lerbook #127 - Lightning Across the Void
#127 - Lightning Across the Void
Even nobles, when so poor they can't afford to eat, can only choose to shut up at this time.
"You simply don't know how high his talent is, you will regret it!" Han Suzhen looked at her husband with a serious expression.
"A lower person, what prospects can they have in this life?" Chen Sanliang said dismissively, his voice full of ridicule and mockery.
However, since he was eating their food, it wasn't good to say too much, after all, he was a proud man! And a very proud man, otherwise he wouldn't be so arrogant as to provoke the Saint's Great Dao, to provoke a lineage of Taoism. He even dared to directly write a memorial impeaching a powerful Prince of a Different Surname, making the relationship between the Emperor and the Prince of Pingbian extremely tense.
Zhang Chen was unaware of the conversation in the small courtyard. Walking out of Wangjia Lane, he felt incomparably relaxed. Once he deciphered the writing of this world, the entire world would open its mysterious veil to him in the future. At that time, he could rely on the knowledge of the writing, and then find opportunities to study the ancient script.
Zhang Chen walked out of Wangjia Lane, shuttling through the crowded streets. Although there were pedestrians moving about, it was all deathly silent.
"Strange, that Zhang Shicheng was clearly slaughtered by me, but why hasn't the drought in the north eased?" Zhang Chen walked on the street, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Logically speaking, with Zhang Shicheng beheaded, the situation of a Jiao transforming into a dragon was broken, and the drought in the world should have been directly resolved. The water vapor, without the traction of fate, should have returned along the original water veins, but today, the water vapor in the world still shows no sign of returning.
"It shouldn't be like this." Zhang Chen couldn't understand, always feeling that something must have gone wrong, but he couldn't quite figure out exactly where the problem was.
"Something's not right! Could it be that the Jiao's transformation into a dragon hasn't ended yet? Or is there some secret I don't know about?" Zhang Chen strolled through the streets.
Just then, a noisy sound suddenly came from the street, and a group of constables were seen rampaging through the street, constantly searching the passing pedestrians for something.
Zhang Chen summoned the fox spirit and ordered it to inquire about the news. Before long, the fox spirit returned: "Isn't it because of that Fifth or Sixth Master? After the theft last night, the Wang Mansion was directly notified, and now the soldiers of the Wang Mansion have taken action, searching for past suspects."
Zhang Chen frowned as he watched the constables directly snatching silver from the merchants: "This isn't looking for lost items at all, it's clearly a blatant robbery."
Zhang Chen didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he directly ordered the fox spirit to use illusion to conceal him, and then he disappeared in the form of a vampire bat.
The moment Zhang Chen transformed into a vampire bat, the Fox Fairy Nannan directly disappeared automatically, defaulting to Zhang Chen not activating the Teleportation Technique. The Fox Fairy Nannan directly lost all information from the world.
When Zhang Chen returned to the Taoist temple, it was just noon. Xiao Douding was practicing stances in the house, diligently practicing his strength, transporting the blood throughout his body, striving to prove the realm of Seeing the Gods Unbroken as soon as possible.
Seeing Zhang Chen return, Xiao Douding stopped his stance and said dissatisfiedly: "You've been gone all morning, where did you go? It's been hard for me to find you. You've been a bit strange these past few days, acting mysteriously."
"I was just thinking that I just came to the Taoist temple, I'm new here, so I should familiarize myself with the Taoist temple and get to know some senior brothers." Zhang Chen replied.
"They're all a bunch of stupid donkeys, not worth mentioning, what's so good about befriending them." Xiao Douding said disdainfully, then said to Zhang Chen: "It's lunchtime."
Then the two of them looked at each other, neither of them moving, and after delaying for a while, they carried the wooden bucket towards the kitchen.
Sure enough, as expected, the two of them were at the very end of the line. Lunch was a steamed bun and a spoonful of vegetable porridge.
The two of them exchanged a glance, without complaining, and walked back silently.
In a corner of the kitchen, the Enforcement Elder scanned every disciple, but unfortunately, after looking for a long time, he still couldn't find any clues.
The two returned to their room. Sure enough, the half of the pig's head that hadn't been eaten last night had been re-stewed, and the aroma had been locked in the room by some means by the fox spirit.
"Let me tell you, don't mess with the kitchen lately. I heard that an old guy with Transforming Strength from the enforcement team has taken action, and will be secretly guarding at night. Those old guys with Transforming Strength are all experienced people, and they are all very difficult to deal with, so let's avoid the limelight." Cheng Yu picked up a piece of pig's head meat with his chopsticks, broke open the steamed bun, and directly made a meat sandwich.
