“It was a shame that the moment of penetration hasn’t been captured by anyone. According to the mutants who were there during the fight, it was quite an epic scene to behold!”

Quite a number of people was rather troubled by the regret that they had missed the chance to witness that epic moment themselves.

“Maybe the scene had been recorded. There was a movie director there acting like a lunatic filming everything that had happened,” some mutants chose to inform the public.

However, Zhou Yitian had disappeared ever since. A lot of people had been trying to find him, but all was to no avail.

Some conjectured that he might have died in the mountain of White Snake along with his assistants.

Others said that he had been taken custody by the government; his footage might prove to be an invaluable material for government’s evaluation. Departments concerned might use those footages to assess the strength and power of that White Snake.

“Rest assured! Zhou Yitian will for sure pop up someday in the public’s eye. He can’t be dead; he had promised he was going to stun us with a blockbuster that was going to be utterly staggering!”

Some seemed to be very confident. They said with utter certainty that one day, the world would be treated with something outright stunning.

This round of battle also made Kong Kim’s impenetrable body a worldwide sensation. Someone uploaded a video of him bracing rain of bullets while still remaining well and intact. There was a photo as well; it showed the moment when he brutally murdered a wild boar of the size of an armored car.

In addition, Lin Naoi, Jiang Luoshen, Qianye the Buddha disciple and Silver Wing had also become the focal points of heated discussion.

The fight at the mountains of White Snake had surely incited a worldwide sensation. Discussion on topics related to the fight still continued even days after.

People finally realized the horrifying power of those mutated beasts. They were fearful and worried about the future.

Meanwhile, there had also been a lot happening overseas. Some people claimed to have seen a black dragon whose form was quite similar to that a giant lizard. The dragon boasted a pair of wings as it soared across the sky. This had also prompted unrest in many communities.

Some also claimed that there were holy trees growing on Mount Olympus.

This was soon denied as a rumor; people started to question the level of truth behind some of the claims, but they were met with severe reprimands by those pious believers of these claims.

Stories and tales began to become wilder and stranger. People started to worry, to fear and to give up hope about the future.

Yellow Ox finally lost its patience on the fifth day. The black yak urged the calf to set off on their journey as early as they could since it was conjectured that the upheavals might reach its climax in just a few days. When the chaos culminated, things would become much harder to accomplish.

Yellow Ox dug up the seed and mindfully observed it.

Chu Feng came closer as well, heedfully casting his gaze upon that very seed.

There were changes to it, admittedly, and it was very noticeable!

The seed had become an entity that was thoroughly green and vigorous. The streaks and grain had thoroughly engraved into the surface of the seed as well.

Unfortunately, it was yet to take roots or sprout in the dirt it was buried.

Chu Feng held the seed in hand. As the seed sat in the cradle of his hand, Chu Feng was shocked to find out that he could feel a sense of romantic charm flowing in the veins and vessels of his body. The more he gazed at the seed, the more complex those streaks and grain became for him. It seemed as if that there had been some profound mystery hiding in the shallow depth of this seed.

Chu Feng could not pinpoint what kind of feeling it really was. He could not describe it nor could he portray it in any sort of ways. It felt more like an instinct than anything substantial.

“I’ll wait!”

Yellow Ox refused to leave with the black yak just yet. The calf insisted to stay for just another few days.

Just like that, another five days had passed. The man and the calf both anxiously waited. They waited for the seed to sprout so that the seed could finally bring something that could to be a pleasant surprise to them.

However, five days had passed, and they were left with disappointment yet again. Ten days had come and gone ever since the seed was planted, but there was still no sign of its shoot breaking through the soil.

Yellow Ox dug out the seed again; however, this time, the calf grew even more anxious. There was little change this time. Just like the way it was a few days back: green, crystal-clear and full of vigor and life.

“No progress.” Chu Feng was disappointed. Was that fist-size dirt block not enough to nourish the seed?

“I’ll stand to endure this pain.”

Yellow Ox grew restless and ill-tempered, but the calf still wrote these words to declare its determination.

On the thirteenth day after the battle of Mountain of White Snake, the weather was gloomy and dusky. The sky was overcast with clouds that grew thicker and thicker until finally, all hell broke loose when heavy rain started pouring down to flush the world beneath. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. The weather had become extremely awful.

“Oh god! The carnage has begun!”

“The White Snake descends to the world once again. The bloodthirsty beast is madly killing all the inhabitants of an entire city!”

...

That day was perhaps the bloodiest day of all human history. The White Snake came to this world to shock the world. The internet was bubbling over with fear and terror.

There was a small city not far from the Mountains of Taihang. It had a population of about one hundred and fifty thousand; all died on that same day.

Just as the rain was falling in sheets, a White Snake was seen moving with the billowing clouds, carried by the fierce wind before descending to that small city to kill all who lived there.

“This... this is madness!”

“The White Snake had once threatened to kill two-city worth of people; we’ll soon see actions from the snake again!”

People trembled with fright.

When the news of the killing reached afar throughout the globe, the world was shocked to realized that doomsday might be indeed happening sooner than expected.

Realizing that the snake was not the only super-mutated beast that wandered freely between the heaven and the earth, the future seemed even bleaker than it already was.

The military was quick in action. Missiles were launched in continuous succession, but nothing could impede the advance of the beast. The White Snake vanished into thin air soon after the attack, ducking underground then swiftly slithering on along the ancient river bed beneath the earth.

Bodhi Genes, Pre-Qin Research Institute, Deity Biomedical Group, Extra-terrestrial Culture Institute... At least half of a dozen of the world’s wealthiest tycoons and organizations had sent out the best men they had to encircle and suppress the White Snake.

