The pink and purple neon lights were like melted icing sugar, mixed with tobacco mist, and enveloped the leather sofas in the club.
The drumbeat of "Cherry Pie" shook the wall of the glass, and the water droplets on the rim of the glass slid down the arc, leaving a small wet mark on the dark wood grain. Dean leaned in the booth in the front row of the stage, holding half a glass of pale golden champagne between his fingertips, with a careless smile on the corner of his mouth, but not much relaxed smile in his eyes.
The weight of Apocalypse was like water-soaked cotton wool, pressing on his chest and making him breathless.
The tragic failure of the assassination of Lucifer is still like a thorn in my mind. The image of Bai Haorui being seriously injured and in seclusion, and the image of Qiao and Ellen lying covered in blood in the ruins always pop up when I close my eyes.
Only in this meaningless dream could he steal half a quarter of an hour of relaxation, without thinking about the end of the world or how long they could last.
The music suddenly seemed to be choked by a hand, the drum beat suddenly weakened, and the warm light in the room suddenly dropped the temperature.
Dean frowned and raised his eyes, his movements paused - in the shadow at the edge of the stage, stood a woman wearing a plain long windbreaker.
It's Anna Milton.
She still looks like she did when she fell into the sky, with short dark brown hair as sharp as a knife, a cold and hard jawline, a natural sense of alienation between her eyebrows and eyes, and a plain face without any makeup. She stood in the neon lights of the world, like a piece of ice dropped into syrup, out of place.
Dean was stunned at first, then immediately sat up straight. "I was thinking about the case, how did you break in?"
"Thinking about the case?" Anna walked forward in high heels, making a soft sound when the heels hit the sticky floor, "Choose a strip club to think about, your style of handling cases is really something."
The scene was instantly awkward.
Dean coughed and was about to retort, but Anna had already stopped smiling and his tone became darker, "I don't have time to joke. I just escaped from Heaven's prison, Castiel's concealment spell hid you so hard that I couldn't find you, so I had to break into dreams to send messages. Tomorrow night, I'll wait for you at the abandoned warehouse No. Industrial Street 225. I have something urgent."
"Heaven prison?" Dean frowned even more tightly, and just as he was about to ask, the entire space suddenly looked like smashed glass, with dense lines cracking along the edges. Neon, music, and smoke were all broken into countless light spots, and white light poured out from the cracks, swallowing everything in an instant.
Dean suddenly sat up from the bed, his chest heaved violently, and a thin layer of sweat on his forehead slipped into his collar.
The guest room was dark, with only the moonlight filtering through the blinds, casting shadows on the floor.
He clutched the wrinkled sheets and waited for a long time.
He opened the quilt, put on his coat, opened the door and walked out.
The wind in the autumn night brought a hint of coolness, sweeping the debris of the sycamore tree across the yard.
Beside the stone table, Bai Haorui was sitting cross-legged on the stone, with his eyes slightly closed and his back straight.
The black combat uniform was gently swayed by the night wind. The pale golden Lotus Seal between his eyebrows was looming under the moonlight. With the rhythm of his breathing, a faint purple light occasionally flashed - that was the outward manifestation of the operation of the purple-gold True Gang in his dantian.
Three days have passed since he went into seclusion to refine the dark energy of Lucifer, and his cultivation level has steadily entered Middle Stage of Refining Qi into Gang.
"Three Altars Body-Refining True Fire Art" circulates slowly in the dantian. The originally sharp True Gang is now thick and condensed, like the still water of a sinking abyss. It lacks the edge of splitting mountains and rocks, and has a bit more of the thickness that can tolerate all things.
Under the sycamore tree not far away, Castiel was leaning on the trunk.
He always wears his signature beige windbreaker with a neatly tied collar, but his face is pale and there is no blood on his lips.
He lowered his eyes slightly and frowned, the holy power around his body fluctuated very little, and he was carefully sensing the energy aura around him to prevent angels or demons from following their footsteps.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the two of them looked over at the same time.
"Why are you awake?" Castiel spoke first, his voice always calm, but there was hidden concern that was not easy to detect.
