Split Zone No.13

317 Striking Du Yue!

Cang Ming pointed his broken sword at Ta Lai. "Don't you even mention her name from now on. She no longer has anything to do with you. She's mine, she's Cang Ming's."

Flames lit up in Ta Lai's eyes, but it was tamped down when he sensed the movement of Du Yue's arm on his.

I smirked. "Being afraid of loneliness when you're alone and also afraid you'd be a disappointment when you're with somebody else. Ta Lai, you acted more or less like a man when you pretended to befriend me previously, at least you still dared to call for Bian Ying loudly in your dreams. What now? You're retreating because of some tiny concern? Bian Ying is way too good for the likes of you."

"Shut up!" Angered, Du Yue shouted at me.

I glanced at her with pity. I knew that nothing would make her more upset than somebody looking at her with pity in their eyes.

"Those you've trained are really just like you." Feng Zhu looked at me while he spoke to Li Qing.

Li Qing laughed casually. "I wouldn't mind talking about how I trained this beloved disciple of mine under normal circumstances, since it could possibly teach you a thing or two about guiding your subordinates. Look at those two under you. I really cannot say that you've done a good job."

Instead of getting upset, Feng Zhu smiled. "Amitabha. Seems like you're still the same old you from many years ago. It's good that my heart is no longer burdened now, or else I might actually find it difficult to make a move because of the guilt I felt towards you and Huai Du."

At that, Li Qing's expression changed.

Whoosh.

Wind and snow whipped past us, buffeting all of us from every angle. The power was concentrated where Si Luo was, with Jiao S and Gaoqin Jiuye acting as support. In this environment where we were surrounded by countless translucent water droplets, all of us snapped alert as we felt the air move around us.

Feng Zhu raised a hand, looking like he was going to foretell the future. He then turned to where Si Luo was as he said, "Seems like you've already seen this coming. They must be unaware that they've been used by you."

A beautiful smile appeared on Si Luo. "Items might remain the same, but people don't. Everything will come to an end. Let's settle it once and for all today."

The howling wind suddenly turned into a shrill screech. Si Luo's hair blew madly in the wind as he emanated a chilly killing intent. In the middle of all that white fog was his beautifully sculpted face.

The light that was in Feng Zhu's eyes began to rotate. That red light increased in intensity until his eyes seemed to emanate a red glow.

I frowned. Why did these eyes make me think of someone else?

I looked at Nie Zun with unease.

Nie Zun had been watching the fights from the sidelines with Jie Pa all this while. Dressed from head to toe in black, he did not blend in well with all that white around us. His dark eyes looked just like the night sky that was filled with the light of a thousand stars.

Why did this air current manipulation technique feel so similar to that of Nie Zun's pupil technique? Also, Nie Zun hadn't used his pupil technique at all after I met him again.

Though whatever was happening in Feng Zhu's eyes seemed to be different from Si Luo and the rest, it felt rather familiar to me. Were all their techniques similar in some way?

Why did techniques that had to do with using one's eyes feel so familiar to me?

Immense unease overwhelmed me, as if I was about to find out about some conspiracy.

Something seemed to be creeping out of my memory, but I just couldn't hold onto it. What was it?

What is it? Which was the very pair of eyes that had been guiding me…?

I snapped my head up to look at the sky in the Split Zone. That felt terrifying. Just what is the Split Zone?

Trembling, I grabbed hold of Piercer. "What's the secret of the Split Zone…?"

I asked her this as we were right under Guan Nie's illusion of the sky.

Piercer was surprised at my sudden unease. "Don't you already know the secret of the Split Zone? It's an independent space, except that it contains bodies of consciousness instead of live bodies. Soul splitters are a part of humanity that ended up right here, becoming the living things that exist in this space."

No, that's not it. There's something wrong with that. But what was wrong?

Just when I seemed to find the right question to ask Piercer again, the wind around us howled with a greater vengeance.

Piercer held me tight as I almost fell off my feet.

When I turned back to Si Luo, Gaoqin Jiuye and Jiao S, I realized they were already about to make their move!

