Chapter 40: Truth Among Falsehood
Before Yu Xian and Bluebird could decide whether to go and provide support, the monster's razor-sharp claws had severed the arm of one of the distant young men.
Bluebird's expression changed. "Not good. Stay here. I'll go assist them!"
She transformed into a teal bird and flew out of the bubble.
***
After drinking Death-Curse Blood, Zhou Tai No. 5 had gained an ability that was simple yet brutally effective. It granted him a powerful body covered from head to toe in bony blades designed for slaughter.
Zhou Tai No. 5 caught up to one of the fleeing young men and roared as he opened his enormous maw. "Is this all you got? So weak, so hopelessly out of your depth. What gave you the audacity to court death like this?"
He lunged forward, intending to crush the young man's skull in a single bite. However, just as his jaws snapped downward, Bluebird arrived. She slammed her beak into Zhou Tai No. 5's cheek, immediately setting off a terrifying sonic boom.
Zhou Tai No. 5's defense was astonishingly strong. Ripples spread across his cheek from the impact, yet his skin remained unharmed. The attack only stalled him for a moment. A savage gleam flashed through his eyes as he grabbed the young man by the shoulder and hurled him toward Bluebird.
Bluebird had originally intended to punch straight through Zhou Tai No. 5's head with a single strike. The high durability of his skull was beyond her expectations. Unable to break through his defenses, she could only use the recoil from the collision to veer away, preparing to circle back for another attack.
But due to her one wrong move, she had lost the entire game. Zhou Tai No. 5 had reacted much quicker than she expected. She had flown less than five meters before the young man he had thrown slammed into her back.
Her maximum speed could indeed reach ten times the speed of sound, but after she had slammed into Zhou Tai No. 5, her momentum had dropped sharply. Turning around and accelerating again required time. Now, with the young man crashing into her, her momentum ground to a sudden halt.
Zhou Tai No. 5 gave Bluebird no chance to catch her breath. Taking advantage of her slowing down, he kicked off the ground and slashed toward them with his razor-sharp bony blades. "All of you, die!"
He intended to kill both Bluebird and the young man in a single strike. When Bluebird turned and saw the bony blades descending upon her, her heart sank. It's over.
She had never expected Zhou Tai No. 5 to be so calculating beneath his seemingly reckless and savage exterior. With a single move, he had driven her into a dead end.
However, the very instant that the bony blades were about to touch Bluebird, two bubbles shot past Zhou Tai No. 5 and enveloped her and the young man. The bony blades struck the bubbles, sending countless ripples spreading across their surface.
Zhou Tai No. 5 wanted to continue attacking, but the two bubbles rapidly ascended into the sky. Lacking any means of flight, he could only watch helplessly as they drifted away.
Bluebird reverted to her human form and looked down at Zhou Tai No. 5 below. She let out a long breath of relief. "We're saved!"
For a moment just now, she had truly believed she was going to die. Zhou Tai No. 5's strength was likely at the upper Serpent rank, far beyond her own.
Yu Xian floated over in a bubble and looked toward Bluebird, who was standing inside another bubble nearby. "Bluebird, are you two alright?"
Bluebird shook her head. "I'm fine. Thank you. Otherwise, this time..."
Yu Xian interrupted her with a smile. "Alright, we're teammates. There's no need for that."
Then he turned his gaze toward Zhou Tai No. 5. "Now let me go have a chat with him."
On the ground, Zhou Tai No. 5 let out a furious roar and turned to kill the remaining operative, only to discover that the young man whose arm he had severed had also been rescued.
He roared in rage. "Aaaaaahhhhh! Who was it? Who? Come out!"
The next moment, a bubble struck him out of nowhere, sending him crashing deep into the rocky mountainside.
Yu Xian descended from the sky and used his bubbles like wrecking balls, repeatedly smashing them into Zhou Tai No. 5. However, Zhou Tai No. 5's body was unbelievably tough. The rocky mountainside had been battered several meters deep, yet he remained largely unharmed.
Yu Xian created another bubble and controlled the two bubbles to strike in alternating V-shaped attacks. Gradually, the bony blades covering Zhou Tai No. 5's body began to shatter, and his body started to deform.
Even steel could not withstand endless hammering, much less flesh and blood. A few minutes later, Zhou Tai No. 5 was barely recognizable.
After confirming that his opponent could no longer resist, Yu Xian stepped forward. "Which Zhou Tai are you?"
Zhou Tai No. 5 muttered weakly, "I'll kill you... I'm going to kill you..."
Yu Xian nodded. "Got it. Zhou Tai No. 5."
He imprisoned Zhou Tai No. 5 inside a bubble, intending to ask Jin Sheng what to do with him. Yu Xian had turned to leave when a realization suddenly struck him. Wait!
Although Zhou Tai No. 5 hadn't seemed particularly powerful from his perspective, to most people, Zhou Tai No. 5 would be a monster in the truest sense of the word. In fact, his combat strength surpassed that of the White Ape.
