Chapter 45: The Shadow King 23 |
Wu Zhong stopped dwelling on it. The immediate priority was to contact the two who had gotten separated.
"Here, your cucumber. Hurry up and contact Brother Xia."
Yang Chunsha took the cucumber, pursed her lips and said, "Well... since we've already been scattered, why do you need to go looking for them?"
"How about just the two of us form a small team?"
"Find a quiet place with no conflicts, only take on some simple delivery tasks, free and unrestrained, wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Wu Zhong shook his head. To be honest, he had thought about such a leisurely life.
But he also knew it was impossible.
Without resolving the matter of the ghosts and gods, it was like a sword hanging over his head - how could there be peaceful days?
Moreover, he would definitely have to go back to find his grandfather one day. Whether he returned in disgrace or gained equal respect, he still needed to give an account of himself. He couldn't just think about pleasant things while being free and unrestrained.
"At least I don't have that qualification. Whether it's to resolve the ghosts and gods or to repay Brother Xia's investment in me, I have no reason to slack off."
"I can feel that meeting Brother Xia was a kind of luck. The starting line he could give me was already very, very high."
"In the past, I had no choice. But now, I want to become a big shot."
With the last sentence, Wu Zhong's tone was exceptionally firm.
Yang Chunsha was stunned, then nodded wistfully: "Alright... alright... you're right. I actually guessed it too - that I would inevitably get involved in troubles one day and couldn't remain so peaceful forever."
"Seven years without getting involved, it's really a miracle when you think about it... but good days will eventually come to an end."
"That, you said you let Gourd escape, so doesn't that mean your information is still exposed? This is even worse."
Wu Zhong sighed: "Gourd doesn't know much, but we still need to quickly contact Brother Xia and properly discuss what to do next."
Yang Chunsha said no more and immediately held the cucumber to call Infinite Summer.
After a while, she began communicating with Xia Heng. Sure enough, Xia Heng was fine - he hadn't even been injured.
Instead, Matsutake and Gourd were completely wiped out, both captured by Unit 985. These were things Xia Heng witnessed personally before leaving.
"Gourd was captured?" Wu Zhong felt a belated fear. Luckily, he hadn't pursued deeply at that time, nor gone back to look for Xia Heng, but had directly slipped away.
Yang Chunsha relayed Xia Heng's words: "It's impressive that you managed to escape. Luo Yi is with you, right?"
Wu Zhong was astonished and had Yang Chunsha relay: "No, he wasn't? Didn't he fall under the illusion technique with you?"
Xia Heng was clearly also stunned, only answering after a long pause: "Didn't I tell him to stay behind to protect you? Weren't you brought to escape by Luo Yi?"
Wu Zhong was even more surprised: "Huh? You told him to protect me? He directly fell under the illusion technique and went to support you."
Xia Heng conveyed: "Bullshit about him falling under illusion technique. He has Observation Haki - Matsutake's illusions can't deceive him."
Observation Haki? Wu Zhong blinked.
Well, did Luo Yi really have Haki?
Wu Zhong remembered when Luo Yi was driving and mentioned the tracker's Aura Observation Technique, he said something about 'my outstanding presence like a firefly in the night, that undeniable domineering aura'.
So he really had Observation Haki.
"He didn't fall under the illusion technique?" Wu Zhong scratched his head frantically.
The two sides exchanged a few more words, recounting everything that happened truthfully.
After comparing notes, Xia Heng laughed angrily: "When he pretended to be under the illusion technique to support me, did he have no shadow?"
Wu Zhong thought back and said: "I didn't notice. When he rushed to support you, I was anxiously calling out to him. Looking at his back, there was indeed something discordant."
"The discordance you felt at that time was probably not seeing the shadow at his feet..." Xia Heng explained.
Wu Zhong exclaimed in surprise: "Ah? A person without a shadow? Is this his ability?"
Xia Heng had Yang Chunsha relay: "He's 'Shadow Man'. His shadow is his permanent clone that can separate from his main body to act, and they can instantly swap positions."
"Sigh, shout a couple times - he must be nearby... this damn Luo Yi. I told him to protect you, but he actually investigated your abilities without showing himself once."
Wu Zhong was amazed and quickly called out.
"Lord Luo! Are you there?"
After one shout, there was no movement around.
He shouted louder, startling birds and beasts in all directions, but still no one appeared.
Just as he was wondering if Xia Heng might be mistaken.
