Chapter 289: Chapter 286 [Memory Fragment]
Chapter 286: Memory Fragment
Niushou Mountain.
The abandoned mine pit was not far from Yulong Lake, separated by a slope. From a high vantage point, the mine pit and Yulong Lake faced each other, forming a mystical pattern reminiscent of a yin-yang symbol.
Chen Nuo was, of course, very familiar with this place.
The Star Sky Empress’s first major battle with the Old Guo couple, the tank drivers. Then Chen Yanluo and Lu Xixi’s battle against the Wizard.
Later, after Lu Xixi recovered her memories, she had beaten up Chen Nuo here.
This place was quite far from the residential areas, which made it a "safe place" in Chen Nuo’s opinion.
More than a decade later, it would be planned as a scenic area with extensive construction, including the rebuilding of temples, resorts, and the like.
But in 2001, it was still a place seldom visited by people.
When Chen Nuo entered the mountain, after walking along the winding mountain road and noticing there were no pedestrians around, he stealthily merged into the jungle and moved swiftly.
After entering the mountain, Chen Nuo thought for a moment and chose Yulong Lake as his destination.
The mine pit on the other side of the slope was also secluded, but he had recently heard on the news that the Government was planning to make major reforms in the mining area.
It was now morning, and it would be inconvenient if he met surveyors or construction workers in the mining area.
Yulong Lake on the other side of the hillside was comparatively more suitable.
At this time, Yulong Lake was still a completely wild lake, far from urban streets, nestled in the mountains, undeveloped and rarely visited.
When Chen Nuo emerged from the forest at the lakeside, he first spread out his spiritual power in all directions to scout the area, ensuring no one was around.
After thinking for a bit, Chen Nuo leaped onto the lake surface and, without a sound, dove into the water.
Below the surface, a Mentality Cocoon created a water-free space, and Chen Nuo slowly submerged to the center of the lakebed.
The lakebed’s mud was soft, and Chen Nuo picked out a relatively flat rock to sit on.
After expanding the Mentality Cocoon slightly, Chen Nuo sat cross-legged on the rock. He gently wiped his hands, took the wooden box from within his clothes, and placed it on his lap, slowly opening it.
Now, at the bottom of the lake, if he were to unleash something like the sword qi that had erupted at home, the surrounding water would act as a buffer, preventing it from easily escaping.
Taking out the rusty iron sword, Chen Nuo gripped the hilt in one hand and, with the other, gently ran a finger back and forth along the rust-speckled blade.
He tried infusing his spiritual power into it, bit by bit...
HUM. Chen Nuo suddenly felt a jolt deep within his Consciousness Space, and a vague impression, a vision, filled his sight...
The sky and earth changed colors, the heavens dyed in blood!
It was unclear whether it was the effect of the sunset or some other force, but the world seemed to be tinged with a faint blood color.
Looking up at the sky, there was no sun in sight. Looking down at the ground, it was all crimson!
In the sky, it seemed as if a few figures were moving rapidly back and forth, a certain power filling the space between heaven and earth!
He watched as a dazzling silver radiance plummeted from the blood-red sky, thundering down into the earth...
Chen Nuo’s eyes widened. He saw a tall, slender man in leather armor nearby in mid-air, shouting anxiously at him,
"Yun He! Retreat!"
The man’s face was covered in blood, his leather armor was torn, and one side of his body was covered in wounds.
Chen Nuo was startled but then "saw" himself advancing instead of retreating!
Looking down, he saw a foot-long short sword in ’his’ hand. ’He’ raised it high, and an incomparable sharpness swiftly condensed on its blade.
"We can’t retreat! If we retreat now, we’ll all die here!"
BOOM!
Chen Nuo saw ’himself’ charge into the red clouds. The sword in ’his’ hand slashed a path, tearing through the crimson chaos, but the increasingly dense and viscous blood clouds swiftly reconverged from all directions.
The power emanating from the blade grew increasingly sluggish.
Suddenly, ’he’ struck ’his’ own chest hard with ’his’ left hand!
Chen Nuo felt a shudder run through ’his’ (Yun He’s) body. As ’he’ opened ’his’ mouth, a spray of blood coated the short sword in ’his’ hand.
