Chapter 323: Am I the Old Six?

Chapter 323: I Am... Number Six?

"You... Luo Bufan?"

The young man stared at Luo Bufan, disbelief etched across his face.

The village chief, possessed by the Sea God, also wore a stunned expression; clearly, today's events had caught him off guard.

Luo Bufan, slumped on the ground, looked at Chen Fan's familiar face and felt a moment of confusion.

An Qiao's eyes widened, then she gave a bitter smile: "So, the protagonist of this mission is the captain."

Earlier, when speaking with Qi Yuan, An Qiao had called the mission world a parallel world.

This was not a casual remark; it was truly parallel.

The mission world they were in seemed to be a replica of events that had happened in the real world in the past.

It was as if they had traveled back in time, to different historical timelines, to complete their tasks.

Thus, during their missions, they had encountered parallel versions of many historical figures, and also known many brilliant yet luckless little people who left no trace in the annals of history.

How vast and weighty history is, and how insignificant each little person is in the river of time.

"So, the captain once went through what Luo Bufan went through." The man in black attire looked at Chen Fan, a hint of wariness in his eyes.

After all, Luo Bufan was a ruthless man who forcibly boosted his own strength to slay demons, slaughtering his entire family.

If he could kill his own kin, who wouldn't he dare to kill?

"The captain is not that kind of person; I don't believe it!" An Qiao gritted her teeth, her gaze complex. "There must be a hidden reason!"

At this moment, everyone present turned their eyes to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan, in turn, looked at Luo Bufan, his expression resolute: "I am another you, another version of you from another world.

Once, I too encountered the same thing as you.

I was in pain, blamed myself, regretted, and even thought of death.

But... in the end, I pulled through.

If I had died, wouldn't my parents, my family, have died in vain?

Luo Bufan, think about it—behind you are hundreds of thousands of people from Yunyan County.

Do you want to watch this great demon completely drown Yunyan County?"

Chen Fan's voice was hoarse yet firm, with a hint of desolation.

He had once experienced something like this.

But in the end, he recovered and sealed the great demon.

After arriving in this world, long-buried memories were unlocked.

He seemed calm and carefree, but in truth, every word drained his strength, ripping open the bloody memories of the past.

"Luo Bufan, will you join me today in executing... the Luo family's ultimate technique, the Hand of No Life?" Chen Fan shouted loudly.

The enemy they faced today was far stronger and more cunning than those he had encountered before.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, the last trace of doubt in Luo Bufan's eyes vanished.

The Hand of No Life, a secret technique passed down in the Luo family, only to the next patriarch.

Apart from his father, only he in the Luo family knew it.

This technique was unknown to outsiders and could not be practiced by other bloodlines.

Thus, Chen Fan had not deceived him.

Luo Bufan glanced at Chen Xinlian's corpse, his eyes filled with endless guilt and regret. Finally, his gaze turned resolute: "Alright!"

The Hand of No Life, as its name implied, meant no life after its use.

At this moment, the Luo Bufan of the past and the Chen Fan of the present both chose the same path.

Family, loved ones, his fiancée—the faces of those who had died tragically surged into Luo Bufan's mind.

Now, the blood he shed was not his own, but theirs.

"Hand of No Life!"

Luo Bufan, at the Jade Blood Realm, roared.

Chen Fan, at the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm, screamed.

On the beach, two terrifying figures charged without hesitation toward the body where the Sea God dwelled.

Blood-red palm prints filled the sky, like falling leaves in a maple forest.

Long ago, the Luo family ancestor, in a maple forest, created the Hand of No Life and perished.

From then on, the Luo family gained a secret technique, but no descendant ever used it.

Today, Luo Bufan revived the Hand of No Life.

A martial art surpassing the Jade Blood Realm unleashed its terrifying combat power at this moment.

Its overwhelming might, its bleak artistic conception like falling leaves, even resembled the innate divine abilities of Purple Mansion cultivators.

"No!" The Sea God let out a great roar. Facing the two palms, his body could not move.

His formidable physical defense seemed to lose all effect at this moment.

His most prized illusionary arts also vanished, useless.

The two blood-red palms struck his body with force.

Boom.

The village chief's body shattered, flesh and bones reduced to dust.

This blow even struck the Sea God's soul.

