“Get ready for access to the integrator!”
“We’ve succeeded!”
“That kid’s self-consciousness is disappearing.”
In the underground research room, a huge EEG chart was displayed on the screen. Zhou Sheng’s brain waves were growing extremely weak, while Ren Chong’s wave bands had occupied the entire screen. Zhou Sheng, who was fastened onto the chair, was convulsing from head to toe, and bluish veins could be seen on his arms.
A leaf glowed with a golden light, its edges seeming to burn with a golden flame.
“Is this Zhou Sheng’s?” Yu Hao asked, “I must go into Zhou Sheng’s subconscious world.”
Golden Crow Wheel motioned for Yu Hao to stand on the leaf. The leaf emitted a faint light. Yu Hao noticed that there were several other leaves next to this leaf, and they were connected to Zhou Sheng’s leaf.
“What do the connected leaves represent?” Yu Hao asked.
“Spiritual connection.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.
Yu Hao, “Why are ours so far apart from each other?”
Golden Crow Wheel said, “This is the exit of your subconscious world.”
Yu Hao, “Oh that’s not far, I just didn’t recognise it…these leaves all look the same. Send me in ba.”
He stood at the entrance to Zhou Sheng’s subconscious and waited for the door to open, or for him to be transported in. But even after he waited for a long time, nothing happened.
“The conscious world is being disturbed,” Golden Crow Wheel said, “It’s impassable.”
Yu Hao, “……”
Golden Crow Wheel said, “You must return to the subconscious or surface consciousness world and wait for the disturbance to be removed. Time will not move here.”
“He’s on that machine now.” Yu Hao murmured, “In that case, it’s probably impossible to go into Ren Chong’s subconscious too. But how do I know when he’ll get off that machine?”
Golden Crow Wheel didn’t answer. Yu Hao took a deep breath and reminded himself not to panic.
“Can I enter the subconscious of someone who’s awake?”
“Can not enter when they’re awake.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.
Vb tf mjc’a fcafg batfg qfbqif’r vgfjwr flatfg. Te Ljb ralii kjcafv ab ajxf j ujwyif. Lf jrxfv, “Vfjgmt ‘Itjb Oljcu’.”
“‘Viffqlcu’ kjr cba obecv.” Xbivfc Jgbk Qtffi rjlv.
“Efc Jtbcu’r meggfcais nslcu bnfg atf abafw klat tlw…” Te Ljb rjlv, “Zera atlcx bo j kjs ab ufa atfw ybat boo atf wjmtlcf jcv gfaegcfv ab gfjilas abb…Zs Xbv, ktja rtbeiv P vb cbk? Qjla, lr Lejcu Klcu ralii lc tlr vgfjw? Pr tf jkjxf? Vfjgmt obg ‘Lejcu Klcu’!”
Golden Crow Wheel turned around and didn’t walk too far away. He walked up to a leaf. Yu Hao said, “I want to enter his subconscious world!”
A door appeared on the leaf, and Yu Hao thought, that’s great!
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“I still need your help.” Yu Hao held the door handle and said to Golden Crow Wheel.
“In your conscious world, you can use my functions within the scope of your permissions.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.
“See you.” Yu Hao suppressed the unease he felt and resolutely opened the door. An icy cold white mist could be seen beyond the door, and it suddenly sucked him into Huang Ting’s subconscious world!
“Huang Ting!” Yu Hao looked left and right. This conscious world did not collapse, so that is to say, Huang Ting was still in the dreamscape on the surface. A barrier appeared around him. He spread his wings and flew past the fog. According to the judgment imposed on the situation in his own subconscious world, he flew towards the bright side.
Many roaring, colossal monsters appeared in the fog. Yu Hao glided through quickly, and he avoided arms that sporadically reached out from within the fog to grab him. With one spurt of energy, he rushed out of the subconscious area!
The fog had already swallowed most of the maze, and it was currently corroding its way to the center. Yu Hao paid close attention to the surrounding mechanisms.
Fortunately, he was close to the center of the maze, so there weren’t as many mechanisms anymore. Yu Hao walked into the courtyard in the middle and suddenly saw that the pond in the courtyard had swirled into a black whirlpool. Huang Ting was walking toward the whirlpool from the shore.
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“Huang Ting!” Yu Hao shouted. Huang Ting turned around, and terrifying screams could be heard within the whirlpool. Countless hands reached out from within, and they actually wanted to drag Huang Ting into the water!
“Yu Hao?” Huang Ting looked very calm as he stopped walking.
Behind him, a massive monster that seemed to be pieced together from many corpses slowly rose from the black whirlpool, and there were numerous hands dripping with blood as well. Like a scene from hell in an oil painting, it kept approaching Huang Ting.
Yu Hao spread his wings out and rushed forward. He shouted, “Huang Ting!’
For a moment, he could vaguely feel a sense of danger— Huang Ting was on the verge of losing control over his conscious world, just like how he faced the darkness beyond the Great Wall in the beginning and was about to jump down. It’s fortunate he came now, otherwise Huang Ting’s entire dreamscape would have completely collapsed!
Right when Yu Hao lunged at him, the monster behind Huang Ting roared madly and shot out viscous streams of blood that knocked Yu Hao squarely in his chest, sending him flying straight out and stuck him tightly to a wall! Yu Hao’s hands were parted, with a dagger in each of them, but he couldn’t even budge an inch.
