Chapter 17: Life and Death

Chapter Seventeen: Life and Death

“Did you see what it was?” Pang Bo asked, wanting to understand the source of the danger. Although usually carefree, he was always composed at critical moments.

“I didn’t see anything, I only felt a terrifying aura envelop my entire body, and then this bronze bell suddenly started vibrating.” At that moment, Wang Ziwen was enveloped in a golden glow, but he still felt a lingering fear.

After hearing these words, everyone who had found something in the Great Thunderclap Temple gripped their broken Buddhist artifacts tightly. These items were now proven to be truly extraordinary, undoubtedly once held by deities!

The broken bronze bell stopped vibrating, its resonant chimes slowly fading. The burning golden divine flame on Wang Ziwen’s body vanished, and the brilliance, like golden armor, returned into the bell.

“Let’s go, we need to leave these ruins quickly!” Ye Fan, holding the ancient bronze lamp that cast faint divine light, led the way, rushing towards the five-colored altar.

The others followed closely. There was certainly something terrifying within these vast heavenly palace ruins, and every second they stayed increased the danger.

“Ah...” A scream rang out again. As they neared the edge of the ruins, a male student fell backward onto the ground. In the center of his forehead was a finger-sized blood hole, from which blood gushed. It was the same way of death! His eyes were wide open, staring blankly, the terrified expression from before his death frozen on his face.

At that moment, many were overcome with fear. Another student had died suddenly, right before their eyes, yet they were powerless to stop it, unable even to tell what had taken his life.

It was easy to talk about separation and death, but experiencing it firsthand, everyone felt immense bitterness. Close classmates died inexplicably without even uttering a final word, which was difficult to accept. Many female students were on the verge of breaking down, weeping softly, having never witnessed such a scene before.

“Go!”

They did not, and could not, stop, rushing quickly towards the five-colored altar. They finally escaped the ruins, but two lives were left behind forever, never to be seen again.

They ran a considerable distance, then looked back. The broken walls and crumbling ruins, like monstrous demons, cast shifting shadows under the night sky, chilling them to the bone.

But before they could even catch their breath, three screams rang out almost simultaneously. Two male students and one female student successively collapsed heavily to the ground. The wounds were still on their foreheads; three identical, horrifying blood holes.

Blood stained the ground. Three former classmates and friends had met a tragic end, their eyes bulging, expressions frozen in terror.

In a short span of time, five people had lost their lives. This filled everyone with sorrow, yet also left them cold and their scalps tingling. Perhaps they would be next; no one could be certain when their own lives would end.

“Waaah...” A female student, close to breaking down, sobbed loudly, saying, “None of those who died found any artifacts in the temple. That unknown devil is nearby. If we don’t have the sacred objects left by the deities, we’ll die sooner or later...”

This was a fact: the five deceased had found nothing in the temple, while Wang Ziwen, who was also attacked, had remained unharmed precisely because of the broken bronze bell.

“Help us...” Those who hadn’t found artifacts in the temple were utterly terrified. They approached those who had, pleading for help in almost begging tones. But in such a life-or-death situation, who would give up their only life-saving Buddhist artifact?

Some didn’t stop, didn’t even look back, striding quickly towards the five-colored altar. While camaraderie among classmates was valuable, many chose cold indifference to protect themselves when facing a life-and-death decision.

Human relationships and the contradictions of human nature were facing their first difficult test.

“Please, save me...” The female student, almost collapsing, ran and cried, tears streaming down her face like pear blossoms after rain. She was distraught and pitiful, having lost both her shoes, yet still ran on blindly, her mind completely consumed by terror.

Ye Fan shouted loudly, “We can share the artifacts we found in the temple with others!”

Pang Bo, who always acted in concert with Ye Fan, heard this, stood by his side, and also shouted, “That’s right, two or three of us can share one artifact found in the ancient temple!”

Many looked over, but with hesitation. Someone spoke up, “What if these broken artifacts aren’t that powerful? If they can only protect one person, wouldn’t that put the original owner in mortal danger...?”

Such words immediately caused others to waver again, and two people even started to speed up, rushing forward without looking back.

“Thank you, Ye Fan...” The shoeless, tear-streaked, pitiful female student stumbled up to Ye Fan, her face showing immense gratitude mixed with her flowing tears, inspiring pity in those who saw her.

She tremblingly extended her right hand, but when it was still about a foot from the ancient lamp, her expression suddenly froze. Then, her eyes became vacant, and she collapsed heavily to the ground.

The change was so sudden. Ye Fan watched helplessly as her eyes lost their luster, her pitifully beautiful face tear-stained, and the newly blossomed grateful smile frozen there forever, causing a painful ache in his heart.

Ye Fan wanted to help her up, but he ultimately only extended his hand before withdrawing it. The poor female student’s back of the head had been pierced, this time not her forehead. Blood flowed from her dark long hair. She was only one step away, but she still died right before Ye Fan’s eyes.

That frozen smile stung Ye Fan’s eyes. He slowly retreated, moving away from the gradually cooling corpse.

“What exactly was that thing?” This was everyone’s question.

