《Doctor in Immortal World》


 THE BEGINNING

    CHAPTER 1 THE BEGINNING


    Scene 1:


    Every story has a beginning. Mine also. But the beginning of my story was¡­kinda twisting, and how did I get power like no one can defeat? Well, that was another long story then¡­


    My name is Han Cang, a fairly normal-look young man filled with passion and curiosity about¡­life, I guess. My last name is my first name and my first name is my last name. Yeah, I know this sound confusing and nonsense, but just get used to it, because that¡¯s how it works for all Asian. Our given name normally comes after sir name. So my sir name in fact is Han, and I¡¯d rather be called Doctor Cang.


    Why? Any specific reason behind this?


    Yeah, because once there was a very popular pornstar called Aoi Sora, and btw it was a ¡°she¡±, from Japan. This Miss Aoi, being referred as an instructor of giving lessons about all kinds of sexual skills in her AV collections, benefited so many dumbs oversea, in Mainland particularly. So those losers started to worship their sex goddess for a lovely nickname called ¡°Professor Aoi¡±. Unfortunately, Aoi sounded so much similar to my given name ¡°Cang¡± when translated in Mandarin. To avoid the confusion with my name and any connecting thought to that pornstar¡¯s curvy body¡­plus-sized breast, I had to call myself a Doctor.


    Well then, the legendary venture of a Doctor all began with another boring day¡­in Mainland.


    Scene 2:


    I was sitting in my chair, behind the front desk of my shop, playing Arena of Valor on my cell. Oh yeah, don¡¯t judge me like a swordsman or a bald monk in any of the WUXIA fictions you ever read. I was just like you bro, a guy living in modern world, in a small county close to Shanghai, the so-called shining pearl of oriental world. Well, I guess any county can be small, compared to Shanghai. But we also got iphone X here! Yo! Only that I could not afford one due to my recent financial issue. So instead, I was using Redmi, from a local mobile manufacturer, not high valued but practical.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Anyway, it was just another boring afternoon to kick off. I did not expect any business to come up at my front door. Who did? My shop took the least appealing spot on this street, right in the corner next to a butcher¡¯s shop. Damn it. Life was getting even harder when nowadays customers preferred shopping online and WANDA PLAZA took the place across my street. You must hear of this great empire who owned the biggest real estate business ever existed in Mainland. I heard they even constructed a fancy new building filled with over 200 luxury apartments for those who wanted to take a morning glimpse of the view on Thames, in London. In other words, WANDA was bloody rich and arrogant. So now you see what a mass of local business when its plaza became our neighbor.


    But for the time being, none of my business. I was occupied by my game, trying to win this fight so that my rank turned to gold I instead of II. Well then, the front door of my shop opened. The unexpected client stepped in. By just traveling through the front door, my ring bell hung over the gate alarmed. But my allies were just engaged in a gang fight so I only gave my client a quick glance then back to game.


    ¡°Are you Doctor Cang?¡±


    She came up to my desk, with the sound like a sweetheart teen who lost her way home.


    ¡°Yep, how can I help you?¡± I responded without any eye contact. My allies were dying. I was gonna be their savior.


    ¡°I need you to do me a favor. But I¡¯ll pay you.¡± She said.


    ¡°Okay, what you want?¡± I asked, still occupied.


    After two seconds in silence, she brought it on:


    ¡°I need you to help me to transmigrate, into other worlds than this.¡±


    ¡°You what?¡± My allies all dead, both my thumbs were struggling to do a last stand mechanical with my champion.


    ¡°Man¡­I¡¯m gonna smash you little¡­wait, no mana, what the¡­Oh! Shit!¡± My champion dead, game was over.


    I dropped my cell on desk, totally AFK, then laying back in my chair, tasting the kind of flavor of my epic failure.


    ¡°Are you cool now? Cause I¡¯m in a kind of urgent situation now.¡± She demanded.


    ¡°What is you question again? Sorry, I was too involved in¡­¡± I said as I looked upon, meeting her weird pinkful eyes. By pinkful I mean her eyes were so real pink, or magenta like, the kind of color between pink and purple. I never met any eyes like that.


    ¡°I want a transmigration. I know you have that kind of machine which can send people to a different space, a whole new world, and I want it.¡± She insisted, with her pink eyes so willful.


    I looked straight into her eyes, hesitated, yet asking: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But how old are you?¡±


    ¡°Sixteen.¡± She briefly said.


    Deep down in my heart, I told myself: ¡°No-f**king-way!¡±


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE MACHINE

    CHAPTER 2 THE MACHINE


    Scene 1:


    My guard was on as I crossed my arms, staring at her and said:


    ¡°Listen, kid. I know young girls in your age are easily overwhelmed with a relationship£¬being dumped, losing virgin and unpredictable period which may even turn out to be pregnant, by accident of course. But none of these has anything to do with MY SHOP. This shop is a liquor retail store. No drugs, no soda, no condom nor any other stuff but simply alcohol. So if you¡¯re looking for a transmigration machine, I suggest you to go ask your Daoist friends who really know about the transport to some wicked-wicked wonderland with a very open immigration policy. That¡¯s what I call transmigration!¡±


    I stopped for a second, well two seconds. Then I addressed:


    ¡°Now get out. My shop is rated PG-18£¬and what a regret that you¡¯re only 16. NOT ALLOWED.¡±


    I was done, waiting for her to move. But instead, she stood still and asked:


    ¡°Are you a Doctor?¡±


    Now she just gave me that look as if I were a liar.


    ¡°Of course, yeah, I¡¯m a Doctor.¡± I said, with proud.


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    ¡°Really? A Doctor of what?¡± She even started to judge me now.


    I had to cross my arms again, thinking while explained to her:


    ¡°Well¡­I study human behavior, by observing their activities and reaction in a socio pattern connected with¡­¡±


    ¡°Aezo said you watch porns.¡± She interrupted, in a very rude way.


    F**K!


    I sat still, elbows on desk, pointing at her. Just when I was  about to argue, but given it a second thought, I suddenly realized something:


    ¡°Wait¡­did you just say ¡®Aezo¡¯?¡±


    By no mistake, there was only one of a kind called Aezo. The dumb boy worked in my store. He came up with this stupid name after two champions in League of Legends, Ezreal and Ekko. So he called himself Aezreak, a bloody jackass name. Later on he changed it to a short version, Aezo, for not being so jackass.


    ¡°He is my classmate.¡± She explained.


    ¡°So he told you about the transmigration machine, right?¡± I checked.


    ¡°So there is one, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    I was amused, smiling and correcting her guess:


    ¡°It¡¯s not a machine, not even a bit of it, you idiots¡­¡±


    ¡°So there is one! You just admit it!¡± She was so hurried, not waiting for another second. Then I saw her smashing my desk with a brick-thick of cash!


    Holy shit!


    Before I realized, she just rushed through and made her way to upstairs, stepping on the stairway with heavy noise.


    Immediately, I stood up, after her and yelled, not forgetting to grab the cash on desk.


    ¡°Wait! You stop! That¡¯s for VIP client only!¡±


    Then her voice traveled back from upstairs: ¡°I don¡¯t care! I¡¯m running out of time! They are here!¡±


    I was hesitated for a second, questioned: who are ¡°they¡±?


    Scene 2:


    I made my way quickly to upstairs, finding her close to the window, looking out, seemed scared.


    I came up to her, looking out as she did. That was when I saw a fancy new model of BMW 7 series that happened to stop in front of my store.


    4 doors open, the driver and other 3 passengers all got off. They looked exactly the same like those mafias in a gangster movie, dark sunglasses, tide straight suit, oxford shoes.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t let them find me!¡± She suddenly grasped my arm, begging me for not turn her in.


    ¡°Please! Please! Please¡­don¡¯t¡­¡± she almost cried, shaken while struggling.


    ¡°Leave it to me.¡± I said, with calm.


    But she was too scared to let me go, fingernails like daggers stabbing into my skin. Jeez, a female could be so powerful when she caught a man.


    But I had to go. I heard the ring bell when they walked in.


    ¡°Stay here.¡± I said, then giving her a little touch with my fingertip.


    By just touching her hand, a sparkle of my power leaked out on my fingertip, like an electrical shock, but harmless.


    I struck her hands off, leaving her in a shock look, and went downstair.


    £¨To be continued¡­£©

 THE DOCTOR

    CHAPTER 3 THE DOCTOR


    Scene 1:


    I made my way downstairs. That was when the four men in black found me and gave me a ¡°hey-watch out¡± look, as if I were falling down on my stairs.


    Honestly, I did not understand why they were just staring at me like I was totally alien. I thought I would not have to remind them of this liquor shop, alcohol only.


    I came up to my front desk, facing these men, and said:


    ¡°Hey sir, how can I help you?¡±


    But no response, in silence for a few seconds, long enough to make me feel awkward, then someone among the four finally spoke:


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Who am I? What a f**king idiot would ask like that? They came all the way to my shop, stepping in like the agents in Matrix, full guard on, making it such a high profile, just to ask me who I am? Not even the sheriff would come up with such a stupid question.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a liquor retailer as you can see, or not see, if you just keep that goggles on forever. Is it really memory loss resistant?¡± I said, without mocking. I swore.


    ¡°What are you doing upstairs?¡± Then he questioned, with a f**king poker-faced look that made me want to punch it.


    ¡°I was eating. Definitely not in front of my customer, because of my personal preference of spicy food like garlic, Chinese onion, jalape?o and curry, my breath was like, errrr... so I eat upstairs, always.¡± I totally made it up, just to see how he will respond.


    ¡°She¡¯s here.¡± But one of the other guys seemed to figure it out. He was looking at his cell like it was a GPS tracking for signal.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Then they had a cross look at each other for a second, after which the guy spoke with me suddenly moved, making his way toward me like a furious bull. Before I was able to move, he caught me and locked my neck, forcing me to choke.


    Face to face, he said: ¡°Listen, you motherfucker. I¡¯m gonna kick your f**king ass right after I finish this job. You have no idea who the hell you¡¯re dealing with.¡±


    Meanwhile, the guy with GPS headed to stairway, followed by the other two.


    That was when I decided not to hold back anymore.


    ¡°Well¡­okay, okay¡­I¡­I change my mind¡­you know previously when you asked me who I am, I lied¡­I¡¯m not a liquor retailer, actually¡­¡±


    By seeing through the dark shade on his sunglasses, I found his eyes getting wide open as my eyes turned scarlet, like a blood-moon reflected on the dark shade.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Doctor, you son of a bitch.¡±


    Scene 2:


    Finally I was pissed off. My anger growing fast as my eyes turned scarlet. That happened every time when I was gonna use my power. So before this bastard could even figure out what he was facing, I suddenly struck him with a punch right on the stomach. By unleashing the power of thunder, my fist was sparkling while I hit him with a pulse like lightning bolt. Only the bolt was in red.


    Then he was totally f**ked up, high jump in the air by force, and bounced to the ceiling with a sound of crash. I wondered whether it was his back or head hitting the ceiling first that made such a noise. But who cared? So much worse for him was even better for me.


    The other three were just about to reach the stairs when the crash to be heard.


    They stopped, all in a shock when they turned around, only to find their fellow being dropped on ground, passed out.


    ¡°Now you guys look so much better than Agent Smith. So tell me who wanna go first?¡± I joked, for being funny.


    They all stood still like forever. Maybe it just took them a few more seconds to come up with a plan. But I was not gonna waste another second of my life. So I quickly reached out my hand right when they started to move. Energy filled out between my fingers, unleashing a thread of electricity-like laser, and then hit the guy with GPS, throwing him at the wall.


    BANG!


    Now half done, only two left, they were scared off by my little trick, making it feel like men in black against alien boss. Yeah, I was gonna be the badass in this fight, and the pain in my neck only added to my anger.


    So I pointed at the body on ground, the guy who choked me, though he was totally out of the picture now. But just to ease my anger, I hit him again, causing his body to jump up one more time. What a show!


    Now the two were really f**ked up like shit. One of them changed his mind, saying:


    ¡°Wait¡­wait! I¡­I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m truly sorry! That was a mistake¡­our fault...we¡­we made a mistake¡­¡±


    ¡°Save your words.¡± I interrupted, with a grin on my face.


    Then I dashed forward like a flash, faster than a blink of eyes. These two idiots just could not see me coming, while I already dashed through and stood between them.


    ¡°The end.¡± I made a statement.


    Just when they heard me and turned around with a f**ked up look on their stupid faces, I punched them with both my fists, fast and furiously. I was pretty sure I heard more than a crack of ribs. Then both of them bounced backward, hitting the wall with their body, and melted down on the ground.


    Quadra kill! Well, not a real kill though.


    Finally, all done. I looked up, and happened to find the girl who asked for transmigration was watching, like all the time.


    She seemed totally being freak out, eyes filled with fear, voice shattered when she started to talk:


    ¡°What¡­what¡­arrr¡­you¡­¡±


    I simply shrugged, and said, like always:


    ¡°I¡¯m a Doctor. I told you.¡±


    £¨To be continued¡­£©

 THE RING

    CHAPTER 4 THE RING


    Scene 1:


    I picked up my cell, sign in my Wechat, and sent a bloody picture of the mess in my shop to Aezo, the dumb who was supposed to commit his guilt.


    Besides, I left him a voice message with greeting:


    ¡°Hey, where are you? Motherfucker? Now listen, fuzzy boy. You better get your f**king ass here before I even start to think about using your girlfriend¡¯s little ass! You Motherfucker!¡±


    Then I dropped my cell, looking up again. The girl was up on the stairs, motionless, like a pet cat watching over its master.


    ¡°What? Are you gonna stand there for the rest of your life or get down to help me clean up this stuff?¡± I tried to remind her who the hell¡¯s fault this was.


    But she simply answered: ¡°I¡¯m not his girlfriend, and why would you say like that?¡±


    I laughed, in a mocking way.


    ¡°Because I need to give this coward a little bit momentum to get his f**king ass here! Besides, don¡¯t you even slightly feel that this dumb boy may have a secret crush on you in a very creepy way? ¡±


    I started to pull the bodies together, like collecting trash, just to wipe them out easily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I notice his feeling for me, neither I believe he has such a secret crush on me.¡±


    She explained with a flush, seemed being quite embarrassed by this topic. Then she came downstairs, watching me, and asked:


    ¡°What are you doing? Are you gonna kill them?¡±


    ¡°Kill?¡± I gave her a quick glance, then back to my work.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t kill people. These bastards deserve something much worse than a kill. But before that, I need to take a break and drink.¡±


    After searching these guys pockets for cells and wallets, which I took away and just left all on my floor, I went back to my desk, picking up a bottle of Amaretto, and two cups.


    ¡°Do you wanna cheer with me?¡± I asked with a sense of humiliation, and then said:


    ¡°Oh, I forgot. You¡¯re just a f**king 16 years old chick!¡±


    I started to drink with a satisfied smile.


    She sighed: ¡°Why are you so mad at me? I don¡¯t understand. You¡¯re just like, everybody else is asshole and try to mess with me, so I must f**k them up and humiliate their bodies. You know, you¡¯re mocking all the time, like a f**king mockingbird!¡±


    Finally she shouted out. I was totally shocked, giving her a What-the-F look, while wondering if I had pushed her too much. After all she paid me with a remarkable amount of money.


    I stopped drinking, just thinking about it for a moment, and then asked:


    ¡°What¡¯s your name, kid?¡±


    She rolled her eyes, as if this was a personal question.


    ¡°Pinks, my name is Pinks.¡±


    I could not help but to question: ¡°What? You are named after a color?¡±


    She shrugged.


    ¡°My eyes are like yours.¡± She seemed to be prompted, and carried on now:


    ¡°Whenever I was angry or frustrated, the kind of emotion change allowed me to do something really really weird¡­I was like powered up, not exactly the tricks you have just shown, but more or less, close enough to make us both weirdos.¡±


    Weirdos? WTF. I felt like being offended, but not in the mood to argue anymore.


    So I asked: ¡°How about your name as being a human? Not in the mutant school. Just a real name.¡±


    She hesitated for a moment, and finally confessed:


    ¡°Han Xinwan, that¡¯s a human name.¡±


    So her sir name was also Han, like mine.


    I smiled, without mocking at all, and then finished my drink, after which I said to her:


    ¡°Now, kid, come with me.¡±


    But she didn¡¯t. Never mind. I walked into the hallway, till the end of my shop, and took out the cart. Not like a cart you saw in Wal-Mart, but more often in a warehouse, basically it was just four wheels based on a flat board that you use to carry cargos from there to here. I mainly used it to carry whole packs of wine in and out.


    Back to the front, I asked: ¡°would you mind to give me a hand?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯re you gonna do?¡± She questioned, and even stepped back a little bit, showing no incentive to help.


    ¡°Come on, I told you I don¡¯t kill people. I¡¯m just going to banish them.¡± I explained, and started to drag these bodies onto my cart.


