# 538
**Chapter 539: Awaiting the Triumphant Return of the Fifth Special Squad (Double-length Chapter)**
“Monkey, wait for me!”
“……”
“Monkey, I went begging again today. Only got two buns—gave one to the master, secretly ate the other myself. Not giving you any, heh-heh-heh…”
“……”
“Monkey, big trouble! The master’s been nabbed by a demon!”
“……”
“You dead monkey! I, Marshal Tian Peng, used to command the Heavenly River—can’t let you bully me forever!”
“……”
“Let’s split! Divide the stuff! I’m heading back to Gao Village!”
“……”
“Monkey, that flatbread you begged smells amazing… can—slurp—old Pig have a bite?”
“……”
“Monkey, how much farther to the Western Paradise?”
“……”
“Monkey! You’ve become a Buddha! That kasaya of yours is gorgeous—hmph, my Cleansing Altar Messenger post ain’t bad either!”
“……”
“Monkey… don’t cry… This time old Pig saved a ton of folks, didn’t disgrace our Journey-to-the-West crew… cough…
I’m going down to find Old Sha. You and the master be good Buddhas… Severing your divine rank and falling back into demonhood really can dodge the fog’s slaughter and let you stay among mortals, but your power’s gutted and there’s no coming back…
This world still needs gods to fix it.
Monkey, you and the master are stronger than us. You finally earned enlightenment—live to the end, see the future for old Pig.
Maybe… this is just my fate.”
“……”
The ancient ape’s eyes were bloodshot, every hair on end. Endless grief and fury drowned his mind. He flung his head back and roared at the sky with every ounce of strength, then slowly lowered it.
He stood there like a child who had lost everything.
Lin Qiye stared blankly. “Monkey…”
Whoosh—!
The ancient ape stepped forward and flashed in front of him, seizing Lin Qiye by the collar.
Behind him, Nyx, Merlin, and Bragi started to move; Lin Qiye shook his head again, signaling them to stay back.
The ape clenched the collar, blood-filled eyes boring into Lin Qiye’s.
“Kid…” he rumbled, “don’t believe in any bullshit destiny. If you want to save someone—go save them. Never… give up on anyone you cherish.”
Lin Qiye met that gaze, bitterness surfacing.
“But he’s too far from me…”
The ape studied him.
After a moment he let go, stepped back to the center of the ward, and turned away.
“Far? Then fly.”
As the words fell, a screen popped into Lin Qiye’s sight:
“Sun Wukong treatment progress: 1%
Reward condition met. Randomly drawing Sun Wukong’s divine ability…”
A virtual wheel appeared and began to spin…
The needle stopped on one ability.
Lin Qiye froze.
…
“Qiye, we’re here.”
Baili Pangpang patted his shoulder; only then did Lin Qiye open his eyes.
Drizzle ticked the windows; the wipers swept silently, ushering streams of water aside…
Outside, the car now stood before a quadrangle courtyard—old, walls mottled, surrounded by towering metasequoias whose yellowed leaves the rain tore loose and sent fluttering. A compound this size inside Shangjing’s Fourth Ring could only be astronomical in price.
Lin Qiye took a black umbrella from the side, stepped out, and splashed into a puddle.
Pop—!
The umbrella unfurled above him.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!
Six black umbrellas rose outside the gate; rain drummed on the fabric like pearls on a jade plate.
Yuan Gang pushed the gate open, nodded at the group. “Come in; it’s cold. We’ll pack and head to the arena.”
“Instructor Yuan.”
Lin Qiye stopped him.
“What?” Yuan Gang turned, puzzled.
“Let’s change the format. Capture-the-flag… is too slow.” Lin Qiye’s voice was calm.
Yuan Gang frowned. “Slow? You in a hurry?”
Lin Qiye didn’t answer. Beneath his umbrella he stood quietly, gaze sliding across the yard to settle on one door.
The rain… grew heavier.
“Cao Yuan.” Lin Qiye spoke suddenly.
“Mm.”
“Draw your blade.”
“Okay.”
Without hesitation Cao Yuan set his umbrella down, hand finding the hilt of the Straight Blade at his waist.
Clang—!!
A clear ring echoed.
Black fiend-fire wreathed him, suffocating malevolence licking the air as though to scorch souls.
Terrifying pressure crashed down!
This time Cao Yuan didn’t grin or charge; wrapped in that black flame cloak he stood motionless in the rain, scarlet eyes locked ahead.
Malice pierced the sky!
Inside the courtyard:
“What are they doing? The match isn’t even started—” a Squad 006 member asked.
