QT- I’m Almost Died
Chapter 272. Humiliation Of Xuan Chengzi
Meng Zhong completely ignored the blood dripping from his cheek, staring in disbelief at Teacher Fan’s mangled abdomen, muttering in a daze, “How could this happen? Why did even Teacher Fan get infected? Why?”
In that instant, he couldn’t imagine how to solve the case without Teacher Fan, nor could he imagine how ordinary people would survive this catastrophe. His heart ached, as if scraped by a steel knife. He simply couldn’t bear to see Teacher Fan hurt.
Song Rui took off his coat and wrapped it around Fan Jialuo, asking with utmost calmness, “Tell me how to get there.”
“Take that road.” Fan Jialuo covered the wildly wriggling vines with one hand, pointed ahead with the other, and then reminded Meng Zhong, “Have your team stick close to this vehicle.”
“Oh, okay.” Meng Zhong subconsciously agreed, then suddenly came to his senses and asked anxiously, “Teacher Fan, you’ll be alright, right? You’re so powerful, you must have a way to get rid of these demonic vines, right?”
Fan Jialuo did not answer, but simply closed his eyes, letting out slightly heavier breaths than usual. He had cast aside all weakness, retaining only the pain, and thus, he was about to endure unimaginable torment. These vines raged wildly within his body, coursing through his veins and flesh, slowly invading his form, issuing a vague command——Go to the Mother Tree, go quickly.
“That demon is calling to me.” Fan Jialuo tried to keep his voice calm, not for the sake of so-called elegance and poise, but to prevent the two people beside him from collapsing.
Even without extending his magnetic field to sense it, he could perceive the fear and sorrow ceaselessly radiating from their bodies. He was someone who was cared for, someone cherished and held dear in their hearts.
Thinking of this, Fan Jialuo chuckled softly. With a slight twist of his hands, he grabbed all the dozens of vines, weaving them together so they couldn’t break free for a moment. Then he pulled out a wipes and slowly tidied himself up.
No matter the situation, whether it’s an emergency or a matter of life and death, he can remain calm and composed.
Inspired by him, Meng Zhong, who was almost scared out of his wits, managed to calm down and frequently contacted his team members by phone, repeatedly reminding them to bring the best equipment and wear the thickest bulletproof vests.
More than two hours later, Song Rui drove onto an abandoned highway. A cloud of black mist gradually rose from the mountains and forests on both sides of the highway, engulfing them. The cell phone signal began to weaken and weaken until it disappeared completely. Fortunately, the military vehicles behind them were following closely and they were not left behind.
“This is it.” Fan Jialuo stood before a forest path that stretched into the endless fog, his body being dragged forward by struggling vines.
“Wait for me, let me put on my gear.” Song Rui quickly put on a bulletproof vest, asked for a gun and a few grenades, and then slung his military backpack over his shoulder. Stripped of his scholar’s disguise, he was actually a top predator, his strong and muscular physique in no way inferior to that of special forces soldiers.
Fan Jialuo raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Song Rui quickly walked to his side, chuckled, and whispered, “I’ll show you when we get back.”
Show what? Fan Jialuo pretended not to understand, but his ears turned red. Even in the face of life and death, they could still find moments of ease and joy.
Upon arriving here, Fan Jialuo once again released spatial energy to imprison the sprawling vine. Perhaps due to the increasing proximity to the mother tree, the vine’s power was constantly growing, forcing Fan Jialuo to reinforce the thickness of the spatial energy as he progressed.
Beneath their feet lay damp mud and layers of withered branches and leaves, while thick, black mist enveloped them. After walking for only ten minutes, their clothes were soaked through with the mist, and their hair clung stickily to their cheeks.
The sounds of breathing and snapping branches mingled, making the already dark place seem even more deathly silent. Looking ahead, there was no end in sight. Looking back, there was no way back. Below were decaying leaves and mud, above were shadowy branches. These branches intertwined densely, forming a vast, sky-covering canopy.
As Fan Jialuo walked, he looked up and found that no matter how far he went, these withered, layered, crisscrossing branches were always there, completely covering the place.
“Where did all these branches come from?” One of the team members looked around but couldn’t see a single tree trunk strong enough to support them. Branches without a trunk are like a hanging garden without a foundation, they simply cannot exist.
“Have you ever heard of a single tree forming a forest?” Fan Jialuo walked into the thick fog, seemingly unafraid of losing his way.
Several team members tried to pull him back, but couldn’t. They looked down at their compass and phone, only to find they were both malfunctioning. This was a huge, chaotic magnetic field.
The team member who had been standing there for a while was stunned before saying in disbelief, “You mean, this entire forest is made up of a single tree? How big must it be? Even the world’s largest banyan tree probably isn’t that big.”
Fan Jialuo waved his hand without turning his head, while Song Rui stayed close to him, helping him from time to time.
