novelraw Chapter 24 : Shentu and Yulei
Chapter 24 : Shentu and Yulei
Chapter 24: Shentu and Yulei
Shadows swayed in the forest.
Gunfire rang out in bursts, but aside from human voices and footsteps, there was no other sound from any animals.
Zhang You ran with everyone, but he felt that something was off.
“Something’s wrong, something’s wrong, how could that Lu Gang possibly be a First-Stage Extraordinary One?”
“There’s a problem, definitely a problem.”
Zhang You was no fool. Even if he had not realized it earlier, he could now faintly sense that something was wrong behind all this.
Either there was a problem with Lu Gang, or there was a problem with the Immortal Master behind him, using him as a piece to probe the way.
It was even more likely that both sides had problems. Right now, it looked as if he was fighting against Lu Gang, but in reality, it was the immortals behind them who were clashing with spells. They were nothing more than pieces pressed onto a chessboard.
With one careless move, they could end up utterly shattered.
Thinking of this, Zhang You ran even faster.
“That Zhou Shentong is ruthless beyond measure, he actually tricked me into coming here to block bullets.”
“Fine, I’ll block bullets, but he didn’t even bother telling me the situation. This is clearly sending me to my death!”
“And he still calls himself an Immortal Master, acting like some righteous immortal with Daoist bearing. Isn’t he just a black-hearted old demon?”
But those words he only dared say in his heart. Zhang You didn’t dare to completely run away, only make a ‘strategic retreat’. After all, his life and death were still in the hands of Zhou Shentong and Longevity Temple.
As long as he made it back to the base, once Lu Gang arrived, Zhou Shentong would never sit idly by if the base—especially the great door within—was threatened.
Thinking of this, Zhang You rushed out of the forest, finally seeing vehicles.
Behind the mountain, a row of cars was parked, and a makeshift dirt road had been cleared and filled, leading directly to their base.
Zhang You led everyone into the vehicles and shouted.
“Retreat, retreat quickly!”
“Once we get back, we’ll have a way to deal with those people. This Mount Zhangwei is the divine mountain in mythology—it’s not a place they can run rampant in.”
Zhang You, being chased, felt uneasy. Lu Gang, on the other hand, felt equally uneasy.
“What’s happening to me?”
“How am I this strong?”
“How did I do that?”
Lu Gang felt as if he no longer recognized himself.
Vaguely, he recalled that chanting voice—every crucial moment, it seemed someone was reciting scripture by his ear.
At the same time, a figure surfaced in Lu Gang’s mind.
“Li Jun!”
As Lu Gang pondered this, he too emerged from the forest.
Without the cover of that gloomy woodland, they also saw the road ahead, and Zhang You’s group already in vehicles fleeing.
On the other side, Zhao Nange reacted quickly. Just as a small truck passed by, she leapt onto it and seized it.
There were several people in the truck, but none were Extraordinary Ones. Zhao Nange flung them out in a few moves.
Then, Lu Gang’s group drove this truck, chasing closely after Zhang You’s convoy.
Their mission this time had three objectives: exploration, rescue, and Longevity Temple.
Now, at this very moment, all three converged into one. As long as they could seize and locate Zhang You’s base, they could complete all three at once.
Bumping along, Zhao Nange drove while Lu Gang looked ahead through the window. After passing several treacherous paths, the road ahead grew even more dangerous.
They were nearly brushing against a cliff edge—one wrong move and they would tumble into the abyss.
Meanwhile, Zhang You’s men ahead kept firing back, even tossing grenades.
“Bang bang bang bang!”
“Boom!”
Lu Gang’s side countered by deploying small drones to target them. On this perilous mountain road, the two sides continued their deadly battle.
In this chase, they finally reached the base atop the high ground.
Crossing the highest point, they saw below a slope—one side connected to a valley, the other to a sheer cliff.
And across that cliff, faintly within the void, they could glimpse the immortal peak where Longevity Temple stood.
At this moment.
The base resembled a construction site, still under work. Most men and machinery had been shifted to the enormous unearthed stone gate, with floodlights shining upon it.
Many workers at the site had no idea what was happening outside, still digging and clearing at the gate. When Zhang You’s convoy returned, accompanied by gunfire and explosions, they finally turned to look.
Seated in the passenger seat, Lu Gang instantly saw the massive ancient stone gate illuminated by countless lights.
Within this dark, eerie domain.
That object not only drew all the light but also seized everyone’s gaze.
Even from such a distance, Lu Gang felt its immensity and ancient desolation.
It leaned into the earth like a portal to the Nine Netherworlds.
“Look quickly, what is that?” Zhao Nange hit the brakes.
“It looks like… a gate.” Others also stared. Someone immediately took out instruments to record—this was vital data, part of their mission.
