Beneath a night sky choked with dark clouds, the alleyways felt suffocating.
Leng Jing and Leng Qingqing were at their wits' end. They stood covered in mud within the small, miry vegetable garden. Despite Leng Qingqing’s frantic tugging, Leng Jing insisted on heading back out. Leng Qingqing watched with wide, helpless eyes as Leng Jing climbed over the tall iron picket fence and stood ramrod straight on the stone-paved road not far from the gate. In his hand, he gripped a shimmering dagger—a weapon that had come as a bonus, tucked into the soles of the boots that came with his night-suit.
The air in the midnight alley was muggy and damp, without a hint of a breeze. Water vapor condensed into droplets on the dagger, sliding down the length of the blade, proving that this weapon was no ordinary trinket.
Under the nervous gaze of Leng Qingqing, who was clinging to the fence bars behind him, Leng Jing turned around to face his father. He slowly raised the dagger, bringing it close to his face. Through the reflection on the blade, he could monitor everything happening behind him.
The mysterious figure relentlessly pursuing them was less "cautious" and more "insecure." All of his attacks were launched from the rear. Leng Jing believed this posture would allow him to react to the situation behind him in time. Casting aside flashy spells, the simplest methods were often the most effective.
Leng Jing maintained that position, motionless. Leng Qingqing didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
A deathly silence descended.
For the first time, Leng Qingqing could hear his own breathing and heartbeat with such clarity. He swallowed hard, over and over, so nervous he felt he might faint. His hands, gripping the iron bars, trembled uncontrollably, and even his teeth began to chatter. He squeezed the large Napa cabbage in his arms tightly.
He needed something to anchor his collapsing spirit, and this cabbage, plucked from the garden, was the only thing that gave him a modicum of peace.
Time trickled by.
How long had it been? He didn't know. To Leng Qingqing, it felt like a year had passed. He began to suffer the illusion that the monster would never appear, and his tightly wound nerves started to slacken. He wanted to call Leng Jing back, who had been standing there like a statue for so long, but his throat was so parched he couldn't make a sound.
*The danger will pass, right? Little Jing and I will both go home safely...* Leng Qingqing prayed in his heart again and again. Yet, ominous and terrifying thoughts surged up in waves. He tried his best to suppress these unlucky premonitions, but the sorrowful thoughts were like a rushing river, nearly drowning him.
Leng Qingqing felt he couldn't catch his breath. His nose stung, and the dark thoughts caused his vision to blur with tears. Deep in his soul, he screamed: *Think of something good!*
Tears finally betrayed him, rolling down incessantly. Leng Qingqing didn't know if it was from fear or something else; regardless, as the tears flowed, he was pushed to the brink of a breakdown by the oppressive atmosphere.
He was terrified! Scared to death!
"I suggested you shouldn't come. I said you would regret it," Leng Jing said, his voice strained.
"I'm not... afraid..." Leng Qingqing sobbed. Clutching the cabbage, he slowly slid down the iron fence, losing even the strength to stand.
Blood began to trickle down Leng Jing’s night-suit, forming a small pool at his feet. The wounds on his abdomen bloomed one by one. Leng Jing remained motionless. He saw clearly that Leng Qingqing was having no reaction at all, which meant the spot where his father stood was outside the attacker's range. This meant he himself was currently at the very edge of the strike zone.
That fellow was slowly approaching. Leng Jing stared at his dagger; a blurred silhouette gradually appeared in the reflection.
It was him. He was back.
At that moment, Leng Qingqing felt a searing, dangerous aura. He slowly lifted his head and saw Leng Jing standing tall, yet his entire body seemed to be lashed by invisible blades. Blood sprayed, nearly forming a crimson puddle at his feet. However, Leng Qingqing could not see what exactly was behind his son. It was a mass of violent light, so bright that a single glance felt like it would strike one blind. Even though he was in the "safe zone" of the garden, Leng Qingqing was still pinned down by that massive pressure, unable to lift his head. He gritted his teeth and forced his arms up. No matter what, he had to help his son!
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!" Leng Qingqing let out the most furious roar of his life, using every ounce of strength he possessed to hurl the Napa cabbage outward.
*I'll crush you to death, you coward!* Before Leng Qingqing could even voice the thought, he was slammed face-first into the dirt by the overwhelming pressure, his head buried deep in the vegetable patch.
