Chapter 8

1

The masked figure disappeared into the swiftly moving vines like a ghost, soon to reappear behind us, as these snipers liked to do.

I pushed the person in front of me towards Shi Xueqi. "Restart the Judgment Wheel of Time," I said. It would take Shi Xueqi some time to regain control of this Magic tool, but the energy released by the Magic tool should be enough to protect themselves under the current circumstances.

The deafening roar of the opponent's revolver was completely different from the subtle sound of the sniper rifle.

"Fire!" The villagers cried out as they noticed that the wooden town was being demolished by the high-explosive bullets, accidentally igniting the splinters and spreading to other houses.

Two shots fired again. I weaved my way between the two bullets, and four more bullets came after, but it would be much easier for me to avoid them now. The revolver only had six rounds in total, and even if the reloading speed was fast, it still took time. So, to keep the distance, I continued to attack with Magic bullets instead of real bullets.

"Masked one, it's my turn now without real bullets!" I held Xiao Qiong's Thundering Magic Gun in my hand, the shiny barrel already filled with lightning.

"Hmm!" The sudden appearance of the magic gun and the thunder made the masked figure uneasy, because even though both were ninth-level Magic tools, he couldn't overpower me with his Magic tool alone.

I moved at an extremely fast speed and appeared to the left of the masked person. I immediately shot a Thunder Magic bullet and dodged, leaving a deep lightning scar on the revolver.

The masked figure flung his single ponytail and touched the scar on the gun with a very sorrowful motion. I predicted that he would come up with a strategy soon. As a killer, if the first and second attacks were ineffective, not retreating meant that the intention of the opponent was a life-or-death command, not a situation where either he died or I did.

"Shi..." I was worried, but when I looked at Shi Xueqi, I noticed her eyes rolled back. Shi Meng handed her the Magic tool, and his own abilities were reduced to the intermediate level. Shi Xueqi was completely helpless in this situation because this state was a side effect of the Magic tool's power exceeding the user's abilities. For Shi Xueqi, completely unleashing the Judgment Wheel was like a small stream suddenly turning into a flood, making it difficult to control whether it flowed forward or caused a devastating flood.

"Crack!" In the moment I was distracted, the masked figure had already loaded the real bullets, and his target was Shi Xueqi.

"Shi Meng, push Shi Xueqi away!" I shouted loudly as the masked figure shot at both me and Shi Xueqi simultaneously.

Shi Meng pushed Shi Xueqi with all his strength, causing her to fall into the space beneath the wooden floor.

"Wow!" Shi Meng's arm was grazed by the bullet, severely burned. Fortunately, the high-explosive bullet did not explode at that moment, otherwise, even if he survived, his arm would have turned into a puddle of flesh.

The burning splinters, ignited by the exploding bullet, continued to spread in this primarily wooden town. The town's residents did their best to put out the fire, but they couldn't stop the continuation of the battle. Putting out the fire wouldn't solve the problem as long as the battle remained.

A Magic array appeared behind me, forcefully compressing a large number of blood thunder into the Thundering Magic Gun. I knew that if this shot went off, the town would be destroyed. However, at this moment, if I didn't use some high-powered Magic to suppress the gun-wielding person loading real bullets, I could sense that the next real bullet wasn't just a high-explosive bullet, as the light emitted by that bullet was evidently different.

"This decides life and death!" As my blood thunder Magic bullet was fired, the opponent's real bullet was also shot, leaving a fiery tail. Three Magic arrays simultaneously appeared at the tail of the bullet, and I wagered that this bullet must have been quite expensive.

The bullets attacked, spreading waves of high heat. With flashes of lightning and swirling sparks at its center, half of the town was engulfed in flames.

"We can't control the fire anymore!"

As chaos ensued, the Masked Man approached Shimen, his revolver pressed against the back of Shimen's head.

"Is there no going back for me?" Shimen half knelt on the ground, his eyes gazing down at his daughter suspended in the interlayer on seven judgment wheels.

The Masked Man remained silent, using Magic in his hands. He threw a fireball into the interlayer, and a roaring blaze erupted next to Shiqi.

"Shiqi! If you're going to kill us, do it quickly, but don't harm my daughter."

The sound of bullets loading, the red energy gathering at the barrel of the gun.

"Just kill already, no need for any countdown!" My fist struck the Masked Man in the abdomen, and his entire body fell into a vortex of blood sparks, knocking him out.

"Lan, tie him up!"

A sea of flowers engulfed us, and vines quickly extended from the ground, binding the Masked Man's limbs and dropping him in the center of the town.

"Teacher Shi, can I go down? Magic fire isn't regular fire."

Shimen gripped my arm and said, "I want her to be safe!"