    ¡°You what?¡± She made it sound like I was totally a weirdo.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it you that want a transmigration? Oh I totally forgot, it is actually something called pink who wants to transmigrate to mint! And btw, thanks for your little help, I¡¯m done.¡±


    She did nothing but simply stood there and watched, while I got those hogsheads on board, and by hogsheads I meant they were really hogs¡¯ heads. They stank.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it. Now the question is, are you gonna join me if you wanna see the transmigration machine.¡± I said, and started to pull the full-load cart toward my storage, down to the hallway.


    I heard her steps followed behind, till we reached the storage, filled with racks of wine in bottles.


    I stopped, picking up a certain bottle of wine from the rack, and showed to her:


    ¡°Changyu Dry Red Wine, premium, 1994, it¡¯s quite classic.¡±


    Then I opened it, regardless of the tight cork, which I just pulled out by force.


    ¡°What? Are you gonna drink again?¡± She sounded really upset.


    I was amused, taking a sip of my favorite wine, and then turned the bottle upside down, pouring wine over the bodies.


    She was freaked out and stepped back in a hurry, while yelling at me:


    ¡°What the hell?! Are you losing your mind! You are totally going crazy! Stop it! Don¡¯t¡­¡±


    She muted, all of sudden, just as a shining ring was flushed out from the bottle, and caught by my hand right about time.


    A finely crafted amethyst with a gold circle, I held it up and said:


    ¡°I told you. It¡¯s not a machine. It is a glowing ring.¡±


    (To be continued...)

 THE TRANSMIGRATION

    CHAPTER 5 THE TRANSMIGRATION


    Scene 1:


    It was getting weird. The only reason that I held up the ring like this, was just to show it to Pinks, the girl who asked for transmigration.


    But she simply stared at the ring, wordless, mind totally going blank. The dumb look on her face made me feel awkward, and the way I held the ring even added to my awkwardness. It looked like a dumb holding ring for proposal to the other dumb who was just a 16-year-old chick.


    So instead of holding it like forever, I quickly wore it with my ring finger, which made it like an engagement ring, even closer to a proposal.


    Damn it.


    I had to explain:


    ¡°Listen, it¡¯s not what it looks like. I have to wear it in my ring finger. That¡¯s the only way to make the transmigration work.¡±


    She frowned, and questioned to make it sound really annoying.


    ¡°So a f#king damn ring can help me out by transmigration?¡±


    I was totally zoned out for a second, then back again.


    ¡°Hey, language!¡± I said.


    But all she gave me was another curse:


    ¡°You did that motherf#king thing to me first! You asshole!¡±


    That was true. She had reason to be mad at me. After all she only got 16.


    So I committed: ¡°Fine, you got me. My bad. I am sorry, for not being so nice to you. But now since I have shown you my tricks, and the transmigration ring, which is actually called ¡°Ring of Spirit¡±, I suppose we are square. Shall we?¡±


    She hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. So apology accepted, things would get better from now on.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s move on.¡± I said, and raised my left hand to show her the ring again.


    ¡°To transmigrate, you have to engage with the ring first, which is why I wear it on my ring finger, to complete the engagement. So technically, you are in agreement with the ring, to use its power for transmigration, like a covenant, between you and the ring.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I forgot. One more thing, male left, female right, That¡¯s a rule.¡± I added.


    She looked at the ring for a while, seemed really trying to absorb every single word I just said, and then asked:


    ¡°So if I¡¯m gonna wear the ring, I¡¯m supposed to wear it with my right hand, because obviously I¡¯m a female, and according to the rule.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Correct.¡± I said with an approval nod.


    But then she ruined my ears: ¡°What if it¡¯s a shemale? What kind of rule shall be followed? Like, a man by biological definition changes his gender and some organs, or some traits in a technical way of...¡±


    WHAT THE HELL?


    She really left me no choice.


    ¡°Ok, stop...stop¡­Stop right there! Are you really gonna screw up this topic?! I thought you were only 16!¡±


    She shrugged.


    ¡°Ok, fine. Anyway, I¡¯m going to show you what a transmigration looks like. So please stay back. Move.¡±


    I asked her to stand just right by the door, leaving me some travel space.


    ¡°What you gonna do?¡± She was actually getting curious.


    I simply smiled: ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a minute. I told you. I¡¯m gonna banish these hogsheads, by exile.¡±


    So I started, by blowing at the ring with a spell:


    ¡°Underworld.¡±


    Meanwhile, the fine gemstone crafted on the perfect gold circle, like sleep beauty being woken up by a kiss, started the transmigration with a violet glim on its sheer surface.


    The glim grew really fast, getting stronger by every second past, and unleashed so much light. The light spread out, like a blooming violet, and every petal of it shining through the room, shattered space into puzzle pieces.


    ¡°Where you going?¡± Pinks shouted. Her voice echoed, traveling through the shattered space around me, as if she were way far from where I stood.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back! If you see Aezo come, kick his ass for me! No mercy!¡± I shouted too.


    Then, everything started falling down, puzzle pieces like a heavy rain, and I was immersed in the blooming light, buried alive¡­


    Scene 2:


    Shortly After vanishing from the storage of my shop, I landed in a dark cave, with the four bodies all together.


    I looked up. The rune of a violet lightning symbol was glimmering in a fresh way, which engraved on a rough rock wall, as a hotspot mark I had left long ago, to transmigrate back and there, between underworld and human world.


    I started to get these bodies off my cart. But a voice rose from nowhere, without any notification.


    ¡°If you keep feeding monsters here with a variety of all kind of trash you abandoned in human world, I guess I will have to charge a service fee.¡±


    ¡°Lord Han.¡± He added.


    The voice caught my breath at first place. But when I heard the word ¡°lord¡±, my guard was off. Across the universe, only one man knew this place and would call me a lord, with my sir name attached.


    Jia Gu, the grand merchant in underworld, usually known as Boss Jia.


    I turned around and searched. There was a pond nearby, the mysterious flicker underwater reflecting itself on surface, like a neon light, and a man¡¯s silhouette became visible by the flickering pond.


    ¡°Well, good to see you, boss. What brings you down here? Fishing?¡± I joked.


    He turned around, giving me an indifferent look, and simply said:


    ¡°I have a message to be delivered.¡±


    ¡°Well, to whom?¡± I asked, though the answer was pretty obvious.


    However.


    ¡°Relax, my lord. It¡¯s not about you.¡± He started to move, coming out of the shadow, with a good looking face always in his 30s, and the finest fabric you could ever find in underworld.


    Unlike other folks in underworld, Boss Jia always dresses up like a big man, and indeed, he got a reputation among those fellows.


    As he getting closer, I started: ¡°Wow, look at you, man. Nothing changed. So age does set you free without a shit on that pretty face.¡±


    In fact, Jia Gu had lived more than a thousand years, while still looked like a young man.


    After what I said, he stopped right there, still indifferently, and said:


    ¡°Where¡¯s your manner, Lord Han. Don¡¯t you think you have spent too much time in human world that makes you almost forget your path of Daoism? My dear friend.¡±


    HELL NO.


    I rolled my eyes, giving him a tired look, and had to remind him one more time:


    ¡°I am human by origin. Besides, I¡¯m not one of those freaks who seek for immortal in their entire life just so they could waste the eternal life to find out how to kill each other.¡±


    But no matter what I said, he seemed just no reflection of any sentiment. I wondered if too much surgery and injection he had done to keep that face tight and fresh.


    However, he sighed: ¡°Rumor flies across all nine states. It is said that an outsider, could be male or female, who possesses the power to take over the Mega Temple of Thunder Pantheon, will defeat all the elders and eventually conquer the immortal world.¡±


    Mega Temple of Thunder Pantheon, also known as Shen Xiao Lei Yu Fu, is the sacred place where all the deities who possess the power of thunder live, and it is one of the main belief in Daoism.


    ¡°What do you mean by outsider, someone like me in human world?¡± I asked.


    Jia gave me a thoughtful look, and said:


    ¡°I truly hope it is not referred to you. But I suggest you to be more careful than ever. After all, you are the only one who broke the law once, and now still stay alive out of the law.¡±


    Then he raised his hand, releasing something surrounded by a glowing orb of spell.


    The orb flied to me automatically. All I had to do was just an open hand. The magic orb landed in my hand, spell over, light faded away, just to show me what was in it.


    An amulet looked like a red wishing bag, no bigger than a car key, lying on my hand.


    ¡°What? A gift for Spring Festival?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s an alarm. The outsider whoever can fulfill such apocalypse will wake up my amulet. Until then, shall we figure out who he or she is.¡± Jia explained.


    I looked at it for a while, and then said:


    ¡°Well, apparently I am not the pathetic one who is gonna be a public enemy to Daoist fellows.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Now go back to your world. Leave it to me.¡± He said, with a flicker of his batwing sleeve. Then all the four bodies include my cart, were grasped and driven to him, like telekinesis.


    ¡°Wait¡­wait¡­wait a sec! My cart!¡± I caught up in a hurry. Just the moment I got my cart, I gave a quick blow to the ring, and waited for the whole space falling into pieces.


    Again.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE AMBUSH

    CHAPTER 6 THE AMBUSH


    Scene 1:


    I landed on the floor in my storage£¬with the cart and amulet, each in one hand.


    Pinks was still there. But she seemed not ready for my homecoming, kind of scared.


    ¡°Where have you been? You said it was only one minute!¡± She asked.


    ¡°Really? So how long exactly past?¡± I let the cart go.


    ¡°Almost 10 minutes!¡± She raised her voice.


    ¡°Well, I guess time in that world actually goes a little bit slower than here. So it still counts one minute.¡± I said, as I took off the ring.


    ¡°Wait, where are the bodies?¡± She questioned.


    I smiled and picked up another bottle of Changyu¡¯s dry red wine randomly.


    ¡°I told you, right? I just banished them. Leave them alone in a totally different space, a dark world full of monsters and beasts.¡±


    ¡°Well...at least they had a free trip.¡± She shrugged.


    I dropped the ring into the bottle, making it immersed in the wine again.


    ¡°So when you told me you wanna transmigrate, you were actually talking about your escape plan? Btw, why those hogsheads looked for you? Who are they?¡± I asked as I screwed the cork tightly.


    She seemed hesitant for a moment, and then sighed:


    ¡°They worked for my father.¡±


    WHAT?!


    I was shocked, and questioned: ¡°Your dad? What the hell going on?¡±


    Then she explained: ¡°Well¡­he is not my dad. He is a¡­more like a step father. I don¡¯t know. I¡­I was adopted. That¡¯s it.¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    She turned around and just left.


    ¡°I¡¯m hungry now. I need to grab some food. Do you get wifi here? Cause I¡¯m gonna search for some carryout on Meituan.¡±


    Her excuse sucked. I was not gonna let her go easily.


    ¡°Wait! You stay here! Tell me what the hell going on? I¡¯m not gonna involved in your family issue if you¡­¡±


    I tried to catch up with her. But just when I was about to pass the doorway, I realized something. Something felt hot, like a burning cigar, in my pocket.


    So I stopped, searching in my pocket. Without any effort, I found it and took it out. As my fingers unclenched, the amulet showed itself, with a glimmer golden sign of thunder, which was previously unseen and now became visible.


    The amulet was wakened, and there was only one explanation.


    ¡°You gotta be kidding.¡± I said to myself.


    So I must make a decision, either bring it to light or keep it undercover.


    I chose the latter, quickly grabbing another bottle of wine, and forced this little alarm to squeeze in.


    ¡°You idiot.¡± I told myself as I put the wine back in rows.


    Then I left the storage and locked it up.


    Scene 2:


    When I was back to the front desk, Pinks was searching for carryout online, by using a smartphone app called Meituan, which allowed user to find all kinds of carryout by category and preference, easily to make an order.


    ¡°Hey, what is the WiFi password here?¡± She asked without any eye contact.


    ¡°It¡¯s on the wall behind you.¡± I said.


    The reason why I skimmed the amulet thing was because I didn¡¯t believe the apocalypse, immortal terminator stuff at all.


    But it didn¡¯t mean that Jia Gu was not trustworthy. In fact, he was a good man to me, and once he saved my life.


    However, everything just happened in a perfect coincidence, which made me feel like I was driven by something.


    ¡°Hey, hey? Hello? Are you there, Doctor?¡±


    Pinks drew my attention back. She was pointing at the street outside, and said:


    ¡°Aezo is here.¡±


    I turned my head, through the window of my shop, and found the dumb boy was taking a selfie with the BMW.


    ¡°You motherf¡­¡± I walked quickly to the entrance, and pushed the door open with anger.


    ¡°Hey, yo! What¡¯s up, Doctor? Did you check this amazing dark knight? It¡¯s a M760! XDrive! Holy pussy destroyer!¡±


    I was disturbed by the way he talked. Hell knows what was on this jerk¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Btw, whose car is this?¡±


    I gave him a horrible look, and said:


    ¡°The guys who are hunting you and your little girlfriend. Once they catch you, they will torture you and slave you to death. Now come in if you wanna survive.¡±


    I grasped his hoodie and threw him into my shop. Then I looked around on street. It was winter, and soon it would be nightfall.


    Scene 3:


    Since Aezo joined us for dinner, Pinks ordered something big, two family buckets of KFC, the most popular and successful fast food in Mainland.


    The dining room was upstairs. We sat together. Aezo was eating like a big fat rat, which sounded really annoying.


    Pinks and I had a drink of coke aside, like old friends, though we only met a few hours ago.


    ¡°We gotta go. I suggest we carry on my escape plan.¡± She said.


    I took a sip of my coke, and asked: ¡°You mean you still wanna transmigrate? Even if I smacked up the four horsemen?¡±


    This was a metaphor, because BMW got a Mandarin name called fancy horse, Bao Ma.


    Pinks sighed: ¡°You have no idea what that man is capable of.¡±


    ¡°You mean your dad?¡± I questioned.


    After taking a full mouth drink, she explained: ¡°He gets some guys, trained, professional, armed, to help him clean up shits.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a whole bunch of motherf#kers gonna throw a shit party.¡± I commented.


    ¡°I am not joking!¡± She sat still, looking straight to my eyes.


    ¡°You think you¡¯re the only one who play tricks? Those bastards can be  killing machines!¡±


    ¡°What? Are they gonna shoot me with a machine gun?¡± I challenged.


    Pinks frowned, and her eyes focused on me, asking: ¡°Is that a rhetorical question? I thought you were a smart guy, a Doctor. But you¡¯re not. I can¡¯t believe I trust someone who doesn¡¯t care for those who have no place to go but to come for help. Do you think we are really safe now? You don¡¯t even care!¡±


    She shouted out, hands on the table and stood up. But right about the time, all the light in my shop was gone, as if someone just cut off my electricity.


    Immediately, I got a sense of danger, and stood up too.


    ¡°They¡¯re here. I told you. But you just don¡¯t listen!¡± She complained.


    I quickly moved to the window, looking out. The WANDA PALZA across the street was perfectly glowing, and other shops along the street were fine.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s an ambush.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hey guys, what¡¯s going on?¡± Aezo asked as he tried to eat his 15<sup>th</sup> piece of crispy wings.


    ¡°Well, the party¡¯s on.¡± I simply answered.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE SWORDSMAN

    CHAPTER 7 THE SWORDSMAN


    Scene 1:


    The enemy approached. I was standing by the window, while six guys in dark grey cloak and hood were standing by my shop.


    ¡°So these killers are actually big fans of Assassin Creed huh?¡± I said.


    ¡°What the hell we gonna do?¡± Pinks asked in a hurry, and the lowest voice she could give.


    ¡°I say we hide.¡± I turned around immediately, back to the dining room, picking up the fried chicken bucket and coke.


    ¡°Come with me.¡± I said as I led the way to the restroom. Aezo and Pinks followed behind.


    ¡°Hey, can somebody tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± Aezo demanded.


    ¡°Nothing. Just eat your chicken wings and don¡¯t come out.¡± I opened the door and pushed him to get in.


    ¡°What¡¯s your plan? Where you gonna hide?¡± Pinks asked when she squeezed in.


    I gave her the coke, and simply said:


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m gonna fight.¡±


    She yelled: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?!¡±


    Though she sounded really frustrated and angry, but the concern she held  for me indeed made me feel thankful.


    So I said: ¡°Trust me. I¡¯m the Doctor.¡±


    Then I closed the door quickly.


    After sending two kids in safe house, I grabbed a bottle of vodka and went downstairs.


    Scene 2:


    I stepped on stairs, with each foot to make a noise, and drank my vodka with every taste to make a noise too.


    But the six killers just stood at the front of my shop, neither break in nor knock the door.


    I already came down, sitting on my desk, drinking, and said:


    ¡°Are you guys gonna stand for a whole night or we start a fight?¡±


    They were as dumb as a bunch of groundhogs standing out there.


