Chapter 121
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Falling Behind (1)
Everyone has their own tonic that suits them perfectly. Not every spiritual medicine is beneficial. For some, wild ginseng works wonders instantly, while for others, it might just upset their stomach.
Spiritual elixirs must be consumed according to one's constitution.
In that sense... Four Thousand Four had taken the ultimate tonic.
Ants are known for relieving joint pain or neuralgia. That's why many people make pills by mixing ants with honey and egg whites and take them regularly.
Ants only have that level of medicinal property.
They are absolutely not some miraculous drug that martial artists take to boost their inner energy or unblock sealed acupoints.
Yet for Four Thousand Four, they had worked exactly that way.
The white ants... those white ants had cleanly washed away even the sealed acupoints that not even the Iron Orb Faction elder could unblock.
The seal on his Baihui point had vanished.
The white ants had melted away the tattered old net clinging raggedly to his Baihui point.
The seal someone had placed to specially control Four Thousand Four was gone. Paradoxically, the seal laid by the Heavenly Annihilation Division had been undone by the very tonic they provided.
Even the brand left by Zhuge Soso had disappeared.
Zhuge Soso's prohibition technique hadn't been detectable by true energy. He had imposed some kind of restriction on his body, but no matter how he circulated his qi, nothing unusual happened.
However, it was clear that green qi had been mixed into his blood and energy. The Green Fragrance White Rat had tracked that green qi, followed the green fragrance, and found him because of the blood path prohibition technique.
Now, the green qi no longer flowed.
In truth, Four Thousand Four couldn't be entirely sure about this. Before or after the blood path prohibition, he hadn't sensed any signs. He hadn't even known the green qi was there until the Green Fragrance White Rat came looking for him.
He still wasn't certain now. But intuitively... he felt like the green qi had been purged.
There was one more prohibition.
The final one had been imposed by the Wasp Lord, sealing every meridian throughout his body—not an exaggeration.
As a result, Four Thousand Four couldn't move a muscle.
He had fallen into a state where not even a finger could twitch, like someone whose pressure points had been brutally suppressed.
This part seemed to have melted away too.
His fingers moved. His legs tingled. And they felt as cold as if laid on ice.
The lost sensations were returning.
The Wasp Lord had imposed a ruthless prohibition, blocking all nerves to the point where he couldn't feel even basic sensations. Naturally, he couldn't even will his true energy.
He had been left in a state where he couldn't tell if true energy was flowing or not.
But that very state had triggered another effect.
Something that never would have happened if he had been monitoring his true energy... the white ants had completely dissolved.
Four Thousand Four had regarded the white ants as mere refuse.
He had been thorough in preventing them from melting into his blood and energy.
How could he not? Somewhere inside his body... though he didn't know where... a queen ant lived. The white ants followed the queen ant and came chasing after him.
Suffering this ordeal because of one queen ant was bad enough—what if he let swarms of white ants into his blood and energy?
He might end up providing another clue for them to track him.
Better to keep impurities out entirely. If he had to ingest white ants, digest them in his stomach and excrete them as waste. No further role needed.
The Wasp Lord's prohibition had nullified those defenses.
Unbeknownst to himself, Four Thousand Four had fully dissolved the white ants. And the dissolved white ants had wandered through his meridians along his blood and energy, unblocking the sealed points.
Surprisingly, he was now free.
Shwoooosh!
He circulated his true energy experimentally.
Still lying down... limbs limp, in the most relaxed posture... even feeling the earth's pull on his flesh, he sent true energy flowing into his meridians.
The true energy swirled. He sensed it vividly.
Ren Meridian, Du Meridian... no blockages in the Ren and Du channels.
The Baihui point was wide open. True energy overflowed freely, surging powerfully. He swirled it freely without caution.
Grrrrumble!
True energy roared through him in fierce vortices.
What now?
He pondered for a moment.
Honestly, such deliberation didn't suit him.
He wasn't one for deep thinking or sudden flashes of schemes or strategies.
Still, he had made it into the Minor Hive.
What he wanted was to infiltrate the heart of the Heavenly Annihilation Division and settle things.
If he could save the old man, he would.
If not, he'd deal a heavy blow to the Heavenly Annihilation Division and go down fighting gloriously.
He didn't see the Heavenly Annihilation Division as a good group.
He didn't know the details. Nor did he care to. But using hostages to control people? That was the devil's work. It had to be rooted out.
He knew Hori. He knew Jaja. He knew Hanbi. He even knew Vanguard.
All of them committed desperate acts because of hostages. They threw themselves into death even for tasks beyond their abilities. For one reason: hostages held by the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
At least he was a bit freer.
The old man didn't fear death much. He saw it as just crossing from one neighborhood to another over a log bridge. The only difference? No coming back once crossed.
The old man wouldn't hesitate to cross that bridge.
What did the old man do? He extended a helping hand to those reluctant to cross. He helped them cross with the easiest heart.
The old man would gladly cross death's bridge.