HUM. The blade seemed to vibrate violently.
"Go!"
The short sword shot from ’his’ hand, swiftly piercing the red clouds. The erupting sword qi instantly shattered the nearby blood clouds!
A low roar came from afar, "Yun He is giving his all! Everyone, join in! Even if we all die here today, we cannot let it awaken!"
The severely injured man in leather armor bellowed, "Buy me some time, Yun He!"
Chen Nuo—or more precisely, the ’Yun He’ of the memory fragment Chen Nuo was experiencing—suddenly shouted, "Baroque! We need you!"
BOOM! From a terrifying abyss torn into the ground by a previous impact, a faint silver light suddenly ignited.
A figure soared back into the sky.
The man was burly, clad in an antique-style full suit of knight’s armor, though his helmet was shattered and missing. Beneath a crop of short brown hair, his face was bearded. A deep scar carved his visage, running from his left brow to the right corner of his mouth, as if diagonally cleaving his face in two.
"Baroque!" ’Yun He’ roared.
The armored man flew into mid-air, coughing up blood as he said hurriedly, "Use whatever trump cards you have left! I’ll buy us time!"
With that, he roared, "Holy Light!!!!"
His entire body shone with a silver radiance as he plunged into the red clouds...
The silver light pierced the red clouds like a blade cleaving chaos. Baroque’s stout form vanished within. Faint roars and furious shouts echoed out, and trails of silver light flickered amidst the red clouds.
’Yun He’ took a deep breath. He fiercely swiped his fingers across the sword’s edge, instantly slicing them open. Blood gushed out, dripping from the blade’s tip...
’Yun He’s’ aura rapidly diminished, yet the sword in ’his’ hand seemed to gather a terrifying power at an astounding pace!
In the distance, the man in leather armor panted heavily. His gaze flickered with ferocity and resolve. Suddenly, he thrust two fingers into his own eyes!
He screamed in agony, blood streaming from his eyes, yet he quickly fell to the ground.
The ground, once littered with gravel, now seemed to have turned into a crimson sea.
After landing, the man, his eyes bleeding, swiftly knelt on one knee. He reached behind his back, grasping at the air. A longbow, shimmering with multicolored light, appeared as if pulled from the void!
In the sky, as if sensing some power, a patch of red cloud suddenly whirled down, heading for ’Yun He’ and the leather-armored man...
From within the maelstrom, Baroque, radiating silver light, roared and lunged out. He intercepted it in mid-air, his form bursting with silver light, desperately forcing back the patch of red cloud that aimed for the two men!
The red cloud ferociously devoured the silver light. Baroque let out a harrowing scream, simultaneously bellowing, "Hurry! I can’t hold on much longer!!"
"’Yun He, I’ll draw its attention! You strike it down!"
The leather-armored archer drew his longbow, still kneeling. He tilted his blood-smeared face skyward, eyes tightly shut. "Remember," he said, "I can only loose this one arrow. We... only have this one chance!"
’Yun He’s’ voice was deep and somber. "The same... I, too, have only this one strike!"
A resolute smile touched the archer’s lips. He whispered, "Mr. Yun He, it has been an honor to fight alongside you!"
’Yun He’ burst into laughter, blood still streaming from ’his’ mouth, as ’he’ shouted back, "Mr. Corot! See you in the next life!"
Three bursts of light simultaneously illuminated heaven and earth, like three sharp blades plunging into the chaotic red clouds...
GASP!
Chen Nuo abruptly opened his eyes!
His face shifted from shock to anger to sorrow before finally calming down...
Those memories... they were clearly from ’Yun He’s’ perspective.
And this ’Yun He’ must be the ’Patriarch’ of the Qingyun Sect.
So... this must be the memory of the battle in 1655, when Noah’s Ark assembled three Controllers to jointly exterminate a Mother. And from the outcome...
The three individuals I just saw in the memory... the silver-armored warrior ’Baroque,’ and the leather-armored longbowman ’Corot.’
And, of course, ’Yun He,’ the Patriarch of the Qingyun Sect.