“They’re excavating relics of ancient mythology here.” Seeing the vast site, everyone voiced the same thought.
Indeed, it looked exactly like that. Lu Gang and his group didn’t know that the discovery of this ancient ruin had been an accident, but also something fated.
Originally, Longevity Temple only planned to establish a passage here linking the mortal world, Longevity Temple, and Mount Zhangwei.
But Lu Gang’s gaze was fixed on the colossal stone gate. On it, countless figures were carved—kneeling, holding up candles. A simple image, yet exuding a sinister, eerie, terrifying atmosphere.
Now the lower half of the gate was also revealed, showing the back of a figure like a god or demon.
Thousands of ancient forebears knelt, candles raised, while that figure sat upon a lofty carriage, drawn forward by dragon-like beings, heading beyond the gate.
The tens of thousands holding candles were carved with sharp lines, making the seated figure upon the carriage appear all the more immense.
“Who is that?”
“Who built this gate? What was it for?”
“A gate this huge—what kind of power could possibly open it?”
“Did Longevity Temple come here for this gate, or for what lies beyond it?”
All kinds of questions flooded Lu Gang’s mind in that instant. That gate weighed upon him like a mountain, suffocating him with its secrets.
Zhou Shentong had stirred such chaos, presenting the image of a man fighting the entire world. To most people, he wasn’t the weaker side at all, but the one holding the advantage.
No one knew what trump cards Zhou Shentong held, what he knew. If he gained something left behind from the ancient age, what kind of situation would that create?
“No matter what, we cannot let Longevity Temple succeed.”
“He is already many steps ahead of us, and we are far too slow. We can’t continue like this.”
Thinking this, Lu Gang leapt out of the vehicle. At that same moment, Zhang You’s convoy had just stopped, colliding with Lu Gang’s pursuit.
Zhang You only wanted to delay time, but seeing Lu Gang charge directly at him, he was enraged.
He had just stepped out of his vehicle, grabbing the walkie-talkie, when he turned back and shouted in fury.
“This guy’s like a mad dog!”
Another Extraordinary One rushed forward to block the way, but Lu Gang shot him dead with two bullets, then hurled the corpse at Zhang You.
Zhang You had no retreat left. He could only fight back. If he yielded further, he wouldn’t even have an excuse.
In an instant, Zhang You revealed the power of a Second-Stage Extraordinary One—strength he had received from Zhou Shentong.
His body twisted and warped, vanishing on the spot. But a huge shadow appeared on the ground, like a serpent, slithering toward Lu Gang.
The serpent shadow was incredibly fast, lunging to bite Lu Gang in one strike. Zhang You clearly intended to catch him off guard.
But Lu Gang reacted. Mist formed around his body, making him appear semi-transparent.
The strike passed straight through Lu Gang, and he fired at Zhang You’s serpent form. But Zhang You dived underground, rendering the attack useless.
The two clashed back and forth, fighting from slope to valley, but it was as if air battled air—completely ineffective.
At this moment, firearms had entirely lost their use.
But at this moment, the chanting voice by Lu Gang’s ear rang out once again. His body moved, diving straight toward the ground.
His hand plunged into the earth, and his palm instantly transformed into countless dense vines that reached underground and seized Zhang You’s shadow.
In an instant, Zhang You’s serpent shadow began to struggle violently, and finally transformed back into human form.
But only his upper body was human. His lower body remained immersed in the shadow on the ground.
Seeing Lu Gang extend his other hand to deliver a fatal blow, Zhang You panicked completely, crying out toward the sky.
“Immortal Master!”
“I really can’t hold on anymore!”
Zhang You was just short of shouting that if this black-hearted old demon didn’t come out now, he was done playing.
If this were any ordinary situation, what Zhang You said would have been a complete joke. What right did he have to tell Zhou Shentong he wouldn’t play anymore? Could that ever be up to him?
But now, with the colossal stone gate right beside them, Zhou Shentong had no choice but to act if he didn’t want this place to fall into others’ hands. Zhang You was banking precisely on this point.
Sure enough, two words came from the void.
“Useless!”
Lu Gang and the others also heard the voice. They immediately turned their heads, looking toward the edge of the cliff.
From the void beyond the cliff, lights began to shine from Longevity Temple. The layers of mist dispersed, and now even ordinary eyes could perceive its immortal peak.
That immortal peak became clearer, no longer just an outline. The temple’s master, Zhou Shentong, had finally appeared.
No one knew how far Zhou Shentong was from Lu Gang’s position. Lu Gang couldn’t even glimpse his shadow, only that immortal peak.
But now, as Zhou Shentong flicked his horsetail whisk, the shadows of two enormous peach trees appeared at the sides of the immortal peak.