Death was so close that everyone grew even more terrified. Three or four people quickly gathered around Ye Fan and Pang Bo, impatiently reaching for the ancient lamp and bronze plaque, almost in a scramble to claim them for themselves.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Pang Bo glared immediately and bellowed, “We are saving you by sharing these items, not by giving the bronze plaque and ancient lamp to you and sacrificing our own lives!”

He was built powerfully, with a large frame, and his angry glare naturally exuded a formidable presence. The few people immediately stopped, then awkwardly came forward and placed their hands on the bronze plaque and ancient lamp.

There was no time for delay or rest. Everyone ran quickly, but at this moment, restless emotions began to spread. Some people’s eyes gleamed with greed, wanting to seize the Buddhist artifacts. Those who possessed broken artifacts, meanwhile, became highly vigilant, regretting having shared them.

“We are from the same place, we have been classmates for four years! Don’t let the rest of your life be filled with shame and regret for your choice today!” Ye Fan roared, his voice more commanding than Pang Bo’s, immediately making many people settle down.

Boom!

At that very moment, hundreds of lightning bolts suddenly erupted from Liu Yunzhi in front, electricity dancing around him. He looked as if a thunder god had descended!

Dense lightning covered his entire body, shimmering with electric light that illuminated the surroundings. The Vajra Scepter in his hand shone even more brilliantly. All of it originated from that half-broken precious scepter.

Liu Yunzhi seemed to be wearing armor woven from lightning. His whole being exuded an incomparably sharp aura, with bolts of electricity coiling around him, truly like a god of lightning and war.

“I was just attacked by that unknown thing,” he merely said, then spoke no more. His sharp gaze inadvertently swept over Ye Fan, but upon seeing the ancient bronze lamp, those two piercing lights quickly vanished.

It was only after a few moments that the electric light on Liu Yunzhi’s body gradually receded, and the Vajra Scepter in his hand once again became dim and lackluster.

An artifact held by a deity!

Everyone had witnessed the power of this precious scepter, and it filled them with shock.

Everyone remained silent along the way, finally reaching the five-colored altar. Fortunately, no more deaths occurred, which allowed them to breathe a small sigh of relief.

On the five-colored altar, the nine massive dragon corpses and the ancient bronze coffin lay silently, still incredibly awe-inspiring.

“That’s...”

Arriving before the altar, everyone was surprised. The five-colored altar was shrouded in a hazy glow, and faint points of light were converging from all directions, sinking into its stone base.

The light shield covering the sky was gradually melting away, slowly disappearing. It turned out to be due to the five-colored altar, which seemed to be accumulating some kind of mysterious energy.

At first, everyone was surprised, then expressions of joy appeared, because the five-colored altar was glowing, just as it had at Mount Tai. This was very likely a sign of the ancient starry path opening. However, this time the energy source was not the “stone book and jade slips” but a hazy and enormous light shield.

Rumble!

The hazy light shield in the sky was dissolving, and the thunderous storm outside roared, making the entire ground seem to shake.

As the light shield dimmed, everyone ascended the five-colored altar, watching everything unfold with tension.

The terrifying unknown presence in the shadows, like a lingering shadow in their hearts, had temporarily disappeared, but as long as they remained here, it was still a great threat. Everyone desperately wanted to escape Mars.

The dimming light shield continued to compress for a full half hour, eventually barely covering the five-colored altar. Its diameter had shrunk from over a thousand meters to less than two hundred meters, almost pressing down onto the ground. All the mysterious energy had been absorbed by the five-colored altar.

Pang Bo lowered his voice and whispered into Ye Fan’s ear, “Liu Yunzhi’s gaze has swept over us several times inadvertently. This guy is very cunning, we need to be careful.” Despite his rough exterior, Pang Bo was perceptive and noticed this.

“Don’t worry, I know!” Ye Fan turned to Liu Yunzhi, offering a gentle smile.

Liu Yunzhi was composed, nodding amicably, showing no abnormalities. Beside him were two others, one of whom was the male student who had recently sought protection from Ye Fan’s ancient bronze lamp and arrived safely.

This displeased Pang Bo greatly. He whispered, “That ungrateful wretch, he used to follow Liu Yunzhi around all the time in school. Just now, we protected his life, and now he’s gone back to Liu Yunzhi.”

Fifteen minutes later, the hazy light shield outside gradually shrank, about to press down onto the five-colored altar. The terrifying power of the external storm could be clearly felt.

“Woooosh!” The wind howled like wailing ghosts and gods, and sand and stones struck the light shield, creating thunderous sounds. Some dust even blew inside, making it clear that the light shield was very fragile and could disappear completely at any moment.

Startled, everyone retreated, fearing that if they fell off the altar, they would immediately be swept high into the sky by the storm.

At this moment, the male student whom Pang Bo had called ungrateful slowly moved away from Liu Yunzhi. He suddenly grabbed at the ancient bronze lamp in Ye Fan’s hand, while simultaneously pushing Ye Fan forcefully with his other hand, attempting to seize the lamp and push him off the five-colored altar.