Zhang Chen remained noncommittal when he heard this, but he was also secretly vigilant in his heart. The fox spirit's ability is now only to transport a hundred pounds of items. Apart from being elusive and good at sneak attacks, it may not necessarily be able to beat a Martial Artist with Hidden Strength.
You must know that after losing the ability to transform between reality and illusion, the fox spirit also has to withstand physical damage. For example, it cannot pass through walls, and can only walk through door seams.
The two of them ate the pig's head clean. Zhang Chen sent Cheng Yu away, and then ordered the fox spirit to transport the pig bones directly into a certain temple next door, and then washed up and sat in meditation, preparing to once again visualize and explore the mysterious world, to see if he could find a way to enter that first layer of the mysterious world.
As Zhang Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, forming a mysterious and unpredictable seal in his hand, Zhang Chen directly fell into a state of meditation, his soul appearing again in that endless darkness, the golden barrier appearing again before his eyes.
The golden barrier seemed to be shrouded in a layer of hazy mist, distorting the void, making people curious about the world looming behind the curtain, wanting to peek into all the secrets within the curtain.
And Zhang Chen stood in front of the curtain, his eyes looking at the world behind the curtain, not knowing why there was actually a fatal attraction coming from within the curtain, making him unable to resist immediately breaking through the obstacles and directly rushing into it to peek into the creation within.
"Bang ~"
Zhang Chen threw a punch, but didn't even shake a ripple. He saw the light flowing on the curtain, directly absorbing Zhang Chen's attack.
At this time, Zhang Chen stood outside the curtain, his eyes full of heaviness.
"I have clearly come to the front of the curtain, but I can't enter it, why is that?" A trace of thought appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes: "The first possibility is that my mental realm is not enough. The second possibility is that my soul power is not enough, and I can't tear the curtain in front of me."
"For the above two guesses, there must be a condition that cannot be met in the dark, but what exactly is the condition?" A trace of thought appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes.
"It shouldn't be like this!" Zhang Chen stood in front of the curtain and found that even if he was just standing quietly in front of the curtain, his soul power was still being consumed.
Seeing that he could not break through the boundary of the curtain, Zhang Chen could only return his spirit to his body and summon the fox spirit.
"What do you want me for?" The fox spirit said lazily.
Zhang Chen recounted his encounter in the dark void, then looked at the fox spirit: "Did ancient sages experience something like this? Reaching the curtain, yet unable to break through?"
Upon hearing this, the fox spirit, Nannan, frowned, her playful expression gone. After all, the spiritual world was of great importance, concerning her future benefits. If Zhang Chen could break through, she would surely benefit greatly.
"That shouldn't be!" The fox spirit frowned, muttering to herself, "Ancient sages only spoke of the mind reaching that place, but didn't mention any strangeness or barriers."
Suspicion arose in Zhang Chen's heart, and a guess formed in his mind: "Could it be that the ancient sages reached that void and entered the first level of the spiritual world through their own minds, while I entered that world through external force?"
Besides this explanation, he couldn't find any other reason.
After pondering for a long time, Zhang Chen took a breath and temporarily abandoned his thoughts, instead practicing martial arts in the house, honing his muscles and bones, trying to find the technique to exert force using the large tendons in his arms.
Unfortunately, after practicing all afternoon, he gained nothing. Then, Zhang Chen began to practice calligraphy.
Although calligraphy was challenging for Zhang Chen, it wasn't particularly difficult. After all, calligraphy in the world always has commonalities.
In the end, it's just about controlling strength and adding a little skill, which isn't very difficult for Zhang Chen.
Just then, a series of dog barks came from the Taoist temple. Zhang Chen pricked up his ears, listening. The dog barks grew closer and closer, approaching the direction of his courtyard.
"Damn, the elders of the Taoist temple aren't fools. They actually know to use dogs to find the missing food. Fortunately, I've mastered the Water Control Technique, otherwise I'd be exposed today." Zhang Chen directly activated the water molecules in the courtyard, constantly washing and scrubbing the air, replacing all the smells in a few breaths.
Then, a commotion came from outside the door. The dog directly burrowed into the adjacent temple and saw the pig bones split in half, placed in front of the offering table.
"Who did this!"
The enforcement elder looked at the pig bones placed in front of the offering table, his eyes flashing with anger. A sorrowful roar shook the entire Taoist temple.