"No!" The Sea God screamed in agony.

His spirit form floated in the air, his eyes filled with fury and frustration.

"You have... destroyed one of my physical bodies. Unforgivable, unforgivable!"

The Sea God felt immense pain, but even more, rage.

He had schemed for years, using illusions to trick Kun Laoda into being devoured and turned into one of his avatars.

But now, the two had struck together, unleashing boundless power that directly hit his soul.

He had no choice but to use Kun Laoda's avatar to block the two Hands of No Life.

Not only that, but many of his other parasitic sub-bodies also burst and were lost.

In Haishi Village, over a hundred strong young men died directly.

Yet even so, he suffered considerable injuries.

This suicidal martial art had drained decades of his accumulation.

Especially Kun Laoda's avatar, which was a Jade Blood combatant.

Today's venture could well be deemed a total loss, a matter of paying a double toll with nothing to show for it.

"Damnable wretches, you shall all perish, every last one of you!"

The Sea God’s eyes flared crimson as a furious roar tore from its maw.

Out across the distant expanse, the ocean suddenly erupted into catastrophic tumult, waves surging toward the heavens like a colossal waterspout.

Astride the crest of the monstrous swell, an unsightly, soft-bodied behemoth opened three eyes, each orb as vast as a glowing lantern; three eyes representing three distinct martial techniques.

The pale white iris governed the arts of illusion.

The blood-red iris governed the arts of absolute destruction.

The violet iris governed the arts of total restraint.

This was the true visage of the Sea God, the very entity Boss Kun had hailed as the Child of Spirit Blood.

Yet the so-called Child of Spirit Blood was nothing more than a grand deception.

After devouring Boss Kun and rendering him into a mere avatar, the Sea God had spread word of this mythical being, harboring the delusional ambition of consuming every demon within Yunyan County.

For reasons unknown, however, its design had faltered.

And now, it had suffered the utter destruction of a formidable clone.

Its total combat capability was depleted by nearly a third.

How could it not be consumed by rage?

With its machinations reduced to naught, it abandoned all restraint and chose to enact its ultimate design: to submerge Yunyan beneath the tide.

This was the very intelligence Luo Bufan had previously obtained.

It was precisely why his mind had been plagued by unease, prompting him to petition the imperial court for aid.

Yet even a fortune of a hundred thousand taels of silver had yielded absolutely nothing.

Under the Sea God's absolute dominion, the waters of the ocean coalesced relentlessly, swelling in volume and towering ever higher.

It seemed intent on burying the whole of Yunyan County beneath the deep.

"What must we do? The Sea God is not dead!"

"We are doomed! It is enraged!"

"Captain!"

The three officers from the Demon Suppression Bureau rushed toward Chen Fan.

At this moment, Chen Fan's countenance was as pale as parchment; he gazed out at the distant waters, a flicker of profound dread passing through his eyes.

"Yunyan County... is likely finished."

Once, he had encountered foes far mightier than the beast before them now.

But in the end, with the aid of companions, he had managed to seal that great demon away.

Yet today... Yunyan County...

Luo Bufan, his hair disheveled and wild, stared at the mounting wall of water before him, his eyes bloodshot: "I... have failed. How bitter..."

His dearest kin had died a horrific death, yet the demon he most desired to eradicate still lived, escaping the grasp of a strike paid for with his very life.

How bitter, how filled with remorse, how utterly...

Luo Bufan stared wide-eyed at the vast ocean, seemingly destined to die with his eyes unclosed.

Chen Fan gasped for breath, yet what he coughed up was pure crimson blood.

An Qiao pressed her hands against Chen Fan’s shoulders, a veil of mist rising in her eyes: "How can this be? The mission is clearly complete, so why can we not return!"

She desperately wanted to leave, not merely to flee the Sea God, but to exchange points for medicine to tend to Chen Fan's wounds. She clung to the belief that he could still be saved.

Yet how could Chen Fan, who had lived for centuries, fail to see through her thoughts? "I should have died long ago; I am beyond saving."

The vessels of his heart were severed, his vital lifeblood dried to nothing; he stood but a single step from the grave.

"A pity..." A self-mocking smile traced the corner of Chen Fan’s lips. "The blessed child of heaven spoken of by posterity seems, in every world... to be nothing but a useless wretch.