However, the snake’s unperceivable maneuver underground made it impossible to trace its trail.

The beast’s speed coupled with its terrifying instinct allowed it to preconceive threats and avoid danger.

On that same day, the White Snake reappeared at a place that was four hundred li away from the Mountains of Taihang, and the senseless killing of the innocent started again.

It was daytime, but the broad daylight had hidden thoroughly behind the thick clouds of the sky. The vault of the heaven was as dark and black as the bottom of a burned-out pan. The roar of a tempest was exacerbated by the downpour of heavy rain. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, turning the world to quite a hellish place to be. Some places had become so dark outside that one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face.

A weather like this had undoubtedly increased the difficulty of hunting down this White Snake.

In a pitch-black world devoid of all light, only the occasional lightning allowed the world to become temporarily visible to human eyes. Everything was dark and oppressive; the world was a hellish place to be.

This was a small city consisted of a population of about two hundred thousand. When another lightning pierced through the darkness and the world glowed an eerie light, people drew their last breath as they suddenly noticed that a giant White Snake had entered their city, slithering on their streets.

Pong!

Buildings collapsed and road caved in as the White Snake effortlessly slithering across streets and roads, hanging and jumping from building to building, killing hundreds in the process.

“The target is in the north-west. Don’t let it run off this time!” someone from the military roared and bellowed. His eyes had both turned red and bloody.

However, the White Snake moved too swiftly for any weapons to exert any effects on it. Amidst the torrential rain and the blinding lightning, the snake vanished again.

The snake did not kill its target one by one, but instead, it tumbled buildings and ruined houses. No man-made structures were left to stand after the snake’s frantic rampage. This small city was now utterly ruined!

The once thriving city was now just a pitiful collection of all the desolate ruins left by the snake.

The first city was left in no better condition. All buildings had been destroyed; many had lost their lives. Both cities suffered heavy casualties, and the number of innocent people killed in this incident was staggeringly large.

Massacre of conquered cities. The threat was now a bloody reality. The White Snake had wiped out two entire cities with no mercy.

However, there was a stroke of good luck in a stretch of bad amidst all these tragedies. The White Snake only had small cities to conquer and to kill; no metropolis was harmed nor had any person been specifically targeted by the snake. The beast was only rampaging through the jungle of buildings and killing innocents indiscriminately and inadvertently.

A huge batch of people who lived in these two cities survived the carnage, but many more had died under the ruins of those tumbled buildings.

The White Snake had ducked underground and made its getaway, leaving no trace for the hunters to follow.

Neither the mutants nor the missiles could accurately locate where the beast were. It was left to run wild once again.

On that day, the internet blew up with news about the carnages.

This incident itself was a regrettable loss alright, but it also signalled some sort of crisis that might strike even harder in the near future.

The world was shocked!

News and reports flooded in, prompting everyone to discuss on the internet. Amidst all the heated debate, there was a clear sign to signal that people were quite profoundly fearful after this incident.

“Let’s go. We don’t have time to dawdle!” The black yak demanded Yellow Ox to tag along and set off for their journey to the west.

“Give me just another few days!” Yellow Ox was unwilling to give up just yet.

“The world is changing at a pace faster than you or I know. I’m so worried that anything bad would happen to you. The earth is expanding at the same rate as everything else, so if you don’t want to make it back to Kunlun Mountains now, in just a few days, you might have to travel hundreds of thousands of li just to go back there.” The black yak looked all serious and solemn.

The yak’s words were quite shocking to the ear. It contained some quite horrifying information.

“Just give me another few days! Please!” Yellow Ox insisted.

...

The world was bubbling over with fear and terror. Who could still remain in their composure after such a horrifying incident wrought havoc in the world?

The White Snake had become the subject of every conversation. The fact that the beast was fearless of firearms in addition to its ability to preconceive danger was quite a terrifying and headache-inducing issue for many people.

People from all over the world began to offer advices. They put forward their ideas on how to kill the giant snake.

But soon enough, the occurrence of another incident reduced the level of interest on the White Snake for quite some degrees.

Because only two days after the White Snake incident, another appalling carnage that occurred in a Western country shocked the world.

A black dragon suddenly appeared in the sky, jetting out raging flames to scorch the earth beneath. The dragon looked all high and mighty as the world underneath turned into an utter purgatory on earth.

The flames ruined a city and claimed the lives of five hundred thousand people.

The black dragon had gone utterly berserk. As it fluttered its wings and jet out mysterious flames, everything in the region was reduced to sheer ashes. Nothing but acres of scorched earth was left to discern.

On that day, the black dragon angrily denounced, claiming that someone had stolen its dragon eggs; the theft of its babies was the ultimate cause of this incident.

The whole world was shaken by the power of destruction that the black dragon was capable of delivering.

“The dragon was just a lizard before. Who would’ve thought that a lizard could one day become a dragon?”

“It’s so horrific! Is this doomsday for us?!”

...

The Western world was struggling in a thickening air of fear and terror.

“We must kill it!” some senators from the country’s parliament roared and raged.

“We have the most powerful armory. When the time calls, it is necessary to use some of the taboo weapons. We will not let it escape!”

“Target is located!”

People from the Western world had all united to strengthen up the government’s effort to slay the dragon and avenge for the lives lost in the heinous carnage, drawing the attention of the entire world.

At least this black dragon was not able to duck underground like the slithery snake, so many people believed that they could kill the beast with ease.

“Are you still not going, you bloody obstinate cow?!” the black yak was anxious and impatient. The yak became more and more disturbed by the incidents that occurred around the world. It had a premonition that huge trouble would soon ensue if they still chose to linger.