Guangling San Xiaolongbao
The arched bridge on Sunset Avenue was crowded with people.
Spectators, eager for a spectacle, clung to the sidewalk railings, pointing and commenting on the blue flame monster at the bottom of the valley.
"Look! What a strange thing that is!"
"This is really going to be interesting! The fire department and the Qingjin Police Department can't handle it! [Guangling Zhixi] will definitely send passengers over! Maybe we'll even see a VIP!"
"Oh! You guys! Can you hack into the train station's express line? I want to hear! I want to hear about the disaster and police reports!"
In just one minute, a miniature, pot-shaped communication base station was set up.
These gossip enthusiasts in Hongshi will never miss any fresh and exciting scoop.
Despite the strong magnetic field interference, two large speakers were used as audio output sources to broadcast live the disaster situation of the potato elevator.
"Mimir Hot Spring Market Orchestra! This is the Station's First Fire Station, how many of us do we have left?"
"There are 347 employees who can be immediately mobilized, of whom 114 have requested leave or time off in lieu of leave."
"Report the level of the Spirit Calamity."
"One hundred percent! This Spirit Calamity monster has already [transformed into a sanctified form]. It died next to the elevator, right in the riverbed. The eclogite transformed it into its spirit form!"
"What about the radiation intensity?"
"The observation station 700 meters away shows that its current radiation intensity is 18.3 microsieverts per hour. It is definitely stronger in the core area. Its physical body has been ignited by the pyroxene. It will probably search for combustibles and food with extremely high energy density to fill its stomach before it burns out."
"Temperature."
"The temperature control instrument on the large elevator shows that the air temperature within a 50-meter radius around it is around 120 degrees Celsius, while the body surface temperature may be close to 3,000 degrees Celsius."
"I'm transferring you to the command post of Guangling Zhixi. This beast that has already reached sainthood is not something we can handle. Orchestra, you guys work with the Masons's armed employees to disperse the onlookers. Leave the rescue work to the professionals from Guangling Zhixi —don't let this monster find any more fuel."
"What about the helicopters and the Wool Sheep Operations Team?"
"On the way, estimated arrival time is another minute and forty seconds. The Mimir Hot Spring Market has survived to this day thanks to its strong mobilization capacity in chaotic environments—to put out fires with fire."
"What about traffic control? Do we need the orchestra's help? It's really infuriating that at such a crucial moment, the orchestra's regulars are completely useless. We're just a bunch of ordinary people without any Inspiration. Like nameless soldiers on a battlefield, there to fill in the numbers and create atmosphere."
"Don't worry, the moment the Spirit Calamity alarm sounded, all the main roads of the Six Passes of Hot Spring were under control. Don't talk about being pessimistic—you are warriors just like us. Warriors are not alone. Warriors need not only fire and blood, not only wounds and weapons, but also meat and wine, salt and sugar, home and poetry."
"I understand, Commander. These words fill me with determination—the orchestra has received orders to begin clearing all loiterers from the bridge approach and bridges of Sunset Avenue in both urban areas. No one can enter the disaster zone unless they can fly."
"You might not believe it, but I really saw three people flying—you probably couldn't catch them."
Six armored vehicles drove onto the bridge, accompanied by Red Stone Rocker who were trying to disperse the crowd and move these onlookers who seemed to enjoy the spectacle to a safe place.
From the bottom of the abyss, fierce vortexes of wind occasionally surged forth, and blue flames, like energy fountains, rushed onto the bridge surface with the strong winds.
The mini communication station stopped working in the strong magnetic environment, much to the dismay of the audience. They still had to face the dark muzzle of the rock musicians' guns. If they didn't cooperate, they would immediately be hit with a riot control salt bomb, and some of their bones would be broken.
"No, sir! Everyone has to see some big moments in their life!"
"A beast of this caliber, capable of transforming into a celestial being, is a once-in-fifty-year encounter. Can I even live another fifty years?"
"Don't grab my phone, sir! I just wanted to take a picture and post it on WeChat Moments! How am I supposed to update my Douyin video if you do this?! Ouch! My camera is burned out! I've only paid off two installments of my Blood Butterfly Loan Shark, waaaaah!"
The bustling crowd chattered like a flock of sheep, urging the rock musicians, guns in hand, to drive them out of the cordon.