Unable even to protect his own blood."

The tragedies of days gone by remained the sharpest agony in his heart.

Now, at long last, he would no longer have to endure such torment.

Meanwhile, the ocean continued to mass, the towering waves growing more numerous by the breath.

The entirety of Yunyan County city hung precariously on the brink of ruin.

Regrettably, very few were aware of the impending doom.

The Sea God sat enthroned upon the cresting waves, its demeanor exceedingly arrogant and proud, as though it were the sovereign lord presiding over all creation.

Just then, a calm voice pierced through the roaring din of the cataclysmic waves, falling clearly into the ears of everyone present.

"As expected, in this game, I am not the protagonist who makes a grand entrance to save the world at the final hour.

Instead, I am just a scavenger... a backstabber who swoops in to steal the kill on a weakened foe.

King of the Black Trench Fiendfish, old friend, we meet again."

Qi Yuan materialized, his posture entirely relaxed.

It was as though he were facing not a terrifying, colossal demon, but a mere sliver of health waiting to be claimed.

The Sea God’s gaze finally locked onto Qi Yuan, a flash of astonishment crossing its eyes: "We... have met?"

"Well... you could say I've seen your likeness.

In the real world, I have eaten your kind.

Mmm... though that one was considerably plumper and more delicious."

Qi Yuan recalled the King of the Black Trench Fiendfish he had consumed in reality, the memory leaving a lingering sweetness.

That had been a grand demon of the Martial Hero rank, far beyond what the Jade Blood realm beast before him could compare to.

"Presumptuous!" The Sea God roared in fury, its blood-red eye fixating on Qi Yuan.

Instantly, a bolt of crimson, blood-like energy pierced through the air toward Qi Yuan.

"Apologies, but I am also of the Jade Blood realm. Evasive maneuvers!" Qi Yuan dodged with effortless grace, evading the bolt entirely.

A trace of surprise flickered within the Sea God's gaze, only to morph into cruel amusement: "A mere novice who has just stepped into the Jade Blood realm dares display such insolence!"

Boss Kun had been a grand demon of the mid Jade Blood realm.

The combined assault unleashed by Luo Bufan and Chen Fan possessed a might that closely rivaled the late Jade Blood realm.

And yet, the Sea God had survived it.

"Had you been at full strength, I might have harbored a few reservations. As you are now, you are merely clinging to a shred of life; you look fierce, but you are hardly worth mentioning," Qi Yuan countered with equal disdain.

He took a particular liking to foes reduced to such a state.

How delightful it was to play the opportunist, securing a weakened target from the shadows.

The mockery in the Sea God’s eyes intensified: "It is just as well that the avatar of Kun Feng has perished. You... shall serve as my new vessel!"

Although Kunfeng’s clone was shattered, the Sea God’s battle power had dropped by a third.

Yet its most proud illusion art still remained.

To deal with Kunfeng, and now Luo Bufan, it still needed to set a trap.

For Qi Yuan, who had just entered the Jade Blood realm, it could simply overwhelm him with illusion.

With the Sea God’s voice, its white pupils turned toward Qi Yuan at that moment.

In an instant, Qi Yuan felt the world fall silent.

At that moment, he narrowed his eyes and revealed a delighted smile: “Do you want to listen to my heart?”

The Sea God’s illusion attack was now meant to invade Qi Yuan’s mind, gather his memories, and hear his heart.

“Ah, too weak—can’t even open the door. Come on, be good, I’ll help you open it.”

As they say, a true friend is hard to find.

Since someone wanted to hear his heart, Qi Yuan had to quickly open the door and let it listen.

The moment the door opened, dense, countless… Divine Infants fell into the Sea God’s consciousness.

Countless chaotic, mad, disordered shouts, murmurs, and sounds of joy rushed into the Sea God’s consciousness at that moment.

Bang!

The Sea God’s white pupils burst violently, the whites turning to pulp and scattering everywhere.

“Ahhh… you are… ah…”

The Sea God’s thoughts also grew somewhat deranged.

Just now, it had used its illusion to finally break through Qi Yuan’s mental defenses and hear his heart.

But what… did it hear?

“Ah…”

It writhed in madness, its claws digging into its own white eye sockets, as if trying to crush them completely.