“Wake up! Huang Ting!” Yu Hao shouted.
Huang Ting stood by the pond with his back to the giant, rotten corpse monster. He looked back.
“How does it feel like for someone’s life to end?” Huang Ting murmured, “It’s finally my turn today.”
Yu Hao, “……”
“I arrested someone before.” Huang Ting said to Yu Hao, “When he was handcuffed by me, he told me that I would die as well one day…I wasn’t the least bit afraid then. What I said was that, ‘I’m not afraid of death, but you are.’”
Yu Hao’s chest heaved fiercely. He saw the giant rotten monster stretching out dozens of bloody hands from behind to catch Huang Ting’s shoulders, wrists, and ankles, pulling him back and into its arms.
“Some people died because of you.” Yu Hao’s gasps eased, “But there are even more people who survived because of the choices you made, Huang Ting.”
Huang Ting answered, “But at this moment, the people I saved won’t come to save me. These bodily curses follow me relentlessly like my shadows. They’ve been accompanying me every night after I found out that I’m sick…”
“Yes, right?” Yu Hao couldn’t struggle anymore because of the sticky blood that enveloped his whole body. He spun the dagger between his fingers, grasped the blade, and said in a low voice, “I understand that feeling. You saved so many people, but in the end, no one can come to save you.”
“Yes.” Huang Ting said, “These days, I’ve always been wondering what on earth I’m living for…”
Yu Hao shouted, “When you do all these things! Isn’t it for the sake of not letting the pain you’ve experienced happen again to someone else?!”
Huang Ting fell silent and looked at Yu Hao. Yu Hao mustered all his strength to shout, “You’ve had enough of tasting the fear and feeling of facing death head-on. You’ve experienced this kind of reluctance and helplessness, but what you’ve been guarding all your life, wasn’t it because you didn’t want anyone else to experience that kind of feeling anymore?!”
Huang Ting’s eyes suddenly widened. Yu Hao said in a low voice, “Wake up! You can still fight! Even if you don’t have much time left, why don’t you liberate yourself once?! What about your principles? Your justice?! What’s the point of dying in such a stifling way?!”
After he spoke, Yu Hao’s five fingers clenched tightly, and his hand was instantly drenched in blood, then he opened them up again. Huang Ting extended a hand out, but his body still couldn’t avoid being dragged toward the rotten corpse giant!
The motorcade drove onto an elevated highway. Yu Hao, who was in deep sleep, suddenly grasped Fu Liqun’s hand tightly, then let go just as quickly.
“He sent us a signal!” Fu Liqun said.
“So fast?” Chen Yekai said, “It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes.”
Ou Qihang immediately threw the medicine into the back seat, then adjusted the passenger seat such that it lay flat. Chen Yekai drove the car off the elevated highway, then parked it by the road. He called Qin Guodong and asked him to send someone over to drive his car, then he said to Ou Qihang, “Go to the back.”
Chen Yekai was driving an SUV. Fu Liqun adjusted his seat and lay down. Ou Qihang was lying in the last row, and Chen Yekai went to the passenger seat. A colleague from the office came over. Chen Yekai said, “I’ll have to trouble you to drive.”
In the maze world, Huang Ting said, “I…This is a dream?”
Huang Ting was already in the firm grasp of the monster. Yu Hao took a deep breath and shouted, “Huang Ting! I know that in this world, no matter what we do, we may not get anything in return for it. In fact, everything you do may not even amount to anything from the very beginning!”
“But, you can’t leave yet.”
Dark clouds surged in the sky, revealing a gap in between. Silver white moonlight spilled through the clouds.
“Save one more soul ba.” Yu Hao said in a low voice, “Go all out one more time, because that’s what we’re living for. Regardless of whether we get anything in return, since there’s not much time left to live, why don’t you fight until the end of your life?”
Huang Ting’s pupils contracted, as if he had sobered up a little. He struggled fiercely, but he couldn’t break free from the fetters of the giant monster.
“Let me go!” Huang Ting roared angrily, “Yu Hao! Help me, quick!”
Yu Hao looked up at the sky. Three flashing figures were shooting toward the earth like meteors!”
“It’s not Zhou Sheng! It’s Huang Ting!” Chen Yekai shouted in the sky.
“Huang Ting!” Ou Qihang shouted.
“Huang Ting——!” Fu Liqun’s boiling armour was like a celestial fire shooting straight down from the sky.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh, three rays of light landed. A flying scalpel swept past and cut up the sticky blood that bound Yu Hao’s limbs. Fu Liqun wielded a long halberd, and riding on the momentum of his fall, he stomped onto the monster with one foot. Ou Qihang readied his cannon and fired a shot; the monster let out an anguished howl, and several corpses fell out. Fu Liqun slashed the monster’s body with his halberd and dragged Huang Ting out!
Yu Hao flexed his arms. Fu Liqun brought Huang Ting along with him to the edge of the pond.
“Why is it this dream?” Chen Yekai said, “Where’s Zhou Sheng?”
“There’s no time to explain!” Yu Hao said, “Help him seize his totem back first! Quick! It’s up to you now!”
Chen Yekai said, “Prepare to deal with the boss!”
“This boss shouldn’t be difficult to fight ba.” Ou Qihang retreated a little. “It should at least be easier to fight than the dragon in Liqun Ge’s dream.”
Fu Liqun, “Could you not mention my dark history?”
