radicalducati Chapter 195 Seeds?
Chapter 195 Seeds?
"Furthermore," Nie Lingfeng lowered his voice, so only Xiao Yang could hear, "when reporting to Chairman Zhao, in addition to the situation on site, add this: During the mission, we were suspected of being indirectly watched by a high-ranking entity codenamed 'Blood Moon.' The target left blasphemous whispers involving unknown terms such as 'Nyarlathotep.' Request access to all relevant taboo files of the company and 'Dawn,' and upgrade the confidentiality level of this incident."
Xiao Yang shuddered, his face turning deathly pale. "Blood Moon"? A high-ranking being? Blasphemous whispers? Each of these words represented a terror beyond his authority and comprehension. He swallowed hard and nodded emphatically: "Understood! I'll encrypt and report it immediately!"
After giving his instructions, Nie Lingfeng felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. It wasn't physical fatigue; after fusing with the three divine artifacts, his stamina was practically limitless. Rather, it was the mental tension, the vigilance and pressure from the unknown entity, and the mental exhaustion from dealing with this mess. He glanced at Chen Duo beside him, who also looked weary but was still forcing herself to stay alert, and his heart softened.
"Xiao Yang, I'm leaving this to you. Chen Duo and I need to rest for a bit. It's on the edge of the village, in that empty stilted house that Sister Alan mentioned before. Call me anytime if you need anything," Nie Lingfeng said.
"Don't worry, Teacher Nie! You all go and rest! Leave this to me!" Xiao Yang said hurriedly, personally leading them towards a relatively intact but obviously uninhabited stilted house on the edge of the village.
The building was in a remote location, but it had a good view overlooking most of the village and the square. Although there was a thin layer of dust inside, the furniture and bedding were basically complete. Xiao Yang had the logistics team quickly clean it up and then brought in clean bedding, hot water, and some simple food (compressed biscuits, canned meat, and bottled water).
"Teacher Nie, Miss Chen Duo, please make do with this for now. I'll have someone bring you hot food when it gets light." Xiao Yang said apologetically.
"That's already very good, thank you." Nie Lingfeng nodded.
Xiao Yang tactfully withdrew and closed the door.
Only Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo remained in the room. The dim light of the oil lamp (which they had temporarily found) cast their shadows on the rough wooden wall. The faint sounds of rescue workers talking in hushed tones, the movement of equipment, and the wind rustling through the distant mountains could be heard outside, which only accentuated the silence inside.
Chen Duo walked to the bedside, put down her backpack and the peerless sword she had been tightly clutching, which was wrapped in strips of cloth, and then naturally began to take off her coat, which was covered in dust and grass clippings. Her movements were somewhat slow, clearly indicating that she was extremely tired.
Nie Lingfeng poured her a cup of hot water and handed it to her. He then took out the homemade glutinous rice cakes wrapped in leaves that Sister Alan had given him, roasted them slightly over an oil lamp until the surface was slightly charred and crispy, and they emitted a fragrant aroma of glutinous rice and plant leaves. He then handed them to Chen Duo.
Chen Duo sipped her hot water and munched on the warm glutinous rice cake. A little color gradually returned to her pale face, and her bright green eyes shone like two clear springs under the lamplight. She ate very carefully and with great care, even licking off the sesame seeds that fell onto her hands. (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)
As Nie Lingfeng looked at her, the tension in his heart slowly eased. He walked to the window, opened it a crack, and looked out at the brightly lit square with its flickering lights and shadowy figures, and further away, at the silent, dark cave that had just undergone a terrifying ritual.
"Nie Lingfeng," Chen Duo suddenly spoke, her voice soft, "that 'very bad guy'... what is this 'seed' he was talking about?"
Nie Lingfeng paused, turning to look at her. Chen Duo was also looking up at him, her eyes clear and filled with pure curiosity. She didn't seem to be frightened by the terrifying will and blasphemous whispers just now, or rather, she didn't fully understand what they meant.
How should I explain this to her? Should I tell her that we might have been "marked" by some incomprehensible entity, observed like experimental subjects, or even have been planted with some unknown "hidden danger"?
Nie Lingfeng sat down beside her, ruffled her hair, and tried to put it simply: "It's just... that bad guy might be plotting something against us, or hiding something bad in a place we don't know about. Like... secretly burying a seed that will grow into a poisonous weed in someone else's vegetable garden."
