The Sacred Ruins

Chapter 63: Spiritualized

Panda Novel

Kong Kim’s eyes rolled back and showed their whites. Although his body was almost immune to any forms of damage done to him, he still staggered and tottered with a muddled mind. He could not bear the pain any longer since his body had been rendered weak and limp all over.

However, he refused to resign himself to defeat; he was exacerbated. He wanted to unleash his anger in the form of revenge.

Especially when he realized that the other attacker was also a mother*cking cow!

“Had I fallen into a cattle pen today?” Kong Kim was about to vent out a tirade of cursing and swearing.

He was fuming with rage. Was his undoing going to come in the hands of a pair of cows?

One was big and the other small, but why were they both so black?

In the eyes of Kong Kim, the blackness of their fur had spread to pollute their heart, their mind and their dignity. What kind of shamelessness would it take for someone to be so fond of attacking someone from behind their back?

Both beasts had displayed tremendous power in their strikes, but both also conducted themselves very boorishly. They were both cheeky sneaks, and they both seemed particularly interested in striking their blow to the back of someone’s head.

Kong Kim’s consciousness was struggling to take over the drowsiness of his mind; however, he began to feel that it was getting increasingly harder for him to stay in his sound mind.

The black yak, on the other hand, was composing itself in a sound and collected manner. Its indifferent attitude made the yak seem as if it were someone who would be standing aloof from worldly strife.

Yellow Ox finally recollected itself. It hastily darted its way to a spot behind Kong Kim once again. Fearing that he might recover from the strikes and blows, the calf ensured the man’s stage of coma by lending him another few thumps to the back of his head.

The pain, the suffering, the agony! It was insufferable!

Although Kong Kim was rolling his eyes while on the verge of coma, he could still feel the tremendous pain inflicted on him. He felt as if his skull was about to split, and with a gradually dilating pupil, all that he could see was the vague image of that damnable calf.

How abominable! Even when he was about to lose his consciousness, the calf was still not satisfied without a few extra blows! His anger had reached a boiling point!

Boom!

He fell head first to the ground, losing all consciousness and ability to control his enfeebled body. Lying face-down to the earth, his body stiffened and no longer moved.

Only until now had Yellow Ox raised its head and cast its gaze at that black yak.

The calf was still muddle-headed. Who was this monstrosity?

Yellow Ox was a little diffident. At first, the calf had not realized the identity of the black yak as a mutated beast, nor had it ever expected it to be of such extraordinary skills.

“Moo!”

Yellow Ox bellowed at the black yak. This was the calf’s way of greeting the stranger, shamelessly trying to be friendly with the yak.

The calf realized that it might not be a match for the formidable yak. What force would those hooves deliver with each blow it struck? It could put someone like Kong Kim to sleep with only a few strikes, meanwhile, Yellow Ox itself had attempted twice, but neither of those times had yielded any respectable damage to the man.

“You damn calf. Are you courting death for yourself?” the black yak suddenly opened its mouth and started speaking fluently in human language.

It all happened so suddenly that the calf was at a loss what to do. The hair on its back stood on their end, then with a whoosh, it withdrew itself away from the scene, keeping a considerable distance between the yak and itself.

The calf had really been taken aback. It knew what it meant for a beast to start talking in a time when virtually every beast that resided on earth had mutated. For a beast to talk, it must have achieved or close to achieve the highest possible level that a beast could wish to accomplish.

If the yak had, in fact, originated from the same place as Yellow Ox, the yak would have almost been an analogous representation of Silver Wing amongst all the beasts.

“Why are you running away from me? Stay by my side, and I will keep you safe. Otherwise, you may die here today,” the black yak scolded at Yellow Ox.

Yellow Ox was still surprised and bewildered, but at last, after a while of dawdling and pestering, it finally made its way by the yak’s side.

The calf tailed the yak with its tail and head hanging down. When confronting this bigger version of itself, it felt like as if it were its onus to follow the yak’s order. The once arrogant calf was now a subservient minion by a yak’s side.

…

Chu Feng ran like the wind. He crossed over the canyon and through the jungle. Without a break, he had made his way to the periphery of the Mountains of White Snake.

Hang on a minute! What was happening? Chu Feng’s eyes widened when he saw the scene right in front of his eyes.

On a region of grassland, there were two cows feeding on the fresh grasses. One of them was a calf whose fur was gleaming with a jet-black glitter. The look of the calf was so familiar that no matter how he looked, he always ended up seeing the recognizable silhouette of Yellow Ox. It was only the color of the fur that made the calf seem different.

“It is Yellow Ox!”

Chu Feng finally reached his conclusion after seeing the huge cloth sack the calf was carrying. The sack was for Yellow Ox to store its communicator.

“This damn cow must have eaten the fruit and now its fur had turned all black,” Chu Feng thought to himself.

However, what was the business with the bigger one? Chu Feng gazed at the black yak from a distance, but the look of it also seemed ever so familiar to him!

Suddenly, Chu Feng’s body trembled with fear. Memories from the past came back to him all at once.

“This is the one I saw at Kunlun Mountains!” Chu Feng was certain that this was that very yak he had seen back when the world had yet to be troubled by all the mess there was today. The two looked very much the same.