Meng Zhong urged, “Stop asking questions, hurry up and catch up.”
The group quickened their pace, and soon, through the thick fog, they made out the silhouettes of figures, or perhaps, of trees. These forms still retained a human shape, arms raised high and legs rooted in the earth, like a crucified Christ, their faces twisted in expressions of agony. They stared wide-eyed at the passersby, thick fog and cold winds swirled above them, making their branches dance and whirl as if they were about to lunge at any moment.
Song Rui immediately pulled Fan Jialuo away from the tree-men. Meng Zhong and the others raised their guns, aiming at them as if facing a formidable enemy. They seemed dead, yet their terrified faces seemed to still be alive.
After navigating for a long time among these solitary tree-people, Fan Jialuo finally led everyone to an open area where the fog was thinner, only to be met head-on by a bright purple lightning bolt. He immediately pulled Dr. Song behind him, instantly creating a vast space to block the sudden attack.
The lightning vanished as it tore through space, leaving behind a strong smell of gunpowder.
“Is it you?” A clear, cold voice rang out, mingling with the thin mist, ethereal as if it came from beyond the heavens. Immediately afterward, an ice-blue figure stepped over a pile of withered branches, approached, and revealed a face that looked like that of a celestial being.
“Shifu, long time no see.” Fan Jialuo smiled and nodded, but compared to the other person, his appearance could only be described as disheveled.
Blood was gushing from his mangled abdomen, and the swirling vines were pounding against his dantian, threatening to break free at any moment. His hair was wet, his eyelashes were still wet with water droplets, and his brown casual pants were stained red with blood.
Xuan Chengzi glanced at him up and down for a moment before lowering his eyelids, as if afraid of offending his eyes.
“I didn’t come looking for you, but you delivered yourself to my door.” His tone was even colder, “Your appearance is ageless, your spiritual power is undiminished, you have hundreds of millions of followers, you are world-renowned, and you are highly valued by the powerful and wealthy. If this were hundreds of years ago, you could probably have become an imperial preceptor.”
Fan Jialuo nodded and said, “Shifu, you know this as well, wherever I go, your disciple is always the most outstanding.”
These words caused Xuan Chengzi’s calm face to tense up for a moment. If he were truly made of frost, others would probably be able to see the ice shards falling from his face.
He gave a cold laugh, his voice even softer, “When it comes to unorthodox methods and wicked tricks, you always manage to outdo everyone else.”
“Shifu, you’re wrong. In matters of unorthodox methods, I have ultimately lost to Song Enci, or should I say, Lin Nianci, who is standing right behind you. The person who you love most is by your side, yet you remain unaware. It seems you, too, have grown old.” Fan Jialuo spared no effort in poking at this person’s sore spot.
Lin Nianci immediately hid behind her grandmaster, her beautiful face showing a humiliated expression, and her eyes reddening.
Xuan Chengzi sternly rebuked, vile disciple! How dare you speak such nonsense?! and summoned a bolt of lightning.
Fan Jialuo raised a spatial barrier to stop the falling thunder, and the two men entered a deadlocked battle.
Xuan Chengzi drew his Mystical Thunder Sword from his waist, ready to unleash a killing move, but his wrist was gripped by a withered hand. It was Abbot Changjing, who rarely concerned himself with the internal affairs of other sects. He sighed and said, “Amituofu, please refrain from resorting to violence so easily, Taoist Master Xuan Chengzi. Everyone is family, let’s sit down and talk things through calmly.”
“I have long severed all ties with this wicked disciple, so how can he be considered family? Do you know what he has done?” Xuan Chengzi brushed aside Abbot Changjing’s hand and listed several crimes, “Taking advantage of the moment when my Shidi was gravely wounded and helpless, he drove his dagger straight through his heart. He stole the Tianshui Sect’s sacred treasure and vanished into the shadows of the martial arts world. When his ShiJie went to confront him, she was severely injured by his hand, and later, her whereabouts became unknown——all because of him. Tell me, should a vile disciple like this be allowed to live?”
As soon as Xuan Chengzi finished speaking, the Taoist sect members standing behind him chimed in, “He deserves to die! His sins go far beyond this! Not long after he stole the Tianshui Sect’s sacred treasure and hid in the mortal world, my Shizu mysteriously disappeared!”
“My Shifu too!”
“My family’s patriarch also disappeared during that period, and his spirit tablet was also shattered.”
“And my family’s patriarch too!”
The leaders of eight or nine major sects stepped forward, indignantly accusing, “Their disappearance coincides with the time of your defection! What a coincidence! Did you kill them all and use their souls to refine them, thus achieving your longevity and youthful appearance? You evil spirit, you deserve to die!”
“Kill him!”
“Xuan Chengzi Qianbei, you must clean up the sect!”
