After getting away from the battlefield, Huang Liang felt his strength slowly recovering. He simply carried Hong Kui on his shoulder and quickened his pace. He could no longer hear Itjenetjer and Horemheb behind him, only the whistling wind blowing incessantly.
He crossed glaciers and ran across the endless ice plains. The cold wind howled past his ears, and the nine Sun overhead shone warmly, evaporating cool water vapor at their edges, which was then blown away by the cold wind.
He ran and ran until he was completely exhausted and could run no more, then he stopped.
He looked around, but could see nothing but the undulating glaciers.
He put Hong Kui down, then sat on the ground, panting heavily.
Hong Kui had recovered considerably. Seeing Huang Liang's condition, he asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Huang Liang shook his head, gave a miserable laugh, and, due to severe shortness of breath, did not reply.
Hong Kui said, "Go, don't worry about me. This whole thing started because of me. You need to find a way back to Vancouver now. Before coming to Alaska, I already discussed it with the old man. We divided the family business, and you and Martha will get a share. If the old man were still alive, he would arrange it himself. If the old man..."
A look of sorrow crossed his face. "If the old man is gone, you can go to Attorney Duncan; he knows everything."
Huang Liang hadn't expected the Wolf father and son to make such an arrangement. It was only by chance, and for some ulterior motive, that he was chosen by the organization to treat the old man at the Wolf Manor, which led him to enter the Wolf family's gate.
Although Martha was treated like a daughter by Wolf, in terms of status, she was merely a personal maid.
To put it bluntly, Huang Liang was just a hired private doctor who married one of the doctor's maids. He never expected that they would be allocated a portion of the inheritance to them.
Huang Liang knew how vast the Wolf Family's business was; even a fraction of it would be an unimaginable sum for an ordinary person.
He felt grateful, and before he knew it, his nose was a little sore. He remembered what Horemheb had subconsciously told him earlier:
If you can't protect him, then kill him!
Huang Liang looked at Hong Kui firmly and said, "No, I won't abandon you. We came together, and we'll go back together."
Hong Kui, unaware of Huang Liang's thoughts, exclaimed anxiously, "Why are you so stubborn? Don't you want to see Martha again?"
Huang Liang said, "Either we go back together, or we die here together." After saying that, he picked up Hong Kui and started to leave.
Just then, a sinister voice came. "Do you think you can still get away?"
Huang Liang was startled and turned around to see Itjenetjer standing behind him. A black cloak covered his head, revealing half of his distorted face, and he held the crystal-clear Soul of Ice in his hand.
Huang Liang put Hong Kui back on the ground, but by then, he realized something was wrong.
He felt that everything was so familiar, including Hong Kui's lying position and Itjenetjer's location.
He glanced to the side and saw Howard and the man in black lying on the ground not far away, their bodies already frozen stiff.
Further away, another person lay beside him, wearing a red Horemheb. Half of the Soul of Fire, resembling a crimson coral branch, lay on the ground.
Huang Liang realized that he hadn't actually run away. Horemheb had blocked Itjenetjer's attack for him, but he hadn't been able to free him from Itjenetjer's mental control.
Itjenetjer, possessing the complete Soul of Ice, has a much wider and longer-lasting spiritual reach than Horemheb, who only has half a Soul of Fire. Moreover, in this icy and snowy world, the icy spiritual qualities are easier to disguise and harder to detect.
He had just entered a dream orchestrated by Itjenetjer, or rather, it was his own dream; he had been hypnotized by Itjenetjer.
Huang Liang felt a sense of despair.
He glanced at Horemheb, hoping he could get back on his feet and continue fighting Itjenetjer. Here, he was the only one capable of standing against Itjenetjer.
Horemheb is indeed still alive, but he is clearly on his deathbed.
He lay on the ground, struggling to lift his head.
His cloak had fallen off his head, revealing sparse, red, mane-like hair. His face was as ugly as Itjenetjer's, with bulging muscles, sunken eyes, and capillaries beneath his translucent skin that had ruptured during the fight, oozing large patches of purplish bruises.
He looked towards the Huang Liang.
Huang Liang sensed that he had something to say.
However, Horemheb did not convey any information through his consciousness, perhaps because he was afraid of being detected by Itjenetjer, or perhaps because he had already said what needed to be said.
Huang Liang recalled Horemheb's warning: only Chayak's descendants can open the Holy Land of Ice, and only by opening the Holy Land of Ice can Gaia Consciousness enter Earth.
He quickly went through the process in his mind and finally understood why the organization had asked him to get close to the Wolf Family.
Everything was planned out; they wanted him to find the path to the Holy Land through the Wolf Family, and to find the key to open the gates of the Holy Land.
The next step is to find the Holy Land and then force them to use a key to open the Holy Land or activate a mechanism.
As for why it must be done by Chayak's descendants, Huang Liang didn't know. He only knew that once it was successfully activated and Gaia returned, all Earthlings would lose their spiritual and conscious freedom and become Parasites.
Perhaps things are far from that simple.
Based on what he learned during his long time in the organization, the Parasites ' goal wasn't to take over human bodies. So what was Gaia's purpose in conquering Earth?
A super-powerful cosmic spiritual entity wouldn't covet this little bit of energy on Earth, would it? Besides, Mental Power doesn't seem to require physical energy to sustain itself.
Huang Liang always felt that Gaia was a devil, and that all he might do was destroy life.
Perhaps the existence and continuous growth of life pose a threat to it, or perhaps it posed a sufficient threat in the distant past of Tushu, or perhaps it needs to devour life to strengthen itself?
Thinking of this, Huang Liang suddenly made a decision, and a scalpel secretly materialized in his palm. He dared not exaggerate too much, for fear that Itjenetjer would discover that the scalpel did not emit any light, but was simply invisiblely attached to his palm.
With just a gentle touch, he could easily penetrate Hong Kui's already extremely weakened consciousness.
Huang Liang believed that at such a short distance, under such concealment, and when Hong Kui was so weak, Hong Kui would not be able to withstand his attack, and Itjenetjer would not have time to stop him.
He had been adept at disguise since his time in Wuzhong. He had successfully concealed his true identity right under Qingmu's nose. He had also successfully disguised himself in front of so many Parasites in Amsterdam.
Itjenetjer just defeated Horemheb, no one here could withstand a single blow from him. He was brimming with confidence and at his most careless, never imagining that Huang Liang would target Hong Kui.