    But next moment, just when I was about to take another drink, one of the killers suddenly waved his arms like a tornado, throwing a dozen of daggers, which broke the window of my shop immediately!This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°You son of a bitch¡­¡± My eyes wide open, I dropped my vodka and jumped over the desk, quickly crouched.


    The daggers flied over my head, sharp in the air, like a gunfire, and hit the racks behind me.


    My bottles of collection were shattered, broken pieces falling down like a sharp rain, topped with a lot flavor of alcohol.


    But it was not over. I heard a ¡°BOOM!¡± followed by a lot crack noise of breakdown, which indicated the other window of my shop broken too.


    ¡°You guys just don¡¯t walk in! Right!?¡± I yelled as I was ready to fight back.


    Next, I put my right hand on the floor with a powerful slam, like an earthquake. The power in my body flew on my hand, and unleashed a strike of shockwave spread out all over the floor.


    Whoever stood on my floor, would be taken down by the shockwave or lose balance for seconds


    Meanwhile, the fallen pieces of bottles were all up in the air again, because of the shockwave, and I was gonna use them to take a revenge.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna pay for this!¡± I quickly stood up, wielding my left arm like a fierce sword. Then a strong wind was summoned, giving the pieces a wild blow.


    So the pieces of my broken bottles were driven like a rainstorm, all flying to the enemies!


    The two killers who broke in by window were both losing their balance because of my shockwave, seemed vulnerable to my fellow attack.


    So when the pieces traveled through the hall like a rain of bullets, they could hardly move or defend. The dagger guy was easily getting shot by countless pieces and his face was just like a 9-inche pizza topped with bloody glasses.


    The other guy was slightly smarter than his poor fellow, he simply let himself fall, lying on the ground when the pieces flied over.


    So the rest of killers must move now because the pieces were reaching the doorway and no more window shield that would stop them.


    Then, the four killers outside my shop all spread out swiftly, hiding behind the wall as a cover.


    Meanwhile, the flying pieces broke through the panel on my front door, breaking down the last piece of glass in my shop. Damn it.


    I came out from desk, and the lucky guy who lay on ground without wounded, suddenly attacked me with a whiplash!


    Fast like a flash, the whip trapped my left foot immediately, and it was not an ordinary whip. I felt hurt on my ankle, like I was bitten by a dog.


    ¡°You motherf#ker!¡± I raised my left hand, instantly releasing a lightning strike.


    The red flash of lightning hit the whip killer without any effort, but with some sparkle added to the visual effect. His body was shaking like a hooked fish up on deck, loss of control. Then the whip trapped my foot became loose. I kicked it away.


    Now the mess in my shop totally pissed me off. I swore I would kill them all. But next moment, one of the killers outside, quickly jumped in by window.


    ¡°You dead.¡± I simply said.


    But before I started, he, or she, according to the slim and small silhouette which seemed more feminine, opened her arms to each sideway, and all the bottles on racks started to shake like being boiled.


    ¡°What the hell...¡± I wondered.


    The bottles were making a lot noise. A moment later, they exploded one by one. Gallons of alcohol were flushed out, but not splashing on ground. Instead, the alcohol was up in the air, all flowing to my enemy, like telekinesis.


    But it was not real telekinesis. I just realized what my enemy was. A ¡°Starseer¡±, who had the ability to cast spell on water, or any kind of liquid, was originally from Yingzhou, a state in immortal world.


    But this was human world. I had no idea why a guy from immortal world ended up in my shop.


    The alcohol mixed of wine, amaretto, tequila, vodka and many other kind of liquor, were all summoned by the starseer, gathering around her like a colorful lotus with eight pieces of petal, which was actually the symbol of Ying state.


    ¡°Shiiit¡­¡± I didn¡¯t expect to face an enemy like this at all. Pinks was right. Those bastards truly were killing machines.


    I started to run. But before I could make a single move, the starseer cast the deadly lotus right at me!


    The lotus span really fast. I had no place to go but to use the desk as a shield.


    BANG!


    The lotus hit my desk fiercely, and the blast of its power just shattered my desk into many pieces right away.


    But it was not over yet. The lotus spread out like splash right after the blast, and then got back to form an aqua dragon all in a sudden moment!


    ¡°You bitch¡­¡± That was all I could say.


    Before I was able to move, the starseer cast the aqua dragon to swallow me. I was instantly drowned in the dragon¡¯s body, being pushed back and forth, upside down, as if I were in a washing machine.


    Then I was up in the air, and the aqua dragon suddenly became nothing but tons of splash. I was left alone, and began to fall, down to the floor with a pound, drenched all over.


    I could not help coughing, while alcohol flushed out from my mouth, ears, and nose.


    That was when I heard a strange voice, so cold and calm:


    ¡°Leave him to me. Find the girl.¡±


    I was lying on my stomach, face on the side. All I could see from a side view was a man¡¯s shadow with a great sword, tip on the floor.


    Then he walked in. The tip of the sword scratched my floor, making a sharp noise, till it was right next to my neck.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± He asked.


    I stopped coughing, and tried to get up.


    ¡°Finally¡­someone knows how to use the door.¡± I said.


    But he suddenly kicked my stomach to prove I was wrong.


    Thanks to that kick, I was turned over by force, lying on my back, and faced with the swordsman.


    ¡°Who the hell are you.¡± He asked again.


    I took a breath, and then said: ¡°Would you mind if I get up first?¡±


    He seemed really pissed off now. The next moment, he bended over to catch my neck, and held me up furiously.


    Face to face, I could easily find the lightning sign on the swordsman¡¯s forehead, just right in the middle between eyebrows. It was a sin printed to commit guilt, a dark label sewed by the organization once I belonged.


    ¡°You do recognize my label, don¡¯t you?¡± He looked straight to my eyes, and added:


    ¡°My Daoist brother.¡±


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE DAOIST

    CHAPTER 8 THE DAOIST


    Scene 1:


    That was true. I did recognize the dark label on his forehead. But I would not admit it.


    ¡°What is it? I thought you were just a big fan of Harry Potter.¡± I said.


    His fingers clenched even closer, adding the pain to my neck.


    ¡°Really? But I sensed the power of a Daoist, to be specific, a ¡°Sky Walker¡±, when you cast a lightning strike to my poor fellow.¡± He said as he enjoyed watching me in pain.


    Skywalker, was a title referred to those who possessed the power of thunder, much stronger than normal Daoists who only cast spell on natural force. They were the elite among Daoist, like Templar.


    I was not surprised at all that the swordsman truly knew something about skywalkers. After all the label on his forehead proved he had the same belief as being a Daoist, at least once.


    But I would not admit it either.


    ¡°Well, so now you become a fan of Jedi instead, huh?¡± I mocked.


    Then he cast me at the wall with anger. My back hit on the racks, not a few bottles left to break.


    But that was not the worst.


    The swordsman started to wield his great sword. That was really a grand weapon. The blade looked like a big giant tooth of a monster shark, linear at the tip but more curved till the guard, making it easier to thrust.


    But the user of it seemed too angry to wield a great sword like this. Instead of a deadly thrust, the swordsman tried to slash me with one edge of the blade, which in fact gave me a chance to fight back!


    So I quickly raised my hand, with a lot electricity surrounded my hand like a lightning gauntlet. I caught the blade on edge right when it came!


    ¡°Get you.¡± I simply said as my armed hand held that edge, forcing the sword to come to a stop.


    ¡°That¡­that is not possible¡­not even a skywalker can handle my sword like this¡­¡± His eyes wide open, focused on my shining hand.


    The red lightning curled around my hand like a raged viper, which made him start to question:This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°No¡­you¡¯re not a skywalker. What are you!?¡±


    He sounded really frightened, which even added to my joy for revenge.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right. I am your Daoist brother. That¡¯s why I recognize the label on your hog¡¯s head, which just tells me that you are a traitor. A lot brothers¡¯ blood must be sucked by your blade. So I guess I don¡¯t need to show you any mercy.¡±


    His eyes even got wider open. At last, he found the trick I had been playing with my other hand. A lightning orb span like a turbo on my palm.


    ¡°What the hell¡­¡± He was scared off, one step back when he realized the lightning orb in my hand was getting stronger as it grew into something bigger.


    ¡°Goodbye, my brother.¡± I said as I pushed it out in a furious way.


    Before the swordsman could make any move, the lightning orb, now like a high power mechanical fan, unleashed a flow of red laser blast right to him!


    BOOM!


    Without any effort, the powerful flow of laser blew up the swordsman¡¯s body by digging a big hole on his stomach, totally a bloody mess!


    He died instantly with a horrible look on that face, standing still, and the dark label on his forehead faded away, which indicated that he was no longer a traitor as being a dead man.


    I took a breath, and dropped the sword. My hand was bleeding, not much. Thanked to the lightning gauntlet, otherwise I would not have stood a chance to counter a blade with my bare hand.


    But the fight was not over yet. I heard footsteps upstairs. The rest of killers were searching for Pinks, and the pain in my hand and my neck, also my ankle, added so much to my anger. It felt like I was gonna unleash my alter ego, the Boogeyman.


    I looked up. There was only one way to get those bastards before they lay a hand on Pinks.


    So I bended over, and gave it a big jump, bumping up the ceiling with my fierce fists.


    Scene 2:


    BANG!


    I broke through the ceiling right away, up to the second floor. The blast of my bump knocked back two nearby enemies. The third one was a bit far, and almost reached the door of restroom.


    Apparently they didn¡¯t expect to see me in such a high profile, nor would they figure out what happened to the swordsman.


    The two killers knocked back were off balance. Before they could get up again, I quickly raised my hands, casting two lightning bolts at each of them.


    Sparkle burst out on the two bodies, like a firework. As they fell down with a crack, now only one killer left, it was the starseer.


    One on one, just like a duel in western films, I was waiting for her to get ready.


    She turned around, facing me with her blue eyes. That pair of eyes were so amazing, even though she was an enemy , which didn¡¯t stop me to appreciate her eyes. They were like the reflection of a starry night in a peaceful lake, except that she was not peaceful at all.


    The next moment, I heard some noise like a flush of water. The strong scent of alcohol rose as she started to cast spell. Soon the fluid of alcohol cumulated to shape the aqua dragon again, flew through the hole left on ceiling when I broke through.


    The dragon curled around her, more defensive than offensive. But after all the mess done with my shop, I would not let her go, and she had even drenched me by tons of alcohol.


    ¡°You know what? I¡¯m not gonna kill you. Instead, I will catch you alive, and slave you as being my French maid. For housekeeping only, I swear.¡±


    I said as I opened arms, gathering lightning around me, to form something which looked like a big red cat with lightning fangs.


    But next moment, the starseer seemed going to win this grand duel by cheat. She cast the dragon to attack immediately! Without any notification.


    I had no choice but to instantly dash forward, with the big cat jumping over my head. Together we rushed to the dragon. The lightning fangs of my cat tore up the dragon¡¯s body to help me break through. The sparkle occurred during fight almost burst out to set this whole shop on fire.


    I dashed through like a flash. Before the starseer could see me coming, I already passed her by shoulder and took off her hood without any attention.


    That was when I found her long shining silver hair as the hood covered her head was gone.


    She seemed panic right after it, turning around without any guard on. Her long hair was swinging from side to side, which blocked her view by accident.


    So I took the advantage immediately. My index and middle fingers together stuck, pointing at her chest with a pulse of electricity released on my fingertips.


    Just the moment when my fingers touched her body, she was like getting a shock, and quickly passed out, loss of conscious.


    Then she fell down. After all I was the last one stood.


    I took a breath, and then returned to the restroom, knocking on the door while said:


    ¡°It¡¯s over now! Let¡¯s go! Pinks? Aezo?¡±


    Then the door was unlocked. Pinks popped up as it opened:


    ¡°Where we gonna go?¡±


    I gave her a promised look, and simply answered:


    ¡°We go transmigrate.¡±


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE UNDERWORLD

    CHAPTER 9 THE UNDERWORLD


    Scene 1:


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why you suddenly change your mind?¡± Pinks asked as she walked out from restroom.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t change my mind. I just made up my mind.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh¡­what the smell...Did you get drunk?¡± She stopped, looking around, and even started to shoot with her cell.


    ¡°No, worse than that. I took a bath with every single bottle of collection in my shop, totally wasted.¡± I went straight to my bedroom.


    She reminded me that I really needed a shower now. But we didn¡¯t have much time left. Either the enemy¡¯s backup or cops could be around anywhere. So I must change my clothes and get away as soon as possible.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back. Then we go.¡± I said as I closed the door of bedroom.


    Once the door was closed, I took a deep breath. It seemed that I had no choice but to go back to the immortal world. The people I just killed tonight was really a concern that I could not ignore.


    I quickly stripped off every layer of shit, and dressed in something fresh and dry.


    Then I walked out. Pinks and Aezo were around the hole I blew up on the floor. Again, Aezo was taking a selfie with a big black hole as background, totally helpless.


    ¡°Hey, Cang. What happened? Did you just screw up a bonfire?¡± Aezo seemed really excited about the mess. After all the only thing he cared was just how much attention the post on Wechat could draw to him.


    ¡°Looks like a gas blast. You killed them all?¡± Pinks turned around, and gave me a curious look.


    ¡°Nope. I left this one alive. But she¡¯s gonna come with us.¡± I wrapped up the starseer like a body bag with her long cowl.


    ¡°She? You mean it¡¯s a girl?¡± Pinks wondered.


    I carried the starseer on my shoulder, and said: ¡°She is the bitch that wasted all my bottles. So I won¡¯t let her die easily. Now let¡¯s move.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait! Can I take a pic with her first?¡± Aezo asked.


    I stood for a moment, thinking, and then said:


    ¡°You know what? If you don¡¯t wanna come, then I can kick you down to the big hole and you will find a dead hog¡¯s head down there with a big f#king hole on his corpse. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s a nice picture to post.¡±


    But Aezo seemed a little bit puzzled. He asked:


    ¡°Well, what kind of corpse with a hole in it? There isn¡¯t anyone downstairs.¡±


    For a second I thought he were joking. But then when I got close to the hole on second floor, seeing through to the ground where the swordsman¡¯s body stood, actually it was gone. I meant there wasn¡¯t any body of anyone I killed could be spotted, not in my view.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    That was definitely not a good sign. I hit the swordsman with one of my biggest lightning strike called ¡°Dragon¡¯s Eye¡±, and he was dead on spot. But somehow his body was missing, so as the great sword.


    ¡°I thought you said you killed them all, except for this one.¡± Pinks wondered.


    ¡°There are more coming.¡± I said as I asked them to move.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be retarded. Now let¡¯s go. We head to the storage. Come on. Hurry up!¡±


    I led the way downstairs, and quickly got into the storage. But it was too dark since my electricity had been cut off for a while. So I said to the kids: ¡°Light up, please.¡±


    Pinks quickly turned on the torch of her smartphone, and a stream of light projected on the racks.


    Thanked to her help, I found the bottle of wine in which the ring was hidden, without much effort.


    I quickly flushed out the ring, and wore it on my ring finger.


    ¡°Are you guys ready? Now stand by me.¡± I said as I carried the starseer again, putting her back on my shoulder.


    ¡°Hey, what is that?¡± Aezo pointed at a certain bottle of wine in rows. Something inside the bottle was glowing, like a neon light.


    It was the amulet, wakened again.


    ¡°No, forget about it. We gotta go. Now stay close.¡± I took a breath first, and then blew the ring with a whisper:


    ¡°Underworld.¡±


    Space around us began to fall apart, like a damaged mirror with a lot crack on it.


    ¡°Wow! This is fantastic!¡± Aezo once again, raised his cell for recording.


    But whatever, once he entered the immortal world, everything he used to be familiar with, would become totally worthless.


    Scene 2:


    We landed in the cave where I left a landmark for transmigration. The lightning symbol engraved on the rock wall was activated, and  twinkled like a little star, whenever I made a call for transmigration.


    I put down the starseer on ground, while Aezo and Pinks were looking around with curiosity.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± Pinks asked.


    ¡°The world you¡¯ve always wished to come.¡± I said as I checked the wound on my left hand. It was not bleeding any more. Actually it was fully healed.


    My power would become much stronger here in immortal world than in human world, which was hard to explain based on the limited knowledge I had. But my guess was that the source of my power might be born here. So it made it easier for me to absorb energy from the origin than some place at the far end of whole universe.


    ¡°Hey guys, why my signal is so bad?¡± Aezo was searching around for mobile signal, hand up in the air with his pathetic iphone 7.


    I looked around. There was no trace of any human activity or beast inhabitant as far as I could tell. The bodies I dropped previously had been gone, and the pond by which once Jia Gu stood was still flickering like neon.


    ¡°Now come here before you¡¯re fed to beasts. I know a lot horrific creatures live in the underworld.¡± I said.


    Aezo stopped for a moment, being hesitant yet frightened. Then he turned around and went back really fast.


    Pinks never went too far. She stayed with me, not interested at all.