Some people lingered, pointing to the dark shadows on the cliff face.
"If you're so capable, go and arrest them! This isn't fair!"
People followed the direction the busybody's arm was pointing.
A Harley- Davidson motorcycle sped and jumped along the steep cliff face, kicking up thick plumes of smoke.
In an instant--
--A thunderous cheer erupted from the vast crowd.
Whistles, cheers, and the boisterous sounds of banging on the iron bars accompanied the drumming.
A group of soldiers in the Red Stone Rocker were also infected by this intense enthusiasm. They involuntarily lowered their guns and joined in with strange, unintelligible roars.
Team leader. "What are you guys so excited about?"
"No, team leader, we just couldn't help it."
The team leader was nearly driven to madness. "Disaster relief! Disaster relief! Not a concert! I know you're mercenaries who get paid to do things! Be professional!"
"But... it looks so cool, I want to try it too. I can't resist."
"Team leader, if you saw someone skip a stone fifty times on the water, you'd think it's amazing! So damn cool, right!?"
The team leader looked puzzled, raised his gun, and urged the others to think it over carefully.
"Really."
The soldiers cooperated and emphasized the points.
"Look, when this motorcycle goes off-road, three people are clinging to it. Its frame, its hydraulic shock absorbers, its steel wheels, and the flames and exhaust it spews out when it accelerates. It..."
"No chatting during work!" the team leader roared. "After get off work, I'm taking you guys shopping! We need to get a group discount!"
Bu Liuxing sat on the motorcycle's handlebars and dashboard, his hands tightly gripping the scalding fuel tank, refusing to let go even as blisters formed from the heat.
"Wa..."
A powerful, terrified scream echoed throughout the entire rift valley.
The cliff face has only a few isolated footholds, which are the dams built when Mimir/Mim Geyser was still flowing. These stone dams are reinforced with steel frames and have huge aluminum blocks as rust-proof components.
The engine's roar sounded like a dragon's cry.
--Dragon's breath flames erupted from the exhaust pipe.
The feeling of weightlessness came suddenly, A Xing opened his eyes wide. He saw Mr. Wen crouching down, looking down and carefully observing the road conditions. If this cliff slope with a seventy-degree incline could be considered a "road", then he was indeed observing the road conditions.
Everything is receding.
A strong wind carrying the stench of burning tires filled their nostrils, leaving Xue Ming and Liuxing speechless and unable to ask a single question.
On the arched bridge of Sunset Avenue, the moment the traffic lights on both sides turned red as a warning, Mr. Wen immediately stepped on the gas and plunged off the cliff.
There was no opportunity to ask questions.
There was no opportunity to get off the bus.
Only the intense, burning Inspiration Pressure reminded them that something terrible seemed to have happened.
"Weng Ge!" A Xing yelled at the top of his lungs, the scorching air filling his lungs and making his voice hoarse. "What happened! Is this a shortcut?!"
Mr. Wen's tone was calm, but his expression was cold. "I don't know, but I have to go check it out. It probably isn't anything good."
A Xing: "Didn't we come here to look for jobs?!"
"That's right, but many, many people might lose their jobs because of it," Mr. Wen pointed to the sacred beast at the bottom of the valley.
The motorcycle crashed to the ground, and at that moment, Jiang Xueming felt as if all the bones in his body were about to fall apart.
His keen senses allowed him to hear the groaning of the chassis; the shock absorbers, operating at their limit, might not last much longer, and the rear tire had already started to leak air.
"Brother Wen! We shouldn't have chosen this route. Isn't there a safer way?"
"It might be dangerous for you." Mr. Wen turned the car around, the rear wheels spinning rapidly as he pressed the accelerator, leaving a U-shaped trail of embers on the dam platform. "This is the road I envisioned, the only way. I haven't had time to think about it yet."
Jump again--
--Towards deeper.
In the blink of an eye, Xue Ming felt his buttocks on fire. All that remained beneath the back seat was the deformed steel wheels spinning and howling in the sandy cliff, spewing flames and starlight.
"I didn't have time to think; my body gave the answer before I could—" Mr. Wen pointed to the disaster area in the distance. "—the screams, the gunshots, and the growls of wild beasts. It was as if they were calling to me. I don't understand why my body responded before my brain."