Yu Hao said, “Can you guys summon your mounts?”
Chen Yekai, “No, Zhou Sheng must be here for us to do so.”
Fu Liqun said, “Scheming white wolves then! Although Zhou Sheng isn’t around, we don’t need to be afraid of it!”
The corpse giant staggered and finally emerged from the pond. Its attention had been lured away by Ou Qihang’s cannon shots, and it walked towards them. Huang Ting said, “Where’s the totem?”
Yu Hao turned his head and glanced around. The moonlight landed, and within the mist above the pond, the faint outline of a symbol could be discerned.
“In the fog!” Yu Hao had just shouted this when Huang Ting raised his hand, and within a split second, the earth shook; the entire maze began to disintegrate and drift away, and the central courtyard kept rising. The corpse giant roared at the skies and stirred up a storm from the ground!
This was Zhou Sheng’s first time not participating in a dream battle, but Yu Hao didn’t have the time to think too deeply about it. Huang Ting stood by the pond and stretched out his hand. Silver particles burst out from within the fog and flew toward his body.
“Everyone, take your places!” Chen Yekai said, “Yu Hao, attract its attention! Everyone else is to provide support and attack!”
Yu Hao spread his wings out and flew. The platform rose higher and higher, and started revolving. The corpse giant spewed viscous blood into the sky, and Yu Hao dodged it several times. The daggers in his hands merged into a staff, then he dove toward the giant. With his wings spread out, Yu Hao’s figure had formed a side profile silhouette under the moonlight.
Meanwhile, Chen Yekai, Ou Qihang, and Fu Liqun made their moves at the same time!
The corpse giant was instantly smashed, and corpses shot out everywhere. Every one of the criminals who had been defeated by Huang Ting crawled up from the ground and roared as they rushed toward them. Without their mounts, everyone could only surround Huang Ting to protect him; fugitives could be seen in all directions.
“Not done yet?” Chen Yekai looked back. Huang Ting’s eyes were slowly regaining their lucidity, and his totem kept streaming into his body.
Yu Hao shouted, “Protect him!”
Four people gathered at the edge of the pond to guard Huang Ting. Every one of them released the firepower they had, and Huang Ting’s body gradually began to emit light.
“Why do I feel like this dream is really chaotic!” Ou Qihang kicked away a criminal that had lunged at him as he shouted to Yu Hao.
“Because Zhou Sheng’s not here! The Golden Crow Wheel can’t work as well!” Yu Hao answered.
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“Won’t it be really easy for us to wake up?” Fu Liqun asked.
“The Golden Crow Wheel is charging!” Yu Hao shouted, “There’s no time to explain!”
Yu Hao could only swing his staff around to hit his enemies; the light it released frightened the criminals around him, but it wasn’t able to exert as much power as Chen Yekai and Ou Qihang’s firearms, and he couldn’t be like Fu Liqun who could cut his enemies in half with the halberd he wielded.
“Don’t get into close combat!” Chen Yekai reminded.
Yu Hao was almost dragged into the enemy’s group, but Fu Liqun grabbed his wings and dragged him back.
Meanwhile, Huang Ting’s totem had been almost completely seized back.
Jbecaifrr olfgmf-ibbxlcu mglwlcjir rabqqfv atflg jaajmx jcv gfagfjafv ribkis. Te Ljb rjlv, “Qtja vb atfs kjca ab vb?”
“Again?” Ou Qihang said, “They can’t be killed ah, if only I could summon my Gundam…”
Ktf mglwlcjir ujatfgfv bcmf jujlc lc atf wlvvif bo atf mbegasjgv jcv qlifv atfwrfinfr eq lcab j mbgqrf uljca. Jtfc Tfxjl rjlv, “Olrafc ab ws bgvfgr. Wljb Ye, ufa gfjvs, kf’ii olgf abufatfg!”
“Three, two…”
“It’s no use.” Huang Ting’s voice rang out from behind, “Let me do it ba.”
The last bit of the totem shattered and burst with a bang, permeating Huang Ting’s entire body. In the next moment, Huang Ting flew up from the ground. While adorned in slim-fit robe, his right hand drew back, and a red magic book appeared in his left hand!
Yu Hao, “!!!”
“Holy crap…” Ou Qihang said.
“Huang Ting!” Chen Yekai shouted.
A flame tornado diffused from the platform with a blast, like white light produced from an explosion. Yu Hao subconsciously shielded his eyes. Everyone shouted at the same time and retreated. Within the flames, Huang Ting’s black hair was tousled in the wind, like a blazing black flame. The pages of the magic book in his hand fluttered rapidly, and the other four people immediately retreated behind Huang Ting.
“You’re right.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, “Since I don’t have much time left, then just liberate myself one last time ba. What’s the point in giving up so easily when I’m still alive?”
In the next moment, countless streaks of lightning strikes descended from the sky, and the maze platform drifted between heaven and earth. Smashed bricks fell within the dreamscape, and the maze platform collapsed completely and turned into bricks that fell to the ground! Lightning gathered in Huang Ting’s hand, as if the apocalypse had arrived, and the rage of the devastating thunderbolt burst out of the Archmage’s hand and illuminated the entire world!
“Good God!” Fu Liqun shouted, “We’re going to fall!”
