Chapter 298: That Is a Dragon

"That's a dragon?!" I could hardly believe my eyes. Heavy rain poured down, and dark clouds shrouded the sky. Amidst the pitch-black night, I could only barely make out that dark silhouette by using Chasing Eye.

It meandered underwater, over a hundred meters long!

"A dragon?"

A massive wave knocked me off my feet, leaving nearly half my body hanging over the edge of the dam.

I gripped the railing to steady myself, but before I could find my footing, the dam beneath me shook violently, as if something had slammed into its base.

"An earthquake?"

"What's going on? Quick, go check the surveillance rooms!"

"Engineer Tao, the measured water level at Han River Station has already exceeded 29.9 meters! We haven't encountered a flood this massive since the founding of the country."

"I'm afraid the dam won't hold..."

Chaos. Whether in Jiangcheng or at the Lanjiang Dam, everything was in total chaos.

Faced with the monstrous floodwaters, humanity seemed far too small and powerless.

Trapped in the array, I wanted to close the distance to Lu Xing but lost my sense of direction. It looked like I was walking toward him, but in reality, I was only getting further away. I grasped at empty air, feeling as though half my body was already dangling off the edge of the dam.

I couldn't get near him. In the distance, Tie Ningxiang was also trapped in the array, unable to fend for herself.

Everything seemed set in stone. The torrential rain battered down harder and harder, connecting heaven and earth. It felt as if the entire city was reflected in the sea, surrounded by pitch-black waves.

"The grand tomb has opened, and the trapped dragon ascends to the heavens. To defy the heavens and change my fate, I must risk it all right here!" Holding the eight characters token high in one hand, Lu Xing turned and cast a faint glance at me. "You cannot stop me. Moreover, you will take my place and bear the entanglement of karmic obstacles from a million living souls. I calculated every step. Even if your wisdom and courage are unmatched, you are still just a chess piece."

He walked over to Xiaofeng, grabbed her by the hair, and hauled her up from the ground, pressing her head against the railing.

"Are you ready to say goodbye? My dearest sister, who grew up right alongside me?"

Xiaofeng's face was smashed against the freezing railing. The rust scratched her flawless skin; every glance made my heart clench.

"Not speaking? I guess you don't have any last words, then." Lu Xing pulled out a sharp knife and raised it high. "I told you that you would be the last one. You can't escape."

"Stop! Lu Xing!" A long time ago, I had heard Xiaofeng say that Lu Xing was going to kill seven people. Her younger sister was the first, and she would be the last.

Aside from Tie Ningxiang, everyone on that list had met their destined end. I originally thought Xiaofeng might manage to survive, but looking at it now, none of this could escape the Two-Faced Buddha's grand scheme.

Gripping the Deer-Slaying Dao tight, I watched the blade inch closer and closer to Xiaofeng. My rationality was washed away by a rare, overwhelming emotion. Without hesitation, I dragged the blade and charged forward.

But before I could even take two steps, my foot suddenly stepped into empty space. Had the Fate Ghost not wrapped around my body, I would have likely plummeted into the reservoir right then.

"The Seven-Star Labyrinth Array confounds the five senses. Its power surpasses an ordinary Upper Vehicle Talisman, yet you think you can break the array?" The dragon tattoos on Lu Xing's face shifted like living creatures, seemingly thrilled by sensing the flood dragon in the great river.

"You're doing all this to release that dragon suppressed for a thousand years?"

"Even if there is a dragon, what does its life or death have to do with me?" Lu Xing let out a bizarre laugh. "The eight characters determine one's destiny. They cannot be changed from the moment of birth. This is the law of heaven! My primal destiny is a tribulation fiend, naturally entangled by extreme misfortune. You people will never understand the life I've lived. The only way to change my fate is to defy the heavens. I don't want this dragon—I want its life!"

After several live broadcasts, I had gained a deep understanding of the Eight Characters Divine Fiends. Although Lu Xing's words were cryptic, I understood exactly what he meant.

Connecting this to the words for "usurping fate" engraved on the Octagonal Token, I could vaguely guess Lu Xing's—or rather, the Two-Faced Buddha's—plan. "You want to exchange your fate with the flood dragon suppressed beneath Jiangcheng?"

The words slipped out. After I said it, both Lu Xing and I froze for a moment.

I was shocked by my own deduction, while Lu Xing was most likely stunned that the truth had been seen through.

"So what if I am? No one can stop me! I'll use the Red Luan to bait the flood dragon, sacrifice a million living souls to the heavens, and use you to bear the karma!" Lu Xing laughed maniacally. His face no longer bore any scars, but to me, his smile looked even more savage and sinister.

