Chapter 78: Letting Go Is Rebirth
“Last time, when you had the coffin, you didn’t even make it into the top ten,” Old Demon of Xiangxi said, his tone dry and biting. “This time, the coffin is in her hands, and she’s sitting at rank one. Are you even sure you’ll know how to use it once you snatch it from her?”
That hit Chen Feng right where it hurt. Gritting his teeth, his face twisted with anger. “Of course I know how to use it! Last time, I was too soft-hearted and didn’t kill her early enough! As long as she dies, the coffin will level up quickly. There won’t be any mistakes this time!”
He swept his gaze across them, his voice rising with dark ambition. “As long as I get my hands on that coffin, I swear it will still be the three of us who reach the end of the road!”
Master Cloud Cliff looked calm and aloof, offering only a mild response. “Very well. For the sake of us being reborn together, I’ll trust you this once.”
Just then, the low rumble of an engine broke through the canyon as another convoy rolled into view. A burly man with a rough, weathered face and a green dragon tattoo sprawling across his skin leaned out of the cab.
“Well, well, looks like all the big shots are already here. I’m not late, am I?”
Seeing Dragon Crossing the River arrive, the three men naturally dropped their discussion about their past lives. Chen Feng put on an easy smile and stepped forward to greet him. “Brother Long, you’re right on time! When I reached out in the arena about teaming up to ambush Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice, I worried you might turn it down. I never expected you to be so straightforward!”
Dragon Crossing the River threw his head back and laughed. “Hunting and looting is my bread and butter—especially when the target is the server’s number one! The fact that you brothers thought to call on me shows you respect me, Dragon Crossing the River, and my brother, Tiger Suppressing the Mountain! How could we say no?”
Beside him, another sturdy man with a similar build stepped up, a fierce white tiger tattooed over his broad shoulders. He cupped his fists respectfully toward the group, his voice booming: “Greetings, bosses! I am Tiger Suppressing the Mountain!”
Chen Feng thumped his chest. “Chen Feng from Sector 888. A pleasure!”
Master Cloud Cliff remained where he was, holding an air of detached, otherworldly grace as he gave a slight nod. “Cloud Cliff.”
Old Demon of Xiangxi stayed perched upon his high rock, taking a slow drag from his cigarette. He raised two fingers in a faint wave through the smoke. “Old Demon of Xiangxi.”
Dragon Crossing the River glanced up at the two men. His expression stayed carefully neutral, though he cupped his fists all the same. “Then here’s to a fruitful partnership!”
Pleasantries out of the way, Dragon Crossing the River turned to Chen Feng. “Brother, is Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice here yet? Are you sure she’ll show up?”
Chen Feng nodded firmly. “Just wait a little longer. It should be any second now.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a solitary, lightning-fast shadow tore through the billowing dust in the distance.
The vehicle moved with astonishing speed. At first, it looked like a tiny speck, but within seconds, its silhouette resolved into a magnificent, double-decker armored war machine, gleaming with a deep, ruby-like luster.
Its blunt front end was shaped like a massive stone casket, its heavy engine giving off a low, steady rumble. The two-story frame radiated raw power and stability, while the retractable defense grid and front-mounted golden light cannon gleamed with cold, lethal promise.
Behind the wheel sat none other than Lin Huai—”Bone Ashes.”
She wore neither helmet nor mask, revealing a composed, delicate face. Her dark eyes were as cold as winter frost, and her long black hair was tied high in a sleek ponytail.
The eye-catching jade coffin was nowhere in sight, yet the sheer presence of her armored fortress brought suffocating pressure upon the canyon.
“She’s here… but where is the coffin?” Master Cloud Cliff frowned slightly, turning his gaze toward Chen Feng.
Chen Feng froze for a split second, but his expression quickly darkened into vicious cruelty. “Doesn’t matter! Take her down first! The coffin is either hidden inside the vehicle, or she knows where it is! Move!”
The instant the armored hearse crossed into the valley, Chen Feng sprang the trap!
Boom!
A heavy flatbed truck roared out from a concealed gully, slamming across the narrow passage to cut off the road.