Suddenly, from the shadows of numerous trees in the distance, a human-shaped black shadow rushed out, having just arrived from far away.
It looked somewhat like the villain 'Shadow Man' from cartoons, just walking out like that.
The shadow person completely blended into the environmental shadows. If he hadn't actively revealed himself now, he would have been completely undetectable.
"Lo... Lord Luo?" Wu Zhong stared wide-eyed.
He could tell that this shadow's form had a cigarette pinched in its hand.
Sure enough, the next second, the shadow whooshed and transformed into Luo Yi.
Luo Yi, with a cigarette in his mouth, laughed: "You run really fast. I lost track of you for a while and you disappeared."
Wu Zhong said gloomily: "Wait, you've been following me all along?"
"When I was fighting for my life, you were there too? You just watched?"
Luo Yi also seemed somewhat embarrassed, smiling awkwardly: "Weren't you pretty capable?"
"I saw you didn't need my help."
Wu Zhong took a deep breath: "Where exactly did I not need help? I've been longing for someone to help me the whole time, okay?"
"Relax, I have good judgment." Luo Yi looked innocent: "Actually, I wanted to reveal myself to save you several times, but you never gave me the chance, kid. You actually won..."
Wu Zhong pointed at him: "Oh, so it's my fault for winning?"
Luo Yi said: "This is all Old Xia's fault. He told me not to help you too much, just make sure you're okay, and let you accumulate some experience."
Wu Zhong's mouth twitched: "Is this not helping me too much? You didn't help at all!"
"I was too capable and didn't give you the opportunity? How was there no opportunity? How many times was I in desperate situations... De Biao was even about to die, her neck was broken!"
He knew in his heart that Luo Yi actually wanted to investigate his characteristics. Xia Heng hadn't told Luo Yi too much, so Luo Yi used this opportunity to intentionally let him face things alone and observe his traits.
Luo Yi sucked the corner of his mouth: "The Mad Blood Clan isn't that easy to kill. In her condition, even with a broken neck, she could hold on for a minute without dying completely."
"As for you, don't even mention it - you never suffered any fatal injuries from start to finish."
Wu Zhong became more agitated: "How is that true? When Feipeng infused his inner power into me, I truly felt death."
Luo Yi tilted his head: "He infused inner power into you?"
Wu Zhong was startled, realizing that Luo Yi actually didn't know about this.
"You just said there was a period when you weren't following me - when was that?"
Luo Yi shrugged: "After I saw you using your first-generation traits to survive a desperate situation, I knew you were fine and didn't pay much attention to you anymore."
Wu Zhong said: "But Feipeng came again, and my injuries hadn't healed at that time."
Luo Yi spread his hands: "I knew he came, but wasn't he in worse shape than you? Damn, that anal sword of yours made me feel a chill in my heart."
"You already knew you were first-generation at that time and had discovered the first-generation mechanism. With Yang Chunsha and an old lady available for you to refresh mental disorders, you wouldn't lose as long as you had any brains."
"Xia Heng is really inconsiderate - he actually didn't tell me you have mental resistance effects. No wonder he was so eager for me to pass on the Mad Blood to you. You and the Mad Blood Clan are indeed a perfect match."
Wu Zhong pressed: "So after you saw De Biao coming to help me, you left? Where did you go?"
Luo Yi grinned: "Where did I go? Unit 985 arrived, of course."
"The advance team also came from the direction of Rong City, so they reached Old Xia's side first."
"And my main body was there too. If Old Xia was pushed to the limit, he could instantly teleport away, but I can't do it so easily. I needed to ensure my shadow was in a safe place, then swap positions with my main body."
"After that, I controlled the shadow to escape the scene."
"Although my shadow can ignore many types of attacks, mental power can harm me. Among the Unit 985 personnel, there were mental power users, so I had to be cautious."
"By the time I completely escaped and collected myself, I found the battle on site had long ended, and you were no longer in the village."
"Fortunately, I have Observation Haki. After searching around, I found your footprints and followed you here. You run really fast, kid - I just caught up."
Wu Zhong's expression turned serious. So that's how it was.
Luo Yi had only seen the first half of the battle. How he ultimately won in the end - Luo Yi hadn't paid attention to that... he was dealing with Unit 985.
During that period, he had just completed his final turnaround - swallowed Feipeng's inner power, relied on the old lady's disorder to recover from injuries, killed Ya Bai, and finally chased Feipeng out of the village.