"Not a hair will be harmed, I promise!"

I jumped into the interlayer, where the Magic fire roared. A wall of earth enveloped Shiqi and me, completely blocking off the flames, but heavy smoke remained in this space.

"Conceal true form, seal!" The seven judgment wheels merged into one.

I carried Shiqi, standing in the sea of fire. The wall of earth no longer encased us, and the raging clouds floated beside me. The magic sword released a dark green aura, and the best thing about Magic tools was that they had their own magic power.

Enveloped in the aura, we appeared in the center of the town. The surrounding trees and wooden houses had already been ignited by the Magic fire. Extinguishing these flames required water or stronger Magic water.

I looked up at the sky, gently touching the several coins in my pocket. Ever since I used a coin to draw a Magic array once, I fell in love with this method.

"What is that?"

"A Magic array, probably." The townspeople saw the pale blue light shining in the center of the town in the night sky.

"It's raining, how wonderful."

"Rain can extinguish the Magic fire. This rain is made by Magic."

The townspeople stopped fighting the fire and caught the raindrops with their hands. The rain grew heavier, and soon only the embers hidden under objects remained in the town. As long as the rain continued to infiltrate the ground, these smoldering objects would be extinguished.

"Is he a divine rank?"

"He seems to have that kind of feeling, but isn't he a student? He even has a school emblem on his clothes."

The townspeople packed up their belongings in front of their homes and looked towards the center of the town.

"I..."

"Good evening, Captain." Shiqi woke up, her eyes met mine, and due to our close proximity, she was unable to look away.

"Why do you have such an awkward look in your eyes?"

"Isn't it awkward to be so close to a girl?"

"No, I actually find it quite interesting."

"Indeed, men who have many girls around them are accustomed to it."

"Daughter!"

"Mom and Dad." Shimen and his wife walked up to us, covered in dust and dirt.

"Dad is getting old and can't protect you anymore. Follow Qin Yang." Shi Meng looked at me with a determined gaze, making it impossible for me to resist his plea.

"Dad, are you willing to... "

"Give me one night, tidy up the house, and tomorrow... Tomorrow I will explain everything to you." Shi Meng turned his head to look at the surrounding town. The tranquility of the town was shattered overnight. Perhaps the reason is still unknown to everyone, but soon everyone will know that this disaster was brought by the humor master Shi Meng. How the townspeople will perceive him is still unknown.

2

The people here worked all night. The town was made of wood, and it burned easily. But rebuilding it was also easy. Simple repairs would allow the townspeople to sleep peacefully.

"Thank you for yesterday." Shi Xueqi put down a bottle of juice in front of me.

"Your father made it clear, 'to keep you safe'."

"Why does he want to kill my father?" Shi Xueqi leaned against the armrest next to me, pointing to the figure hanging in the air with a mask.

"Have you seen that mask before at home?"

"I think I saw it when I was very young."

"That mask represents the underground organization that Shi Meng used to be a part of. It's quite mysterious."

"Mysterious?"

"Because no one wants to investigate them."

"Why?"

"No value or impossible to find. Eighteen years ago, they kidnapped the emperor. It was said to be because Othrie oppressed certain island countries in maritime disputes. The government couldn't suppress public grievances, so they joined forces and did that. Since then, there has been no follow-up to that incident. Apart from some prisoners they caught at the time, there is no reliable information."

"But why did they reappear now?"

"There are many reasons, but it's also a persistent reason. However, it's clear that they reappeared not for the same reasons."

"So, it's possible that I forced Dad to reveal information about the organization and made them feel threatened, which led to their reappearance."

"At least, that's the reason for his appearance." I patted her shoulder and continued, "It's alright, this is not your fault. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Mr. Qin." Shi Meng appeared, genuinely pitying the person hanging there.

"Mr. Shi, are you going to talk now?"

"How do you plan to deal with him?"

I looked at the person who hadn't woken up yet. His injuries were quite severe.

"Hand him over."

"That's good. This mask is something I've hidden for many years."

"For me, it's only been two months ago."

I took the mask from Shi Meng. For him, that day was already a long time ago.

The weather after the rain felt refreshing. Shi Meng explained everything he knew about the organization to us in great detail.

It was an organization where grievances gathered, with influence spreading across over a thousand islands, including five countries in the southeast of Othrie: Yuelisi, Dongzhiji, Nuochiwei, Lanhann, and Leifulanke. The name of the organization eighteen years ago was "Raku".

Furthest east was the hometown of Yu Yanqing, where a legendary magical serpent named Bayi was said to have lived. When Yu Yanqing first appeared, the giant water snake summoned by him was made to resemble the legendary Bayi.