Xue Ming glimpsed a huge beastly shadow in the distorted air caused by the intense heat.
"It looks dangerous."
"It is indeed very dangerous."
"Do we really have to go?"
"We must get through this; warriors do not shy away from the waves—they ride the wind and waves."
"Can you wait a minute? Let me take a picture first." A Xing took a break from his busy schedule and wanted to take out his phone to bring some fun to Wool Sheep.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Wen didn't give him a chance to slip away. There were still more than 70 meters above the ground, equivalent to the height of a 20-story building.
This motorcycle is nearing the end of its lifespan; any rest could kill it, so it absolutely cannot be stopped.
Meteor felt his body being pulled and dragged by some kind of wild beast, and his phone flew out along with the motorcycle that suddenly started moving.
He felt that time had slowed down.
In mid-air, A Xing tried to grab the pink baby, leaning his whole body outwards.
"No!----"
A dark phantom appeared on this highway leading to hell.
A strong arm suddenly appeared from Mr. Wen's shoulder.
It comes quickly and goes quickly.
Xue Ming could see it clearly from the back row—but his dynamic vision couldn't capture any details of the arm; he could only see a deep blue sheen emanating from its dark, shiny skin, like fish skin.
It snatched back the phone with lightning speed, pulled A Xing back to where the gas tank cap was, and the chaotic shadows moved quickly, stuffing the eraser, comic book, and a deck of cards that had leaked out of Bu Liuxing's backpack back into it.
Without a doubt, that is the majesty of the soul!
As Teacher Victor mentioned, [Soul Power] is the manifestation of spiritual energy!
"I'm so sorry to have dragged you into this disaster." As Mr. Wen's arm merged with the spirit's body, he grabbed a King of Spades from the scattered debris and explained in detail to the two young passengers, "I will get you to safety before this card starts burning."
Stimulated by the Spirit Calamity environment, Jiang Xueming felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows, his central nervous system and entire spine became burning hot, and his body became more active.
"Mr. Wen, are you also a VIP at the station? I see a phantom in you."
"I don't remember, but what does it matter?" Mr. Wen grabbed the two little ones' clothes with both hands, preparing for one last jump.
The landing point is the communication tower of the large elevator, and there is a sand pit for storing decoration and building materials in the parking lot next to it.
"What can a name represent? What can a title define? If I'm not that person, does that mean I can't walk this path?"
Harley lived a short and tragic life.
It disintegrates into a complex pile of parts while airborne.
Xue Ming instinctively tried to grab something while in mid-air. As the ground drew closer, the feeling of weightlessness made his blood vessels dilate and his heart race.
Meteor was curled up in a ball. His extensive skydiving experience had taught him how to absorb the impact with his buttocks and back to preserve his life as much as possible.
Boom--
A rain of fire, mixed with gasoline, poured down.
A leather boot emerged from the thick smoke, stepping onto the edge of the sandpit stone platform in the parking lot.
Mr. Wen tossed Xue Ming aside with one hand and Liu Xing aside with the other, biting on the King of Spades, feeling the scorching air currents in the atmosphere.
He caught the UTS-15 as soon as it landed, the Remington M29 in his hand spinning rapidly with a crisp, crackling sound.
He brushed aside the smoke and dust with one hand and slung the shotgun over his shoulder.
With his other hand, he grabbed Meteor's wide-brimmed cowboy hat and, as a return gift from his spine, put it on his head.
Taking a second step out of the fog, the leather-clad man poured out the most potent spices from his barbecue jar, which were swept away into the distance by the gale and blue flames.
The Harley's iron wheels, though dead, did not stiffen. They rolled from beside his legs to the large platform of the elevator, crashing into the charred corpse and gradually turning a scorching gold.
In mid-air above the Rift Valley—helicopters and the Wool Sheep Special Operations Team launched the first wave of attacks.
Four flares illuminated the entire rift valley.
The attack helicopter's cannons started firing, locking onto the target and spitting fire.
Following the tracer bullet trails of the machine gun, the assault team members of the Wool Sheep Special Operations Team hovered on the edge of the cliff and completed the bombing mission in groups.
The giant lion suffered terribly under the bombardment of the machine guns. A series of molten steel jets made it tremble all over, and it used its wings to cover its soft belly, a vulnerable spot.
