Chosen: Beyond Fate

Chapter 14: Laughter Rises in the Green Fire Nest

The scorching tires whipped past Lu Feng’s face as the truck sped by, the wind roaring in its wake. It slammed head-on into that blank, stupefied face. Carrying the distorted body along, it lifted and slammed into the opposite wall with violent force.

The underground parking lot trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and dust fell everywhere, but this was still not the end. The truck, with most of its cab embedded in the wall, reversed and took the mangled mass of flesh with it. Zhu Hong hit the ground and tried to push herself up, but her shattered face was illuminated again by the headlights.

As the truck spun in place, its tires screeched as it fishtailed. Its massive body moved with the agility of a cat, the heavy cargo slamming hard into the wall. Facing her were two rows of wheels thick enough to cast terrifying shadows.

The wheels spun and raced forward, crushing everything beneath.

The nerve-shredding sound continued relentlessly, overlaid by the friction of rubber on anti-slip paint, like a full-speed wood chipper. Blood sprayed from between the wheels, along with fragments of bone and organs.

Every brutal act these creatures had committed in the basement was now replayed. Bit by bit, the man-eating monster was utterly dismembered, until the bursting tires finally tore from the drive axles. The headlights gradually dimmed, and the joyous hymn of destruction came to an end.

[Stored spirit matter depleted. Protocol ended. Duration: 4 seconds.]

Ji Jue felt darkness closing in, and he struggled to draw each ragged breath. At the one-second mark, he had almost been done for, but unexpectedly, as the spirit matter nearly ran dry, his watch alerted him again that the remains of the great serpent still contained active aberrant spirit matter.

He was almost moved to tears. One extraction wasn’t enough. It could keep going! What kind of power source was this? How was the quality so high?

A moan rose beneath the truck’s cab, accompanied by the sharp tearing of steel. Beneath the shattered brake pads and wheel hubs, a twisted, broken limb slowly lifted from the mass of bloodied flesh.

Under what was left of her hair, the ground-down face no longer held any of its former beauty or charm; only malformed fury and savagery remained, leaving Ji Jue utterly breathless. That thing was still alive.

“So fragrant... so fragrant, I can’t take it, your scent... so fragrant, so fragrant...” Her eye-like orbs trembled, fixed relentlessly on Ji Jue. Tentacles writhed out of her innards, with hysterical shrieks and howls. Her lips, with only half her jaw remaining, opened and closed before emitting sharp, maniacal laughter. “Ha ha, ha, hahahaha, hahahahaha, you motherfuckers are all going to—”

The skin-crawling healing process started again. No, rather than a true revival, it looked more like a chaotic haphazard stitching and gluing. Amid the eerie blend of cries and laughter, Zhu Hong’s arms writhed one by one, tearing through steel and crawling out piece by piece...

A sharp crack rang out from Lu Feng’s hand. That round little thing bounced nimbly and rolled playfully across the ground after its pin was pulled, and finally landed squarely on the woman’s face, proudly showing off the pineapple-like grid etched across its body.

The frenzied, hideous expression of the woman froze in place. Just like that, the closing fireworks show took place; flames and explosions swallowed everything around it.

After the thunderous blast, the shattered front of the truck was engulfed in fire. From the burned-out flesh, no more sounds emerged.

Lu Feng still held his pistol up warily, aiming in that direction. Only after a long while, when no further noise came from within, did he finally lower it. He looked at Ji Jue suspiciously. “Is it dead?”

Ji Jue squirmed as he got up from the ground, bracing himself against the wall. He first used his watch to siphon off the aberrant spirit matter from the snake monstrosity, topping up his reserves a little. Once that was done, he approached with cautious steps until the watch finally chimed again.

[Detected external active aberrant spirit matter. Absorb?]

Drenched in cold sweat, Ji Jue let out a breath.

It was dead, dead for real. If it were not, then he and Lu Feng would have been dead instead. Ji Jue truly had nothing left. If that thing was still breathing and able to move, all he could have done was stick out his neck and let it have an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Too bad. He would never get to see headlights that luxurious again.

Ji Jue’s expression turned serious. “Wait! If this gets out, won’t people say our repair shop murdered a customer for money?” freewebnoveℓ.com

Lu Feng wanted nothing more than to kick this bastard to death. “Move your ass. If someone shows up and sees this, we really are done for.”

The two of them supported each other as they headed out, but Ji Jue’s laughter made Lu Feng’s skin crawl.

Ji Jue sighed. “Stop laughing, Feng. You’re creeping me out.”

Lu Feng glared at him, furious. “Aren’t you the one laughing?”

“I—”

Ji Jue was about to retort, but when they looked at each other, they realized there was not the slightest hint of a smile on the other’s face, only a creeping pallor.

