Unbound

Outside the Meng estate, Chen Chuan escorted Meng Shu and her entourage to the parking plaza. "You have somewhere to go, right? I expect Old Mr. Meng has already made arrangements." Meng Shu nodded. "Yes. Grandfather told me just now to hide in a safehouse." "Go take cover there first, then." "Aren't you coming with us?" Meng Shu asked. Chen Chuan looked back toward the estate. "I still have something I must do." With a wave of his hand, he carried the Xuejun Saber and started walking back the way he had come. Meng Shu watched his departing back. Yan Yi stepped forward. "Miss?" Meng Shu replied decisively, "We're going to the safehouse immediately. If we can't help, we at least cannot become a burden." Inside the hall, Aunt Yu had already seized the security guard Meng Huang had brought. With a knife-hand strike to his laryngeal cartilage, she shattered the bone instantly, though she did not kill him. Grabbing him by the collar, she looked back. "Master?" Meng Lai instructed directly, "Aunt Yu, you leave as well. Go downstairs." Aunt Yu nodded in understanding. But just as she was about to drag the man out, she sensed something was wrong and hurled the guard away. Before his body hit the ground, the outer skin burst open. A substance resembling melted wax flowed and splattered outward, splashing across the floor and walls. Wherever the substance touched, sizzling sounds erupted, corroding portions of the sturdy floor and walls. As it spread outward, parts of the structure that formed the ritual framework were instantly damaged. "It seems you came prepared as well." Meng Lai understood at once. The man had appeared normal on the surface, but Meng Huang had clearly tampered with him on the inside. Meng Huang let out a rumbling laugh. His body surged taller once more, looking as though he were about to burst right through the ceiling. Meng Lai barked an urgent order: "Aunt Yu, go!" "Think you can get away?!" Meng Huang had been pinned in place, unable to move, but now he began thrashing violently. The areas that had been mere phantoms seemed to abruptly solidify, plastering every wall of the sturdy room. Clicking and snapping sounds echoed all around as fissures began spidering across the walls. Aunt Yu was already making a break for it the moment Meng Lai gave the command. But each time she lunged toward a window or the doorway, she was repelled by those formless phantoms. Though they appeared to be nothing more than shadows, they inflicted tangible, physical damage. Meng Huang knew Aunt Yu was Meng Lai's most trusted confidante, who might have tasks to carry out; even without that, eliminating her now was better than dealing with her later. His body gave a shudder, and a colossal, twisting phantom limb suddenly whipped off the wall, swiping directly toward her. Aunt Yu drew a deep breath. With this breath, patterns of floral prints and creeping vines surfaced across her fair skin. She thrust a hand outward. Though her fingers seemed delicate and soft, that seemingly effortless motion blocked the phantom limb with a resounding thud. Shifting her shoulders, her other hand shot outward; with a swift twist of her waist, she pressed down against the back of her lead hand, jolting the phantom limb backward with the reflected force. Seizing the momentum, she leaped forward and planted a palm strike against Meng Huang's chest. The strike seemed packed with immense power, forcing Meng Huang's colossal frame to tilt backward. Aunt Yu dropped her stance, aiming to slip swiftly through the opening to his side. Yet right as she reached the door, several phantom limbs converged into an even more gargantuan appendage, blocking the path and sweeping toward her. She raised her hands to block, only to feel an overwhelming surge of force far beyond what an individual could withstand. Dissipating the momentum, she executed a graceful backward somersault. Though she evaded the strike, she had been driven back into the room. She said calmly, "Master, I might not be able to leave, but I can hold him off for now." Meng Lai said in a deep voice, "You must leave." He gripped the pocket watch he had been holding from the start. Just as he was about to open it, noise erupted from the doorway. With a thunderous boom, the thick door slabs—which had held together even when Meng Huang expanded earlier—shattered into fragments, and a straight, upright figure appeared. Chen Chuan strolled in from outside. Glancing around the room, he looked toward the colossal figure. "Looks like I made it in time." Meng Huang turned his gaze toward him and narrowed his eyes. The numerous eyes across his body seemed to open and shut in unison, while his dense rows of teeth ground against one another. Though he was still some distance from the doorway and could not reach it yet, the crumbling state of the room made it clear he would break free before long. Meng Lai was slightly surprised. "Enforcement Officer Chen, I didn't expect you to return." Just then, a massive shadowy limb swept toward Chen Chuan, blurring along the wall in an instant. Having experienced its strength, Aunt Yu shouted, "Careful!" Chen Chuan raised a forearm. The limb crashed against his arm with a deafening bang