Chapter 82: The Ship of Friendship Returns
Not only was the Blaze Lord fleeing, but Wood, Zuiyasi, and Lilim were also fleeing. The three of them used methods of manipulation, deception, and seduction to drive large groups of Beast-Transformers, the Forsaken, and the Sand Tribe toward the direction from which the Sun Bird · Tahakaka was flying.
As the distance closed, Su Xiao got a clearer look at the Sun Bird · Tahakaka. It was nine-tenths similar to the mythical phoenix.
This giant bird had a wingspan of over ten meters. As it flew, a sun trailed behind it. Wherever it passed, the ground ignited with flames, and the high temperature spreading through the air would drive any living being to utter despair.
This was practically a mobile natural disaster. Fight it? That was basically impossible. The Sun Bird · Tahakaka only needed to fly ten thousand meters high to continuously roast everything below. To get close to it, one not only had to resist the scorching heat but also face an oxygen-deprived environment, as well as flames that suddenly burned through space.
Fighting it at range meant slowly being cooked alive. Charging at it? That would make you even more fragrant—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
Three figures leaped onto the city wall. They were Wood, Zuiyasi, and Lilim. Wood and Zuiyasi both stopped in their tracks, the three-man team reuniting.
Wood and Zuiyasi looked at the J·Demon sniper rifle tucked under Su Xiao's arm, both showing smiles in their eyes.
Zuiyasi studied the J·Demon sniper rifle. For some reason, he suddenly wasn't in a hurry to flee anymore. He asked, "Bai Ye, what kind of weapon is that?"
"A fire poker."
Su Xiao looked at the sea of fire clouds pressing in from afar, knowing he couldn't stay in this world any longer. As for the Blaze Lord, that big boss, he could only say goodbye. Su Xiao estimated that this big boss wouldn't exist for long—maybe a few days, or at most a month.
Based on Su Xiao's observations and the data he'd gathered, the Blaze Lord and the Blazing Sun Monarch were not the same person, though they might be related.
More importantly, after the Blaze Lord appeared, he didn't know what had happened before. Instead, based on the current situation, he mistakenly identified Wood and the others as the murderers of the Blazing Sun Monarch.
The Blaze Lord's appearance wasn't due to a bloodline connection but to make those who killed the Blazing Sun Monarch pay with their blood.
At this moment, in the Blaze Lord's perception, he had four enemies: the Water Player (Brother Shui), the Black Bones (Wood), the Long White Legs (Lilim), and the Seafood (Zuiyasi).
The Blaze Lord hated these four more. On Su Xiao's side, due to previous events, Bubu Wang had applied a buff to the Blaze Lord.
After receiving the buff, the Blaze Lord could sense Bubu Wang's general location. This was inevitable. The Blaze Lord had a behavior that showed he wasn't completely insane. After being buffed, he began exploring the range of this ability. He found the edge of the buff zone and, while ensuring he wouldn't easily rush out of it, fought with Wood and the others.
This meant the Blaze Lord was deliberately luring the enemy away, keeping them far from Bubu Wang. This showed the big boss's character.
If Brother Donkey could leave the Sand World and enter other inner painting worlds, things would get lively. That would mean a four-legged big boss would constantly chase Wood, Zuiyasi, Brother Shui, and Lilim.
Comparing combat power, Brother Donkey wasn't actually overwhelming these four. In the previous situation, none of the four would go all out. In a one-on-one fight, Brother Donkey was stronger than any one of them.
For Su Xiao, that was enough. Let Brother Donkey chase them to his heart's content.
Suddenly, Su Xiao thought of a possibility: if Brother Donkey could leave the Sand World, could the Sun Bird · Tahakaka do the same?
Thinking this way, it was even less advisable to deal with Brother Donkey. Brother Donkey could hold off three opponents. If the Sun Bird · Tahakaka could really leave the Sand World and go to other inner painting worlds to chase him, having Brother Donkey tie up three opponents would at least give him some breathing room. He really didn't believe the Sun Bird · Tahakaka was invincible in all inner painting worlds. Back in the Wizard World, the three Ancient Gods were also called invincible, but look at them now?