If the other Zhou Tais were still alive, there was a real possibility that they could break through the encirclement. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Yu Xian immediately took out his phone and contacted Jin Sheng, relaying everything that had happened.
Jin Sheng responded at once. He ordered Bluebird to conduct an aerial sweep of the surrounding area. If she spotted any of the Zhou Tais, she was to immediately notify everyone nearby so that they could converge on them as soon as possible.
Both Yu Xian and Jin Sheng had mistakenly assumed that Zhou Tai's sudden increase in strength was a variable brought about by their ability to further awaken supernatural creatures' bloodlines.
While Jin Sheng was adjusting the operation's strategy, Zhou Tai No. 3 crouched within the shadow of a massive boulder atop a mountain near the edge of the sealed-off zone, watching Yu Xian from afar.
Thanks to Plato's warning, the remaining Zhou Tais had stayed as far away from the metallic lotus as possible. As a result, Zhao Yi's devastating attack had only destroyed the lotus and a large number of Aberrant Parasites that had been unable to escape. Every surviving Zhou Tai had managed to get out alive.
In Zhou Tai No. 3's perspective, Yu Xian was a bloodthirsty beast devouring everything in its path. Originally, Zhou Tai No. 3 had thought that the "truth" he saw behind Plato was already terrifying enough. But after witnessing Yu Xian's "truth," he felt that Yu Xian was even more frightening.
"Little Brother Yu Xian... what kind of monster are you?"
What he saw was a beast whose form defied description. Its body was composed of countless swirling vortices that inexorably dragged in anything foolish enough to approach. Worse still was its hunger. It fed constantly, without pause or end, resembling a bottomless abyss, as though no amount of food could ever satisfy its hunger.
Still, an opponent worth challenging was far more interesting. Zhou Tai No. 3 was eager to have a go at Yu Xian. After all, even if he did nothing, this body would die within a day. It was better to enjoy himself while he still could and see just how strong Yu Xian had become.
Leaping from the mountaintop, he bounded from one mountain peak to another, rapidly closing the distance between him and Yu Xian.
Meanwhile, after reporting the situation, Yu Xian had not remained idle. He continued eliminating the fleeing wild animals. He and Bluebird had been stationed at one of the few routes that animals could use to descend the mountains. Everywhere else was either sheer cliffs or tangled stretches of deadly thorn-covered terrain. For ordinary animals, entering those areas was little different from a death sentence.
Suddenly, a wild buffalo soared through the air from the distance and came hurtling toward Yu Xian. At the same time, Zhou Tai No. 3's voice rang out. "Little Brother, I'm back to play with you!"
Sitting inside his bubble, Yu Xian immediately reacted. He altered the bubble's properties, changing it from hard and rigid to highly elastic, while expanding its diameter from two meters to five.
The buffalo slammed into the bubble. The next instant, it was sent flying back the way it had come.
Yu Xian looked toward Zhou Tai No. 3, who had caught the buffalo and swiftly leaped out of the stampeding herd. "You're the Zhou Tai from the school before, aren't you? No. 3?"
Zhou Tai No. 3 opened his mouth and took a savage bite out of the struggling buffalo. Blood covered his mouth as he grinned. "Looks like you've done your homework. That's right, I'm No. 3. You can call me Little Three."
He suddenly spat out a hunk of buffalo meat, which blasted toward Yu Xian like a cannonball. However, the bubble effortlessly blocked the attack. It even rebounded the meat back at Zhou Tai No. 3, forcing him to tilt aside to avoid it.
Yu Xian glanced around. "Where are the other Zhou Tais?"
Zhou Tai No. 3's mood shifted as quickly as the weather. He pouted. "Little Brother, we're playing together right now. Why are you still thinking about other people?"
Yu Xian said flatly, "Fine. Then I'll deal with you first and find the others afterward."
In an instant, countless bubbles converged from every direction and shot toward Zhou Tai No. 3 like a dense barrage of bullets.
Ever since his Blood Energy had mutated and granted him the ability to create bubbles, Yu Xian's fighting style had shifted from that of a close-combat warrior to one of a refined long-range spellcaster. Most of the time, he could crush his enemies without ever needing to lay a hand on them.
Zhou Tai No. 3 possessed exceptional vision and reaction speed. He instantly retreated, widening the distance between them before darting left and right, continuously evading the incoming bubbles.
The bubbles looked hollow and weightless, giving the impression of being harmless. But in reality, both their speed and destructive power were astonishing. As Zhou Tai No. 3 dodged their attacks, the surrounding terrain suffered instead. Rocks exploded into fragments. Flowers and grass looked as though a swarm of insects had ravaged them, their leaves riddled with circular and crescent-shaped holes.
Compared to their encounter at the school, Yu Xian had become vastly stronger. His rate of growth was simply unbelievable.