    I waited till Aezo was back, and then said: ¡°I¡¯m gonna teach you two some basic knowledge with regard to this world. It is not the one you¡¯re familiar with. But you will get used to it and hopefully live a happy life here.¡±


    Aezo was confused, and gave me a concerned look.


    ¡°Wait¡­What do you mean, live? ¡± He asked.


    I took a breath, and then started to explain:


    ¡°This world is an united earth of nine states. It doesn¡¯t get a name but in common sense, we just call it immortal world. But it doesn¡¯t mean that everyone here cannot be killed. In opposite, some places are very dangerous and the only way to secure your life is to kill everybody else whoever crosses your way. For example, here, underworld, which belongs to one of the nine states called Rouland, far west, is the biggest state of least population worldwide.¡±


    Aezo seemed zoned out, which actually was a good news to me. After all, I didn¡¯t expect to bring two kids to underworld. It was a mistake by accident.


    ¡°So what we need to be aware of?¡± Pinks asked. She seemed no different.


    I looked up, nothing found high above but tough rocks.


    ¡°I found this cave on a long journey, began from the central state called Zhongzhou, all the way to west, and finally I got here. Away from mankind, a lot wild creatures inhabit, a place that is hardly traced as being a secreted safe house.¡±


    Pinks looked at me, thinking while said: ¡°So you were born in this world. Then why you live in¡­I guess our world if I may call it.¡±


    I smiled as I lowered my head. It was hard to tell this little girl everything about my life, not that I didn¡¯t trust her, but rather be my personal problem, unsolved.


    ¡°I have run away from my past, and I believe you will never want to cross the path I was misled once. Anyway, you asked for transmigration, so now we¡¯re here.¡± I said.


    She shrugged: ¡°Sounds like your life was just Temple Run. Then what we gonna do? I think you told me the time in this world was different. So what time is it now? Any jetlag I need to worry about?¡±


    I said while thinking: ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s midnight on ground now. No, no jetlag, but we won¡¯t go up to the earth very soon. We have to wait, till the bitch wakes up. She is a witch, usually called starseer, from Yingzhou, one of the nine states, but far east, almost the end of world.¡±


    ¡°You mean she is from here?¡± Pinks was a little bit surprised.


    I nodded as I continued:


    ¡°Starseer is somehow like Daoist. But instead of heaven gods, they worship the god of sea, and gain power from water. They are the guardian of anything born in water.¡±


    ¡°Then why they¡¯re called starseer, instead of something more like water, like...Naga? and why the hell she showed up in our world?¡± Pinks frowned as she asked, seemed more confused.


    I rolled my eyes, not sure if this is a good time to discuss.


    ¡°Because they have an eye on stars. Many of the starseer can see oracle or plague upcoming through the changes in stars, just like astrology. They really have a good vision for when and where it is going to happen. Ok, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m gonna check the starseer we got. You, stay here, so as Aezo. Please keep an eye on him. Don¡¯t let him hang out like a trash panda. ¡±


    I said as I turned around, walking to the starseer who was supposed to wake up by now.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE INHABITANTS

    CHAPTER 10 THE INHABITANTS


    Scene 1:


    I came up to the starseer. She was half laid, sitting against the rock wall.


    ¡°You awake now?¡± I asked as I raised my hand. Index and middle fingers stuck like a wand, sparkle popped up.


    ¡°If you dare play with fire, while in this case it¡¯s water, I swear I will shock you with a blast of my two fingers!¡± I warned as I smirked, though it might sound a bit nasty.


    Her face was on the side, half covered by her long silver hair. So in my view, I could barely see her face.


    She gave me a glance through silver strands of hair, and said with a calm stable voice: ¡°So you possess the power of thunder. You¡¯re a skywalker.¡±


    She got a really sweet voice that I could not deny. But I didn¡¯t like people call me skywalker, which sounded a bit ironic and racist.


    ¡°And you¡¯re a starseer.¡± I said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name? Why you attacked my shop? and wasted every single drop of collection I had.¡± I asked as my anger rose. The sparkle on my fingertips made a crack noise.


    But she would not be frightened easily. Instead, she gave me a disbelief look, and said:


    ¡°It is said that you guys live high above in the heaven palace, following the Order of Thunder, guard of the immortal world. So my question is, why such an elite high standing creature, would have lived a pathetic life like mortals? What bothered you so much that even made you wanna be a fallen?¡±


    I appeared calm. But deep down in my heart, I had a feeling of fear, because what the girl just said, was all true.


    The next moment, she turned her head, facing me with her crystal alluring eyes.


    I was stunned all in a sudden, like being spelled. Then I realized it was all because of the eyes.


    Her eyes looked different than before. They were not as blue and peaceful as a lake in starry night. Instead, the crystal glim of her eyes was like a mirror of souls, which caught my attention right in the moment when we had an eye contact.


    It was like me in wonderland. My mind was instantly involved in the crystal mirror, loss of control. I just couldn¡¯t help looking straight into it.


    In the mirror, I saw a reflection of my past, which appeared on many different faces of the crystal. They were like the shards of my memory, replaying as if it were a movie.


    My heart was pounding like a bomb as the images in mirror became more and more disturbing. I had no idea what was going on. But I did realize something: the rewind of my memory was getting close to the darkest secret that I had always withheld.


    ¡°Stop¡­stop¡­STOP!¡± I yelled as I closed my eyes and bended over, almost knelt.


    Pinks and Aezo immediately ran to me and tried to get me up by holding my arms. I heard they calling my name, over and over again.


    ¡°Doctor! Doctor! Are you ok? Wha¡­what¡¯s going on? Doctor¡­¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    It actually worked. I was trapped in my memory when I heard they called me ¡°Doctor¡±, which reminded me who I was, instead of what I used to be.


    Then I realized this was all about nothing but spell cast by the starseer. While I was zoned out, she could do anything she wanted.


    Instantly, I raised my hand, firing a flow of lightning chain from each of my fingertips. Pinks and Aezo were freaked out and jumped back, while the starseer barely moved before the chains lashed her and pushed her on the walls.


    I took a breath, and stood up again. The flows of lightning chain connected me and her. Her neck, both wrists and ankles were all strapped by chains, and I tried my best to avoid eye contact in case she spelled me one more time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at her eyes!¡± I warned the two kids.


    But Pinks and Aezo seemed too scared to take eyes off. I had to shouted: ¡°Turn around! Now!¡±


    Then they started to turn their back on the witch, while I clenched my fingers a bit more to fasten the chains on her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare play tricks with me.¡± I said in a cold voice.


    But she replied: ¡°Then kill me, because I have just spotted your little secret.¡±


    I guessed this was her trick to piss me off so that I would be mad at her, yelling, shouting, or anything involved with eye contact.


    I smiled as I lowered my head. For a second I truly wanted to hurt her in a bad way. But I took self-control and just stayed calm. Then I said:


    ¡°You know where we are? This is Underworld, Rouland. I guess some chick like you from far east is absolutely ravishing to the folks here. But they¡¯re not as kind and nice as people in your state, so we¡¯re gonna move. If you wanna live, you better be nice with us. Because we¡¯re the only humans here.¡±


    Then I disconnected the chains and let her go.


    ¡°Now we move. We need to get up to the ground. This cave is not intended for human.¡± I said as I led the way forward.


    Scene 2:


    A few minutes later, Aezo, Pinks, the starseer and I, were hiking in the cave. I totally had no idea where the exit was. But I guessed we would not miss it if we kept going in an ascending way.


    The starseer remained in silence. I didn¡¯t care if she would backstab me again. After all this place totally sucked, she would die here without my help. I let the two kids go ahead of me, in case the bitch behind really got crazy.


    ¡°Do you hear it?¡± Pinks broke the silence.


    ¡°What?¡± Aezo looked at her without any clue.


    ¡°It just¡­makes me concerned. I think I¡¯ve heard something that¡­is very annoying.¡± Pinks sounded confusing herself. Then she looked back, asking for my help.


    I looked around. This dark cave reminded me of a film called ¡°The Descent¡±, in which six bitches hang out for shit and found themselves end up in a dark underground place. But they were not the only thing alive deep down in the cave. Something else was lurking in the shadow.


    I guessed our situation was somehow like that.


    ¡°Listen!¡± Pinks suddenly stopped. So did the rest of us.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Aezo asked as he tried his best to listen.


    ¡°Someone is stalking us, ever since the beginning.¡± The starseer whispered behind me.


    Pinks heard her. So she quickly turned around, using the torchlight on her cell to light up our background.


    But I was dazzled for a second. Then I heard the creepy sound too. Something like a serpent crawling over the ground, but moving faster, from what left behind to where on our front, only in a flash of time.


    ¡°Show up, you motherf#ker.¡± I said as I passed the two kids, standing at the very front, facing it.


    Pinks and Aezo got nervous and stepped back, on guard.


    Then I heard a crack of smile just 6 feet ahead. Something appeared, a pair of jade-like snake eyes, flickering in the darkness.


    ¡°Wha¡­what is it?¡± Aezo sounded scared.


    But Pinks was brave enough to raise her phone. A stream of light was projected just right on the figure, a man.


    The man was dazzled instantly, and raised his arm to block the light. But soon he got used to it, not afraid at all, smirking while said in a creepy voice:


    ¡°Well, well, well¡­I can smell your flesh a mile away. What brings you fresh human down underground in our dark place?¡±


    The man looked like a Drow, dark skin, horrible look, with a long dark hair and a pair of pointed ear.


    ¡°Is he a barbarian or something?¡± Aezo whispered.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not him, not even human. What it appears like is just an avatar.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Sounds like we¡¯re on some private territory huh?¡± I said to the avatar.


    He seemed annoyed, a flash of evil thought uncovered in his wicked green eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re not as fresh as the others. I think you probably have no idea what this place is.¡± He said.


    I shrugged: ¡°I don¡¯t even care. I¡¯m here to look for Jia Gu, if you happen to know this guy and I think you should, because he really gets some shit in underworld.¡±


    But the avatar grinned, and his big mouth cracked just like those reptiles. I could even see the flicking tongue in and out, which was really disgusting.


    ¡°Never heard of it.¡± He simply said.


    ¡°Really?¡± I was kind of pissed off and ready for a fight. But just when I was about to raise my hand and shoot his big f#kin mouth with a lightning strike, the starseer behind suddenly warned:


    ¡°There¡¯re more of them. We¡¯re in the trap.¡±


    Because of her warning, Aezo and Pinks got instant panic and turned their phones aside to light up the unknown, which in fact gave the avatar a perfect chance to rush.


    The moment when the light was taken off from the avatar, I already saw it coming.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± I told myself as I raised my hand immediately, firing a few lightning chains right at the direction. Even though the thing moved, it would be caught by at least one of my chains.


    Then I heard a noise of crack with a sparkle showed up once the lightning hit it. Both Aezo and Pinks were freaked out and then realized what a big mistake they just made. Fortunately I got the avatar and locked its position with all chains.


    Once again, the avatar became visible in light and chains, and its reptile tail twisted like a crazy whiplash, pounding on the ground.


    ¡°Wha¡­what is it!¡± Aezo sounded terrified as he raised his voice without attention.


    But before I could answer his question, the avatar itself sounded even more panic than Aezo, raising its voice: ¡°Re¡­red flash¡­no¡­no you gotta be kidding¡­that¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Pinks frowned, and questioned: ¡°Wait¡­do you know him?¡±


    She was actually asking me. So I gave her a smirk, and explained: ¡°Looks like we get a lot memory to refresh. So tell me, who is the chief of your clan now? He must remember the day when I first came down and slaughtered a lot of his kin.¡±


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE DUNGEON

    CHAPTER 11 THE DUNGEON


    Scene 1:


    Pinks looked at me in surprise, and questioned: ¡°You know this guy?¡±


    I clenched my fingers as I said: ¡°Technically, he knows about me. This is not the first time I meet those snakemen. We had a fight before, and I won easily.¡±


    Then I gave her a glance. Meanwhile, the snakeman who tried to assault was now suffering pain from the lightning chains.


    ¡°You call them snakemen?¡± Aezo asked. He still turned his phone side to side, in case we got backstabbed.


    ¡°Yeah, they look like a man, but not human. Half-man, half-snake, that¡¯s why I call them snakeman. They¡¯re the dominating inhabitant in this cave.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Sounds like a supervillain¡¯s name.¡± Pinks commented.


    But meanwhile, the snakeman chained by my trick started to scream: ¡°Please! Please¡­let me go¡­I¡­I¡¯m so sorry¡­I didn¡¯t mean¡­I don¡¯t know you¡¯re¡­the man¡­¡±


    Then I let him go, but kept a sparkle of lightning bolt upholding in my hand.


    ¡°They¡¯re not supervillain, neither superhero. They¡¯re just the inhabitant that happens to live here.¡± I added.


    ¡°But this crazy shit just tried to kill us! They may even wanna eat us!¡± Aezo screamed.


    ¡°The kid is right. The beast wants to slay us for dinner, and¡­something very filthy and nasty¡­¡± To my surprise, the starseer really concerned and raised a voice, but maybe for her own sake only.


    I thought for a moment, and then said: ¡°We go with him.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Aezo and Pinks shouted at the same time.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind? Did you just come up with¡­with a plan or you just wanna go for troubles?¡± Pinks questioned.


    ¡°Well, trouble gets me.¡± I gave her a glance to remind her that she was the one who made us end up here.


    Then I took a breath, and spoke to the snakeman: ¡°We need a place to rest, just for one night. So I want you to do me a favor.¡±


    The snakeman crawled on ground, still hurt, while replied: ¡°O¡­of course¡­yes, I can show you the way¡­and I will tell the elders that¡­that your highness is here¡­¡±


    I nodded, and then looked at the others.


    Pinks, Aezo and even the starseer, they all looked at me with so much disbelief.


    I rolled my eyes and shrugged: ¡°Come on. He¡¯s just a scout. It is his duty to go patrol on clan¡¯s territory, and don¡¯t forget I once f#ked them up. He just called me highness.¡±


    But Aezo and Pinks still doubted. However, the starseer made her way forward. When she came up to me, she simply gave me a look and then turned around to say:


    ¡°He is not lying. I saw it in his memory.¡±


    WHAT THE HELL?


    I was totally speechless, and could not help wondering: how much did she spot in my memory? It felt like there were a hidden cam in my mind which recorded my thoughts and memory and then uploaded all online for entertaining.


    ¡°Are you a voyeur?¡± I asked as I pointed at her, and warned: ¡°Don¡¯t you do that again!¡±


    But she simply showed a flickering smile that I could have missed because of her covered face under the hood and long silver hair.


    I was standing still, totally impressed that she actually knew how to smile. But just when I was trying to memorize that smile and figure out what it meant, I heard the nervous voice of the snakeman:


    ¡°E¡­excuse me, your highness, please come with me. I will lead you the way to the elders.¡±


    I waited for a second, and then said: ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s move.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Scene 2:


    We met a lot different kind of snakeman on our way to visit the clan. The most impressive one was called ¡°lizard rider¡±, a heavy armed snakeman warrior riding a big giant lizard which is as large as a Nile crocodile but taller than it.


    Back to the days when I had a fight with snakemen, I had never seen anything like that.


    The scout told me that these riders could move faster than the horsemen both underground and in water, perfect for ambush, but more often used for guard.


    ¡°Is it just me or everybody feels hot?¡± Pinks asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just hot. It¡¯s getting sweaty. Feels like we¡¯re going down to the core!¡± Aezo added.


    I was ahead, along with the scout, and he said: ¡°No, ma¡¯am. It is the torch that we set on fire. There are many torches along the hallway, not for its lighting but for its heating. We¡¯re cold blood as you can see.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± Pinks commented and gave me a complaint look.


    We kept walking for a while and finally came to the nest of snakemen, an oval hall inside cavern, guarded by a whole pack of lizard riders, and the ceiling remained unknown, high above in darkness.


    There were many crisscross paths connected the entrance with many other exits which were all around on the rock walls.


    But the chief of snakeman clan, so as his throne were in the middle of a plat which could only be reached by a single straight path, a bridge across over the hall.


    ¡°Please keep an eye on your steps.¡± The scout reminded us as he led the way to pass the bridge.


    I went first, then Aezo and Pinks in the middle, the starseer following behind.


    As we traveled through the bridge, someone appeared over us and projected a long skinny shadow on our way.


    Then I looked up, and found those snake eyes flickering in the shadow of exits on walls. There were seven or eight of them, the elders. As we approached to the throne, those elders showed up on the paths overhead, watching us.


    We followed the scout up to the plat where the chief was sitting in his chair. In fact, the entire throne things were made of bones which looked like a skull of some monster serpent, and the whole setting was somehow terrifying.


    The chief got up when we just arrived. He was the strongest and probably the mightiest snakeman I ever met: over 7 feet, well-built, with so many muscles tiered up, almost like a hulk, but not that big and looked more streamlined.


