Chapter 78 Memories of Demigods and Semi-Devils

Guan Wen could see nothing, but through the stranger's breathing, he sensed something hauntingly familiar. In his memory, there had been moments like this before, when someone stood dangerously close, interrogating him, using a slender blade to mercilessly torment his flesh.

If it were in the past, he would have screamed out in rage and hatred. This time, however, he gritted his teeth, endured the pain, cast all chaotic and entangled emotions aside, and simply listened in silence to that evil, wheezing sound.

"I haven't obtained the secret—without the secret, what use is it to kill you? Without finding the pearl, what use is it to smash the clam into pulp? Guan Wen, speak. Tell me the secret, the secret related to the Rakshasa Sorceress. You sacrificed tens of thousands of lives trying to eliminate her; that is a cosmic waste of the highest order. But we intend to harness that power, turning it into an unmatched, supreme weapon. Compared to the two, whose approach is more meaningful? Ours, of course. Tell me. As long as you tell me, I will let your woman go. How about that?" the voice said again.

"I don't know," Guan Wen replied helplessly.

"You don't know? Well, well, well. Your woman will be deeply disappointed. Because of your dishonesty, she will suffer humiliation and be left exposed in the wilderness. This time, she will repeat her former fate," the voice chuckled with petty malice.

"Who are you?" Guan Wen turned his head slightly toward the source of the voice.

"Me? I am the greatest enemy who has appeared across your eight samsara cycles. Unfortunately, throughout those eight cycles, our relationship has always remained one of opposition, and every single time, it was I who killed you, leaving you to depart with hatred and grief. If you must blame anything, blame the arrangements of the God of Fate, heh heh heh..." the voice laughed in response.

"Nothing, nothing can be found," came Tang Jue's voice again. "I have a feeling that in the 'Deva' cycle, he was actually completely ignorant. Even if he were sent back to the time period when the *Tao Te Ching* was written, it would be of no use. I think it is time to let him enter the 'Naga' cycle, to see what he acquired in the second reincarnation."

"A book—" Guan Wen truly remembered that his ultimate destiny and final mission were related to a book, but it was definitely not the *Tao Te Ching*.

"Very well," the voice agreed.

When Guan Wen woke up, the dawn was breaking faintly. He was sitting upright inside a galloping two-wheeled chariot, driving into a majestic ancient city.

Clutched in his arms was a gray cloth scroll, about three feet long.

"What is this place?" he muttered to himself, immediately unfurling the scroll.

It was a simple ancient map with straight lines, every location on it marked in seal script.

"My lord, we have already entered Xianyang," the warrior driving the chariot answered loudly.

Guan Wen's hand trembled. From the center of the scroll, an ancient short sword slipped out and dropped to his feet. Suddenly, he understood: his self in this lifetime was actually Jing Ke, who had presented the map only for a dagger to be revealed at its end, attempting to assassinate the King of Qin.

Stepping out of the chariot and climbing the hundred-step stone staircase, Guan Wen finally laid eyes on that First Emperor of history—a figure revered by tens of thousands, bowed to by tens of thousands, and yet cursed by tens of thousands.

Clutching the map scroll, he walked forward slowly, spreading it out bit by bit on the low table before the King of Qin, pointing out the cities ceded by the State of Yan one by one.

"I am the Son of Heaven, the Dragon of the Earth, the King of Men. Under the vast heaven, all land belongs to the sovereign; to the very edges of the earth, all subjects serve the king." The mighty and peerless King of Qin grasped Guan Wen's shoulder, staring coldly into his eyes. With a press of his right hand, he pinned down the hand already gripping the sword hilt. "You want to kill me? That is not how it is decreed in the reincarnation cycle; you will never be able to kill me. Reincarnation is history, history is the truth, and truth is reincarnation... Trapped within this cycle of life and death, one cannot see through it, can one?"

With a wave of the King of Qin's hand, Guan Wen tumbled down the stone steps, yet the sword remained in his grasp. He sprang up into the air, lunging fiercely toward the King of Qin's chest.

Laughing heartily, the King of Qin retreated gracefully, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword without rushing to draw it.

Behind him stood countless thick, black wooden pillars. After a few rounds of retreat and pursuit, he vanished behind the pillars.

As Guan Wen closed in, the cold flash of a longsword blade suddenly crossed his vision. With a single gleam, his throat was pierced, and blood sprayed five feet into the air as he collapsed.

The face of the King of Qin appeared in Guan Wen's rapidly blurring field of vision, filled with contempt and disdain: "I am a dragon, the dragon of heavenly mandate, soaring above the nine heavens; you are also a dragon, blessed with ill fortune, imprisoned beneath the nine abysses. A dragon is not a dragon; this is your fixed destiny..."