Dean walked down the steps and rubbed his forehead vigorously with his hands, recounted exactly what happened to Anna in the dream, and added at the end, "She said she escaped from Heaven prison."
Bai Haorui Slowly withdraw the power and open your eyes.
A golden light flashed away in his eyes, as fast as an illusion.
His fingertips paused for a moment, then he picked up a Five Emperor Coins that was placed on his lap, gently rubbed the copper coin with his thumb, and said in a calm but determined tone, "It can't be a prison break."
"She told me about the security of Heaven Prison. There are layers of restrictions and heavy military guards. Not to mention that she was deprived of most of her holy power. Even in her prime, she would not have been able to escape on her own."
The copper coins slowly rotated on his fingertips, and there was a warm copper light in the night. He paused, and his tone was a little complicated. "In all likelihood, it was Heaven who deliberately let her out. The torture and brainwashing in prison are enough to grind a person's will into pieces. She is coming back now, most likely with Heaven's mission."
Castiel nodded. "Yes. I personally sent her to prison at that time. I know Heaven's methods very well, and they will not let anyone escape."
There was a moment of silence in the air.
Bai Haorui turned his head to look at him. The moonlight fell on Castiel's pale face, and he could see the complexity flashing through his eyes. Bai Haorui didn't accuse him, nor did he ask questions. He just said lightly, "You didn't have a choice at that time."
The words were light and airy, but they were like removing a stone that was blocking my heart.
Castiel raised his eyes and looked at him, moved his lips but said nothing.
Bai Haorui had jumped down from the stone table and reached out to pick up the mahogany sword leaning against the table. The scabbard was made of ordinary dark mahogany, polished smooth and moist, and the Three-Five Evil-Slaying Talisman engraved on the sword had a faint golden light. He slung the sword across his back and tightened the strap of the charm bag. "Let's go see her. I would like to see what Heaven looks like after washing her."
Industrial Street's abandoned warehouse has been abandoned for many years. The iron roof is rusty and mottled. The night wind pours in through the broken windows, carrying dust and shredded paper and swirling in the empty warehouse.
The moonlight slanted in from the high window panes, casting pale light and shadow on the concrete floor. The air was filled with the smell of rust and dust.
When the three of them opened the door and walked in, Anna was standing in the moonlight in the center of the warehouse.
She turned her back to them, holding a silver dagger in her fingertips, her knuckles slightly white.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, he turned around. His eyes first glanced at Dean and Castiel, and finally landed on Bai Haorui. He was stunned for a moment.
Then she made a sarcastic smile and said in a cold tone, "You are really indispensable everywhere, Bai Haorui. I thought you would have to lie down for a year and a half."
"Thanks to you, I was lucky and didn't lie down." Bai Haorui leaned on the iron pillar next to him, with his arms folded across his chest, and his mahogany sword leaning against his side. His tone was flat and his emotions could not be heard.
Castiel took a step forward and exposed the lie directly. "You didn't escape. It was Heaven who let you out to perform the mission, right?"
"Ridiculous." Anna sneered.
"A silver dagger cannot hurt an angel." Castiel said in a smooth voice. "Who are you kidding if you use it for self-defense?"
The two of them were tit for tat, and their tone became more and more aggressive. Anna's face became more and more ugly. In the end, he simply broke the pot, stopped laughing, and his eyes were as cold as ice. "Okay, since you all can see it, then I will say it straight."
"Nick's body can't hold it anymore. Lucifer needs a new container. Sam is his only perfect container. As long as Sam disappears completely, Lucifer's plan will collapse, and Apocalypse will terminate naturally." She paused, and her tone was almost paranoid, "I will blow up his cells and scatter them in the universe, without even the possibility of resurrection. This is the only way to stop Apocalypse."
"You fart!" Dean turned away on the spot and took a step forward, his eyes so fierce that he wanted to eat people, "You can try it!"
"Sam is my friend." Castiel also stood half a step forward, his holy power fluctuating slightly, "I will kill anyone who dares to touch him."
Bai Haorui, who had been silent since just now, straightened up and took two steps forward.