Under the flickering lights, in the parking garage strewn with corpses and blood, a cold wind breezed through, carrying a hoarse laughter that made both of them shudder.

That laughter was filled with admiration and appreciation, as if someone was offering praise and applause to the playthings inside the cage after an animal performance.

Plop.

In the pool of blood, ripples spread outward, as if invisible raindrops fell on its surface. A formless downpour enveloped everything, until at last, from within that crimson, strange waves rose and fell.

From those ripples, an eye slowly opened. Then a second, a third, and a fourth. Countless eyes opened from the blood, gazing at the final survivors of the struggle with curiosity and delight, like someone looking at a brand-new toy.

The two men froze in place.

Lu Feng swallowed. “Jue...”

“Yeah?”

“Can you do that move again just now?”

Ji Jue’s face twitched. “Can’t. It’s all gone. Even if I go find something else to kill myself with, the truck’s gone.”

The only truck was already completely wrecked. Even if he triggered the survival protocol again, what could he do? Wiggle a finger and turn into a Cybertronian or something?

Suddenly, his vision was once again flooded with countless pop-up warnings.

[Detected external active aberrant spirit matter. Signs of corruption detected. Warning. External aberrant spiritual activity index rising. Pollution threshold reached. Warning. Rapidly approaching pollution source detected. Corruption protection activating. Activation failed. Error. Error. Error. Error.]

Ji Jue was so mad, he wanted to scream. He wanted to pull out that husky-pointing meme[1] and ask this damn watch what it could do besides throw errors, completely forgetting who had kept him alive until now with spirit matter extraction and the emergency survival protocol.

Too bad. There was nothing he could do now, even if he called the watch “master” or “sir.”

Amid the hoarse laughter, a hunched figure slowly emerged from the blood. He was thin and short, almost like a mummified corpse, yet when those jet-black eyes swept over Ji Jue, they sent a chill straight into the soul.

The blurry figure strode through the blood, bent down to pick up the remaining skull from what was left of Zhu Hong, and inspected the frozen expression from her final moments. Fingers traced slowly across the cracks soaked in malice and despair.

The figure chuckled. “By birth, your aptitude is... barely passable. Yet, given time, and fueled by your greed and ruthlessness, it’s not impossible for you to bear some poisonous, twisted fruit. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as you’re likely to go. I have already abandoned all hope, but I didn’t think that you’d give me a pleasant surprise today...”

Those black eyes turned to the two intruders inching backward. With his eyes fixed on Ji Jue, the vague face seemed to curve into a smile, full of joy and appreciation. “Truly... a rare talent, a gem.”

He had a gaze so ravenous, it was as if he was salivating. Just being looked at like that made Ji Jue stagger.

Damn, what a pervert!

Other villains made their entrance by laughing wildly and crushing anyone who dared to touch their subordinates. But this one? He was staring at this fairly cute young man and lighting up with excitement. His face was red as his heart raced, like he wanted to devour him...

Absolutely terrifying!

Suddenly, the blood surged, coalescing into a bizarre nine-fingered giant hand that lunged toward Ji Jue and Lu Feng. Ji Jue went pale and said, “Sir, I’m not a gigolo, you’ve got the wrong person!”

The blood hand faltered.The corpse-like face’s smile stiffened for a moment, making Ji Jue’s realization even more certain.

Damn, he’s after my ass!

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The creature didn’t even process what Ji Jue was saying. Among countless blinking eyes, what he fixated on was a streak of crystalline light gradually spilling in the blood spreading beneath Ji Jue’s feet, like a seed sprouting. A crystal-clear flower grew from the cement and iron, embedding itself in the blood like a nail, and halting any further spread.

For a moment, time came to a standstill. Everything halted during this sudden transformation. The only sound echoing through the air was a distant, long sigh. “I finally... got you!”

Above the ground, in front of the chaotic nightclub, a figure leaning against the motorcycle exhaled softly, flicked the ash from her cigarette, and turned around. Her long hair flew in the wind.

The flickering neon lit her face and the cruel smile on her lips as she raised her hand. Despite the distance and the floors separating her from her target, she loomed over the hunched figure in the blood, and then, she clenched her fingers.

Boom!

The earth shook, and buildings groaned. In the suffocating, stinking parking garage, countless blade-like crystals erupted from nowhere, stretching and converging like massive trees. Some grew towards the sky, while some stretched down, toward the ground.

They tore and pierced through the barrier of physical matter and the bloody counterattacks with ease, crushing countless giant eyes along into mush. Then came the sound of the floorboards splintering and a series of deafening crashes as a tall, slender figure fell from her spot, plummeting downward.