The short-range missiles dropped by Wool Sheep completely lost their guidance function when they approached the fire site of the Giant Lion—exploding prematurely halfway through their flight.
The fireworks that filled the sky instead became an obstructive smoke screen, from which came a deafening roar.
The powerful electromagnetic pulses bounced through the clouds—and when they hit these flying units, they were like electric mosquitoes.
The avionics systems of all three helicopters failed simultaneously, and one of them had a hole the size of a bucket punched into its chassis.
Amidst the agonizing screams from the loudspeaker at the broadcasting station, one could hear distorted and broken "MAYDAY·MAYDAY!" and piercing alarms warning of excessive altitude and rapid descent.
Ultimately, they crashed into the cliff face and were shattered to pieces, buried in the same grave as the unconscious Special Operations Team of Wool Sheep.
A large dragonfly was struck by lightning, its wings were burned to ashes, and it fell onto the main road outside the parking lot.
It was still convulsing before it died, Kevlar fused into the insect's exoskeleton, becoming a bloody mess.
After the helicopter crashed, the machine gun fire stopped.
The giant lion had a chance to catch its breath. It flapped its wings to sweep away the gloom. It looked extremely tired, and even the horns on its head were beginning to atrophy and retract into its skull.
It searched for food in the scorched earth, rummaging through the fallen Wool Sheep droppings with its paws, and making crunching sounds as it chewed them.
"No! -- Big Dragonfly!" Meteor cried out in anguish, then his voice cracked with rage, "You wicked thing! You wicked thing!"
The sudden shout seemed to have startled the sacred beast from its meal.
It hunched over, its wings pressed tightly against its back, in the hunting stance of a feline, its two eyes blazing with fierce blue flames as it looked over.
Xue Ming covered Liuxing's mouth and ran as fast as she could.
The two immediately scurried back to the parking lot's guardhouse and hid.
Mr. Wen covered his cowboy hat with his left hand, while the King of Spades between his fingers on his right hand had begun to burn and was about to turn to ashes.
Steam began to rise from his body as he shouted towards the gatehouse, "Good opening! Bu Liuxing! The second half needs some work! You need to learn to swear! Use harsher language! Go hide at the rescue station! Survive!"
It's only fifty meters away.
--The Green Lion, positioned on the receiving platform, craned its neck and peered out, searching for prey hidden in the shadows.
It smelled a strong aroma that must taste better than the roasted meat in front of it.
Bu Liuxing nervously looked out the window, only daring to peek out halfway, then quickly retreating back inside.
Jiang Xueming's heart was pounding; he had never been so close to this god-like monster.
--The flames on that lion could melt steel; just standing next to it would turn you into charcoal. Every step it took left a golden-red paw print on the carbon steel plate.
It shook its head to shake off the molten iron from the cannonballs, flames gushing from the wounds in its fur, and a trace of intelligence remained in its fierce and ruthless eyes, like a cunning hunter carefully sniffing the air below the receiving platform.
Meteor whispered, "How will Mr. Wen deal with him?!"
"It will probably run away first. This place is too cramped," Jiang Xueming analyzed logically. "Look at the radiation indicators and temperature in the communications station. I don't think it can be killed by manpower alone. You saw it just now, the guidance system of short-range missiles malfunctions. The larger the explosive charge, the harder it is to get close to it. On the contrary, bullets with high initial velocity and high kinetic energy can make it feel pain."
"I feel like I'm undergoing a transformation, Ming Ge! Just being in this environment is enough to make me transform." The golden lock on Bu Liuxing's chest was glowing and vibrating, as if it were about to complete its [unlocking] action at any moment. "And you?"
"Yes, me too." Before Jiang Xueming could finish speaking, the Steel Jade in her hand emitted a soft, milky-white light.
A gust of wind swept in from outside the window.
Just as Jiang Xueming had said, their tour guide picked up a new motorcycle in the parking lot and sped towards the next checkpoint at Wenquan Pass.
A strong fragrance lingered in the air, which Xue Ming and Liuxing both smelled—like the pungent smell of wasabi, meant to dispel all terror in the acrid air.
The beast, now at the level of a saint, was immediately awakened by the scent. It pounced forward with heavy steps, leaving fiery footprints on the asphalt road as it tried to catch up with the ghostly blue phantom speeding along the road.