All three of these powerful experts ultimately perished.
However, Baroque and Corot fell on the battlefield. Yun He, on the other hand, returned to Huaxia gravely injured and died soon after from his wounds.
Chen Nuo sighed with emotion. Suddenly, a thought struck him. With a light flick of his fingers, the timeworn, rusty sword floated before him.
In his Consciousness Space, the ’Tree of Killing Thoughts’ seemed to stir, a powerful resonance creating a strange sense of connection within Chen Nuo.
With a light wave of his hand...
A strand of power from the Tree of Killing Thoughts flowed out along his fingers, infusing into the rust-covered short sword.
The rust instantly cracked and crumbled away, revealing the blade’s original appearance!
Chen Nuo’s eyes suddenly widened in shock!
An intense killing intent surged through him, as if he had instantly plunged into a maniacal lust for slaughter!
WHOOSH! The short sword flew out...
The placid surface of Yulong Lake suddenly parted cleanly!
A cold gleam shot out from the lake bottom!
Then a figure burst forth from the surface, standing high in the air above.
The water surface was now split in two. On the exposed lakebed, a neat fissure lay clearly visible to Chen Nuo!
The killing aura radiating from that single sword strike had nearly carved a fissure hundreds of meters long into the lakebed of Yulong Lake!
Chen Nuo landed on the ground, the short sword already tucked into his sleeve. In his Consciousness Space, the restless ’Tree of Killing Thoughts’ was quickly suppressed by the power nurtured by the adjacent ’Tree of Misfortune,’ restoring calm.
Chen Nuo steadied his breath, feeling the killing intent filling his heart fading away.
...A new ability...
But the side effects are too severe.
「The Harbor Pier.」
A woman with distinctly Latin features stood beside an off-road vehicle, carefully examining a map.
A young boy slowly approached, first walking around the vehicle.
The vehicle was in good condition. Though it looked a bit old, it was well-maintained. Many parts had been modified, especially the roof rack; despite some wear, it had been reinforced in numerous places.
Clearly, the owner was an avid traveler who often roamed the great outdoors.
"Hello."
The boy stood before the woman and spoke with a slight smile.
The woman looked up, her gaze sweeping over the boy as she sized him up. She noted his ragged clothes and dirty hair. Most strikingly, his shoes were battered and grimy, his ankles dirt-streaked, and he wore no socks.
"Sorry, kiddo, I don’t have any cash on me," the woman said, clearly mistaking him for a beggar.
"I don’t need money," the boy said with a smile. "I was wondering, are you heading inland?"
The woman took a second look at the boy in surprise.
The kid appeared dirty, but his smile was composed.
His eyes, in particular, seemed remarkably spirited.
"...What is it?" The woman didn’t answer directly, instead asking, "Are you... looking for a ride?"
"Yes. I’d like to go to Buenos Aires," the boy replied, smiling.
"...Are you alone? I mean, do you have no adults with you?"
"I’m a drifter," the boy answered frankly. "Alone."
The woman hesitated a bit.
Being an experienced traveler, she was not without her guard and would not arbitrarily offer a ride to a stranger.
Even if the other person was a seemingly harmless child.
Who knows? He could be part of some gang using children as decoys to lower people’s guard, with the rest of the crew following.
However, the woman instinctively felt this dirty boy possessed a strange aura. He wasn’t like the petty thieves or gang-raised pawns she’d encountered in her years of travel...
His gaze was too calm and peaceful.
After a moment’s hesitation, the woman sighed and put away her map. "Alright, I can take you part of the way. I’m not going to Buenos Aires, but... I can give you a lift for a stretch."
"Then, shall I pay you?"
The boy smiled, fishing in his pocket and producing a few crumpled low-denomination bills.
The woman glanced at the money and shook her head. "No need. The seat’s empty anyway. Get in. You can sit in the passenger seat."
The boy bowed with a grateful smile, went around to the other side of the vehicle, pulled open the door, and hopped into the passenger seat of the off-road SUV.
The woman also got into the car.
In fact, tucked into her door panel was a pistol, already loaded with a round in the chamber.