Chen Duo seemed to understand, but after thinking for a moment, she said very seriously, "Then let's find the seeds and burn them! Like we burned that stinky thing in the hole!"
Nie Lingfeng chuckled, but her simple and direct answer warmed his heart: "Yes, find it and burn it. However, the seed might be hidden very deep or very small, so we have to search slowly and carefully."
"Let's look together." Chen Duo nodded vigorously, then added in a low voice, "I have a keen nose and sharp eyes, I can find it."
"Okay, let's go together." Nie Lingfeng agreed with a smile.
After finishing her glutinous rice cake and drinking some water, Chen Duo seemed to have regained some of her energy. She walked to the window and stood beside Nie Lingfeng, also looking outside. After a while, she suddenly said, "The people here... are so pitiful. They were tricked by bad things and even beat us up."
Nie Lingfeng remained silent. Yes, these villagers were innocent, caught up in the twisted faith and the power of the evil god, powerless to resist. Although the evil god was now destroyed, the severe trauma they suffered, both physically and mentally, might take a long time, perhaps even a generation, to heal.
"We'll help them, right?" Chen Duo asked again, turning to look at Nie Lingfeng.
"Yes, I will help," Nie Lingfeng replied confidently. This was not just a task, but also a responsibility.
Chen Duo seemed satisfied and stopped talking, simply leaning quietly against Nie Lingfeng, looking out the window. Gradually, her breathing became even and long, her little head nodding slightly, and she actually fell asleep standing there, leaning against Nie Lingfeng. She had exerted herself too much today, feeling both tired and frightened, and as soon as she relaxed, drowsiness immediately overcame her.
Nie Lingfeng carefully adjusted his position to make her more comfortable, then remained still, acting as a human cushion. Listening to her soft snoring and feeling the faint warmth emanating from her body, mixed with the aura of the Phoenix True Fire, the gloom and fatigue in his heart seemed to be dispelled considerably.
Outside the window, rescue work continued. A faint glimmer of dawn was breaking on the horizon. The long and terrifying night was finally almost over.
But Nie Lingfeng knew that for him, for Chen Duo, and for the world, the truly long night might have only just begun.
"The seed has been planted... The game continues..."
The indifferent yet wicked whisper still seemed to echo in my ears.
Nie Lingfeng's eyes were deep as he gazed at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, silently thinking:
"No matter who you are, no matter what game you want to play... I'll play along to the end."
The morning light arrived quietly, casting golden beams of light through the gaps in the wooden planks of the old stilted house onto the dusty floor. Outside, the cacophony of voices, footsteps, and walkie-talkie buzzing that had lasted until midnight had fallen silent, leaving only the early birds chirping sparsely and crisply in the forest, and the faint, suppressed groans of the wounded from the medical tents in the distance.
Nie Lingfeng remained in the same position by the window, with Chen Duo leaning on his shoulder as she slept, barely moving all night. It wasn't that he wasn't tired, but rather that he needed time, in absolute silence, to process everything that had happened the previous night, to digest those thrilling battles, and... that indifferent declaration from an unknown entity.
The power within him, after the clash with the "Cave God's" true form, and especially after the final purifying strike he unleashed in conjunction with Chen Duo, seemed to have become more harmonious. The powers of the three divine objects—Qilin, Phoenix Blood, and Dragon Essence—were further integrated under the catalysis of the battle and the constant harmonization of the "Three-Part Returning to Origin Qi." They were no longer merely coexisting distinctly as before, but had begun to produce a wondrous symbiosis and amplification, where each contained the other. He vaguely sensed that his control over the flames seemed to have acquired a trace of the phoenix's "immortality" and "purification" characteristics; and his physical strength and regenerative abilities, under the transformative power of the Dragon Essence and the foundation-strengthening nourishment of the Qilin Marrow, had reached an inconceivable level; as for the newly born, dark golden Qilin True Fire, it possessed an indescribable "divinity," as if it could scorch away the impurities of the soul.
However, the increase in power brought no relief. The blasphemous whisper of the Ghost Master Agon before his death, like a cold, poisonous thorn, was deeply embedded in the depths of his consciousness. "Nyarlathotep"... just recalling that name made him feel an unease and rejection originating from the depths of his soul. And "the seed has been planted"... in what form does this "seed" exist? Is it like the wisp of evil energy that escaped from the Lingyun Cave's ley lines, polluting the ley lines here? Or is it like some kind of curse, imposed upon him and Chen Duo? Or perhaps... a more abstract, more incomprehensible conceptual "mark"?