Yu Hao was about to fly to his companions, but four gigantic floor tiles carried them as they slowly rose into the air. Under the night sky, lightning had gathered into a huge dragon that danced madly in the air and destroyed everything it touched. A glowing symbol appeared between Huang Ting’s brows; with an open magic book in his left hand, he pointed at the sky with his right finger. After the thunder and lightning passed, celestial fire descended endlessly from the skies that shook the earth as they launched a series of explosions! At that moment, Yu Hao felt like he was the only God in this world!
“Enough ba!” Chen Yekai saw that all the corpses between heaven and earth had already turned into ashes. He shouted, “Stop! It’s over!”
“A night with a full moon is when magic is at its strongest.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, “Thank you, brothers.”
This move from the Archmage had simply overturned everything Yu Hao thought that he had known about Huang Ting. The lightning had turned the maze, courtyard, and criminals into ashes, and they were burned until nothing was left by the celestial flames.
What next? Yu Hao suddenly remembered — without Zhou Sheng, would the sun in this dream still rise?
“The moon is out!” Ou Qihang cried.
The dark clouds that blotted out the sky billowed gently and gradually retreated. Huang Ting, who was hovering in the sky, looked up at the clear and bright full moon.
“Moon?” Chen Yekai wondered.
The four of them looked up together. All of the dark clouds had dispersed, only leaving behind the bright moon that was illuminating the entire dream world. Everything that appeared in front of him had already subverted Yu Hao’s understanding of dreams, but in the next moment, he realised that the moonlight seemed to have another kind of miraculous effect when it shone down upon the world, which was different from that of the sun!
The moonlight illuminated the earth; a sorrowful song travelled over from somewhere far away. The fog in the subconscious was like a tide that gradually receded, revealing distant shores and mountains. A siren was singing at the top of her voice in the depths of the fog.
Huang Ting’s abstruse gaze was cast on the end of the mountains and the sea; the fog that enveloped the center of the dream world dispersed and encircled the mountain range-like highlands.
The moon revealed its gentle face, its silver white light spilling all over the dreamscape.
Under the light, the collapsed bricks between heaven and earth rose one after another and reassembled, supporting a giant garden in the sky that was built against a mountain.
Running water streamed down; the ashes of the rotten monsters drifted in the air and permeated the soil. Countless buds of life sprouted in the Hanging Gardens, unfurling themselves towards the sky. With the siren’s song in the background, a spacious terrace facing the mountains with the sea at its back was piled up with pure white marble. The streams on the mountain meandered over and poured into the pond, while the central courtyard’s pond formed a fountain.
The sea breeze blew; Huang Ting was adorned in a slim-fit magic robe as he stood on the platform, turning his body to face the other four.
“Thank you.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, then closed the red leather magic book in his hands.
The other four walked toward Huang Ting. Yu Hao breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the bright moon.
The sun didn’t rise, but the moonlight seemed to have replaced it temporarily in a certain sense, providing them this most precious light within the dark night.
Yu Hao and Huang Ting looked at each other, feeling deeply moved for a moment. They didn’t know where to start talking from.
“What is this?” Yu Hao asked, “Archmage, your magic book?”
Huang Ting showed the book’s cover to the rest— 《Criminal Law》.
Yu Hao, “……”
Colosseum World.
On the earth, in the arena, Dark Zhou Sheng hovered in the air. He raised one finger to point at the sky; nine dark monsters burst into blazing black flames with a blast and suddenly gathered toward the Great Devil—
The Great Devil’s eyes were bloodshot; black flames shot out from his entire body, from the ground to the sky, as if a shot that could destroy the heavens and earth had been fired at the sky! Ren Chong was caught off guard — a huge piece of the platform below him instantly collapsed. Heaven was rent asunder, the earth cracked, and the world turned dark; the platform in the sky collapsed and fell to the earth, sending flares up with it as it landed!
Zhou Sheng fell to the earth, and with a loud blast, he finally managed to break free from his predicament. Nearly a third of the Colosseum arena had been destroyed! A tsunami blew in the surrounding seas, and a tremendous wave surged towards the arena.
Ren Chong ran quickly to the center of the platform; only a small foothold was left there, and he hadn’t snapped out of his stupor yet. Zhou Sheng landed. On the earth, Satan, with black flames surrounding his body, shot over obliquely like a meteor and suddenly seized the shining shield that was falling through the air in the midst of the rain of bricks plummeting down like a torrential downpour!
In the next moment, Satan shook the shield and turned it into the jingubang, rushed onto the platform, and struck Ren Chong with it as swift as a sudden clap of thunder!
Ren Chong hadn’t yet seen clearly the changes that were occurring right in front of him. He raised his hands hastily to block the hit with his arms, but before anyone could register it, Satan’s move was just a feint, and he disappeared from before Ren Chong’s eyes with a ‘whoosh’!
The prominence flare encircled Ren Chong’s whole body. Within just a few seconds, Ren Chong had absolutely no clue as to what had happened. He looked at the earth — the stones that constituted the totem had collapsed, and he didn’t know where Zhou Sheng was.
“Who was that just now?” Ren Chong uttered to himself.
Zhou Sheng fell harshly onto the audience seats. The Colosseum arena was already in a mess, and it looked like it had just been ravaged by an earthquake. Zhou Sheng mustered all the strength he had left to crawl up the grandstand and looked up at the ball of shining fog hovering in the air. Faintly discernible sounds of a song travelled out from within the fog.
Zhou Sheng let out a breath of boiling air. He reached out and held the ball of light in his arms, then closed his eyes.