"Footprints... I was paying attention to covering them along the way..."
Luo Yi said: "Heh, wherever people pass, no matter how careful, traces and scents are inevitably left behind."
"If even I could follow you, let alone Unit 985 with their invincible tracking dogs. Your skills are still too rough."
"But don't worry, I've completely cleared your trail along the way. There won't be any pursuers behind."
Wu Zhong felt a chill.
Yes, that invincible tracking dog - Unit 985 had that. Back then, it had chased him across several mountain ridges without being shaken off.
Honestly, relying on himself alone, how could he escape Unit 985's tracking?
In reality, he still essentially escaped with Luo Yi's help. Otherwise, he would definitely have been caught by Unit 985 by now.
"So that's how it is... Then thank you, Lord Luo. Without you, I wouldn't have gotten away." Wu Zhong thanked him honestly.
Luo Yi waved his hand: "It's nothing, just a small matter!"
"I came to help at Old Xia's request - he owes me a big favor."
"I just didn't expect your ghostly mark to have so many effects. Hey, what's that shield about? Can you create derivatives?"
Wu Zhong said casually: "Yes, according to Brother Xia, any shield I empower becomes soft invincibility. So De Biao's Triple Rashomon was also blessed by me, because the ghost-mask window in the middle also counts as a shield."
Luo Yi rubbed his chin: "Interesting. So your characteristic is related to shields, no wonder. You also have mental resistance effects... actually, you have a mental shield, right?"
"Hey, is your ghostly mark perhaps a shield-shaped tattoo or symbol?"
Wu Zhong shook his head: "I don't have any tattoos or marks on my body."
"Is that so..." Luo Yi noncommittally waved his hand: "Hey, let me play with that shield."
Wu Zhong directly tossed the shield to him, but mid-air, the broken parts were scraped off by wind pressure.
When it reached Luo Yi's hand and shook again, it directly shattered and scattered.
"Ah? Isn't it soft invincibility?" Luo Yi was astonished.
Wu Zhong tilted his head: "Well, I can destroy it myself, it's just that no one else can destroy it."
"It was already full of cracks. My throw counted as me exerting force to attack, so it shattered. It's fine, I'll make another one for you."
He went to chop down a tree while thinking to himself.
Although Luo Yi had been observing him for a long time, he only saw the surface.
He knew the ghostly mark granted him mental fortitude, inability to heal, forced silencing, and other effects.
But like Ya Bai and the others, he believed these were granted by the ghostly mark.
No, not necessarily. It's just that the ghostly mark was the only known disaster artifact on his body with a name. Verbally saying these were the mark's abilities and saying these were Wu Zhong's own abilities amounted to the same thing in context.
"Hey, no need. Do you abuse your characteristics like this?"
"How dare you be sure that a ghostly mark with so many functions only has draining your life force as its cost?"
Luo Yi rejected Wu Zhong's proposal to make another one for him to play with, indicating that he shouldn't use his characteristics so casually.
Wu Zhong was taken aback: "Indeed, who knows what other costs those ghosts and gods have waiting for me? Who can say for sure..."
"I've learned my lesson, Lord Luo. I won't abuse it unless it's a life-or-death situation."
Luo Yi showed an expression of being pleased with his teachability, while Wu Zhong felt a stirring in his heart.
He believed it! He believed it!
The cost he made up when bluffing Ya Bai at his most desperate moment - Ya Bai believed it, giving him the opportunity to perform the Embrace on the other.
But he never expected that Luo Yi, who had been secretly observing, also believed it.
Yes, actually from an observer's perspective, this cost was quite reasonable, because Xia Heng had indeed spared no expense and was very eager to make him part of the Mad Blood Clan.
His story of 'needing the Mad Blood Clan's life force to resist this cost' corresponded with Xia Heng's actions.
The reason these people believed it wasn't because they believed Wu Zhong, but because they believed there must be logic behind Xia Heng's actions. Even if the actual motive wasn't this, no one had an omniscient perspective.
"Only facts can deceive people." Wu Zhong murmured in his heart.
Just as Xia Heng had taught him, when operating in the disaster artifact circle, only facts are trustworthy.
When speculating about disaster artifact characteristics, one must judge and think divergently based on facts.
And conversely, people are easily misled by 'facts'. So when fabricating stories, one must work as much as possible around facts.