He tried to introspect, amplifying his senses to the extreme, examining every inch of his meridians, bones, flesh, and even the origin of his soul. His ancestral aperture at the center of his forehead, fused with phoenix blood; his dantian, absorbing dragon essence; and the bloodlines throughout his body, infused with qilin marrow, all flowed with boundless and pure power. He found no abnormal, foreign, or malevolent energies or marks. He then diverted a wisp of his consciousness to quietly examine Chen Duo, who was fast asleep beside him. The golden phoenix true fire within her flowed slowly, warm and sacred, showing no signs of contamination.
Could it be that the "seed" wasn't planted within them? Or is its form of existence far beyond his current level of perception?
Nie Lingfeng frowned slightly. The uncertainty brought about by this unknown was more unsettling than facing a powerful enemy.
"Hmm..." Chen Duo, leaning on his shoulder, seemed disturbed by the gradually brightening morning light and birdsong outside the window. She stirred groggily, letting out a soft, kitten-like whimper. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened them, revealing a pair of emerald-green eyes still heavy with sleep. She blinked, seemingly not fully awake, and looked blankly at Nie Lingfeng's chin so close to hers, then turned to look at the sunlight streaming in through the window, muttering softly, "It's dawn..."
"Yes, it's dawn." Nie Lingfeng pulled himself out of his thoughts, looked down at her, and a hint of tenderness unconsciously appeared in his eyes. "Did you sleep well?"
Chen Duo sat up straight, rubbed her eyes, and then stretched slightly, like a lazy cat that had just woken up. She nodded, her voice still soft and sweet from just waking up: "Mmm. You...didn't sleep?"
"I'm not sleepy." Nie Lingfeng stretched his stiff shoulders and neck, making a slight clicking sound. "Are you hungry? There should be something to eat outside."
Mentioning food, Chen Duo's eyes immediately lit up, her sleepiness vanished, and she nodded vigorously: "Hungry!"
Nie Lingfeng chuckled, stood up, walked to the door, and pushed it open. The fresh, damp morning air, carrying the scent of grass and trees, immediately rushed in, invigorating him. The scene in the village was vastly different from the previous night. Most of the villagers who had been lying haphazardly in the square had been moved to temporary medical tents, with only a few staff members in protective suits conducting final disinfection and cleaning. A conspicuous yellow warning tape had been put up around the entrance to the cave, with a sign next to it reading "Danger, Keep Out of the Way." Several vehicles bearing the logos of "Guizhou Provincial Health Emergency" and "Folklore Bureau" were parked outside the village. Xiao Yang was talking quietly with a middle-aged doctor in a white coat and mask; seeing Nie Lingfeng come out, he immediately ran over.
"Good morning, Teacher Nie and Miss Chen Duo!" Although Xiao Yang's eyes were bloodshot, he was in good spirits. "Thank you for your hard work last night! The medical team has done a preliminary check-up. Most of the villagers are only suffering from mental trauma and physical exhaustion; they are not in life-threatening danger, but they need rest and psychological intervention. The girls' conditions have stabilized, but they haven't woken up yet. The bodies of the three ghost masters... have been disposed of as you instructed."
He paused, then lowered his voice: "Chairman Zhao has replied. He takes the 'Blood Moon' and 'Blasphemy Whispers' you mentioned very seriously, and you have been granted access to the relevant files (via encrypted channels). In addition, given the special nature of this incident and the suspected involvement of higher-level forces, Chairman Zhao has instructed that the branch office be fully responsible for the follow-up cleanup work in southeastern Guizhou. You and Miss Chen Duo can evacuate and rest first, and... begin investigating relevant clues about the 'Shining Star Society.' A temporary safe house and a new identity cover have been arranged for you in Guiyang."
Nie Lingfeng nodded. Chairman Zhao's reaction was expected. The crisis at Luodong Village was temporarily averted, but the shadow behind it was even larger. Sending him to investigate Yaoxing Society was both a diversionary tactic and a way to find a breakthrough through this line of inquiry that might be related to "that being."
"Is there breakfast? Something simple will do," Nie Lingfeng asked.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Xiao Yang quickly replied, "I've had the logistics team prepare it; it'll be in the tent over there. It'll be simple food, Teacher Nie, please don't mind."