Almost simultaneously, Dragon Crossing the River and Tiger Suppressing the Mountain charged from their hiding spot on the left. One wielded a massive war axe wrapped in glowing skill energy, while the other raised a multi-barreled rotary machine gun, sending a blistering sheet of lead churning into the earth in an attempt to shred her tires and force her to brake.
From the right, Master Cloud Cliff drifted forward like an immortal stepping on air. Sweeping his horsetail whisk outward, he chanted a low incantation, unleashing an invisible binding field that clamped down around the vehicle.
Old Demon of Xiangxi didn’t budge from his perch. Taking a deep pull from his cigarette, he slowly exhaled a thick cloud of white smoke. As the vapor drifted toward the road, it curdled into a foul black mist filled with shrill, piercing shrieks. Dozens of rotting corpses clawed their way out of the desert sand, lunging to swarm the front bumper.
And right down the center came Chen Feng. Snarling like a hungry wolf, he floored the accelerator of his heavily armored off-road vehicle, charging head-on to crush her cabin.
Yet Lin Huai’s reflexes were lightning fast.
The moment the roadblock appeared, she stomped on the brakes and flicked her wrist, hurling a talisman into the air.
“Iron Wall Talisman!”
Buzz!
A shimmering dome of golden light snapped into existence, wrapping the entire armored hearse in a solid barrier!
The machine gun rounds pelted the shield, creating endless golden ripples across its surface without piercing an inch. The heavy war axe slammed down with terrifying force, making the barrier shudder violently, but the light held firm!
In that same breath, Lin Huai gripped her war scythe. Her body drifted out of the driver’s cab like a wraith, landing lightly atop the vehicle’s roof, the hem of her black duster snapping sharply in the wind.
Down below, Master Cloud Cliff’s domain had already locked the canyon down, trapping them all within its perimeter. Lin Huai felt a bone-chilling weight settle over her limbs, dragging at her movements.
Seeing Chen Feng leap from his vehicle to attack, she tapped her boots against the roof and spun sideways through the air. Her crescent blade whipped around in a gleaming arc, slashing clean across Chen Feng’s forearm and throwing him back a dozen paces.
Without missing a beat, Lin Huai shouted a command: “Yellow Springs, clear the field!”
The vehicle’s defense grid opened up, cutting the swarm of crawling corpses to ribbons.
At the same time, the golden light cannon charged with a brilliant flash. With an earth-shaking blast, a beam of pure radiant energy punched a massive hole straight through the center of the heavy truck blocking the road!
The hearse accelerated forward with its reinforcement shields raised, ramming into the burning wreckage and shoving the heavy frame aside with raw power.
Yet while the cannon could blow through steel, it shattered harmlessly against Master Cloud Cliff’s domain barrier. A translucent wall of pale green light brought the hearse to a dead stop. Lin Huai stood on the vehicle roof, looking back across the clearing.
Master Cloud Cliff held his whisk, his face calm and peaceful as he offered a faint smile. “Fellow Daoist, we meet again.”
Lin Huai looked down at him, her voice dripping with frost. “Master Cloud Cliff, with your righteous, immortal demeanor, why stoop so low as to ally with scum like Chen Feng?”
Master Cloud Cliff gently flicked his whisk, intensifying the mournful wails of the trapped spirits woven into the barrier. The crushing weight pressing down on Lin Huai grew even heavier.
With their initial ambush stalled, the attackers held their positions for a moment. Master Cloud Cliff looked at her placidly and said, “Fellow Daoist, no one can walk a perfect path every step of the way. When a choice is made in error, you must accept the outcome. Life offers no second guesses—only results. Once a stone is placed on the board, there is no taking it back. What happened before was the cause; what happens now is the effect. A single thought of letting go is rebirth.”
His words carried a heavy double meaning, and Lin Huai caught every nuance.
Master Cloud Cliff truly was a reincarnator, just like Chen Feng.
In fact, every single top-tier expert lying in wait here today had lived through that past timeline. That was why they had banded together so seamlessly to hunt her down.
And the only thing they cared about was taking her coffin.