Bu Liuxing immediately ran out and saw a knight in the distant valley waving a bright, dazzling light, like a cat toy used to tease a feline.
"Ming Ge! Ming Ge, look!"
Jiang Xueming followed them out and realized that his stick was gone. It was probably taken by Mr. Wen when he fell off the cliff, just like A Xing's hat, a small gift that was temporarily lent out.
Xue Ming muttered to himself, "He has no brilliance stone, nor his own staff."
Meteor covered his forehead. "Is that Joe?"
"The name doesn't matter." Xue Ming immediately picked up a motorcycle, looking extremely anxious. "Let's go, let's follow them."
Meteor didn't understand. "Ming Ge, why? Didn't he tell us to hide?"
Xue Ming revealed Mingde's remains. "There's a max-level piece of equipment here! Why did he have to choose my Magic Wand?! What if he broke it? Wouldn't a VIP recognize this wand? This senior has really lost his memory! He can't even tell which wand is more powerful! What if he got into trouble while teasing the cat, turned into a piece of roast meat, and died here? How unjust would that be?"
"So he really does have amnesia? He's not lying to us? That won't do! But," Meteor patted the motorcycle's gas tank, "Can you drive?"
Xue Ming blinked and looked at the wreckage of more than a dozen dump trucks at the scene.
He didn't respond, but after thinking for a long time, he finally spoke.
"Should we run there?"
Meteor clapped his hands. "Hey! Let's go to the rescue station and grab someone!"
The rescue station's radio station broadcast live updates on the elevator disaster in the large elevator.
Jason Megan, accompanied by a waiter, kept wiping away her tears.
He was extremely upset and felt very guilty.
If he had the determination, the courage, and the power to change his destiny, he wouldn't have hesitated, nor would he have allowed this disaster to happen.
He would never let that lion crawl out; before its carcass touched the eclogite, it would become a steaming, riddled dish.
But at the time, he was so frightened that he was trembling all over and could barely breathe, clinging to unrealistic fantasies that the Skull and Bones Society and Bones can deal with these dangerous monsters.
As a result, more than half of his companions who had spent those four months with him were left forever on the elevator's access platform, becoming a steaming human feast.
The broadcast tower blared live commentary from war correspondents on the scene.
"The disaster has now spread to Thermopylae, and this sacred beast, guided by a brave citizen, is heading back to the wilderness!"
"According to footage from helicopters and CCTV, the stick in this citizen's hand is a Mingde shoddy product, a glowing Magic Wand, currently being used by a passenger from the Nine Realms Station named Jiang Xueming."
"Thanks to this citizen's courageous act of feeding the lion with his own body, the disaster will not spread further to the Upper City for the time being. The signs of the demise of the monster in this Spirit Calamity are extremely rare. The last time a similar event occurred was seventy-seven years ago."
"Many citizens camped and slept on both sides of the arched bridge on Sunset Avenue, hoping to see more of the spectacle. Among the more than 3,000 spectators present, more than 30 people have already completed their transformation through this opportunity. The success rate of the transformation is about one percent. Those who are interested can try their luck, but please do not interfere with the work of the Guangling Zhixi Station staff!"
"This program is sponsored by Guangling San from the Abyssal Railway Bureau! One bite and you'll be filled with happiness! It will give you the most joyful taste experience during your most painful time! Call now to order and enjoy a buy-three-get-one-free promotion, please call."
With a click.
Jason cut off the tedious commercial break. The city's madness and chaos made him very uneasy; people were like mayflies, living only a day and not caring about their own lives.
Their way of life is like that of meteorites, like shooting stars. Leaving a brilliant mark on the scorching atmosphere is enough for them.
No need for names; there will always be others who name the fleeting stars in the sky and make unrealistic wishes.
The stars will respond to them and try to fulfill their wishes.
Inside the rescue station, the cries and sobs of their comrades could still be heard; the burns were breaking their will and tormenting their nerves.
At this moment, he only hoped that the stars around him could stay a little longer, could live a little longer. He gave all the Universal Elixir he had to his companions, but there were too many people and too few medicines.
Tears blurred his vision, and he thought of his waiter again—the waiter with the lovely name, the handsome face, the gentle yet brave man.