The wave surged and swamped the entire arena; seismic sea waves billowed, and it completely submerged his safe haven, the Colosseum, as well as the floating islands that were scattered about the sea. Icy cold sea water washed over, and quietly washed Zhou Sheng into the depths of the subconscious.
“Get ready for access to the integrator!”
“We’ve succeeded!”
“That kid’s self-consciousness is disappearing.”
In the underground research room, a huge EEG chart was displayed on the screen. Zhou Sheng’s brain waves were growing extremely weak, while Ren Chong’s wave bands had occupied the entire screen. Zhou Sheng, who was fastened onto the chair, was convulsing from head to toe, and bluish veins could be seen on his arms.
A leaf glowed with a golden light, its edges seeming to burn with a golden flame.
“Is this Zhou Sheng’s?” Yu Hao asked, “I must go into Zhou Sheng’s subconscious world.”
Golden Crow Wheel motioned for Yu Hao to stand on the leaf. The leaf emitted a faint light. Yu Hao noticed that there were several other leaves next to this leaf, and they were connected to Zhou Sheng’s leaf.
“What do the connected leaves represent?” Yu Hao asked.
“Spiritual connection.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.
Yu Hao, “Why are ours so far apart from each other?”
Golden Crow Wheel said, “This is the exit of your subconscious world.”
Yu Hao, “Oh that’s not far, I just didn’t recognise it…these leaves all look the same. Send me in ba.”
He stood at the entrance to Zhou Sheng’s subconscious and waited for the door to open, or for him to be transported in. But even after he waited for a long time, nothing happened.
“The conscious world is being disturbed,” Golden Crow Wheel said, “It’s impassable.”
Yu Hao, “……”
Golden Crow Wheel said, “You must return to the subconscious or surface consciousness world and wait for the disturbance to be removed. Time will not move here.”
“He’s on that machine now.” Yu Hao murmured, “In that case, it’s probably impossible to go into Ren Chong’s subconscious too. But how do I know when he’ll get off that machine?”
Golden Crow Wheel didn’t answer. Yu Hao took a deep breath and reminded himself not to panic.
“Can I enter the subconscious of someone who’s awake?”
“Can not enter when they’re awake.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.
Vb tf mjc’a fcafg batfg qfbqif’r vgfjwr flatfg. Te Ljb ralii kjcafv ab ajxf j ujwyif. Lf jrxfv, “Vfjgmt ‘Itjb Oljcu’.”
“‘Viffqlcu’ kjr cba obecv.” Xbivfc Jgbk Qtffi rjlv.
“Efc Jtbcu’r meggfcais nslcu bnfg atf abafw klat tlw…” Te Ljb rjlv, “Zera atlcx bo j kjs ab ufa atfw ybat boo atf wjmtlcf jcv gfaegcfv ab gfjilas abb…Zs Xbv, ktja rtbeiv P vb cbk? Qjla, lr Lejcu Klcu ralii lc tlr vgfjw? Pr tf jkjxf? Vfjgmt obg ‘Lejcu Klcu’!”
Golden Crow Wheel turned around and didn’t walk too far away. He walked up to a leaf. Yu Hao said, “I want to enter his subconscious world!”
A door appeared on the leaf, and Yu Hao thought, that’s great!
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“I still need your help.” Yu Hao held the door handle and said to Golden Crow Wheel.
“In your conscious world, you can use my functions within the scope of your permissions.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.
“See you.” Yu Hao suppressed the unease he felt and resolutely opened the door. An icy cold white mist could be seen beyond the door, and it suddenly sucked him into Huang Ting’s subconscious world!
“Huang Ting!” Yu Hao looked left and right. This conscious world did not collapse, so that is to say, Huang Ting was still in the dreamscape on the surface. A barrier appeared around him. He spread his wings and flew past the fog. According to the judgment imposed on the situation in his own subconscious world, he flew towards the bright side.
Many roaring, colossal monsters appeared in the fog. Yu Hao glided through quickly, and he avoided arms that sporadically reached out from within the fog to grab him. With one spurt of energy, he rushed out of the subconscious area!
The fog had already swallowed most of the maze, and it was currently corroding its way to the center. Yu Hao paid close attention to the surrounding mechanisms.
Fortunately, he was close to the center of the maze, so there weren’t as many mechanisms anymore. Yu Hao walked into the courtyard in the middle and suddenly saw that the pond in the courtyard had swirled into a black whirlpool. Huang Ting was walking toward the whirlpool from the shore.
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“Huang Ting!” Yu Hao shouted. Huang Ting turned around, and terrifying screams could be heard within the whirlpool. Countless hands reached out from within, and they actually wanted to drag Huang Ting into the water!
“Yu Hao?” Huang Ting looked very calm as he stopped walking.
Behind him, a massive monster that seemed to be pieced together from many corpses slowly rose from the black whirlpool, and there were numerous hands dripping with blood as well. Like a scene from hell in an oil painting, it kept approaching Huang Ting.
Yu Hao spread his wings out and rushed forward. He shouted, “Huang Ting!’
For a moment, he could vaguely feel a sense of danger— Huang Ting was on the verge of losing control over his conscious world, just like how he faced the darkness beyond the Great Wall in the beginning and was about to jump down. It’s fortunate he came now, otherwise Huang Ting’s entire dreamscape would have completely collapsed!