That's why he was relatively free from the hostage's sway. Knowing the old man was the hostage actually put his mind at ease. He'd understand if he neglected the old man to help others cross. No—he had to understand if that was the reason.
That was the old man's teaching.
Anyway, with the old man held hostage, he'd try to save him. If efforts failed, so be it.
Now he was inside the Minor Hive. Inside the long-awaited Heavenly Annihilation Division stronghold. Where to start? What to do?
Here his thoughts stalled.
He hadn't really planned anything specific. For now, he figured he'd find the main base first.
The method was a bit odd, but he'd made it inside the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
His body was free now. He couldn't move an inch coming in, but now it felt light enough to fly.
Four Thousand Four shook his head side to side.
Thinking really wasn't for him. No matter how he racked his brain, no clever ideas came.
'Let's wait and see. If they brought me here, they'll do something. For now, I'll watch...'
He turned his gaze inward.
He examined his true energy. Observed its flow. Watched his meridians open and close wide.
"What?"
The Wasp Lord asked back.
"There was... movement."
The Chief Officer forced his reluctant lips open.
The Chief Officer couldn't believe his own report even as he gave it.
He had just reported Four Thousand Four dead. But that was false. Four Thousand Four was alive.
Now he was reporting movement again.
This meant... movement meant... Four Thousand Four had escaped the Wasp Lord's prohibition.
Four Thousand Four had undone the Wasp Lord's seal?
He was uttering the unbelievable.
"How much movement?"
"The tremor plate vibrated intensely. Definitely..."
The Chief Officer trailed off.
His mouth repeated, 'There was definitely movement.' But he couldn't say it aloud. It sounded like doubting the Wasp Lord's martial arts.
"Hm!"
The Wasp Lord sank deep into his chair. And pondered.
Despite the absurd report, the Wasp Lord didn't reprimand. Didn't raise his voice. He seemed to accept the Chief Officer's words at face value.
"Hmmm...!"
After a long pause, the Wasp Lord let out a groan-like nasal sound.
"Dies and revives—a miracle already—then undoes the acupoint seal... unblocks meridians without even willing true energy? Haha! Isn't this worse than a blind man drawing an elephant?"
The Chief Officer hurriedly said,
"We can't even say he undid the acupoint seal for sure... The tremor plate rang, but the prisoner hasn't twitched."
"Hasn't twitched? How much is 'hasn't'?"
"Even a jailer wouldn't notice..."
"Not even a finger?"
"Yes. Exactly."
"He's circulating energy then."
"Not sitting, but lying down..."
"Hahaha! That's the brilliance of the Four Absolutes. You can circulate while walking. Hm! Looks like he learned the Four Absolutes properly."
The Chief Officer swallowed dryly. Then said,
"Word from the main base..."
"He refuses to meet?"
"Yes. Correct."
"I see. So be it."
The Wasp Lord nodded.
The old man doesn't waver even at news of his disciple's death. Doesn't budge. Pent up and wanting fresh air, meeting his disciple is a perfect excuse... yet no intent to move.
Those who cultivate the Four Absolutes are hard to handle.
Their views on life and death differ vastly from ordinary folk. Sometimes they risk their lives; other times, they're calm amid urgency.
"Let's kill him."
The Wasp Lord said.
"Pardon?"
"Execute Four Thousand Four on schedule. Flood the Thunder Prison with Soul-Urging Smoke. Even he can't handle that... Ah, maybe not. If he undid the seal alone... he might endure it? Haha! I'm curious now. Pump in a lethal dose."
"The others will die too."
"Fine. They're doomed anyway."
The Wasp Lord bared white teeth in a grin.
Fwooooosh!
Acrid smoke seeped from the ceiling.
"Ngh!"
Four Thousand Four let out a shallow groan.
He had inhaled the smoke unconsciously, and just that puff made his head spin.
This was bad smoke.
Four Thousand Four hurriedly held his breath and turned his gaze inward.
He planned to circulate energy now. Shut out all external senses, breathe only inward. In other words, hold his breath. Like the Turtle Breathing Great Law.
No, wait—not that!
Four Thousand Four's eyes widened.
He wasn't the only one locked in the Thunder Prison. Others were there too. Like him before, their pressure points suppressed, slowly stiffening. Dying.
They... couldn't endure the smell.
What was in the smoke seeping from the ceiling?
Instantly lethal poison? Then relief—they'd die quick. But no, this smoke didn't kill outright. It just induced a dazed stupor.
They'd dream all sorts of dreams before death.
Dreams blurring this life and the next, hallucination and reality. Painful ones... recalling worldly desires left behind.
They'd struggle against death, then perish.
So many here he was meant to guide to the afterlife—in the Thunder Prison. Everyone exposed to the smoke had to die. Every prisoner with suppressed pressure points, without exception.
"Heh heh heh!"
Four Thousand Four gave a bitter laugh.
What a life... destined to ferry souls even in Thunder Prison.
Shwoooosh!
He gathered true energy in his hands. Then shoved hard against the wooden wall separating him from them.