    I noticed that he actually got two crocodile-like tails, swung like a cloak behind. He was also fully armed by tough scaled skin which had a similar color of turquoise, and the crown made of two sharp fangs which looked like demon¡¯s horns even added to his satan personality.


    ¡°Are you sure this guy won¡¯t eat us?¡± Aezo whispered behind.


    Meanwhile, the scout knelt on his chief, and said: ¡°My lord, the red flash and his kin are here.¡±


    We stood by. Aezo whispered again: ¡°Are we gonna kneel too?¡±


    ¡°Not necessary, just stand by and watch.¡± I said.


    The chief was coming down. Now he looked even taller than he was on the throne.


    He stopped right before the scout, barely lowering his head, and gave us a fairly arrogant look.


    ¡°The red flash? What the hell is that?¡± It could be one of the most horrible voice I ever heard. He sounded like a howling T-Rex.


    ¡°He¡­he is the man¡­the¡­¡± The scout muttered in a nervous voice.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s a man. I¡¯m asking what do you mean by red flash?¡± The chief added.


    But instead of the scout speaking, I interrupted and spoke for myself:


    ¡°I am Han Cang, if you¡¯re quite familiar with that name or¡­I can help you to recall the day how your people perished because of a blast of lightning bolt, with a new blast of even bigger lightning bolt.¡±


    This talk became so quiet in an awkward way since what I just said. Pinks even reminded me in a lower voice: ¡°Are you serious? We came all the way here for a break, not for another fight!¡±


    Honestly, I didn¡¯t care much if I would piss off the chief. Neither did I trust him. As long as we stayed cool and be nice to each other, he and his clan would be fine. Otherwise I was just gonna blow them up one more time.


    Shortly after everybody remained in silence, the chief showed a crack of smile on his horrible look, which now looked even somewhat horrific.


    ¡°Han Cang, the Boogeyman?¡± He seemed to recall.


    ¡°Yeah, you remember now?¡± I nodded.


    ¡°But you¡¯re not like him.¡± The chief said as he recalled.


    ¡°He had a long red hair, like a blaze of fire, and he moved faster than lightning, like a flash of light.¡±


    I nodded: ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why this dude calls me red flash, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± The scout also nodded, over and over again.


    ¡°Then where the long hair goes?¡± The chief questioned.


    ¡°Well, I cut them off, and I dyed.¡± I explained.


    The chief came closer. For a second, I thought he was gonna punch me, so as everyone else did. Pinks and Aezo, they even stepped back in case being involved.


    But to everybody¡¯s surprise, the chief raised his hand to show welcome, and said:


    ¡°Such a pleasure, my dear friend. I am King Fang, the 13<sup>th</sup> leader of Clan Venom.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Pinks whispered.


    I disregarded her question and took Fang¡¯s hand: ¡°How¡¯s going, big Fang? Sorry about your dad, you know¡­so many of your kin died in that fight, and I might have just killed him, by accident, of course.¡±


    But he didn¡¯t care at all and simply shook my hand as he giggled: ¡°No, no, no¡­Ah! That was totally fine! Anyway, he was just gonna die if I became the king, game of throne, always, you know¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I could only nod and smile to ease the awkwardness added to this weird talk.


    ¡°So what brings you back? I thought you¡¯d just disappeared and not gonna show up anymore.¡± Fang asked with curiosity.


    I explained: ¡°Well, I¡­am on a visit to Jia Gu. You must know him. Actually, I just came back a few hours ago. Since it¡¯s kind of late in the night, I may take a power nap first and then we¡¯ll go up, me and my friends.¡±


    ¡°Go up? You mean up to the ground?¡± He frowned.


    I nodded: ¡°Yeah, up to the ground. Cause I just said I have a visit with Jia Gu, the merchant in Underworld.¡±


    But Fang took a deep breath and sighed: ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be that easy, my friend. The way outward has been blocked for months. We don¡¯t even stand a chance to hang out for a tanning since then.¡±


    He sighed again, in deep regret.


    I wondered: ¡°How? What happened?¡±


    He took a breath to calm down, and then said: ¡°The bloodsuckers! They block our way out, cutting off our supply for food, and try to hunt us for feeding their children, as a training of predator.¡±


    I frowned. But before I could say anything, Aezo whispered: ¡°Is he talking about vampires?¡±


    ¡°Vampire? What the hell is that?¡± Fang asked.


    I had to stop Aezo before he asked something even worse than stupid. So I coughed to draw attention and said:


    ¡°When you talk about bloodsucker, you actually mean another clan of some beasts?¡±


    Fang nodded: ¡°The Clan of Dark Wings. They are those flying monsters usually hunt in the night, afraid of lightness, and live in cavern like us. But they dominate the sky. We¡¯re on the ground.¡±


    ¡°So these bloodsuckers are trying to take over your territory. You and your kin are endangered.¡± I concluded.


    ¡°They are eating us.¡± Fang corrected.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you guys just fight back? I mean, you have a lot of army and they really look like some badass and they¡¯re cold blood, right? Like a blood-buster, they¡¯re not supposed to be scared off by some bloodsuckers.¡±


    Before I could even raise a voice, Aezo already screwed it up in a few seconds. He was such a talkative shit that made me really regret to have him in the journey.


    But Fang seemed not offended at all, he even answered Aezo¡¯s questions: ¡°To be honest, we¡¯re not matched. They¡¯re hiding high above in nowhere. Whenever we send out scouts, they are ambushed by those flying monsters, and our armaments are not suitable for dealing with rangers and air force.¡±


    ¡°Well, that really su¡­ouch!¡± Aezo wanted to say something again, but stopped in mid-sentence. I guessed it was Pinks who warned him.


    ¡°Ok, I get it. You know what? I¡¯m gonna take a nap first and then I pack up to hunt those bloodsuckers. I¡¯ll blow them up for you, as a favor of old friend.¡± I made an announcement.


    ¡°Really?! That¡¯s so kind of you! My friend!¡± Fang was gonna give me a big hug. But his open arms looked more frightening than friendly, so I quickly raised my hand and said:


    ¡°No, not a big deal. I¡¯m really tired now, so would you mind to show us the bedroom?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course!¡± He looked so delighted and lowered his arms, ready for service.


    ¡°Come with me, please.¡± Fang said, and he was going to show us the place where we¡¯d rest tonight.


    But when he just turned around, I heard Aezo speaking again, in a much lower voice:


    ¡°Hey Doctor, had you been a long redhead before?¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Pinks and I said spontaneously.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE ELEMENT

    CHAPTER 12 THE ELEMENT


    Scene 1:


    We walked into the bedroom, which looked more like a cell in the dungeon. There was a king-sized round bed covered by a blanket made from a variety of furs.


    ¡°Feel free to rest yourself. We¡¯ve plenty of time to make a plan.¡± Fang said goodnight and then left us alone.


    Shortly after he left, Aezo took a deep breath and let himself fall to sitting on the bed.


    ¡°Ooouch!¡± But he felt pain instantly, because the bed was not as soft and comfortable as he thought. There wasn¡¯t even a mattress.


    I laughed: ¡°Too bad for you, boy, looks like we¡¯re gonna sleep on the ground tonight.¡±


    ¡°This is not bedroom, not a bed at all! I can¡¯t imagine how these freaks rest themselves in such a dark filthy jail!¡± Aezo complained as he stood up again, and then sat down in a much slow move.


    ¡°By the way, are they like a real sleeping snake when they¡¯re asleep? You know, body curled up, like a bun of hair?¡± He asked.


    I couldn¡¯t help but to roll my eyes and show him a completely tired look:


    ¡°Aezo, you know you have too many questions to be answered, and now you better get yourself tied up and fall asleep ASAP. Cause we¡¯ll have a big run once you wake up.¡±


    Then I looked away, leaving him alone and talked to Pinks: ¡°You too. Better go sleep now.¡±


    Pinks shrugged as if she didn¡¯t concern at all. It seemed that hunting some terrifying monsters made no difference than playing a horror movie for her.


    Soon after Aezo, Pinks also went to bed. The bed was big enough to house us four. But the starseer and I were not sleepy at all. We stood in the room, face to face, and then I asked:


    ¡°Do you get a name? Well, I¡¯m Doctor¡­¡±


    ¡°Doctor Cang, I know.¡± She interrupted in my mid-sentence.


    ¡°Yeah¡­you probably have seen it already¡­¡± I nodded, and felt a bit annoyed.


    For a second, she lowered her head, and then I heard her voice in my mind:


    ¡°I¡¯m Qiushui.¡±


    Qiushui, literal meaning of creek in the fall, was quite a poetic metaphor to name after.


    But regardless of her cute name, I felt like being invaded, so I questioned in a defensive voice: ¡°Are you still in my mind? What the hell you did to me?¡±


    She shook her head and explained:


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just talking to you based on spiritual connection. Doctor, as you prefer to be called, you and I have something in common which still remains as mystery. But what I can be sure is that the moment when I looked straight into your eyes, we had somehow connected to each other. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have been able to use Star Whispers to speak to you.¡±


    She barely opened her mouth as she talked. Her voice was totally transferred in my mind.


    I frowned and felt even more confused: ¡°What the hell is that?¡±


    ¡°Star Whisper is not a spell, not even magic. It¡¯s a unique ability that has been normally used by starseers. It allows us to transfer message in a way that no one else can overhear, but¡­¡± She paused for a second, and then continued.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been disconnected for so long since I left immortal world. I don¡¯t belong with my sisters anymore. It is very strange how you and I are connected. But you used to be a skywalker, which apparently had nothing to do with my belief, so I guess there must be something not even you have discovered yet about yourself.¡±


    For a second I felt like she had a feeling for me, not in a romantic way, but more like a sorority thing, which was very weird and disturbed me a lot.


    ¡°Ok, fine, so you were like an iphone 6 or 5 or even 4s or something I don¡¯t know, but you perhaps had been lost and spared for so long and now you reconnect to the Wi-fi, so you¡¯re back online once again, quite a lot to update huh? Good for you, really. But may I ask when will you get out of my head?¡± I questioned in an annoyed voice.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    But to my surprise, she simply showed a smile and said, using her real voice: ¡°Actually my fav one is iphone 7, dual-cams.¡±


    My mouth wide open, I was speechless, totally, and I guessed my funny look must entertain her a lot because she smiled again and said:


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s rotate to take the guard. Every one hour as a shift, your turn first, I need to take a power nap.¡±


    As she moved to the bed, I shot her a piercing look and tried to clarify: ¡°I¡¯m not talking about the phones! That¡¯s just a metaphor!¡±


    But she quickly turned and gave me a hint of mute by lipping her index finger, what the hell that supposed to mean?


    Scene 2:


    After three or four shifts past, the scout came to our room when I was on guard. He was not alone, along with eight warriors, bringing us four chests.


    By the pounding noise these chests made when they were dropped on the ground, and each one was carried by two strong guards, I guessed it must be very heavy.


    Pinks and Aezo were instantly wakened by the noise. Aezo almost screamed out as he struggled on the bed, involved in a great battle against air.


    Qiushui, the starseer, was already awake when she heard steps of the scout coming.


    ¡°What¡¯s in it? Treasure boat?¡± I asked as I pointed at the chests on ground.


    The scout smiled: ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, your highness. But don¡¯t be annoyed, I¡¯m sure Lord King Fang will offer you a lot as the bounty for your kindest help, even more than you will need.¡±


    He said as the eight guards opened these chests. A glim of metal spread out immediately, and almost light up the entire room.


    The four heavy chests were full of armaments, which included a variety of items, and categorized into four different types, blade, glaive, armor, and bow, each in a chest.


    ¡°Wow¡­look at those fancy weapons!¡± Aezo seemed amazed as he got off bed.


    The scout smiled in a proud voice: ¡°Feel free to pick up whatever suits you!¡±


    Then the guards were dismissed, and he awaited outside.


    I stood in front of a chest which was full of blades, dual-blades, great swords, machetes, daggers, and many other blades handmade. By handmade I meant they were as good as a normal weapon, but not engraved with any rune or fused with some power. Technically, they were just a whole pack of metals.


    ¡°Are we gonna do some gang fire?¡± Pinks stumbled in her half asleep and tried to have a close look at these weapons.


    I started to walk around to check all the four chests, and the idea was to let the kids put on some armors while Qiushui and I could use a couple of weapons to build up our force.


    I shot her a glance and was gonna say something. But apparently Qiushui read it all in my mind, so she nodded as a hint of agreement.


    ¡°Wow! Can I have these twin swords? I¡¯mma like Kirito slashing down a whole army!¡± Aezo said as he picked up a dual-blade from the chest.


    ¡°Hey, put them down. You don¡¯t wanna be like a first target just because you¡¯re holding some shits.¡± I tried to remind him that weapons could only make him look more aggressive than he actually was.


    Then I turned and spoke to the scout: ¡°Hey dude, come and give me a hand. Get the kids some vests, please."


    ¡°My pleasure, your highness.¡± The scout nodded and came in.


    While he was trying to pick up some armors, I added: ¡°Just nature please, they don¡¯t know much about a fight.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by nature?¡± Pinks asked with curiosity.


    I cracked a smile and answered: ¡°Well, in immortal world, we define and recognize every object by its essential element. For instance, this guy, a snakeman, is nature, and probably water too. So actually he is a hybrid of two elements, nature and water.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a pokemon.¡± Pinks commented.


    ¡°So¡­what elements do I look like? I think I must be light and fire!¡± Aezo said with passion and positive.


    But all I could tell him was a smile of negative: ¡°No, you¡¯re from mortal world. So by definition, you¡¯re nature and that¡¯s it.¡±


    Meanwhile, the scout prepared a couple of light armors for fitting.


    ¡°Please try this one on first. It is called Cobra¡¯s Cloak, which is made of cobra¡¯s scales, especial the ones around its neck that allow a cobra to spread its hood.¡±


    The scout said as he handed a dark cloak to Aezo, and continued: ¡°It is nature, light and elastic, perfect for a raider. Now it¡¯s yours.¡±


    ¡°Can I have a yellow one?¡± Aezo asked. But I disregarded his request and let the scout go on.


    ¡°Now, this one is very special. It is called Chameleon¡¯s Cape, just like a real chameleon. It allows the wearer to disguise oneself under most circumstances except in water. A chameleon cannot swim as we all know.¡±


    ¡°So this one is for me, like the Invisibility Cloak of Harry Potter.¡± Pinks commented and took the cape.


    ¡°Hey Doctor, what you gonna pick up?¡± Aezo asked as he put on the cloak.


    ¡°Yeah, what element you are? Lightning, right?¡± Pinks said in a curious voice, and flicked her fingers to imitate the action of my lightning strike in a funny way.


    ¡°It¡¯s called thunder, not lightning. I¡¯m thunder and air.¡± I answered.


    ¡°So you¡¯re hybrid too.¡± Pinks commented.


    I smiled as I explained:


    ¡°Well¡­hybrid is quite popular in immortal world. After all, we¡¯re human beings, not items, so our body is combined with more than one single element. Technically, there is no premium or advantage between hybrid and pure, and it even happens that someone was single element in his childhood but later on his potential element takes over so he becomes an entirely different element or partially different, in which case, is a hybrid.¡±


    I started to pick up a weapon for myself. But looking over all the stuff, I found it was really hard to get the one I needed. They were all good. But as a matter of fact, sword was never the first choice of a skywalker, though some fellows preferred it.


    ¡°Actually, your highness¡­¡± The scout said as he took out something from the quiver on his back.


    It was a silver belt as the first impression told me. But soon when it was unfolded, I realized it was actually a special weapon. A soft blade.


    Not whips, not chains, but a both-edged sword, it was quite sharp, flexible and light. People were easily fooled by its disguise but ended up with a cut on neck by this deadly weapon.


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡± I asked, not taking the sword.


    ¡°Well, this one is my personal collection, a trophy gained from a great battle against the Clan of Rattle Tail. Because my lord is never a swordsman and such a fancy accessory will only add to his charges of being arrogant and dictatorship, and the elders of clan are not pleased with him by the way, so I end up become the owner of this weapon.¡±


    The scout said with proud and insisted that I should take it.


    ¡°This weapon will be the best of its kind, only if it¡¯s held in your hand.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you guys are pretty democratic, huh?¡± I nodded and took the sword, having a close look at it.


    I found the sword had no guard, not entirely, but the guard was not that obvious. It looked like a rattlesnake twisted around the bottom of blade and then down to the end of grip. The entire grip was like a tail, quite flexible.


    Additionally, I found the guard was like a real belt buckle as the rattlesnake¡¯s head could fasten the blade with a ¡°bite¡±, if the wearer wanted to use it as a strap.


    ¡°This is very cool, thank you.¡± I said and carefully wore the sword on my waist, trying my best not to touch the edge of blade.


    ¡°Are you really gonna use it as a weapon?¡± Aezo questioned.


    ¡°What? You think I can¡¯t get and keep hard with this tiny soft strap while I¡¯m in a fight?¡± I questioned back in a nasty way.


