Chapter 68: Memory or Illusion?

Just by looking at those four eyes, He Lingchuan could not bring himself to see it as human. Furthermore, it extended thin, long limbs, stabbing them straight into He Lingchuan’s chest.

The movement was too fast; He Lingchuan could not even make out the shape of its sharp claws before he couldn't help but scream in agony.

This pain reached deep into his soul, utterly unbearable.

He certainly wouldn't sit and wait for death, but several hard punches landed on the shadow, seemingly having no effect on it at all.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that the scene before him was familiar: a few months ago, at Mount Hulu, his original body was knocked off a cliff by a sand leopard, and both perished! Yes, this was exactly that scene.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, everything around him immediately became clear: above was the azure sky, the swaying green trees, and the cliff growing more distant in his field of vision.

The creature pouncing on him was precisely that light-yellow, spotted sand leopard!

The sand leopard even opened its mouth wide, preparing to bite through the carotid artery in his neck.

He had no way out; he would either be bitten to death or fall to his death.

He Lingchuan couldn't help but curse, "Get lost, what the hell does this have to do with me!" This should all be what his original body saw and endured before dying; it had nothing to do with him! As he cursed, the scene blurred again.

The blue sky, white clouds, and cliff all vanished; the surrounding light was bizarre and grotesque, like a grand collection of points, lines, planes, and a palette.

Then, he fell heavily to the ground.

A concrete ground.

The sky was dotted with stars, but it might have rained earlier, as the surface wasn't completely dry, and water had pooled in the small potholes on the road.

He Lingchuan crashed right into a puddle, the sewage he kicked up splashing all over the sand leopard’s head and face.

The monster seemed somewhat bewildered, looking around with its eyes, and even subconsciously loosened its grip on its prey.

The aroma of jianbing guozi drifted through the air, and He Lingchuan was also stunned.

This intersection was eerily familiar; wasn't it the path he used to take home from work?

He turned his head and saw the jianbing stall at the street corner; the "Three Yuan Each" sign was written in thick, bold marker, the handwriting as ugly as ever.

Wait, could it be that night?

He turned his head to the left again and, sure enough, saw a little girl in a dress. The girl’s mother was buying something by the roadside and hadn't noticed her daughter chasing a rolling coin all the way to the middle of the street!

Just then, a car rushed over.

Such a familiar scene.

This was the memory he should have possessed.

If everything had gone as before, he should have grabbed the girl and rushed across the road to avoid this sudden disaster.

But now the situation had changed; he and the sand leopard were blocking the space between the vehicle and the girl.

He was lying down, but the sand leopard was propped up, looking around; clearly, this scene was far beyond its expectations.

The next instant, the car rolled right over them.

Actually, strictly speaking, it rolled over him; as for the sand leopard, it was hit head-on by the front of the car and swept under the tires, emitting a crisp "bang" sound.

Afterwards, the car swerved across the roadside until it hit a wall and was forced to a stop.

He Lingchuan scrambled to his feet, gasping for air, then felt his entire body—eh, no injuries? The pickup truck's hood was smoking, and the engine had stalled.

He Lingchuan scratched his head. In his memory, it was a sedan that had hit him, but here it had become a high-chassis pickup. Did he remember wrong, or was there an error in this place? A car accident occurred in the middle of the street; people gathered around, and the little girl picked up the coin, smiled at him, and ran to her mother's side.

He Lingchuan shook his head and walked to the wall, only to see that under the car wheels, it wasn't a sand leopard, but clearly the black shadow he had first seen.

It was pinned down and unable to move, reaching its claws toward He Lingchuan in frustration, but the latter was not so stupid and immediately stepped back twice.

Soon, the black shadow shrank into a small ball and vanished.

"What the hell is that thing?" He Lingchuan muttered, only to see a glowing cyan mark revealed inside the wall the car had broken through.

He wanted to lean in for a closer look, but suddenly the world spun, and everything went black before his eyes again.

He Lingchuan blinked, not yet fully awake.

Something in his line of sight was infinitely magnified, appearing to be four huge... fangs?

Even in such a dim moment, the sharp fangs seemed to be glowing.

Suddenly, a round object flew over, hitting his belly and knocking him three zhang away.

The giant mouth from beyond the sky missed its mark, bit into the parapet, and slowly lifted its head again.

It was that black flood dragon.

Looking up from this angle, this thing was truly massive. He Lingchuan pointed at it and cursed: "How can you be so fickle, turning your back the moment you're done! I even helped you fight... fire cannons earlier!"

The cursing wasn't satisfying because his chest and abdomen had taken a heavy blow; every time he tried to catch his breath, he felt agitated and wanted to vomit.

The black flood dragon ignored him and turned to chase the white light in the air.

He Lingchuan then remembered that he had been hit in the face by this thing earlier and was likely invaded, otherwise, how could he have seen those bizarre scenes? Ceng Fei came over to help him up and said, "My lord, please forgive me, I was the one who threw the rolling stone. Are you alright?"

"You saved my life, *hic*, I will reward you handsomely later!" He Lingchuan also saw clearly that what had knocked him away was a rolling stone from the city wall, only slightly smaller than a millstone. It was meant for a catapult, but Ceng Fei had thrown it to save his life.

But the force used was real. Thanks to He Lingchuan’s sturdy constitution; if it had been He Yue who took such a hit, he would likely have suffered internal injuries and been bedridden for over half a month.

He had to reward and thank the person who had injured him. The things happening here were truly more magical than the last.

After that white light escaped He Lingchuan, it finally remembered to go find Nian Songyu.

It was extremely agile; the black flood dragon intercepted it several times, but because its body was too large, it was repeatedly outmaneuvered.

Sun Fuping sensed the white light’s movement and hurriedly picked up Nian Songyu to meet it. The black flood dragon flicked its tail again, knocking him away.

However, Sun Fuping was quick-witted and agile, throwing Nian Songyu directly toward the white light a step ahead.

The two finally met in mid-air, and the white light drilled directly into the nose and mouth of the Commandant, who had his eyes tightly shut.

Before being swallowed by the black flood dragon, Nian Songyu finally woke up.

He took a long breath, a flash of red light in his eyes, and the giant phantom behind him reappeared, its size actually twice as large as before.

Correspondingly, its two phantom blades also grew twice as long, reaching an astonishing eight zhang (over twenty meters)!

Nian Songyu wielded the long blade, aimed at the black flood dragon’s abyssal maw, and slashed upward from below! The people on the city wall suspected they saw moonlight suddenly appear and mercury spilling to the ground; the black flood dragon’s head was split in two, and the lower half fell heavily to the ground.

"No way?" Ceng Fei was startled, "Is it that useless? It grew to that size for nothing."

The black flood dragon was dead, so what would happen to them? Would they be buried with it?

(End of chapter)