Zhang Chen picked his ears. Just then, Cheng Yu ran down from upstairs somewhat guiltily and burrowed into Zhang Chen's room: "These elders actually brought hunting dogs to find clues, it's too much. We just stewed meat in our room, the smell might be hard to cover up. This time, don't you come forward, I'll take all the responsibility."
The little bean sprout patted her chest righteously, feeling very much like a big sister.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen smiled and touched the little bean sprout's head: "Aren't you afraid of being hit with the board?"
Hearing "hit with the board," the little bean sprout shuddered, forgetting all about Zhang Chen's head-patting, and felt terrified: "I ate your meat, and I'm your senior sister, how could I let you take the blame?"
As she spoke, the little bean sprout patted her chest, suppressing the fear in her heart: "Don't be afraid, I'm determined to take the blame."
Looking at the little bean sprout's "I'm very scared, but I'm very righteous" expression, Zhang Chen smiled: "Don't be afraid, I handled things cleanly. Even if they have hunting dogs, they won't be able to find us."
"Really?" The little bean sprout's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Zhang Chen nodded affirmatively. Only then did the little bean sprout return to her room with trepidation, secretly watching through a crack in the window.
Zhang Chen honed his muscles and bones and practiced calligraphy in the room. When it was almost dark and the little bean sprout had fallen asleep, he opened the door and walked out of the room. He opened his Dharma Eyes to survey the Taoist temple, but saw no anomalies, nor any anomalies in the incense offering.
"Strange." Zhang Chen stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then his figure scattered, transforming into countless bats and disappearing into the courtyard. He reappeared at the place where he had served in the Yellow River.
Looking from afar, the Yellow River service area was still crowded with people. Countless constables surrounded the underground cave, extending ropes as if to salvage something.
Zhang Chen revealed his figure in the distant mountains, opened his eyes, and looked up at the high sky. The true dragon aura had already dissipated, obviously the dragon transformation and flood dragon escape pattern had been completely broken. The dragon transformation and flood dragon escape had failed, but why were they still surrounding this place without letting go?
The riverbed of the Yellow River was still dry, and countless constables and laborers with torches lit up the entire riverbed for several miles, clamoring and constantly digging for something.
"Strange!" Zhang Chen couldn't understand. He wanted to activate the Soul Hooking Chains to sense the location of Zhang Shicheng's soul.
After all, Zhang Shicheng had already been marked by him. Even if the other party was reincarnated, he couldn't escape his perception. But he was afraid that Zhang Shicheng hadn't been reincarnated. What if he accidentally revealed his whereabouts…
"Logically speaking, Zhang Shicheng has already been reincarnated. After all, with Zhang Shicheng's abilities, wouldn't he be able to forcibly extend his life? How could the other party bear to die? But what he's wondering is whether Zhang Shicheng's lifespan is now calculated according to human life, or according to dragon species life when he transformed into a dragon species." Zhang Chen pondered for a moment, then decided to risk it. After all, he still had the skill to transform into bats. At worst, at a critical moment, he could transform into bats and scatter into the mountains. Zhang Shicheng wouldn't be able to find him then.
As Zhang Chen's thoughts stirred, the Soul Hooking Chains appeared. Then, at the end of the chains, a golden dragon roared to the sky, revealing Zhang Shicheng's face: "Boy, Old Ancestor, I've been waiting for you for more than a month. I knew you definitely wouldn't be willing to give up, and would definitely want to take revenge on Old Ancestor, wanting to find my reincarnated body and cut the grass and eliminate the roots. How could Old Ancestor give you a chance to seek revenge?"
Zhang Shicheng smiled at Zhang Chen from afar, the light in his eyes was terrifying.
Seeing this, a great terror surged into Zhang Chen's heart. Without saying a word, he directly hid the chains, then transformed into bats and disappeared into the mountains.
It wasn't that he didn't want to capture Zhang Shicheng's soul, but if Zhang Shicheng's soul was captured, he wouldn't be able to kill him, and the other party wouldn't let him go, constantly following him around. Wouldn't that be a path to death?
So Zhang Chen didn't even think about it and directly ran away!
Just ten breaths after Zhang Chen fled, a thunderclap suddenly sounded in the dark night. A streak of azure lightning flashed past, directly turning everything within thirty meters of the place where Zhang Chen had been standing into dust, leaving a pit three meters deep in the ground.
"Damn it, this dog thing Zhang Shicheng didn't reincarnate? Does he want to be a wandering ghost?" Zhang Chen cursed, transforming into bats and constantly shuttling through the mountains, daring not to look back at all, and even daring not to absorb the moonlight at this time.