Right when Yu Hao lunged at him, the monster behind Huang Ting roared madly and shot out viscous streams of blood that knocked Yu Hao squarely in his chest, sending him flying straight out and stuck him tightly to a wall! Yu Hao’s hands were parted, with a dagger in each of them, but he couldn’t even budge an inch.
“Wake up! Huang Ting!” Yu Hao shouted.
Huang Ting stood by the pond with his back to the giant, rotten corpse monster. He looked back.
“How does it feel like for someone’s life to end?” Huang Ting murmured, “It’s finally my turn today.”
Yu Hao, “……”
“I arrested someone before.” Huang Ting said to Yu Hao, “When he was handcuffed by me, he told me that I would die as well one day…I wasn’t the least bit afraid then. What I said was that, ‘I’m not afraid of death, but you are.’”
Yu Hao’s chest heaved fiercely. He saw the giant rotten monster stretching out dozens of bloody hands from behind to catch Huang Ting’s shoulders, wrists, and ankles, pulling him back and into its arms.
“Some people died because of you.” Yu Hao’s gasps eased, “But there are even more people who survived because of the choices you made, Huang Ting.”
Huang Ting answered, “But at this moment, the people I saved won’t come to save me. These bodily curses follow me relentlessly like my shadows. They’ve been accompanying me every night after I found out that I’m sick…”
“Yes, right?” Yu Hao couldn’t struggle anymore because of the sticky blood that enveloped his whole body. He spun the dagger between his fingers, grasped the blade, and said in a low voice, “I understand that feeling. You saved so many people, but in the end, no one can come to save you.”
“Yes.” Huang Ting said, “These days, I’ve always been wondering what on earth I’m living for…”
Yu Hao shouted, “When you do all these things! Isn’t it for the sake of not letting the pain you’ve experienced happen again to someone else?!”
Huang Ting fell silent and looked at Yu Hao. Yu Hao mustered all his strength to shout, “You’ve had enough of tasting the fear and feeling of facing death head-on. You’ve experienced this kind of reluctance and helplessness, but what you’ve been guarding all your life, wasn’t it because you didn’t want anyone else to experience that kind of feeling anymore?!”
Huang Ting’s eyes suddenly widened. Yu Hao said in a low voice, “Wake up! You can still fight! Even if you don’t have much time left, why don’t you liberate yourself once?! What about your principles? Your justice?! What’s the point of dying in such a stifling way?!”
After he spoke, Yu Hao’s five fingers clenched tightly, and his hand was instantly drenched in blood, then he opened them up again. Huang Ting extended a hand out, but his body still couldn’t avoid being dragged toward the rotten corpse giant!
The motorcade drove onto an elevated highway. Yu Hao, who was in deep sleep, suddenly grasped Fu Liqun’s hand tightly, then let go just as quickly.
“He sent us a signal!” Fu Liqun said.
“So fast?” Chen Yekai said, “It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes.”
Ou Qihang immediately threw the medicine into the back seat, then adjusted the passenger seat such that it lay flat. Chen Yekai drove the car off the elevated highway, then parked it by the road. He called Qin Guodong and asked him to send someone over to drive his car, then he said to Ou Qihang, “Go to the back.”
Chen Yekai was driving an SUV. Fu Liqun adjusted his seat and lay down. Ou Qihang was lying in the last row, and Chen Yekai went to the passenger seat. A colleague from the office came over. Chen Yekai said, “I’ll have to trouble you to drive.”
In the maze world, Huang Ting said, “I…This is a dream?”
Huang Ting was already in the firm grasp of the monster. Yu Hao took a deep breath and shouted, “Huang Ting! I know that in this world, no matter what we do, we may not get anything in return for it. In fact, everything you do may not even amount to anything from the very beginning!”
“But, you can’t leave yet.”
Dark clouds surged in the sky, revealing a gap in between. Silver white moonlight spilled through the clouds.
“Save one more soul ba.” Yu Hao said in a low voice, “Go all out one more time, because that’s what we’re living for. Regardless of whether we get anything in return, since there’s not much time left to live, why don’t you fight until the end of your life?”
Huang Ting’s pupils contracted, as if he had sobered up a little. He struggled fiercely, but he couldn’t break free from the fetters of the giant monster.
“Let me go!” Huang Ting roared angrily, “Yu Hao! Help me, quick!”
Yu Hao looked up at the sky. Three flashing figures were shooting toward the earth like meteors!”
“It’s not Zhou Sheng! It’s Huang Ting!” Chen Yekai shouted in the sky.
“Huang Ting!” Ou Qihang shouted.
“Huang Ting——!” Fu Liqun’s boiling armour was like a celestial fire shooting straight down from the sky.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh, three rays of light landed. A flying scalpel swept past and cut up the sticky blood that bound Yu Hao’s limbs. Fu Liqun wielded a long halberd, and riding on the momentum of his fall, he stomped onto the monster with one foot. Ou Qihang readied his cannon and fired a shot; the monster let out an anguished howl, and several corpses fell out. Fu Liqun slashed the monster’s body with his halberd and dragged Huang Ting out!
Yu Hao flexed his arms. Fu Liqun brought Huang Ting along with him to the edge of the pond.
“Why is it this dream?” Chen Yekai said, “Where’s Zhou Sheng?”
“There’s no time to explain!” Yu Hao said, “Help him seize his totem back first! Quick! It’s up to you now!”