that shook the entire room, yet he remained completely motionless. Standing there, he still had the composure to say in an even tone, "Old Mr. Meng, you have what you want to do, and I have what I must do." With that, he swung a backhand punch into the shadow limb. As his fist struck, a thunderous crash erupted, shattering the limb into pieces and jolting Meng Huang's massive body sideways. Drifting upon his fist was what looked like condensed clouds of mist. Aunt Yu blurted out in astonishment, "Cloud-Collapsing Hand?" At that moment, the entire room seemed to shudder. Surrounding decorations burst apart, and cracks spread rapidly across the walls, ceiling, and floor. Meng Huang finally tore free of the restraints binding him. His power grew even more complete, yet he made no move to attack anyone present. Instead, his body plunged downward. As he did so, the floor collapsed downward in a massive section with a rumbling crash, while concrete slabs and masonry plummeted from the ceiling above. Chen Chuan casually brushed aside a falling crossbeam, took two steps forward, and peered down. Rumbling tremors roared relentlessly from below, shaking the ground beneath his feet. The successive floors beneath were punched through like brittle sand under Meng Huang's descent until he hit the bottommost level. Leaping directly from the ninth floor, Chen Chuan plummeted downward. He touched down with a dull thud, bending his knees slightly to dissipate the impact as a ring of dust billowed around him. By the time he landed, Meng Huang's state had shifted again. Fading into a translucent, incorporeal shadow, the creature melted instantly through the ground, sinking deeper into the earth. Aunt Yu leaped down as well, ricocheting off the shattered floorboards. Taking in the scene, she said, "Follow me. There's an entrance further back." Chen Chuan glanced downward. "No need." Clenching his fist, he drew a deep breath. After a momentary pause, he smashed his fist violently down! The ground undulated like waves. Amid a thunderous roar, shattered debris flew in every direction. When the dust cleared, a hole wide enough for two people to pass through had been punched clean into the floor. Wisps of misty vapor drifted from his fist, rising steadily upward. Aunt Yu couldn't help staring at him in astonishment. Even with such strength, could anyone really emerge completely unscathed from that level of recoil? Chen Chuan did not look at her, dropping straight through the hole. Landing below, he found himself in a passageway five to six meters high and about ten meters wide—ample space for vehicles to drive through. Ahead, two forks split off, each leading into the distance. Meng Huang was nowhere to be seen. The biological field Chen Chuan sensed was a jumble of chaos, lingering everywhere the creature had passed, making it impossible to tell which path he had taken. Yet Chen Chuan closed his eyes, his glabella twitching faintly. A moment later, he opened them and took off down one of the paths. Aunt Yu dropped down just then. She had intended to warn him, but seeing him head in the correct direction, she swallowed her words and followed close behind. Chen Chuan moved at blinding speed. Even though fork after fork appeared ahead, he seemed to have no need to deliberate, unfailingly picking the right route. He whipped around corners without decelerating in the slightest—a reckless display that ignored joint tolerances entirely, leaving Aunt Yu watching in awe. Before long, the two arrived in an expansive underground area that resembled a parking lot. Ahead stood a round vault door with top-and-bottom interlocking mechanisms. Half of Meng Huang's colossal frame had melted into shadow, plastered against the door as if attempting to breach it, yet unable to force his way inside for the moment. Chen Chuan stopped. He could see dense ritual patterns covering the wall and the door. "What is that place?" he asked. Aunt Yu caught up, stepping forward beside Chen Chuan. "That is where the Master's true body rests. That is what Meng Huang is looking for." "He's only doing this to kill Old Mr. Meng?" Chen Chuan asked. "Mainly for the company's implant cipher key, and..." Aunt Yu hesitated. Seeing that she was not continuing, Chen Chuan did not press further. He fixed his gaze on Meng Huang. Another change was coming over the creature: wisps of black smoke drifted from the fissures in his body. Looking closer, it wasn't smoke at all, but seemed like a fusion of reality and illusion. Something indistinguishable squirmed and roiled within—an existence defying all understanding of the normal world, inciting intense discomfort not just physically, but mentally as well. Chen Chuan slowly raised the Xuejun Saber across his chest. With a flick of his hand, he slid the scabbard off, revealing the gleaming blade. Turning the edge, he took a step toward the gargantuan silhouette. Just then, a massive shadowy limb whipped violently toward him, blurring along the wall in an instant. Having felt its power earlier, Aunt Yu cried out, "Careful!" Chen Chuan raised a forearm. The limb slammed against his arm with a booming crash that shook the entire room, yet he remained completely motionless.