The one in the distance was a black yak. Its fur was smooth like silk goods, gleaming with a jet-black glitter under the rays of the sun. Its body was almost one zhang in length. All these distinctive features combined carved out a deep-rooted train of memory in Chu Feng’s mind.

Although Chu Feng was standing in a distance, his improved sense of hearing and sight had allowed him to see and hear what others could not.

Vaguely, he could hear the black yak speaking a fluent human language.

What was happening here? Chu Feng was astounded as well.

How terrifying it was to learn that a mutated beast could learn and speak the language of a human.

Yellow Ox had once told him that if a beast were to speak a human language in the early stage of this post-upheaval world, it would be destined to be extraordinary in the near future.

Later, Chu Feng hopped onto another hilltop to observe this wondrous scene from a different angle. It was there when he noticed the disposed body of Kong Kim on the grassland.

This was what had made Chu Feng utterly spooked out. He was now certain that the black yak was surely a formidable beast and a deadly fighter.

Only moments earlier, Yellow Ox had launched his surprise attack on Kong Kim, but it was all to no avail. The man had an indestructible body that was paralleled by none.

Especially when Kong Kim was contending for the fruit amidst the rain of bullets fired at him, so many bullets had lent their firepower to the man’s skin, yet so little was seen to have taken effect on his wellbeing. Thus, one could easily tell how astonishing the man’s body was in terms of defense against damage.

In the distance, the black yak raised its head, looking askance at the gawking Chu Feng.

The look of the yak inspired fear in Chu Feng’s mind. His presence had been sensed by the yak, and now his position was fully exposed to this observant beast.

However, he did not set off to leave, nor did he plan to move over to the grassland to check on the duo.

Chu Feng finally settled down his uneasy mind, engrossing himself in contemplation. He was thinking, “How did the yak traverse all this distance from Kunlun Mountains to Taihang Mountains?” This was a mystery to him.

One needed not to be reminded to remember that ever since the beginning of the upheavals, the earth had been stretched, and the distance between any two points had increased tenfold to say the least. The journey from the Mountains of Kunlun to the Mountains of Taihang must have been at least tens of thousands of li, yet the yak still somehow made its way over.

He even started to question, “Was the yak coming for him?”

But after some careful deliberations, he eliminated the possibility of this. If he had been wanted by the yak, the beast could have made him stay back at where all the actions began!

“This must have been a coincidence. Maybe the yak had heard about the fruit, so it came here for the fruit too!” Chu Feng boldly conjectured.

Of course, Chu Feng had not forgotten about Yellow Ox. The calf had lost all its usual resplendence; it was in low spirits and out of sorts as it doggedly tailed behind the black yak. But, Chu Feng could tell that from deep within the heart of this buddy of his, the calf had a domineering personality itself, so naturally, it could not stand being controlled by another entity. The daring calf risked its life to boldly enter the world outside just so that its wish of becoming sanctified would be realized. But if with all this effort resulted only with it being a mere minion by another ox’s side, being lectured and scolded at, Yellow Ox would not be content.

“Do you think the fruit would be yours once you’ve got the tree?” the black yak lectured the calf.

Yellow Ox disagreed. The calf believed that even without the help of this black yak, the purple cone would still belong to it.

“Do those human, including you, really think that the advantage is in your hand here? You can even hardly imagine what an annihilating event will soon ensue around here,” the black yak went on with its nagging reprimand.

What? Yellow Ox was taken aback. “What annihilating event?” The calf’s eyes widened in utter surprise and a tad of disbelief.

“Do you know what have surrounded this area? Mutated beasts and birds had come in batches, surrounding the whole region long before any human had trodden their feet here. Fortunately, the beasts were fearful of the unknown too. They’ve never learned much about human, and so we haven’t seen much aggression from the beast’s side yet. They are hidden in the dark, attentively observing and evaluating the firepower of the human’s invention. “

In the distance, Chu Feng had also overheard the conversation. He was struck dumb with terror and fear. Had the battle all been overseen by mutated beasts and birds this morning? Had those savage beasts been lurking in the dark for all this time while he was utterly unaware of their existence?

“I suspect that behind all these savage beasts, there is one in particular who I believe is the meanest and the most malicious amongst them all. The beast is watching every action that the humans has thus far committed, studying their tactic, evaluating their power. This ultimate beast will eventually show itself to the crowd when the time comes, and today can be the day when it finally brings doom to those arrogant bastards in there,” the black yak unhurriedly said.

Had those beasts reached a level of intelligence this high? They could learn from what they saw then poison their enemies with their own fruit?!

Chu Feng was truly astonished. If what the black yak had asserted was true, the future was proving to be grimmer than ever. Humans’ position as the owner, the masters and the rule-maker of this world, felt shakier than ever before. Who would be the rulers? The beasts, the birds, or something else?

He recalled what Lin Naoi had told him before. She once said that all the beasts had started possessing unparalleled intelligence after they mutated. Their ability to learn and to emulate what they saw then to improve and enhance was way more effective than human does.