In the dim flickering lights, amid the drifting smoke, a harsh smile appeared. The person gazed down at the corpse in the blood and said, “In this day and age, you Dragonrite bastards dare show your faces in Cliff City?”

“A Transcendence Realm!”

The mummified, blurry face no longer held any mockery or excitement, only a serious look as it faced a formidable enemy.

The massive parking garage was now filled with erupting blood and countless magnificent crystal trees. The dazzling crystal light clashed with the crimson, tearing and intertwining. Even the gusts from this upheaval blew Ji Jue and Lu Feng off balance. Amid the wind and flying debris, the two men pressed themselves to the ground, terrified. They exchanged a glance, then looked toward the exit.

Lu Feng crawled forward, while Ji Jue followed, squirming through the mess.

Although they had no idea what just happened, staying put and clapping at the spectacle would be the dumbest thing ever. Did they want to get crushed by these gods fighting among themselves?

Despite their expectations, there was no epic three-hundred-round battle. If anything, everything was over before it even began. The moment the endless blood burst out, the mummified corpse collapsed violently and vanished without a trace, running faster than Ji Jue and the others could even react. It didn’t have a single bit of a true warrior’s presence or aura at all.

“Pathetic!” Ji Jue muttered to himself as he stopped his squirming. He and his comrade looked down at the black leather boots before them, then they slowly raised their heads and saw Wen Wen’s face.

She tilted her head, lit another White Star and exhaled a cloud of smoke. With a faint, teasing smile, she asked, “Oh? Where are you off to?”

This was completely unexpected.

With the Bloodlust Syndrome spreading, the Security Bureau monitored reports from all regions. Any unusual situation or case would be checked and dealt with immediately. When Tong Hua tracked the attackers’ path, Wen Wen had thought she was too late, and that it was maybe a wasted trip. However, here she was, witnessing this bizarre scene. Truly, the world was a strange place.

Faced with such a calm, knowing smile, Lu Feng twitched. He discreetly shoved the black, soft, rubbery piece he’d just fished from his bag back inside, deeper than before. Unfortunately, Lu Feng wasn’t much of a talker, so he nudged Ji Jue to say something, just to lighten the awkward atmosphere.

After a long pause, Ji Jue forced out a businesslike, overly enthusiastic smile. “Ma’am, when did you get here?”

“Hmm, let me think.” Wen Wen pinched her chin, pretending to ponder, then couldn’t help laughing. “Since the moment you said you didn’t spend your whole life struggling, fighting and competing with everyone to become some monster—”

“Stop... stop, please!”

Ji Jue felt his whole body tense. Even though those were his exact own words, he cringed so hard, he wanted to die. He felt that he deserved compensation—a place with three bedrooms and a living room—for everything that had happened in this damn parking lot.

He coughed, finally got to his feet, and clasped his hands together. “Thank you, ma’am, for saving us from suffering! Rest assured, whatever happened today, the two of us won’t say a word that may cause you trouble. Mountains may not move, but water flows, and our destinies will cross paths again. Maybe another day—”

He didn’t even finish before grabbing Lu Feng to make a run for it. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t get away in time.

An ID card unfolded in front of them.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Wen Wen, head of the North Mount division of the Cliff City Security Bureau’s Operations Department. Simply put, I’m the local cop responsible for the North Mount District.” She pressed her hands on their shoulders, enthusiastically telling them, “Why don’t we find a place to talk?”

***

Half an hour later, the motorcycle and Ji Jue’s little scooter were parked by the roadside.

The Cliff City night market buzzed with life, bustling with noisy, crowded food stalls as people passed by.

Thud!

Wen Wen placed a crate of cold beer and a mountain of East City skewers in front of the two young men.

“Come on, let’s dig in!”

She lifted her beer first, tilted her head back, and chugged it down in one gulp. She belched cheerfully and dug into some edamame.

There was no interrogation room, no “confess for a lighter sentence” posters, and none of that good-cop, bad-cop routine.

Ji Jue and Lu Feng just stared at each other, dumbfounded.

“Uh...” Ji Jue started, “You said earlier that you wanted to talk—”

Before he could finish, a beer was shoved into his hand. Wen Wen clinked her glass with his, shaking her head casually. “It’s already past work time. Why talk about work now? Drink!”

Ji Jue hesitated, his words stuck in his throat. It was too late to admit that he was a lightweight!

In a daze, the drinks switched from beer to red wine, red wine to white wine, and after who-knows-how-many cups, Ji Jue ended up slumped on the table, thinking that this lady’s tolerance for alcohol was as bottomless as her generosity.

And then... that was it. He completely passed out.

1. To refresh your memory, I’m attaching a picture for reference again. It’s the same meme as the one in the previous chapter. ☜