Chapter 119

She held a handful of red beads in her left hand, pinched one between her right fingers, and gazed at them in the moonlight. Feng Baobao examined them closely, her eyes almost glowing, but when her gaze fell on Zhou Shuo behind the red beads, she instinctively drew back, clutching the beads to her chest as if afraid he might snatch them.

"I don't want this one, I want that one." Zhou Shuo looked at the girl as if guarding against a thief, his mouth twitching slightly. He crouched before her and pointed at the pile of yellow beads edged in red at her feet.

After Ma Xianhong was bound by the immortal talisman, Wang Zhenqiang, who had rushed over later, still uneasy, stabbed a closing-element needle into his Governing Vessel from the back of his head, sealing his meridians. Once his meridians were sealed, the black substance clinging to Ma Xianhong's body instantly scattered into granular red beads—a protective talisman of considerable power. Normally it appears as a string of red beads worn on his wrists and ankles; when activated it spreads to cover his whole body. But now Feng Baobao held them all in her palm.

"No way, I'm telling you, you can't touch anything." Feng Baobao stared at the bead Zhou Shuo pointed to, shaking her head like a rattle drum, speaking in a Sichuan accent to show she was serious.

"Just let me take two quick looks right in front of you." Zhou Shuo, seeing the girl shaking her head like a rattle drum, instinctively raised a finger to gesture and coax.

"Just two looks?" Feng Baobao gazed at Zhou Shuo, her expression saying: I'm not well educated, don't try to fool me.

"Mm, just two." Zhou Shuo nodded repeatedly.

"But you can't take them away!" Feng Baobao looked at Zhou Shuo, glanced at the things under her feet, and said, "Just looking at them up close should be fine, right?"

"I won't take them; I'm just curious how these things are made." Zhou Shuo looked at the earnest girl, smiled, and picked up a red-and-yellow bead. He first peered through the hole in the red rim—it was empty—then projected his thoughts into it to sense its interior. The physical space inside was just that, yet it could hold far more than himself—a genuine spatial treasure. He really wanted the Divine Machine Hundred Reflections.

"Divine Machine Hundred Reflections sounds interesting. Do you know what this thing is called?" Zhou Shuo held the small red-and-yellow bead, lifted his head, and asked Feng Baobao. This kind of spatial ring-like object fascinated him.

"It's called a Devouring Pouch." Facing Zhou Shuo's question, Feng Baobao wore a blank expression, when a voice came from the side. Zhou Shuo turned his head and saw a teenager in a T-shirt, bloodstains on his neck, hair tied in a ponytail trailing behind his head, walking over leisurely. With him were two temporary workers: one a middle-aged man from the northwest who had let himself go, Old Meng; the other a laid-back black pipe worker. The temporary workers had all rushed toward Ma Xianhong, while the boy came over here.

"Master Wang Dao, I didn't expect you to be here too!" Zhou Shuo watched the approaching boy, a little surprised. It was Wang Ye of Wudang Mountain, the inheritor of the Wind Lord's Mysterious Gate, and he had actually come to this place.

"Hey, I've not been so lucky lately; after some events I ended up here. That thing is called a Devouring Pouch. Uh, Feng Baobao, the pile in your hand is the Black Cauldron Armor, this is the Soul-Shaking Bell. Oh, the Sudden Wail Roar got smashed—what a sharp thing!" The teenager, bloodstains on his neck and an especially lax demeanor, pointed things out to Zhou Shuo, but when he saw the shattered fragments of the beast-head magical artifact, his face changed and his gaze shifted to Zhou Shuo's waist-long sword.

"Sudden Wail Roar, quite vivid." Zhou Shuo looked at the boy now in ordinary clothes, reached out and patted his waist-long narrow sword. The Sudden Wail Roar was that beast-head artifact capable of emitting sound waves and launching a charging impact, which he had shattered with his sword using the Horizontal Sweep Four Directions slash from the Horizontal Sword Technique.

"Senior Zhou, you're strong! Did you also subdue Ma Xianhong?" Boy Wang Ye, watching the man pat his long sword, couldn't help but crouch down.

"Master Wang, impressive! Has your Wind Lord's Mysterious Gate progressed further?" Zhou Shuo looked at the boy squatting beside him and gave a thumbs-up.

"My skills aren't really about progress or lack thereof, but Ma Xianhong isn't the main issue, Feng Baobao!" Wang Ye laughed, waving his hand modestly, while his eyes turned to Feng Baobao beside him. The smile on his face faded.

"What's up?" Feng Baobao blinked her eyes.

"Have you decided on your plan?" Wang Ye asked solemnly, and Zhou Shuo also halted his expression.

"What plan?" Question marks popped up on Feng Baobao's forehead.

"It's the plan you'll have after the company discovers you. I can't calculate your situation, but your future trajectory isn't good—it will implicate many, including Zhang Chulan." Wang Ye looked at the girl with question marks on her forehead, appearing very solemn.

"None." The girl's face showed confusion.

"Then let me give you a way: follow him, follow him, and you'll find what you want." Wang Ye looked at the bewildered girl and pointed his hand at the curious Zhou Shuo.

"I..." Zhou Shuo looked at the guy pointing at him, his face turning a bit bewildered. What does it mean to have Feng Baobao follow me? Am I supposed to replace Zhang Chulan in looking after her?