“This person’s hands are covered in blood, he deserves to die long ago!”
Amidst the shouts and curses of the crowd, Xuan Chengzi unleashed a thunderous sword strike.
Fan Jialuo immediately pushed Dr. Song into the arms of Meng Zhong, who was already dumbfounded, and took a few steps back, leading Xuan Chengzi to an open space where no one was around. The two, one possessing the power of thunder and the other possessing the power of space, were locked in a fierce battle, unable to determine a winner.
But Fan Jialuo only defended without being able to retaliate, unlike Xuan Chengzi who only focused on unleashing deadly attacks and charged forward relentlessly. At first glance, it seemed that the master was still superior to the disciple.
Instead of charging into the battle, Song Rui pulled Meng Zhong back slowly to the group of Taoist sects’ members. They were people sent by the government, and these cultivators had also been commissioned by the government, so they could, in fact, be put together as a single team.
“What kind of person is Fan Jialuo?” Song Rui asked in a hoarse voice, his face a mixture of confusion, pain, and struggle.
His appearance was so handsome and refined, and his gold-rimmed glasses added to his scholarly air. So, Lin Nianci, who thought he had repented, kindly explained to him, “Fan Jialuo is definitely not a good person. He killed many people for our sect’s treasure.”
“You all say he killed his Shishu?” Song Rui started the conversation.
“Back then, my Shishuzu did some wrong things, but he didn’t commit any irreparable disaster. My Shizu said that he would just teach him a lesson and that would be enough, and he didn’t want to kill him. But my Shishuzu was very stubborn and refused to be punished. He fought with my Shizu and they both fell to the ground, seriously injured.”
Lin Nianci paused for a moment, her voice filled with deep hatred, “My Shizu and my Shishuzu were evenly matched and neck-and-neck. After the battle, they were both lying on the ground, unable to move. Unexpectedly, Fan Jialuo rushed into the main hall at that moment, drew a dagger from his waist, and stabbed my Shishuzu in the heart while he was unable to resist. At that time, Fan Jialuo was only ten years old. Can you believe that a ten-year-old child would do such a thing? What’s even more unforgivable is that he was raised by my Shishuzu himself. My Shishuzu was a cold and indifferent person who never paid attention to anyone, but he took meticulous care of him and treated him like his own son. Yet he did such a heinous thing!”
Lin Nianci stared at the two sides engaged in battle and asked, “Tell me, should someone like Fan Jialuo be alive?”
Song Rui remained silent for a long time, the pain and struggle on his face growing increasingly intense. Clearly, he was experiencing a tug-of-war between emotion and reason. Suddenly, he swayed and collapsed headfirst to the ground.
Lin Nianci quickly helped him up and comforted him, saying, “He’s too good at pretending. Even my Shizu and Shishuzu were fooled by him back then, let alone you.”
Lin Nian’en added from the side, “The only reason Fan Jialuo wasn’t kicked out of the sect back then is because my Shishuzu’s crimes were genuinely punishable by death. Otherwise, my Shifu would have gotten rid of him instantly. It is a pity that my Shizu’s momentary soft-heartedness gave him the opportunity to exploit the situation. My Enci Shibo sacrificed her entire life in the attempt to retrieve the sect’s sacred treasure.”
Song Rui sat on the ground, covering his red eyes with his hands, shaking his head repeatedly, not wanting to speak.
Meng Zhong pulled him up forcefully, gritting his teeth as he said, “Don’t just jump to conclusions based on hearsay. Is the Teacher Fan you saw with your own eyes really the person they described? Anyway, I absolutely refuse to believe that Teacher Fan is a bad person!”
“You absolute idiot! Is your brain filled with water, and are you completely blind too——”
Just as Lin Nian’en opened his mouth to hurl more curses, Abbot Changjing intercepted him mid-sentence.
“Amituofu, since you two have told a story about Benefactor Fan, I will also tell one. Two hundred years ago, there was a place called Ping’an Town where a civil rebellion broke out due to excessive taxes. The imperial court sent troops to suppress the rebels, but the soldiers found investigating the case too troublesome and closed the city gates, killing indiscriminately. In just one day, Ping’an Town became a dead city filled with resentment, with no one spared, from the elderly to women and children. Suddenly, a five-year-old child crawled out from the pile of corpses, without crying or making a fuss, without panic or disorder, barefoot, searching everywhere, using his thin hands to drag out those who were still breathing one by one and taking good care of them.”
“He didn’t need to listen, look, or search to know exactly where the survivors were. By chance, he came across a scripture for the deliverance of the dead, he wept as he chanted it for the corpses filling the city, while occasionally rushing about to feed and water the survivors. His small feet worn raw through layers of flesh, the bone all but exposed.”
