Chapter 19 The Showdown

“Although I’d love to put on that serious expression of yours…” Feng Bujue looked at Dian Yan Wang and said calmly, “But your current appearance and voice, combined with that tone and those lines… you look like a chūnibyō (middle-schooler syndrome) patient with a terminal case.”

“Hmph… trying to provoke me with your words…” Dian Yan Wang sneered, stepping out of the coffin. “That’s your usual trick, isn’t it…”

“Oh… I almost forgot, you’ve already heard some of my ‘exploits’.” As Feng Bujue spoke, he maliciously aimed the searchlight at the other’s face. “In that case, you were already mentally prepared for all the terrible things I might do… weren’t you?”

“I thought so too…” Dian Yan Wang remained unconcerned by the light shining on his face, replying in a steady tone, “Until… you started singing Shíbāmō (Eighteen Touches song)…”

“Heh…” Feng Bujue chuckled. “So you had your eye on me since then…”

“No, even earlier than that,” Dian Yan Wang replied.

“Then that would be…” Feng Bujue’s mind raced, and after a half-second pause, he continued, “…the first time I met ‘Mom’.”

“Correct,” Dian Yan Wang replied.

“I see…” Feng Bujue said. “No wonder I felt something ‘coming’ at that time, but couldn’t catch anything…” He looked directly into the other’s eyes. “Now that I think about it… that was the feeling of your ‘consciousness’ looming over me.”

“At first… I didn’t consider you to be much of a threat,” Dian Yan Wang continued. “But soon after, I heard the ‘voice’ of Zhuan Jie Zun communicating with you. At that moment, I made up my mind to eliminate you as quickly as possible.”

“So… that led to the scene in the river,” Feng Bujue finished the sentence.

“It seems you’ve already deduced everything…” Dian Yan Wang replied grimly. “That’s right… behind the door leading to the river, there was originally a small boat. However… in order to separate you, I removed the boat.” He paused. “I knew you wouldn’t choose to advance by swimming together, because that’s a very exhausting and slow method. As expected… you each set off in your own way, thus increasing the distance between you.”

Speaking to this point, Dian Yan Wang moved sideways a couple of steps, taking his face out of the center of the light beam. “Seeing that the time was ripe, I used the Black Rose toxin to shroud the area you were in, and released a powerful monster in front of and behind you to cut off your retreat…” He shook his head, revealing a hint of helplessness. “I originally thought… this tactic was foolproof, and would at least kill or injure more than half of you, but alas…”

“Alas… the ambush you carefully designed failed to achieve the effect you expected,” Feng Bujue finished with a smile.

Dian Yan Wang snorted coldly. “Hmph… your strength is indeed beyond my expectations, especially yours…” He looked at Jue Ge. “Now that I think about it… at that time… you had already noticed my plan, right? That’s why you chose to stay behind.”

“I only faintly sensed that you wanted to increase the distance between us,” Feng Bujue’s tone and words were relatively modest, but his face was filled with smugness. “Heh… I didn’t expect my decision to stay behind to strategically resolve your scheme.”

Listening to the conversation between Teacher Jue and Dian Yan Wang, Buu and Oubu became increasingly fearful (Ruo Yu remained calm and collected, Xiao Ling closely followed the train of thought, and Xiao Tan was rather dull-witted, so the three of them seemed relatively unfazed). Thinking back to that time… if Feng Bujue hadn't stayed at the rear of the team, the situation might have developed very differently…

It was precisely because Jue Ge chose to stay behind that he was able to quickly disable the monster chasing from behind at the first opportunity, and then sprint forward, bringing along all of his teammates along the way, allowing the six of them to reunite as quickly as possible.

But if… Feng Bujue’s position at that time had been in the middle of the team, he would only have been able to choose one direction to go first, and after bringing the people from that end, he would have had to return to the other end… This would not only have lengthened the time that his teammates were in contact with the monster, but also increased the time that everyone was alone in the toxic pollen. Not to mention, if Xiao Tan had met Oubu any later, he would have started to breathe in the poisonous air; and on the other side… Oubu would most likely have been severely injured by the monster behind him before Feng Bujue arrived. Considering the combat environment at the time… it was very possible that Oubu would have been killed directly. And if he died, the two sets of breathing equipment on his body would have disappeared with him… Due to the chain reaction, Buu and Xiao Tan, who lacked methods of holding their breath, would have fallen into danger.

Thinking about it carefully, the ambush set up by Dian Yan Wang was indeed quite clever. If it had been any other six-person team… even if they didn’t get wiped out, they would have suffered some serious losses.

