Chapter 00064: Run!
# Run!
Chapter 64
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 64: Run!
"Damn it—"
Ji Jue never dreamed that when he stepped into the Rift realm, his first words would be such plain Federation dialect.
But there was no other way to express himself; the ancient charm of his Yacheng almost got knocked out of him.
Anyone would lose their composure when the scenery before their eyes blurred, and they suddenly found themselves suspended in mid-air, rapidly plummeting down.
He was falling!
In an instant, he saw the sky and the ground whirling around him, the ruins of a broken city spinning violently, getting closer and closer, growing larger by the second.
Beep!
The little bull also squirmed in the air, letting out a shrill sound, but all it could do was scream along with Ji Jue.
It didn’t offer any other useful help except being a distraction.
Luckily, in every team, there is always someone who is capable.
Sitting calmly on the back seat of the little bull, An Ran was unperturbed by the spin and fall.
In that brief moment when everything seemed frozen, he looked down at the rapidly enlarging street below—then, a muffled thud.
Boom!
With no warning, he suddenly launched himself from his seat, soaring through the air like a cannonball, heading straight for the crumbling buildings below.
In an instant, he landed!
As if negating all potential energy from the fall, as soon as he touched the ground, he stood firm, not even stirring up a speck of dust.
All this while, the slim rope he held tightly remained taut, pulling the still-falling Ji Jue and the little bull with it.
With a sudden tug, he yanked!
A burst of unimaginable strength surged from his slender form, as the explosive power of the White Deer Way took shape in the hurry, forcefully altering the direction of their descent, pulling them back towards his position and scraping along broken steel bars and the edges of the flooring, slowly descending.
Their speed gradually decreased.
The ropes mitigated their fall, and after letting some slack, An Ran gripped tightly again, pulling back.
Ji Jue and the little bull, weighing four to five hundred pounds combined, steadily began to rise, pulled onto the rooftop.
The moment they landed, Ji Jue hadn’t even managed to get to his feet before the little bull rushed up, tongue lolling, licking him madly, making beep-beep sounds like it was saying, "I knew you wouldn’t ditch me, Ji Ji is the best!"
Ji Jue was so exasperated he could hardly contain himself, teeth grinding in anger.
Quick, call the cops! There’s a lick-spooner here!!!
But after escaping from the brink of danger, he finally had a moment to glance around at his surroundings—then he realized he had spoken too soon.
Fortunately, there were other curses to use.
"Damn it—"
Ji Jue was completely stunned.
A raging wind surged forward, lifting the ominous clouds that hung like torn rags, revealing a dim sky where it was impossible to tell if it was day or night.
The sun hung like a hollow circle, casting a faint glow, while the moon swirled, consuming the flickering light, as if it could never get enough.
Stars, lost from their orbit, meandered across the sky, colliding with one another and shooting out piercing flashes of light.
It felt like the world was on the verge of destruction, hanging right before a cataclysm.
What truly terrified Ji Jue were the edges of the sky, the ends of the earth—there, a distant scene emerged, hazy and unsteady.
A towering structure seemed to stand in the center of the earth, supporting the heavens above.
Even at such a far remove, no, even across the vast stretches of time, that grand, solemn silhouette of the tower remained engraved in the sky.
As if it could last an eternity.
But the great tower shattered, cracked in half—
Then the earth split, the heavens collapsed, and endless calamity swept out in all directions.
This was the last shadow left before the world approached destruction.
Just a fleeting moment, yet eternally etched in the sky of this Rift realm, leaving a lingering gloom for all outsiders.
Ji Jue rubbed his eyes, blinking repeatedly, until the clouds once again obscured the sky, finally snapping out of that horrifying scene, breathless.
All he wanted was to turn around and go home, grab the neck of that bastard who had made the observation report, and question him: "Is this the kind of Rift that can only accommodate those below the transformation stage? Are you kidding me?!"
But now, retreat was impossible; he had been swallowed by this Rift realm.
"Qiu Ge, what do you think?"
Ji Jue instinctively reached into his bosom, but his fingers felt like they touched a brand — they pulled back instantly, stinging.
It wasn’t like that; it was indeed burning hot!
Inside his pocket, the once-silent Ghost Worker Orb radiated terrifying heat, like a glowing red piece of iron, burning in his hands.
Inside the orb, complex structures whirred into frantic motion but suddenly jerked to a halt, making a cracking sound.
Before it fell silent, it left behind one last warning voice:
【Be careful, something’s not right…】
Something’s not right?
Ji Jue was so furious he nearly laughed, wanting to point at the desolate city before him and ask, "What’s right about this place?!"
Come on, get it together!
"Ji Jue, be careful!!!"
An Ran’s voice suddenly rang out.
The moment he heard it, his vision blurred as slender chains shot out of An Ran’s sleeves again, wrapping around his waist, yanking him backward.
With absolutely no ability to resist, Ji Jue’s body flew into the air.
In shock, he turned back to see the place he had just stood… the floorboards riddled with cracks, collapsing dramatically.
From the depths of the shattered building, a massive gaping maw emerged, capable of devouring ten of him whole!
