Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Mundo laughed as he approached Beiyue at a leisurely pace. "I want her hair, her blood."
The witch replied, "She is still a maiden."
"That's why I want her blood. It won't be of much use to me; I have plenty stored."
"Do as you wish." The witch placed her hands behind her back and stepped away from the frozen pillars of ice surrounding them.
Suddenly, she felt a surge of green light as a Shroud shot out, wrapping around her. With a tug, wood flew towards the witch. The Shroud seemed infinitely long, rapidly coiling around her body. Clenching her fist, the witch said, "Die." An icy blast erupted from her hand, striking the wooden figure. It felt nothing as it collided with the witch, exploding into a thirty-meter-wide burst of golden light. Ancient characters appeared within the golden glow, racing towards the witch's body, layers of Shroud wrapping around her.
The wooden figure clenched its fists and roared, "Let go of my friend! Let go of my friend! Let go of my friend..." With each furious shout, its Force multiplied exponentially. The ground trembled violently under the weight of its power.
Mundo lunged at the wooden figure, lifting it effortlessly with one hand while brandishing a virus-laden scalpel in the other, stabbing wildly at it. He had realized that the wooden figure's combat ability was nearly nonexistent and thought it would be an easy victory. However, he was shocked to find that his virus blade, which could penetrate any protective energy, had no effect on the wooden figure. He pierced its heart, liver, and lungs, yet it not only remained alive but grew increasingly enraged.
Suddenly, the ground emitted a series of cracks as a fissure appeared and slowly widened towards the ancient glacier's crack. The witch was ensnared by the Shroud, leaving only her mouth and eyes visible as she screamed in agony, "No."
But her voice could not halt the widening fissure. Eventually, it connected with another crack, causing the earth to shake violently. Fissures erupted everywhere, splitting Witch Island into pieces; first to sink was the Ice House, swallowed by the icy rift. Then the fissure began to spread towards them.
"Are you insane? If you want to save your friend, then just go!" The witch cried out in anger and despair. There was no one left to help; Witch Island was no more. The ice pillars of the magic circle collapsed and fell apart; seemingly simple things had vanished.
The witch's plea for help momentarily stunned the wooden figure while Mundo continued to stab at it in frustration. The wooden figure remained unresponsive until Mundo, enraged, hurled it away. It crashed and rolled across the icy surface as if nothing had happened. The wooden figure retracted the Shroud, which then flew towards Cui Ming and wrapped around three ice pillars. With a pull, it bound all three together; the ice pillars shattered as Shroud enveloped them. Although Cui Ming was frozen solid, he understood enough to say, "Wooden figure, pull us away." They were invaded by cold air; their bodies stiffened while Cui Ming could only temporarily thaw his speech function.
As they spoke, their positions shifted dramatically. The ground tilted downwards as massive ice blocks slid into the fissure below; Cui Ming gazed into the abyss of the crack—it seemed bottomless. Clearly, beneath Witch Island, there was nothing... Damn it, I still have time to ponder this.
Though somewhat dazed, the wooden figure obeyed promptly when told to run; it pulled on the Shroud, dragging all three away like flying a kite. The witch and Mundo initially intended to pursue them but were deterred by collapsing ice pillars that erupted towards them amidst continuous tremors from the earth. Fearful of the wooden figure's power, they fled in another direction.
...
Five minutes later, Cui Ming and his companions stood atop a distant glacier watching what remained of Witch Island. It had completely vanished as if swallowed by an abyss; seawater covered its remnants. In just five minutes, tranquility returned completely—aside from some debris floating on the surface of the sea; it seemed as if nothing had ever happened.
The wind looked at the nonexistent Witch Island and said, "Cui Ming, this time I have to disdain you."
Cui Ming nodded. "If I, Cui Ming, suffer such a great loss again in this lifetime, I will live in the desert forever. Damn it, I can't face anyone." The witch's changing expressions made him doubt her kindness, yet he was still deceived. Throughout their conversation, not a single card of the witch's was revealed. He never expected that her words and actions would hide Mundo. The biggest idiot was him for underestimating a woman's jealousy; he had failed to instruct Beiyue to never reveal his identity. In fact, when Beiyue disclosed his identity, Cui Ming even held some hope that the witch would feel pity because of Beiyue's status. The reality was quite the opposite...
Although he could accept the outcome, Cui Ming could not accept his failure. Since his debut, he had never lost so miserably. One could even say that he had never lost when his strength was comparable to his opponent's. Arrogance—yes, it was arrogance, not confidence. Being a champion had made him too complacent. Fortunately, heaven sent him a wooden figure... Speaking of which, this wooden figure was truly impressive. He was originally a corpse, completely devoid of any possibility of being killed. This... was too unfair. Of course, Cui Ming knew that anyone truly remarkable would always have significant flaws. For example, Zhir and Lich were demigods and could be said to be close to divine, yet they could not leave their territory. Efforts made through hard work would not have too many side effects, but those born with extraordinary talents would always have major weaknesses.