    Aezo frowned and was kind of speechless. For a first time in his life, he couldn¡¯t find a word to argue. So much I enjoyed the look on his dumb face.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s move on. What you gonna pick up, lady?¡± I asked as I looked at Qiushui. It seemed that she already had the answer.


    I watched her picking up a crossbow from a bunch of metals in the chest.


    The scout was amazed by her choice and raised a voice immediately:


    ¡°A wise choice, my friend! You truly have an eye on things. The Hydra Screamer, a dangerous weapon fused with two elements, water and nature, the wearer who shows a talent in water and nature can make full use of this weapon and deal so much pain to its foes.¡±


    Qiushui was checking the outlook of the crossbow, as the scout carried on: ¡°The crossbow overall is coated with sea serpent¡¯s skin, a rare and precious fabric in underworld. The skull of sea serpent is adorned on the crossing tip of it which allows the user to charge the bow with elemental power and fire a blast of energy bolt!¡±


    The scout sounded even more excited than the actual wearer who was gonna use the bow, as if he were the guy engaged in an epic fight.


    Anyway, I disregarded the scout and looked around. Since everyone in my team had found what they needed, so I said: ¡°Ready for beating up batman? Then let¡¯s go.¡±


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE STRONGHOLD

    CHAPTER 13 THE STRONGHOLD


    Scene 1:


    After pack up, the scout led our way back to the oval hall, where King Fang had formed an army ready for attack.


    Besides the numerous lizard riders around his throne, I found another interesting unit called lizard raider, which was much smaller than the rider¡¯s lizard, but faster with its legs and sharper with its claws, climbing on the walls.


    King Fang was standing in front of his kin, on his throne, with a great glaive aside. The weapon was made of copper, single-edged, but twin blades, and there was a skull of giant python adorned between the blades and grip, which made the weapon overall looked like a serpent mouth wide open with two fangs ready for charge.


    When we joined, I was asked to step on the throne, and stood by King Fang, so I did.


    King Fang held his glaive, and used it to knock the ground to draw everyone¡¯s attention. By the heavy thump the glaive made, I guessed it must be over 300 pounds.


    ¡°Time¡¯s up, my brothers!¡± King Fang shouted. ¡°Here I am, with Han Cang, the Great Lord of Thunder! Together, we¡¯ll slash down anyone who dare cross our way and feed the victory with enemies¡¯ blood!¡±


    Then I heard the roar of crowds, but it sounded just so crap. Snakeman didn¡¯t know about how to roar in an exciting and powerful voice. They were all just hissing with their flicking tongues.


    Besides, I was not Lord of Thunder. There was someone actually had claimed this title.


    ¡°Now, it¡¯s time for charge! Hail the Basilisk!¡± King Fang raised the glaive as he roared, so the whole army started to move.


    ¡°What¡¯s basilisk?¡± Aezo whispered behind, but I totally disregarded him.


    In fact, Basilisk was more like a literature name here. The actual spell in mandarin was Ba She, which was a monster snake worshipped by many snakemen, and it was said that the monster had permanently shapeshifted to something like a mountain hill somewhere northwestern.


    Anyway, we followed King Fang to head to the place up close to ground level, where the bloodsuckers were spotted nearby.


    Scene 2:


    We were on our way to attack the bloodsuckers. A stronghold of those flying monsters was spotted by Fang¡¯s scouts, and it blocked the way out of cave.


    I was with King Fang, and the others followed behind. But soon Aezo caught up with me. It seemed that he was a bit frightened because of the previous unpleasant experience which made him believe the closer he stayed with me, the safer he would be.


    ¡°Hey Doctor, how many elements are there in sum? May be five or seven, even nine?¡± He asked in whisper.


    I smiled in a negative way and questioned: ¡°What makes you think there are five? Like Jin (Metal), Mu (Nature), Shui (Water), Huo (Fire), Tu (Earth), the Penta Circuit?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, exactly, something like the Penta Circuit.¡± Aezo nodded.


    I rolled my eyes and felt speechless, while had to explain: ¡°Dude, the Penta Circuit is all about energy flow, which has nothing to do with element, and it is quite old fashion. Are you some cult fan of Daoist and totally obsessed with the cultivation stuff just because you¡¯ve read too many Xianxia fictions?¡±


    Aezo shrugged: ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just asking.¡±


    ¡°Ok, fine. That¡¯s fair. Let me explain.¡± I said as I lay my hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°There are typically five elements, water, fire, thunder, light, and nature. Generally, there is no parallel or against between any two elements. For instance, I can easily beat someone who possesses the power of water, because I¡¯m thunder. But, if I¡¯m drenched or immersed in water, I can¡¯t play any trick unless I wanna get a shock, which would be totally out of mind and suicide.¡±


    I quickly glanced back from the side of my view, just to see what Qiushui would think about it, because I was actually talking about her when I made an example of water against thunder. She once drowned me in a water locker. I was totally tied up, helpless.


    Aezo nodded: ¡°Yeah, that makes sense, so we can¡¯t just say which element beats the other. It all depends on the power of user, and maybe adds some guts and experiences to it.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± I commented. For the first time I felt that Aezo was actually not that dumb.


    ¡°By the way, there are actually more than the typical five elements, right? You said you¡¯re thunder and air.¡± He asked.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah, I did. As a matter of fact, there are a few expansions in addition to the five elements. I don¡¯t know exactly how many and what they are, but the power of air is what I possess because it is often combined with power of thunder to make a lightning storm. Besides, frost is also an expansion of water, someone who possesses the power of water in a high level usually can freeze things drenched yet, and some may even produce ice without any use of water.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get it, so the combination of two elements can be a power-up for both, like a damage buff. Then what if someone possesses more than two different elements? Let¡¯s say three or four, or even five, maybe all of them. I don¡¯t know, but would he become the Master of Elementals?¡± Once again, Aezo was getting annoying by making nonsense.


    I could not help but to shake my head and question: ¡°What the hell is master of elementals? A last airbender? You¡¯re just too involved in shows and fictions, Aezo. Look at your dumb name, are you really gonna name yourself after some stupid fantasy characters for the rest of your life?¡±


    Aezo was gonna say something, but I stopped him before he could raise a voice. The whole army was getting slowdown, which seemed like we approached the stronghold yet.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Aezo asked.


    I heard Pinks sigh: ¡°Oh, for God¡¯s sake, could you be quiet for a moment Aezo?¡±


    King Fang also slowed down, and held his glaive up in the air. Soon the entire army stopped. We all awaited in darkness.


    ¡°Can somebody tell me where is the stronghold?¡± I looked over, but there was nothing significant ahead, only rocks.


    Because this was supposed to be an ambush, so we all lurked without any use of torchlight in case the enemies were aware of our presence.


    King Fang had to bend over to keep a low voice because of his significant height.


    ¡°The stronghold is right over there, and if we wanna get out, we must go across the battlefield without drawing any attention. Fortunately, it¡¯s daytime outside. Those bloodsuckers are sleepy, but there¡¯re still a few on guard. You know, I hate to say so, but¡­they have a really good vision in night and darkness, so I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t stand a chance to go sideways without across their alert range.¡± King Fang explained.


    I nodded: ¡°Okay, fair enough, so what is the plan?¡±


    King Fang whispered: ¡°I¡¯m going to assign the raiders all spread out around the walls so they can sneak into enemies deep, while riders will charge in right on the front as a bait. As for you, my dear friend, you¡¯re gonna help us to hit the bloodsuckers with mass of lightning bolts.¡±


    Then he lay a hand on my shoulder. That was really a huge hand, and his fingernails were almost as sharp as daggers.


    I shrugged to shake off his heavy hand and asked: ¡°Wait¡­wait¡­hold on a second, what do you mean by around the walls and¡­and into enemies deep? Where the hell are they?¡±


    I turned my face to look at him. Fang¡¯s eyes were such a terrifying shit like those of a big dead fish that I had to take my eyes off instantly.


    But Fang didn¡¯t say anything, he simply raised his index finger and pointed upward. Then I looked up:


    So many shadows loomed high above on the ceiling. The first impression told me they were just rocks. But soon I realized what they were, numerous bloodsuckers hung over upside down, like coffins up in the air.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­are they real vampires or monster bats!?¡± Aezo asked in a shocked voice.


    ¡°What we gonna do?¡± Pinks whispered behind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess I¡¯ll just walk out and fire a blast of firework.¡± I replied without any thinking.


    But then Fang said: ¡°My scouts have spotted the guards and located their coordinates. Please shoot them down first, Lord of Thunder.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not some shit lord. I am a Doctor.¡± I corrected as I searched around with my eyes. But in the darkness, they all looked the same to me. I couldn¡¯t figure out whichever were on guard or asleep.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the raiders are in position now. They¡¯ll send feedback which tells us exactly where the guards are.¡± Fang said with confidence, while I totally had no idea what kind of feedback it was.


    We awaited behind rocks for another minute, until Fang heard the feedback while I was still blind to it. I watched Fang raising his arm, pointing at somewhere high above in the air.


    ¡°There is one. Do it, my brother.¡± Fang said.


    I frowned and tried my best to focus, but they all seemed no different to me. All I could see was infinite darkness overhead.


    ¡°Are you kidding me? Which one is it?¡± I questioned as I tried to target my fingers at the shadows several times. But I just could not be 100 percent sure that my strike wouldn¡¯t miss.


    Aezo, Pinks and even Fang all seemed getting nervous as time passed by. I felt like so many eyes were gazing at me, waiting for the firework show, which made the feeling even worse than terrible if considering most of the gaze were from those night crawlers.


    That was when I heard Qiushui¡¯s voice once again, in my mind: ¡°You go strike. I¡¯ll protect the two kids. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°No f#king way, I¡¯m not a bait! Hold on¡­you¡¯re still in my mind?¡± I told myself, or the voice in my mind.


    But Qiushui had reason to say so. My point was that we must rush through the stronghold and get out of this hell ASAP, so whatever came out to the snakemen didn¡¯t really matter. Apparently, Qiushui had read it all in my mind, so she totally knew the plan and her role to play.


    ¡°What you waiting for? My brother?¡± Fang was losing patience. I had no time to hesitate.


    ¡°Fine!¡± I told myself and then stood up, regardless of the rocks, riders, enemies overhead or anything that was across in the picture. I just didn¡¯t give it a shit.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing?!¡± Pinks questioned in a worried voice, but I ignored it and kept moving on.


    My arms half open as I began to unleash the power of thunder. An orb gathered by much lightning force appeared in each of my hands. The noise of thunder and the flash of lightning occurred immediately drew the attention of guards.


    I heard their creepy sound like an alarm to others and then found the shadow flicking in darkness. ¡°There you are.¡± I whispered as I instantly fired a blast of lightning right at the shadow, without even thinking.


    The red lightning bolt was like a cobra in strike when it was released from my hand, traveling through the darkness all in the blink of an eye!


    BOOM!


    The guard blew up with sparkle and flame, truly a firework. Its body fell into pieces instantly, and blood splashed over.


    Startled by the attack, the entire stronghold was awakened. I saw countless bloodsuckers spread out immediately, making a lot noise with their flickering wings.


    ¡°Now, charge!¡± I shouted as I turned my face to look back. Meanwhile, I still held the lightning orbs in my hands.


    I could hear the noise made by the bloodsuckers when they were gathering around and flied down quickly.


    ¡°F#k!¡± I muttered when I saw them surging at me. Maybe it was because the lightning orbs I held made me look so much brighter than anything else in the cave.


    ¡°Charge, now!¡± I repeated as I shot the enemies with lightning bolts over and over again. They just didn¡¯t stop coming.


    I felt like I was holding a machine gun as the lightning bolts kept hitting those bloodsuckers one by one, and blasted a big f#king hole on their body or wings, lighting up the entire sky with sparkle and flame.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Even brighter than the moon moon m¡­man, I felt like I was gonna sing along with it.


    ¡°Come on! Are you guys gonna watch for the whole time?!¡± I said as I had a quick shoulder-check to see if the snakemen were coming.


    But it was completely dark behind. They didn¡¯t charge in the battle at all. Instead, they used me as a bait, those snakemen, always being so snake, not a man.


    Meanwhile, the bloodsuckers just kept coming more and more. I was totally tied up, but not gonna be fooled by those beasts. I instantly clenched my fingers to make the two lightning orbs smash, forcing them to spread out like a splash of lightning chains, and then the chains around me closed like a loop. Several loops caged me in tiers up and down, protecting me from the attack of bloodsuckers, just like electric fences.


    For the first time I had a close look at those flying monsters. They were all around me and tried to break through the chains, but only ended up being either shocked or cut off.


    They were truly some giant bats, and even uglier than the real ones, 5 feet roughly. If considering the width of wings, they were even much bigger than you thought, and their fangs looked like daggers, which made me wonder if they actually bit instead of suck.


    But next moment, they seemed tired, and gave up the idea of suicide attack. They began to retreat, all back to their stronghold up in the air. That was when I found them gathering like a whirlwind, flying and rotating around something that was unseen in the center. The entire group of bloodsuckers moved in this way like a ceremonial dance to worship something and eventually came back down again, until the lower part of the whirlwind became wide open.


    Then there was something falling down. A female, landed on the ground in a slow move. Her batwings were like a cloak when they closed up. Her dirty crimson hair and pale skin truly made her like a bloodsucking bitch.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± I told myself as I looked at her purple eyes, and realized that I had to smash down this bitch before I could move on.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE VOICE

    CHAPTER 14 THE VOICE


    I was facing a bitch of bloodsucker who supposed to be the mistress of those flying monsters. I could sense the force of necromancy, not much, but enough to draw my attention, and that was because of her.


    This creature was a witch, not so easy to deal with. I had to power up and be ready for a lightning-fast strike that hopefully blew up this bitch before she could even start an action.


    Then I saw her smiling in a sultry way, and she raised her right hand up in the air.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so tense, my dear boy.¡± She said as she waved her hand, which seemed to be an order, because the monster bats overhead instantly spread out and attacked the snakemen lurked in shadow.


    ¡°You¡¯re so brave to charge in as a bait, and have a powerful skill that truly makes me admire.¡± She tried to flirt me with her sweetheart tongue.


    I had to say that her voice made her very alluring, and she got a good-looking face in terms of the standard of human beauties.


    But I was not that easy to be flirted, and I had had suffered enough from those pretty faces, so I just waved my both arms forth to cast all the lightning chains to strike her!


    I made the decision all in less than a second and attacked before she could even rest her right hand in mid-air. All the lightning chains around me immediately moved forward and twisted together like a blast of laser shot that hit her and almost blew her up by going through her body.


    BOOM!


    She looked so sparkling but painful at the same time. She didn¡¯t even realize that it was me who had shot her because it just happened all in a sudden moment before she could move onto her next step.


    But my shot didn¡¯t kill her instantly. It had nothing to do with the power of lightning bolt but because she was somehow just not easy to go dead. After all, she was not human or beast. The force of necromancy I had sensed now kept her undead and the lightning strike might have just infuriated her.


    She was suffering the pain while her purple eyes sparkled so much that even brighter than all the lightning I cast on her.


    ¡°Man¡­¡± I muttered as I watched her eyes getting brighter and brighter, seemed that she was gonna blow up herself to cast some powerful spell.


    No matter how much lightning I cast on her, she was just not gonna die, and I found her mouth getting wide open while the glitter of rage in her eyes became burning bright.


    ¡°Run!¡± That was all I could think about, so I withdrew the lightning chains immediately and then swiftly rolled sideway.


    But just when I bended over to roll, the bitch suddenly howled in a very fierce way that even emitted a visible purplish shockwave of sound out of her wide open mouth!


    ¡°F#k!¡± I groaned as I lost balance because of the disturbing howl. It was like someone used her fingernails to scratch across the blackboard!


    I fell down on the ground as the shockwave spread out and echoed over everywhere in the cave. It was just too disturbing that I had to cover my ears first instead of getting up and ran.


    While lying on the ground I could see those flying monsters were all across the battlefield to attack the snakemen. It seemed that those bloodsuckers were totally immune to this particular shockwave but the snakemen were not that lucky.


    The army of King Fang was so much overwhelmed by the howling mistress and her air force. However, King Fang himself was fairly tough and he even made his way to the mistress with every step firmly.


    Almost the same time, I heard the voice of Qiushui again, in my mind: ¡°Doctor, we¡¯re coming. I need your assistance!¡±


    I could barely open my eyes because of the heavy pain in my ears. But somehow her voice eased the pain in an unnameable way. Then I tried to get up and found the mistress burned allover because of the damage dealt by lightning strikes.


    But she wouldn¡¯t stop howling until she exhausted all her power or her body became entirely burned to ashes.


    ¡°Lead us to the exit! Doctor!¡± I heard Qiushui speaking again, so I quickly took my hands off my ears to retrieve the lightning orbs.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    The brightness of lightning once again made me fairly visible to others, and I saw Fang just raising his great glaive to slash the howling mistress from the side.