“So when my Shifu arrived in Ping’an Town to try to redeem the souls of those who had perished under the sword, he saw a clear sky and a vibrant life bursting forth from the dead end. Who do you think this child is? He is none other than the benefactor Fan Jialuo before you.”
Abbot Changjing pointed at the two combatants and solemnly said, “Benefactor Fan is none other than the Buddha-Child whom my own Shifu holds in the absolute highest regard. He attained enlightenment at the tender age of five and possesses Buddha-nature. How could he possibly be a villain? No matter how you criticize Benefactor Fan today, I will not believe it. I believe in my own heart, not my physical eyes.”
Abbot Changjing pointed to the third eye between his eyebrows, then stepped back a few paces, ashamed to associate with the Tianshui Sect and others.
Lin Nianci’s cheeks flushed red, whether from embarrassment or anger, it was hard to tell.
Song Rui stood between the two, looking left and right, seemingly lost in thought.
Just then, the demonic vines within Fan Jialuo’s body broke free of the spatial confinement and surged out, rapidly invading his body. In great pain, he was struck squarely by Xuan Chengzi’s lightning, coughing up blood and flying backward, no longer able to fight.
He lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up, while Xuan Chengzi did not hesitate at all and slashed with his sword.
Meng Zhong shouted stop. But Song Rui’s eyes only flickered, remaining unmoved, as if he was truly frightened by Fan Jialuo’s past and his heart had turned cold.
The master and disciple moved with incredible speed, like lightning flashing through the clouds, their forms were visible, but their movements were impossible to discern. Without sufficient strength, no one could stop this deadly sword strike.
However, at the crucial moment, Abbot Changjing threw out his staff, which deflected the tip of Xuan Chengzi’s sword.
Xuan Chengzi did not turn around to rebuke the other party, but simply walked forward without stopping for a moment, and already held the Mystical Thunder Sword that shone with a bright purple light in his hand. He was just that kind of person. He either didn’t move, or when he did, his aura was overwhelming. Not to mention a magic staff, even a living person blocking his way could not stop his killing intent.
“Let him go, or your precious darling will die.” Song Rui’s words couldn’t stop Xuan Chengzi, but Lin Nianci’s screams could.
Song Rui, who had previously appeared to be struggling as if he had been greatly deceived and shocked, now held a dagger to Lin Nianci’s neck. If he hadn’t feigned mental turmoil, how else could he have managed to get close to these people? Since Lin Nianci was attempting to turn him to her side, he simply decided to play along with her scheme.
“You’re courting death!” Xuan Chengzi didn’t take Song Rui and the dagger in his hand seriously at all. With a slight twitch of his fingertips, he released a wisp of killing intent.
Unfortunately, Song Rui’s methods were even more ruthless and decisive than Xuan Chengzi’s. He only wanted a turn back, he harbored no delusions of actually threatening someone who wielded the power of nature. While holding the dagger to Lin Nianci, he had already pulled a grenade from his waist, stuffed it into Lin Nianci’s shirt pocket, and shoved her away violently.
The instant Lin Nianci lunged at Xuan Chengzi, Song Rui also lunged at Fan Jialuo, shouting, “Cover me!”
Meng Zhong understood and immediately raised his gun to fire at Xuan Chengzi, completely disregarding whether the man would be riddled with bullets. His teammates, however, remained stunned, utterly confused about the situation.
The others in the Taoist sects were all mortals, and how could they withstand the bomb? They immediately retreated a long distance and fell to the ground.
To be honest, Xuan Chengzi had lived for nearly two or three hundred years, and this was the first time he had been tricked and even manipulated to this extent by a mortal.
The bomb was pressed tightly against Lin Nianci’s body and would detonate soon. In that split second between life and death, he didn’t know what method he could use to protect her.
Remove the bomb? No——it was too late. Lin Nianci was sprawled on the ground, pinning the pocket down, how could she possibly get it out? The moment she tried to roll over, the bomb would likely detonate.
Using her own body to block it? No, there’s simply no space. The bomb was only separated from Lin Nianci’s body by a thin layer of cloth.
Xuan Chengzi’s mind went blank. At the critical moment, he finally remembered a way to save her life. He drew a talisman to ward off evil spirits on Lin Nianci’s back, but he was interrupted for a moment by the dense bullets and could not finish drawing it. As a result, the power of the talisman was halved.
With a deafening roar, Lin Nianci, who was lying on the ground, was thrown four or five meters into the air by the scorching blast before crashing back down. Her once beautiful face was now a bloody mess, and a large hole had been torn open in her chest, revealing several white ribs and a beating heart.
She was badly injured and was just one breath away from dying.
The usually cold and aloof Xuan Chengzi held the broken body and cried out in anguish to the heavens.
Song Rui, who had already helped the seriously injured Fan Jialuo run a long way away, smiled happily.
Fan Jialuo chuckled softly, his voice weak but full of pride, “I know you’ll always help me.”
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