The Sacred Ruins

Chapter 54: The Great Gathering

Panda Novel

The wings that fluttered on the woman’s back exuded a snow-white luminescence. She landed on the hilltop like a lithe fairy. Her shoes and socks also came as snow-white. That pair of dainty feet treaded on the cragged rock, making her almost unreal to the eyes of her admiring beholders.

Her beauty was breathtaking. She was youthful and full of vigor too; however, she did not look arrogant. But if one were to make a move to approach her, one could still feel a sense of distance between them and the celestial girl. There was no room for any blasphemies.

People were astounded. This girl with a stunning look was trying to rope in Chu Feng with her.

Her name was Gong Xiaoxi. Her smile was mild, and her self-introduction was simple and appropriate. She politely stated her purpose in coming. She simply wanted a conversation with him.

Chu Feng’s voice was coarse. He dared not to speak in his own voice. The mischievous act he had played on her last time made his conscience qualm. He was not sure what had happened last time after the foul meat had been eaten.

Of course, Chu Feng was still eager to know what had happened. There was part of him that secretly revelled in the fun that were brought by the poor-taste practical joke.

As they conversed, Chu Feng was in a bit of trance. He was looking at the girl up and down. She was young—younger than him in fact. She was at most twenty years of age.

Gong Xiaoxi was gentle and even-tempered. She politely smiled when Chu Feng politely declined her invitation. She did not impose herself on him.

In fact, the reason of her appearance today was indeed out of her admiration for the man’s prowess; but she admitted that it was a bit unrealistic to ask someone to join her team upon first encounter.

She even started thinking from a different perspective. What if this man was a master from Deity? What if this was a trap set up by Lin Naoi?

But it was necessary for her to pass on her good will. No matter what background this man might come from, there was no harm in asking.

Chu Feng carefully contemplated in his mind. He was a little astounded by this charming lady who was dressed in white. He was certain that she was certainly not from an ordinary background.

Gong Xiaoxi walked forth a few steps towards Chu Feng, then suddenly, she was seized with surprise; because she could a smell a faint aroma emanating from this man’s body. It was a smell familiar to her.

“It’s you!”

In that instant, her charming face stiffened.

Her voice was rather soft. No-one else had heard her exclamation, but Chu Feng heard it clearly. He instantly realized that things had suddenly took a left turn, but he made a show of a feigned bewilderment at her exclamation.

“The aroma on your body has not changed!” Gong Xiaoxi gazed at him.

Chu Feng was taken aback. He knew he was being careless. The so-called aroma was a fragrance that naturally emanated from his body. The delighted smell had lingered around him ever since his body constitution improved.

According to the ancient recordings, the aroma was the sign of sanctification.

Normally, Chu Feng had paid particular attention to this. He closed the fragrance within his body by using the method that had been taught by Yellow Ox.

However, there was no need for shutting the pores of his body to keep the scent inside here. Since everyone present was a mutant themselves, if there was any danger that arose because of the scent, he could simply resolve to killing to keep himself safe.

Last time when the same woman unexpectedly showed up at his bed last time, Chu Feng was a little dumbfounded. He paid no attention to the smell of his body, thus the scent had been let out to the air.

Gong Xiaoxi raised her adorable eyebrows then gave him a wink. Sparkles of pure luminescence trickled from the wings at her back. They made her brighter and cleaner.

“How unexpected!” She was taken by surprise. She had no clue last time that the man who fooled her was an utter master.

Before the moment of realization, she had always been acting mildly and appropriately, but the composure with which she acted barely tallied with her age.

Only until now could Chu Feng see the emergence of signs of emotional fluctuation on her face. She sounded like she was grinding her teeth, but perhaps it was thanks to her domestic upbringing that she still seemed elegant and refined in her manner.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Chu Feng whispered. Just like her, he did not want others to hear their conversation.

Gong Xiaoxi smiled. Her true feelings were now finally revealed. Her temperament was still sweet and pleasing, even if she was a little upset. It was just like last time when she was at Chu Feng’s house.

“I know who you are,” she said. She looked away from Chu Feng and turned to Yellow Ox, who, although smiling a dazzling smile, was still guilty at heart. After all, it was its hooves that knocked her out for no apparent reason.

Yellow Ox, however, was known for its brazenness. The calf immediately regained its calm and composure. Standing upright on its hind hooves, the calf even curled one of its “arms” in front of its chest, then bent down, making a courteous bow in Western Style.

Gong Xiaoxi turned her back on the calf. She was about to leave.

Chu Feng knew that his cover had been utterly blown. His voice was no longer coarse as he asked, “Was the medicine effective?”

It was in that instant that Gong Xiaoxi’s body suddenly stiffened. She kept her back to him, but there were visibly a few lines crawling to her forehead.

However, driven by an attitude of restraint, she did not throw a tantrum at him. She fluttered her wings and leaped into the air.

In mid-air, she shouted back at the man who was still gazing at her on the ground, “Angel Ox, we’ve both agreed on the deal!”

Agreed on what? Yellow Ox looked at Chu Feng with a bewildered expression.

Nearby at the foot of the hill, many people showed an astonished look on their face.