The story of "Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin" originated from *Strategies of the Warring States* compiled by Liu Xiang of the Western Han dynasty. Originally, it was a flawless assassination plan, but Heaven did not destroy Qin, and the King of Qin did not die, ultimately evolving into the following outcome:

*He thereupon drew his sword to strike Jing Ke, severing his left thigh. Jing Ke, disabled, hurled his dagger at the King of Qin; it missed and struck a pillar. The King of Qin struck Ke again, inflicting eight wounds. Knowing his mission had failed, Ke leaned against the pillar and laughed, sitting on the floor with his legs spread wide as he cursed: "The reason the mission failed was that I wanted to take you alive by coercion, so as to secure a sworn treaty to report back to the Crown Prince." The guards then advanced and executed Jing Ke.*

Before today, that was merely a historical story Guan Wen had read; after today, he realized that the tragedy of his fate had begun as early as that era. A profound sorrow enveloped him. He wished to say nothing, think of nothing, and simply lie quietly alone, walking toward death by himself.

"Since ancient times, records in the classics of countries around the world have all documented that among aquatic creatures, dragons are supreme. In this life and death, everyone's power is pushed to its absolute limit. Therefore, the Nagas are the fiercest among the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas, and closest to the state of 'achieving Buddhahood instantly upon the spot.' According to Indian scriptures, among the Dragon Kings, there was one named Sagara whose daughter, at the age of eight, went to Vulture Peak to listen to Shakyamuni expound the *Lotus Sutra*. Afterward, she offered a precious pearl to Shakyamuni Buddha, immediately transformed into a male form, soared into the sky, rode auspicious clouds to the undefiled world in the south to manifest Buddhahood, and universalize all sentient beings..."

Guan Wen listened motionlessly to Tang Jue's narration. Suddenly, two tears rolled out of his sockets, sliding down wetly.

He was unwilling to accept this, because during the momentous event of "Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin," the State of Yan had devised a flawless plan of "using a map as bait for a single fatal strike" without a single flaw. He could have succeeded in a single battle, inscribed his name in history, and become the idol of all warriors under heaven.

"Guan Wen, do you remember now? Before undertaking that assassination mission, what was the other matter you were preparing?" Tang Jue pressed further.

This time, Guan Wen suddenly thought: "The King of Qin swept across the six states and unified the realm, arousing the wrath of both gods and men across the world. Countless assassins competed to strike, wishing to perish together with the King of Qin, yet not a single one succeeded. Why? That could not possibly be a coincidence; it was because the King of Qin possessed another kind of immense power."

He blurted out: "Tang Jue, in truth, didn't you already possess that power long ago?"

Emperor Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne at thirteen, proclaimed himself emperor at thirty-our, and reigned for thirty-seven years. He established the imperial system; centrally implemented the Three Ducal Ministers and Nine Ministers; abolished the enfeoffment system locally, replacing it with commanderies and counties; unified the written script, standardized the axle widths of carriages, and unified weights and measures; attacked the Xiongnu to the north and subjugated the Baiyue to the south; and built the Great Wall. He propelled China into an era of grand unification, pioneered a new landscape for the autocratic centralized system, exerted a profound influence on Chinese and world history, laid the basic framework of China's political system for over two thousand years, and was praised by the Ming dynasty thinker Li Zhi as the "Emperor through the Ages."

A mortal could never possess such power; therefore, the First Emperor of Qin was the true "Naga."

This time, that voice sighed with infinite emotion: "Indeed, I once possessed that immense power, but in that era, I could not resist the passage of time and aging. Thus, I ordered men to set sail across the sea in search of the elixir of immortality among the islands of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. Regrettably, time waited for no one; before the elixir of immortality arrived, my mortal flesh and shell had already decayed... Since the Devas must ultimately die, the Nagas cannot avoid it either, can they?"

Tang Jue continued: "Guan Wen, you must understand that everyone harbors unwillingness. The dead are gone and cannot be pursued, but the living can still be reached. Using the present life to make up for the mistakes of the past life—this is the most important meaning for the existence of the Six Realms of Samsara."

Having experienced the memories of the Deva and Naga stages, Guan Wen vaguely felt that the secret Tang Jue was searching for was precisely the one he had pondered over so deeply.

Now, his mind and physical shell seemed to have separated. This state of "stepping outside to observe oneself" allowed for the maximum degree of self-reflection.

Trapped before Tang Jue's esoteric arts, he had thought only of "demon slaying." Now, his ideological realm was rapidly and changingly elevating, naturally connecting the simple concept of "demon slaying" to deeper realizations: "Why do demons exist? The harm caused by demons? What is the world like after demons are slain..."

Demon slaying was a battle between humans and demons; yet from the words of Tang Jue and that voice, Guan Wen felt the matter had transformed into a battle between humans and humans.

