Chapter 175: Backlash
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The system, however, seemed reluctant to let Xu Youyou “take advantage” and responded coldly with a single line: “Find it yourself.”
Xu Youyou, seeing the system’s arrogance, wasn’t angry but instead curiously asked, “System, what is this ‘mystical protection shield’?”
She lightly clicked to claim the reward, and in the next second, a burst of white light flashed. A transparent golden shield appeared around her.
Before she could even react, she suddenly heard a sound similar to an eggshell cracking. The golden shield shattered into pieces and gradually disappeared.
“The mystical protection shield has been used. The host is now in an unprotected state. Please complete the task to obtain the next mystical protection shield.”
Xu Youyou:?
She didn’t feel anything, and the reward she just received disappeared. She was left utterly confused.
“Is this really how it works?” Xu Youyou couldn’t help but say. She felt like she had received a trial card, not a protective shield. It felt more like a fleeting firework.
The system responded indifferently: “Not seeing the attack doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
Meanwhile, in a traditional-style courtyard over ten kilometers away.
In a room resembling a Buddhist hall, a thin middle-aged man in a black robe sat cross-legged on a cushion. There were no modern lights, only seven circles of candles lit around him, casting a bright light on the room.
The man was facing a painting, which depicted three skulls tightly connected. Looking at it for too long made one’s head spin and feel dizzy.
Despite the lack of people around him, faint chanting sounds could be heard in the air.
Outside, in the courtyard, 49 people were kneeling in seven rows, filling the entire space.
Liu Dazhi knelt in the front row. He suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and his expression became dazed. He felt as though he were a small boat being battered by waves in the ocean, or a piece of cabbage drained of all its moisture.
It was as if his energy had suddenly vanished, and he felt confused and weak.
He looked around, and the other men beside him had the same dazed expressions.
“Big Brother!”
A sudden cry came from the room.
Although Liu Dazhi was curious, he didn’t dare to look inside. He even raised his hand to stop his younger brother, who was craning his neck to look in.
“Stay still and don’t look around.” Liu Dazhi whispered sharply.
The younger brother retracted his neck and quietly asked, “Liu Ge, what exactly are we kneeling here for every month? If it weren’t for the two thousand yuan we get for kneeling all day, I wouldn’t bother.”
Liu Dazhi was higher in rank than the younger brother in the Red Dragon King’s team, and so his kneeling price was higher. He could earn an extra ten thousand yuan.
Though they often said it was a full day of kneeling, in reality, it was only once a month, for no more than an hour. As long as they kneeled, they would at least earn two thousand yuan, so most of the younger brothers were happy to do it.
But today, the kneeling time seemed unusually long. It had already been over an hour, and even though there were cushions, everyone was starting to feel discomfort in their knees.
Just as everyone was unsure what to do, a person suddenly emerged from the room: Zhang, the Red Dragon King’s deputy, commonly called “Master Zhang.”
“Go and bring Doctor Wang over!” Zhang Master said in a cold voice.
Upon hearing this, Liu Dazhi quickly stood up, but perhaps due to kneeling too long, his legs were numb, and he stumbled, almost falling. Fortunately, his younger brother quickly caught him.
Zhang Master glanced at Liu Dazhi and said with a hint of meaning, “You’ve worked hard today. Go rest first.”
Liu Dazhi respectfully nodded.
Zhang Master then turned to the younger brother and said, “You go bring him.”
The younger brother, though also kneeling for a long time, quickly stood up and sprinted into the next courtyard without hesitation, moving without any delay.
Zhang Master squinted his eyes and watched the younger brother’s fast-moving figure. He softly muttered, “Youth is truly a wonderful thing.”
Hearing this, Liu Dazhi suddenly felt a jolt in his heart.
He vaguely recalled that the reason he was able to rise to the middle management level in the team was probably because one time, when his former superior was exhausted like he was today, Zhang Master had ordered the younger version of himself to take action instead.
Back then, he was just a little brother, following behind a man named Zhao.
Where had Zhao gone now?
Liu Dazhi struggled to remember, and after some effort, he recalled that Zhao had once messed something up and was sent away for business expansion.
It had been over a year, and Zhao, who loved sharing fishing videos, had never sent him another fishing result. His social media had been stagnant with only a morning fishing photo shared a year ago.
Doctor Wang arrived quickly. He was the Red Dragon King’s personal doctor, wearing a brown traditional Chinese robe, carrying an old-style medical box.
The Red Dragon King was quite old-fashioned, always seeking traditional Chinese medicine when he was sick and distrusting Western medicine. He not only supported Doctor Wang but also set up a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in a nearby villa.
The clinic housed many precious herbal medicines, and anyone passing by could smell the strong aroma of herbs.
After entering the room, Doctor Wang saw the Red Dragon King lying on a side couch, his face as pale as gold paper, no trace left of his previous majestic aura.
As soon as Doctor Wang placed his hand on the Red Dragon King’s pulse, he couldn’t help but hiss in surprise.
“Doctor Wang, what happened to my big brother?” Zhang Master asked.
Doctor Wang furrowed his brows slightly. “What has the Dragon King been doing? How could his vitality be so drained all of a sudden?”
Doctor Wang, being someone from their side, didn’t hide anything from Zhang Master. He said, “Big Brother attempted to cast a spell, which was supposed to succeed with a 90% chance. But for some reason, it backfired, and he spat out a lot of blood.”
There was still a pool of black blood on the ground, which looked quite disturbing.
Doctor Wang sighed. “Such a serious depletion can’t be replenished in just a day or two.”
Zhang Master, full of anxiety, asked, “Wouldn’t the Celestial Pill help?”
Doctor Wang shook his head, lowering his voice. “Master, if it really comes down to it, you might need to take him abroad.”
There were some things that weren’t convenient to do domestically, but overseas was a different story.
Zhang Master reluctantly nodded.
The next morning, at seven o’clock, the Red Dragon King slowly woke up. “Water,” he muttered.
Zhang Master had been waiting at the bedside with a bowl of water and quickly offered it to him.
“Big Brother, who were you trying to cast a spell on?” Zhang Master asked.
The Red Dragon King, still in great pain in his chest, darkened his expression and spat out a name, “Xu Youyou…”