A plan twenty years in the making was ultimately not something my few weeks of investigation could thwart.

"Slash!" Lu Xing swung his sharp knife down, severing the hemp ropes binding Xiaofeng's hands and feet, leaving only a single rope tied around her waist. "My family raised you for twenty years, and today is the day you repay that debt. Struggle all you want. You are the live bait to catch the dragon!"

Lu Xing shoved Xiaofeng off the dam. The rope pulled taut as her body submerged into the reservoir side of the water.

The water level was still rising. Massive waves had long since crested over the top of the dam, and terrifying crashes continued to echo from beneath the Lanjiang Dam.

No one knew where the sound was coming from. It wasn't originating from inside the dam, but rather seemed to be echoing from upriver.

Was something lurking underwater, attacking the Lanjiang Dam?!

All the emergency repair workers and police officers were stunned by the thought. Science couldn't explain it. And right now, atop the dam, only a few people could see that terrifying, winding silhouette.

"A snake? Or a school of fish?" Gripping the railing with one hand, Tie Ningxiang couldn't even lift her head under the crushing weight of the giant waves. Supporting herself on her arms, she inched her way toward me.

When Xiaofeng was pushed off the dam, I could barely breathe. It wasn't until I saw that thin hemp rope that I slowly managed to calm down.

The Seven-Star Labyrinth Array shrouded the hundred-meter corridor. Only the area immediately surrounding Lu Xing was safe. The grand array could only be broken from the inside. Just as he had claimed, right now, he was standing in an invincible position.

"This evil dragon has been trapped for a thousand years and is desperate to break free. Can it not even smell the scent of the Red Luan?" Standing atop the trembling dam, Lu Xing slowly furrowed his brow. "The Buddha wouldn't lie to me. Could it be that the bait isn't fresh enough?"

Holding the eight characters token high with one hand, Lu Xing gripped the sharp knife with the other. He slowly crouched down and rested the blade against Xiaofeng's neck. "Sister, if you have any last words, spit them out. For the sake of our twenty years as siblings, I'll give you twenty seconds."

Lu Xing's knife sliced into Xiaofeng's smooth, pale skin. He cut incredibly slowly, letting the blood of the Red Phoenix Heavenly Jubilee gradually flow down her body.

It slid down her fair, proud neck, past her delicate collarbones, dripping drop by drop into the great river.

Her life was slipping away. Xiaofeng bit her thin lips and slowly looked at me.

Even now, her eyes remained pure, like a pristine lake on a high plateau. For some reason, a sudden wave of guilt and unease washed over me.

Those petal-like lips slowly parted. The blood loss from her neck gave her voice a sorrowful edge, but I could still hear it clearly. It was the first time in my life I had ever heard such a resolute voice.

"From the first time I met you, I knew I belonged only to you. I don't want your vows, nor do I need you to change anything for me. The happiest moments of my life were spent with you, and that is enough."

It was such a simple statement, yet it left my mind completely blank. Scattered memories pieced themselves together, and it was only then that I realized I hadn't forgotten a single thing about Xiaofeng.

When I first arrived at the Anxin Hotel and was scalded by boiling water, she had crouched in front of me, carefully bandaging my wounds. We were total strangers, yet she had placed all her trust in me. Back then, I didn't know she had seven steel needles nailed into her spine. I didn't know that my casual promise would earn me a woman's entire stake, her very life included.

When she bit a police officer in the interrogation room, I had cradled her head and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked like an evil spirit, and no one dared to go near her. Who could possibly understand that kind of loneliness?

At Xinhu High School, she had donned a bright red bridal gown and charged into the school alone to fight the Primal Destiny Divine Fiends to the death. Her reason was so simple it was almost laughable: she was just worried about me.

I still remembered the bowl of noodles she made. She had treated my little shop like a home, yet I had only ever seen her as a passing traveler.

"Xiaofeng..."

Lu Xing's sharp knife sank deeper. Xiaofeng could no longer speak; the moment she opened her mouth, dark red blood slipped from the corners of her lips.

The blood of the Red Luan drifted into the river. The sound of something slamming against the dam abruptly stopped.

I turned my head and saw the winding silhouette beneath the great river rapidly expanding. The pitch-black shadow surged upward, carrying a suffocating, oppressive weight!

"It took the bait!" Lu Xing's face twisted with excitement, but his hands didn't stop. The sharp knife continued to slice into Xiaofeng's flesh, spilling even more blood into the river.

"It's here! The opportunity I've waited twenty years for is finally here!"

The hundred-meter-long figure drew closer and closer. Dense mist exploded across the river's surface, blurring the line between water and sky. And there, caught between heaven and earth, that furious roar that had once shaken Jiangcheng echoed out once again!