"You've said that before—Zhang Huaiyi once discussed it with me." Feng Baobao followed Wang Ye's finger and glanced at Zhou Shuo.

"No, it's not the same as with Zhang Huaiyi. He isn't Zhang Chulan. Your fate clashes with Zhang Chulan's; being together with her dooms her life to endless hardship. But if you follow him, you can turn danger into safety and get what you want." Wang Ye shook his head.

"Even with the Wind Lord's Mysterious Gate, please don't speak so absolutely." Zhou Shuo looked at the person persuading the girl, his eyes slightly lowering, catching the slowed spacetime around them from the corner of his vision. He had just realized that outside time seemed to have been slowed—this Daoist had come specifically to persuade Feng Baobao.

"Brother Zhou, I'm sorry—she's a major trouble, but her situation will harm Zhang Chulan." Wang Ye looked at Zhou Shuo with downcast eyes, offered an apology, and then explained himself.

"Will it harm me?" Zhou Shuo looked at the boy explaining himself, his face darkening; the boy's tone was most unpleasant.

"Yes, it will hurt me badly. To change my fate and Zhang Chulan's, she must follow you, and besides her, you must also take the Divine Machine Hundred Reflections." Wang Ye looked at the grim Zhou Shuo, extended his right hand, palm open, holding a red-hooped yellow bead.

"Damn, you really leave me speechless." Zhou Shuo looked at the Devouring Pouch in his palm, his face twitching. The Divine Machine Hundred Reflections was inside this Devouring Pouch; the Daoist's implication was that he should take Feng Baobao and leave this world—had his Wind Lord's Mysterious Gate calculated the existence of the Gate of Crossing?

"Feng Baobao, what's your decision?" Wang Ye looked at Zhou Shuo's twitching face, then turned to Feng Baobao beside him; the girl's bewilderment now showed as a struggle.

"You only ask her, not me?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl whose face showed struggle, then asked the boy. The boy seemed certain that as soon as Feng Baobao spoke, he wouldn't refuse—but the girl clearly resisted going with him, and what reason could he have to take her? Taking her along would also mean looking after her.

"I..." Feng Baobao looked at the gloomy Zhou Shuo, unconsciously raising a hand to cover her head, and the red beads in her bosom scattered everywhere.

"Enough, stop thinking about it. No matter what you say, I won't take you with me." Zhou Shuo looked at the headache-stricken girl, frowned slightly, and as expected, upon hearing this her face relaxed a bit, her anxious, painful expression easing—she didn't want to go with him.

"..." Wang Ye stared at the man who had flatly rejected him, clenched his right hand around the Devouring Pouch in his palm, feeling that the more he calculated, the more powerless he became, because things always headed in the direction he didn't want to see; even knowing the outcome, he could not avert it.

"Baobao, what's wrong?" Wang Zhenqiang's voice came from nearby, time returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"Master Xia." Zhou Shuo looked at Wang Ye, straightened his waist, and let out a call.

"What's up?" Xia Liuqing turned her head to look at Zhou Shuo; at the same moment, Wang Ye also gazed at Zhou Shuo, his grim expression stiffening slightly, his clenched hand unconsciously loosening.

"Sorry." Zhou Shuo didn't look at the distant Xia Liuqing facing him, but turned his gaze to the approaching Wang Ye, snapped his right arm out, and snatched the Devouring Pouch from Wang Ye's palm.

"I've gone back on my word." Zhou Shuo seized the Devouring Pouch, instantly leapt to the side, and watched as everyone's expressions turned alert.

"That's the Divine Machine Hundred Reflections—I took it from Zhuge Qing's hands." Wang Ye looked at the person who had snatched the Devouring Pouch from him, his face jumping, and blurted out the words; upon hearing them, the several major temporary workers instantly released hostility.

"Brother Zhou, hand it over while there's still leeway." Wang Zhenqiang stared fixedly at Zhou Shuo. The Divine Machine Hundred Reflections is the source that can turn ordinary people into aberrations; this thing must never be touched—it's a death order from above.

"Sorry." Zhou Shuo gave a distant nod to Xia Liuqing, then activated his will; in the moment before the temporary workers could react, he summoned the Gate of Crossing, swiftly slipped through, and watched as the gate closed, sealing the surprised expressions of the crowd in another world.

"He, he disappeared?" The short, plump middle-aged Old Meng couldn't help but rub his eyes beneath his glasses.

"He vanished after passing through a door that suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared." Black Pipe Worker's eyes widened.

"Now we're in big trouble." Wang Zhenqiang looked at the vanished Zhou Shuo, gritting his teeth slightly.

"What is this thing..." Ma Xianhong stared at the spot where the door had vanished, eyes wide, wondering if it was a magical treasure.

"Balun, let's go." Xia Liuqing looked at the vanished Zhou Shuo, sighed and shook her head, called to her companion; the foreigner, after withdrawing his surprised look, immediately understood, and the two slipped away while everyone was distracted.

"Thanks, Brother Zhou." Wang Ye looked at the crowd in the field, glanced at the relaxed Feng Baobao, and thanked Zhou Shuo from another world—although it was still troublesome, at least it could buy some time, but just how much time is this "a moment" really!