Cui Ming patted the wooden head. "Thank you, brother."
The wooden figure shook its head. "They are bad people."
"Why?" the wind asked curiously. How did you come to that conclusion?
"Beiyue is a good person; they want to harm Beiyue, so they are bad people."
Hearing this made Beiyue feel warm inside; all negative emotions were swept away as he said to the wooden figure, "Even if you can't find your home, you can start anew. We are your friends."
Cui Ming quickly added, "Of course, but first we need to go to the desert." Beiyue, don't joke around; this guy has terrifying destructive power. Sometimes the more innocent a person is, the more frightening their actions can be. Children may be innocent, but when they turn malicious, they can be as terrible as little devils.
The wind asked again, "Wooden figure, why do you think Beiyue is a good person?" Shouldn't you first consider yourself a good person?
The wooden figure replied, "Yesterday while camping and resting, Beiyue gave me his sleeping bag and said that using it would slow down Force operation during sleep and effectively keep me warm. He really cares about me; of course he is a good person."
Cui Ming interjected, "I am too."
The wooden figure looked at Cui Ming for a long time and said, "I always feel that Cui Ming is unreliable."
"What nonsense! We are friends," Cui Ming said as he patted the wooden head before getting back on topic. "The witch and Mundo have escaped; I'm sure the witch knows clues about your father."
Beiyue nodded. "This time we can't pursue them; we need to leave this cold place as soon as possible."
Cui Ming said, "Don't worry, Witch Island is gone. The witch will only grow sadder living in Antarctica." He was confident about this; Witch Island was very important to the witch, serving as both a refuge and her home. It would be difficult to find another natural place with hot springs in Antarctica, not to mention the need to build an Ice House, create carpets, and establish magic circles. Moreover, the witch had previously acted out of goodwill to gather information about Master Bei. The only person she truly cared about was Master Bei, and if she had any leads, she would definitely set out to find him. However, Cui Ming wouldn’t voice this concern because he wasn’t sure what the witch's clues were. Was Shadow Island Lich's territory still part of Silent City?
The wind, of course, didn’t catch the underlying meaning in Cui Ming's words and coldly remarked, "Once she reaches the Three Continents, I’ll hit her so hard she won’t recognize her own mother."
Beiyue didn’t take these harsh words seriously; instead, she found the wind childish and said, "Let’s go."
The four of them headed towards the ship. Cui Ming appeared cheerful on the surface but felt anything but happy inside. How many times had it been? The first time facing giant insects, Beiyue and Ding Ze had saved him. The second time against the Warden, Zhir had rescued him. The third time encountering the witch, Wood had come to his aid. So far, his luck had been decent; however, as a card master, Cui Ming knew that luck was the most unreliable thing.
Cui Ming didn’t need anyone to comfort him; he would never be defeated unless he chose to collapse himself. Others' encouragement didn’t help him much; he clearly understood what he needed. Beiyue and the wind were not comforting people; in fact, the wind hadn’t even noticed this aspect. Beiyue understood Cui Ming well enough to know he was feeling a bit down but didn’t know what to say. Because she understood him, she realized he didn’t need consolation or encouragement—just as Cui Ming knew Beiyue wouldn’t blame him for his arrogance.
Wooden Doll lived up to its name; it was somewhat slow to react and rarely spoke, preferring to listen. It didn’t need food or water and was filled with curiosity about many things. Beiyue patiently introduced the culture and geography of the Three Continents. It was evident that Wood displayed a great deal of trust towards Beiyue.
Was Wood immortal? Not exactly; unlike Zhir, Wood was immune to certain types of damage due to its unique physical structure—such as piercing wounds, poison, and cold—but showed fear towards fire, lightning, and thunder. Wood had almost no practical combat experience and could only use one move: capturing with Shroud. However, this move was quite powerful; within a range of one hundred fifty meters, it could grab accurately as if it were infinitely long. When Wind curiously asked about it, Wood couldn’t explain it either.
As the four passed through Wooden Basin, they spotted the phoenix again. This time it didn’t cause any trouble; it perched on nearby ice pillars or icebergs, observing them without any hostility—purely curious yet slightly afraid. The phoenix accompanied them all the way to the seaside. Cui Ming and his companions waved goodbye before it finally departed.
The ship was still there; they hadn’t overstayed their time. The four boarded the vessel, and the crew recognized them as practitioners. They weren’t surprised by the green creature they brought back; at most they exchanged a few whispers among themselves. Most discussions revolved around this green creature named Wood who liked sitting on deck at night quietly watching the moon for an entire evening.
Cui Ming also looked at the moon but wasn’t focused on it; he lay on a beach chair on the other side of the deck. On a nearby table sat a bottle of orange juice which he poured into a glass as if tasting wine while lost in melancholy thoughts. In reality, Cui Ming wasn’t melancholic at all; he enjoyed the silver glow cast by moonlight on the earth along with the sounds of waves crashing against each other. Compared to mountains, Cui Ming preferred the sea. (To be continued.)
Comment 0 Comment Count