“Ah, why not stay a little longer? My Divine Infants are all a bit lonely—it’s rare for someone to go in and talk with them.” Qi Yuan’s expression was somewhat desolate, like a lonely old man left behind, but soon he revealed a sly grin: “Now you know why I call you a cripple?

Without Boss Kun, you… are nothing!”

The King of the Morisha Fish excelled most at illusion, beguiling hearts and crafting environments.

And what Qi Yuan feared least was being deceived or illusion.

The reason was simple: his mind was sharp, very clever.

Moreover, he had eyes that could see hidden information.

He could not be tricked by illusions.

Thus, he was a natural counter to the King of the Morisha Fish.

Without Boss Kun as its guard, wasn’t the Sea God just a cripple waiting to be slaughtered?

“Someone once said you can never cross the same river twice, nor eat the same fish twice.

Today, I will break that saying and taste… which of you—you or the one before—is better.”

The Jade Blood-level Explosive Killing Bird Fist was activated at that moment.

No flashiness, just an ordinary punch.

Piercing through all illusions, it struck straight at the Sea God’s heart.

“No!” The maddened Sea God now had no power to resist.

The Divine Infants within Qi Yuan murmured, like the whispers of an evil god, directly driving it into mental chaos.

With one blow from Qi Yuan, it fell stiffly, its life flame slowly extinguishing.

The towering waves once again returned to calm, like fireworks lit in the sky coming to an end.

Over thirty drops of jade-white blood appeared in Qi Yuan’s hand.

Qi Yuan’s expression was unreadable.

This mission had been very easy—he had even watched a… TV drama.

His gaze also fell on Chen Fan.

At this moment, Chen Fan’s internal organs were completely shattered; in his eyes was either relief or dead stillness.

The mad Luo Bufan also lay on the ground, his face smiling, yet that expression was uglier than crying.

“Thank you. Dying like this… might be easier to accept.” Chen Fan looked at this familiar yet strange Qi Yuan and said softly.

His eyes had long lost all color.

He seemed indifferent to everything in this world.

Dying like this was also a release.

At least Yunyan County had survived, hadn’t it?

Then, Qi Yuan looked at Chen Fan and said calmly, “Before you leave, do you want to hear some hidden plot of the game?”

Chen Fan’s life force was fading; he did not answer.

Luo Bufan also lay on the ground, quietly awaiting death’s arrival.

But Qi Yuan continued on his own: “The mission isn’t finished yet. It’s actually simple: the Luo and Chen families were killed by… the King of the Morisha Fish.

Didn’t the game quest say to investigate the truth of the two families being wiped out by monsters?

Obviously… the monster did it.

In truth… your father, your mother, your family, and your fiancée—none died by your hand.

It was the King of the Morisha Fish that killed them. It just excelled at illusions, tricking you into believing you were the killer.

As for the motive, it’s also simple: the King of the Morisha Fish was too weak in battle and needed someone to protect it.

Boss Kun was its candidate, and Yunyan County’s prodigy Luo Bufan… was also its chosen one.”

Hearing this, Luo Bufan’s body trembled.

An Qiao’s face lit up with joy: “I knew the captain wasn’t that kind of person—how could he have killed his own parents!”

But Chen Fan, whom she was pressing down, remained calm upon hearing Qi Yuan’s words and asked softly, “Really?”

“Mm.” Qi Yuan nodded.

An Qiao wept with joy: “Captain, when we go back, there will surely be items to save you.”

The other two men in black also smiled happily—this mission had been a close call.

As long as the captain could be healed, it would be a great gain, a perfect ending.

Chen Fan seemed not to hear An Qiao’s words. He coughed incessantly, bright red blood mixed with organ fragments flowing from the corner of his mouth. He looked at An Qiao: “After the mission is done… go to my place… give my things… to him… as… payment…”

Having said this, he glanced at the young Luo Bufan not far away, revealing for the first time a relieved, easy smile, and his hand finally fell limp.

The world chose to reconcile with him, but he seemed not yet reconciled with himself.

Chen Fan's death stirred little emotion in Qi Yuan.

After all, he was just an NPC, and one with few scenes at that.

"The mission is finally over... Where do we go back to?"

"Well, before we go, we should still bury him first. The dead deserve respect."

(End of this chapter)