Chapter 300: Red Luan Reflecting the Sun (2)

"Hurry and leave!" Xiaofeng's voice jolted me awake. I instinctively raised my hand and caught the Octagonal Token.

The moment my fingertips touched it, I felt a mountainous pressure, as if I were holding not a palm-sized token, but the entirety of Jiangcheng.

The Eight Characters Divine Fiends were soaked in Lu Xing's blood, making the two characters for "usurping fate" exceptionally glaring.

"You're courting death!" Lu Xing flew into a rage. He grabbed a handful of sinister Black Talismans and slapped them onto the fierce ghost. Each talisman acted like a steel nail, piercing deep into the entity's body. "Give me the key!"

Failing to fish out the dragon, he had instead been outplayed by the younger sister he had never taken seriously and kept like livestock. Falling short at the final hurdle, Lu Xing was now dying of regret.

"No! I still have a chance!" Lu Xing seemed to suddenly think of something. Lowering his voice, he said to me, "You don't know how to use the key. The Heavenly Gate has opened, and the trapped dragon has escaped the grand tomb. If you don't want Jiangcheng to be plunged into misery, give me the key! I swear to the Buddha that after I alter my fate, I will close the Heavenly Gate and suppress the flood dragon once more!"

His offer was highly tempting, but I only gave a cold smile. "What does the ruin of Jiangcheng have to do with me? Those who tried to kill me, imprison me, and humiliate me are all in this city. Wouldn't it be better if they died?"

"Is that not enough?" Lu Xing lowered his head, his face twisted. "I can split the flood dragon's fate pattern evenly with you. I will help you defy the heavens and alter your destiny, breaking you free from the karma of this grand tomb. Don't rush to refuse! A person's lot in life is decreed by heaven, and only the Buddha knows the path of usurping fate. This is a chance that comes once in a millennium. A dragon is the supreme sovereign. If you and I take on the destiny of a true dragon, our luck won't just flourish—we might even erase our karmic obstacles and live to a hundred!"

"I don't need my luck to flourish, and living to a hundred holds no appeal for me. Lu Xing, stop trying to trick me. If you are truly sincere, open the Seven-Star Labyrinth Array."

Deafening rumbles continued to echo from beneath the Lanjiang Dam. Everyone in the corridor atop the dam stumbled and swayed, struggling just to stand upright.

"Open the array?" Lu Xing hesitated slightly. His expression didn't look like he was pondering; it looked more like astonishment. I took in every detail of this subtle psychological shift.

'Could it have something to do with this Fate Manipulator Token?' I sank my consciousness into the token. The Eight Characters Divine Fiends did not put up much resistance against me. In fact, Yuan Chen, Heavenly Physician, Tian Yi, Red Luan, and General Star seemed to be deliberately guiding me.

'What are you all trying to do?'

More and more cracks fractured the surface of the token. However, gazing far into the distance through it with my consciousness, I didn't just see through the shifting changes of the labyrinth array before me. Even distant Jiangcheng, bound by eight towering chains, revealed a side I had never witnessed before.

'What the naked eye sees is different from what the mind perceives? Why? Why are those eight chains locking down the entire city?' Straining my sight to the limit, just before my mental energy was drained dry, I finally saw the ends of the eight chains. They anchored at a specific spot in Jiangcheng, where a figure wearing a Paper Doll Mask sat cross-legged.

'The examiner?' Before I could get a clear look, my spiritual sense ran dry. A splitting pain tore through my head, making it feel like my brain was about to burst.

"The Fate Manipulator Token can perceive the laws of heaven. What did you see?" Lu Xing took a step forward. He looked anxious, as if a secret belonging to him had just been stolen.

"Are you sure you want to know what I saw?" Forcing through the stabbing pain in my head, I gripped my blade with one hand.

"You're willing to tell me?" Lu Xing looked at me in suspicion, furrowing his brows.

"Of course." My eyes were completely crimson. Both my gaze and the Red Fox scar exposed on my chest locked onto Lu Xing. "I saw you die beneath this Deer-Slaying Dao! Lu Xing, accept your death!"

The Seven-Star Labyrinth Array had nowhere to hide beneath the Fate Manipulator Token. Even though I couldn't break the formation, I had already located its life gate.

Performing the seven-star footwork, I raised my blade and charged straight at Lu Xing. "I told you, today it's either you or me!"

Seeing me rush forward with zero regard for my life, Lu Xing's expression turned incredibly grim. Just moments ago, he had been standing above the great river, laughing wildly and preparing to use Red Luan to fish for the dragon, but the tides had turned in a matter of seconds.

"Gu bugs, fierce ghosts. Good, very good! Gao Jian, you scheme so deeply. What an excellent setup!"