His steps were very light, making almost no sound when he stepped on the dust, but the condensed True Gang aura on his body made Anna subconsciously tense his back.
"Anna, kill Sam, that's putting it lightly." Bai Haorui's tone was calm, but with unquestionable intensity, "What about Michael who is waiting to fight a holy war with his brother? Without Lucifer's perfect container, he will stop? Or will Heaven just give up on this show that has been prepared for thousands of years?"
Anna's face suddenly turned pale.
Bai Haorui remembered Anna before he was caught. He felt a little astringent in his heart, and his tone was a little softer, but still sharp. "Back then, you fought hard to fall from heaven, and would rather transform from an angel to a mortal, but also pursue free will. Why do you believe in the nonsense of 'sacrifice one person to save the world' now? Is Heaven's brainwashing really that powerful, or is it you who no longer even has the ability to judge?"
This sentence is like a knife, stabbing Anna where it hurts accurately.
Her lips trembled, her face turned ugly, and she gritted her teeth and said, "This is the only way."
Before she finished speaking, her figure swayed, her entire figure melted into the air, and instantly disappeared into the warehouse. Only an empty echo was left, slowly dissipating in the empty warehouse.
Dean cursed and clenched his fists.
Bai Haorui looked at the direction where Anna disappeared, and his fingertips tightened slightly.
The comrades who once fought side by side had their wills wiped away.
The sky had just dimmed, gray-blue skylight filtered in through the windows, and the bitter smell of coffee lingered in the guest room.
Four people gathered around the table, and the chairs were pulled up creaking.
Sam pinched the edge of the coffee cup with his fingertips, his knuckles turned white from pinching.
After listening to Dean's story about what happened in the warehouse last night, he was silent for a long time and didn't even take a sip of the coffee when it was cold.
He raised his head and looked at Castiel, his voice a little hoarse. "What she said... does it make sense? Will killing me really stop Lucifer?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Dean interrupted him immediately, with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Don't think about such nonsense!"
Sam didn't speak, just lowered his eyes, his eyelashes covering the emotions under his eyes.
On the chair next to him, Bai Haorui was lowering his head and wiping his mahogany sword.
The soft deerskin slowly slid along the blade of the sword, and the Three-Five Evil-Slaying Talisman on the sword was polished and glowed with a faint golden light.
Hearing Sam's words, he kept moving his hands, raised his eyes to look at Sam, and said in a firm tone without any hesitation, "That doesn't make sense."
"Apocalypse is a chess game played by Heaven and Hell. Sam, you are just a piece on the chessboard, not the player." He put the cotton cloth aside and tapped the scabbard lightly with his fingertips, "Even if You and Dean are both dead, and Michael and Lucifer will also find other containers and other reasons to start their battle. Sacrificing you will not stop Apocalypse, it will only deprive us of a bargaining chip that can make a comeback."
"Don't always think about blaming yourself for the fault." He looked into Sam's eyes, his tone was calm but powerful, "Only if you are alive can we have a choice; if you are gone, there is really no hope."
Sam The tense shoulders and back relaxed visibly.
At this moment, Castiel suddenly changed his expression and stood up suddenly.
He frowned tightly and closed his eyes for two seconds. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were full of solemnity. "No. She is no longer here."
"What do you mean not now?" Dean was stunned for a moment.
"Anna went back in time." Castiel's voice was as deep as lead, "In 1978. She couldn't break through our protection head-on, so she went back to the past to kill John and Mary. As long as they die, you and Sam will not be born, and Lucifer will never get a perfect container."
"Fuck!" Dean became anxious on the spot and looked at Castiel, "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go back too!"
"It's not that simple." Castiel held down his arm, "I am now disconnected from Heaven, and I don't have enough holy power. It is already difficult for you two to travel through time and space. In the past, my power will be greatly weakened, and I will most likely not be able to help much."
Bai Haorui immediately stood up, pulled the talisman bag on the table and tied it around his waist, Five Emperor Coins put it into the inner pocket, with the mahogany sword on its back, and his movements were crisp and clean. "Take me with you. I will protect them two. You just need to concentrate on stimulating the spell of time travel."