Su Xiao looked into the distance from the city wall. Forsaken people rushed toward the pressing fire domain. Wood and Zuiyasi were also watching this scene.
The Sun Bird · Tahakaka had come to chase someone. Zuiyasi wasn't sure who. Wood beside him looked relaxed, a typical bystander enjoying the show. At this moment, Su Xiao suddenly spoke.
"Wood, your father is looking for you."
"What?"
Wood was confused for a moment, then murderous intent surged in his heart. Seeing this, Baha beside him said:
"Your father must have urgent business with you. He's already preparing to devour the items in our team storage space. Release him immediately. Be mentally prepared."
"Wait—"
Baha didn't wait. Instead, he shouted:
"Father, come!"
"I—"
Before Wood could finish, Baha took a black pottery shard from the team storage space. With a smack, the shard stuck to Wood's forehead, nearly knocking him over. The attitude seemed to say: 'You're so unfilial. It's been so long, and you still haven't come to find your old father. You demon clan are all rebellious sons.'
This scene was a perfect display of 'fatherly kindness and filial piety.'
Wood was almost furious to death and immediately chose to return to the main painting world.
Su Xiao didn't return immediately. He had a feeling that the Sand World was completely different from the previous Nightmare World. It was more like a springboard and key node, letting participants roughly understand what had happened in the Painting World. The subsequent two inner painting worlds were absolutely closely related to this one.
The Sun Bird · Tahakaka, which had seemed at the horizon before, was now pressing close. The scorching heat hit them head-on, making breathing difficult.
Large groups of Beast-Transformers, Forsaken, and Sand Tribe charged toward the Sun Bird · Tahakaka. They were sent to die, to test the Sun Bird · Tahakaka's combat power.
A few hundred meters above, the outline of the Sun Bird · Tahakaka was within the flames. Its eyes had the sharpness of an eagle's cry and the majesty of a divine being.
Whoosh!!
The Sun Bird · Tahakaka spewed golden-red flames from its mouth. This continuous stream of fire crashed to the ground. As the flames spread to both sides, the impact force blasted the ground apart. Soil, gravel, rock layers—everything was burned into a gaseous state. The flames weren't just powerful in impact; their temperature was terrifying.
The earth trembled and cracked. With a boom, due to the high pressure underground, a large area of ground burst open like a blooming flower. The soil, still flying mid-air, was scorched into gas.
The Beast-Transformers, Forsaken, and Sand Tribe, who had been charging with momentum moments ago, had vanished without a trace, not even ashes left. Su Xiao now understood why Brother Donkey had run so fast when he saw the Sun Bird · Tahakaka earlier. Anyone with normal thinking would run.
Determining the situation was hopeless, Su Xiao activated the permission to return to the main painting world. He had already made a huge profit this time; there was no need to stay longer.
In the second before being teleported, Su Xiao saw those eyes staring at him from within the distant flames. The meaning in that gaze was clear: either it or Su Xiao must die, or it would never stop.
When the darkness before Su Xiao's eyes faded, he had returned to the main painting world's Ancient Castle reception hall. On the wall ahead were four paintings.
The 'Nightmare Painting' and 'Sand Painting' had both been experienced. The subsequent two paintings were still wrapped in iron chains.
Su Xiao looked at the 'Sand Painting' and frowned. In the Sand Painting, the Sun Bird · Tahakaka was inside this painting. It had... moved. It slowly slid its sharp claws across the painting's surface, as if ready to pounce out at any moment.
Smack.
A thumb-thick wooden stick hit the 'Sand Painting.' It was the Young Miss, who had arrived at some unknown time.
With that ordinary wooden stick strike, the Sun Bird · Tahakaka in the 'Sand Painting' narrowed its sharp eyes. Eventually, after slightly lowering its head to the Young Miss, the Sun Bird · Tahakaka gradually turned into flames and merged with the surrounding painting scenery.