***
Leng Jing, meanwhile, was engaged in a different kind of desperate struggle. Risking the danger of being torn apart, he forced himself to wait for the man to draw near, intending to move against the current and deliver a fatal blow within that one-in-ten chance.
His mind made up, Leng Jing bit down hard on the dagger held between his teeth and turned resolutely. The cuts on his body grew more numerous and deeper, yet he sprinted toward the center of the attack like a man struggling against a hurricane.
Just a little more! He confirmed the man was within a very short distance! Just a little more! Leng Jing could already see the man's outline. He gripped the dagger, ready to execute the final strike.
However, just as his blade was about to touch the man, his right arm—the one holding the dagger—suddenly went flying.
A total failure at the final hurdle! Leng Jing felt as though he had been torn into pieces.
But then, an unexpected variable disrupted all plans: a Napa cabbage suddenly fell from the sky. As the cabbage hit the ground with a *thud*, the man's attack stopped abruptly. Leng Jing fell to the earth, his wounds vanishing once more, his severed arm and mangled body restored to their original state. He crawled on the ground, motionless, seemingly yet to recover from the intense trauma. The cabbage rolled a few times on the ground before coming to a halt.
"Ugh... I was too impatient..." Leng Jing murmured under his breath. After a long while, he groaned and slowly pushed himself up, fumbling for his dagger.
Once again, he stood up, maintaining the same back-turned posture as before, holding the dagger and waiting for the stranger's next assault.
Leng Qingqing, clearly lacking his son's indomitable willpower, remained with his head buried in the dirt after the first shockwave, unable to move.
***
Everything seemed to loop back. Silence returned; the atmosphere froze once more.
Except this time, Leng Jing, with his back to the enemy, allowed a faint, imperceptible smile to touch the corners of his mouth. He was profoundly grateful to fate for letting him meet such a muddled foster father as Leng Qingqing.
Truly grateful.
Slightly different from before, there was now a subtle sense of agitation in the air. Between Leng Jing and the other man, one of them had begun to grow frantic.
***
"He" had never felt worse—anxious and uncertain. "He" loathed this feeling. This had never happened before; the prey that was supposed to be his plaything had turned into a disgusting thing that he couldn't kill no matter how hard he tried. But "he" was known for being cautious; "he" could not afford a single flaw or failure. "He" always rejected "uncertainty"; "he" never gambled.
But this time, "he" had to gamble. These two unkillable, disgusting things were forcing his hand! First, that young man was a goddamn monster! No one had ever lasted this long in "his" killing formation! He had even managed to force his way close to him—he had been so close! "He" had been truly terrified just now! "His" heart was still pounding! "He" wasn't sure if he could successfully kill that monster next time!
Second, what was with that damned cabbage?!!! Why did it land exactly in the only blind spot of his killing formation!? Was it a coincidence?! Or intentional!! No, that didn't matter yet. The urgent matter was whether that unkillable monster had noticed that detail! The blind spot where the cabbage lay! Would he notice? Would he not?! Why, why?! He hated this feeling! "He" couldn't be sure if the young man had noticed his blind spot!
"He" had to gamble just once!!
If he failed the mission, he would... the consequences were unthinkable! He had to! Even if it was the kind of wager he detested most, he had to kill that young man!
Looking at the young man's state, he probably hadn't noticed the blind spot, right? He was still using that same stupid posture. Hmph... one more time.
Wait, what was happening to the sky? What was going on?
***
The sky... Having finally managed to lift his head from the dirt, Leng Qingqing stared at the heavens in a daze.
It was strange. A sliver of light had appeared in the northern sky. A ray of sunlight broke through the dark clouds—a bizarre spectacle to behold in the middle of the night. It looked as if the sky had been torn open.
"The barrier is loosening," Leng Jing said coldly. "You've waited long enough, haven't you? Let's settle this!"
The hurricane-like airflow and pressure approached again. This time, Leng Jing suddenly spun around. In his mind, he had already mapped out the area around his feet into a grid. The direction he sprinted was no longer toward the attacker in the center, but toward the spot where Leng Qingqing’s cabbage had landed—if calculated, it was one square forward and one square to the right of his original position. That was the man's blind spot! Even a cabbage could sit there unharmed.
Though he was once again drenched in blood, Leng Jing successfully landed in the blind spot, gaining a moment to catch his breath.
Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the man hurriedly shifted his position, attempting to change the location of the blind spot. Leng Jing, possessing superior mental calculation, followed the blind spot perfectly as the man moved. The dynamic of a one-sided hunt began to shift subtly; Leng Jing was gradually seizing the initiative. It was like a child's game of hopscotch. Once the true nature of the man's attack was exposed, Leng Jing found this method of combat both unique and foolish. The man didn't know how to attack proactively; he relied entirely on the square-shaped range of his formation. While the interior of the formation was an almost omnipotent killing zone, it possessed a single blind spot—as if Heaven, while granting this man a terrifying ability, had also shackled him with a ridiculous limitation.
The rapid discovery of this blind spot was all thanks to Leng Qingqing’s lucky cabbage.
The tide had turned. After repeatedly shifting his formation to no avail, the man was finally forced to muster the only bit of courage he would ever have in his life. He charged directly at Leng Jing. At the same time, Leng Jing saw the man's true face—he was merely an ordinary man with a wretched expression, a sallow complexion, and a face drenched in cold sweat. It was clear that the pressure Leng Jing exerted on him was equally immense.
As the man rushed forward with a dagger, screaming "Die!", Leng Jing no longer cared about the wounds on his body. He raised his fist and struck the man down with a heavy blow.
As the man collapsed, coughing up blood, the killing formation instantly vanished.
The controller who had been shrouded in the killing formation was, in reality, just an ordinary human.
"My power is gone..." the man wheezed, his mouth full of blood as he crawled on the ground. "I'm going to die..."
"Why hasn't this strange street disappeared yet?!" Leng Jing interrogated him from above.
"That wasn't my power. That was... created by another... the 'Dreamweaver'... but it seems she's at her limit too... the barrier... is cracking... You killed two of us at once... you bastard... go to hell... I don't want to see you in my next life..." The man spat out a final mouthful of blood and lay motionless on the ground.
Sure enough, as the rift in the sky widened, the surrounding scenery began to fade. When the nightmare-like streets vanished into thin air, Leng Qingqing and Leng Jing found themselves back in the vegetable garden in the backyard of the Shentong Sect's headquarters. The dead man quickly shriveled into a dried corpse, slumped at Leng Jing’s feet.
***
Leng Qingqing, covered in mud, ran over and looked up at Leng Jing, who was equally filthy. Leng Jing’s expression was grave.
"Inside that Dreamweaver's barrier, I desperately released a massive amount of Dragon Qi and power, but it was all immediately absorbed by the barrier, making me feel as powerless as a mortal. Later, the barrier couldn't withstand the amount it had absorbed and cracked. Therefore, I suspect there must be another unusual corpse nearby."
"I think you mean that, Jing!" Leng Qingqing pointed to the sky behind him. Floating in mid-air was a female corpse radiating a magnificent light.
What happens when one greedily absorbs a massive amount of a Dragon God's power?
Naturally, she immediately gained the privilege of having her every whim fulfilled. At first, she had been ecstatic. Countless wishes and ideas flooded her mind. She wanted to use this infinite power to escape the Myriad Phenomena Tower immediately! She wanted to rule the Three Realms as the Supreme Empress! She wanted... too much! But first, she had to use this vast Dragon God power to create a perfect image for herself! The image of a supreme, most beautiful Goddess Queen who could rule the world!!! She wanted to be the most beautiful goddess!
Thus, with every desperate exertion Leng Jing made within the barrier, that Dragon God power continued to swell until she died in a state of rapturous ecstasy.
Leng Jing, Leng Qingqing, and many others discovered this corpse of supreme beauty—a beauty beyond words. The female corpse hung in the air, maintaining a sublime pose with six snow-white wings unfurled, a golden halo above her head, her feet resting on a nine-petaled golden lotus, and surrounded by five-colored divine light. Any object that drew near the light would instantly be reduced to ashes. With the corpse as the center, a rain of seven-colored light fell continuously. The people nearby began to prostrate themselves in worship. In all the Three Realms, perhaps no one other than Leng Jing himself could claim the body of this poor, ultimate barrier-user—the Dreamweaver.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 织梦师 | Dreamweaver | A specialist within the Myriad Phenomena Tower who creates illusions and barriers. |
| 龙气 | Dragon Qi | The innate spiritual essence and power of a dragon. |
| 神通门 | Shentong Sect | The "Divine Power" or "Supernatural" Sect; the location where the events are taking place. |
| 万象楼 | Myriad Phenomena Tower | The antagonistic organization the characters are dealing with. |