"Let’s get something straight," the woman deliberately touched the gun, then pulled back her jacket and slid it into a hydraulic holster. She continued slowly, "I’m giving you a ride out of kindness. Don’t you bring me any trouble. I’ve spent a few years in the army."
"Of course. I only want a ride, ma’am," the boy said, sitting steadily. He even offered the paper bag in his hands forward. "Would you like one? Oatmeal cookies. I just bought them from a shop at the harbor. They’re quite good."
"Rod’s shop? His pastries are indeed well-made. That guy married a good woman; she’s an excellent cook."
Despite her praise, the woman didn’t reach for a cookie. Instead, she started the car and slowly drove away from the harbor.
The car turned onto the highway and headed inland.
About ten minutes later, the woman confirmed no suspicious vehicles were following and gradually relaxed.
It’s definitely not some con artist’s trick.
Having lowered her guard, she became quite amiable and began to chat casually with the boy.
"At such a young age, why are you wandering around all by yourself?"
"The world is very interesting, and it’s nice to walk around and have a look, don’t you think?"
"But you’re really too young." The woman laughed. "You look only a few years younger than my daughter."
The boy gave a slight smile.
"What brings you to the port? To see the sea?"
"No, I was actually thinking of going across to the other side."
The woman was taken aback. She couldn’t help but turn to look at the boy. "Are you... thinking of going to Antarctica?!"
"Yeah."
"God!" The woman sighed. "You really are brave! You can’t get there like this. You have no cold-weather gear, no provisions... Okay, you have nothing!
"How do you plan to get to Antarctica? With just that little bag of cookies?
"Listen to me, child. The world is wonderful, but before you go wandering, you must be prepared. You need to learn a lot of common sense! Otherwise, you’re very likely to get yourself killed."
"I’ve already changed my mind now," the boy said with a gentle smile.
"What are you going to do in Buenos Aires? Do you have relatives there?"
"Hmm... I want to take a look, find a way to leave South America. Maybe travel to other continents."
"Quite the wild imagination," the woman said, shaking her head with a wry smile. "Do you have any identification? A passport? Money? What about travel expenses?"
"...There will always be a way." The boy’s smile remained gentle. Suddenly, he noticed a small pendant hanging from the rearview mirror.
Upon it was inlaid a photo.
In the picture, a young girl smiled sweetly.
"Is this your... daughter?" The boy reached out to touch the pendant.
"Yes, my daughter. She’s probably a bit older than you," the woman said casually as she drove. "How old are you? Are you twelve yet?"
The boy smiled and said casually, "Probably thereabouts."
"What’s your name?"
"...Hmm... Seed," the boy replied.
The woman nodded and casually pointed to herself. "Sofia."
It was a very common name among Latin people.
The boy nodded. "Okay, Sofia, it’s a pleasure to meet you, and I really appreciate the ride."
"You’re welcome, little Seed. Speaking of which, your name, Seed... does it mean SEED, like a plant seed?"
"Yes." Seed glanced at the photo on the pendant. "Your daughter is very cute. What’s her name?"
"She’s called Fox." Sofia’s expression softened at the mention of her daughter, a hint of sweet affection in her eyes. "She’s a clever little fox."
Fox?
A little fox?
Seed curled a corner of his mouth, unconcerned.
Then, suddenly, his smile faded, and he frowned at the road ahead.
Suddenly, as they rounded a bend at an intersection ahead, they saw a car stopped in the middle of the road, its hood open. Beside it, a woman was desperately waving her arms, signaling for them to stop.
"Sofia... don’t stop the car."
"What?" Sofia asked instinctively, but she had already unconsciously pressed the brake.
The woman from the roadside ran up frantically. She stood in front of their car and shouted, "Can you help? Our car won’t start! It might be the battery..."
Sofia looked at the woman in front of the car and leaned out of the window to say something...
CLICK!
At the soft sound, Sofia immediately realized something was wrong!
A dark muzzle was already pressed against her head.
Just behind her head, a man holding a gun smiled coldly. "Alright, now don’t move! Gently open the door and get out!
"Do it gently, bitch!"
Sofia’s face froze.
In the passenger seat, Seed sighed softly, "Ah..."