Su Xiao took 16 Scroll Fragments from his storage space and handed them to the Young Miss.
The Young Miss, who was more than a head shorter than Su Xiao, received them with both hands, careful not to damage the [Scroll Fragments].
"Don't mind the person in Room 5."
After saying this, the Young Miss walked toward her easel and high stool.
[Prompt: You have submitted Scroll Fragments ×16.]
[Young Miss Friendliness +80 points.]
[Young Miss Friendliness has reached 100 points.]
[You have received Cipher Code: 338145.]
[You have received Password: Dark Blood.]
...
Su Xiao didn't yet know the use of the cipher code and password. He looked around and found that Molei and Yueshitu hadn't returned, but they weren't dead either. No prompt about a new faction joining appeared. That was a bit strange.
Brother Shui, Wood, Zuiyasi, and Lilim had all returned. Which faction was the last one remained unknown for now.
"Cooperation makes things easier. What do you two think?"
Zuiyasi seemed to have forgotten all the previous unpleasantness, becoming a good teammate again. The three-man ship of friendship resurfaced.
"Makes sense. Bai Ye, what's your stance?"
"Well said."
Hearing Su Xiao's agreement, Zuiyasi showed a smile.
"We three from the evil faction must unite."
Zuiyasi made the decision. In the next world, the evil faction trio would continue cooperating.
Wood readily accepted this proposal. He still had the trouble of the Abyssal Jar to deal with, so he feared nothing.
Zuiyasi also had trouble. He had struck Brother Donkey the hardest before, and as Brother Donkey's 'seafood,' Brother Donkey's hatred for him was extremely high. After all, Brother Donkey felt it was shameful to be beaten by seafood—no, it was a lifelong disgrace.
Wood and Zuiyasi each had their own troubles, so they desperately wanted to cooperate with others to spread the firepower—in other words, to set others up.
Wood and Zuiyasi didn't know yet that Su Xiao also had his own trouble. The Sun Bird · Tahakaka hated him to the bone, wanting nothing more than to burn him to ashes and use them to grow flowers.
The danger of the Abyssal Jar was a slow, steady stream. Brother Donkey was fierce and aggressive but not completely unmanageable. Finally, the Sun Bird · Tahakaka...
"Bai Ye, we've all fallen into fixed thinking. Since we three can cooperate, why not add Enzuo? Enzuo, interested in joining us?"
Hearing this, Brother Shui smiled politely and silently declined.
"What a pity. Lilim, I'm sure you'd be interested in joining us."
Zuiyasi extended a sincere invitation. Lilim didn't speak. After handing four Scroll Fragments to the Young Miss, she quickly walked toward the second floor, her steps hurried.
Su Xiao waited a moment. Only after Wood, Zuiyasi, and Brother Shui had all gone up to the second floor did he ascend.
Su Xiao saw the silver-gray metal door across the hall again. This silver-gray metal door was about 2.5 meters tall, looking thick and sturdy, its surface covered with dense patterns.
Staring at it, the patterns on the silver-gray door seemed like twisted text. But after a while, they felt like a type of marine creature—a group gathering in the deep sea to worship, their skin pale and dark, like humans degenerated into marine life. They were slippery, cold, and grotesque.
Su Xiao took out the [Ward Key] obtained from Archbishop Cooper. After hesitating, he put on a brand-new head bucket before inserting the [Ward Key] into the lock. He turned it. With a click, the silver-gray door opened.
[Prompt: You are about to enter Nightmare · Ancient Castle Ward.]
[Current Sanity: 429/495 points.]
[Entering Nightmare · Ancient Castle Ward requires consuming 430 Sanity points.]
[Prompt: Exploring this area will continuously reduce Sanity at a rate of 40 points per minute.]
PS: (My cervical spine has recovered quite a bit, but I need to rest after writing for a while. With this rest + writing cycle, it took 13 hours. It should be much better tomorrow.)