    With a strong blow of blade, the glaive instantly sliced down her head, which terminated the howling now and forever.


    All in a sudden moment, the horrifying sound was gone, with the mistress¡¯s head falling down to the ground. She was completely dead.


    I took a deep breath and almost felt deaf after suffering so much pain from the howl. Then I heard the roar of Fang:


    ¡°Snakemen, charge!¡±


    These cowards, now they were in. Meanwhile, I found Qiushui sneaking by from the side with Aezo and Pinks followed and tried their best to keep a low profile to avoid any encounter with enemy force.


    I threw a couple of lightning bolts to eliminate the monster bats who dared cross their way. At this point of time, because of the death of mistress, those bloodsuckers were totally lost and trapped in this cave since it was daytime outside. They were just like those annoying flyers around you that not gonna go away even if being chased to death.


    Snakemen started a counterstrike in such a high morale, which at least gave me a break to think about the escape plan.


    Qiushui quickly caught up with me, followed by Aezo and Pinks. These two kids both caught their breath and looked quite frightened.


    ¡°Where we gonna go!?¡± Pinks asked in a tense voice.


    ¡°You go over there. I¡¯ll cover you!¡± I made it brief because I believed Qiushui had already seen it all in my mind when we had a short eye contact.


    Then she quickly nodded and shot an arrow of spell infused with elemental power when a monster bat appeared overhead.


    ¡°We¡¯ll meet up at the exit!¡± She said in a hurry and immediately drove the two kids to go forth.


    I kept firing to help them flee, sending a whole pack of lightning-work up in the air.


    But at the same time, King Fang found me and he instantly yelled: ¡°No! You come back!¡±


    He wielded the great glaive to strike down bloodsuckers and made his way to me in a rush. It seemed that big Fang was quite pissed off by my ¡°betrayal¡±.


    However, I showed him no guilt with a double lightning strike!


    The lightning bolts I cast on him hit his chest without any doubt. But his scales were somehow resistant to my attack and he was only stunned by a second to resume his move.


    ¡°You dare attack me!?¡± He shouted and really got furious.


    ¡°Looks like you have forgotten who I am¡­since then¡­¡± I began to gather lightning force as my hands moved close to each other until a lightning orb was formed between them.


    Dragon¡¯s Eye, one of my ultimate skills, was named after its visual effect which looked exactly like an eyeball when it was ready to trigger. Technically it was a blast of lightning ray that destroyed anything in the line, and the damage could be doubled if lightning force was gathered to form two orbs instead of one, which was called Final Dragon¡¯s Eyes.


    But as of right now I guessed one eye would be enough to make him impressed.


    King Fang was coming, raising his great glaive and ready for strike. Then I immediately pushed out the orb by both hands which just unleashed all the power and fired a lightning ray right to him!


    So much light spread out as the lightning ray surged forward, and with a great sound of crack, the lightning ray hit Fang that almost wiped him out.


    Actually, I didn¡¯t mean to kill him but I guessed the sparkle of ray might have just blurred his image. Besides, I wouldn¡¯t feel any guilty if he was truly dead because of me.


    ¡°Farewell, you cold blood.¡± I said and turned around. Before the rest of Fang¡¯s kin figured out what was going on, I started running.


    On my way to escape, I shot a few lightning bolts on the walls, to make a lot crack and hopefully the falling rocks would slow the enemies down.


    I heard the collapse behind with many rocks fell down to the ground. It felt almost like an earthquake. Probably this cavern would be shut down for a very long term unless I would have to pay a visit again in another boring day.


    I jumped and ran, until a beam of sunlight showed up which lighted my way to the exit.


    ¡°He¡¯s coming! Hey, Doctor!¡± I heard Aezo yelling and found their silhouettes up on the top of cavern.


    I quickly climbed up without any effort. But it was not over yet, so I urged: ¡°Now, keep moving. Get out of this hell!¡±


    Then they started to run as I followed behind and watched until they were completely out. I resumed a couple of lightning bolts to blow up the exit so that nothing would come out anymore.


    But just when I was about to fire, a creepy voice from nowhere suddenly rose: ¡°Well, well, well¡­what brings a skywalker down to the deep that he shall never belong?¡±


    I was startled for a second and then began to search around with my eyes, but nothing seemed like a living creature within the limited sight I could have.


    ¡°Who the hell is there?¡± I asked as I kept the sparkle in my hands, ready for another fight.


    But all I heard was a crack of smile, and the creepy voice rose again with curiosity: ¡°Wow, a red flash, so you¡¯re not only a skywalker, but also the Arch-one. Well, at least you were.¡±


    I remained in silence. The voice made it sound like it had seen me through and knew quite a bit about skywalkers, those cultivators from the upper kingdom.


    ¡°Oh, I see. You¡¯re a lone wolf. You don¡¯t belong here, not with the Daoist either.¡± It spoke again.


    ¡°Whatever, go f#k yourself.¡± I showed no patience to listen as I said and then fired a couple of lightning bolts, which hit the arch of the exit and caused an instant collapse.


    I quickly turned and made my way to get out of this place, but the voice chased me like a whisper of blow:


    ¡°There is no place for you anymore. With such a mighty power, you cannot hang around in western without being wanted. They¡¯ll find you! And I shall see you again, Mr. Lone wolf¡­¡±


    I had no idea what the hell it was, sounded like a male, but definitely not human. Whatever, like I just said, so I kept running and totally disregarded the freak until I was completely away from the cavern and found the two kids with Qiushui waiting at somewhere down the hill.


    Finally, I caught up with them. We were all fine, just a little bit tired and tense after run, but soon would take our time again.


    I took a deep breath and looked around. It felt like we were in Colorado, though I had never been anywhere out of Mainland. But by Colorado I meant the landscapes, the sand, the rocks, all seemed so much likeness as the view in Colorado, based on wallpapers and photographs I had ever seen.


    ¡°So¡­what we¡­gonna do?¡± Pinks asked as she caught her breath.


    I looked around and said: ¡°I don¡¯t know. Previously I was thinking all about how to get out. But now, I just wanna have a drink. We need to find a town.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­you don¡¯t know where it is yet?¡± Aezo doubted.


    I hesitated for a moment, and then explained: ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ve been away from this world for a while, you know¡­I don¡¯t quite recall the landmarks, roads, traces of human activities, so I really have no idea which direction we suppose to follow.¡±


    Aezo sighed and took out his smartphone: ¡°Oh, dear¡­I really wish I could just log in Baidu Map to have a search.¡±


    I turned my face to look at him, totally helpless. ¡°For God¡¯s sake, Aezo, please stop acting like a jackass when I¡¯m already bothered to explain. And even if you could log in, Baidu Map would absolutely not tell you where lay the nearest town because it doesn¡¯t have a database in immortal world! You idiot!¡±


    Aezo seemed retarded even when I yelled at him. He was lost for a few seconds and then shrugged: ¡°I know. I¡¯m just saying. Take it easy, Doctor.¡±


    WHAT THE HE¡­


    ¡°Maybe I know where the town is.¡± Qiushui suddenly spoke before I could lie a fist on Aezo¡¯s dumb face.


    The rest of us paused and all looked at her. I wondered: ¡°What you talking about?¡±


    Qiushui explained in a calm voice: ¡°I can sense a stream of waterflow, not too far, so I guess we can make it. Wherever the water flows, there lives human.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­that makes sense.¡± I nodded and was kind of amazed by her gift.


    ¡°Then what we waiting for? Let¡¯s go, come on! We¡¯ll be dried out like a mummy if we stay here.¡± Pinks suggested.


    I gave Qiushui a curious look and said: ¡°We¡¯re counting on you now, Missy Qiu.¡±


    She replied with a slight curve of smile: ¡°I know.¡±


    Then we were on the way to find a town.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE TAVERN

    CHAPTER 15 THE TAVERN


    Scene 1:


    The land was burning under the sunlight. We had searched for like half a day. So, I guessed it was by mid-noon now, which explained how the ground under our feet felt like a burning pan and we were all just some fresh eggs waiting for being smashed and fried.


    Aezo took a deep sigh and groaned: ¡°Oh, f#k that! I just don¡¯t understand why we end up here?¡±


    I smirked at him and questioned back: ¡°Are you f#king kidding me, Aezo? If you had never told your little girlfriend about my shop, we would have been just all fine now.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­I¡­¡± He tried to argue but only found himself like a dumb with a big mouth wide open.


    ¡°So how far is it?¡± Pinks asked Qiushui as an option to mute the argue.


    Qiushui was a bit ahead of us, leading the way. She had always been so quiet and not involved in any talk except for reading my mind, which was quite annoying before and now became a tolerable pain of mine, in an unnameable way even to my surprise.


    For a moment I thought she wouldn¡¯t respond. But she actually did. Qiushui slowed down until she was completely still, and looked around in anticipation.


    ¡°We¡¯re close.¡± She simply answered.


    ¡°So how close exactly are we? You know we¡¯ve been around for like half a day. We¡¯re sweaty and exhausted, and the water contained in our body will be entirely drained off if we can¡¯t get there in an hour.¡± Pinks addressed.


    That was true. Even though I could endure the burning sunlight and extremely unfriendly environment, so did Qiushui, the two kids would not make it through because they were just mortals and transmigrated here only 20 hours ago, not even a full day.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m done!¡± Aezo groaned as he suddenly stopped to kneel down, but only found the ground too hot to lie himself. So he jumped up with an instant scream. ¡°Ouch! What the hell?!¡±


    We all stopped and looked at him as if he were the image of our inner voice which spoke out every single word we were just gonna say.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I muttered before I could make fun of Aezo, because I just sensed some change in the blow of wind. To be more specific, I found an unusual flow of air which indicated that someone was nearby, and there could be a dozen of it, approaching.


    Qiushui sensed it too, while partially due to the effect that our minds were linked, so she read what I felt in my mind and then she found some new clue by herself.


    ¡°Yeah, we get some company. There¡¯re¡­eight of them, each has a tank of water equipped.¡± Qiushui added.


    Aezo got nervous and asked immediately: ¡°Wha¡­what are they?¡±


    ¡°I think they are human, because no beast will hang around in daytime under such a big fireball.¡± I said.


    ¡°And they¡¯re equipped with water supply, no animal would ever act like that.¡± Pinks added.


    As we all noticed a potential danger approaching, soon we formed in a defensive way to keep close to each other, and back to back.


    ¡°Where are they?¡± Pinks asked in a hurry.


    Qiushui started searching with her sense of waterflow and said: ¡°They¡¯re over there, faster than I thought. I suppose we¡¯re gonna face them very soon.¡±


    Aezo was scared of her words and became so tense. He looked around like a groundhog on guard. ¡°Then what we gonna do? Why don¡¯t we just run?!¡±


    ¡°Because they have something we just need.¡± I simply said and gave him a glance with smile, while enjoyed the frightened look on his dumb face.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Qiushui smiled too. She even added a comment in my mind: ¡°Leave it to me, this time. You take care of the kids.¡±


    ¡°Do I look like a babysitter?¡± I made it sound because I didn¡¯t know how to speak to her in star whispers, which was a very unique ability possessed by starseers only.


    ¡°What babysitter?¡± Aezo asked and looked confused because he thought I were talking to him.


    ¡°Never mind.¡± I simply said and looked over. About some hundred feet away, there was a mountain hill where a few figures emerged on the top and quickly moved downhill.


    ¡°They¡¯re coming!¡± Aezo reminded.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± I warned him as I watched those figures getting closer with more details shown up.


    They were very human but covered by dark cowls made from some rough fabric, and they mounted some beasts that looked quite unfriendly.


    As Qiushui said, they moved really fast. Not a minute past from when we initially found them on the hill, to now they were almost here, right in front of us.


    That was when I had a chance to look at their ¡°horses¡±. The beasts were like horse, but dark skin, less furry, with four far stronger legs stepped on even bigger hooves, which allowed the creature to walk on soft earth without being trapped by sands. Moreover, the rear legs were shorter than front ones which enabled it to climb up on hills in a more steady and comfortable pose.


    But the most remarkable thing about this creature was the unique horn growing on its forehead, which looked very different from unicorn¡¯s, because it was more curved, like a blade of machete, and it was very edged on the outward part.


    I didn¡¯t know the exact name of this creature, but people lived in Rouland just called it ¡°charger¡±, and it was fed on meat.


    The blow of dust became quite annoying when the chargers came to a sudden stop and like horses, they rose to extend their front legs, which was very aggressive and kind of frightful.


    Aezo and Pinks had to cover their faces and hide behind us, while Qiushui and I simply stood still without any further action, though I closed my eyes for a few seconds, and that was just because I tried to hold back my anger.


    ¡°Hey, what you guys doing here?¡± The bastard who made his charger rise asked, in a quite arrogant voice.


    He looked nothing better than a tomb robber, and his fellows were all like some gangsters according to the armed outfit.


    I didn¡¯t make any reply and instead, I turned to look at Qiushui, because she asked me to leave it to her. So, I would like to see how she was gonna deal with those bastards.


    ¡°Yooo¡­who¡¯s that chick? Where you from, babe?¡± The robber bended over to have a close look at Qiushui, making himself sound really nasty.


    ¡°And there¡¯s a little one.¡± One of his men found Pinks and drove his charger to her immediately.


    But before the charger could barely move its legs, the water tank hung over on its back suddenly blew up, which totally freaked out both the charger and rider.


    Startled by the blast, the creature jumped with its front legs rising, which caused the guy to fall off, and hurt himself on back.


    ¡°AHHH!!!¡± He screamed in pain. But the others could do nothing to help but to find all water previously contained in the tank was now cumulated in the air instead of splashing and soon formed an orb flying over to Qiushui.


    Qiushui extended her left hand to take the orb and keep it being suspended in air, while the rest of gang were totally shocked with eyes wide open.


    ¡°Does anyone feel thirsty?¡± Qiushui asked as she drew all the other seven tanks away from the chargers, which seemed like telekinesis but in fact was the water inside driven by her and forced the tanks to move toward her.


    Those bastards simply watched all the water supply being taken away before they could take any action as their mind went totally blank.


    Until all the tanks fell into Qiushui¡¯s hand, she sent two directly to Aezo and Pinks. The two kids had been thirsty enough to drink up a hogshead.


    That was when the gangsters suddenly became alive once again and quickly took out their blades to attack!


    ¡°You stop! Get me those tanks back!¡± The robber yelled as he drove the charger to strike.


    But Qiushui was ready to take the action ahead of anyone, even faster than I did.


    I watched her clenching her fist immediately, which caused the cumulated orb of water to spread out and splash like a few shots of arrow, hitting the gangsters all at once!


    They could barely hold a defense when the arrows shot to them at such a close range and in a very tense moment.


    BOOM! Like the tubes in bathroom suddenly burst and sent a fountain of water spurting forth, all the water arrows hit the gangsters right in their faces, causing them to fall off.


    But it was not over yet. The chargers, like I mentioned previously, were fed on meat, which meant they were far more aggressive and ferocious than general horses. Even though the riders fell, those beasts would not stop until their target was struck down by the edged horn growing on forehead.


    But meanwhile, Qiushui blew up all the rest of tanks by her right hand and cast all the water around us to form a heavy wall at the front to stop the beasts.


    Just when those chargers jumped to break through the wall of water, Qiushui extended her right hand to push the wall forward, like a powerful sea wave, which flooded the beasts immediately and knocked them back.


    ¡°Wooow¡­¡± Aezo sounded so amazed by her tricks, so did Pinks.


    I had to say that I had underestimated the capacity of Qiushui ever since I won the fight in my shop. Now I kind of felt lucky to have her on my side instead of being as a foe.


    But my face turned solemn when I found Qiushui was actually looking at me in the anticipation that I would say something to please her, and instead I said with negative: ¡°You know you¡¯ve wasted a lot water.¡±


    ¡°At least the kids are fresh once again.¡± She replied.


    I took my eyes off her and refused to carry on this trash talk. Then I walked to the gangsters lying on ground and took out the soft blade gained from the snakemen.


    I infused some power of elemental thunder into metal to make the whip-like blade straight and hard, and then I pointed the sword at the robber who seemed to be the head of gang.


    ¡°May I ask you a couple of questions, jackass?¡± I said without showing any kindness.


    He was drenched a lot on his face while still coughing to try to take a breath.


    ¡°Better answer my questions before I lie the blade on your neck.¡± I warned him in an impatient voice.


    ¡°Wha¡­what you want?¡± He quickly responded.


    ¡°Where is the nearest town and how far is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s Eleville, not far from here, just about two les away to northwest.¡± He answered in a hurry.


    Li was a unit for measuring distance, quite often to be used in immortal world, and the plural was les. One li was equal to 500 meters.