“This girl is hoodwinking me!” Chu Feng then wasted no time and yelled, “I’m used to being a freelance fighter. There is no room for negotiation!”

He wanted no-one to misunderstand that he had joined someone’s camp. He knew that it would be disastrous if he were mistakenly taken as the enemy of any of the big groups such as Deity or Bodhi. The deadly consequence was something he had always uncalled for.

Nevertheless, it did stir up a few moments of commotion in the area, but soon the tumult died down.

After all, people came here for the fruit. Everything else was secondary.

As time progressed, the area started packing with more and more mutants.

Earlier on, only masters could dare to converge at the area; but later, seeing how calm the place had become, many lesser powerful mutants shoved themselves closer to the scene where the fruit would be borne.

Although many of them had no hope to gain the peculiar fruit, their journey had not been made in vain only had they at least personally witnessed the course of event.

“How the hell did these people come in?” some mutants expressed their dissatisfaction.

Because, amongst the crowd of powerful mutants, there was a queer one. He was distributing his name cards to everybody around the place, claiming that he would like to be of their acquaintance.

Half an hour later, the region was crowded with even more mutants. The place became more and more clamorous. The noise had almost become unbearable.

Especially whenever a mutant who had a rather misfortunate look showed up, a commotion would be stirred up in the crowd. Sometimes, some people almost started a riot only because someone looked peculiar or out-of-shape.

What made the others even more speechless was that in a time like this, someone still had the frame of mind to ask for selfies with others!

Yellow Ox nudged Chu Feng and pointed into the distance.

Chu Feng turned around and saw Zhou Quan. He had been hemmed in by an encirclement of people asking for photos.

Chu Feng instantly understood what had been happening. He pricked up his ears and listened attentively.

“Oh, my god! Look who this is!”

“Don’t move! Don’t move, my meme lord! Let’s take a selfie.”

“Oh, man! You have no ideas how much I venerate you! I salute you for being a dedicated contributor to our meme world!”

…

Zhou Quan was dumbfounded. He sneaked in through rock climbing. He skipped the queue, but he was immediately surrounded by his fans as soon as he cropped up in the crowd.

He was completely ignorant of what was going on until the word “meme lord” came to his ears. He finally began to see the light. Then, he could not help but begin to shower coarse abuse on the people who poked fun at him. What the hell was all this?! Goddamn cow!

“Get lost! I don’t know you!” Zhou Quan yelled.

“No! We must take a selfie together!” Someone jostled the others away, then stood by Zhou Quan and raised his communicator. Clonk! Clonk! Clonk! The photos came in as an endless flow.

“Alright, alright. It’s my turn now. Go away! Okay, dear meme lord, please be a little cooperative. Hmm… how about a little pose. We know you’re good at it!”

“Oh, for f*cks sake! You’re infringing on my rights! Get lost, you mugs!” Zhou Quan was on the verge of breaking in tears. It only took less than a fraction of a second before hundreds of photos of him had been snapped and taken.

This was only the beginning though. More and more people were seen surging towards him. They were answering the call of their dearest meme lord. Even if some could not get close to the lord himself, they still made every effort to snap a few photos in the distance.

“Can you guys conduct yourselves with some circumspection?! We’re all mutants. Don’t surround me like this!” Zhou Quan was all repentant for what he had done. Had he known that his appearance would court him troubles on such an immense scale, he would have stayed as far away as he could.

His expression was sullen. He could already guess that reports regarding him would once again come in resurgence on the internet tonight. The most popular news would probably be something like: “WORLD’S SHOCKED! Greatest Exposure in Human History Divulged Today: Our Dearest Meme Lord IS A MUTANT!”

“Goddamn it!” Zhou Quan was exasperated upon the thought of this. “It’s all because of you, Demon Ox!” Zhou Quan cursed under his breath again and again. He knew that his life would be in an awful mess from now on.

At this very moment, the clamor was interrupted by another mutant. He was quite a strong man. He pushed and jostled his way to where Zhou Quan helplessly stood. He pushed away everyone around him and solemnly said, “We need to treat others with respect. We need his permission before we can take picture.”

The man’s words instantly won Zhou Quan’s favor.

The man then hurriedly shoved a name card into Zhou Quan’s hand. “My name’s Zhou Yitian. Let’s get to know each other! This is my name card.”

Zhou Quan was a little dumbfounded. It was always good to know someone who also shared the same family name, but he was only here to join in the fun, and he believed that so were the intentions of many others. “What… is the need for this? And… are you a… movie director?” Zhou Quan was astonished at what he saw on the name card. Why would a movie director be interested in knowing him?

“I have an ambitious dream! I want to make a big blockbuster about a mythology. I want it to be the most realistic, most comprehensive presentation of the ancient history of our mystical Eastern Culture!” Zhou Yitian solemnly said.

“How am I related to your… ambition?” Zhou Quan was still at a loss as to what to do.

“Your style is a perfect blend of unstrained roughness. You look bold and wild and feral as well. Look at this bulky pair of horns! Hiding them underneath your slick back was such a reckless waste of god’s good gifts!” Zhou Yitian earnestly said.

