Chapter 198: Save the Game, Shen Baiwei!
As the figure wrapped in flames, standing with a sword, appeared before Lu Yibei, she suddenly understood why Hong Bian referred to her as “that fire.”
Although what she glimpsed was merely Hong Bian’s dream, she felt a familiar aura from that figure.
It was a unique spirit energy fluctuation that belonged solely to her.
Dry, scorching, standing in opposition to most life forms, yet filled with a magnificent and vast presence, commanding the earth with its authority.
That was the aura emitted only when the powers of the Mythological Species: Qingyi Celestial Maiden and Royal Authority converged, utilizing the bl**d flowing from Mrs. Wang Meili within her as a bridge, achieving a nearly integrated state of subtle coexistence.
Under the influence of these two powers, a series of whispers fluttered in the wind.
“…There is a woman dressed in Qingyi, wherever she sees, drought prevails, barren lands stretch for miles…”
“Everything touched by the sun and moon, subjected to wind and rain, must comply…”
Isn’t that my power description? Lu Yibei carefully listened to the whispers in the wind, this thought popped into her mind, but immediately afterward, beneath the whispers of her own power description, she heard other voices.
“…All beings drown within it, sacrificing their bodies only to take them back, like dreams and nightmares…”
“The devourer of tails is born into the world, consuming yesterday, with neither beginning nor end, the beginning is already the end…”
Is that Shen Baiwei’s power description? It sounds quite formidable… Lu Yibei thought.
As she encountered more and more power descriptions, her understanding of them became somewhat crude and simplistic.
In her perception, power descriptions, to some extent, resembled the names of moves used by comic book characters; usually, the longer, more complex, and flashier the content, the more powerful the skill.
Judging by Shen Baiwei’s power description, she could not simply be a core member of the Miracle Cult.
She had never seen an organization member who surpassed the organization’s leader by so much!
Indeed, she was referring to Shen Baiwei and Fang Ji… Lu Yibei secretly thought.
Just then, in the scene before her, the menacing giant snake coiling around the grand pass suddenly began to move.
It tightened its body, as if strangling its prey.
Under the serpent’s constriction, the seemingly indestructible city walls, accompanied by a thunderous roar, crumbled inch by inch. The broken walls fell, and before they could even touch the ground, they transformed into flowing light, merging into the giant serpent’s body, forged into scales that gradually solidified its half-illusory body.
Thus, a great pass collapsed entirely, as if it had died, leaving behind a body riddled with wounds.
Seeing the serpent’s form solidify, Shen Baiwei’s heart raced uncontrollably.
She certainly recognized that giant serpent, representing her power, the Snake of Time, and she knew that since its birth, it had been in a “hungry” state, yearning to devour the God Realm Yumen, extracting vast amounts of spirit energy and unbearable past experiences.
However, she never expected that after the Snake of Time devoured the God Realm Yumen, such a tremendous change would occur.
What does that mean?
Could it be… an advancement to Calamity?
Thinking of this, Shen Baiwei’s heartbeat skipped a beat.
As an A-Class Spiritual Ability User, she was already constrained by the Snake of Time everywhere. If it advanced to Calamity through “devouring,” she had no control over her own spirit patterns at all.
The best outcome would be becoming a puppet of the Snake of Time, while the worst outcome might be losing control of her spirit patterns, losing herself, and becoming a container for the Snake of Time’s arrival in the world, Shen Baiwei thought.
At the same time, as the city walls crumbled and collapsed, hideous cracks appeared in the ground, extending from the horizon, densely covered like plant roots, enveloping the entire city. Then, from between the cracks, a scorching light erupted like lava.
It seemed to perform a final ritual to bid farewell to this great pass—like a cremation, with astonishing heat igniting an everlasting flame upon the ruins, moisture rising from the collapsed buildings, from the bodies of residents, from every inch of the land in sight.
Countless people were trapped in the sea of fire, surrounded by steam and flames, at every moment, lives were claimed by high temperatures, fiery winds, or suffocating smoke.
Amidst the flaming embrace, the solidifying giant serpent glistened with radiant scales, its appearance growing ever more menacing, resembling the monstrous python foretold to bring about the apocalypse. The shadow standing atop the serpent’s head emanated an eerie sense of oppression even more strongly under the serpent’s looming presence.
They brought disaster, destroying a city, taking innumerable lives, as casually as crumpling a cardboard box and tossing it into the burning trash heap.
They… were disaster.
————
It was unclear how long had passed, as Lu Yibei and Shen Baiwei remained immersed in the scene of that raging inferno before them.
Time seemed to be tied in a dead knot; the flames appeared never to extinguish.
Just then, Hong Bian’s voice rang in their ears.
“The giant serpent not belonging to this world descends from above, carrying flame and bringing sinful royal authority. This was the dream I spoke of earlier.”
“In my homeland, dreams are often used by priests for divination, a method known as prophetic dreams, which priests prefer to call omens or divine messages. I, humble as I am, while glimpsing a small part of the mysteries of this world, fortuitously grasped this ability.