The beasts were brave and powerful, but they were not bold. As long as their study of human’s behavior was not complete, they could endure the ongoing suffering of having to stay dormant in the depths of the cruel mountains and improve themselves through learning and mimicking.

This train of thought sent chill to Chu Feng’s back. He could even foresee a world full of contorted faces of the once arrogant humans in a grimace of pain once the beasts decided to strike.

Yellow Ox was still a little unconvinced. What was the fuss about those mutated beasts? With its power and skills, it could easily break through the encirclement; or, it could simply swallow the cone whole then let the magical fruit take effect and help it evolve into something greater and stronger.

“Don’t be so cocky, you little bastard. Like I’ve said, I saved your life. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and unlock that iron chest. The moment you do so will be the moment you lose your life.” The black yak stretched out one of its front hooves, gently caressing the head of Yellow Ox. The words sounded like blame and scold, but the gesture was like a father pampering his own child.

Yellow Ox was doubtful. It ran to the site where the chest had been hidden then brought its back to the black yak. Bang! Without demur, Yellow Ox thwacked and cudgelled the chest with its hooves before the iron chest began to quake and crack.

“Keep yourself away from it, son! It’s very dangerous,” warned the black yak. The yak moved closer to the chest itself, then with a single thump onto the body of the chest, the chest was immediately reduced to a mere mixture of soil and iron powders.

The verdant tree emerged from within the chest. The purple cone was still there, dangling about the branches. There were cracks and fissures on the cone’s surface, revealing batches of jade-like pine nuts that were glittering with an alluring radiance. A delicate fragrance soon filled the air.

Whoosh!

A silver flash projected itself from within the shattered chest. It appeared so suddenly out of void that the man with the prompted reaction would certainly be struck by it if caught off guard.

Bang!

The black yak raised its front hooves, kicked away the silver flash without hesitation.

Whoosh!

It was a white snake at the length of a chopstick. It fell and landed on a rock nearby. The snake straightened the upper part of its slithering body, thrusting itself towards its enemies like a bolt of lightning. The speed at which it traversed through the air was utterly inconceivable.

Pong!

The snake was kicked away by the black yak once again.

Moo!

The black yak groaned and bellowed. There was a certain sense of terrifying aggression that came along with its bellow. The yak coldly stared at the snake then said, “Don’t make a fool of yourself. I’ve already showed mercy for your life. Now, go!”

The silver snake looked rather dissatisfied with its defeat, but at last, it gave in to the aggression of the black yak, fleeing in panic from the site in the form of a silver flash.

In the distance at the hilltop, Chu Feng had clearly seen the scene below him. He was astonished and fearful. Had it been him hastily opening the chest without any guards against this latent danger, the consequence would have been deadly.

He could finally make sense of the reason why so many had died of poisoning within a ten-meter scope around the tree. The white snake had always been there guarding it, and the poison it carried was almost an instant kill to anyone who dared to tread into its territory.

Although it was only at the length of a chopstick, it was a mutated beast alright. Chu Feng could also tell that the beast was a formidable one too. The sheer speed it possessed had already made it surpass the power of many mutants out there.

“You see? That white snake was not just any snakes. If you were taken off guard by that thing, I’m sure you’re good as dead by now,” the black yak said with a note of reproach.

Yellow Ox was indeed taken aback by the sight.

In the distance, the white snake was still lingering. It hissed and whistled, making a bizarre sound.

“The situation is not right. This place is not safe. Let’s go!” Suddenly, even the black yak seemed a little uneasy.

On the verge of the Mountains of White Snake, there were troops of soldiers lying dormant. They were all the forces that belonged to either Deity or Bodhi. Lin Naoi had made six pieces of order earlier, and a few of them were directed to the forces waiting outside the main battlefield.

She had made meticulous arrangement long before any actions had taken places, and when making the plans, she had given herself room for measure.

In fact, Bodhi Genes had pretty much done the same as well. After careful and precise arrangements of their troops, every path leading to the outside had been sealed and blocked by mutants and soldiers alike.

At the pinnacle of a nearby mountain, there were two elders playing chess. Both had a head of snow-white hair, and both looked kind and gentle.

“You do still remember the deal between us, right? You and I will not make ourselves come to blows today. Let our sons and daughters do all those pointless things, so when the time comes, I hope you don’t regret your decision,” one of the two elders laughed and said. He looked truly hale and hearty.

“Take it easy. We Bodhi can afford to accept whatever happened to us. If we lose, I will congratulate your Deity’s victory. Besides, you and I are not necessarily a match for either Kong Kim or Silver Wing, so I’d rather see myself living out my remaining years in peace and quiet,” the other elder echoed, looking all happy and cheerful.

The two came from two opposing camps, yet right now, they were peacefully rivalling each other in a mere game of chess.

“Wait!” The elder from Bodhi suddenly raised his head. A pair of silver rays emitted from his pair of eyes, shining through the dense clouds around him.

“No! What I have feared is coming!” The hale and hearty elder from Deity even stood to his feet with a start. His breath became irregular and coarse.

“Hurry up! Retreat! Everyone retreat! Let the man from inside come out!” The elder from Bodhi roared and bellowed, quavering the entire mountain range with his rackety voice.

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