    But I had no idea which direction was northwest. Anyway, I continued: ¡°Is there any place I can have a drink in the town?¡±


    ¡°You mean a tavern? Yeah, yeah, th¡­there are a few¡­serve you some really good beer to drink.¡±


    I thought for a second and then said: ¡°Fine. Listen, I want you to take me and my friends to Eleville and find a tavern with good beer as you just mentioned. And I want you to buy it. You get a lot money, right?¡±


    The robber hesitated for a moment and muttered: ¡°Well¡­I¡­I¡­just¡­¡±


    But I interrupted him in mid-sentence with my blade reaching his throat and said: ¡°Think about it before I take away every single penny in your pockets. You and your gang are not matched with me and my friends.¡±


    He became dumb for a few seconds before he could resume his voice, until he had a focus on the blade which was close enough to kill him in a swift blow. Then he said in shiver: ¡°O¡­Ok¡­I¡­I will.¡±


    Finally, we had a deal. So, I showed him a wicked smile and said: ¡°Cool. Now, let¡¯s move. I can¡¯t wait to have a fresh beer shower!¡±


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE TOWN

    CHAPTER 16 THE TOWN


    Scene 1:


    It took us no much time when we found the town. Qiushui was right about the waterflow. But we didn¡¯t expect to see a grand lake instead of a creek. And unfortunately, we were on the side of nothing while the whole town was set on the other side of the lake.


    I shot the robber a piercing look and questioned: ¡°You said it was two les away.¡±


    The robber was frightened to talk. It did take him some guts to come up with a terrible excuse.


    ¡°I¡­I¡­forgot about¡­¡± He muttered.


    But Aezo stopped him in mid-sentence: ¡°Yeah, maybe he just counted the distance between two points in a straight forward way, like a straight line directed from us across to the town. But apparently we must take a turn since there¡¯s no any boat we can use or we can all go swimming across the lake.¡±


    The robber quickly nodded as an approval of Aezo¡¯s guess and then he even more quickly changed his mind to shake head when he heard the word ¡°swimming¡±.


    ¡°What? You don¡¯t like the idea of swimming or you don¡¯t know how to swim?¡± Aezo puzzled.


    I looked around. It seemed that the only way we could get to the other side of the lake was to walk along its curved edge which had a crescent-like bank overall.


    ¡°What you say, Missy Qiu?¡± I asked for her advice, since she had a good sense of anything about water.


    Qiushui took a step forward, getting closer to the lake, and she gazed at the surface as if she would see it through. We all waited for like a minute, and then I heard her say:


    ¡°No swim. The lake is far deep in the center, and even if we walk along the bank, we need to be very careful.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s in the water?¡± I questioned.


    But Qiushui simply gave me a glance and said: ¡°Just keep away from the water, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Then I looked at the robber, without saying a word, and he totally knew his job to be the first to move. So, he moved forward, ahead of us, and was aware of keeping himself away from the water.


    ¡°Are there crocodiles or something lurking in the water?¡± Aezo sounded timid and he just could not stop talking.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s so sad. I was thinking about having a naked swim. You know, it¡¯s just too hot and I¡¯m totally sweaty. I wanna go topless!¡± He groaned and looked very upset.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°You will have a shower when we get to the town. Don¡¯t worry.¡± I said.


    Scene 2:


    It was not nightfall yet when we finally arrived at the town. I was kind of surprised that it took us another two les to pass the lake along its bank.


    ¡°Where do we stay for night?¡± Pinks asked as we walked in the entrance of the town, a gate which was made of wood columns.


    ¡°Somewhere you can have a shower and I have a drink.¡± I said and poked the robber on his backbone with the tip of my sword.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± He was startled and quickly turned his face to look.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the tavern you talked about? And my friends need to have a rest.¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Oh, yeah, yeah¡­I¡¯ll show you the way.¡± He turned left to a different street where a lot merchants were hanging around like a fair.


    Because Rouland was quite a large state, probably the largest one of the nine, so the landscapes and views looked a lot different from west to east, north to south in the state. Where we were standing now was far west, among the rocks and hills, sands and wilderness.


    Eleville was the only place where you could find human activities within 50 miles around, so here always a lot travel came through. People who passed by would like to have a stop in the town and pick up some supply, mainly for water, which made the town so popular and crowded because of the cumulated travel.


    As we made our way to the tavern by travelling through the crowd in the fair, Aezo and Pinks seemed very impressed with the stuff sold by merchants. But I was not interested at all, so I asked them to hurry up before we were flooded by the crowd.


    The tavern we were looking for was at the end of street. It was called Long Men, which meant dragon¡¯s gate, and I truly hoped it was the best of town.


    I reserved four single rooms for two nights and the robber prepaid them all, after which he started to beg: ¡°Please, can I go now? You know my men are still out there. I need to catch up with them. We have a business to do, and it must be done in time. Please!¡±


    I nodded and waved my hand to send him away without a word. Nor would he like to stay for another second, so he quickly fled away with my permission.


    After checking in, I got the keys and went upstairs where the kids and Qiushui were already waiting.


    ¡°Okay, now you can have a power nap before I knock the door. We¡¯ll have dinner in the tavern after sunset. Here you go.¡± I gave them the keys as I passed by.


    Aezo and Pinks quickly walked into their rooms with the doors locked again. They didn¡¯t even say something like ¡°See you later¡± or ¡°Thank you¡±.


    ¡°Maybe they are just too tired after the long day.¡± Qiushui said as she read my thoughts.


    I took a deep breath and replied: ¡°Yeah, it has been a long day.¡±


    Then I moved to my room and tried to open the door, while Qiushui watched me the whole time. I stopped the key in its halfway into the keyhole and turned my face at her, wondering: ¡°What the hell you¡¯re looking at? You know I¡¯m tired too.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask?¡± She questioned in a calm voice.


    ¡°About what?¡± I wondered.


    ¡°About who I am, why I attacked you in your shop and tried to catch the little girl.¡± She said, while looking straight in my eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you always have the answer in my mind?¡± I kind of joked and smirked.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not on your mind. You don¡¯t even bother to think about it. I just don¡¯t get it. Why you trust me?¡± She seemed so confused.


    For a second I thought she had a crush on me, otherwise why would she suddenly become so interested in the way how I thought of her?


    I looked at her while my mind totally went blank. She looked not bad, though she was very different from the girls I met in my junior years. I meant she was pretty in a mysterious way, especially those starry night eyes, not like the girls with whom when I first met the eyes, I knew there was no more behind. But she was something different. It seemed that she didn¡¯t really care about how she visually looked like, or if she appealed to others. She never bothered to make herself look better. In the opposite, she always tried to hide herself behind those mysterious eyes.


    The longer I looked in the eyes, the more I became so involved.


    I was kind of involved way too much when she found out what was on my mind and started to question:


    ¡°What do you even think about? Oh God, so you¡¯re just trying to convince yourself about whether I am hot or not?¡±


    I was startled and quickly changed my mind. ¡°No, no, of course not. I¡­¡±


    ¡°Save your words!¡± But she didn¡¯t listen anymore. She slammed the door behind as she walked into the room.


    Now I was the only one left, standing out there like a dumb. ¡°Shi¡­¡± I muttered and entered the room.


    Leaving the door locked up behind, I moved straight forward to the bed, and quickly got myself to lie down.


    I did not really care if Qiushui was mad at me. In fact, she was wrong. I never bothered to think about her purposes of attacking my shop or chasing Pinks, not because I thought she was trustworthy, but in the opposite, I didn¡¯t trust her at all. So, I would not ask for the answers that I didn¡¯t even believe, either from her or from Pinks. I was going to find Jia Gu. He was the only one that could solve my puzzles.


    But as of right now, I was truly tired after such a long day, which was all about fight and chase. Then I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.


    (To be continued¡­)

 THE BLOOD

    CHAPTER 17 THE BLOOD


    I woke up when the sun was almost gone, only a stream of twilight left over on the far end of horizon.


    Then I got up and made my way to the window, where I could have a view of the entire landscape in west. The sands went brazen under the blurred sky and flickering sunlight that would soon fade away.


    I was always obsessed with the sunset in wild west, which reminded me so much of the earlier days when I tried to get away from my past, travelling alone and going far deep into the wilderness.


    And now I was back again. After all those years life in peace, I started to run again. But this time, I was running to the very core of power in immortal world, facing it instead of staying away.


    I cut off the thoughts and turned away from the window, packing up myself and out for the other guys.


    I came to Qiushui¡¯s room first and knocked. But I didn¡¯t wait till the door opened. Instead, I quickly moved on to the other two doors and knocked over and over again.


    Pinks responded with a groan, while Aezo was completely quiet, which was unusual. So, I decided to break in with no hesitation. I extended my index finger to the keyhole and released a little sparkle which was fierce enough to break the lock instantly.


    Then I walked in. The room smelled like ass, and Aezo was on the bed with his upper body uncovered, sleeping like a big giant hamster.


    The picture was quite unpleasant. He seemed having a fight with someone before he fell completely asleep because the bed was totally a mess with every piece of linens not in the right way of tidiness.


    ¡°You smelly hog¡­¡± I muttered as my anger rose. This room made me totally sick. Then I quickly pointed at the window and shot a lightning bolt to break it all in a blast of boom.


    BOOM!


    The blast was loud enough to knock up every single man on the floor and even startle the people downstairs who were just about to have a drink.


    Aezo was startled too. He suddenly woke up and rolled his body over to fall off the bed without attention.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± He yelled as he hit the ground with his head, and then crouched.


    ¡°Get up, kid. Time for dinner.¡± I briefly said and turned around, walking out of the room.


    ¡°Did you just shoot the window?¡± Pinks was already out and stood by the door, leaning over to have a look inside.


    ¡°No, I just wanna have some fresh air in and out.¡± I said as I passed, hearing her groan:


    ¡°What the smell? Aezo, you stink!¡±


    But just when one of my feet stepped outside and half of my body already passed the doorway, at the door next, Qiushui also came out. We had an instant eye contact with each other, and I paused for a second. But she didn¡¯t say anything and apparently refused to talk. She totally ignored me and just passed by, making her way straight forward to downstairs.


    I felt like a jerk standing out there again, while Pinks sensed the tension between her and me. ¡°What happened?¡± She asked.


    ¡°What what?¡± I disregarded her question and drove her downstairs.


    The dinner was fine, but not with much fun since we all just ate and no talk. Aezo finally came down to join us with his body covered again. We had some roast lamb and a couple of beers. The lamb was mainly from ribs and legs, which actually tasted pretty good with some spicy sauce.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    But the beer was not that good as I hoped, probably because I was never fond of beers. I would like to have a little wine instead if the wine sold in town were not that expensive. Anyway, I doubted they had good-value wine in the same good quality so far away in west.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan? How long are we gonna stay here?¡± Pinks asked after she finished the last piece of lamb ribs.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to head east to Shihe after tomorrow. I¡¯m gonna meet someone I can trust and he will help me to figure out what the hell going on with you.¡± I confessed it all with nothing undercover.


    Shihe meant stone river, which was the second biggest town in Rouland and where Jia Gu usually stayed with his business to operate.


    Pinks paused for a second and then she doubted: ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong with me?¡±


    ¡°I need to figure out who you are.¡± I said without any thinking, after which I had a glance at Qiushui, just checking how she would react.


    But Qiushui seemed careless. She remained in silence, eating, and even refused to have an eye contact with me.


    ¡°Okay, so¡­you just don¡¯t trust me, do you?¡± Pinks tentatively asked.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t say that. I just want to find out who you are and why you¡¯re chased by people from this world to that world.¡± I explained.


    Then she looked a little bit confused and soon frowned as if being offended.


    ¡°But¡­you could ask me straightforward. I wouldn¡¯t lie or something. Why don¡¯t you just ask?¡± She sounded frustrated.


    I sighed and crossed my arms, leaning backward against the chair. ¡°Well¡­because there¡­there is a rumor about you.¡±


    ¡°A rumor? Me? But we only met like 24 hours ago. What¡¯ve you heard?¡± She wondered.


    I paused for a second, not sure if this was about the right time to tell her what I had heard from Jia Gu. I tried to convince myself to do this, but I needed to know if it was right. So, I glanced at Qiushui again. I knew she could read my mind and she must give me a hint to do this.


    This time, Qiushui did not let me down. She raised a voice for me: ¡°I think what the Doctor means is that you should at least tell him your real name and where you come from.¡±


    Then she looked at Pinks, giving her a peaceful look with much heart.


    But I thought that maybe just made her even more confused. ¡°Since when you two become like¡­mates?¡± Pinks wondered.


    ¡°What mates? Like a soulmate?¡± I joked. But then I found Qiushui turning her face in cold solemn, so I quickly changed my mind.


    ¡°Okay, fine. Actually, what she just said was¡­you know¡­we should be more open to each other, because this world is much crazy and dangerous. Since we still have to keep together with everyone and we get a long journey before I meet up with my friend¡­¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s the guy you said you could trust?¡± Pinks asked with a lot doubts.


    ¡°His name is Jia Gu, a merchant like all the other merchants you saw out there. But he is much richer than anybody here in Rouland. I bet he is probably the richest guy in this state. And he is the one I can trust.¡±


    ¡°Why? Does he owe you money?¡± Aezo just popped with the most absurd question I had ever heard tonight.


    Then he went back to work with the lamb legs, trying to tear off every little bit meat on the bones. I doubted that he was even actually following but only to make a sound randomly.


    I was interrupted by Aezo and when I resumed my talk, I found Pinks not interested anymore. She laughed at Aezo and then said:


    ¡°If the guy you call friend and you trust is the richest man we can find, does it mean that we don¡¯t have to run and run over and over again?¡±


    I nodded: ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t have to run. And I trust him because once he saved my life.¡± Anyway, I thought I should tell them about this kind of history between Jia Gu and me.


    Pinks was totally surprised. Her wide open eyes seemed to say: ¡°Even a crazy laser shooter like you needs to be saved?¡±


    I nodded with an embarrassed smile. But deep down in my heart, I sighed: ¡°There are a lot more you don¡¯t know yet but you will be surprised and even scared about me¡­Who doesn¡¯t have some dark dirty shit in his past life? I am not completely open to Pinks and Aezo, and I call myself a Doctor instead of the name that I once claimed¡­I don¡¯t even tell them about my real name¡­¡±


    When I was totally involved in my thoughts, the front gate of the tavern was suddenly pushed open and someone just broke in. Everyone sitting in the lobby was startled and turned to look.


    We were sitting at the table close to the back corner of stairs so that I didn¡¯t see anything at the first place. But soon I heard a voice which sounded familiar to me yelling over the hallway:


    ¡°Please! Please help me, master! Master!? Please! Help! Help!¡±


    It was the robber that we met in the wilderness during the day. I quickly got up and made my way through the tables to the hallway.


    Others in the lobby also got up. But they stood still instead of taking an action. Perhaps it was because the robber now looked somehow terrifying to scare them off.


    The robber was drenched in blood. When I found him, he was trembling to stumble, hardly to move on. His clothes were bloody and he was injured.


    I realized that there was something going wrong as I got hurried up to came to him. But before I could do anything, he grasped my both arms so tight that I could feel him shivering while he muttered:


    ¡°P¡­please¡­my men¡­my men¡­are all dead¡­please¡­¡±


    He seemed in great terror about something, and I found the blood on his face was not his, because there wasn¡¯t any wound visible on his face while the blood already dried up. Then I double checked the blood covered on him and surprisingly found no wound anywhere in front. The fresh blood painted allover his clothes was probably from others. He was more like a witness of a brutal murder instead of victim.


    However, the robber was still bleeding somewhere on his body. I saw the blood drops left over on the floor all the way from the entrance to where we stood.


    ¡°Check his back.¡± I heard Qiushui when she came up to me. Aezo and Pinks also followed up in a hurry.


    ¡°Okay, but you see¡­¡± I tried to turn this man around but he seemed too scared to let me go as if the one last thing he could do was to grasp my arms tight and firmly. And he kept muttering:


    ¡°They¡­they¡¯re coming¡­please¡­plea¡­I¡­I¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, damn¡­¡± I had to do a crisscross with my arms so that I could catch his both wrists and instantly released some lightning force by my hands, to shock him off.


    ¡°I¡­¡± He suddenly stopped, mouth wide open while whole body stiff from the shock and soon he passed out.


    I caught him before he fell down. Then I turned to speak to Qiushui: ¡°Give me a hand, I¡¯m gonna go out to see what happened.¡±


    Then I handed the robber to her and looked at the kids: ¡°You two stay here, be wise.¡±


    I didn¡¯t bother to listen to their reply. But Qiushui stopped me before I went too far away. ¡°Doctor!¡± She called.


    I turned around to look. From where I stood, I could clearly see the robber¡¯s back and that was when I found how badly injured he was on his back.


    His clothes were totally teared up on the back and the wound looked like some bloody stripes engraved on his back by¡­I didn¡¯t know. But it seemed unlike damage inflicted by blade.


    Things were getting severe. I turned to move on, faster and faster, making my way through the crowd. I knew there would be a bloody fight waiting for me to catch up.


    (To be continued¡­)