Chen Yekai said, “Prepare to deal with the boss!”
“This boss shouldn’t be difficult to fight ba.” Ou Qihang retreated a little. “It should at least be easier to fight than the dragon in Liqun Ge’s dream.”
Fu Liqun, “Could you not mention my dark history?”
Yu Hao said, “Can you guys summon your mounts?”
Chen Yekai, “No, Zhou Sheng must be here for us to do so.”
Fu Liqun said, “Scheming white wolves then! Although Zhou Sheng isn’t around, we don’t need to be afraid of it!”
The corpse giant staggered and finally emerged from the pond. Its attention had been lured away by Ou Qihang’s cannon shots, and it walked towards them. Huang Ting said, “Where’s the totem?”
Yu Hao turned his head and glanced around. The moonlight landed, and within the mist above the pond, the faint outline of a symbol could be discerned.
“In the fog!” Yu Hao had just shouted this when Huang Ting raised his hand, and within a split second, the earth shook; the entire maze began to disintegrate and drift away, and the central courtyard kept rising. The corpse giant roared at the skies and stirred up a storm from the ground!
This was Zhou Sheng’s first time not participating in a dream battle, but Yu Hao didn’t have the time to think too deeply about it. Huang Ting stood by the pond and stretched out his hand. Silver particles burst out from within the fog and flew toward his body.
“Everyone, take your places!” Chen Yekai said, “Yu Hao, attract its attention! Everyone else is to provide support and attack!”
Yu Hao spread his wings out and flew. The platform rose higher and higher, and started revolving. The corpse giant spewed viscous blood into the sky, and Yu Hao dodged it several times. The daggers in his hands merged into a staff, then he dove toward the giant. With his wings spread out, Yu Hao’s figure had formed a side profile silhouette under the moonlight.
Meanwhile, Chen Yekai, Ou Qihang, and Fu Liqun made their moves at the same time!
The corpse giant was instantly smashed, and corpses shot out everywhere. Every one of the criminals who had been defeated by Huang Ting crawled up from the ground and roared as they rushed toward them. Without their mounts, everyone could only surround Huang Ting to protect him; fugitives could be seen in all directions.
“Not done yet?” Chen Yekai looked back. Huang Ting’s eyes were slowly regaining their lucidity, and his totem kept streaming into his body.
Yu Hao shouted, “Protect him!”
Four people gathered at the edge of the pond to guard Huang Ting. Every one of them released the firepower they had, and Huang Ting’s body gradually began to emit light.
“Why do I feel like this dream is really chaotic!” Ou Qihang kicked away a criminal that had lunged at him as he shouted to Yu Hao.
“Because Zhou Sheng’s not here! The Golden Crow Wheel can’t work as well!” Yu Hao answered.
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“Won’t it be really easy for us to wake up?” Fu Liqun asked.
“The Golden Crow Wheel is charging!” Yu Hao shouted, “There’s no time to explain!”
Yu Hao could only swing his staff around to hit his enemies; the light it released frightened the criminals around him, but it wasn’t able to exert as much power as Chen Yekai and Ou Qihang’s firearms, and he couldn’t be like Fu Liqun who could cut his enemies in half with the halberd he wielded.
“Don’t get into close combat!” Chen Yekai reminded.
Yu Hao was almost dragged into the enemy’s group, but Fu Liqun grabbed his wings and dragged him back.
Meanwhile, Huang Ting’s totem had been almost completely seized back.
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“Again?” Ou Qihang said, “They can’t be killed ah, if only I could summon my Gundam…”
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“Three, two…”
“It’s no use.” Huang Ting’s voice rang out from behind, “Let me do it ba.”
The last bit of the totem shattered and burst with a bang, permeating Huang Ting’s entire body. In the next moment, Huang Ting flew up from the ground. While adorned in slim-fit robe, his right hand drew back, and a red magic book appeared in his left hand!
Yu Hao, “!!!”
“Holy crap…” Ou Qihang said.
“Huang Ting!” Chen Yekai shouted.
A flame tornado diffused from the platform with a blast, like white light produced from an explosion. Yu Hao subconsciously shielded his eyes. Everyone shouted at the same time and retreated. Within the flames, Huang Ting’s black hair was tousled in the wind, like a blazing black flame. The pages of the magic book in his hand fluttered rapidly, and the other four people immediately retreated behind Huang Ting.
“You’re right.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, “Since I don’t have much time left, then just liberate myself one last time ba. What’s the point in giving up so easily when I’m still alive?”
In the next moment, countless streaks of lightning strikes descended from the sky, and the maze platform drifted between heaven and earth. Smashed bricks fell within the dreamscape, and the maze platform collapsed completely and turned into bricks that fell to the ground! Lightning gathered in Huang Ting’s hand, as if the apocalypse had arrived, and the rage of the devastating thunderbolt burst out of the Archmage’s hand and illuminated the entire world!
“Good God!” Fu Liqun shouted, “We’re going to fall!”
Yu Hao was about to fly to his companions, but four gigantic floor tiles carried them as they slowly rose into the air. Under the night sky, lightning had gathered into a huge dragon that danced madly in the air and destroyed everything it touched. A glowing symbol appeared between Huang Ting’s brows; with an open magic book in his left hand, he pointed at the sky with his right finger. After the thunder and lightning passed, celestial fire descended endlessly from the skies that shook the earth as they launched a series of explosions! At that moment, Yu Hao felt like he was the only God in this world!