Unfortunately… it ran into Feng Bujue.

If the ambush battle in the river channel was regarded as a game, then… whether in strategic choices or actual execution, Jue Ge did his best. It was his performance that left Dian Yan Wang empty-handed.

“The subsequent developments became increasingly unfavorable for me…” Dian Yan Wang walked in front of Jue Ge and continued, “You had obviously read that fairy tale, so… after I appeared in front of you once in the form of a ‘sparrow’, it was basically equivalent to exposing my ‘vessel’.”

“Blame it on your overconfidence,” Feng Bujue replied. “You showed yourself too early.”

“Yes… I was careless,” Dian Yan Wang shook his head. “The surprise attack on the ‘Black River’ later… also failed, after all, there were system restrictions there, I couldn’t use inexplicable means to instantly kill you, I could only temporarily imprison the one with the highest scare value at the bottom of the water.”

“Eh? I thought the person with the highest scare value at that time was me…” Xiao Tan said upon hearing this.

Oubu turned his head and said to him, “No, no… Brother Xiao Tan, you overestimate me, I’m actually very timid… I just look calm on the surface, it’s a problem with my appearance…”

He was telling the truth… his “malnourished” face did give people a sense of inexplicable calmness.

“In short… one wrong step leads to complete defeat…” Dian Yan Wang said, “Mistakes and disadvantages gradually accumulated, causing the situation to go from controllable to out of control.” He raised his eyes to look at Jue Ge. “To the point that in the end… I had to make a compromise.”

“Heh… listening to this, cooperating with me has really wronged you,” Feng Bujue laughed.

“Hmph… it doesn’t really matter…” Dian Yan Wang snorted, a strange look flashing in his eyes. “In order to achieve my goal, this level of compromise is simply…”

“…simply nothing, right?”

Suddenly, a deep, wise voice sounded, taking over Dian Yan Wang’s words.

In that instant, Dian Yan Wang’s expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly turned around, looking in the direction of the voice.

He saw… an old man in a white robe holding a staff, slowly walking out from the depths of the stone tomb. This “person” had white hair and a white beard, his appearance was dignified, and although his face was old, the bright light in his eyes was like that of a young man.

“Whoa… is that Gandalf?” Xiao Tan blurted out when he saw the figure.

“Not quite, young one.” The old man looked at Xiao Tan with a smile and replied, “… it is Zhuan Jie Zun.”

“You can actually come in here on your own?” Feng Bujue asked in surprise.

“Of course I can come in here,” Zhuan Jie Zun replied, “It’s just more troublesome, and I have to take a certain amount of risk.”

“I see… it’s similar to what we humans do when we self-hypnotize, right?” Feng Bujue muttered.

“Feng Bujue, stop changing the subject with me.” Zhuan Jie Zun did not allow Jue Ge to continue the topic, he continued in a questioning tone, “I asked you to destroy Dian Yan Wang’s vessel and drive him out of my body… but you, at the critical moment of success, turned against me for some equipment skills…” He paused. “Forcing me to come here myself…”

“You don’t know shit,” Feng Bujue replied with a vulgarity, his expression unchanged. “After achieving the hidden ending, I’ll just take action to eliminate it.”

“Hey!” Dian Yan Wang was so scared by these words that he was about to piss his pants.

“I can get the information on [Mysterious as the Underworld] from you, and I can easily obtain equipment, skills, and hidden ending rewards through cooperation with Dian Yan Wang.” Feng Bujue looked at Zhuan Jie Zun. “My top-tier strategy of killing two birds with one stone and maximizing profits has been declared bankrupt because of your appearance at this moment.”

Not to mention Dian Yan Wang, even Zhuan Jie Zun was dumbfounded, he looked at Jue Ge blankly, and responded stutteringly, “Uh… this…”

“Feng Bujue! You despicable fellow…” Two seconds later, Dian Yan Wang shouted sharply, “You actually dare to say that!”

“Nonsense, now that the plan can’t be implemented, why should I hide anything?” Jue Ge replied confidently, as if his two-faced, unprincipled, self-serving behavior was aboveboard.

“Sigh…” Feng Bujue then took two steps, looked at Dian Yan Wang, and sighed. “Actually… the line I wanted to say the most was… ‘Sorry, I’m a mole’.”

“You’re determined to be a traitor! How much do you want to be a double agent! Why are you depicting this despicable behavior as something cool and awesome!” Dian Yan Wang’s shock was beyond words, but on the surface, he still had to maintain some of the demeanor of a god, he couldn’t just blurt out his thoughts.