The peach branches intertwined, as if forming a colossal gate.
With the whisk resting on his arm, Zhou Shentong extended his sword fingers, pointing toward a place within the black mountain range at the other end of the void.
“Zhao Nange… Lu Qing… Hong…”
Zhou Shentong called out one name after another. And with each name spoken, a force bound itself upon that person, freezing them in place.
At once, those whose names were called seemed tied by invisible ropes in midair. Even the wind could not stir a single hair.
Other than him, no one could kill them. But as long as he willed their death, they would find no escape.
In that moment, Zhou Shentong was like the soul-reaping King of Hell, like the judge who hooked souls away.
Those whose names were called looked utterly terrified. They hadn’t even laid eyes on Zhou Shentong, yet he could already consign them to death.
So-called extrasensory perception, fire’s power, the Wood Guests or the serpent shadow—in the face of such an existence, they were nothing but cheap tricks unfit for the stage.
Finally, Zhou Shentong uttered the last name.
“Lu Gang!”
Then, with a cold laugh, he spat out one final word.
“Die!”
When the others were bound, they instantly could not move. Only when it came to Lu Gang did he manage to move slightly a few times. He felt a power freezing him from all directions, little by little locking him in place.
“What’s happening?”
“How is this possible?”
“What kind of power is this?”
In that despair, Lu Gang finally regained his clarity, breaking free from panic. He shouted out a name.
“Li Jun, I know you’re here.”
“Stop just watching.”
“I’m really about to die…”
He had finally realized it. All that talk of him being strong and mighty was nonsense.
This power wasn’t his at all. That unstoppable momentum earlier had only been Li Jun aiding him from behind, creating the illusion.
But before he could finish speaking, he was completely frozen. Only his thoughts still stirred in his mind.
Even so, Lu Gang was not entirely certain. After all, it was only his own guess.
“Is it really Li Jun?”
“Will he come?”
“Can he make it in time?”
“Even if he does, Zhou Shentong is this powerful. Can Li Jun truly be his match?”
But now, it was out of his hands. All he could do was leave it to fate.
On the other side.
Zhang You and the others were also watching. They were delighted to see Lu Gang and his group fall into a dead end, while also trembling in fear of Zhou Shentong’s power.
And as Zhou Shentong called out Li Jun’s name, everyone immediately looked around.
“Li Jun?”
“The one with Double Pupils?”
“Wasn’t he said to be trapped on Tao Mountain Island, with no way out? It’s been so long without any word.”
“When the Immortal Master caused such chaos before, he didn’t appear. Could he really be here?”
“And even if he came, so what? He’s just come to die!”
Suddenly.
An invisible wave of air swept forth, tearing open the power that had frozen this space.
“Boom!”
Unlike the others, Zhang You had already started running the moment Lu Gang shouted Li Jun’s name. When he heard the commotion behind him, a chill spread in his heart.
“He really came?”
“I knew it… I knew it, there had to be someone behind this.”
“Damn it, that damned Immortal Master really sent me to step on the landmine.”
At last, Zhang You realized who the other ‘immortal’ dueling behind the scenes was.
He scrambled madly toward the valley, wishing he had wings to fly far from the battlefield.
Even as he ran, he couldn’t help glancing back.
Turning his head, he saw a shocking sight.
From Lu Gang’s body spread countless golden roots of light. They extended to the others in his group, enveloping them all.
Then, innumerable radiant veins surged upward, merging into a massive trunk until the shadow of a tree crown covered the entire sky overhead.
At that moment, a figure appeared beneath the tree.
Li Jun descended, carrying the shadow of the Divine Peach Tree, arriving before all like a god or Buddha.
Zhang You stumbled and rolled to the ground, but when he crawled back up, his eyes still stared fixedly at the figure beneath the divine tree.
“So that’s the Double Pupils Li Jun?”
He had heard of Li Jun’s name before. He thought he was just another slightly more powerful Extraordinary One. But now, this was clearly no ordinary Extraordinary.
This was another Zhou Shentong.
Suddenly, he recalled a rumor circulating on the internet.
“Could it be that these two are truly reincarnations of immortals or gods from the ancient age?”
As the transfer ended, Li Jun raised his head beneath the divine tree, gazing into the void to meet Zhou Shentong’s eyes.
Then, Li Jun looked toward the two peach trees behind Longevity Temple and spoke.
“Those are Shentu and Yulei, aren’t they!”
The first time Zhou Shentong had used the peach trees’ power to manifest, Li Jun hadn’t looked carefully.
But just now, when Zhou Shentong used their power again, he finally saw part of his secret.
Through the void and the peach tree’s shadows, Li Jun beheld two great ghosts seated upon the trees, holding glowing golden reed ropes in their hands.