Zhou Quan glowered at the man. What did he mean? Was he giving him compliments, or was it sarcasm?

“The blockbuster I have in mind is titled: ‘The Great Demon Ox: Wars of the Palaeoid’! The story is about the life story of a Demon Ox, and he will be the character who connects all the threads of the stories that had been passed on from our forbearers form the ancient times. How does it sound to you? I reckon there is no better actor than you in this world!” Zhou Yitian solemnly asserted.

“Get lost!” Zhou Quan was quite resentful. He did not care who he was, but all his words touched right at the sore spot of his heart. That pair of horns had become the source of his anxiety. They were not pride; they were his sore point. And now there came someone who wanted to make a movie out of this?

“I’m serious!” Zhou Yitian pointed to his side. There were a few other mutants carrying all sorts of filming equipment.

“Who are you guys? Stop playing the fool here!” Zhou Quan said with a sullen expression.

“They are mutants too. We’re not playing any fool here! We used to be producers, and now I want to take advantage of the fact that we’re all mutants now. This time, we came here to find a view to kick off the filming. I heard there was going to be a large-scale war between mutants? Isn’t that true? Our film will come out with nothing computer-generated. Everything will be grand and realistic at the same time. Our film is going to make history!” Zhou Yitian was getting more and more excited. He told Zhou Quan that he would make him an Academy-worthy actor in the film.

Zhou Quan felt dizzy. It was not because the promising future that the man offered, but it was because of the anger that made his blood pressure skyrocket. He brushed off the man’s fervent grabbing of his arm, and in an equally solemn tone, he said, “No! I’m NOT doing it!”

Zhou Quan withdrew himself from the crowd in indigence, fleeing away to a less crowded area. “What a god damned place this is!” Zhou Quan cursed under his breath.

Suddenly, a timid string of sounds caught his attention. He raised his head and looked up the cliff. He saw two odd-looking guys lurking at a hilltop nearby, both of whom had grown horns on their head.

In this very moment, Zhou Quan almost burst to tears. He finally came by someone who shared the same predicament as him.

“Oh, my darling brothers! You’ve got horns too. Wait for me! I want to make friends with you.” He hastily made his way up the cliff. The odd-looking men were both cladded in some inappropriately thick clothes made of real leather, with one being troubled by a pair of golden horns, and a silver pair for the other. As a fellow sufferer, equally troubled by the presence of a pair of horns, he grew sympathetic for the two almost instantly.

Zhou Quan moaned and groaned, sighing away as he divulged the sickness at his heart and the ailment that made him depress. It was as if he had met with a next of kin who had known each other since the very moment the two were born. The man in leather clothes patted him on the shoulder as a show of empathy.

Zhou Quan was suddenly moved beyond words. He was so profoundly touched that he almost burst into tears again.

“Moo!” On the other side of him, the other odd-looking man also chose to pat him on the shoulder, but it made a strange noise as it approached to him. This made Zhou Quan’s body completely stiffened.

He jumped to his feet and turned around to glower at the two.

“It’s… you guys?!” Oh how he wished he could just ram himself into the goddamned cow!

Chu Feng sent his consolation, “Don’t be depressed. It’s not like the translator of your favorite novel have omitted a sentence or two in his work… Oh, how I hate those sneaky bastards! Anyway, I do think that the director was speaking a lot of sense. I can tell he is very serious too. He is a man with a noble soul. He is a man who can express his thoughts and feelings. Perhaps amidst the bloody fight, he will shine as a radiant star. He will have his own brilliance once his work is published, and so will you. As such, I think you shouldn’t have rejected him.”

“You two also have horns. You’re more suitable than me!” This was Zhou Quan’s biting sarcasm.

“Wait! Look! Look who that is!” Chu Feng looked astounded.

“Oh, my god! Isn’t that Ding Sitong? The ‘goddess of the nation’? She is the lover in my dream!” Zhou Quan had been moaning and groaning only seconds ago, and now long gone the haggard look of depression. Here came those eyes of his that were filled with impure desires.

In the distance, there stood a woman. She had been hemmed in by an encirclement of mutants. Her appearance was charming, drastically juxtaposing with the queer shapes and forms of those mutants around her.

“Those are from Bodhi Genes!” someone from the crowd whispered.

What was this? Why was the “goddess of the nation” tagging along with a batch of mutants from Bodhi? There had been rumors that she was born to a rich family, but knowing that she was somehow connected to Bodhi was more than just startling news.

“What I’ve heard before was that Ding Sitong was a mutant as well, and the process of her mutation was extraordinary as well. There were nine fox tails growing out of her bottom!” someone in the distance whispered.

“What?! She is a nine-tailed fox?!”

…

Chu Feng was taken aback by the content of the whisper as well.

One had to admit that the upheavals had truly catalyzed some of the world’s strangest things to occur. For instance, the renowned “goddess of the nation” was now a fox with nine tails.

“Something feels not right!”

Suddenly, Chu Feng’s expression shifted. He could feel the trembling of the earth. There was also an awry change of atmosphere that started suffusing the air with a profound sense of terror!

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