I was not the one who laid out this scheme. I simply didn't have the foresight. If all of this wasn't the will of heaven, then I could think of only one person who could be the mastermind—the Paper Doll Interviewer I had just glimpsed through the Fate Manipulator Token.

'Eight live broadcasts merely for an examination. Just what kind of sacred entity is the Underworld Live Show? They even dared to plot against the Two-Faced Buddha, ruining the plan he spent twenty full years preparing in just a few weeks.'

A chill crept up my back, but that icy dread quickly faded. The most crucial thing right now was to kill Lu Xing. I wanted to plunge my blade into his heart. I wanted him dead!

With a single step forward, the world cleared up, as if a thin veil had been lifted from my eyes. 'Did I exit the array?'

I flashed a savage smile. I was going to return the pain Lu Xing had inflicted upon Xiaofeng ten times, a hundred times over.

I had never considered myself a good person, nor did I feel that using extreme torture on an extremely wicked person was cruel in the slightest.

"Lu Xing!"

With a flash of silver frost, I swung my blade in a fierce assault, refusing to give Lu Xing any chance to use Xiaofeng to threaten me.

"Kill me? I am the only one who knows how to use the key to the grand tomb! Do you really want the floodwaters to drown Jiangcheng and kill millions of people?!"

Thick dark clouds hung heavy in the sky. It should have already been early morning, but not a single ray of light managed to pierce through.

Instead, the downpour continued to intensify, whipped up by whatever was making waves in the river.

"It's true that only you know how to use it; I won't deny that. But if I give you the token, will you actually save Jiangcheng?"

I hacked wildly, opening bleeding gashes on Lu Xing's body. "Believe me, Gao Jian! As long as you give me the token, I will definitely save Jiangcheng!"

"Believe you? Ha!" I pushed my offensive step by step, my movements growing even swifter. "Lu Xing, did you misunderstand something? Why must I save those millions of lives? What does their life or death have to do with me? I'm no moral crusader, and I already made the wrong choice once!"

"I will absolutely save it! I swear on the Buddha! You bastard, we're running out of time!"

I didn't know whether Lu Xing was intentionally putting on an act or if the situation truly was critical. All I knew was that just minutes ago, forced to choose between the millions of lives in Jiangcheng and Xiaofeng, I had chosen Jiangcheng.

But after seeing the look in Xiaofeng's eyes, and when I actually had to bear the consequences of that choice, I realized I had changed my mind. "If I give you the token, there might be a one percent chance you save Jiangcheng and everyone in it. But if I don't give it to you, I have a one hundred percent guarantee of leaving here with Xiaofeng!"

It was a choice. Forced to pick between one person and an entire city, I fixed my gaze on Xiaofeng. "I can't be the hero who saves the whole city, but I have to live up to your words—that it had to be me."

"Gao Jian, do you have any idea how heavy the resentment will be if millions of lives perish because of you? You'll be cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, never to reincarnate!" Several more wounds had opened up on Lu Xing's body. Powering Jiangcheng's feng shui grand formation earlier had already drained much of his energy; he could only barely parry my strikes now.

"What is there to fear? Won't I have you to keep me company?" I slashed my blade toward Lu Xing's thigh. He dodged in time, but the tip of the blade still caught him, leaving a long, bleeding gash. "Lu Xing, if hell truly exists, all eighteen levels wouldn't be enough to wash away your sins!"

Realizing I was completely beyond reason and seemed to have lost my mind, Lu Xing shut his mouth and focused entirely on dodging. Knowing he couldn't reverse the situation, he manipulated the Seven-Star Labyrinth Array, desperately trying to buy himself time to escape.

The dam trembled, and earth-shattering booms echoed from beneath the river's surface. The Hour of Yin had passed, yet the world remained cloaked in gloom without a single ray of light.

The river was on the verge of spilling over the dam, yet the torrential rain only grew fiercer.

I chased Lu Xing across the top of the dam. Glancing back occasionally, I saw that Xiaofeng had climbed out of the reservoir. A narrow, elongated wound stretched from her neck down to her collarbone.

Blood seeped out continuously, washing over her frail body. Just like that day at Xinhu High School, it looked as though she were wearing a bright red bridal gown.

"Don't be afraid! Once I kill Lu Xing, I'll take you home!" I yelled to Xiaofeng. I didn't care about the monstrous floodwaters anymore; my only desire was to butcher Lu Xing before the dam collapsed.

Hearing my voice, Xiaofeng revealed a pure smile. "Okay, I'll wait for you."

Yet after she spoke, she didn't stay where she was. Instead, she picked up the dagger Lu Xing had discarded and stood facing due east, toward where the sun should rise.

"Xiaofeng, what are you doing?" I instinctively sensed something was wrong, but bogged down by Lu Xing, I had no way to stop her.

"Remember to wait for me!"

She called out that final request, then reached back and plunged the dagger into her own back, using the tip to pry out the long needles rusted into her flesh.