Like a meat grinder, the huge mouth stretched out from the wreckage, followed by a roaring sound like a firecracker, as a body as thick as a train protruded from the crumbling structure.
It resembled a living creature but also seemed like a mass of iron and stone.
Beneath layers of insect-like armor and decaying flesh, a faint glimmer of steel shimmered, almost mechanical — but when Ji Jue instinctively reached out with his ability to resonate, the connection felt so elusive, drifting between existence and disappearance.
And when the monstrous mouth suddenly turned its multitude of crimson eyes towards Ji Jue, it was as though communication finally began—filling his mind with a chaotic scream, enough to shatter his consciousness.
It sounded like the wails of thousands in agony.
Those voices merged into a thunderous roar.
Suddenly, the sound detonated within his skull!
His vision went black.
"What the hell!"
He was falling, but before he hit the ground, the little bull had already screeched and blasted off the ground, performing a skilled leap that threw him onto the vehicle.
Without needing orders, it barreled over the rubble and bricks piled at the wall’s corner, launching upward, pulling An Ran’s rope tightly as it soared from the destruction above, plummeting towards another collapsing rooftop.
They were escaping!
Boom!
Behind them, that enormous creature resembling a centipede plunged toward their previous spot, crashing through the building, which finally gave in to explosive collapse.
Dust flew, and debris scattered.
A strange sound like the roar of the tide erupted from the collapsed structure, followed by a downpour of vicious birds that emerged from the darkness, charging into the sky.
As if drawn to the scent of flesh, they dove towards them!
And the first to set their sights on An Ran, who was hanging behind!
At this moment, An Ran gripped the chain, flying through the air, pulled by the motorcycle, yet his body showed no signs of falling!
Old Zhang had once told Ji Jue that the White Deer Way practitioners inherited a technique of force control that allowed them to feel weightless, enabling jumps of several dozen meters.
Combined with special blessings, it could even produce more amazing effects, making them float easily over water instead of sinking, or allowing them to increase their weight and root themselves to the ground.
Now, what Ji Jue witnessed was an effect even greater than what was rumored—under the blessing, An Ran's initially negligible weight had been erased by the White Deer's techniques, making him feel as light as a feather.
Like a kite, he soared freely in the air!
Even though he was being pursued on all sides by several monstrous birds, An Ran still gestured for Ji Jue not to worry, and as he waved again, a sharp, ear-piercing scream shot from his fingertips.
It was like thunder.
A pale line flickered from his fingertips, shooting out, twisting gracefully in the air, and, just like that, it flew back into his hand.
At that moment, Ji Jue saw clearly: it was a piece of iron that was burnt red from friction in the air, looking slightly deformed!
Just the width of two fingers and a finger's length long, no thicker than a razor blade.
Then, an explosion of bloody flowers burst forth from the air.
Those diving monsters lost their momentum and erupted in colors of either dark green or crimson, limbs torn off mid-flight, falling to the ground.
All of them perished!
Until now, amidst the rushing wind filled with blood, Ji Jue finally saw the smile on An Ran’s face.
So pure, radiating joy.
Perhaps this was his true nature.
Different from other families, the rules of the An family were rather rigid; they strongly opposed awakening on one’s own through the much more suitable method of summoning from the White Deer, and the members throughout generations were summoned through rituals pointing to the White Deer.
Regardless of whether they were biological, collateral, or adopted, every child would start participating in the ritual when they turned six — but the conditions were exceedingly stringent, and very few could pass the test each year.
Children who cannot succeed would be relegated to the outer court, and if no one from the family could pass within three generations, they would be completely disowned.
Being talentless and being associated with the An family was not a good thing.
By passing the summoning, the power they awakened was singular—projection!
To put it plainly, it was throwing things away from their hands.
Just that the distance, speed, and strength exceeded ordinary people by far.
So much so that even fellow chosen ones could hardly hope to catch up!
This was the terrifying nature of their legacy.
Such a simple technique had been broadened and deepened to unimaginable levels by the diligent research and training of each generation’s members.
In the An family, this technique was summarized as the Rite of Pot Throwing.
Like the tricks enjoyed by ancient nobility at their feasts, it sounds full of warmth, masking the bloodshed and death it could unleash at its sharpest.
Now, with An Ran flipping his fingers in the wind, blood flowers erupted from the air with every flick, while the cries and howls echoed endlessly.
But that thick pall of blood seemed to drive the already ferocious lurking monster in the ruined building into a frenzy, as it relentlessly pursued, opening its mouth wide, even before the corpses of the monster birds fell to the ground.
The more it ate, the hungrier it became.
Those eerie crimson eyes had locked onto the chef in mid-air… and they would not let go!
You want a piece of this, huh?
Ji Jue felt numb all over, flooring the gas pedal and draining all his spiritual essence into the little bull’s body.
The engine roared with fury, as two exhaust pipes blasted out a blue flame like a rocket.
The speed soared again!
Thus, they flew and leaped deftly between the broken buildings, scrambling through the collapsed ruins and bricks, as if this were a real-life escape and not a silly game with quick-time events!
(End of Chapter)