"I truly don't remember. I truly... don't remember..." Guan Wen felt he could no longer breathe, as if he were bound to a speeding chariot, destined to become someone else's cannon fodder at any moment.

Indeed, even if he could recover his memories through Tang Jue's esoteric art of the "Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas across Eight Lives and Eight Deaths" and contribute that secret, would his life be spared? Absolutely not. Once he lost the secret, he would be useless, and would only die faster and more miserably.

"Speak! Hurry up and speak! My patience is running thin—"

"Speak out now. This time you can save yourself, and you can also save your woman. I am giving you this chance. If you do not cherish it, you are already within the eighth reincarnation cycle, and the result can only be utter annihilation—" Tang Jue and that voice whispered closely into Guan Wen's ears from left and right, the one threatening and intimidating, the other alluring and guiding, both aiming at the exact same secret.

Guan Wen mustered his remaining strength and laughed: "Who has ever escaped death since antiquity? What is there to fear about death? Is there anything more terrifying than dying in despair after enduring humiliation and torture? I have experienced all of those. Just like a person who has passed through the sufferings of purgatory, would they still fear the tortures of this mortal world?"

His laughter dispelled everything, causing all illusions around him to recede like a receding tide.

Guan Wen discovered that he was still bound to the iron mesh of the viper pit. The number of venomous snakes had surged dramatically, threatening to converge into a sea of serpents and bury him alive.

"This time, it truly is a permanent farewell," he smiled to himself. "Goodbye, Baoling; goodbye, Qingcheng. If there is an afterlife, let us join hands and gather once more."

Perishing in the jaws of ten thousand snakes was a terrifying ordeal, but having endured the torment of Tang Jue's esoteric art, Guan Wen's outlook on life had undergone a massive transformation, and he now viewed "death" with indifference.

With a loud crash, someone smashed open a black iron door from the side, holding a buzzing chain-type chainsaw, striding into the serpent array, swinging it left and right. The three-foot chainsaw resembled the lightsabers from the movie *Star Wars*, slicing the surrounding venomous snakes into two halves.

"Guan Wen, I've come to save you! Don't panic!" Little Huo's voice sounded like distant thunder from the heavens, igniting Guan Wen's will to survive.

The serpent formation stirred into chaos. Dripping snake blood and mutilated corpses only heightened the ferocity of the other venomous snakes. Several crimson-red serpents leaped through the air, lunging at Little Huo's face.

Executing a Peking opera combat movement known as the "cross-flower" with his chainsaw in mid-air, Little Huo cleaved three vipers cleanly into six segments while disemboweling two others, turning them into a feast fought over by their companions.

Soon, Little Huo carved out a bloody path and reached the base of the wire mesh.

The wire mesh was secured by four steel pillars hanging from the roof, each as thick as a thumb. The iron chains binding Guan Wen's body were also forged from hardened steel and were exceptionally sturdy. The anchor points of the chains were locked with fist-sized bronze padlocks.

Little Huo tried cutting the iron chains with the chainsaw. After a shower of sparks, the chains remained completely unmoved. Of course, at this very moment, there was simply no time to search for the keys to the padlocks, because after a brief retreat, the swarm of snakes was surging forward once more.

"Let's fight to the death—" Little Huo leaped into the air, wielding the chainsaw like a massive broadsword, swinging both arms with all his might toward the steel pillars.

With a crisp snap, a steel pillar broke. Following that, Little Huo continuously severed the remaining three steel pillars, steadying the tilting, falling wire mesh.

"Hold on for a moment! I'll blast a way out with you!" Stooping down, Little Huo hoisted both Guan Wen and the wire mesh onto his back, supporting them with his left hand while brandishing the chainsaw with his right, rushing back out through the door he had entered.

After exiting, he climbed two flights of stairs—over thirty steps in total—and finally reached ground level through the small northwest-corner door of the main building.

Exhausted of all strength, Little Huo's legs went soft, and he collapsed to the ground under the weight of the wire mesh. On his back, legs, and arms, a dozen half-severed snake carcasses still remained; those were venomous snakes that had bitten him only to be sliced apart by the chainsaw, their fangs embedded so deeply in his flesh that amidst the frantic escape, he had lacked even the time to tear the snake corpses away.

"Little Huo—"

"Guan Wen—"

Footsteps rushed closer. It was the voices of Gu Qingcheng and Baoling.

"Gu... Sister Gu, I have not failed my mission... I've rescued Mr. Guan, don't worry... Whatever task you... instructed me to do, I have fulfilled... truly fulfilled... cough, cough, cough, cough..." Little Huo vomited a torrent of fresh blood. By the end, every mouthful of blood he spat out had turned a purplish-black. "It was I who brought Kalle, it was I who brought everyone... to Nepal, so I killed Kalle with my own hands... and will bring... everyone back safely..."

Guan Wen watched this scene, the emotion within his heart overflowing like roaring waves.