“I have had many prophetic dreams… such as when I was near d*ath, dreaming of a dragon showering rain, bringing sweet dew, causing flowers to bloom that do not belong to this world between the Gobi; after that dream, I was rescued by His Grace the Prince.”
“And for instance, eight months ago, I dreamt of flames consuming the city walls, iron hooves trampling life. Not long after, the Shaman Queen began to frequently invade Yumen Pass… Since then, I have intentionally utilized the power of prophetic dreams to monitor the future fate of Yumen Pass under the Shaman Queen’s influence.”
“And as the plans with His Grace the Prince unfolded smoothly, each prophetic result brought about either good or bad changes. Now, we have finally found the only feasible countermeasure.
“However, in the last prophetic dream I observed regarding the future fate of the Shaman Queen and Yumen Pass was during the 372nd observation, where I encountered a dream completely unrelated to the Shaman Queen. Since then, the future fate of Yumen Pass has become chaotic and unpredictable…”
“Then, utilizing a bit of means to investigate, I found the two ladies who had recently appeared out of nowhere in Yumen Pass.”
Listening to Hong Bian’s words, Lu Yibei and Shen Baiwei’s sight gradually became clearer. When they finally saw what lay before them, they realized Hong Bian had arrived unknowingly at their opposite side, sitting upright with a serious expression.
“Therefore, I would like to ask you two for a favor, to leave Yumen Pass. Once the grievances between Yumen Pass and the Shaman Queen are resolved, and if you two are still interested in visiting Yumen Pass, I shall welcome you warmly and present generous gifts. If you two refuse…”
Hong Bian revealed a meaningful smile, rising to his feet, placing his hands together, “Then I shall trouble you two to remain here and rest. After matters conclude, I will personally escort you out of the city.”
Upon hearing Hong Bian’s words, Shen Baiwei was the first to speak, addressing the people of Yumen Pass from a thousand years ago, “Let’s go! We’re leaving right now!”
“Very good.” Hong Bian nodded and looked at Lu Yibei, asking, “And what about this Miss Shen?”
“Um…” Lu Yibei rested her chin on her hand, pondering for a few seconds, then pointed at Shen Baiwei and said, “I was just wondering, won’t you be worried about her sneaking back in if you just let her go?”
Hearing this, Shen Baiwei froze for a moment, glaring wide-eyed at Lu Yibei, and grabbed her collar, lowering her voice, and hissed menacingly, “If you want to court d*ath, don’t drag me into it, alright?!”
“But…” Lu Yibei looked at Shen Baiwei with innocent eyes and sincerely said, “But this isn’t what we agreed upon before coming here!”
Shen Baiwei, “???”
What the heck? What plan? Don’t speak nonsense with your eyes wide open!
“If we just walk away like this…” Lu Yibei halted mid-sentence, abruptly turning around, avoiding Hong Bian’s line of sight, then leaned in close to her ear, her lips moving.
A few seconds later, as if finishing some important matter, she let out a silent sigh and heavily patted Shen Baiwei’s shoulder, saying earnestly, “Now you understand, right? So we can’t just let him call us to leave. We need to plan this out.”
In the moments when calamity was closing in, Shen Baiwei hadn’t heard any words, and now witnessing calamity scheming with her, she fell momentarily into a daze, doubting whether those few seconds had caused her ears to malfunction.
Just then, as Hong Bian’s voice rang out again, she abruptly realized she had fallen for calamity’s scheme once more.
“Well then, I think you two ladies Shen should simply stay and rest here! Please rest assured, there are tens of thousands of books within the Zawen Temple, as well as hundreds of flowers and birds, so you won’t find it dull.”
Having said that, he waved his sleeve and left. As he exited the tea room, a rumbling sound akin to rolling boulders resounded outside, and soon the interior of the tea room seemed to undergo a redesign, transforming into a spacious study with two beds.
The decorations in the study were lavish and carried a hint of a young girl’s charm, indicating careful arrangement; the only flaw being the lack of doors and windows.
Yes, Hong Bian had placed Shen Baiwei and Lu Yibei under soft imprisonment.
Although initially he intended to be polite to the two unexpected guests and hadn’t heard Lu Yibei saying anything to Shen Baiwei, casting some doubt, he quickly concluded that it was easier to simply imprison them until the war was over rather than overthink it.
After carefully inspecting every corner of the room, Shen Baiwei stood in the center with her arms crossed, looking sideways at Lu Yibei and coldly said, “Are you happy now?”
“Of course not! Being imprisoned, how can I feel happy? I’m not some weirdo!” Lu Yibei shook her head and said, “However, after I say the next sentence, maybe I will feel happy.”
“The next sentence?” Shen Baiwei was puzzled.
In the next second, calamity suddenly stepped up to her, raising a hand to cast a forbidden spell directly targeting her heart.
Meanwhile, calamity’s voice echoed in her ear.
“Save the game, Shen Baiwei!”
As the words fell, the pale light of the Four Beasts Bright Sky Cannon, amplified who knows how many times, enveloped Shen Baiwei’s body…