"The turbulence of time and space has a great impact on the human body. Your injury is just right..." Castiel frowned.
"You can handle it." Bai Haorui interrupted him, his tone leaving no room for negotiation, "One more of me will give you more protection."
At this time, Bobby walked out of the kitchen with coffee. He nodded and patted the table. "I'm guarding the house. Devil's Trap I've checked everything. You can go without worries. Remember, don't change the past, or you may cause trouble."
Castiel pondered for a moment and finally nodded.
The four people stood in a circle in the center of the room. Castiel raised his hand and tapped the foreheads of Dean, Sam and Bai Haorui respectively.
A cold touch fell on his skin, and the next second, dazzling white light surged out of his body, swallowing up the entire room like a tide.
The feeling of a spinning world came over me, the sound of howling wind and the tiny buzzing in the turbulent flow of time and space came to my ears.
Bai Haorui subconsciously operates True Gang in the Dantian. Purple-gold air flows in the meridians, protecting the heart and Dantian, counteracting the tearing sensation of the turbulent flow of time and space, and then diverts his mind to protect Sam Dean.
The piercing car horn blasted in my ears, accompanied by the roar of an old-fashioned engine.
Dean staggered to his feet, but before he could recover, a bright yellow Ford Pinto car brushed his arm and drove past.
The driver stuck his head out of the car window, raised his middle finger and cursed, then stepped on the accelerator and disappeared.
Dean froze in place and looked up at both sides of the street. Retro neon signs were hung at the entrance of the store. Passers-by were wearing bell-bottom pants and floral shirts, and their hair was grown long.
In the 1970s, they successfully arrived in 1978.
Sam was holding on to the wall next to him, bent over and panting, his face a little pale.
The stamina of time travel was too great, even with Bai Haorui and True Gang protecting him, his head was still dizzy.
Dean was about to ask how he was doing, but turned around and saw Castiel falling straight down and hitting the sidewalk with a "bang".
"Cass!"
The two of them quickly squatted down.
Castiel's face was as white as paper, his breathing was so weak that he could barely see the rise and fall of his chest, his eyes were tightly closed, and he fell into a deep coma.
Taking three people through time and space was more expensive than he expected, and he almost exhausted all his holy power.
"How is he?" Dean looked up at Bai Haorui.
Bai Haorui only staggered when he landed, and quickly stabilized his body.
The True Gang in the dantian rotated on its own, completely canceling out the impact of the turbulent flow of time and space.
He squatted down and placed his fingertips on Castiel's wrist veins. A trace of warm purple-gold True Gang slowly passed along his fingertips and penetrated into the opponent's scattered holy power.
"The holy power has been exhausted, which is more serious than expected." Bai Haorui retracted his hand and frowned slightly, "Find a place to place him first. The angel's energy fluctuations are too conspicuous, Anna will be able to find him soon by following his breath."
He half supported and half carried Castiel.
The three of them found a humble motel and got a honeymoon suite at the back.
After placing Castiel on the bed, Bai Haorui took out cinnabar and yellow talisman paper from the talisman bag without resting. With cinnabar on his fingertips, he quickly drew hidden runes on the talisman paper.
His movements were fast, his strokes were smooth and powerful, and the runes drawn with cinnabar had a faint golden light. After drawing a piece, he raised his hand and stuck it on the wall. As soon as the runes touched the wall, they seemed to melt into the water and disappear silently. He placed rune arrays around the room, at key locations such as doors, windows, corners, and vents. Finally, he took out five Five Emperor Coins and placed them in the five corners of the room according to the five elements.
The pale golden light flashed away, and a simple concealment formation was formed.
"The formation can block the angel's energy perception." Bai Haorui wiped the cinnabar on his fingertips, turned around and said to Dean and Sam, "Anna will also be affected by the turbulence of time and space after traveling through time, and will not be able to do anything in a short time. Let's seize the time and find John and Mary."
Sam had already finished flipping through the phone book in the room. He pointed to a line of addresses on the page, his fingertips trembling a little. "Found the home of 485 Robin Tree Street, Winchester."