His little Wendy -- [Wendy Mills]
At RSH [Red Star Hill], she was like a shooting star, leaving a striking mark in the sky for the glorious cause and great road of the station, and then she could never be found again.
The new waiter could only wipe away Jason's tears on his face, but he couldn't wipe away the tears in Jason's heart.
"Sir, I know you're in pain. Please cheer up. We still have a long way to go, right? We've come all this way, we can't give up! Right?!"
Jason's eyes lit up. "What's your name, girl?"
"You're willing to ask my name now!" The waiter clapped his hands happily. "My name is hard to remember! It's really long! I'm of Slavic Mixed-blood, actually... oh dear! Romania is a complicated place! Employer! Listen carefully! If you can't remember it, I'll repeat it a few more times!"
Jason: "Numbers are fine too."
Waiter: "No, that won't do! I need to properly introduce myself; this is the first time you've asked me my name!"
Jason: "Let's forget about it."
Waiter: "No! Oh!"
Jason called a halt for no other reason than his keen Inspiration detected that someone familiar was approaching, someone very familiar.
He pulled the waiter close, burying the little waiter's face in his chest.
Jiang Xueming pushed open the door and met Jason's gaze.
Meteor shouted nonchalantly, "Anyone free? Brothers, anyone know how to ride a motorcycle? We've got a secret weapon here. We need to find a way to help that brave citizen go to the arena and face the King of Beasts. We're warriors—rock and roll can't be killed!"
Jason's forehead was sweating. He saw rows of beds in the rescue station, stretching for about fifty meters, and looked towards Jiang Xueming in the distance.
The entire rescue station was in complete chaos.
There aren't enough healthy people to care for the wounded, and even fewer doctors.
Jason's waiter, taking a break from his busy schedule, had just finished changing the bandages for six brothers in the third and fourth rows, and was able to chat with them for a few minutes.
Everyone was looking at Jason--
He was about to refuse.
"Go! Go over there!" The class monitor of Class 7 grabbed Jason's arm. "Megan! Your Inspiration is amazing! Go help them!"
Half of the class monitor's face was disfigured, and a putrid, festering smell emanated from the gauze. Her eyes burned with intense passion.
"You're a Lapis Lazuli Guards, right? You have a bracelet, I see it, you must have a really cool code name! Megan! It's amazing that you're with Red Stone Rock Band – willing to open up and talk to us using your real name! It's fantastic!"
"Jason, please!"
"I want revenge, but I'm powerless to do so."
"I have four more stun grenades left. See if you can use them, Jason!"
Jason is not the Lapis Lazuli Guards; he doesn't have the ability to punish evildoers at the station.
However, he couldn't resist that burning gaze.
"Let's go, Jiang Xueming." Jason stood up and hid the waiter behind his back.
Jiang Xueming remained expressionless, her eyes burning with hostility. "I feel like I've seen you before. Your sweet and sour pork ribs were delicious, it's a pity I didn't get to try them."
Jason stepped out the door and looked at the empty parking lot outside the rescue station. All the vehicles had been requisitioned, except for one motorcycle.
Jason chuckled. "Hey, there are plenty of opportunities."
Only A Xing was still in a daze, not realizing that something was wrong. After thinking for a long time, he finally figured it out.
"Ming Ge, how does he know your name?"
Jason no explanation.
Jiang Xueming shook his head.
The issue of names is no longer important.
Xue Ming is a very vengeful person.
--This chef at Castor Convenience Store probably poisoned the sweet and sour pork ribs. He might even be a hunter. After this is over, let's find out his true identity and figure out how to get revenge.
Their immediate priority is to overcome another problem.
Meteor sat on the front gas tank. Xue Ming hugged Jason's waist and sat in the back.
Jason Megan remained motionless, with Bu Liuxing's innocent and naive expression before her and Jiang Xueming's sinister and ruthless spiritual pressure behind her.
After holding it in for a long time, he finally couldn't resist anymore.
"You guys always find a way to completely ruin the atmosphere at these crucial moments! Damn it, I'm fucking fed up."
Only the diligent little waiter tries to guide his employer back onto a path strewn with stars.
As she changed the glucose for the wounded, she shouted out the window and kept wiping away her tears.
"Sir! My dear sir! The BOSS wants me to tell you! Warriors are not alone! Warriors should not be alone!"