"Bury." The three of them spoke at the same time!

The snow swirled in the winds, forming a shape in mid-air. It formed layers of snowy rings, and the snow turned into blades that were sharper than that of a knife. These snowy blades were targeting one single spot as they flew towards where Feng Zhu was.

To counter the attack, Feng Zhu threw his prayer beads into the air.

The prayer beads came undone in the air and separated into individual beads that formed the outline of an expanding circular ring above Feng Zhu's head, getting larger and larger by the second.

With a swoosh, the twelve individual beads burst into flames.

"There are many ways to achieve enlightenment. Let this cleanse all your evil and all your sins. Amitabha."

Those beads began burning fierce and bright following Feng Zhu's words. In just ten seconds or so, the flames created a bright red glow atop Feng Zhu's head.

Feng Zhu adjusted his legs and stood steady before he sat down in a meditation pose. He began to chant sutras as he slowly shut his eyes.

Si Luo's eyes were a pure white now, and in formation together with Gaoqin Jiuye and Jiao S, countless blades of snow continued to fly at Feng Zhu.

But no matter how many blades flew at him, all of them were burnt by that flaming ring above his head.

The contrast between the white snow and red flames made the entire scene looked beautiful, albeit full of killing intent.

As Gaoqin Jiuye and Jiao S's pupils constricted, the speed of the snowy blades increased two-fold.

At this point, those twelve beads above Feng Zhu seemed to be at a disadvantage. However, just like how Si Luo wasn't fighting alone, Feng Zhu had help too.

Ta Lai gave up in his stand-off with Cang Ming and attempted to move that jade stone ring on his finger to assist Feng Zhu.

"You're hurt. Let me go." Du Yue stopped him.

She made a cross with her arms after saying that. Those ten wolves which disappeared after being summoned earlier by her reappeared again as they rushed at Si Luo's team.

Du Yue had her eyes on those wolves, and her arms remained in the position of a cross. It looked like she was using her mental ability to control the pack.

Gritting my teeth, I threw Scorpion Ray in the air with my left hand as I pulled and released with my right.

Though I wasn't able to feel any MF in me still, I felt an extra boost of power from the ring on my right hand when Scorpion Ray turned into a circular bow in the air. All I could do was to focus that power right in the middle of Scorpion Ray.

Whoosh.

There was a burst of light from Scorpion Ray. Like a light grenade, the rays shot out in all directions. Controlling the light with my mental ability, I directed them all towards the wolf pack.

Sensing the situation, Du Yue called out for the wolves to turn around, but it was too late. As I focused on my right hand, the bursts of light shot out at amazing speed with the power from my ring.

Thud, thud, thud.

The pack of wolves was separated.

Du Yue looked enraged, but she had no choice but to make the wolves retreat.

Ta Lai used this opportunity to rush over to Feng Zhu, removing that jade stone ring from his finger.

He put it on his palm, and by the looks of it, it seemed like he was going to throw it in that flaming ring above Feng Zhu's head.

But before he could do it, a thin voice spoke from somewhere within the wind and snow.

"You're going to throw away the item I left you?"

That clear voice carried with it a hint of sorrow and chill at the same time.

I didn't know if I actually got a pleasant surprise or a rude shock, but I called out, "Bian Ying!"

To be honest, it was a relief to be able to see Bian Ying, someone who was essentially just like me, when I'm stuck in this godforsaken place where everyone seemed to be targeting me.

I knew my ears were not fooling me when I saw Bian Ying's thin but still beautiful face and that frail-looking figure of hers. She emerged slowly from between the wind and snow.

Cang Ming was also shaking. My eyes were hit with the refraction of light from the broken sword in his hand.

Step by step, Bian Ying walked towards us unhurriedly.

Du Yue narrowed her eyes.

It's an opening.

In the space between Du Yue and I, the light from Scorpion Ray had not yet fully dissipated. I had to take the opportunity now that Du Yue was momentarily distracted.

Waving my right hand, I felt the heat and power emanate from my palm as the light from Scorpion Ray entrapped Du Yue.