“They’re provoking with pressure.” Another narrowed his eyes. “Looks like they won’t play by our rules.”
“So?”
“Crush them back, of course!”
Boom—!!
A dark-yellow pillar erupted from the yard—peak ‘Sea’-realm pressure collided head-on with Cao Yuan’s fiend-qi, evenly matched.
“Lin Qiye, what are you playing at?” Yuan Gang demanded, brows knit.
Lin Qiye’s lips curved slightly.
He knew the other side had understood.
“Jiang Er.” He said quietly.
Bzzzzzt—
An Qingyu’s MP3 spat static; an invisible magnetic field converged.
The next instant Jiang Er in her white dress materialized mid-air—disturbed magnetism blanketed the area.
Boom—!!
A second pressure wave surged from the courtyard!
Four mighty forces clashed, shattering every raindrop between them; a cold wind rose!
“Qingyu.”
“Brother Zhu.”
Lin Qiye called two more names.
An Qingyu and Shen Qingzhu dropped their umbrellas; icy-mysterious aura and deep-slow aura burst forth.
Two matching pressures answered from inside.
“Jialan.”
“Pangpang.”
Baili Pangpang chuckled, tapped the air with his left hand. A gigantic Taiji Eight-Trigram spread beneath his feet, swallowing the whole courtyard—profound energy detonated!
A tenth aura shot skyward from the yard!
Jialan snorted; sea-like mental power gushed, whipping her deep-blue robe. Her pressure alone nearly quelled all others!
Inside, Squad 006’s faces changed.
Two seconds later a twelfth aura erupted—then a thirteenth.
This one: ‘Boundless’ realm.
Squad 006 was going all-out.
Lin Qiye set his umbrella down gently, inhaled. Brilliant gold blazed in his eyes!
Seraphim divine might!
Behind him phantoms appeared one after another:
Goddess of Night Nyx, Magic God Merlin, God of Music & Poetry Bragi, Goddess of Youth Idun… and the Victorious Fighting Buddha in tattered kasaya, ferocious might shaking the world!
Six divine presences erupted together!
Like an invisible hammer smashing down, Squad 006’s combined pressure shattered with an explosive roar!
Pfft—!!
Inside, seven members spat blood, faces paling.
Floor tiles that had lain for who-knew-how-many years burst, shards ricocheting amid rolling dust!
Seeing the enemy aura collapse, Lin Qiye’s side reined theirs in.
They bent, picked up their umbrellas.
Outside the ruined courtyard they raised the black umbrellas, turned, and walked away.
Splash—!!!
Rain that had hung mid-air now crashed as a curtain—but not a drop touched the figures beneath the umbrellas.
Six people, one coffin, slowly vanished into the downpour.
“Lin Qiye!” Yuan Gang called from the doorway. “What exactly are you going to do?”
In the rain Lin Qiye paused.
“To save someone.”
He glanced back at the instructor’s worried face and smiled.
“If we don’t come back—so be it.
If we do come back…
then we
will be Great Xia’s fifth special squad.”
Meanwhile,
in the central room of the quadrangle, Shao Pingge—who had watched the silent showdown—gave a helpless chuckle.
“These punks…”
He shook his head, hesitated, then pulled open a drawer…
Inside lay eight palm-sized silver plates.
He took seven, tossed them lightly outward!
The plates ripped through space and in a blink hovered before Lin Qiye’s group.
Catching the unexpected tokens, they looked up in surprise.
“Something that lets you walk freely through the fog,” Shao Pingge’s voice drifted out.
“Go.
Great Xia Night Watch… awaits the triumphant return of the fifth special squad.”
Lin Qiye closed his fingers round the token, smile tugging at his lips. He exchanged nods with the others.
“Qiye, how do we get there?” Baili Pangpang asked. “Ride a dragon?”
Lin Qiye shook his head. “No. We… ride a cloud.”
He swept a hand; billowing clouds rose from the ground, lifting six people and one coffin.
【Somersault Cloud】.
Lin Qiye lowered his head, fitted the Sun Wukong mask over his face; the others donned theirs as well.
Floating mid-air, Jiang Er thought for a moment, wiped a hand across her face and molded a featureless mask to hide hers.
“Let’s go.”
The cloud pierced the void and vanished in an instant.
In the rain
Yuan Gang stood at the gate, watching their departure, and sighed.
…
“…26 December, heavy rain.
Fifth Reserve Squad, Shangjing City, raised umbrellas in show of force, shattered 133 floor tiles, defeated Shangjing-based Squad 006, then rode clouds westward into the fog…
Still not returned.”
—Highest-Classified Night Watch Archives