“Enough ba!” Chen Yekai saw that all the corpses between heaven and earth had already turned into ashes. He shouted, “Stop! It’s over!”
“A night with a full moon is when magic is at its strongest.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, “Thank you, brothers.”
This move from the Archmage had simply overturned everything Yu Hao thought that he had known about Huang Ting. The lightning had turned the maze, courtyard, and criminals into ashes, and they were burned until nothing was left by the celestial flames.
What next? Yu Hao suddenly remembered — without Zhou Sheng, would the sun in this dream still rise?
“The moon is out!” Ou Qihang cried.
The dark clouds that blotted out the sky billowed gently and gradually retreated. Huang Ting, who was hovering in the sky, looked up at the clear and bright full moon.
“Moon?” Chen Yekai wondered.
The four of them looked up together. All of the dark clouds had dispersed, only leaving behind the bright moon that was illuminating the entire dream world. Everything that appeared in front of him had already subverted Yu Hao’s understanding of dreams, but in the next moment, he realised that the moonlight seemed to have another kind of miraculous effect when it shone down upon the world, which was different from that of the sun!
The moonlight illuminated the earth; a sorrowful song travelled over from somewhere far away. The fog in the subconscious was like a tide that gradually receded, revealing distant shores and mountains. A siren was singing at the top of her voice in the depths of the fog.
Huang Ting’s abstruse gaze was cast on the end of the mountains and the sea; the fog that enveloped the center of the dream world dispersed and encircled the mountain range-like highlands.
The moon revealed its gentle face, its silver white light spilling all over the dreamscape.
Under the light, the collapsed bricks between heaven and earth rose one after another and reassembled, supporting a giant garden in the sky that was built against a mountain.
Running water streamed down; the ashes of the rotten monsters drifted in the air and permeated the soil. Countless buds of life sprouted in the Hanging Gardens, unfurling themselves towards the sky. With the siren’s song in the background, a spacious terrace facing the mountains with the sea at its back was piled up with pure white marble. The streams on the mountain meandered over and poured into the pond, while the central courtyard’s pond formed a fountain.
The sea breeze blew; Huang Ting was adorned in a slim-fit magic robe as he stood on the platform, turning his body to face the other four.
“Thank you.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, then closed the red leather magic book in his hands.
The other four walked toward Huang Ting. Yu Hao breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the bright moon.
The sun didn’t rise, but the moonlight seemed to have replaced it temporarily in a certain sense, providing them this most precious light within the dark night.
Yu Hao and Huang Ting looked at each other, feeling deeply moved for a moment. They didn’t know where to start talking from.
“What is this?” Yu Hao asked, “Archmage, your magic book?”
Huang Ting showed the book’s cover to the rest— 《Criminal Law》.
Yu Hao, “……”
Colosseum World.
On the earth, in the arena, Dark Zhou Sheng hovered in the air. He raised one finger to point at the sky; nine dark monsters burst into blazing black flames with a blast and suddenly gathered toward the Great Devil—
The Great Devil’s eyes were bloodshot; black flames shot out from his entire body, from the ground to the sky, as if a shot that could destroy the heavens and earth had been fired at the sky! Ren Chong was caught off guard — a huge piece of the platform below him instantly collapsed. Heaven was rent asunder, the earth cracked, and the world turned dark; the platform in the sky collapsed and fell to the earth, sending flares up with it as it landed!
Zhou Sheng fell to the earth, and with a loud blast, he finally managed to break free from his predicament. Nearly a third of the Colosseum arena had been destroyed! A tsunami blew in the surrounding seas, and a tremendous wave surged towards the arena.
Ren Chong ran quickly to the center of the platform; only a small foothold was left there, and he hadn’t snapped out of his stupor yet. Zhou Sheng landed. On the earth, Satan, with black flames surrounding his body, shot over obliquely like a meteor and suddenly seized the shining shield that was falling through the air in the midst of the rain of bricks plummeting down like a torrential downpour!
In the next moment, Satan shook the shield and turned it into the jingubang, rushed onto the platform, and struck Ren Chong with it as swift as a sudden clap of thunder!
Ren Chong hadn’t yet seen clearly the changes that were occurring right in front of him. He raised his hands hastily to block the hit with his arms, but before anyone could register it, Satan’s move was just a feint, and he disappeared from before Ren Chong’s eyes with a ‘whoosh’!
The prominence flare encircled Ren Chong’s whole body. Within just a few seconds, Ren Chong had absolutely no clue as to what had happened. He looked at the earth — the stones that constituted the totem had collapsed, and he didn’t know where Zhou Sheng was.
“Who was that just now?” Ren Chong uttered to himself.
Zhou Sheng fell harshly onto the audience seats. The Colosseum arena was already in a mess, and it looked like it had just been ravaged by an earthquake. Zhou Sheng mustered all the strength he had left to crawl up the grandstand and looked up at the ball of shining fog hovering in the air. Faintly discernible sounds of a song travelled out from within the fog.
Zhou Sheng let out a breath of boiling air. He reached out and held the ball of light in his arms, then closed his eyes.
The wave surged and swamped the entire arena; seismic sea waves billowed, and it completely submerged his safe haven, the Colosseum, as well as the floating islands that were scattered about the sea. Icy cold sea water washed over, and quietly washed Zhou Sheng into the depths of the subconscious.