“Good… very good…” Dian Yan Wang glared at Jue Ge with a ferocious expression, squeezing out a sentence through his teeth, “After I take care of Zhuan Jie Zun… I’ll slowly deal with you…”

His confidence was still based on some grounds: first, the Zhuan Jie Zun in front of him was just a “mental projection”, and probably couldn’t display his full strength; second, even if Zun Ge could exert his full strength, it wouldn’t matter, because his power was now very weak, and he might not be Dian Yan Wang’s opponent; third… due to the restrictions of the main quest, the players would not attack Dian Yan Wang’s vessel, because this was obviously contrary to the conditions for clearing the game, and forced execution would be judged by the system as passive gaming, and in serious cases, they would be kicked out of the game.

“Ha! Daydreaming!” Feng Bujue sneered, immediately turning his head to Zhuan Jie Zun. “Zun Ge, quickly tell us how to complete the main quest.”

Zhuan Jie Zun was slightly stunned, then understood Jue Ge’s meaning, and he immediately replied, “That stone wall over there…” He raised his staff and pointed. “Solving the rune puzzle on it will allow you to pass…”

“Shut up!” Dian Yan Wang also quickly realized that the situation was not good, and with a flash, he had already attacked Zhuan Jie Zun.

Zun Ge was prepared, and while retreating and blocking, he continued, “The puzzle is set up according to the principle of Sudoku, each symbol above represents a number, you substitute it with Roman characters, and simplify it a bit to decipher it…”

“I told you to shut up!” Although Dian Yan Wang was in a vessel, his combat power was still impressive, even ordinary physical attacks had the force of a thousand pounds and the speed of lightning. If it weren’t for the protection of the system, this stone tomb would have been collapsed by the power he released.

However… as the saying goes – a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. As a high-ranking existence almost on par with the Four Pillar Gods, Zhuan Jie Zun’s combat power couldn’t be too bad no matter how weakened he was. When he was focused on defense, it was difficult for Dian Yan Wang to win in a short time.

Therefore, Zun Ge was still talking while fighting. “Behind that wall, there is a tunnel containing undead creatures. After passing through, you will reach a garden full of black roses. After entering the garden gate, walk along the ‘ji’ (self) -shaped route. Keep a distance of more than three meters from the pillar sculptures you see along the way, do not approach… and you will soon find the ‘Juniper Tree’…”

When Zhuan Jie Zun said this, Feng Bujue had already rushed to the stone wall over there.

For Jue Ge, once he grasped the method of revealing the secret, this kind of obstacle was not difficult at all, and he solved the Sudoku puzzle with a few strokes, opening the stone wall.

“I won’t go over…” Feng Bujue stood by the wall, not entering, but said to his teammates, “You guys follow Zun Ge’s instructions and move forward, complete the main quest as soon as possible. After completing it, you don’t have to wait for me, just teleport out.”

“Jue Ge, what are you going to do?” Xiao Tan asked with some worry.

“Is there even a need to ask…” Feng Bujue replied, “As long as you meet the clearing conditions, I will no longer be restricted by the main quest, and I can deal with Dian Yan Wang together with Zun Ge.”

“Understood.” Ruo Yu said immediately upon hearing this, “Everyone, let’s go.” With that, she took the lead and rushed into the tunnel, disappearing in a few seconds.

Ruo Yu’s thinking was very clear, at this time, she should be decisive and act resolutely. Even if this kind of reaction seemed a bit cold and realistic, in reality… this was really helping her teammates.

On the contrary, the common scenes and dialogue in film and television dramas – “You go, I’ll stay… no, we’ll go together… don’t be silly, we’ll die together… no, we’ll die together even if we die…” and so on, seem to be “righteous and affectionate”, but in reality, they are very brain-dead behaviors. Generally speaking, as long as this kind of plot appears, the party that stays is already setting a death flag, no matter how much you twist and turn, and how long you talk… he still has to die. The only purpose of this kind of play is to waste time, and let the other party’s sacrifice be wasted in vain…

“What are you all standing there for, hurry up and follow.” Seeing that the others hadn’t moved, Feng Bujue raised his voice and urged, “If you have something to say, wait until the game is over.”

“Okay, Jue Ge, be careful.”

“Good luck, captain.”

Seeing that Jue Ge’s attitude was firm, Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling exchanged glances slightly, and then followed into the tunnel.

“Teacher Jue, see you later!” Buu and Oubu quickly reached a consensus, and left together.

After all five teammates had entered the tunnel, Feng Bujue closed the stone wall again, turned around, and looked at the two gods who were fighting in close combat…